BERTHELOT 147 



(under Balard, the discoverer of bromine). In 1854 

 he took his degree of docteur es sciences with a remark- 

 able thesis on the " Combinaisons de la Glycerine avec 

 les Acides et Reproduction Artificelle des Corps gras 

 neutres." 



In 1859 he was appointed to the chair of chemistry in 

 L'Ecole de Pharmacie, holding the post for five years. 

 In 1864 a new chair, that of organic chemistry, was 

 created for him at the College de France, which he 

 occupied until his death ; and here it was that he worked 

 with a determination unequalled by any other chemist. 

 He produced over a thousand memoirs, embracing every 

 department of chemistry. Although Wohler, in 1828, 

 produced urea artificially, and Kolbe synthetized acetic 

 acid in 1845, Berthelot was undoubtedly the creator or 

 founder of organic synthesis. Monsieur Henri Poincare* 

 says of Berthelot that " c'est non seulement un grand 

 chimiste, mais aussi un grand philosophe. II possedait 

 un esprit universel. Sa dcouverte sur la synthese des 

 corps orgariiques suffirait pour immortalizer son nom. 

 Ses travaux sur les corps explosifs ont rendu e"galement 

 au pays d'inappre"ciables services." 



This remarkable man had " many irons in the fire," 

 for he was not only a great chemist, but a politician, 

 philosopher, and author. 



The theories and discoveries of Berthelot are grouped 

 round two great ideas the synthesis of organic com- 



