26o THE POPULAR SCIENCE MONTHLY. 



The interest with Avhich Dumas recounts this incident, which 

 brought his stay in Geneva to a somewhat sudden termination, leaves 

 no doubt as to the deep imj)ression which the short intercourse with 

 Alexander von Humboldt had made upon his mind. We have here, 

 indeed, one more illustration of the peculiar predilection of the Ger- 

 man savant for youthful inquirers, of the sagacity with which he dis- 

 covered rising talent, and of the irresistible fascination which no one 

 was able to withstand. It is well known what a powerful patron he 

 proved to Liebig, who has left us a charming account of his first ac- 

 quaintance with the famous traveler ; and it is certainly worthy of 

 note that two inquirers, whose labors subsequently carried them to the 

 head of chemical science, should each have been befriended on the 

 very threshold of his career by the same master mind, so that in later 

 years they never ceased to acknowledge in affectionate terms the debt 

 of gratitude which they owed to Alexander von Humboldt. Dumas's 

 removal to Paris took place in 1823. 



If a legitimate desire to become acquainted with the leading men 

 of science of that day was one of the princij^al motives in determining 

 Dumas to leave Geneva, his wishes were gratified far beyond his most 

 sanguine expectations. Nothing could have surpassed the kindness with 

 which the young aspirant was received by the very men to whom he had 

 hitherto been looking up with mingled feelings of reverence and awe. 

 As an illustration of the sympathetic interest which the most illustrious 

 savants of the period accorded to the labors of their youthful fellow - 

 workers in the field of science, Dumas is fond of describing his own 

 debict in the Academy of Sciences. Having read a joint paper of his 

 and Provost's on muscular contraction, he had modestly retired into 

 the embrasure of a window (as would become his age), when a mem- 

 ber of the Academy a veteran with white hair and a most dignified 

 countenance rose on the other side of the table and walked up to him. 

 " Monsieur Dumas, will you do me the honor of dining with me on 

 Wednesday next ? " he asked the astonished young chemist in a most 

 formal manner. Nothing could be more natural than to accept so 

 kind an invitation. After an exchange of a few polite words Dumas's 

 new friend gravely retired to his place, receiving everywhere unequiv- 

 ocal marks of the greatest respect. " With whom am I to dine ? " 

 asked Dumas of one of his neighbors . " Do not you know M. de La- 

 place ? " Avas the answer. And not only did Dumas dine, with Laplace, 

 but he learned with lively interest that the illustrious astronomer had 

 retained a sort of passion for physiological inquiries ever since he had 

 jointly worked with Lavoisier on animal heat and respiration. 



In 1824 Dumas married Mdlle. Hermine Brongniart, daughter of 

 Alexandre Brongniart, the illustrious geologist, and sister of his friend 

 Adolphe Brongniart. The union was a most happy one. Dumas's 

 career in Paris has been one of remarkable productiveness and bril- 

 liancy. His researches in organic chemistry, so thoroughly begun in 



