624 



OBITUARIES, FOREIGN. 



Bernhardi, Theodor, a German historian, born 

 in Berlin, Prussia, in 1802 ; died in March, 1887. 

 His father, August Ferdinand Bernhardi, was 

 one of the founders of the science of compara- 

 tive philology. His mother, Sophie, a sister 

 of Ludwig Tieck, was divorced from her hus- 

 band, gained a reputation as a poetess, and 

 married Baron von Knorring, a wealthy Estho- 

 nian nobleman. The son was educated at 

 Heidelberg, and after a sojourn in Italy made 

 St. Petersburg his residence, where he was 

 equally at home in courtly and in literary cir- 

 cles. In 1838, when the St. Petersburg Acad- 

 emy of Sciences hesitated between stultifying 

 itself by awarding a prize to Gen. Danileffski, 

 whose fulsome flatteries had gained him the 

 favor of the Czar Nicholas, for a " History of 

 the War of 1812," or offending the autocrat, 

 Bernhardi wrote a critique on the work which 

 was laid before a commission of generals, to 

 whom the academy had referred the question, 

 as the production of a general officer who 

 wished to keep the authorship secret, and 

 formed the basis of the report on which the 

 academy acted in refusing the prize. About 

 1846 Bernhardi settled on the estate that he 

 purchased near Berlin, and wrote a treatise on 

 " Property in Land," in which he controverted 

 the views of Ricardo. As literary executor of 

 Count Toll, he published that Russian general's 

 "Reminiscences" (1852). In 1854 appeared 

 an essay on " The Russian Army," and in 1859 

 one on the " Abolition of Serfdom in Russia," 

 which was followed by a disquisition on the 

 "Prussian Military Question." After the pub- 

 lication of the first volume of his u History of 

 Russia and European Politics from 1815 to 

 18:51," he thep entered the diplomatic service 

 of Prussia, accompanying the Italian army in 

 the campaign of 1866 against Austria, and sub- 

 sequently residing at the Florentine court, and 

 then at the court of Madrid, as Secretary of 

 Legation and Military Plenipotentiary, till he 

 was retired at the age of seventy. Resuming 

 his literary labors, he published in rapid suc- 

 cession three more volumes of his history 

 (1874-'77), a work on " Frederick the Great as 

 :i General," and two volumes of " Miscellane- 

 ous Essays" (Berlin, 1879). He was engaged. 

 when death overtook him, on the last part of 

 the " History of Russia." The three parts that 

 have appeared are filled with introductory 

 njatter and digressions covering the entire field 

 of modern political history, and bring the 

 proper subject of the work down only to 1881. 



Bonssinganlt, Jean Baptiste Joseph Diendonue, a 

 French chemist, born in Paris, France, Feb. 2, 

 1802; died there May 12, 1887. He was edu- 

 cated at the Mining School in Saint Etienne 

 and was sent, on completing his course, to Ven- 

 ezuela by an English company to reopen cer- 

 tain silver-mines known to the ancients. His 

 researches attracted the attention of Alexander 

 von Humboldt, who warmly commended his 

 work. The war for the independence of the 

 republic of Colombia soon broke out and Bous- 



singault became scientific aid to Gen. Simon 

 Bolivar with the rank of colonel. He succeed- 

 ed in exploring Venezuela and all the regions 

 between Cartagena and the mouths of the Ori- 

 noco, as well as Peru and Ecuador. On his 

 return to France, a few years later, he received 

 the appointment of Professor of Chemistry and 

 Dean of the Faculty of Sciences at Lyons. In 

 1839 he settled in Paris where he was made 

 Professor of Agriculture in the Conservatory of 

 Arts and Industry, and was elected a member 

 of the Academy of Sciences. He devoted much 

 attention to the conditions of soil and air ne- 

 cessary for the best results in grazing, the rear- 

 ing of domestic animals, and the acclimatiza- 

 tion of useful animals from foreign countries. 

 The value of fertilizers according to the pro- 

 portions of nitrogen which they contain is 

 chiefly due to his researches, and in conjunc- 

 tion with Jean Baptiste Andre Dumas, he first 

 measured the exact proportions of the constitu- 

 ent elements of atmospheric air. He also dis- 

 covered a simple method of preparing oxygen 

 by means of baryta. In 1848 he was elected 

 to the National Assembly as a moderate Re- 

 publican from the department of Bas-Rhin, 

 where he owned chemical works and was 

 chosen a member of the Council of State in 

 which he retained a seat until the coup d'etat 

 of Dec. 2, 1851, after which he withdrew from 

 political life. Boussingault was made com- 

 mander of the Legion of Honor in March, 1857, 

 and promoted to the supreme grade of grand 

 officer in August, 1876. He was a prominent 

 member of the four World's Fairs held in Paris, 

 and at that held in Vienna in 1873, and was 

 appointed in August, 1876, a member of the 

 special commission for the formation of an 

 Agronomic Institute in Paris. Many of his 

 monographs from the " Annales de Physique 

 et de Chimie," of which he was one of the edi- 

 tors, and from the u Comptes Rendus," of the 

 Academy of Sciences, were collected into a 

 volume entitled " Memoirs on Agricultural 

 Chemistry and Physiology" (Paris, 1854). His 

 chief work was a " Treatise on Rural Econo- 

 my " (2 vols., 1844, English translation, Lon- 

 don, 1845) republished with the title " Agron- 

 omy, Agricultural Chemistry, and Physiolo- 

 gy " (3 vols., 1861-'64). 



Bove, an Italian explorer, died in Verona, 

 Italy, Aug. 9, 1887. He was a lieutenant in 

 the Italian service, and accompanied Prof. 

 Nordenskjold, in his voyage through the north- 

 east passage to Siberia. In 1882 he conducted 

 the exploration of the southern coast of Pata- 

 gonia and the shores of Terra del Fuego. He 

 was a sufferer from ill-health, and died by his 

 own hand. 



Brinz, Alois von, a German educator and poli- 

 tician, born in 1820 ; died in Munich, Bavaria, 

 Sept. 19, 1887. He studied law at Munich and 

 Berlin, became a writer of the Romantic school, 

 and in 1851 was appointed to a professorship 

 at Erlangen. In 1857 he was called to the 

 chair of Roman La\v at the University of 



