tn BKRVIC, CHARLES CLEMENT BALVAY. 



potash in a state of purity, by dissolving it in alcohol Hi* experi- 

 msnts on the sulphurate snd hydro-sulphurete contributed to elucidate 

 an obscure part of chemistry, but they were not complete, because 

 the nature of the fixed alkalies, then unknown, ia involved in the 

 question. 



In 1803 Berthollot published bis work entitled 'Essai do SUtiquo 

 Chimiqos,' in which he opposes the view* of Bergman on the subject 

 of chemical affinity. Although Berthollet'i experiments, in some 

 lisgrim, modify the conclusions of Bergman, they by no means dis- 

 prove them ; and hi* opinion*, though supported with gnat ingenuity, 

 both of reasoning and experiment, have not made many converts. 

 Sir U. Davy, in his 'Elements of Chemical Philosophy,' p. 117, has 



11KRZELIUS, JONS JACOR 



given an excellent lynopai* of the peculiar views of Berthollet, and 

 has clearly shown that his reasonings are unsupported, except by facts 

 which are better explained on different principle*. 



In a controversy which Berthollet hid with Proust, he maintained 

 an opinion which now *eema too extraordinary ever to have been 

 broached, that bodies are capable of combining in all proportions. 

 The discussion was carried on with great vigour but equal courtesy on 

 both aide*, and though the ingenuity with which Berthollet sustained 

 hi* views was greater than moat persons could have brought to their 

 support, it U now universally admitted that hi* idea* were totally 

 inaccurate, while those of Proust have acquired fresh proof from the 

 doctrine of definite proportions. 



Upon hi* return from Egypt, Berthollet was nominated a senator 

 by the First Consul ; and afterwards received the distinction of grand 

 officer of the Legion of Honour, grand cross of the order of Re-union, 

 and under the Emperor he was created Count ; after the restoration of 

 the Bourbon he was created a peer of France. The advancement to 

 then offices produced no change in the manners of Berthollet. Of 

 tlii* be gave a striking proof, by adopting, a* hia armorial bearing (at 

 the time that others eagerly blazoned some exploit), the plain un- 

 adorned figure of his faithful and affectionate dog. He was no courtier 

 before he received these honours, and he remained equally simple 

 and unassuming, and not less devoted to science, after they were 

 conferred. 



The latter years of his life were embittered by the misconduct and 

 suicide of his son, M. Amedce Berthollet, who ha/1 distinguished 

 himself by his chemical researches. In 1822 he was attacked by a 

 Might fever, which left behind it a number of boils : these were soon 

 followed by a gangrenous ulcer of uncommon size. Under this he 

 suffered for several mouth* with surprising fortitude. He himself, as 

 a physician, knew the extent of hi* danger, felt the inevitable progress 

 of the malady, and calmly regarded the slow approach of death. At 

 length, after a tedium period of suffering, in which hia equanimity 

 bad never once been shaken, he died on the 6th of November, when 

 le had nearly completed the seventy-fourth year of hia age. 



BEKVIC, CHARLES CLEMENT BALVAY, the most distinguished 

 engraver of France during the French revolution, was born at Paris in 

 1746. He was the pupil of J. G. Wille, and in 1784 wo* elected a 

 member of the French academy of painting. A large full-length 

 portrait of Louis XVI. which he engraved in 1790, from the picture 

 by Callet, is one of the finest engravings of the kiiiJ that has been 

 produced. It U distinguished for excellent drawing, extreme softness 

 of tone, and a true effect of colour, but is rather defective in force. 

 After the execution of the king, Bcrvic, wishing to escape suspicion, 

 and at the same time preserve the plate, cut it in half, thus attaining 

 both objects. The half plates were reunited after the restoration, and 

 excellent impression* were again taken from it; but the earlier impres- 

 sions are much more valued, and command very high prices. MiiUer 

 of Slutgardt engraved the same picture. Other masterpieces of Bervic's 

 graver are the Rape of Deianira, and the Education of Achilles, after 

 Uuido and Regnault; La Demande Acoeptce, and Le Kopos, after 

 UpioM ; and the ancient group of the Lsoooou. The state of his health 

 obliged him sonic yean before his death to give up the practice of 

 graving, and he confined himself to teaching the art. He died in 

 ** H ws* a member of the French Institute, and Chevalier of the 

 ordw of St. Michel, of the Legion d'Honneur, and of the Reunion. 

 Dsr. jramurf du Amaleurt, Ac.; Bartech, Peintre-Qrateur ; Jonbert, 



< S! t " U ?"Z? A lampa; Gabet, Mcttonnairc dti Artutc,, 4c.) 

 JhKWlCK, JAMES FIT/JAMES, DUKE OF, a natural son of 

 duke of York, afterwards James IL of England, by Arabella 

 srlborougu, "* born at Moulin* 

 He wa. educated in France, and 

 i Austrian army at the siege of Bu.la. In 1687 he 

 wa. created Duke of Berwick, and received the order of the garter. 

 umsd to England after the campaign of 1687, he received 

 several important military appointment*. 



^^JT k"^ ? "" olution of 1888, the Duko of Berwick 

 him. f to cb** it. profr, and afterwrd. socompsnied the 



'tS!?? 1 *? KnU>C *- In 168S> he ""^ in tb "Potion 

 undertaken for the restoration of James II, whence he 



. 161>1 ,: , H , <lTiD ntored the French -"i". n 



to It. rank of li.uUnantgemral in 163. In 1696 he 

 snl to England to negociato with the jaoubite party in England. 

 ~ < In 



- ura 



Francs; and in the beginning of the following year was 

 appointed to th.wnuo.nd of to, French forces in Spain. After havinj 



itially served the cause of Philip V. by his military skill, he was 

 recalled through court intrigue at the end of the campaign of 1704. 

