Chemistry 613 



this catastrophe was a series of detonations successively in- 

 creasing in loudness, and followed by a final explosion which 

 tore in pieces the building where it occurred, threw down 

 several houses in the vicinity and forced in the fronts of the 

 houses on the opposite side of the street. These effects were 

 attributed to gunpowder, but the owner of the building de- 

 clared that he had none of that explosive, although a large 

 quantity of niter was stored in the house. Doctor Hare 

 showed by numerous experiments that explosions of a violent 

 character could be produced by forcibly bringing in contact 

 at a high temperature niter and substances of an inflammable 

 character. This memoir was referred to John Torrey and 

 Colonel John J. Abert, and on their recommendation accepted 

 for publication by the Smithsonian Institution in October, 

 1849. ^ was published in 1850. 



It is interesting to mention that on the title-page of Doctor 

 Hare's memoir he refers to himself as an " associate of the 

 Smithsonian Institution." Among the six honorary members 

 created by the Establishment the names of Robert Hare and 

 Benjamin Silliman both among the foremost chemists of 

 their time are conspicuous ; they were elected in 1 849, and 

 continued in that relation until their death. 



The publication of periodic reports summarizing all the dis- 

 coveries of science and giving a well-digested account of 

 important additions to knowledge was an idea that Henry de- 

 rived from Berzelius, a Swedish chemist of high reputation. 

 A practical expression of the value of this scheme was demon- 

 strated in 1851 by the publication of a report "On Recent 

 Improvements in the Chemical Arts," compiled by James C. 

 Booth, Assayer of the United States Mint in Philadelphia, 

 and his associate, Campbell Morfit. It consisted of a digest 

 of articles that had appeared during the ten years previous 

 in the various journals of science and the arts in the English, 



