Berthollet's discovery of fulminating silver, and his method of obtaining pure hydrated potash and soda, by means of alcohol, deserve to be mentioned. This last process was of considerable importance to analytical chemistry. Before he published his process, these substances in a state of purity were not known.I think it unnecessary to enter into any details respecting his experiments on sulphuretted hydrogen, and the hydrosulphurets and sulphurets. They contributed essentially to elucidate that obscure part of chemistry. But his success was not perfect; nor did we understand completely the nature of these compounds, till the nature of the alkaline bases had been explained by the discoveries of Davy.The only other work of Berthollet, which I think it necessary to notice here, is his book entitled "Chemical Statics," which he published in 1803. He had previously drawn up some interesting papers on the subject, which were published in the Memoirs of the Institute. Though chemical affinity constitutes confessedly the basis of the science, it had been almost completely overlooked by Lavoisier, who had done nothing more on the subject than drawn up some tables of affinity, founded on very imperfect data. Morveau had attempted a more profound investigation of the subject in the articleAffinité, inserted in the chemical part of the Encyclopédie Méthodique. His object was, in imitation of Buffon, who had preceded him in the same investigation, to prove that chemical affinity is merely a case of theattraction of gravitation. But it is beyond our reach, in the present state of our knowledge, to determine the amount of attraction which the atoms of bodies exert with respect to each other. This was seen by Newton, and also by Bergman, who satisfied themselves with considering it as an attraction, without attempting to determine its amount; though Newton, with his usual sagacity, was inclined, from the phenomena of light, to consider the attraction of affinity as much stronger than that of gravitation, or at least as increasing much more rapidly, as the distances between the attracting particles diminished.Bergman, who had paid great attention to the subject, considered affinity as a certain determinate attraction, which the atoms of different bodies exerted towards each other. This attraction varies in intensity between every two bodies, though it is constant between each pair. The consequence is, that these intensities may be denoted by numbers. Thus, suppose a bodym, and the atoms of six other bodies,a,b,c,d,e,f, to have an affinity form, the forces by which they are attracted towards each other may be represented by the numbers x, x+1, x+2, x+3, x+4, x+5. And the attractions may be represented thus:Attraction betweenm&a=xm&b=x+1m&c=x+2m&d=x+3m&e=x+4m&f=x+5Suppose we have the compoundm a, if we presentb,it will unite withmand displacea, because the attraction betweenmandais only x, while that betweenm&bis x+1:cwill displaceb;dwill displacec, and so on, for the same reason. On this account Bergman considered affinity as anelective attraction, and in his opinion the intensity may always be estimated by decomposition. That substance which displaces another from a third, has a greater affinity than the body which is displaced. Ifbdisplaceafrom the compounda m, thenbhas a greater affinity formthanahas.The object of Berthollet in his Chemical Statics, was to combat this opinion of Bergman, which had been embraced without examination by chemists in general. If affinity be an attraction, Berthollet considered it as evident that it never could occasion decomposition. Supposeato have an affinity form, andbto have an affinity for the same substances. Let the affinity betweenbandmbe greater than that betweena m. Letbbe mixed with a solution of the compounda m, then in that casebwould unite witha m, and form the triple compounda m b. Bothaandbwould at once unite withm. No reason can be assigned whyashould separate fromm, andbtake its place. Berthollet admitted that in fact such decompositions often happened; but he accounted for them from other causes, and not from the superior affinity of one body over another. Suppose we have a solution ofsulphate of sodain water. This salt is a compound ofsulphuric acidandsoda; two substances between which a strong affinity subsists, and which therefore always unites whenever they come in contact. Suppose we have dissolved in another portion of water, a quantity of barytes, just sufficient to saturate the sulphuric acid in the sulphate of soda. If we mix these two solutions together. The barytes will combine withthe sulphuric acid and the compound (sulphate of barytes) will fall to the bottom, leaving a pure solution of soda in the water. In this case the barytes has seized all the sulphuric acid, and displaced the soda. The reason of this, according to Berthollet, is not that barytes has a stronger affinity for sulphuric acid than soda has; but because sulphate of barytes is insoluble in water. It therefore falls down, and of course the sulphuric acid is withdrawn from the soda. But if we add to a solution of sulphate of soda as much potash as will saturate all the sulphuric acid, no such decomposition will take place; at least, we have no evidence that it does. Both the alkalies, in this case, will unite to the acid and form a triple compound, consisting of potash, sulphuric acid, and soda. Let us now concentrate the solution by evaporation, and crystals of sulphate of potash will fall down. The reason is, that sulphate of potash is not nearly so soluble in water as sulphate of soda. Hence it separates; not because sulphuric acid has a greater affinity for potash than for soda, but because sulphate of potash is a much less soluble salt than sulphate of soda.This mode of reasoning of Berthollet is plausible, but not convincing: it is merely anargumentum ad ignorantiam. We can only prove the decomposition by separating the salts from each other, and this can only be done by their difference of solubility. But cases occur in which we can judge that decomposition has taken place from some other phenomena than precipitation. For example,nitrate of copperis abluesalt, whilemuriate of copperisgreen. If into a solution of nitrate of copper we pour muriatic acid, no precipitation appears, but the colour changes from blue to green. Is not this an evidence that the muriatic acid has displaced the nitric, and that the salt held in solution is not nitrate of copper, as it was at first, but muriate of copper?Berthollet accounts for all decompositions which take place when a third body is added, either by insolubility or byelasticity: as, for example, when sulphuric acid is poured into a solution of carbonate of ammonia, the carbonic acid all flies off, in consequence of its elasticity, and the sulphuric acid combines with the ammonia in its place. I confess that this explanation, of the reason why the carbonic acid flies off, appears to me very defective. The ammonia and carbonic acid are united by a force quite sufficient to overcome the elasticity of the carbonic acid. Accordingly, it exhibits no tendency to escape. Now, why should the elasticity of the acid cause it to escape when sulphuric acid is added? It certainly could not do so, unless it has weakened the affinity by which it is kept united to the ammonia. Now this is the very point for which Bergman contends. The subject will claim our attention afterwards, when we come to the electro-chemical discoveries, which distinguished the first ten years of the present century.Another opinion supported by Berthollet in his Chemical Statics is, that quantity may be made to overcome force; or, in other words, that it we mix a great quantity of a substance which has a weaker affinity with a small quantity of a substance which has a stronger affinity, the body having the weaker affinity will be able to overcome the other, and combine with a third body in place of it. He gave a number of instances of this; particularly, he showed that a large quantity of potash, when mixed with a small quantity of sulphate of barytes, is able to deprive the barytes of a portion of its sulphuric acid. In this way he accounted for the decomposition of the common salt, by carbonate of lime in the sodalakes in Egypt; and the decomposition of the same salt by iron, as noticed by Scheele.I must acknowledge myself not quite satisfied with Berthollet's reasoning on this subject. No doubt if two atoms of a body having a weaker affinity, and one atom of a body having a stronger affinity, were placed at equal distances from an atom of a third body, the force of the two atoms might overcome that of the one atom. And it is possible that such cases may occasionally occur: but such a balance of distances must be rare and accidental. I cannot but think that all the cases adduced by Berthollet are of a complicated nature, and admit of an explanation independent of the efficacy of mass. And at any rate, abundance of instances might be stated, in which mass appears to have no preponderating effect whatever. Chemical decomposition is a phenomenon of so complicated a nature, that it is more than doubtful whether we are yet in possession of data sufficient to enable us to analyze the process with accuracy.Another opinion brought forward by Berthollet in his work was of a startling nature, and occasioned a controversy between him and Proust which was carried on for some years with great spirit, but with perfect decorum and good manners on both sides. Berthollet affirmed that bodies were capable of uniting with each other in all possible proportions, and that there is no such thing as a definite compound, unless it has been produced by some accidental circumstances, as insolubility, volatility, &c. Thus every metal is capable of uniting with all possible doses of oxygen. So that instead of one or two oxides of every metal, an infinite number of oxides of each metal exist. Proust affirmed that all compounds are definite. Iron, says he, unites with oxygen only in two proportions; we have eithera compound of 3·5 iron and 1 oxygen, or of 3·5 iron and 1·5 oxygen. The first constitutes theblack, and the second theredoxide of iron; and beside these there is no other. Every one is now satisfied that Proust's view of the subject was correct, and Berthollet's erroneous. But a better opportunity will occur hereafter to explain this subject, or at least to give the information respecting it which we at present possess.Berthollet in this book points out the quantity of each base necessary to neutralize a given weight of acid, and he considers the strength of affinity as inversely that quantity. Now of all the bases known when Berthollet wrote, ammonia is capable of saturating the greatest quantity of acid. Hence he considered its affinity for acids as stronger than that of any other base. Barytes, on the contrary, saturates the smallest quantity of acid; therefore its affinity for acids is smallest. Now ammonia is separated from acids by all the other bases; while there is not one capable of separating barytes. It is surprising that the notoriety of this fact did not induce him to hesitate, before he came to so problematical a conclusion. Mr. Kirwan had already considered the force of affinity as directly proportional to the quantity of base necessary to saturate a given weight of acid. When we consider the subject metaphysically, Berthollet's opinion is most plausible; for it is surely natural to consider that body as the strongest which produces the greatest effect. Now when we deprive an acid of its properties, or neutralize it by adding a base, one would be disposed to consider that base as acting with most energy, which with the smallest quantity of matter is capable of producing a given effect. This was the way that Berthollet reasoned. But if we attend to the power which one base has of displacing another, we shall find it very nearly proportional to the weight of it necessary to saturate a given weight of acid; or, at least those bases act most powerfully in displacing others of which the greatest quantity is necessary to saturate a given weight of acid. Kirwan's opinion, therefore, was more conformable to the order of decomposition. These two opposite views of the subject show clearly that neither Kirwan nor Berthollet had the smallest conception of the atomic theory; and, consequently, that the allegation of Mr. Higgens, that he had explained the atomic theory in his book on phlogiston, published in the year 1789, was not well founded. Whether Berthollet had read that book I do not know, but there can be no doubt that it was perused by Kirwan; who, however, did not receive from it the smallest notions respecting the atomic theory. Had he imbibed any such notions, he never would have considered chemical affinity as capable of being measured by the weight of base capable of neutralizing a given weight of acid.Berthollet was not only a man of great energy of character, but of the most liberal feelings and benevolence. The only exception to this is his treatment of M. Clement. This gentleman, in company with M. Desormes, had examined the carbonic oxide of Priestley, and had shown as Cruikshanks had done before them, that it is a compound of carbon and oxygen, and that it contains no hydrogen whatever. Berthollet examined the same gas, and he published a paper to prove that it was a triple compound of oxygen, carbon, and hydrogen. This occasioned a controversy, which chemists have finally determined in favour of the opinion of Clement and Desormes. Berthollet, during this discussion, did not on every occasion treat his opponents with his accustomed temper and liberality; and everafter he opposed all attempts on the part of Clement to be admitted a member of the Institute. Whether there was any other reason for this conduct on the part of Berthollet, besides difference of opinion respecting the composition of carbonic oxide, I do not know: nor would it be right to condemn him without a more exact knowledge of all the circumstances than I can pretend to.Antoine François de Fourcroy, was born at Paris on the 15th of June, 1755. His