ST. JULIEN RAVENEL, M.D. 437 



ST. JULIEN RAVENEL, M.D. 



Dk. St. Julien Raven el, whose death occurred on March 15, 

 1882, was no ordinary man. With large scientific knowledge and a 

 mind eminently qualified for scientific research, he joined the ardor of 

 the speculative philosopher to a patience in experiment and inquiry 

 which never failed. There was in the changed conditions of agricul- 

 ture in his native State and in the South a vast arena for the exer- 

 cise and application of scientific investigation. There was his chosen 

 work. 



The origin and rapid development of the manufacture of commercial 

 fertilizers in South Carolina ; the simplification of the modes of manu- 

 facturing fertilizers so as to lessen the cost and enlarge the area of 

 consumption ; the discovery of a system by which small grain and hay 

 can be grown in profusion on the worn-out and sandy lands of the 

 Carolina coast ; a mode of turning to immediate account the lands 

 which, it was thought, must be abandoned if ever the culture of rice 

 should become unprofitable ; the use of artesian wells in and around 

 Charleston for supplying mills and factories with water at an incon- 

 siderable expense, — all these are inseparably connected with the name 

 of Dr. St. Julien Ravenel. 



Dr. St. Julien Ravenel, the eldest son of the late John Ravenel, 

 was born in Charleston, S. C, on December 15, 1819, where be re- 

 ceived his early education in the grammar-schools of that city. Sub- 

 sequently he went to New Jersey to continue his studies, and finally 

 a})plied himself to medicine. He was a student with Drs. Ilolbrook 

 and Ogier, and was graduated at the Medical College in Charleston 

 in the class of 1840. Afterwards he continued the study of medicine 

 at Philadelphia and in Paris. Upon his return to Charleston he be- 

 came Demonstrator of Anatomy at the Medical College, but resigned 

 the position after a time. The active practice of medicine was dis- 

 tasteful to him, although he had the promise of a highly successful 

 career. 



He now determined to devote his life to scientific pursuits. He 

 became intimate with the late Professor Agassiz, and was associated 

 with him in his investigations. Dr. Ravenel pursued with especial 

 interest the study of natural history and physiology, being particularly 

 skilful in microscopic researches. Chemistry, however, was his favorite 

 pursuit, and in chemistry as applied to agriculture he achieved his 

 most important results. When the war broke out he went into 



