- worthy one of the collection being that of Conrad Gesner
of Zürich (1516-1565), who is spoken of by Haeser as "a man of noble birth, of extraordinary industry, of extensive knowledge in every department of natural history, and the author of a large number of treatises, which, by reason of their intrinsic value, cannot fail to perpetuate the memory of this distinguished scientist throughout all time." He had much to contend with throughout his short but eventful life. In the first place, he was very poor—so poor that both he and his young wife were obliged to support themselves during the early years of their married life by teaching school. Then he studied medicine at Basel, and afterward accepted the professorship of Greek, first at Lausanne and then in turn at Basel and at Zürich. From the beginning to the end of his career he was hampered by poverty and by frequent illnesses. But, despite these obstacles and also notwithstanding the fact that he was an indefatigable worker in matters relating to natural history, he is reported to have played one of the most influential parts in the drama of the Reformation. Only a man of exceptionally strong character and of unusual ability would have found it possible to attain the success which Gesner attained in these different undertakings and under such unfavorable circumstances. Andreas Caesalpinus, whom I have already mentioned as one of the earliest investigators of the question of the circulation of the blood, also interested himself in the science of botany. Puschmann speaks of him as the greatest botanist of the sixteenth century. For several years he was Professor of Philosophy and Medicine in the University of Pisa, but at a later date Pope Clement the Eighth chose him to be his private physician and also appointed him Professor of Medicine in the University of Sapienza at Rome. His death occurred in the latter city in 1603.
Before dismissing all further consideration of the part played by Italian and Spanish physicians during the sixteenth century in the advancement of the science of medicine, I shall briefly mention a few additional discoveries in botany and pharmacy that may serve to render the present
