MEMOIR OF LOUIS JACQUES THENARD. 383 



of a complete existence. That attacliments, both of a public and private 

 nature, should gather about one thus cont^titutcd, was inevitable ; complaisant 

 and just, to him all was easy and simple ; neither reproach nor ill-Avill ever 

 troubled a heart which, more than once, was agitated by the expressions of 

 grateful acknowledgment. 



During his lectures at the Polytechnic School, it happened, on one occasion, 

 that something essential to the demonstration was wanting. Thenard impa- 

 tiently calls for it, and while the attendant' runs to seek it, lays his hand, as 

 if to gain time, on a glass, and carries it, without examination, to his lips 

 Having swallowed two mouthfuls, he replaces it, and with entire self-posses- 

 sion observes, "Gentlemen, I have poisoned myself ; what I have drunk is 

 corrosive sublimate, and the remedy is the white of eggs ; bring me some." 

 The students, to whom his first words had conveyed an electric shudder, pre- 

 cipitate themselves through doors and windows, ransack the neighboring stores 

 and kitchens, and, as each one brings his contribution, soon an immense heap 

 of eggs rises before the professor. In the mean time, one of the students has 

 flown to the Faculty of Medicine, and, interrupting an examination, exclaims, 

 " Quick, a physician ! Thenard has poisoned himself at the school in delivering 

 a lecture." Dupuytren rises, seizes a cabriolet on his passage, and rushes 

 with breathless haste to the scene of the accident. But, already, thanks to 

 the albumen, the life of Thenard was saved. Dupuytren, however, insists on 

 the use of a probe, in order to be sure that none of the corrosive substance is 

 absorbed by the stomach. An inflammation of the organ is thereby produced, 

 and Thenard, saved from the poison, is put in danger by the remedy. 



During his illness, the students of all the schools manifested the most poig- 

 nant anxiety ; with aff"ectionate zeal they watched around his house night and 

 day, in order to avert every possible cause. of disturbance, and listened in un- 

 easy silence for tidings from the interior. Every morning exact bulletins were 

 posted in all the principal establishments, without its being known who were 

 the authors. When Thcnatd reappeared in his chair at the Sorbonne, the de- 

 light manifested was proportionally great. Every one sprang to his feet with- 

 out seeming to know in what way to express his joy, and the professor for 

 once confessed himself overwhelmed by a torrent of profound and grateful 

 emotions. 



It might now have seemed that long years of happiness were in reserve for 

 Thenard, but his fortitude was destined to terrible trials. By a succession of 

 bereavements he lost almost all which could sooth the decline of life : first, his 

 mother-in-law, the early friend who had propitiated his happiness ; then the 

 devoted wife who had been its chief dispenser, the latter escaping, by her 

 sudden removal, the pain of seeing their last child expire in the bloom of youth ; 

 a brother, a sister, and a nephew followed. When one only and tenderly be- 

 loved son remained, the afflicted fiither exclaimed: " I dare no longer believe 

 in his existence." 



The counterpoise which he opposed to these often renewed sorrows was the 

 suggestion of a benign and wise compassion ; the foundation of the Socufij of 

 the friends of Science seemed an inspiration from his memories of the past. 

 After bequeathing it a considerable legacy, and associating with it all hia 

 friends, Thenard expired June 21, 18.17, showing by his latest words that his 

 solicitude still dwelt upon the cherished " Society." " I trust," he said, "that 

 I have formed a union which nothing Avill ever break. I liope that those who 

 cultivate the sciences, those who are occupied with their application, and even 

 those who only recognize their value, will continue united for their protection." 

 Let the orphan, the widow, the indigent aspirant, salute with grateful accents 

 the tomb of the excellent man whose last thoughts were for them. 



