Ber. 
1803.] 
plication, and of never being diverted from 
one objeét, but to purfue another with 
equal ardour. 
His uncle, perceiving the unfuitablenefs 
of the profeffion which had been chofen 
for him, was defirous he fhould enter upon 
the ftudy of jurifprudence ; for which pur- 
pofe he was fent to Tubingen in 31750. 
. But this purfuit having {till fewer attrac- 
tions for our young ftudent than even that 
of theology, he abandoned it for the ftudy 
of medicine, which was in every refpeét fo 
much more conformable to his inclina- 
tions. After refiding eighteen months. at 
Tiibingen, he removed to the celebrated 
univerfity of Gottingen, where he remain- 
ed until 1753, attending the lectures of 
Brendel, Richter, Roederer, and ef- 
pecially thofe of the cclebrated Haller, 
who had infpired him with a paffion for 
anatomy, phyfiology, and botany. 
Tt was at this period, when he had at- 
tained the age of twenty years, that he 
determined to renounce every other pur- 
fuit, and devote himfelf altogether to the 
ftudy of natural philofophy ; with this 
view he travelled into the moft celebrated 
cities of Europe. After a fhort ftay at 
Calu he fet out for Italy, vifited Venice, 
Ancona, Padua, Florence, Genoa, and 
Naples; he afterwards went to France, 
ftopped at Lyons, and remained fix months 
at Montpellier, and fix at Paris. During 
thefe travels his whole time was occupied 
either in the ftudy of nature, in vifiting 
the cabinets of the curious, or in conver!- 
ing with learned men, efpecially naturalifts 
and anatomifts. Inthe fpring of 1755, he 
departed for England, where he refided 
until the end of the fame year; and after- 
wards revifited Paris, in which city he con- 
tinued fome months. 
Upon his return to his native country 
he wifhed to be admitted as a phyfician, 
not that he intended to purfue phyfic as a 
profeflion, but becaufe that title would fa- 
cilitate the purfuit of his favourite ftudies. 
In confequence of this refolution he pre- 
fented his inaugural Diflertation on the 
_Uriniferous Organs ; and having obtained 
a degree, he dedicated the two following 
years to the ftudy of mathematics, optics, 
and mechanics. He did not, however, 
confine himfelf altogether to the theory of 
_thefe fciences, but conftructed a telefcope 
and other optical inftruments, which af- 
forded him a relaxation from his more fe- 
vere ftudies. 
In 1759, he took a journey to Holland, 
and arrived at Leyden in the beginning of 
May, where he continued until Septem- 
Here he attended the botanical lec- 
Monruty Mac. No, 100, 
Account of Gartner the Botanift. 
tures of the celebrated Van Royen, with 
whom he contraéted the moft intimate 
friendfhip ; and from this period, dedi- 
cating his whole attention to natural hif- 
tory, he cultivated the other fciences only 
fo far as they appeared conducive to his 
progrefs in this favourite purfuit. 
It has been juftly obferved, that the 
fciences afford mutual aid to one-another, 
and. that thofe individuals: who have been 
mott diftinguifhed for their knowledge of 
any one in particular, have feldom negleét- 
ed to cultivate others. If this circum- 
ftance be the confequence of an avidity 
after knowledge, it is likewife, perhaps, 
the caufe of their fuccefs; fince in the 
fiudy of different fubjects, the mind takes 
a wider range, and frequently perceives 
thofe relations which might have been 
wholly overlooked had it been fixed on 
one object alone. Thus itis to mathema- 
tics that Gzrtner owed the accuracy and 
analytical method fo much admired in his 
works; and, to comparative anatomy, the 
happy idea of his anatomy of vegetables. 
Thus, likewife, by acquiring the art of 
drawing, he was enabled to execute his 
figures with uncommon neatnefs and fide- 
lity, and in a much fhorter time than would 
have been confumed in direéting another. 
Before dedicating himfelf wholly to ve- 
getable anatomy, Geertner wifhed to finifh 
a work he had begun upon fifhes, and fea- 
worms. With this view he returned to 
England, and, after having examined every 
thing worthy of notice, on thefe fubjects, 
in the cabinets of the learned, in London, 
he journeyed along the coafts, in order to 
purfue his refearches upon the fea-fhore, 
It was at this period that he wrote a me- 
moir upon fome Mollufcz, inferted in the 
Philofophical ‘Tranfaétions, another upon 
Zoophytes, which M. Pallas publifhed in 
his Spicilegia Zoologica, and feveral others 
on the anatomy of fifhes and on cryptoga- 
mous plants, &c. which have never yet 
been publifhed. The moft important of 
thefe is a Memoir on the Fructification and 
Propagation of Confervae, ulvac, Gc. the 
manulcript of which is finifhed, with all 
.the defigns engraved by himfelf, and which 
his fon is now about to publifh. 
This work, executed by fuch an accu- 
rate obferver as Geertner, muft prove a 
valuable fupplement to that of Hedwi 
upon Mofles, and throw much light on that 
part of cryptogamous plants hitherto the 
moft uncertain and obfcure. 
After having vifited the Britifh coafts, 
Gertner returned to London, where he 
lived twelve months in habits of the ftriét- 
eft intimacy with the moft eminent natu- 
z- 
y turalifts, 
