1 84  Hermann  Hager.  { Am-AJ££  fsr™' 
Hans  Hermann  Julius  Hager  was  born  in  Berlin  on  January  3, 
1 8 16,  where  his  father  was  an  army  surgeon.  After  having  passed 
the  elementary  schools,  he  attended  the  high  schools  at  Torgan  and 
Brandenburg,  and  in  April,  1832,  entered  upon  an  apprenticeship  in 
the  pharmacy  of  the  town  of  Salzwedel.  Then  apprenticeship  in 
German  pharmacies  included  the  performance  of  all  the  common 
handiwork,  of  keeping  the  store,  the  laboratory  and  the  storage 
rooms  in  proper  order,  of  cleansing  and  dusting  counters,  shelves, 
containers,  utensils,  oil-lamps,  etc.,  of  delivering  medicines  to 
customers,  etc.  Young  Hager  was  by  no  means  spared  this  hard 
ordeal.  Little  leisure  time  was  left  for  study,  and  but  very  few 
pharmaceutical  books  were  placed  at  his  disposal,  while  his  means 
were  insufficient  to  purchase  any.  But  bent  upon  study,  and  of  an 
inquisitive  mind,  young  Hager  made  good  use  of  the  few  text-books 
of  pharmacy  accessible  to  him,  among  them,  "  Hagen's  Treatise  on 
the  Art  of  Pharmacy,"  as  well  as  of  his  old  school-books.  During 
the  four  years  of  apprenticeship  he  perfected  his  knowledge  of  Latin 
so  much  that  he  retained  for  life  the  ability  to  write  fluently  in 
Latin.  He  also  closely  applied  himself  to  the  study  of  French,  of 
history  and  of  natural  philosophy.  Incidentally  he  obtained  a 
small  treatise  on  chemical  stoichiometry,  which  induced  him  during 
the  last  year  of  apprenticeship  to  elaborate  a  text-book  of  stoichi- 
ometry for  pharmacists,  which,  however,  never  has  been  published. 
At  the  close  of  his  apprenticeship  Hager  passed  the  obligatory 
examination  with  much  credit,  and  subsequently  served  as  assistant 
for  some  years  in  pharmacies  in  several  towns.  During  these  years 
he  read  all  books  accessible  to  him,  and  applied  himself  with  much 
interest  and  assiduity  to  becoming  familiar  with  the  flora  of  the 
diluvial  plains  of  Northern  Germany.  He  then  served  for  one  year 
as  army  pharmacist  in  the  garrison  hospital  in  the  capital  of  Silesia, 
Breslau,  whither  his  father  had  been  removed  as  army  surgeon. 
Here  young  Hager  found  time  and  opportunity  to  attend  lectures  at 
the  University  on  natural  philosophy,  chemistry  and  botany.  After 
having  passed  his  one  year  of  army  service,  he  had  the  good  for- 
tune to  obtain  a  place  as  assistant  with  an  apothecary  in  the  town 
of  Perleberg,  who  was  an  accomplished  pharmacist,  a  sympathetic 
man  and  the  possessor  of  a  good  pharmaceutical  library.  Of  this 
Hager  made  good  use,  so  much  so  that  in  1 841  he  ventured  to 
apply  to  the  highest  examination  board  in  medicine  and  pharmacy 