family had long resided in the capital, and several of his ancestors had distinguished themselves at the bar. But the branch from which he sprung had gradually sunk into poverty. His father exercised in Paris the trade of an apothecary, in consequence of a charge which he held in the house of the Duke of Orleans. The corporation of apothecaries having obtained the general suppression of all such charges, M. de Fourcroy, the father, was obliged to renounce his mode of livelihood; and his son grew up in the midst of the poverty produced by the monopoly of the privileged bodies in Paris. He felt this situation the more keenly, because he possessed from nature an extreme sensibility of temper. When he lost his mother, at the age of seven years, he attempted to throw himself into her grave. The care of an elder sister preserved him with difficulty till he reached the age at which it was usual to be sent to college. There he was unlucky enough to meet with a brutal master, who conceived an aversion for him and treated him with cruelty: the consequence, was, a dislike to study; and he quitted the college at the age of fourteen, somewhat less informed than when he went to it.His poverty now was such that he was obliged to endeavour to support himself by becoming writing-master. He had even some thoughts of going onthe stage; but was prevented by the hisses bestowed on a friend of his who had unadvisedly entered upon that perilous career, and was treated in consequence without mercy by the audience. While uncertain what plan to follow, the advice of Viq. d'Azyr induced him to commence the study of medicine.This great anatomist was an acquaintance of M. de Fourcroy, the father. Struck with the appearance of his son, and the courage with which he struggled with his bad fortune, he conceived an affection for him, and promised to direct his studies, and even to assist him during their progress. The study of medicine to a man in his situation was by no means an easy task. He was obliged to lodge in a garret, so low in the roof that he could only stand upright in the middle of the room. Beside him lodged a water-carrier with twelve children. Fourcroy acted as physician to this numerous family, and in recompence was always supplied with abundance of water. He contrived to support himself by giving lessons to other students, by facilitating the researches of richer writers, and by some translations which he sold to a bookseller. For these he was only half paid; but the conscientious bookseller offered thirty years afterwards to make up the deficiency, when his creditor was become director-general of public instruction.Fourcroy studied with so much zeal and ardour that he soon became well acquainted with the subject of medicine. But this was not sufficient. It was necessary to get a doctor's degree, and all the expenses at that time amounted to 250l.An old physician, Dr. Diest, had left funds to the faculty to give a gratuitous degree and licence, once every two years, to the poor student who should best deserve them. Fourcroy was the most conspicuousstudent at that time in Paris. He would therefore have reaped the benefit of this benevolent institution had it not been for the unlucky situation in which he was placed. There happened to exist a quarrel between the faculty charged with the education of medical men and the granting of degrees, and a society recently formed by government for the improvement of the medical art. This dispute had been carried to a great length, and had attracted the attention of all the frivolous and idle inhabitants of Paris. Viq. d'Azyr was secretary to the society, and of course one of its most active champions; and was, in consequence, particularly obnoxious to the faculty of medicine at Paris. Fourcroy was unluckily the acknowledgedprotégéeof this eminent anatomist. This was sufficient to induce the faculty of medicine to refuse him a gratuitous degree. He would have been excluded in consequence of this from entering on the career of a practitioner, had not the society, enraged at this treatment, and influenced by a violent party spirit, formed a subscription, and contributed the necessary expenses.It was no longer possible to refuse M. de Fourcroy the degree of doctor, when he was thus enabled to pay for it. But above the simple degree of doctor there was another, entitleddocteur regent, which depended entirely on the votes of the faculty. It was unanimously refused to M. de Fourcroy. This refusal put it out of his power afterwards to commence teacher in the medical school, and gave the medical faculty the melancholy satisfaction of not being able to enroll among their number the most celebrated professor in Paris. This violent and unjust conduct of the faculty of medicine made a deep impression on the mind of Fourcroy, and contributed not a little to the subsequent downfall of that powerful body.Fourcroy being thus entitled to practise in Paris, his success depended entirely on the reputation which he could contrive to establish. For this purpose he devoted himself to the sciences connected with medicine, as the shortest and most certain road by which he could reach his object. His first writings showed no predilection for any particular branch of science. He wrote uponchemistry,anatomy, andnatural history. He published an Abridgment of the History of Insects, and a Description of the Bursæ Mucosæ of the Tendons. This last piece seems to have given him the greatest celebrity; for in 1785 he was admitted, in consequence of it, into the academy as an anatomist. But the reputation of Bucquet, at that time very high, gradually drew his particular attention to chemistry, and he retained this predilection during the rest of his life.Bucquet was at that time professor of chemistry in the Medical School of Paris, and was greatly celebrated and followed on account of his eloquence, and the elegance of his language. Fourcroy became in the first place his pupil, and afterwards his particular friend. One day, when a sudden attack of disease prevented him from lecturing as usual, he entreated Fourcroy to supply his place. Our young chemist at first declined, and alleged his ignorance of the method of addressing a public audience. But, overcome by the persuasions of Bucquet, he at last consented: and in this, his first essay, he spoke two hours without disorder or hesitation, and acquitted himself to the satisfaction of his whole audience. Bucquet soon after substituted him in his place, and it was in his laboratory and in his class-room that he first made himself acquainted with chemistry. He was enabled at the death of Bucquet, in consequence of an advantageous marriage that he had made, to purchase the apparatus and cabinet of his master; and although the faculty of medicine would not allow him to succeed to the chair of Bucquet, they could not prevent him from succeeding to his reputation.There was a kind of college which had been established in the Jardin du Roi, which at that time was under the superintendence of Buffon, and Macquer was the professor of chemistry in this institution. On the death of this chemist, in 1784, both Berthollet and Fourcroy offered themselves as candidates for the vacant chair. The voice of the public was so loud in favour of Fourcroy, that he was appointed to the situation in spite of the high character of his antagonist and the political influence which was exerted in his favour. He filled this chair for twenty-five years, with a reputation for eloquence continually on the increase. Such were the crowds, both of men and women, who flocked to hear him, that it was twice necessary to enlarge the size of the lecture room.After the revolution had made some progress, he was named a member of the National Convention in the autumn of the memorable year 1793. It was during the reign of terror, when the Convention itself, and with it all France, was under the absolute dominion of one of the most sanguinary monsters that ever existed: it was almost equally dangerous for the members of the Convention to remain silent, or to take an active part in the business of that assembly. Fourcroy never opened his mouth in the Convention till after the death of Robespierre; at this period he had influence enough to save the lives of some men of merit: among others, of Darcet, who did not know the obligation under which he lay to him till long after; at last his own life was threatened, and his influence, of course, completely annihilated.It was during this unfortunate and disgraceful period, that many eminent men lost their lives; among others, Lavoisier; and Fourcroy is accused of having contributed to the death of this illustrious chemist: but Cuvier entirely acquits him of this atrocious charge, and assures us that it was urged against him merely out of envy at his subsequent elevation. "If in the rigorous researches which we have made," says Cuvier in his Eloge of Fourcroy, "we had found the smallest proof of an atrocity so horrible, no human power could have induced us to sully our mouths with his Eloge, or to have pronounced it within the walls of this temple, which ought to be no less sacred to honour than to genius."Fourcroy began to acquire influence only after the 9th Thermidor, when the nation was wearied with destruction, and when efforts were making to restore those monuments of science, and those public institutions for education, which during the wantonness and folly of the revolution had been overturned and destroyed. Fourcroy was particularly active in this renovation, and it was to him, chiefly, that the schools established in France for the education of youth are to be ascribed. The Convention had destroyed all the colleges, universities, and academies throughout France. The effects of this absurd abolition soon became visible; the army stood in need of surgeons and physicians, and there were none educated to supply the vacant places: three new schools were founded for educating medical men; they were nobly endowed. The termschools of medicinewas proscribed as too aristocratical; they were distinguished by the ridiculous appellation ofschools of health. ThePolytechnic Schoolwas next instituted, as a kind of preparation for the exercise of the military profession, where young men could be instructed in mathematics and natural philosophy, to make them fit for enteringthe schools of the artillery, of engineers, and of the marine. TheCentral Schoolswas another institution for which France was indebted to the efforts of Fourcroy. The idea was good, though it was very imperfectly executed. It was to establish a kind of university in every department, for which the young men were to be prepared by a sufficient number of inferior schools scattered through the department. But unfortunately these inferior schools were never properly established or endowed; and even the central schools themselves were never supplied with proper masters. Indeed, it was found impossible to furnish such a number of masters at once. On that account, an institution was established in Paris, called theNormal School, for the express purpose of educating a sufficient number of masters to supply the different central schools.Fourcroy, either as a member of the Convention or of theCouncil of the Ancients, took an active part in all these institutions, as far as regarded the plan and the establishment. He was equally concerned in the establishment of the Institute and of theMusée d'Histoire Naturelle. This last was endowed with the utmost liberality, and Fourcroy was one of the first professors; as he was also in the School of Medicine and the Polytechnic School. He was equally concerned in the restoration of the university, which constituted one of the most useful parts of Bonaparte's reign.The violent exertions which he made in the numerous situations which he filled, and the prodigious activity which he displayed, gradually undermined his constitution. He himself was sensible of his approaching death, and announced it to his friends as an event which would speedily take place. On the 16th of December, 1809, after signing some despatches, he suddenly cried out,Jesuis mort(I am dead), and dropped lifeless on the ground.He was twice married: first to Mademoiselle Bettinger, by whom he had two children, a son and a daughter, who survived him. He was married for the second time to Madame Belleville, the widow of Vailly, by whom he had no family. He left but little fortune behind him; and two maiden sisters, who lived with him, depended afterwards for their support on his friend M. Vauquelin.Notwithstanding the vast quantity of papers which he published, it will be admitted, without dispute, that the prodigious reputation which he enjoyed during his lifetime was more owing to his eloquence than to his eminence as a chemist—though even as a chemist he was far above mediocrity. He must have possessed an uncommon facility of writing. Five successive editions of his System of Chemistry appeared, each of them gradually increasing in size and value: the first being in two volumes and the last in ten. This last edition he wrote in sixteen months: it contains much valuable information, and doubtless contributed considerably to the general diffusion of chemical knowledge. Its style is perhaps too diffuse, and the spirit of generalizing from particular, and often ill-authenticated facts, is carried to a vicious length. Perhaps the best of all his productions is his Philosophy of Chemistry. It is remarkable for its conciseness, its perspicuity, and the neatness of its arrangement.Besides these works, and the periodical publication entitled "Le Médecin éclairé," of which he was the editor, there are above one hundred and sixty papers on chemical subjects, with his name attached to them, which appeared in the Memoirs of the Academy and of the Institute; in the Annales de Chimie, or the Annales de Musée d'Histoire Naturelle; of whichlast work he was the original projector. Many of these papers contained analyses both animal, vegetable, and mineral, of very considerable value. In most of them, the name of Vauquelin is associated with his own as the