850 DMITRI IVANOVITSCH MENDELEEFF, 



ance with the greater part of Russia; France and Germany he visited 

 during his student years; in 1889 he dehvered the Faraday Lecture 

 in London, and again in 1891 he visited France and England to in- 

 vestigate the manufacture of smokeless powder. In 1893 he came to 

 America, and attended the World's Fair in Chicago, which he did not 

 fail to describe in an article published after his return. 



Mendeleeff was a topical Russian; tall in figure, broad shouldered, 

 with a head of unusual size, crowned with a remarkable abundance 

 of hair. His full beard was blond; and his blue eyes deep set and 

 piercing. His voice was deep, his gait rapid, and he was given to 

 nervous and rapid movements of the hands. Restless, imperious, 

 and brusque at times, nicknamed " the lion in his den," he was still 

 affable, democratic, and deeply beloved by students and common 

 people alike. He was a lifelong adherent of the Orthodox Church, 

 and a ready friend to the discouraged and downtrodden. Such was 

 the personality of one of Russia's greatest sons. 



Mendeleeff's works, published between 1854 and 1907, include two 

 hundred and sixty-six titles, according to Walden's compilation. 

 They give evidence of the wide scope of his interests and activities, 

 as already mentioned above. Among the purely scientific subjects 

 which claimed his most careful attention were : — the densities of 

 liquids, the relation between the volume of liquids and temperature, 

 the formation of compounds between solvent and solute, and the 

 compressibility of gases under reduced pressures. Of lasting influence 

 upon instruction in the science is his masterly " Principles of Chemis- 

 trj^," which appeared in eight Russian and three English editions. 

 Its most striking feature is found in the voluminous notes, appended 

 to the text proper. These notes enlarge upon debatable subjects 

 and theoretical questions, portraying Mendeleeff's personal opinions 

 and habits of thought. In the Preface he remarks : — 



" Knowing how contented, free, and joyful is life in the realms of 

 science, one fervently wishes that many would enter their portals. 

 On this account many pages of this treatise are unwittingly stamped 

 with the earnest desire that the habits of chemical contemplation which 

 I have endeavored to instil into the minds of my readers will incite 

 them to the further stud}' of science. Science will then flourish in 

 them and by them, on a fuller acquaintance not only with the little 

 that is enclosed within the narrow limits of my work, but with the 

 further learning which they must imbibe in order to make themselves 

 masters of our science and partakers in its further advancement." 



His name will always be most closely associated with the announce- 



