Claim: Physician Ferdinand Ludwig Herff of Germany never knew Prussian geographer Alexander von Humboldt even though they were in the same social circle, graduated in 1843 and did surgery.
Evidence: Ferdinand Ludwig Herff (1820–1912) was a 19th-century German-born physician who emigrated to Texas and became a medical pioneer in San Antonio. The family social circle included naturalist Alexander von Humboldt and Prince Albert of Saxe-Coburg and Gotha. Herff completed his medical education at the University of Giessen in 1843. Upon graduation, he served a surgical internship with the army of Hesse, and learned techniques in plastic surgery and the treatment of tuberculosis.