author; and the general opinion is, that the experiments were all made by Vauquelin; but that the papers themselves were drawn up by Fourcroy.It would serve little purpose to go over this long list of papers; because, though they contributed essentially to the progress of chemistry, yet they exhibit but few of those striking discoveries, which at once alter the face of the science, by throwing a flood of light on every thing around them. I shall merely notice a few of what I consider as his best papers.1. He ascertained that the most common biliary calculi are composed of a substance similar to spermaceti. This substance, in consequence of a subsequent discovery which he made during the removal of the dead bodies from the burial-ground of the Innocents at Paris; namely, that these bodies are converted into a fatty matter, he calledadipocire. It has since been distinguished by the name ofcholestine; and has been shown to possess properties different from those of adipocire and spermaceti.2. It is to him that we are indebted for the first knowledge of the fact, that the salts of magnesia and ammonia have the property of uniting together, and forming double salts.3. His dissertation on the sulphate of mercury contains some good observations. The same remark applies to his paper on the action of ammonia on the sulphate, nitrate, and muriate of mercury. He first described the double salts which are formed.4. The analysis of urine would have been valuable had not almost all the facts contained in it beenanticipated by a paper of Dr. Wollaston, published in the Philosophical Transactions. It is to him that we are indebted for almost all the additions to our knowledge of calculi since the publication of Scheele's original paper on the subject.5. I may mention the process of Fourcroy and Vauquelin for obtaining pure barytes, by exposing nitrate of barytes to a red heat, as a good one. They discovered the existence of phosphate of magnesia in bones, of phosphorus in the brain and in the milts of fishes, and of a considerable quantity of saccharine matter in the bulb of the common onion; which, by undergoing a kind of spontaneous fermentation was converted intomanna.In these, and many other similar discoveries, which I think it unnecessary to notice, we do not know what fell to the share of Fourcroy and what to Vauquelin; but there is one merit at least to which Fourcroy is certainly entitled, and it is no small one: he formed and brought forward Vauquelin, and proved to him, ever after, a most steady and indefatigable friend. This is bestowing no small panegyric on his character; for it would have been impossible to have retained such a friend through all the horrors of the French revolution, if his own qualities had not been such as to merit so steady an attachment.Louis Bernard Guyton de Morveau was born at Dijon on the 4th of January, 1737. His father, Anthony Guyton, was professor of civil law in the University of Dijon, and descended from an ancient and respectable family. At the age of seven he showed an uncommon mechanical turn: being with his father at a small village near Dijon, he there happened to meet a public officer returning from a sale, whence he had brought back a clock that had remained unsold on account of its very bad condition. Morveau supplicated his father to buy it. The purchase was made for six francs. Young Morveau took it to pieces and cleaned it, supplied some parts that were wanting, and put it up again without any assistance. In 1799 this very clock was resold at a higher price, together with the estate and house in which it had been originally placed; having during the whole of that time continued to go in the most satisfactory manner. When only eight years of age, he took his mother's watch to pieces, cleaned it, and put it up again to the satisfaction of all parties.After finishing his preliminary studies in his father's house, he went to college, and terminated his attendance on it at the age of sixteen. About this time he was instructed in botany by M. Michault, a friend of his father, and a naturalist of some eminence. He now commenced law student in the University of Dijon; and, after three years of intense application, he went to Paris to acquire a knowledge of the practice of the law.While in Paris, he not only attended to law, but cultivated at the same time several branches of polite literature. In 1756 he paid a visit to Voltaire, at Ferney. This seems to have inspired him with a love of poetry, particularly of the descriptive and satiric kind. About a year afterwards, when only twenty, he published a poem called "Le Rat Iconoclaste, ou le Jesuite croquée." It was intended to throw ridicule on a well-known anecdote of the day, and to assist in blowing the fire that already threatened destruction to the obnoxious order of Jesuits. The adventure alluded to was this: Some nuns, who felt a strong predilection for a Jesuit, their spiritual director, were engaged in their accustomed Christmas occupation of modelling a representation of a religious mystery, decorated with several smallstatues representing the holy personages connected with the subject, and among them that of the ghostly father; but, to mark their favourite, his statue was made of loaf sugar. The following day was destined for the triumph of the Jesuit: but, meanwhile, a rat had devoured the valuable puppet. The poem is written after the agreeable manner of the celebrated poem, "Ververt."At the age of twenty-four he had already pleaded several important causes at the bar, when the office of advocate-general, at the parliament of Dijon, was advertised for sale. At that time all public situations, however important, were sold to the best bidder. His father having ascertained that this place would be acceptable to his son, purchased it for forty thousand francs. The reputation of the young advocate, and his engaging manners, facilitated the bargain.In 1764 he was admitted an honorary member of the Academy of Sciences, Arts, and Belles Lettres, of Dijon. Two months after, he presented to the assembled chamber of the parliament of Burgundy, a memoir on public instruction, with a plan for a college, on the principles detailed in his work. The encomiums which every public journal of the time passed on this production, and the flattering letters which he received, were unequivocal proofs of its value. In this memoir he endeavoured to prove that man isbadorgood, according to the education which he has received. This doctrine was contrary to the creed of Diderot, who affirmed, in his Essay on the Life of Seneca, that nature makes wicked persons, and that the best institutions cannot render them good. But this mischievous opinion was successfully refuted by Morveau, in a letter to an anonymous friend.The exact sciences were so ill taught, and lamelycultivated at Dijon, during the time of his university education, that after his admission into the academy his notions on mechanics and natural philosophy were scanty and inaccurate. Dr. Chardenon was in the habit of reading memoirs on chemical subjects; and on one occasion Morveau thought it necessary to hazard some remarks which were ill received by the doctor, who sneeringly told him that having obtained such success in literature, he had better rest satisfied with the reputation so justly acquired, and leave chemistry to those who knew more of the matter.Provoked at this violent remark, he resolved upon taking an honourable revenge. He therefore applied himself to the study of Macquer's Theoretical and Practical Chemistry, and of the Manual of Chemistry which Beaumé had just published. To the last chemist he also sent an extensive order for chemical preparations and utensils, with a view of forming a small laboratory near his office. He began by repeating many of Beaumé's experiments, and then trying his inexperienced hand at original researches. He soon found himself strong enough to attack the doctor. The latter had just been reading a memoir on the analysis of different kinds of oil; and Morveau combated some of his opinions with so much skill and sagacity, as astonished every one present. After the meeting, Dr. Chardenon addressed him thus: "You are born to be an honour to chemistry. So much knowledge could only have been gained by genius united with perseverance. Follow your new pursuit, and confer with me in your difficulties."But this new pursuit did not prevent Morveau from continuing to cultivate literature with success. He wrote anElogeof Charles V. of France, surnamedthe Wise, which had been given out as thesubject of a prize, by the academy. A few months afterwards, at the opening of the session of parliament, he delivered a discourse on the actual state of jurisprudence; on which subject, three years after, he composed a more extensive and complete work. No code of laws demanded reform more urgently than those of France, and none saw more clearly the necessity of such a reformation.About this time a young gentleman of Dijon had taken into his house an adept, who offered, upon being furnished with the requisite materials, to produce gold in abundance; but, after six months of expensive and tedious operations (during which period the roguish pretender had secretly distilled many oils, &c., which he disposed of for his own profit), the gentleman beginning to doubt the sincerity of his instructer, dismissed him from his service and sold the whole of his apparatus and materials to Morveau for a trifling sum.Soon after he repaired to Paris, to visit the scientific establishments of that metropolis, and to purchase preparations and apparatus which he still wanted to enable him to pursue with effect his favourite study. For this purpose he applied to Beaumé, then one of the most conspicuous of the French chemists. Pleased with his ardour, Beaumé inquired what courses of chemistry he had attended. "None," was the answer.—"How then could you have learned to make experiments, and above all, how could you have acquired the requisite dexterity?"—"Practice," replied the young chemist, "has been my master; melted crucibles and broken retorts my tutors."—"In that case," said Beaumé, "you have not learned, you have invented."About this time Dr. Chardenon read a paper before the Dijon Academy on the causes of the augmentation of weight which metals experience when calcined. He combated the different explanations which had been already advanced, and then proceeded to show that it might be accounted for in a satisfactory manner by theabstractionof phlogiston. This drew the attention of Morveau to the subject: he made a set of experiments a few months afterwards, and read a paper on thephenomena of the air during combustion. It was soon after that he made a set of experiments on the time taken by different substances to absorb or emit a given quantity of heat. These experiments, if properly followed out, would have led to the discovery ofspecific heat; but in his hands they seem to have been unproductive.In the year 1772 he published a collection of scientific essays under the title of "Digressions Académiques." The memoirs onphlogiston,crystallization, andsolution, found in this book deserve particular attention, and show the superiority of Morveau over most of the chemists of the time.About this time an event happened which deserves to be stated. It had been customary in one of the churches of Dijon to bury considerable numbers of dead bodies. From these an infectious exhalation had proceeded, which had brought on a malignant disorder, and threatened the inhabitants of Dijon with something like the plague. All attempts to put an end to this infectious matter had failed, when Morveau tried the following method with complete success: A mixture of common salt and sulphuric acid in a wide-mouthed vessel was put upon chafing-dishes in various parts of the church. The doors and windows were closed and left in this state for twenty-four hours. They were then thrown open, and the chafing-dishes with the mixtures removed. Every remains of the bad smell was gone, and the church was rendered quite clean and free from infection. The same process was tried soon after in the prisons of Dijon, and with the same success. Afterwards chlorine gas was substituted for muriatic acid gas, and found still more efficacious. The present practice is to employ chloride of lime, or chloride of soda, for the purpose of fumigating infected apartments, and the process is found still more effectual than the muriatic acid gas, as originally employed by Morveau. The nitric acid fumes, proposed by Dr. Carmichael Smith, are also efficacious, but the application of them is much more troublesome and more expensive than of chloride of lime, which costs very little.In the year 1774 it occurred to Morveau, that a course of lectures on chemistry, delivered in his native city, might be useful. Application being made to the proper authorities, the permission was obtained, and the necessary funds for supplying a laboratory granted. These lectures were begun on the 29th of April, 1776, and seem to have been of the very best kind. Every thing was stated with great clearness, and illustrated by a sufficient number of experiments. His fame now began to extend, and his name to be known to men of science in every part of Europe; and, in consequence, he began to experience the fate of almost all eminent men—to be exposed to the attacks of the malignant and the envious. The experiments which he exhibited to determine the properties ofcarbonic acid gasdrew upon him the animadversions of several medical men, who affirmed that this gas was nothing else than a peculiar state of sulphuric acid. Morveau answered these animadversions in two pamphlets, and completely refuted them.About this time he got metallic conductors erected on the house of the Academy at Dijon. On this account he was attacked violently for his presumptionin disarming the hand of the Supreme Being. A multitude of fanatics assembled to pull down the conductors, and they would probably have done much mischief, had it not been for the address of M. Maret, the secretary, who assured them that