402 Biographical Sketch of [June 



in the formation of moral habits, together with a plan for a 

 college, the liberal and judicious spirit of which obtained for him 

 the friendship of Chalottes, the King's attorney general at the 

 parliament of Bretagne, who had devoted much attention to the 

 same object. 



In the same year he was admitted an honorary member of the 

 Academy of Dijon ; by far the most celebrated of the provincial 

 philosophical societies of France, and including at that time a 

 number of liberal and active members, among whom was Dr. 

 Chardenon, a chemist of some name. A paper by this gentleman 

 read before the Academy, and which gave occasion to some 

 discussion, is said to have been the immediate cause of the 

 application of M. de Morveau to the study of chemistry. Under 

 the guidance of Macquer's work on the theory and practice of 

 chemistry, and of Beaume's manual, he rendered himself expert 

 in the common laboratory processes, and in the prevailing theo- 

 ries, so as to become first the antagonist, and afterwards the 

 friend of Dr. Chardenon, who, with the liberal spirit of genuine 

 science, saw with pleasure the accession of a new candidate for 

 fame in his favourite pursuit. 



Soon afterwards M. de Morveau made a visit to Paris for the 

 purpose of procuring the necessary books and apparatus for 

 carrying on his further investigations ; and in that city made 

 acquaintance with Beaume, and probably with other chemists, 

 by whom his ardour was duly appreciated and encouraged. 



The theory of Stahl, which on its first publication had, by its 

 consistency and appearance of demonstration, seduced the atten- 

 tion of chemists from the facts discovered by Rey, by Hooke, 

 and by Mayow, was now beginning to be called in question : 

 Morveau arranged himself among the defenders of Phlogiston, 

 and in 1768 read before the Academy of Dijon his first memoir, 

 entitled " Sur les Phenomenes de V Air dans la Combustion." In 

 this, he argues that when combustion takes place in confined 

 air, the resulting diminution of bulk is not owing to the ponder- 

 able base of the air uniting with the combustible substance, and, 

 therefore, that the opinion first advanced by Hooke, that a 

 certain quantity of air can support only a certain quantity of 

 combustion, is unfounded. 



In 1769 he communicated to the Dijon Academy a short paper 

 entitled " Sur une Effervescence froide," the object of which is 

 to point out a remarkable distinction between the fermentation 

 of vinous liquors and the effervescence or fermentation (for so 

 it was then esteemed) which is excited by pouring an acid on a 

 mild alkali ; namely, that in the former case the thermometer 

 rises, whereas in the latter it falls. 



In the course of the next three years he communicated a few 

 papers of no great importance to the Academy of Dijon, and 

 published a volume of miscellaneous essays, on subjects of 

 natural philosophy, chemistry, and natural history. He also 



