68 LIFE AND EXPERIENCES CHAP. 



During the summer of 1860 a remarkable gathering 

 of chemists was called together at Carlsruhe, chiefly 

 through the instrumentality of Kekule. This had for 

 its object the discussion of chemical nomenclature, 

 which at that period was in a condition of chaos. The 

 results, though not productive of the general agree- 

 ment which was hoped for, were still useful, and the 

 meeting marked an era in the progress of scientific 

 chemistry, inasmuch as Cannizzaro here first set forth 

 his system of the atomic weights of the elements which 

 has served as one of the bases of modern chemistry. 



Bunsen rarely attended such meetings, and it was 

 only by extreme pressure that he consented to go. 

 The subject under discussion was not one in 

 which he took much interest, and he frequently 

 said that one new chemical fact, even an unim- 

 portant one, accurately determined, was worth a 

 whole congress of discussion of matters of theory. I 

 accompanied Bunsen, and we stayed under the hospit- 

 able roof of Weltzien, Professor of Chemistry at the 

 Polytechnic School. 



The more serious business of the Congress was 

 enlivened by many amusing incidents and by the great 

 hospitality shown by the Carlsruhers. Among the 

 guests was old Professor Despretz, of Paris, who was 

 most anxious, on every occasion, to air his incom- 

 plete knowledge of the German tongue. He said to 

 Schoenbein, of Basel, who was well known to all his 

 friends as a " Plaudertasche," or, as we term it, a 

 chatterbox : " Sie sind kein Deutscher ; Sie sind ein 

 Schwatzer [for Schweizer] ! " 



It has often been remarked that Faraday was Davy's 

 greatest discovery. With almost equal truth it may 

 be said that Bunsen's greatest discovery was Kirchhoff. 

 I had left Heidelberg before the scientific twin brethren 



