54 
HELEN ABBOTT MICHAEL 
She goes on to describe a visit to Professor Schwendener 
to whom she brought a card of introduction given her by 
Professor Pringsheim. He received her pleasantly on Sunday 
at his home, and made an appointment for her to inspect 
his laboratories in the Botanical Institution on Dorotheen¬ 
strasse near Hoffmann’s house. 
“Schwendener,” she says, “was rather afraid to say he 
would admit a lady-student. He was very firm in his opinion 
that the Minister of Instruction was so much opposed to 
ladies being admitted that it would be exceedingly rare to 
have the permission, and to do so without permission, was 
to lay one’s self open to a severe reprimand. It is quite 
opposed to the regulations to have any women present in the 
lecture auditoriums, and when women attend lectures, they 
must do so under cover, behind a screen, or back of a window 
or door. Schwendener said he had been much reprehended 
for having Miss Gregory as a student, but as he had her in 
his private room, no one had a right to complain. My con¬ 
versation with Schwendener was interesting in the extreme. 
My idea of chemical constituents was new to him. His only 
speaking German and French was a disadvantage as I was 
unable to do myself full justice. Both he and Kny offered to 
do anything for me which lay in their power. Kny especially 
offered his services.” 
She remarks on the tremendous advantage that European 
students had over American in the opportunities afforded 
by the universities, museums, and gardens. She was amazed 
at the great Botanical Garden of Berlin, with its 20,000 speci¬ 
mens, its stupendous palm-house, and its facilities for study¬ 
ing different species “classified according to order and all 
fully labeled.” But she thought that the trees “seemed rather 
miniature and poorly nourished, especially those from other 
countries, and our American trees.” She adds: “The more 
I go, the more I see the absolute necessity of knowing the art 
of drawing sufficiently to reproduce what one observes;” and 
this leads by a natural transition to a brief comment on her 
enjoyment of the National Museum, the Kaulbach frescoes, the 
splendid ancient statues and the fine paintings of the old masters. 
