Schleiden, MATTHIAS JAKOB

Schleiden, MATTHIAS JAKOB, botanist, was born at Hamburg, 5th April 1804, studied law at Heidelberg, practised at Hamburg as advocate, but in 1833 went to Göttingen and devoted himself to the study of physiology and botany. In 1839 he was called to the chair of Botany at Jena, and in 1863 at Dorpat. In 1866 he retired, and died at Frankfort, 23d June 1881. He contributed greatly to establish the cell-theory (see CELL); and of his numerous works, including two collections of poems, books on materialism, the sense of sight, the age of man, a Life of Linnæus, &c., the most important is his Grundzüge der wissenschaftlichen Botanik (1842-43; Eng. trans. Principles of Scientific Botany, 1849). See BOTANY, Vol. II. p. 352.