1884.] 
Wohler and Liebig. 
715 
“ I shall always remember with pleasure the journey I 
made to England in 1835. We visited several technical 
establishments at Worcester, Birmingham, and Manchester, 
and travelled to Liverpool by railway, the only one that 
then existed in England, and which excited our wondering 
admiration. Faraday, who received us most amiably, and 
conducted us personally through several manufactories, had 
provided us with letters of recommendation. When we first 
visited him he took me for the son of the Wohler he had 
heard of, because I was so thin as to look very young. In 
London we saw Prout, in Manchester the old Dalton.” 
Let us now dwell for a moment on those letters which 
speak of the mutual respeCt and love of the two savants. 
How sincere a friendship united them is proved by their 
readiness to give and to take advice. It is especially Liebig 
who consults his friend in every doubtful case. He pub- 
lishes nothing without having first asked his opinion. 
Liebig to Wohler. 
“ Giessen, March 20, 1841. 
“ Your letter has been a great comfort to me. If you 
consider how great an influence you exercise on my ideas 
and on my work, how a mere point of interrogation from 
you sets me off on a train of thought, you can well imagine 
my joy on finding that your former experiences have led you 
to no conclusions that are contrary to those at which I have 
arrived. If your intelligence does not tell me that I am on 
the wrong track— and that was exactly what I wished to 
hear — I have courage enough to proceed. 
“ I have spent a whole day in developing to you my views 
on alimentation and respiration. You will see that they are 
contrary to everything which I have formerly admitted, but 
I am convinced of their correctness, and verily believe that 
they form the foundation of physiology and pathology.” 
How great a treasure Liebig possessed in the friendship 
of his companion is best shown by the remonstrances which 
Wohler is never tired of making to his vehement friend. 
The following letter he addressed to him in the beginning of 
the quarrel between Liebig and Mitscherlich 
3 B2 
