Biography: of Johann Nepomuk von Fuchs. aie 233° 
of his dissolution, and his spirit was strong and unclouded to the 
last:—He died on the fifth of March 1856. Although his nature 
was phlegmatic rather than excitable, he could warm with the 
fullest enthusiasm, in the discussion of scientific subjects, espe: 
cially when as frequently happened, his own labors had been mis- 
understood or misrepresented, or when his results were ignored 
by those who entered the fields of inquiry which he had explored. 
Although his scientific achievements have been sometimes under- 
estimated, on the other hand they have received the highest 
Serociation from the most illustrious philosophers of his day. 
€ was constituted member of very numerous learned societies, 
and of the academies at Berlin and Vienna. He was decorated 
with the highest Bavarian orders of Knighthood, and under 
circumstances of especial honor received the Prussian order of 
the Red Eagle. In the ministerial despatch accompanying the 
occur the following words; ‘‘His Majesty the King of 
4 on occasion of the reception of Vicats’ work on the 
formation of Hydraulic Cement, through the Prussian embass 
at Paris, has become aware of the distinguished merits of the 
Royal Bavarian Chief Mining Counsellor and Professor, Dr. 
Fuchs,—merits surpassing even those of Vicat,—especially in the 
purely scientific part of the subject. In recognition, &." 
On his seventieth birthday, which was celebrated as a festival 
his numerous disciples and friends, Fuchs uttered these mod- 
est words: “Had I enriched science with only one established 
Principle, I could receive these demonstrations of honor without 
4 sense of shame, but towards this I have only made some sligh 
contributions.” He said still further, “remembering the old say- 
Mg, nist utile est quod facimus stulta gloria, | have sought some- 
times to give my labors a tical direction—I will not however 
ye ig this, that science is useful only when she enters the affai 
t life and brings us material gains. All science is a product of 
mind and reacts on mind to its —— ; = _ : — 
8teatest use, because the expansion of our spiritual nature is the 
chiefest good that can be io Only a shallow brain, only 
4 Narrow or perverted reason, can behold in nature the monster 
While the memory of Fuchs will be perpetuated by his dis- 
coveries that have into and enriched our practical life, it 
Will not the less be held in reverence in the history of science, 
for he truly belonged among her CONSECRATED ONES. 
_SBCOND SERIES, VoL. XXIII, NO. 68.—MARCH, 1567. 
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