Alsatian Lutheran clergyman, humanitarian, and philanthropist (1740-1826) who, as a founder of critical pedagogy, initiated the very first nursery schools in 1769; the city of Oberlin, Ohio, and its private liberal arts college and music conservatory, Oberlin College, is named in his honor. Rare ALS in French, signed “Oberlin,” one page both sides, 7.75 x 10, September 3, 1772. A lengthy handwritten letter to “Monsieur Herrman,” ostensibly French naturalist Johann Hermann, in full (translated): “You can see that what I have collected and have had collected by others is not worth presenting to you. The Lepisma [silverfish] (I do not know what to call them in French) I am sending you are all missing parts, with the exception of one. They were brought to me in a box, and when I opened it, the bottom was littered with arms and legs like a battlefield. I pinned up the Lepisma and put the detached antennae, legs, and tails in a small round box between sheets of white paper. I went myself to have them look for more in my presence, but we found only two, one of which had lost its antennae, the other the tail. They can be found in the hemlock near Fouday [a small village in Alsace, where Oberlin was buried], under the small stones. You have to pick up one stone at a time, very carefully if there is anything underneath. They are quite rare, and often, before you can spot them, they have run away. - The brown butterfly with two white stripes on the wing, got out of the long tube that you will see in the square box.
The Ichnemon Gigas, or sirex, [wood wasp] was brought to me from Rothau [another small village in the same area] by my boarders. They had a nasty little guy on the hat, a Cicindela [tiger beetle] that did not do well there. I scolded the boy about it, but what was done was done, and since then, I have had no more. I think they must have taken it from the stove of the Rothau parsonage. Schweigh promised to have any that may yet be found, caught and brought to me.
I have lingonberries in my orchard, and one of my people found two roosters on one of the shrubs, flying onto it, making it bend over. A hen was on the ground, holding the tip in its beak, so the chicks around her could eat, but neither the hen nor the roosters were seen to eat of it.
My border has a trough [?] in front of the window, without cover, and a few pieces of lead in the bottom. A few days ago, when I wanted to close the shutter, I saw two sparkles at the top of the box, taking them for two Noctilucas [lightning bugs]. When I wanted to touch them, there were several, and they stretched out long and seemed to flow or slide slowly to the bottom. I didn't catch any of them, but under my finger it felt like a cold and damp worm, as thin as a thread, and just a second after these spots and glowing threads stopped sparkling, I had someone bring me a light, and there wasn't a trace to be seen.
The soft yellowish beetles that are wrapped along with the rest of their kind in a leaf that they chew up and then in a scribbled piece of paper, are no doubt the same species as the red ones in the small round box. But being imprisoned and lacking fresh air, they didn't do very well. The larvae of these adults are remarkable. [Two small drawings] They are black as long as they are small, turning white as they grow, and on each side, they are covered by a double row of small black pustules which, as soon as you get close, fill instantly with white drops, to a really stunning effect. We did enjoy that part at least, but they spread such a strong, unpleasant odor that you soon cannot take it. The smell is somewhat similar to that of ‘Tästelkraut Wasser’ [?] but much harder to tolerate. I took some of them with me, but they died quickly. There is nothing left of them but what's in the miserable leaf I mentioned. NB. I placed the little square box, which holds the even smaller round one, in a box that I sent to my nephew. So you will be able to retrieve it from my sister-in-law.” The address leaf indicates that the letter was sent “with a bottle.” In fine condition, with scattered light foxing.
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