JEAN-BAPTISTE-ANDRI5 DUMAS. 547 



awakened in him a desire to seek a wider field of activity tlian his 

 present position opened to him. In consequence he removed to Paris 

 in 1823, where the reputation he had so deservedly earned at Geneva 

 won for him a cordial reception at what was then the chief centre of 

 scientific study in Europe. La Place, _ Berthollet, Vauquelin, Gay- 

 Lussac, Thenard, Alexandre Bronguiart, Cuvier, Geoffroy St. Ililaire, 

 Arago, Ampere, and Poisson, all manifested their interest in the young 

 investigator. Dumas was soon appointed Repetiteur de Chimie at 

 the Ecole Poly technique, and also Lecturer at the Athenaium, an in- 

 stitution founded and maintained by public subscription, for the pur- 

 pose of exciting popular interest in liteiature and science; and from 

 this beginning his advancement to the highest position which a man of 

 science can occupy in P"'rance was extremely rapid. 



In 1826 he married Mdlle. Herminie Brongniart, the eldest daughter 

 of Alexandre Brongniart, the illustrious geologist, an alliance which 

 not only brought him great happiness, and at the time p;reatly advanced 

 his social position, but also in after years made his house one of the 

 chief resorts of the scientific society of Paris. The many who have 

 shared its generous hospitality will appreciate how greatly, for more 

 than half a century, Madame Dumas has aided the work and extended 

 the influence of her noble husband. 



In 1828-29 Dumas united with Theodore Olivier and Euijene Peclet 

 in founding the Ecole Centrale des Arts et Manufactures, an insti- 

 tution which met with great success, and in which, as Professor of 

 Chemistry, Dumas rendered most efficient service for many years, and 

 in 1878 had the very good fortune to aid in celebrating the fiftieth 

 anniversary of his own foundation ; and to see it acknowledged as 

 among the most important and efficient scientific institutions of the 

 world. In 1832 Dumas succeeded Gay-Lussac as Professor at the 

 Sorbonne; in 1835 he succeeded Thenard at the Ecole Polytechnique; 

 and in 1839 he succeeded Dej'eux at the Ecole de Medeciue. Thus 

 before the age of forty he filled successively, and for some time simul- 

 taneously, all the important professorships of chemistry in Paris ex- 

 cept one. This exception was that of the College of France, with 

 which he was never permanently connected, although it was there 

 that he delivered his famous course on the History of Chemical 

 Philosophy, when temporarily supplying the jilace of Thenard. 



Dumas early recognized the importance of laboratory instruction in 

 chemistry, for which there were no facilities at Paris when he first came 

 to what was then the centre of the world's science ; and in 1832 founded 

 a laboratory for research at his own expense. This laboratoi'y, first 



