November 2, 1S83.] 



SCIENCE. 



585 



and himself published a considerabh' enlarged 

 German edition in 1878. 



Heer, who. as we have said, was instigated 

 to his paleontological studies l\v Escher, was 

 glad to acknowledge his debt to his friend, 

 whose most illustrious pupil he was. Rarely 

 have such cordial relations existed between 

 two men. lie always spoke of Escher in terms 

 of warm friendship and admiration, and always 

 seemed to be asking. Did you ever know his 

 equal? And, indeed, Escher merited his 

 praise. 



Witliout personal fortune, and very often 

 obliged by illness not only to suspend his 

 courses, but even to make expensive journeys 

 to JIadeira, Italj', etc., to regain his strength, 

 Heer would have been greatlj' embarrassed 

 but for his friend. Escher possessed a fair 

 fortune, especially in the latter part of his life ; 

 and, being childless, he constantly sought op- 

 portunity to assist Heer, and, so far as possi- 

 ble, without his knowledge. Escher urged his 

 gratuities with such delicacy- and kindness 

 that he seemed to be the one under obligation 

 when his dear friend would accept his offer- 

 ings. Escher recognized the worth of his 

 protegi, appreciated the value of the services 

 he was rendering to science, and welcomed 

 with a beaming face every fresh memoir fnjm 

 I leer's pen. 



Heer was a man of verj- retiring habits, 

 being rarelj- seen in public, even on the street. 

 His delicate health forbidding his travelling or 

 making personal explorations, he lived in his 

 study, where he received fossils from all parts 

 of the world. Here he accumulated specimens 

 from the arctic regions, from every countr3' of 

 Europe, from Asia, and from America. Here 

 in the midst of cabinets, and with books piled 

 up on every side, he passed all "his time, yet 

 always receiving his geological friends with 

 manifest pleasure. Many a scientific man came 

 here to visit the illustrious paleontologist, — 

 Leopold von Buch, Sir Charles Lyell, von 

 Ilauer, Geinitz, Fraas, Oppel, Sismonda, Ram- 

 say, Falconer, Pictet, Studer, Mcrian, Agassiz, 

 de Zigno, Mojsisovics, Gumbel, Schimper, Zit- 

 tel, Schmidt, Abieh, etc. While he was asso- 



ciated with Heer in the Polytechnicum, Jules 

 ^larcou was a visitor almost dailj-, and relates 

 how, with a pleased and contented smile, Heer 

 alwa3-s greeted him after his fasliion, grasping 

 his hand in both of his. Reclining on a sofa 

 (for Heer could only work a brief time without 

 seeking rest) , he would gladlj- converse for an 

 hour or two upon geological topics and the 

 numerous problems still requiring solution. 



We have said he undertook no explorations ; 

 yet, in the winter of 18.)4-5.t, he visited Ma- 

 deira for his health, in companj- with Ziegler 

 and Hartwig. Several memoirs resulted from 

 that visit ; and in 1861, with his friends Escher 

 and Merian, he visited Paris, London, the Isle 

 of Wight, and Holland. An unusual excep- 

 tion was his accompanying his friend Jlarcou 

 on short journej-s to Oeningen, Scliambelen, 

 Diirnsten and Utznach. and Hohe Rhoneu, — 

 favorable locaUties for fossil plants and in- 

 sects. 



Heer worked quite alone, unaided b}- others ; 

 and he never worked in collaboration with 

 other men, unless we ma}- except the late C. T. 

 Gandin of Lausanne, who translated several 

 of his important works, and in one at least, 

 tliat on the climate of tlie tertiary epoch, may 

 be said to have been a collaborator. Heer so 

 ^•alled him. Indeed, it is possible, that had 

 Gandin not died in the flower of his age, eigh- 

 teen years ago, he would have worked still 

 furtlier in concert with Heer, and given his 

 works a wider circulation. Heer also found 

 an assistant, as excellent as devoted, in his 

 daughter, especially during the last twelve 

 years of his life, many of which, after the dis- 

 ease wliich attacked him in 1872, he passed 

 upon his bed. She was ever ready to place 

 before him specimens, books, plates, descrip- 

 tions, manuscripts. Always by his side, all his 

 wishes were cared for by her in the most as- 

 siduous and intelligent manner. 



A man more lovable, more sympathetic, a 

 life more laborious and pure, one could scarce- 

 ly imagine. As a man, he possessed the same 

 irresistible attraction to all who came under 

 his influence as that which characterized the 

 late Lady Lyell. 



