J. LAWRENCE SJIITH. 535 



J. LAWRENCE SMITH. 



J. Lawrence Smith was born near Charleston, S. C, December 

 17, 1818. At an early age he manifested great taste for mathemat- 

 ics; when four years old he could solve simple problems in addition 

 and multiplication with great rapidity. Tliis was some time before he 

 could read. At eight years of age he was prepared for the study of 

 algebra, and at thirteen years he was studying calculus. His knowl- 

 edge and taste for mathematics continued throughout life. He 

 pursued his studies in the best private schools of Charleston ; after- 

 ward he was sent to the University of Virginia, where he enjoyed 

 fiicilities for the indulgence of his taste for mathematics. In the 

 latter part of his academic career he devoted himself to the higher 

 branches of physics, mixed mathematics, and chemistry, studying the 

 last rather as a recreation. He selected civil engineering as a 

 profession, and after devoting two years to the study of its various 

 branches in connection with geology and mining engineering, he was 

 employed as an assistant engineer on the railroad projected at that 

 time between Cincinnati and Charleston. This pursuit not i^roving 

 congenial with his scientific tastes, he determined to study medicine. 

 After studying three years, he was graduated Doctor in Medicine by 

 the Charleston Medical College, an institution possessing at that 

 time a corps of distinguished medical teachers. Dr. Smith then went 

 to Europe, where he devoted three years more to the study of med- 

 icine. During all this time he continued his devotion to those 

 departments which first enlisted his scientific affections. He studied 

 physiology under Flourens and Longet ; chemistry under Orfila, 

 Dumas, and Liebig ; physics under Pouillet, Desprez, and Becquerel ; 

 mineralogy and geology under Elie de Beaumont and Dufrenoy. 

 While in Europe Dr. Smith prosecuted original researches on certain 

 fatty bodies. His paper on Spermaceti, in 1843, at once stamped 

 him as an experimental inquirer. On his return to Charleston, in 

 1844, he commenced the practice of medicine, and delivered a course 

 of lectures on toxicology before the students of the Charleston Medi- 

 cal College. He also established the Charleston Medical and Surgical 

 Journal, which proved a success. 



But the State needing his services as assayer of the bullion that 

 came into commerce from the gold-fields of Georgia and North and 

 South Carolina, he accepted this duty, and relinquished, the practice 

 of medicine. He also gave a great deal of attention to agricultural 

 chemistry. The great beds of marl on which the city of Charleston 



