374 LUDWIG AND MODERN PHYSIOLOGY. 



even before lie sought for any explanation of a structure or of a process, 

 was to possess himself, by all means of observation at his disposal, of a 

 complete objective conception of all its relations. He regarded the 

 faculty of vivid, sensual realization (lebendige sinnliche Anschanung) 

 as of special value to the investigator of natural phenomena, and did 

 his best to cultivate it in those who worked with him in the laboratory. 

 In himself this objective tendency (if I may be permitted the use of a 

 word which, if not correct, seems to express what I mean) might be 

 regarded as almost a defect, for it made him indisposed to appreciate 

 any sort of knowledge which deals with the abstract. He had a disin- 

 clination to philosophical speculation which almost amounted to aver- 

 sion, and, perhaps for a similar reason, avoided the use of mathematical 

 methods even in the discussion of scientific questions which admitted 

 of being treated mathematically — contrasting in this respect with his 

 friend, Du Bois-Beymond — resembling Briicke. But as a teacher the 

 quality was of immense use to him. His power of vivid realization 

 was the substratum of that many-sidedness which made him, irrespect- 

 ively of his scientific attainments, so attractive a personality. 



I am not sure that it can be generally stated that a keen scientific 

 observer is able to appreciate the artistic aspects of nature. In Lud- 

 wig's case, however, there is reason to think that aesthetic faculty was as 

 developed as the power of scientific insight. He was a skillful drafts- 

 man but not a musician; both arts were, however, a source of enjoy- 

 ment to him. He was a regular frequenter of the Gewandhaus con- 

 certs, and it was his greatest pleasure to bring together gifted musicians 

 in his house, where he played the part of an intelligent and apprecia- 

 tive listener. Of painting he knew more than of music, and was a 

 connoisseur whose opinion carried weight. It is related that he was so 

 worried by what he considered bad art, that after the redecoration of 

 the Gewandhaus concert room he was for some time deprived of his 

 accustomed pleasure in listening to music. 



Ludwig's social characteristics can only be touched on here in so far 

 as they serve to make intelligible his wonderful influence as a teacher. 

 Many of his pnpils at Leipzig have referred to the schone gemeinsam- 

 keit which characterized the life there. The harmonious relation 

 which, as a rule, subsisted between men of different education and dif- 

 ferent nationalities could not have been maintained had not Ludwig 

 possessed side by side with that inflexible earnestness which he showed 

 in all matters of work or duty a certain youthfulness of disposition 

 which made it possible for men much younger than himself to accept 

 his friendship. This sympathetic geniality was, however, not the only 

 or even the chief reason why Ludwig's pupils were the better for having 

 known him. There were not a few of them who for the first time in 

 their lives came into personal relation with a man who was utterly free 

 from selfish aims and vain ambitions, who was scrupulously con- 

 scientious in all that he said and did, who was what he seemed and 



