MEMOIR OF THE AUTHOR. 



" Dictionary of Chemistry," which is not yet 

 completed. The chief organ of his communica- 

 tions to the public has been the " Annals of 

 Pharmacy," and which is now, chiefly through 

 his labors, the principal journal for Organic 

 Chemistry. 



Dr. Liebig is without doubt one of the most 

 eminent chemists of Europe, and in organic 

 chemistry he may be called without hesitation 

 the first living authority. His labors are the 

 more important inasmuch as they are not con- 

 fined to researches in one department, but, like 

 those of Berzelius, embrace the whole science 

 of Chemistry. His investigations of organic 

 bodies should, however, be particularly noticed^ 

 as they have roused a spirit of greater activity 

 in all who are engaged in chemical pursuits. 



Almost from the beginning Liebig has ex- 

 ercised in his labors a very severe criticism. 

 This criticism was the more useful, as it was 

 an experimental one, refuting experiments by 

 experiments, for which he was particularly dis- 

 tinguished by Berzelius in his " Jahresberich- 

 ten " (Annual Reports). We must not omit to 



observe, however, that the severity of his criti- 

 b 