 In the beginning of 1706 he was made a marshal of France, and wa* 

 again sent to command in Spain, whore in 1707 ho won the decisive 

 battle of Ahnnnza, against the Earl of Galway and the Marquis de la* 

 Minns, immediately after which Philip V. created him a grandee of 

 the first class, by the title of Duke of Liria and Xerica. Having 

 served on the Rhine and in Flanders in 1708, he was sent in 1709 to 

 command in Provence and Dauphiny ; bis successful defence of this 

 frontier against the superior force of the Duke of Savoy, i* the chief 

 foundation of his military fame, and has been considered a masterpiece 

 of strategy. During the remainder of his life he was constantly 

 employed in important commands, with the exception of the period 

 from 1724 to 1733, during which he lived in retirement He wa* 

 killed by a cannon ball at the siege of Philipsburg, June 12, 1734. 



The Duke of Berwick was twice married ; first in 1695, to a daughter 

 of the Karl of Clanricarde, who died in 1698. By her he hod one 

 son, who succeeded to hi* titles and estates in Spain. His eocoud 

 wife was a niece of Lord Bulkeley. In 1709 he was created a duke and 

 peer of France, with remainder to hi* children by her. In military 

 reputation, particularly for the conduct of defensive war, the Duke of 

 Berwick stands high among tiie generals of his period. Both his 

 public and private character are represented by Montesquieu as 

 deserving of the highest panegyric. Hia memoirs down to the year 

 1710, written by himself, with a continuation to his death by the 

 editor, and a sketch of hia character by Montesquieu, were published 

 at Paris in 1778. 



BERZELIUS (or BERZEL), JONS JACOB, one of the most distin- 

 guiahed of modern chemists, was born August 20th 1779 at Wiisersunda, 

 a village near Liukuping, in East Gothland. Beyond the fact that he 

 received the elements of learning from his father, who was parish 

 schoolmaster a functionary of some consideration in Sweden and 

 who died while his son was yet a boy, we know nothing of his early 

 years. At the age of seventeen the youth entered on the study of 

 medicine at the university of Upsal, and attended the dull lectures on 

 cheuiUtry delivered by Afzeliua and Ekeberg. So little care was st 

 that time taken to render scientific instruction clear to the mind, that 

 Berzelius had to discover and investigate facts and draw conclusions 

 for himself, and soon became remarkable for his diligence and discern- 

 ment. As an instance of the way in which he w. initiated into 

 chemical manipulation, he used laughingly to relate in after life : 

 " Afzelius first gave me sulphate of iron to calcine in a crucible, for 

 the preparation of colcothar. ' Any one may do work of this kind,' I 

 replied ; ' and if this be the way you are to teach me, I may aa well 

 stay at home.' ' A little patience,' answered the professor, your next 

 preparation shall be more difficult.' On the next occasion I gut cream 

 of tartar to burn, in order to make potass ; which so disgusted me, 

 that I vowed never to ask for any further employment." But he 

 continued to attend notwithstanding hia vow, aud soon frequented the 

 laboratory every day, although by the rules pupils were entitled to 

 admission but once a week, his masters offering no opposition. Ekeberg 

 was however vexed at times that the young student pursued hia tasks 

 in silence, asking no questions. " I preferred," said Berzelius, " to 

 endeavour to instruct myself by reading, meditating, and experiment- 

 ing, rather than question men without experience, who gave me replies, 

 if not evasive, at least very little satisfactory on the subject of 

 phenomena which they had never observed." 



In 1798, after two years' study, he left Upsal, and engaged himself 

 a* assistant to the physician-superintendent of the mineral springs at 

 Medevi, a watering-place much resorted to by the Swedes. Here with 

 his habitual diligence ho analysed the waters, and in conjunction with 

 Ekeberg published a paper embodying the results. This was the lirst 

 of the long series of papers that remain to illustrate his fame. 



In 1804 Berzelius returned to Upsal, and took hi* degree of Doctor 

 in Medicine ; and soon after published his ' Physical Researches on the 

 Effects of Galvanism on Organised Bodies,' a work which exhibits much 

 of hi* sagacious insight aud painstaking. Davy, who was born in the 

 same year with the illustrious Swede, had made known hi* experiments; 

 and Uer/.eliuK, taking up the subject, then a wonder to scientific men, 

 materially widened his applications. His growing reputation gained 

 fur hiui, on hia going to reside at Stockholm in 1805, the post of 

 assUtant to Sparrmaun, professor of medicine and botany, who had 

 sailed a* naturalist in Cook'* second voyage of discovery. The emolu- 

 ments were so scanty that Berzeliu* had at times to practise medicine 

 to eke out his resources. In 1806 he succeeded to the chair, and in 

 the same year, jointly with 11 winger, he commenced the ' Afliauillin^'ar 

 i Fysik, Keini, ooh Mineralogie,' to which, during the tnrelvu years of 

 its existence, he contributed forty -seven original papers. This periodical 

 wa* at once translated into German, and subsequently into French, 

 aud generally prized for it* trustworthy elucidation of chemical prin- 

 ciple*. This however wa* but a small part of what Berzeliu* undertook : 

 be set to work to revise the labours of his predecessors, accepting no 

 conclusion that did not admit of the clearest demonstration. His skill 

 as au analyst U described a* " consummate," and when Dalton and 

 Davy put forth their views he, by innumerable analyses, established 

 the laws which regulate chemical combinations, and reduced them to 

 a form so simple a* to give them a twofold value. " When theso laws 

 were once well ascertained," eay s an eminent foreign savant, " it becimo 



