SCIENCE. 
243 
In spite of the loss of time, occasioned by his continued 
ill-health, his sharp, grasping intellect enabled him to pass 
with honors the examination for admission to university 
study ( Abiturienten-Examen ) at the comparatively early age 
of seventeen (1S23). After five years of further practical work 
as an apprentice and clerk in his father’s store and pharma- 
ceutical labratory, he went to Heidelberg (1828) studying 
chemistry with Gmelin. After another lustrum spent in 
various studies, there as well as at Berlin , and finally at 
Bonn , he returned to his home at Koblenz (1833) with the de- 
gree of/ 7 /. D* Afterhaving passed his State' s Examination, 
he married, and had, at the time of his death, two daughters 
and two sons. The faithful companion of his life, an ex- 
cellent wife and mother, also survives him. 
In 1840 his father died and he then took charge of the in- 
heritance faithfully, and for seventeen years conducted 
the Mohren-Apotheke, as the establishment was popularly 
called. In 1857, however, he disposed of it in order to de- 
vote, in retirement, his entire energies to scientific research. 
He did so for a period of about six years, and then had 
the misfortune to become involved in pecuniary difficulties 
arising from the failure of a manufacturing establishment be- 
longing to his son-in-law, in which he had been special part- 
ner. The honest fulfillment of all his engagements cost him 
nearly all his fortune, and was the direct cause of his re- 
moving to Bonn , where he settled in 1864 as lecturer ( Pri - 
vatdozent). The chair of Pharmacy becoming vacant a year 
and a half after his settlement at Bonn University , he was 
appointed to the place. He owed this appointment to the 
direct influence of Emperor then King William, and th e. Em- 
press then Queen Augusta. The latter always took a lively 
interest in his welfare, which dated from their long resid- 
ence at Koblenz Castle before the Prince’s accession to the 
throne. The Princess had always been fond of the great 
man’s company, his conversational powers and his manner of 
reading being of an unusually high degree of perfection.** 
In a letter to the writer, his accomplished daughter, Miss 
Anna Mohr, who acted as his amanuensis for many years, 
states : 
“ In our family circle where he felt himself surrounded 
by loving care, I have never seen him otherwise than hapD}' 
and contented. Full of feeling and sparkling with humor, 
he always was appreciative of everything that is noble and 
beautiful in art and nature. Music and poetry were always 
especial favorites with him and while Beethoven, Mozart, 
Haydn and Weber were his ideals in the former, Goethe, 
Schiller, Shakspearf., Homer, etc., were to him as old ac- 
quaintances. His wonderful memory enabled him to recite 
for hours Schiller’s Ballads or his William Tell; Goethe’s 
Pause; Homer’s Iliad , and many, mail)" other works of those 
and other poets. And not only was his recitation masterly 
.and perfect, his reading power of serious, as well as of 
comical pieces was unsurpassed He would at 
the same time master any dialect, new to him, in a few hours, 
and his many friends and acquaintances owe him many 
hours of bliss and happiness and many a pleasant evening.” 
After having thus fonnd a congenial sphere of action, 
his genius — no longer dragged down by pecuniary cares — 
attained full sway. In quick succession he published that 
series of, not very numerous, yet very important, works which 
will make his name immortal. His lectures also, those at 
the University as well as many others which he delivered in 
clubs and societies at Bonn , Cologne , Koblenz, Kiefeld and 
other neighboring cities and his many contributions to 
scientific as well as other magazines and periodicals won 
him the hearts equally of his students and his lay-hearers. 
Of this the immense throng of people, belonging to all 
classes of society, that attended his funeral, was a sure in- 
dication. 
♦The honorary title of M. D. was conferred upon him in later years ; 
he also received the title of Medizinalrath , and was for a period of over 
thirty years the t harmaceutical adviser and member of the Rhenish 
Medical Council. He furthermore was elected corresponding or honorary 
member by several academies, numerous phar . aceutical and scientific 
associations in general, among the former being the American Phar- 
maceutical Association and the Philadelphia College of Pharmacy. 
** He at this time delivered a course of lectures to Princess Augi sta at 
his house, comprising experimental chemistry and applied mechanics 
(models of steam-engines, etc., being prepared for this special purpose), 
the Prince and his eldest son (now the Crosun Prince 0/ Germany) 
attending when they stopped at the Castle. 
