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LXI. Some Account of C FouRCROY. 



HE following account of this chemift is extraftcd from 

 Schmetjffers Bey/r'/ge zur n'ciheren keittniffe ties ge geiiiuartigen 

 Zujiandes der ]Vi[jcnchaj'ten in Frankreich. 



" Fourcrov, who, as 1 believe, is the firll public teacher of 

 the modern chemiltry in Europe, is fo well kno\\n to the 

 literary world by the fervice he has rendered to that fcience, 

 and by the manv excellent works he has written on the 

 fubjeft, that I can no further contribute to extending his fame 

 than bv affuring the public that this meritorious man, notwith- 

 llanding the emplovnient he has as a member of the Council 

 of Elders, continues to cultivate his favourite purfuit with 

 unabated zeal. 



" He indeed continues to lefture on chcmiftry with great 

 zeal ; and his deep knowledge of the fcience has been fo 

 much enriched by tlie rapid progrefs it has lately made, that 

 the creat ilore of ta6ls he polfelTes, and wliich he explains to 

 a crowded audience with great elegance and beauty of lan- 

 guage, often obliges him to exceed the time he ufually allots 

 ior that purpofe. I, however, never found that he either fell 

 Ihort of matter, or that the patience of his hearers was ex- 

 haufted, though he reads every day, and on fonie days three 

 Icftures, on different branches of chemiftry. 



" When we reflect on the various labours which his public 

 duties require, it may readily be conceived how few unoc- 

 cupied hours he has left for his daily leftures and chemical 

 experiments. The principal places which he occupies are 

 the following : he is a meniber of the Council of Elders and 

 of the National InfHtute ; of the Socieiv for promoting the 

 Arts and Sciences 5 of the Council of Health ; profeflbr of 

 chemiftry in the Republican Lyceum, at theNalional Mufeum 

 of Natural Hiilory, and the General School of Arts. His in- 

 defatigable affiftant Vauquelin, whofe head and hands are 

 entirely employed with experiments, fupplies him with 

 abundance of chemical dilcoveries, which he either confirms 

 or has made himfclf. 



" Sometimes I paid an early vifit to Fourcrov at his own 

 houfe; for this was the only time [ could have an opportunity 

 of converling with him on chemical fubjeils. I always met 

 tvith the politcft reception, and always found him ready to 

 enter on a difcuffion of topics relating to our favourite fiudy. 

 " I faw C. Fourcroy's own chemical laboratory, and the 

 hall in which he gives leftures on natural hiilory. It is not 

 very large, but well fitted for his purpofe, and fnrnifTied v.'ith 

 apj aratus and every other thing that can lerve for illuftrating 