the astonishing virtue of the apparatus resided in the gilded point, which had purposely been sent from Rome by the holy father! Will it excite any surprise, that within less than twenty years after this the mass of the French people not only renounced the Christian religion, and the spiritual dominion of the pope, but declared themselves atheists!In 1777 Morveau published the first volume of a course of chemistry, which was afterwards followed by three other volumes, and is known by the name of "Elémens de Chimie de l'Académie de Dijon." This book was received with universal approbation, and must have contributed very much to increase the value of his lectures. Indeed, a text-book is essential towards a successful course of lectures: it puts it in the power of the students to understand the lecture if they be at the requisite pains; and gives them a means of clearing up their difficulties, when any such occur. I do not hesitate to say, that a course of chemical lectures is twice as valuable when the students are furnished with a good text-book, as when they are left to interpret the lectures by their own unassisted exertions.Soon after he undertook the establishment of a manufacture of saltpetre upon a large scale. For this he received the thanks of M. Necker, who was at that time minister of finance, in the name of the King of France. This manufactory he afterwards gave up to M. Courtois, whose son still carries it on, and is advantageously known to the public as the discoverer ofiodine.His next object was to make a collection of minerals, and to make himself acquainted with the science of mineralogy. All this was soon accomplished. In 1777 he was charged to examine the slate-quarries and the coal-mines of Burgundy, for which purpose he performed a mineralogical tour through the province. In 1779 he discovered a lead-mine in that country, and a few years afterwards, when the attention of chemists had been drawn to sulphate of barytes and its base, by the Swedish chemists, he sought for it in Burgundy, and found it in considerable quantity at Thôte. This enabled him to draw up a description of the mineral, and to determine the characters of the base, to which he gave the name ofbarote; afterwards altered to that of barytes. This paper was published in the third volume of the Memoirs of the Dijon Academy. In this paper he describes his method of decomposing sulphate of barytes, by heating it with charcoal—a method now very frequently followed.In the year 1779 he was applied to by Pankouke, who meditated the great project of theEncyclopédie Méthodique, to undertake the chemical articles in that immense dictionary, and the demand was supported by a letter from Buffon, whose request he did not think that he could with propriety refuse. The engagement was signed between them in September, 1780. The first half-volume of the chemical part of this Encyclopédie did not appear till 1786, and Morveau must have been employed during the interval in the necessary study and researches. Indeed, it is obvious, from many of the articles, that he had spent a good deal of time in experiments of research.The state of the chemical nomenclature was at that period peculiarly barbarous and defective. He found himself stopped at every corner for want of words to express his meaning. This state of things he resolved to correct, and accordingly in 1782 published his first essay on a new chemical nomenclature. No sooner did this essay appear than it was attacked by almost all the chemists of Paris, and by none more zealously than by the chemical members of the academy. Undismayed by the violence of his antagonists, and satisfied with the rectitude of his views, and the necessity of the reform, he went directly to Paris to answer the objections in person. He not only succeeded in convincing his antagonists of the necessity of reform; but a few years afterwards prevailed upon the most eminent chemical members of the academy, Lavoisier, Berthollet, and Fourcroy, to unite with him in rendering the reform still more complete and successful. He drew up a memoir, exhibiting a plan of a methodical chemical nomenclature, which was read at a meeting of the Academy of Sciences, in 1787. Morveau, then, was in reality the author of the new chemical nomenclature, if we except a few terms, which had been already employed by Lavoisier. Had he done nothing more for the science than this, it would deservedly have immortalized his name. For every one must be sensible how much the new nomenclature contributed to the subsequent rapid extension of chemical science.It was during the repeated conferences held with Lavoisier and the other two associates that Morveau became satisfied of the truth of Lavoisier's new doctrine, and that he was induced to abandon the phlogistic theory. We do not know the methods employed to convert him. Doubtless both reasoning and experiment were made use of for the purpose.It was during this period that Morveau published a French translation of the Opuscula of Bergman. A society of friends, under his encouragement, translated the chemical memoirs of Scheele and many other foreign books of importance, which by theirmeans were made known to the men of science in France.In 1783, in consequence of a favourable report by Macquer, Morveau obtained permission to establish a manufactory of carbonate of soda, the first of the kind ever attempted in France. It was during the same year that he published his collection of pleadings at the bar, among which we find his Discours sur la Bonhomie, delivered at the opening of the sessions at Dijon, with which he took leave of his fellow-magistrates, surrendering the insignia of office, as he had determined to quit the profession of the law.On the 25th of April, 1784, Morveau, accompanied by President Virly, ascended from Dijon in a balloon, which he had himself constructed, and repeated the ascent on the 12th of June following, with a view of ascertaining the possibility of directing these aerostatic machines, by an apparatus of his own contrivance. The capacity of the balloon was 10,498,074 French cubic feet. The effect produced by this bold undertaking by two of the most distinguished characters in the town was beyond description. Such ascents were then quite new, and looked upon with a kind of reverential awe. Though Morveau failed in his attempts to direct these aerial vessels, yet his method was ingenious and exceedingly plausible.In 1786 Dr. Maret, secretary to the Dijon Academy, having fallen a victim to an epidemic disease, which he had in vain attempted to arrest, Morveau was appointed perpetual secretary and chancellor of the institution. Soon after this the first half-volume of the chemical part of the Encyclopédie Méthodique made its appearance, and drew the attention of every person interested in the science of chemistry. No chemical treatise had hitherto appeared worthy ofbeing compared to it. The articleAcid, which occupies a considerable part, is truely admirable; and whether we consider the historical details, the completeness of the accounts, the accuracy of the description of the experiments, or the elegance of the style, constitutes a complete model of what such a work should be. I may, perhaps, be partial, as it was from this book that I imbibed my own first notions in chemistry, but I never perused any book with more delight, and when I compared it with the best chemical books of the time, whether German, French, or English, its superiority became still more striking.In the articleAcier, Morveau had come to the very same conclusions, with respect to the nature ofsteel, as had been come to by Berthollet, Monge, and Vandermonde, in their celebrated paper on the subject, just published in the Memoirs of the Academy. His own article had been printed, though not published, before the appearance of the Memoir of the Academicians. This induced him to send an explanation to Berthollet, which was speedily published in the Journal de Physique.In September, 1787, he received a visit from Lavoisier, Berthollet, Fourcroy, Monge, and Vandermonde. Dr. Beddoes, who was travelling through France at the time, and happened to be in Dijon, joined the party. The object of the meeting was to discuss several experiments explanatory of the new doctrine. In 1789 an attempt was made to get him admitted as a member of the Academy of Sciences; but it failed, notwithstanding the strenuous exertions of Berthollet and his other chemical friends.The French revolution had now broken out, occasioned by the wants of the state on the one hand, and the resolute determination of the clergy and thenobility on the other, not to submit to bear any share in the public burdens. During the early part of this revolution Morveau took no part whatever in politics. In 1790, when France was divided into departments, he was named one of a commission by the National Assembly for the formation of the department of the Côte d'Or. On the 25th of August, 1791, he received from the Academy of Sciences the annual prize of 2000 francs, for the most useful work published in the course of the year. This was decreed him for his Dictionary of Chemistry, in the Encyclopédie Méthodique. Aware of the pressing necessities of the state, Morveau seized the opportunity of showing his desire of contributing towards its relief, by making a patriotic offering of the whole amount of his prize.When the election of the second Constitutional Assembly took place, he was nominated a member by the electoral college of his department. A few months before, his name had appeared among the list of members proposed by the assembly, for the election of a governor to the heir-apparent. All this, together with the dignity of solicitor-general of the department to which he had recently been raised, not permitting him to continue his chemical lectures at Dijon, of which he had already delivered fifteen gratuitous courses, he resigned his chair in favour of Dr. Chaussier, afterwards a distinguished professor at the Faculty of Medicine of Paris; and, bidding adieu to his native city, proceeded to Paris.On the ever memorable 16th of January, 1793, he voted with the majority of deputies. He was therefore, in consequence of this vote, a regicide. During the same year he resigned, in favour of the republic, his pension of two thousand francs, together with the arrears of that pension.In 1794 he received from government differentcommissions to act with the French armies in the Low Countries. Charged with the direction of a great aerostatic machine for warlike purposes, he superintended that one in which the chief of the staff of General Jourdan and himself ascended during the battle of Fleurus, and which so materially contributed to the success of the French arms on that day. On his return from his various missions, he received from the three committees of the executive government an invitation to co-operate with several learned men in the instruction of thecentral schools, and was named professor of chemistry at theEcole Centrale des Travaux publiques, since better known under the name of thePolytechnic School.In 1795 he was re-elected member of the Council of Five Hundred, by the electoral assemblies of Sarthe and Ile et Vilaine. The executive government, at this time, decreed the formation of the National Institute, and named him one of the forty-eight members chosen by government to form the nucleus of that scientific body.In 1797 he resigned all his public situations, and once more attached himself exclusively to science and to the establishments for public instruction. In 1798 he was appointed a provisional director of the Polytechnic School, to supply the place of Monge, who was then in Egypt. He continued to exercise its duties during eighteen months, to the complete satisfaction of every person connected with that establishment. With much delicacy and disinterestedness, he declined accepting the salary of 2000 francs attached to this situation, which he thought belonged to the proper director, though absent from his duties.In 1799 Bonaparte appointed him one of the administrators-general of the Mint; and the year following he was made director of the PolytechnicSchool. In 1803 he received the cross of the Legion of Honour, then recently instituted; and in 1805 was made an officer of the same order. These honours were intended as a reward for the advantage which had accrued from the mineral acid fumigations which he had first suggested. In 1811 he was created a baron of the French empire.After having taught in theEcole Polytechniquefor sixteen years, he obtained leave, on applying to the proper authorities, to withdraw into the retired station of private life, crowned with years and reputation, and followed with the blessings of the numerous pupils whom he had brought up in the career of science. In this situation he continued about three years, during which he witnessed the downfall of Bonaparte, and the restoration of the Bourbons. On the 21st of December, 1815, he was seized with a total exhaustion of strength; and, after an illness of three days only, expired in the arms of his disconsolate wife, and a few trusty friends, having nearly completed the eightieth year of his age. On the 3d of January, 1816, his remains were followed to the grave by the members of the Institute, and many other distinguished men: and Berthollet, one of his colleagues, pronounced a short but impressive funeral oration on his departed friend.Morveau had married Madame Picardet, the widow of a Dijon academician, who had distinguished himself by numerous scientific translations from the Swedish, German, and English languages. The marriage took place after they were both advanced in life, and he left no children behind him. His publications on chemical subjects were exceedingly numerous, and he contributed as much as any of his contemporaries to the extension of the science; but as he was not the author of anystriking chemical discoveries, it would be tedious to give a catalogue of his numerous productions which were scattered through the Dijon Memoirs, the Journal de Physique, and the Annales de Chimie.
