May 9, 1902.] 



SCIENCE. 



741 



persons addressed preserved the letters re- 

 ceived, and to "the circumstance that this was 

 the habit of both parties, chemists can now 

 examine the voluminous correspondence 

 maintained by the Swedish master Berzelius 

 and his famous pupil Woliler, throughout a 

 long period of years (1823-1848). After the 

 death of Berzelius, Wohler presented the let- 

 ters received from him to the Eoyal Academy 

 of Sciences of Sweden with the condition tliat 

 they should be kept secret until January 1, 

 1900; and Berzelius' widow sent the letters 

 written to him by Wohler to the same institu- 

 tion, whence they were afterwards transferred 

 to the University librai'y of Gottingen. The 

 two large volumes reproducing these letters are 

 published under the auspices of the Eoyal 

 Academy of Sciences of the same town. 



The correspondence begins with a letter 

 written by Wohler from Heidelberg, July 17, 

 182.3, stating that the eminent professor of 

 chemistry at Heidelberg, Leopold Gmelin, 

 had suggested his applying to Berzelius for 

 permission to continue his chemical studies 

 in the laboratory of the distinguished Swede. 

 At that date Wohler had published four re- 

 searches that may have been known to Berze- 

 lius, the first in 1821, when Wohler was 

 twenty-one years of age, narrating his dis- 

 covery of selenium in a Bohemian mineral 

 and in the oil of vitriol manufactured there- 

 from. Berzelius replied favorably and a few 

 months later Wohler made the journey to 

 Stockholm, where he passed the winter of 

 1823-24. The last letter in the work was 

 written by Svanberg to Wohler on August 8, 

 1848, and announced the death of Berzelius; 

 the intervening letters depict the intimate re- 

 lations that existed between the two chemists. 



The high opinion formed by Berzelius for 

 his young pupil was fully jiistified when, 

 within four years of his studentship, Wohler 

 was able to write to his former master of his 

 brilliant discoveries of aluminium and of 

 urea; the first in a letter dated October 10, 



1827, and the second in a letter of February, 



1828. To these announcements Berzelius 

 answered with enthusiasm, 'Aluminium and 

 artificial urea, truly very different bodies, fol- 

 lowing so close to each other, will be the 



precious gems in the laurel wreath woven for 

 thy brow.' 



Besides their personal successes in chem- 

 istry the friends wrote to each other of the 

 labors of their contemporaries and friends; 

 the Swede wrote to the German of the dis- 

 coveries being made by Mosander, who had 

 been nicknamed 'Father Moses,' of the claims 

 of Gay Lussac, of his opinion of Gerhardt, 

 and of various domestic and family matters. 



On the other hand, Wohler had many things 

 of interest to communicate; he wrote of his 

 joint investigations begun with Liebig in 

 1830, and in the same year of his marriage. 

 In 1832 the letters are full of incidents; 

 Liebig discovers chloroform and chloral, Fara- 

 day discovers voltaic induction, Wohler's 

 v^ife died (in 1834 he married a second time), 

 Liebig received a visit from Wohler in Giessen 

 and they began to investigate bitter almond 

 oil. 



Events then marched rapidly ; in 1835 Berze- 

 lius visited Paris, and Woliler journeyed to 

 London, after which the two met in Bonn and 

 traveled together to Cassel. This meeting 

 was a source of great pleasure to both the 

 friends, who now pledged themselves in 

 brotherhood (hruderschaft) ; they met but 

 once again in life, at Gottingen in 1845. 



In 1836 Wohler received a call to Gottingen, 

 Berzelius married and was made a baron; in 

 1837 Bunsen investigated cacodyl, and the 

 unfortunate quarrel between Berzelius and 

 Liebig began with an attack by the latter. 



Among the innumerable items of value in 

 these 1,500 pages, one may be cited of special 

 interest to American chemists. In June, 1833, 

 Wohler wrote to Berzelius that a young 

 American, a pupil of Silliman, had been 

 studying with him for some months, and in 

 December of the same year he again mentions 

 him, this time by his name, Booth, and says 

 he wishes to continue his studies under Berze- 

 lius if he (Booth) can obtain permission. In 

 this connection Wohler writes handsomely of 

 the American's ability, industry and absolute 

 trustworthiness. Those who remember the 

 late Professor James Curtis Booth, for forty 

 years melter and refiner in the United States 

 Mint of Philadelphia, and in 1883, 1884 and 



