Louis Agassiz: His Life and Correspondence | Page 9

visit the theatre. It is very handsome and well appointed, and we were
fortunate in happening upon an excellent opera. Beyond this, I saw
nothing of Mannheim except the house of Kotzebue and the place
where Sand was beheaded.
To-day I have made my visits to the professors. For three among them I
had letters from Professors Schinz and Hirzel. I was received by all in
the kindest way. Professor Tiedemann, the Chancellor, is a man about
the age of papa and young for his years. He is so well-known that I
need not undertake his panegyric here. As soon as I told him that I
brought a letter from Zurich, he showed me the greatest politeness,
offered me books from his library; in one word, said he would be for
me here what Professor Schinz, with whom he had formerly studied,
had been for me in Zurich. After the opening of the term, when I know
these gentlemen better, I will tell you more about them. I have still to
describe my home, chamber, garden, people of the house, etc.
The next letter fills in this frame-work.
TO HIS FATHER.
HEIDELBERG, May 24, 1826.
. . .According to your request, I am going to write you all possible
details about my host, the employment of my time, etc., etc. Mr.--, my
"philister," is a tobacco merchant in easy circumstances, having a pretty
house in the faubourg of the city. My windows overlook the town, and
my prospect is bounded by a hill situated to the north of Heidelberg. At
the back of the house is a large and fine garden, at the foot of which is a
very pretty summer-house. There are also several clumps of trees in the
garden, and an aviary filled with native birds. . .

Since each day in term time is only the repetition of every other, the
account of one will give an idea of all, especially as I follow with
regularity the plan of study I have formed. Every morning I rise at six
o'clock, dress, and breakfast. At seven I go to my lectures, given during
the morning in the Museum building, next to which is the anatomical
laboratory. If, in the interval, I have a free hour, as sometimes happens
from ten to eleven, I occupy it in making anatomical preparations. I
shall tell you more of that and of the Museum another time. From
twelve to one I practice fencing. We dine at about one o'clock, after
which I walk till two, when I return to the house and to my studies till
five o'clock. From five to six we have a lecture from the renowned
Tiedemann. After that, I either take a bath in the Neckar or another
walk. From eight to nine I resume my special work, and then,
according to my inclination, go to the Swiss club, or, if I am tired, to
bed. I have my evening service and talk silently with you, believing
that at that hour you also do not forget your Louis, who thinks always
of you. . .As soon as I know, for I cannot yet make an exact estimate, I
will write you as nearly as possible what my expenses are likely to be.
Sometimes there may be unlooked-for expenditures, as, for instance,
six crowns for a matriculation paper. But be assured that at all events I
shall restrict myself to what is absolutely necessary, and do my best to
economize. The same of the probable duration of my stay in Heidelberg;
I shall certainly not prolong it needlessly. . .
Now for the first time the paths of the two brothers separated, Auguste
returning from Zurich to Neuchatel, where he entered into business. It
chanced, however, that in one of the first acquaintances made by Louis
in Heidelberg he found not only a congenial comrade, but a friend for
life, and in after years a brother. Professor Tiedemann, by whom
Agassiz had been so kindly received, recommended him to seek the
acquaintance of young Alexander Braun, an ardent student, and an
especial lover of botany. At Tiedemann's lecture the next day Agassiz's
attention was attracted by a young man who sat next him, and who was
taking very careful notes and illustrating them. There was something
very winning in his calm, gentle face, full of benevolence and
intelligence. Convinced by his manner of listening to the lecture and
transcribing it that this was the student of whom Tiedemann had

spoken, Agassiz turned to his neighbor as they both rose at the close of
the hour, and said, "Are you Alex Braun?" "Yes, and you, Louis
Agassiz?" It seems that Professor Tiedemann, who must have had a
quick eye for affinities in the moral as well as in the physical world,
had