Berthollet's discovery of fulminating silver, and his method of obtaining pure hydrated potash and soda, by means of alcohol, deserve to be mentioned. This last process was of considerable importance to analytical chemistry. Before he published his process, these substances in a state of purity were not known.
I think it unnecessary to enter into any details respecting his experiments on sulphuretted hydrogen, and the hydrosulphurets and sulphurets. They contributed essentially to elucidate that obscure part of chemistry. But his success was not perfect; nor did we understand completely the nature of these compounds, till the nature of the alkaline bases had been explained by the discoveries of Davy.
The only other work of Berthollet, which I think it necessary to notice here, is his book entitled "Chemical Statics," which he published in 1803. He had previously drawn up some interesting papers on the subject, which were published in the Memoirs of the Institute. Though chemical affinity constitutes confessedly the basis of the science, it had been almost completely overlooked by Lavoisier, who had done nothing more on the subject than drawn up some tables of affinity, founded on very imperfect data. Morveau had attempted a more profound investigation of the subject in the articleAffinité, inserted in the chemical part of the Encyclopédie Méthodique. His object was, in imitation of Buffon, who had preceded him in the same investigation, to prove that chemical affinity is merely a case of theattraction of gravitation. But it is beyond our reach, in the present state of our knowledge, to determine the amount of attraction which the atoms of bodies exert with respect to each other. This was seen by Newton, and also by Bergman, who satisfied themselves with considering it as an attraction, without attempting to determine its amount; though Newton, with his usual sagacity, was inclined, from the phenomena of light, to consider the attraction of affinity as much stronger than that of gravitation, or at least as increasing much more rapidly, as the distances between the attracting particles diminished.
Bergman, who had paid great attention to the subject, considered affinity as a certain determinate attraction, which the atoms of different bodies exerted towards each other. This attraction varies in intensity between every two bodies, though it is constant between each pair. The consequence is, that these intensities may be denoted by numbers. Thus, suppose a bodym, and the atoms of six other bodies,a,b,c,d,e,f, to have an affinity form, the forces by which they are attracted towards each other may be represented by the numbers x, x+1, x+2, x+3, x+4, x+5. And the attractions may be represented thus:
Attraction betweenm&a=xm&b=x+1m&c=x+2m&d=x+3m&e=x+4m&f=x+5
Suppose we have the compoundm a, if we presentb,it will unite withmand displacea, because the attraction betweenmandais only x, while that betweenm&bis x+1:cwill displaceb;dwill displacec, and so on, for the same reason. On this account Bergman considered affinity as anelective attraction, and in his opinion the intensity may always be estimated by decomposition. That substance which displaces another from a third, has a greater affinity than the body which is displaced. Ifbdisplaceafrom the compounda m, thenbhas a greater affinity formthanahas.
The object of Berthollet in his Chemical Statics, was to combat this opinion of Bergman, which had been embraced without examination by chemists in general. If affinity be an attraction, Berthollet considered it as evident that it never could occasion decomposition. Supposeato have an affinity form, andbto have an affinity for the same substances. Let the affinity betweenbandmbe greater than that betweena m. Letbbe mixed with a solution of the compounda m, then in that casebwould unite witha m, and form the triple compounda m b. Bothaandbwould at once unite withm. No reason can be assigned whyashould separate fromm, andbtake its place. Berthollet admitted that in fact such decompositions often happened; but he accounted for them from other causes, and not from the superior affinity of one body over another. Suppose we have a solution ofsulphate of sodain water. This salt is a compound ofsulphuric acidandsoda; two substances between which a strong affinity subsists, and which therefore always unites whenever they come in contact. Suppose we have dissolved in another portion of water, a quantity of barytes, just sufficient to saturate the sulphuric acid in the sulphate of soda. If we mix these two solutions together. The barytes will combine withthe sulphuric acid and the compound (sulphate of barytes) will fall to the bottom, leaving a pure solution of soda in the water. In this case the barytes has seized all the sulphuric acid, and displaced the soda. The reason of this, according to Berthollet, is not that barytes has a stronger affinity for sulphuric acid than soda has; but because sulphate of barytes is insoluble in water. It therefore falls down, and of course the sulphuric acid is withdrawn from the soda. But if we add to a solution of sulphate of soda as much potash as will saturate all the sulphuric acid, no such decomposition will take place; at least, we have no evidence that it does. Both the alkalies, in this case, will unite to the acid and form a triple compound, consisting of potash, sulphuric acid, and soda. Let us now concentrate the solution by evaporation, and crystals of sulphate of potash will fall down. The reason is, that sulphate of potash is not nearly so soluble in water as sulphate of soda. Hence it separates; not because sulphuric acid has a greater affinity for potash than for soda, but because sulphate of potash is a much less soluble salt than sulphate of soda.
This mode of reasoning of Berthollet is plausible, but not convincing: it is merely anargumentum ad ignorantiam. We can only prove the decomposition by separating the salts from each other, and this can only be done by their difference of solubility. But cases occur in which we can judge that decomposition has taken place from some other phenomena than precipitation. For example,nitrate of copperis abluesalt, whilemuriate of copperisgreen. If into a solution of nitrate of copper we pour muriatic acid, no precipitation appears, but the colour changes from blue to green. Is not this an evidence that the muriatic acid has displaced the nitric, and that the salt held in solution is not nitrate of copper, as it was at first, but muriate of copper?
Berthollet accounts for all decompositions which take place when a third body is added, either by insolubility or byelasticity: as, for example, when sulphuric acid is poured into a solution of carbonate of ammonia, the carbonic acid all flies off, in consequence of its elasticity, and the sulphuric acid combines with the ammonia in its place. I confess that this explanation, of the reason why the carbonic acid flies off, appears to me very defective. The ammonia and carbonic acid are united by a force quite sufficient to overcome the elasticity of the carbonic acid. Accordingly, it exhibits no tendency to escape. Now, why should the elasticity of the acid cause it to escape when sulphuric acid is added? It certainly could not do so, unless it has weakened the affinity by which it is kept united to the ammonia. Now this is the very point for which Bergman contends. The subject will claim our attention afterwards, when we come to the electro-chemical discoveries, which distinguished the first ten years of the present century.
Another opinion supported by Berthollet in his Chemical Statics is, that quantity may be made to overcome force; or, in other words, that it we mix a great quantity of a substance which has a weaker affinity with a small quantity of a substance which has a stronger affinity, the body having the weaker affinity will be able to overcome the other, and combine with a third body in place of it. He gave a number of instances of this; particularly, he showed that a large quantity of potash, when mixed with a small quantity of sulphate of barytes, is able to deprive the barytes of a portion of its sulphuric acid. In this way he accounted for the decomposition of the common salt, by carbonate of lime in the sodalakes in Egypt; and the decomposition of the same salt by iron, as noticed by Scheele.
I must acknowledge myself not quite satisfied with Berthollet's reasoning on this subject. No doubt if two atoms of a body having a weaker affinity, and one atom of a body having a stronger affinity, were placed at equal distances from an atom of a third body, the force of the two atoms might overcome that of the one atom. And it is possible that such cases may occasionally occur: but such a balance of distances must be rare and accidental. I cannot but think that all the cases adduced by Berthollet are of a complicated nature, and admit of an explanation independent of the efficacy of mass. And at any rate, abundance of instances might be stated, in which mass appears to have no preponderating effect whatever. Chemical decomposition is a phenomenon of so complicated a nature, that it is more than doubtful whether we are yet in possession of data sufficient to enable us to analyze the process with accuracy.
Another opinion brought forward by Berthollet in his work was of a startling nature, and occasioned a controversy between him and Proust which was carried on for some years with great spirit, but with perfect decorum and good manners on both sides. Berthollet affirmed that bodies were capable of uniting with each other in all possible proportions, and that there is no such thing as a definite compound, unless it has been produced by some accidental circumstances, as insolubility, volatility, &c. Thus every metal is capable of uniting with all possible doses of oxygen. So that instead of one or two oxides of every metal, an infinite number of oxides of each metal exist. Proust affirmed that all compounds are definite. Iron, says he, unites with oxygen only in two proportions; we have eithera compound of 3·5 iron and 1 oxygen, or of 3·5 iron and 1·5 oxygen. The first constitutes theblack, and the second theredoxide of iron; and beside these there is no other. Every one is now satisfied that Proust's view of the subject was correct, and Berthollet's erroneous. But a better opportunity will occur hereafter to explain this subject, or at least to give the information respecting it which we at present possess.
Berthollet in this book points out the quantity of each base necessary to neutralize a given weight of acid, and he considers the strength of affinity as inversely that quantity. Now of all the bases known when Berthollet wrote, ammonia is capable of saturating the greatest quantity of acid. Hence he considered its affinity for acids as stronger than that of any other base. Barytes, on the contrary, saturates the smallest quantity of acid; therefore its affinity for acids is smallest. Now ammonia is separated from acids by all the other bases; while there is not one capable of separating barytes. It is surprising that the notoriety of this fact did not induce him to hesitate, before he came to so problematical a conclusion. Mr. Kirwan had already considered the force of affinity as directly proportional to the quantity of base necessary to saturate a given weight of acid. When we consider the subject metaphysically, Berthollet's opinion is most plausible; for it is surely natural to consider that body as the strongest which produces the greatest effect. Now when we deprive an acid of its properties, or neutralize it by adding a base, one would be disposed to consider that base as acting with most energy, which with the smallest quantity of matter is capable of producing a given effect. This was the way that Berthollet reasoned. But if we attend to the power which one base has of displacing another, we shall find it very nearly proportional to the weight of it necessary to saturate a given weight of acid; or, at least those bases act most powerfully in displacing others of which the greatest quantity is necessary to saturate a given weight of acid. Kirwan's opinion, therefore, was more conformable to the order of decomposition. These two opposite views of the subject show clearly that neither Kirwan nor Berthollet had the smallest conception of the atomic theory; and, consequently, that the allegation of Mr. Higgens, that he had explained the atomic theory in his book on phlogiston, published in the year 1789, was not well founded. Whether Berthollet had read that book I do not know, but there can be no doubt that it was perused by Kirwan; who, however, did not receive from it the smallest notions respecting the atomic theory. Had he imbibed any such notions, he never would have considered chemical affinity as capable of being measured by the weight of base capable of neutralizing a given weight of acid.
Berthollet was not only a man of great energy of character, but of the most liberal feelings and benevolence. The only exception to this is his treatment of M. Clement. This gentleman, in company with M. Desormes, had examined the carbonic oxide of Priestley, and had shown as Cruikshanks had done before them, that it is a compound of carbon and oxygen, and that it contains no hydrogen whatever. Berthollet examined the same gas, and he published a paper to prove that it was a triple compound of oxygen, carbon, and hydrogen. This occasioned a controversy, which chemists have finally determined in favour of the opinion of Clement and Desormes. Berthollet, during this discussion, did not on every occasion treat his opponents with his accustomed temper and liberality; and everafter he opposed all attempts on the part of Clement to be admitted a member of the Institute. Whether there was any other reason for this conduct on the part of Berthollet, besides difference of opinion respecting the composition of carbonic oxide, I do not know: nor would it be right to condemn him without a more exact knowledge of all the circumstances than I can pretend to.
