BERTHELOT 153 



his work on thermo-chemistry have served as the starting- 

 point of numerous investigations by other chemists in 

 various parts of the world. Berthelot's genius and 

 activity are unparalleled in the history of chemistry. In 

 1862 he published Lemons sur la Principes Sucre's-, 

 in 1863, Legons sur I'lsomerie; and in 1864, Lemons 

 sur les Methodes Generates de Synthese en Chimie 

 Organique. 



In 1889 he was elected Secretaire perpetuel de 

 T Academic des Sciences, and thereby became the most 

 influential man of science in the French capital. On the 

 death of Pasteur, in 1895, he was elected a member of the 

 Academie Franchise. 



A few words about the world-famed Institut de France 

 may not be out of place, as Berthelot was an illustrious 

 member of that body. It was erected in the seventeenth 

 century on the Quai Conti, opposite the Louvre. It is a 

 handsome building, with a facade in the form of a crescent, 

 flanked with wings, and surmounted by a dome. Five 

 different academies (Berthelot belonged to two) have their 

 homes here namely, the Academie Francaise (devoted to 

 the superintendence of the French language), the Academie 

 des Sciences (devoted to the sciences), the Academie 

 des Belles-Lettres (devoted to the study of the ancient 

 languages), the Academie des Beaux- Arts (for paint- 

 ing, sculpture, and music), and the Acad6mie des 



