secure an increase in salary and better equipment for his faithful friend and helper. It was due to Goethe's influence that Döbereiner was nearly or quite the first chemistry professor in Germany who was able to give practical as well as theoretical class instruction in his subject.
Döbereiner made mistakes which are traceable to Goethe's influence. The two were certain, for example, that electricity is the source of life, and this belief led to some strange and quaint theories which smack a little of the old days of alchemy. Both were inclined to undervalue equipment, and to look upon the fields and the hills as an adequate laboratory. But on the whole, Goethe gave as much and as usefully as he took. Alexander von Humboldt had said that the immortal poet-philosopher's views of natural phenomena had "elevated him, equipped him as it were with new organs." And Döbereiner showed his gratitude not only in words, but in every tangible way that came within his reach. He was always ready to give time and thought to assisting his master wherever his talents made him useful, from the preparation of a tooth powder to the deciphering of a Latin epigram of the old poet Antonius dealing with a poison and an antidote—an epigram which was absolutely dark to the scholars, but became light as day with the help of the chemist.
Döbereiner was the youngest of the famous Weimar group, and many years after the death of the great chief and center of that group, the old Jena scientist found his greatest pleasure in telling the younger generation of the golden age of German intellectual activity.