Antoine François de Fourcroy, was born at Paris on the 15th of June, 1755. His family had long resided in the capital, and several of his ancestors had distinguished themselves at the bar. But the branch from which he sprung had gradually sunk into poverty. His father exercised in Paris the trade of an apothecary, in consequence of a charge which he held in the house of the Duke of Orleans. The corporation of apothecaries having obtained the general suppression of all such charges, M. de Fourcroy, the father, was obliged to renounce his mode of livelihood; and his son grew up in the midst of the poverty produced by the monopoly of the privileged bodies in Paris. He felt this situation the more keenly, because he possessed from nature an extreme sensibility of temper. When he lost his mother, at the age of seven years, he attempted to throw himself into her grave. The care of an elder sister preserved him with difficulty till he reached the age at which it was usual to be sent to college. There he was unlucky enough to meet with a brutal master, who conceived an aversion for him and treated him with cruelty: the consequence, was, a dislike to study; and he quitted the college at the age of fourteen, somewhat less informed than when he went to it.
His poverty now was such that he was obliged to endeavour to support himself by becoming writing-master. He had even some thoughts of going onthe stage; but was prevented by the hisses bestowed on a friend of his who had unadvisedly entered upon that perilous career, and was treated in consequence without mercy by the audience. While uncertain what plan to follow, the advice of Viq. d'Azyr induced him to commence the study of medicine.
This great anatomist was an acquaintance of M. de Fourcroy, the father. Struck with the appearance of his son, and the courage with which he struggled with his bad fortune, he conceived an affection for him, and promised to direct his studies, and even to assist him during their progress. The study of medicine to a man in his situation was by no means an easy task. He was obliged to lodge in a garret, so low in the roof that he could only stand upright in the middle of the room. Beside him lodged a water-carrier with twelve children. Fourcroy acted as physician to this numerous family, and in recompence was always supplied with abundance of water. He contrived to support himself by giving lessons to other students, by facilitating the researches of richer writers, and by some translations which he sold to a bookseller. For these he was only half paid; but the conscientious bookseller offered thirty years afterwards to make up the deficiency, when his creditor was become director-general of public instruction.
Fourcroy studied with so much zeal and ardour that he soon became well acquainted with the subject of medicine. But this was not sufficient. It was necessary to get a doctor's degree, and all the expenses at that time amounted to 250l.An old physician, Dr. Diest, had left funds to the faculty to give a gratuitous degree and licence, once every two years, to the poor student who should best deserve them. Fourcroy was the most conspicuousstudent at that time in Paris. He would therefore have reaped the benefit of this benevolent institution had it not been for the unlucky situation in which he was placed. There happened to exist a quarrel between the faculty charged with the education of medical men and the granting of degrees, and a society recently formed by government for the improvement of the medical art. This dispute had been carried to a great length, and had attracted the attention of all the frivolous and idle inhabitants of Paris. Viq. d'Azyr was secretary to the society, and of course one of its most active champions; and was, in consequence, particularly obnoxious to the faculty of medicine at Paris. Fourcroy was unluckily the acknowledgedprotégéeof this eminent anatomist. This was sufficient to induce the faculty of medicine to refuse him a gratuitous degree. He would have been excluded in consequence of this from entering on the career of a practitioner, had not the society, enraged at this treatment, and influenced by a violent party spirit, formed a subscription, and contributed the necessary expenses.
It was no longer possible to refuse M. de Fourcroy the degree of doctor, when he was thus enabled to pay for it. But above the simple degree of doctor there was another, entitleddocteur regent, which depended entirely on the votes of the faculty. It was unanimously refused to M. de Fourcroy. This refusal put it out of his power afterwards to commence teacher in the medical school, and gave the medical faculty the melancholy satisfaction of not being able to enroll among their number the most celebrated professor in Paris. This violent and unjust conduct of the faculty of medicine made a deep impression on the mind of Fourcroy, and contributed not a little to the subsequent downfall of that powerful body.
Fourcroy being thus entitled to practise in Paris, his success depended entirely on the reputation which he could contrive to establish. For this purpose he devoted himself to the sciences connected with medicine, as the shortest and most certain road by which he could reach his object. His first writings showed no predilection for any particular branch of science. He wrote uponchemistry,anatomy, andnatural history. He published an Abridgment of the History of Insects, and a Description of the Bursæ Mucosæ of the Tendons. This last piece seems to have given him the greatest celebrity; for in 1785 he was admitted, in consequence of it, into the academy as an anatomist. But the reputation of Bucquet, at that time very high, gradually drew his particular attention to chemistry, and he retained this predilection during the rest of his life.
Bucquet was at that time professor of chemistry in the Medical School of Paris, and was greatly celebrated and followed on account of his eloquence, and the elegance of his language. Fourcroy became in the first place his pupil, and afterwards his particular friend. One day, when a sudden attack of disease prevented him from lecturing as usual, he entreated Fourcroy to supply his place. Our young chemist at first declined, and alleged his ignorance of the method of addressing a public audience. But, overcome by the persuasions of Bucquet, he at last consented: and in this, his first essay, he spoke two hours without disorder or hesitation, and acquitted himself to the satisfaction of his whole audience. Bucquet soon after substituted him in his place, and it was in his laboratory and in his class-room that he first made himself acquainted with chemistry. He was enabled at the death of Bucquet, in consequence of an advantageous marriage that he had made, to purchase the apparatus and cabinet of his master; and although the faculty of medicine would not allow him to succeed to the chair of Bucquet, they could not prevent him from succeeding to his reputation.
There was a kind of college which had been established in the Jardin du Roi, which at that time was under the superintendence of Buffon, and Macquer was the professor of chemistry in this institution. On the death of this chemist, in 1784, both Berthollet and Fourcroy offered themselves as candidates for the vacant chair. The voice of the public was so loud in favour of Fourcroy, that he was appointed to the situation in spite of the high character of his antagonist and the political influence which was exerted in his favour. He filled this chair for twenty-five years, with a reputation for eloquence continually on the increase. Such were the crowds, both of men and women, who flocked to hear him, that it was twice necessary to enlarge the size of the lecture room.
After the revolution had made some progress, he was named a member of the National Convention in the autumn of the memorable year 1793. It was during the reign of terror, when the Convention itself, and with it all France, was under the absolute dominion of one of the most sanguinary monsters that ever existed: it was almost equally dangerous for the members of the Convention to remain silent, or to take an active part in the business of that assembly. Fourcroy never opened his mouth in the Convention till after the death of Robespierre; at this period he had influence enough to save the lives of some men of merit: among others, of Darcet, who did not know the obligation under which he lay to him till long after; at last his own life was threatened, and his influence, of course, completely annihilated.
It was during this unfortunate and disgraceful period, that many eminent men lost their lives; among others, Lavoisier; and Fourcroy is accused of having contributed to the death of this illustrious chemist: but Cuvier entirely acquits him of this atrocious charge, and assures us that it was urged against him merely out of envy at his subsequent elevation. "If in the rigorous researches which we have made," says Cuvier in his Eloge of Fourcroy, "we had found the smallest proof of an atrocity so horrible, no human power could have induced us to sully our mouths with his Eloge, or to have pronounced it within the walls of this temple, which ought to be no less sacred to honour than to genius."
Fourcroy began to acquire influence only after the 9th Thermidor, when the nation was wearied with destruction, and when efforts were making to restore those monuments of science, and those public institutions for education, which during the wantonness and folly of the revolution had been overturned and destroyed. Fourcroy was particularly active in this renovation, and it was to him, chiefly, that the schools established in France for the education of youth are to be ascribed. The Convention had destroyed all the colleges, universities, and academies throughout France. The effects of this absurd abolition soon became visible; the army stood in need of surgeons and physicians, and there were none educated to supply the vacant places: three new schools were founded for educating medical men; they were nobly endowed. The termschools of medicinewas proscribed as too aristocratical; they were distinguished by the ridiculous appellation ofschools of health. ThePolytechnic Schoolwas next instituted, as a kind of preparation for the exercise of the military profession, where young men could be instructed in mathematics and natural philosophy, to make them fit for enteringthe schools of the artillery, of engineers, and of the marine. TheCentral Schoolswas another institution for which France was indebted to the efforts of Fourcroy. The idea was good, though it was very imperfectly executed. It was to establish a kind of university in every department, for which the young men were to be prepared by a sufficient number of inferior schools scattered through the department. But unfortunately these inferior schools were never properly established or endowed; and even the central schools themselves were never supplied with proper masters. Indeed, it was found impossible to furnish such a number of masters at once. On that account, an institution was established in Paris, called theNormal School, for the express purpose of educating a sufficient number of masters to supply the different central schools.
Fourcroy, either as a member of the Convention or of theCouncil of the Ancients, took an active part in all these institutions, as far as regarded the plan and the establishment. He was equally concerned in the establishment of the Institute and of theMusée d'Histoire Naturelle. This last was endowed with the utmost liberality, and Fourcroy was one of the first professors; as he was also in the School of Medicine and the Polytechnic School. He was equally concerned in the restoration of the university, which constituted one of the most useful parts of Bonaparte's reign.
The violent exertions which he made in the numerous situations which he filled, and the prodigious activity which he displayed, gradually undermined his constitution. He himself was sensible of his approaching death, and announced it to his friends as an event which would speedily take place. On the 16th of December, 1809, after signing some despatches, he suddenly cried out,Jesuis mort(I am dead), and dropped lifeless on the ground.
He was twice married: first to Mademoiselle Bettinger, by whom he had two children, a son and a daughter, who survived him. He was married for the second time to Madame Belleville, the widow of Vailly, by whom he had no family. He left but little fortune behind him; and two maiden sisters, who lived with him, depended afterwards for their support on his friend M. Vauquelin.
Notwithstanding the vast quantity of papers which he published, it will be admitted, without dispute, that the prodigious reputation which he enjoyed during his lifetime was more owing to his eloquence than to his eminence as a chemist—though even as a chemist he was far above mediocrity. He must have possessed an uncommon facility of writing. Five successive editions of his System of Chemistry appeared, each of them gradually increasing in size and value: the first being in two volumes and the last in ten. This last edition he wrote in sixteen months: it contains much valuable information, and doubtless contributed considerably to the general diffusion of chemical knowledge. Its style is perhaps too diffuse, and the spirit of generalizing from particular, and often ill-authenticated facts, is carried to a vicious length. Perhaps the best of all his productions is his Philosophy of Chemistry. It is remarkable for its conciseness, its perspicuity, and the neatness of its arrangement.
Besides these works, and the periodical publication entitled "Le Médecin éclairé," of which he was the editor, there are above one hundred and sixty papers on chemical subjects, with his name attached to them, which appeared in the Memoirs of the Academy and of the Institute; in the Annales de Chimie, or the Annales de Musée d'Histoire Naturelle; of whichlast work he was the original projector. Many of these papers contained analyses both animal, vegetable, and mineral, of very considerable value. In most of them, the name of Vauquelin is associated with his own as the author; and the general opinion is, that the experiments were all made by Vauquelin; but that the papers themselves were drawn up by Fourcroy.
