AmM°ay?lS)2ai'm-}  Sckeffet.  211 
school-days  began  at  the  early  age  of  five  years — at  first  in  Stutt- 
gart until  1829,  then  at  Boeblingen  until  the  spring  of  1835,  when 
he  returned  to  Stuttgart,  entering  upon  a  brief  course  at  the  Poly- 
technical  School.  In  the  autumn  of  the  same  year,  however,  it  was 
found  expedient  to  select  a  vocation  for  him.  His  studious  habits 
and  inclination  fitting  him  admirably  for  the  profession  of  phar- 
macy, he  was  apprenticed  to  an  apothecary  in  the  renowned  uni- 
versity town  of  Tuebingen  where,  under  the  most  favorable  condi- 
tions, he  laid  the  foundation  for  the  varied  and  vast  fund  of 
knowledge  upon  which  depended  the  distinguished  reputation  he 
enjoyed  in  after  years. 
Although  we  know  Scheffer  mainly  as  an  accomplished  chemist, 
his  favorite  pursuit,  as  he  frequently  assured  me,  was  that  of  botany; 
and  while  not  neglecting,  as  we  may  readily  understand,  the  study 
of  pharmacy,  of  chemistry,  and  of  the  physical  sciences,  pharma- 
cognosy and  botany  were  to  him  the  most  attractive.  He  loved  to 
speak  of  the  numerous  excursions  he  made  into  the  fields  and 
forests  of  his  native  Suabia,  devoting  his  leisure  hours  to  studying 
the  rich  and  varied  flora  of  his  immediate  surroundings,  and  extend- 
ing his  botanical  excursions  during  his  annual  vacations  as  far  as 
the  beautiful  "  Schwartzwald  "  and  even  to  the  magnificent  Suabian 
Alps. 
Having  completed  his  term  of  apprenticeship  in  1840,  and  passed 
a  highly  creditable  examination,  Scheffer  secured  a  position  in  Con- 
stance, where  he  remained  two  years,  then  in  Zurich  until  1844,  and 
afterwards  for  short  periods  in  Frankfort-on-the-Main  and  in  Mann- 
heim-on-the-Rhine.  Returning  to  Stuttgart  in  the  spring  of  1845, 
he  again  attended  the  Polytechnicum,  preparatory  to  his  finishing 
course  at  the  University  of  Tuebingen,  beginning  in  the  autumn  of 
the  same  year.  Here  he  had  opportunity  to  listen  to  and  absorb 
the  lectures  of  some  of  the  most  eminent  German  professors, 
among  them  the  celebrated  Gmelin,  author  of  "  Gmelin's  Chem- 
istry," whose  assistant  he  became  and  with  whom  he  remained  after 
passing  his  "  State  examination  "  until  shortly  before  his  departure 
for  America,  in  the  spring  of  1849. 
The  years  1848-49,  it  will  be  remembered,  were  years  of  turmoil 
throughout  the  continent  of  Europe.  The  revolution  in  France, 
which  resulted  in  the  dethronement  of  Louis  Phillip,  spread  to 
Austria  and  the  German  States  in  general,  and  for  a  brief  period 
