1826.] Biographical Sketch of M. Proust, 24S 



at Segovia : he set out for Spain, and quickly realized the high 

 hopes which his reputation had inspired. He proposed or 

 perfected a great number of processes interesting to the industry 

 of that country, and on several occasions he received the most 

 flattering proofs of the satisfaction of its Sovereign. This 

 monarch determined to found a central school of chemistry at 

 Madrid, and Proust vs^as there appointed Professor of this 

 science ; he was treated at this place with great attention and 

 respect and the whole establishment was endowed with a truly 

 royal magnificence. Almost all the utensils, even those most 

 commonly employed, were of platiha, which the king presented 

 to him. 



It was in this laboratory and in that at Segovia that his principal 

 operations were performed, among which a great number may be 

 mentioned, the chief object of which was the direct benefit of the 

 country. It is to him that we owe the first analysis of the native 

 phosphate of lime of Lograsan, in Estremadura. He also made 

 some experiments upon saltpetre and sulphate of magnesia, 

 both of which occur native in Spain. He published a very 

 minute account of the essential oils of Murcia, and showed that 

 camphor might be advantageously procured from them. He 

 also made many experiments to determine the quantities of 

 charcoal which are yielded by different kinds of wood, and 

 Upon that which is procured from the coal and peat of Spain. 



We are indebted to him for an analysis of the native iron of 

 Peru, in which he found nickel, and also for a great number of 

 experiments upon several American minerals, and particularly 

 upon the ore of platina. He also published a work on the 

 means of bettering the sustenance of the soldier ; these means 

 are chiefly derived from the nutritive property of gelatine pro- 

 cured from bones. Papin had before him proposed to extract 

 it, by subjecting the bones to a very strong heat in the digester 

 which bears his name. Proust endeavoured to revive the 

 project of Papin, but he substituted a more ready method of 

 extraction. 



This work, which is less remarkable in a scientific point of view 

 than with respect to the extremely important question of which it 

 treats, is well calculated to give an idea of the lively and original 

 manner of its author, and especially of the zeal with which he 

 endeavoured to diminish the privations of the lower classes of 

 feociety. - 



It was with the same intention of offering to the poor a new 

 and nourishing substance, which was both abundant and cheap, 

 that he afterwards published a memoir on the lichen islandicus. 

 In this, as well as the preceding memoir, and indeed as in almost 

 all his works, there appear the same deep feehng of humanity and 

 the same active zeal for the benefit of his race, which incessantly 

 excited him to discover the means of ameliorating their condi- 



k2 



