35 



if, instead of crossing and jostling one another in various direc- 

 tions, they were to be forced to flow in one harmonious channel. 

 Surely, when so much is at stake, and the prize to be ob- 

 tained is human happiness, some attempt at combination might 

 be made, some effort to bring together a portion of the divergent 

 elements. The Scientific Board, above suggested, might do some 

 good ; Government or Parliament might do more ; but it is to 

 social progress and the general improvement of our species, that we 

 must look for the complete realization of the hopes which every 

 good man is sometimes led to form of a happy future in store for his 

 race ; and obliged, as we are, in our course through life, to witness 

 so much that we have great cause to regret, and scarcely any power 

 to mend, this reflection is perhaps one of our brightest and purest 

 consolations. 



The Copley Medal has been awarded to M. Chevreul for his im- 

 portant investigations in Organic Chemistry, particularly for his 

 researches upon the nature and composition of the fats and fixed 

 oils, and for his physical investigations on the processes of dyeing, 

 including those on the simultaneous contrast of colours. 



Previous to the researches of M. Chevreul upon the fats, it was 

 supposed that saponaceous compounds were combinations of the 

 alkalies, and of oxide of lead with oils and fats ; and, with the 

 exception of Scheele's discovery, that glycerine was set free during 

 the process of saponification, no precise chemical knowledge upon 

 this subject existed. 



The attention of M. Chevreul appears to have been directed to 

 this matter by his observation that, on diluting a solution of a par- 

 ticular soap largely with water, a crystalline substance was separated 

 in pearly scales ; upon examining the nature of this crystalline 

 compound he found it to consist of a combination of alkali with a 

 peculiar fatty body of distinctly acid character. Starting from this 

 point, he was induced to examine the subject of saponificatioii in 

 extenso ; the result of his inquiries was the discovery of a large 

 number of new compounds, and a masterly elucidation of the che- 

 mical history of the fixed oils, fats, soaps, and plasters. 



M. Chevreul showed that ordinary fats and fixed oils consisted 



D2 





