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SCIEiNoE 



[Entered at the PosL-Offloe of New York, N.Y., as Second-Class Matter.] 



A WEEKLY NEWSPAPER OF ALL THE ARTS AND SCIENCES. 



Sevknth Year. 

 Vol. XIII. No. 323. 



NEW YORK, April 12, il 



Single Copies, Ten Cents. 

 ^3.50 Per Year, in Advance. 



MICHEL EUGENE CHEVREUL. 



Michel Eugene Chevreul, the distinguished French chem- 

 ist, died in Paris, April 9. He was born Aug. 31, 1786, in Angers. 

 His father was a well-to-do physician in Angers, professor in the 

 medical faculty, and a talented writer. Old age seems to be hered- 

 itary in the family ; Chevreul's father having died at ninety-one, 

 and his mother at ninety- 

 three years. 



After the revolution the 

 University of Angers was 

 disestablished, a school for 

 chemical and physical stu- 

 dies being put in its place ; 

 which school Chevreul at- 

 tended between the ages of 

 eleven and seventeen. In 

 1803, Chevreul went to 

 Paris, where his aptitudes 

 were quickly noticed. In 

 1806 he was appointed di- 

 rector of Vauquelin's labo- 

 ratory, and professor in the 

 Lycee Charlemagne, and 

 during the same year he 

 published the results of his 

 first experiments. In 1806 

 seven papers came from 

 his pen, of which three 

 were on coloring-matters 

 (indigo and Brazilian wood). 

 Four years later he was 

 appointed aide-naturaliste 

 in the Museum of Natural 

 History, then examiner for 

 the Ecole Polytechnique ; 

 and at thirty he was pro- 

 fessor of chemistry in the 

 Gobelins, the world-known 

 manufactory of tapestry, 

 and director of the depart- 

 ment of tinctorial baths. 

 In 1826, after the death of 

 Proust, Chevreul was ap- 

 pointed member of the 

 Academy of Sciences. Not 

 one of his colleagues of that 

 time is now living. In 1830 

 he became professor in the 

 museum, and some time 

 after director. He never M. CHEVREUL, THE FAMOUS FRENCH CHEMIST 



missed a meeting of the (Died at Paris, April 9, aged 102 years.) 



Academy of Sciences up to his one hundredth birthday, and it is 

 not long since one could meet him in the Rue des Ecoles, walking 

 to the Institute, hat in hand, and hands behind the back. He 

 seemed to have an aversion to hats, and dispensed with them a 

 great deal. 



During the war of 1S70 he remained in Paris. It was in a letter 



written during January, 1871, to Abbe Lamazon, in answer to a 

 note of the latter, that Chevreul used for the first time the expres- 

 sion he preferred when speaking of himself, — " the dean of French 

 students." 



Chevreul married early, but his wife died more than twenty years 

 ago His conjugal life was a very quiet and happy one. Chevreul 

 had only one son a retired magistrate, who died recently. He 



himself lived alone in Paris- 

 As a man, Chevreul had 

 a very pleasant expression, 

 and always greeted stran- 

 gers or friends in a very 

 hearty fashion. His life 

 was a quiet one, devoted 

 wholly to work and study. 

 He was a rich man, as he 

 spent little, and his income 

 exceeded by a great deal 

 his expenses. A few years 

 ago he sometimes went to 

 balls, and was a favorite 

 with many ladies. He had 

 a humorous turn of mind. 

 Recently, when accepting 

 a new assistant, he ex- 

 claimed, " Well, you must 

 be plucky to become my. 

 assistant : I have already 

 killed four ! " " Killed " is 

 a metaphor, but no more 

 so than it is when used in 

 speaking of a commander 

 who has killed two or three 

 horses ; that is, has had 

 them killed under him. 



Chevreul's material life 

 was simple ; he eat little. 

 Two eggs and a slice of 

 patty were enough for the 

 morning, with some milk 

 and coffee ; in the evening, 

 a full plate of soup, a cut- 

 let, and some fruit, some 

 cheese, and only water or 

 beer, no wine at all. 



A catalogue of Chev- 

 reul's works would be a 

 work in itself. The two 

 most important branches 

 of science studied and de- 

 veloped by Chevreul are 

 the chemistry of fatty sub- 

 stances, and the theory of complementary colors. By his researches 

 in the former of these, Chevreul gave methods for obtaining a num- 

 ber of very important and useful substances, such as stearine, 

 glycerine, etc. Millions have been earned by the application of his 

 methods. A statue of Chevreul was unveiled at the Paris Museum 

 on his hundredth birthday. 



