196 Britain's Heritage of Science 



to, it includes only the sodium compounds, and of these, 

 strictly speaking, only the hydrate and the carbonate ; 

 but the manufacture of sodium sulphate and of hydro- 

 chloric acid is inseparably connected with the same in- 

 dustry. The first successful process of obtaining carbonate 

 of sodium is due to Leblanc, a French chemist, and one of 

 the victims of the French Revolution. Leblanc was born in 

 1753, near Orleans. He was first trained in an apothecary's 

 shop, but proceeded to the study of medicine, and was 

 appointed surgeon to the Duke of Orleans. In 1775 the 

 French Academy of Sciences offered a prize for the best 

 practical process of producing soda from common salt. 

 There were several competitors, but none of them were 

 judged worthy of receiving the prize. Nevertheless, Leblanc 

 patented his process, and the Duke of Orleans supplied the 

 capital for establishing works on a manufacturing scale. 

 But his connexion with that nobleman proved to be his 

 undoing. The Duke was executed, and the works were con- 

 fiscated. Leblanc struggled on in dire poverty for thirteen 

 years, when his property was returned to him by the Emperor 

 Napoleon. But it was too late; he had no capital to start 

 afresh, took refuge in a workhouse, and died by his own 

 hand. 



James Muspratt (1793-1886), who introduced the Leblanc 

 process into England, was born in Dublin, and as a boy was 

 apprenticed to a wholesale druggist; he quarrelled with his 

 master, and went to Spain to take part in the Peninsular 

 War. His great ambition was to obtain a commission in the 

 cavalry; in this he was unsuccessful, and, refusing to accept 

 the position in the infantry which was offered him, he 

 followed the army in the wake of the troops. He fell ill, 

 made his way to Lisbon, but could not find a steamer to 

 take him home. Ultimately he secured an appointment as 

 midshipman in the Navy, and though promoted to the rank 

 of second officer, could not adapt himself to the strict disci- 

 pline of the Navy. He deserted while the vessel lay in the 

 Mumbles roadstead, and returned to Dublin. With the 

 knowledge gained during his apprenticeship and a small 

 inheritance, Muspratt then began his career as a manu- 

 facturing chemist. He started by making hydrochloric acid 