It would serve little purpose to go over this long list of papers; because, though they contributed essentially to the progress of chemistry, yet they exhibit but few of those striking discoveries, which at once alter the face of the science, by throwing a flood of light on every thing around them. I shall merely notice a few of what I consider as his best papers.
1. He ascertained that the most common biliary calculi are composed of a substance similar to spermaceti. This substance, in consequence of a subsequent discovery which he made during the removal of the dead bodies from the burial-ground of the Innocents at Paris; namely, that these bodies are converted into a fatty matter, he calledadipocire. It has since been distinguished by the name ofcholestine; and has been shown to possess properties different from those of adipocire and spermaceti.
2. It is to him that we are indebted for the first knowledge of the fact, that the salts of magnesia and ammonia have the property of uniting together, and forming double salts.
3. His dissertation on the sulphate of mercury contains some good observations. The same remark applies to his paper on the action of ammonia on the sulphate, nitrate, and muriate of mercury. He first described the double salts which are formed.
4. The analysis of urine would have been valuable had not almost all the facts contained in it beenanticipated by a paper of Dr. Wollaston, published in the Philosophical Transactions. It is to him that we are indebted for almost all the additions to our knowledge of calculi since the publication of Scheele's original paper on the subject.
5. I may mention the process of Fourcroy and Vauquelin for obtaining pure barytes, by exposing nitrate of barytes to a red heat, as a good one. They discovered the existence of phosphate of magnesia in bones, of phosphorus in the brain and in the milts of fishes, and of a considerable quantity of saccharine matter in the bulb of the common onion; which, by undergoing a kind of spontaneous fermentation was converted intomanna.
In these, and many other similar discoveries, which I think it unnecessary to notice, we do not know what fell to the share of Fourcroy and what to Vauquelin; but there is one merit at least to which Fourcroy is certainly entitled, and it is no small one: he formed and brought forward Vauquelin, and proved to him, ever after, a most steady and indefatigable friend. This is bestowing no small panegyric on his character; for it would have been impossible to have retained such a friend through all the horrors of the French revolution, if his own qualities had not been such as to merit so steady an attachment.
Louis Bernard Guyton de Morveau was born at Dijon on the 4th of January, 1737. His father, Anthony Guyton, was professor of civil law in the University of Dijon, and descended from an ancient and respectable family. At the age of seven he showed an uncommon mechanical turn: being with his father at a small village near Dijon, he there happened to meet a public officer returning from a sale, whence he had brought back a clock that had remained unsold on account of its very bad condition. Morveau supplicated his father to buy it. The purchase was made for six francs. Young Morveau took it to pieces and cleaned it, supplied some parts that were wanting, and put it up again without any assistance. In 1799 this very clock was resold at a higher price, together with the estate and house in which it had been originally placed; having during the whole of that time continued to go in the most satisfactory manner. When only eight years of age, he took his mother's watch to pieces, cleaned it, and put it up again to the satisfaction of all parties.
After finishing his preliminary studies in his father's house, he went to college, and terminated his attendance on it at the age of sixteen. About this time he was instructed in botany by M. Michault, a friend of his father, and a naturalist of some eminence. He now commenced law student in the University of Dijon; and, after three years of intense application, he went to Paris to acquire a knowledge of the practice of the law.
While in Paris, he not only attended to law, but cultivated at the same time several branches of polite literature. In 1756 he paid a visit to Voltaire, at Ferney. This seems to have inspired him with a love of poetry, particularly of the descriptive and satiric kind. About a year afterwards, when only twenty, he published a poem called "Le Rat Iconoclaste, ou le Jesuite croquée." It was intended to throw ridicule on a well-known anecdote of the day, and to assist in blowing the fire that already threatened destruction to the obnoxious order of Jesuits. The adventure alluded to was this: Some nuns, who felt a strong predilection for a Jesuit, their spiritual director, were engaged in their accustomed Christmas occupation of modelling a representation of a religious mystery, decorated with several smallstatues representing the holy personages connected with the subject, and among them that of the ghostly father; but, to mark their favourite, his statue was made of loaf sugar. The following day was destined for the triumph of the Jesuit: but, meanwhile, a rat had devoured the valuable puppet. The poem is written after the agreeable manner of the celebrated poem, "Ververt."
At the age of twenty-four he had already pleaded several important causes at the bar, when the office of advocate-general, at the parliament of Dijon, was advertised for sale. At that time all public situations, however important, were sold to the best bidder. His father having ascertained that this place would be acceptable to his son, purchased it for forty thousand francs. The reputation of the young advocate, and his engaging manners, facilitated the bargain.
In 1764 he was admitted an honorary member of the Academy of Sciences, Arts, and Belles Lettres, of Dijon. Two months after, he presented to the assembled chamber of the parliament of Burgundy, a memoir on public instruction, with a plan for a college, on the principles detailed in his work. The encomiums which every public journal of the time passed on this production, and the flattering letters which he received, were unequivocal proofs of its value. In this memoir he endeavoured to prove that man isbadorgood, according to the education which he has received. This doctrine was contrary to the creed of Diderot, who affirmed, in his Essay on the Life of Seneca, that nature makes wicked persons, and that the best institutions cannot render them good. But this mischievous opinion was successfully refuted by Morveau, in a letter to an anonymous friend.
The exact sciences were so ill taught, and lamelycultivated at Dijon, during the time of his university education, that after his admission into the academy his notions on mechanics and natural philosophy were scanty and inaccurate. Dr. Chardenon was in the habit of reading memoirs on chemical subjects; and on one occasion Morveau thought it necessary to hazard some remarks which were ill received by the doctor, who sneeringly told him that having obtained such success in literature, he had better rest satisfied with the reputation so justly acquired, and leave chemistry to those who knew more of the matter.
Provoked at this violent remark, he resolved upon taking an honourable revenge. He therefore applied himself to the study of Macquer's Theoretical and Practical Chemistry, and of the Manual of Chemistry which Beaumé had just published. To the last chemist he also sent an extensive order for chemical preparations and utensils, with a view of forming a small laboratory near his office. He began by repeating many of Beaumé's experiments, and then trying his inexperienced hand at original researches. He soon found himself strong enough to attack the doctor. The latter had just been reading a memoir on the analysis of different kinds of oil; and Morveau combated some of his opinions with so much skill and sagacity, as astonished every one present. After the meeting, Dr. Chardenon addressed him thus: "You are born to be an honour to chemistry. So much knowledge could only have been gained by genius united with perseverance. Follow your new pursuit, and confer with me in your difficulties."
But this new pursuit did not prevent Morveau from continuing to cultivate literature with success. He wrote anElogeof Charles V. of France, surnamedthe Wise, which had been given out as thesubject of a prize, by the academy. A few months afterwards, at the opening of the session of parliament, he delivered a discourse on the actual state of jurisprudence; on which subject, three years after, he composed a more extensive and complete work. No code of laws demanded reform more urgently than those of France, and none saw more clearly the necessity of such a reformation.
About this time a young gentleman of Dijon had taken into his house an adept, who offered, upon being furnished with the requisite materials, to produce gold in abundance; but, after six months of expensive and tedious operations (during which period the roguish pretender had secretly distilled many oils, &c., which he disposed of for his own profit), the gentleman beginning to doubt the sincerity of his instructer, dismissed him from his service and sold the whole of his apparatus and materials to Morveau for a trifling sum.
Soon after he repaired to Paris, to visit the scientific establishments of that metropolis, and to purchase preparations and apparatus which he still wanted to enable him to pursue with effect his favourite study. For this purpose he applied to Beaumé, then one of the most conspicuous of the French chemists. Pleased with his ardour, Beaumé inquired what courses of chemistry he had attended. "None," was the answer.—"How then could you have learned to make experiments, and above all, how could you have acquired the requisite dexterity?"—"Practice," replied the young chemist, "has been my master; melted crucibles and broken retorts my tutors."—"In that case," said Beaumé, "you have not learned, you have invented."
About this time Dr. Chardenon read a paper before the Dijon Academy on the causes of the augmentation of weight which metals experience when calcined. He combated the different explanations which had been already advanced, and then proceeded to show that it might be accounted for in a satisfactory manner by theabstractionof phlogiston. This drew the attention of Morveau to the subject: he made a set of experiments a few months afterwards, and read a paper on thephenomena of the air during combustion. It was soon after that he made a set of experiments on the time taken by different substances to absorb or emit a given quantity of heat. These experiments, if properly followed out, would have led to the discovery ofspecific heat; but in his hands they seem to have been unproductive.
In the year 1772 he published a collection of scientific essays under the title of "Digressions Académiques." The memoirs onphlogiston,crystallization, andsolution, found in this book deserve particular attention, and show the superiority of Morveau over most of the chemists of the time.
About this time an event happened which deserves to be stated. It had been customary in one of the churches of Dijon to bury considerable numbers of dead bodies. From these an infectious exhalation had proceeded, which had brought on a malignant disorder, and threatened the inhabitants of Dijon with something like the plague. All attempts to put an end to this infectious matter had failed, when Morveau tried the following method with complete success: A mixture of common salt and sulphuric acid in a wide-mouthed vessel was put upon chafing-dishes in various parts of the church. The doors and windows were closed and left in this state for twenty-four hours. They were then thrown open, and the chafing-dishes with the mixtures removed. Every remains of the bad smell was gone, and the church was rendered quite clean and free from infection. The same process was tried soon after in the prisons of Dijon, and with the same success. Afterwards chlorine gas was substituted for muriatic acid gas, and found still more efficacious. The present practice is to employ chloride of lime, or chloride of soda, for the purpose of fumigating infected apartments, and the process is found still more effectual than the muriatic acid gas, as originally employed by Morveau. The nitric acid fumes, proposed by Dr. Carmichael Smith, are also efficacious, but the application of them is much more troublesome and more expensive than of chloride of lime, which costs very little.
In the year 1774 it occurred to Morveau, that a course of lectures on chemistry, delivered in his native city, might be useful. Application being made to the proper authorities, the permission was obtained, and the necessary funds for supplying a laboratory granted. These lectures were begun on the 29th of April, 1776, and seem to have been of the very best kind. Every thing was stated with great clearness, and illustrated by a sufficient number of experiments. His fame now began to extend, and his name to be known to men of science in every part of Europe; and, in consequence, he began to experience the fate of almost all eminent men—to be exposed to the attacks of the malignant and the envious. The experiments which he exhibited to determine the properties ofcarbonic acid gasdrew upon him the animadversions of several medical men, who affirmed that this gas was nothing else than a peculiar state of sulphuric acid. Morveau answered these animadversions in two pamphlets, and completely refuted them.
