January 31, 1901] 



NATURE 



319 



struggles of a young Alsatian, who came to Paris against 

 the desire of his father to fight his way to recognition and 

 fame, is almost dramatic in the way in which it enlists 

 the sympathy of the reader. The story loses nothing by 

 being told by the distinguished son of the subject of 

 the memoir, and by the unfortunate Edouard Grimaux, 

 whose recent death was — at least, in part — due to the 

 jealousy of the Government of France when any attack 

 on its action is made by men in its official pay. Indeed, 

 it may be surmised that M. Grimaux found in the recital 

 of Gerhardt's combats with those in power some consola- 

 tion for his own recent dismission from office. 



Charles Gerhardt was born at Strassburg on August 22, 

 1816 ; he passed his schooldays at the Gymnasium there, 

 and his father, in order to prepare young Gerhardt for 

 the charge of a white-lead works which had fallen into his 

 hands as the result of an unfortunate speculation, sent 

 him to Carlsruhe, where, from 1831 to 1834, he studied 

 chemistry and allied subjects. But, on his return to 

 Strassburg,he found the monotonous existence of a works- 

 manager far from his taste ; and after stormy interviews 

 with his father, at which he declared his intention to de- 

 vote himself to the pursuit of pure chemistry, he entered 

 the army as a preliminary step. This step, however, was far 

 from leading him to the desired goal ; and, deciding to 

 abandon the calling of a soldier as rapidly as he had 

 formed the intention of taking it up, he applied to relatives 

 in Germany, requesting help to buy a substitute. The help 

 was furnished by no less than Liebig, who had heard of 

 his ability from his teacher Erdmann, and thought it 

 worth while to secure a promising assistant by payment 

 of 40/. — the necessary sum. 



Needless to say, the money was afterwards refunded 

 by his relatives. 



It will be gathered from this short sketch of Gerhardt's 

 youth that he was a young man of very decided character, 

 and that he did not always take the surest way of gaining 

 his desires — that, in fact, he had more of the fortiter in 

 re than the suaviter in modo. 



After having studied for two years at Giessen, then 

 rising rapidly into repute as the first school of chemistry, 

 Gerhardt made his way to Paris armed with a letter 

 of introduction to Dumas and with authorisation to 

 translate Liebig's "Organic Chemistry" into French— a 

 task for which his bilingual education eminently suited 

 him. At first all went well. Liebig's introduction opened 

 to him the doors of the chemists of the day ; but he 

 failed, in spite of all efforts, to obtain a junior post. His 

 repeated endeavours to secure a place in a laboratory 

 where he could continue his researches v/ere met with 

 the advice — impossible to follow, under the circumstances 

 — " Do some work, and you will find a place." But in 

 order to continue his researches a laboratory was neces- 

 sary ; and this /'wz/Ja^j^ barred his way for months. At 

 last Cahours obtained leave from Chevreul for him to 

 occupy a bench in the laboratory of the Jardin des 

 Plantes. Here he carried on investigations on hellenine ; 

 and, at the same time, he published a note on the con- 

 stitution of salts of organic acids and their connection 

 with salts of ammonia. 



The reader must peruse the memoir itself if he wishes 

 to become acquainted with Gerhardt's struggles — how his 

 too direct expression of his opinions, in words calculated 

 NO. 1 63 1, VOL. 63] 



to irritate rather than to gain converts to his views, hin- 

 dered his progress. Indeed, his relations— afterwards 

 so intimate and so inseparable — with Laurent, began with 

 an encounter. But both soon found that their ideas of 

 the necessity of a reform in chemistry, and of the manner 

 in which it was to be carried out, were nearly identical ; 

 and they joined forces in a campaign against the ruling 

 powers. These powers were not mollified by the manner 

 m which the campaign was conducted. Even Liebig, his 

 old master, might be excused for resenting words such as 

 the following, relating to a nitrogenous substance, a de- 

 rivative of cyanuric acid, to which Liebig had given the 

 name " mellon '' : — " Ce n'est pas une partie seulment du 

 memoire de M. Liebig qui est fausse, mais toute Thistoire 

 dn mellon, toutes ses transformations, toutes ses re- 

 actions." Still, that did not excuse Liebig from saying 

 that Gerhardt reminded him of a highwayman, who 

 attacks and robs travellers and, after having stolen their' 

 clothes and ornaments, wears them with effrontery in the 

 streets. 



These were, however, days of hard hitting ; and had 

 the contest been confined only to words, little harm would 

 have been done. But, unfortunately, the positions of in- 

 structors in the provinces and at Paris were so badly 

 paid (and it is scarcely improved yet) that many offices 

 were held by one individual, and places which gave com- 

 mand of several laboratories were occupied by those who 

 were disinclined to abandon any one of them. Thus 

 the best paid of the Government offices — that of Director 

 of the Mint — had a salary attached to it of 600/. a year ; 

 many of the chairs were worth little over 100/. ; and the 

 emoluments sometimes became the gift of an elder to a 

 younger member of a family, and were dispensed with 

 little regard to scientific fitness or eminence. Moreover, 

 it is the unfortunate custom in France that if a man wants 

 a position he must ask for it — nay, he must personally 

 supplicate those in power to bestow it on him. Thus, a 

 candidate for admission to the Institute must canvass the 

 members, hat in hand, and report has it that the recep- 

 tion accorded to a candidate is not always flattering to his 

 amour propre. But we in England have little reason to 

 criticise ; for, though admission to the Royal Society's 

 Fellowship is, fortunately, free from such disagreeable in- 

 cidents, the candidature for a chair, with its system of 

 testimonials and interviews, might well be reformed. 



To return to Gerhardt. After several years of disap- 

 pointment, he was finally appointed (through Dumas' 

 influence) to the chair of chemistry at Montpellier, at one 

 time renowned for its medical school ; here he had only 

 6/. a year to spend on apparatus, and 12/. to provide 

 specimens I Moreover, he found his colleagues occupy- 

 ing sinecures, and anxious to retain their chairs, as such, 

 by discouraging the attendance of students. It is ex- 

 ceedingly galling to a " new broom " not to be allowed to 

 make a clean sweep ; and it is difficult to keep on terms 

 of sufferance — not to speak of friendship — with what may 

 be disrespectfully called the old besoms. So Gerhardt's 

 new chair was by no means a comfortable seat ; and 

 after some years he applied for, and obtained, leave of 

 absence on half-pay — another arrangement which sounds 

 strange in our ears. In the meantime, however, he had 

 married Miss Jane Sanders, a Scottish lady, resident 

 with her mother and sister at Montpellier ; this union was, 