But, in spite of all this popular recognition, he was not 
allowed to take that commanding position to which he was 
entitled by the superiority of his genius. We need only re- 
mind the reader of Dr. Akin’s letter published in No. 15 of 
“ Science,” to suggest the causes forthe otherwise almost in- 
comprehensible fact that Mohr remained an “ Extra-Ordin- 
aritts” up to the time of his death. The reason is obvious. 
Even the Hohenzollern did not undertake serious interven- 
tion in his interest in regard to this matter ; for, although his 
loyalty and patriotism were proverbial, his radical views in 
regard to things theological which he always fearlessly con- 
fessed, and his unflinching attacks on erroneous views in 
science, regardless of what position those who proclaimed 
them might chance to hold, were sufficient causes for the 
failure of the powers that be to promote his attempts. He 
remained undisturbed because he recognized auihonty in 
matters political, but he was not promoted, because he did 
not feel bound by any authority in theological and scientific 
matters, unconditionally. 
The Emperor desisted from interfering after experiencing 
a resistance on the part of “ Cultusminister Falk” against 
Mohr’s promotion, which he could not overcome. 
When Mohr settled at Bonn University as a Privat-Dozent , 
he was 57 years of age, i. e., older by several decades than 
the average of his colleagues, being the senior of most 
members of the regular faculty themselves. But more than 
this, he had already at that time shown his inclination and 
his ability to reform, nay, to revolutionize some of the many 
branches of science which he mastered (theoretically and 
practically). Thiswasmore than mediocrity and evenfamous 
men are willing to endure. And to just such influences 
Mohr himself — who knew all the various intrigues against 
and reports about him, which he never raised his finger 
publicly to lay bare or refute— attributed the bad treat- 
ment which he received. 
His eldest son, Mr. Carl Mohr, an able chemist, and 
an accomplished contributor to scientific magazines, writes 
feelingly, about this matter, as follows : 
“. . . .yet it would be interesting to expose without fear 
or favor the dark doings of that ‘ official science ’ of such men 
as — — , , ,* etc. These men do not want to re- 
cognize anybody as their equal who does not sail under 
their colors ; followers and panegyrics are all they care to be 
surrounded with. But they hate and fear men of an inde- 
pendent turn ot mind who dare have convictions of their 
own and dare express them, regardless of consequences to 
either themselves or others. Father has, for instance, by 
his sharp and telling hits of criticism in his Commentary to 
the 'Pharm. Bor.’ made enemies of the whole official clique 
of , , , and others at Berlin. Those men, in- 
stead being thankful to a man, far superior to them, who 
has pointed out errors, and shown how to correct them, 
have persecuted him to their hearts’ content. When, 
therefore, the commission for the preparation of the ‘ Phar- 
macopeia Germanica ’ was to be appointed, he was excluded 
from the list of commissioners intentionally and ostenta- 
tiously. The man who really was the Nestor of Pharmaceutics 
in Germany , author of such unrivalled standard works as 
his ‘ P harmcopcea universalis. ’ the Commentary, etc., above re- 
ferred to, a ‘ Manual of Pharmaceutical Practice,’** a ‘ Text- 
book on the Art of Dispensing,’*** and others, was ignored 
insuch a disgraceful manner. It was a shameful performance, 
one that has no equal in the whole history of Science.” 
The narrative of these occurrences is one of the best il- 
lustrations of Dr. Akin’s views, as expressed in his letter 
to Prof. Stokes, alluded to before. 
But, although the illustrious man was thus slightingly 
treated by men, generally far inferior, none of them superior 
to him, principally on account of his superiority and of 
the fact that most of his views and arguments were un- 
* The list 01 names— I am sorry to say — embraces some of the most 
renowned professors at Bonn and at Berlin. Mohr’s intention was, as I 
am informed, to give a detailed account of the various intrigues against 
him in a work he was about to publish, when death overtook him : to 
accuse his persecutors and enemies, and lay at their door the guilt, of having 
deprived him of due recognition and promotion to the place and honors 
of an ‘ Ordinarius,' and to justify before the public his conduct of not 
havinguntil then stooped to answer and refute the indignities thus heaped 
upon him. (j. W. R. 
** Lehrbuch der Pharmaceutischen Technik : published in six edi- 
tions (first, 1846) trveral times translated into French and English. 
*** Rezeptinkunst. 
