264 THE POPULAR SCIENCE MONTHLY. 



flame ; and it requires no preliminary preparation of the carbons, 

 which considerably diminishes the expense." The credit of a simulta- 

 neous application of the most important principle of this invention has 

 been claimed for Mr. Robert Sabine. Besides these subjects, M. Ja- 

 min applied his researches to the compressibility of liquids ; hygrome- 

 try, on which he was engaged at the time of his death ; specific heats ; 

 and the critical points of gases. A paper of his on the " Liquefaction 

 of the Elementary Gases," in which the last subject was brought into 

 bearing, was published in " The Popular Science Monthly " for Decem- 

 ber, 1884. "By their historical order and succession," says "Nature," 

 " his memoirs indicate the progress of physics in France since the 

 middle of the century to the present day." In literature he was one 

 of the regular contributors to the " Revue des Deux Mondes " ; and 

 in the earlier editions of the cyclopaedias in which his name is given, 

 these articles are mentioned, along with the " Traite de Physique," as 

 the works by which he was chiefly entitled to distinction. He had 

 taste and skill in music. He was a painter of considerable artistic 

 talent, fond of studying the works of the great masters at the Louvre ; 

 and was the executor of " an admirable portrait of Lef ebvre," of a pict- 

 ure which is preserved in the church in his native village, and of sev- 

 eral paintings which are in the possession of his family. 



A neat picture of the versatility of his tastes and of his social 

 qualities is given in the sketch of him in " La Nature " and " Nature " : 

 " It was only on his return to Paris from Caen that his great power, ele- 

 vated ideas, distinguished tastes, and fine intelligence could find a free 

 scope. He remembered always with pleasure how at the age of twen- 

 ty-five he found himself at once surrounded by an intelligent and en- 

 lightened society. He dined in a pension with several of his col- 

 leagues, who have left names either in science or at the university ; 

 with Lefebvre, the eminent professor at the College Rollin, with Sais- 

 set, Barni, Suchet, La Provostaye ; with Faurie, who often brought 

 his friend Sturm. The dinner was followed by long chats, with dis- 

 sertations on science, philosophy, music, and art, in which Jamin took 

 an active part." He was esteemed by all who knew him, scientific 

 men and others, at home and abroad, for many other qualities as well 

 as for his scientific attainments. " Cruelly touched by family afflic- 

 tion," says his biographer, "he found in the midst of his workers 

 who needed continually his aid and assistance, some relief for his 

 great grief. During some time before his death he seemed to have 

 mastered his sorrows, and to have regained his usual activity." He 

 had replaced Milne-Edwards as Dean of the Faculty of Sciences, and 

 at the time of his death was at the height of his reputation. His 

 death came from heart-disease, after an illness of six months. 



