SKETCH OF AUGUST WILHELM HOFMANN. 831 



SKETCH OF AUGUST WILHELM HOFMANK 



By EDWARD J. HALLOCK, Ph. D. 



THE recent visit of this distinguished scholar and chemist to our 

 city is worthy of more than a passing notice, and we would com- 

 memorate it in a feeble manner by placing before our readers a sketch 

 and portrait of the man who has contributed so much to the advance- 

 ment of science and of human progress. 



August Wilhelm Hofmann was born in Giessen, April 8, 1818. 

 After completing the usual gymnasium course, he entered the Univer- 

 sity of Giessen at the age of eighteen. Having acquired a taste for 

 the modern languages during his travels in Italy and France, he at 

 first took up the study of philology, to which he devoted himself as- 

 siduously for several years. To this we may undoubtedly attribute 

 much of his power as a writer and speaker. At this time his father, 

 who was an architect, was engaged on the plans for Liebig's new labo- 

 ratory, and thus young Hofmann became acquainted with that famous 

 chemist. His influence turned the whole course of Hofmann's life, for 

 he at once took up the study of chemistry, and we next hear of him as 

 the assistant of Liebig. He remained in this position until the spring 

 of 1845, when he was appointed professor in Bonn, but he was not 

 destined to remain long upon the Rhine, for, in the latter part of the 

 same year, he was called to London and placed in charge of the newly 

 established Royal College of Chemistry. Through the exertions of 

 Professor Hofmann, and his popularity as a lecturer and teacher, this 

 school soon acquired such a prominence that, in 1853, the Govern- 

 ment united it with the Royal School of Mines. It was during this 

 time that he made several of those important researches which have 

 resulted in discoveries of the greatest importance. In addition to his 

 other labors, he found time to deliver courses of lectures to working- 

 men, which were well attended, and to investigate various technical 

 and sanitary questions upon which his opinion was sought. His suc- 

 cess in solving difficult expert problems soon won for him an influ- 

 ential position in England. In 1856 he was appointed "Warden of the 

 English Mint, which position he continued to hold until he left Eng- 

 land. He was made a fellow of the Royal Society in 1861, and ten 

 years later was nominated President of the London Chemical Society. 

 He served on the jury in the International Exhibitions held in Lon- 

 don in 1851 and 1862. Among the important investigations of public 

 interest was a chemical examination of the waters of London, and, 

 with Professor Graham, an investigation of the bitter ales at a time 

 when the brewers were suspected of using strychnine as an adul- 

 terant. 