About this time he got metallic conductors erected on the house of the Academy at Dijon. On this account he was attacked violently for his presumptionin disarming the hand of the Supreme Being. A multitude of fanatics assembled to pull down the conductors, and they would probably have done much mischief, had it not been for the address of M. Maret, the secretary, who assured them that the astonishing virtue of the apparatus resided in the gilded point, which had purposely been sent from Rome by the holy father! Will it excite any surprise, that within less than twenty years after this the mass of the French people not only renounced the Christian religion, and the spiritual dominion of the pope, but declared themselves atheists!
In 1777 Morveau published the first volume of a course of chemistry, which was afterwards followed by three other volumes, and is known by the name of "Elémens de Chimie de l'Académie de Dijon." This book was received with universal approbation, and must have contributed very much to increase the value of his lectures. Indeed, a text-book is essential towards a successful course of lectures: it puts it in the power of the students to understand the lecture if they be at the requisite pains; and gives them a means of clearing up their difficulties, when any such occur. I do not hesitate to say, that a course of chemical lectures is twice as valuable when the students are furnished with a good text-book, as when they are left to interpret the lectures by their own unassisted exertions.
Soon after he undertook the establishment of a manufacture of saltpetre upon a large scale. For this he received the thanks of M. Necker, who was at that time minister of finance, in the name of the King of France. This manufactory he afterwards gave up to M. Courtois, whose son still carries it on, and is advantageously known to the public as the discoverer ofiodine.
His next object was to make a collection of minerals, and to make himself acquainted with the science of mineralogy. All this was soon accomplished. In 1777 he was charged to examine the slate-quarries and the coal-mines of Burgundy, for which purpose he performed a mineralogical tour through the province. In 1779 he discovered a lead-mine in that country, and a few years afterwards, when the attention of chemists had been drawn to sulphate of barytes and its base, by the Swedish chemists, he sought for it in Burgundy, and found it in considerable quantity at Thôte. This enabled him to draw up a description of the mineral, and to determine the characters of the base, to which he gave the name ofbarote; afterwards altered to that of barytes. This paper was published in the third volume of the Memoirs of the Dijon Academy. In this paper he describes his method of decomposing sulphate of barytes, by heating it with charcoal—a method now very frequently followed.
In the year 1779 he was applied to by Pankouke, who meditated the great project of theEncyclopédie Méthodique, to undertake the chemical articles in that immense dictionary, and the demand was supported by a letter from Buffon, whose request he did not think that he could with propriety refuse. The engagement was signed between them in September, 1780. The first half-volume of the chemical part of this Encyclopédie did not appear till 1786, and Morveau must have been employed during the interval in the necessary study and researches. Indeed, it is obvious, from many of the articles, that he had spent a good deal of time in experiments of research.
The state of the chemical nomenclature was at that period peculiarly barbarous and defective. He found himself stopped at every corner for want of words to express his meaning. This state of things he resolved to correct, and accordingly in 1782 published his first essay on a new chemical nomenclature. No sooner did this essay appear than it was attacked by almost all the chemists of Paris, and by none more zealously than by the chemical members of the academy. Undismayed by the violence of his antagonists, and satisfied with the rectitude of his views, and the necessity of the reform, he went directly to Paris to answer the objections in person. He not only succeeded in convincing his antagonists of the necessity of reform; but a few years afterwards prevailed upon the most eminent chemical members of the academy, Lavoisier, Berthollet, and Fourcroy, to unite with him in rendering the reform still more complete and successful. He drew up a memoir, exhibiting a plan of a methodical chemical nomenclature, which was read at a meeting of the Academy of Sciences, in 1787. Morveau, then, was in reality the author of the new chemical nomenclature, if we except a few terms, which had been already employed by Lavoisier. Had he done nothing more for the science than this, it would deservedly have immortalized his name. For every one must be sensible how much the new nomenclature contributed to the subsequent rapid extension of chemical science.
It was during the repeated conferences held with Lavoisier and the other two associates that Morveau became satisfied of the truth of Lavoisier's new doctrine, and that he was induced to abandon the phlogistic theory. We do not know the methods employed to convert him. Doubtless both reasoning and experiment were made use of for the purpose.
It was during this period that Morveau published a French translation of the Opuscula of Bergman. A society of friends, under his encouragement, translated the chemical memoirs of Scheele and many other foreign books of importance, which by theirmeans were made known to the men of science in France.
In 1783, in consequence of a favourable report by Macquer, Morveau obtained permission to establish a manufactory of carbonate of soda, the first of the kind ever attempted in France. It was during the same year that he published his collection of pleadings at the bar, among which we find his Discours sur la Bonhomie, delivered at the opening of the sessions at Dijon, with which he took leave of his fellow-magistrates, surrendering the insignia of office, as he had determined to quit the profession of the law.
On the 25th of April, 1784, Morveau, accompanied by President Virly, ascended from Dijon in a balloon, which he had himself constructed, and repeated the ascent on the 12th of June following, with a view of ascertaining the possibility of directing these aerostatic machines, by an apparatus of his own contrivance. The capacity of the balloon was 10,498,074 French cubic feet. The effect produced by this bold undertaking by two of the most distinguished characters in the town was beyond description. Such ascents were then quite new, and looked upon with a kind of reverential awe. Though Morveau failed in his attempts to direct these aerial vessels, yet his method was ingenious and exceedingly plausible.
In 1786 Dr. Maret, secretary to the Dijon Academy, having fallen a victim to an epidemic disease, which he had in vain attempted to arrest, Morveau was appointed perpetual secretary and chancellor of the institution. Soon after this the first half-volume of the chemical part of the Encyclopédie Méthodique made its appearance, and drew the attention of every person interested in the science of chemistry. No chemical treatise had hitherto appeared worthy ofbeing compared to it. The articleAcid, which occupies a considerable part, is truely admirable; and whether we consider the historical details, the completeness of the accounts, the accuracy of the description of the experiments, or the elegance of the style, constitutes a complete model of what such a work should be. I may, perhaps, be partial, as it was from this book that I imbibed my own first notions in chemistry, but I never perused any book with more delight, and when I compared it with the best chemical books of the time, whether German, French, or English, its superiority became still more striking.
In the articleAcier, Morveau had come to the very same conclusions, with respect to the nature ofsteel, as had been come to by Berthollet, Monge, and Vandermonde, in their celebrated paper on the subject, just published in the Memoirs of the Academy. His own article had been printed, though not published, before the appearance of the Memoir of the Academicians. This induced him to send an explanation to Berthollet, which was speedily published in the Journal de Physique.
In September, 1787, he received a visit from Lavoisier, Berthollet, Fourcroy, Monge, and Vandermonde. Dr. Beddoes, who was travelling through France at the time, and happened to be in Dijon, joined the party. The object of the meeting was to discuss several experiments explanatory of the new doctrine. In 1789 an attempt was made to get him admitted as a member of the Academy of Sciences; but it failed, notwithstanding the strenuous exertions of Berthollet and his other chemical friends.
The French revolution had now broken out, occasioned by the wants of the state on the one hand, and the resolute determination of the clergy and thenobility on the other, not to submit to bear any share in the public burdens. During the early part of this revolution Morveau took no part whatever in politics. In 1790, when France was divided into departments, he was named one of a commission by the National Assembly for the formation of the department of the Côte d'Or. On the 25th of August, 1791, he received from the Academy of Sciences the annual prize of 2000 francs, for the most useful work published in the course of the year. This was decreed him for his Dictionary of Chemistry, in the Encyclopédie Méthodique. Aware of the pressing necessities of the state, Morveau seized the opportunity of showing his desire of contributing towards its relief, by making a patriotic offering of the whole amount of his prize.
When the election of the second Constitutional Assembly took place, he was nominated a member by the electoral college of his department. A few months before, his name had appeared among the list of members proposed by the assembly, for the election of a governor to the heir-apparent. All this, together with the dignity of solicitor-general of the department to which he had recently been raised, not permitting him to continue his chemical lectures at Dijon, of which he had already delivered fifteen gratuitous courses, he resigned his chair in favour of Dr. Chaussier, afterwards a distinguished professor at the Faculty of Medicine of Paris; and, bidding adieu to his native city, proceeded to Paris.
On the ever memorable 16th of January, 1793, he voted with the majority of deputies. He was therefore, in consequence of this vote, a regicide. During the same year he resigned, in favour of the republic, his pension of two thousand francs, together with the arrears of that pension.
In 1794 he received from government differentcommissions to act with the French armies in the Low Countries. Charged with the direction of a great aerostatic machine for warlike purposes, he superintended that one in which the chief of the staff of General Jourdan and himself ascended during the battle of Fleurus, and which so materially contributed to the success of the French arms on that day. On his return from his various missions, he received from the three committees of the executive government an invitation to co-operate with several learned men in the instruction of thecentral schools, and was named professor of chemistry at theEcole Centrale des Travaux publiques, since better known under the name of thePolytechnic School.
In 1795 he was re-elected member of the Council of Five Hundred, by the electoral assemblies of Sarthe and Ile et Vilaine. The executive government, at this time, decreed the formation of the National Institute, and named him one of the forty-eight members chosen by government to form the nucleus of that scientific body.
In 1797 he resigned all his public situations, and once more attached himself exclusively to science and to the establishments for public instruction. In 1798 he was appointed a provisional director of the Polytechnic School, to supply the place of Monge, who was then in Egypt. He continued to exercise its duties during eighteen months, to the complete satisfaction of every person connected with that establishment. With much delicacy and disinterestedness, he declined accepting the salary of 2000 francs attached to this situation, which he thought belonged to the proper director, though absent from his duties.
In 1799 Bonaparte appointed him one of the administrators-general of the Mint; and the year following he was made director of the PolytechnicSchool. In 1803 he received the cross of the Legion of Honour, then recently instituted; and in 1805 was made an officer of the same order. These honours were intended as a reward for the advantage which had accrued from the mineral acid fumigations which he had first suggested. In 1811 he was created a baron of the French empire.
After having taught in theEcole Polytechniquefor sixteen years, he obtained leave, on applying to the proper authorities, to withdraw into the retired station of private life, crowned with years and reputation, and followed with the blessings of the numerous pupils whom he had brought up in the career of science. In this situation he continued about three years, during which he witnessed the downfall of Bonaparte, and the restoration of the Bourbons. On the 21st of December, 1815, he was seized with a total exhaustion of strength; and, after an illness of three days only, expired in the arms of his disconsolate wife, and a few trusty friends, having nearly completed the eightieth year of his age. On the 3d of January, 1816, his remains were followed to the grave by the members of the Institute, and many other distinguished men: and Berthollet, one of his colleagues, pronounced a short but impressive funeral oration on his departed friend.
Morveau had married Madame Picardet, the widow of a Dijon academician, who had distinguished himself by numerous scientific translations from the Swedish, German, and English languages. The marriage took place after they were both advanced in life, and he left no children behind him. His publications on chemical subjects were exceedingly numerous, and he contributed as much as any of his contemporaries to the extension of the science; but as he was not the author of anystriking chemical discoveries, it would be tedious to give a catalogue of his numerous productions which were scattered through the Dijon Memoirs, the Journal de Physique, and the Annales de Chimie.