250 



sciujsrcu. 



[Vol. VUI., No. 189 



take all his time. He is very fond of fine books 

 and rare editions. 



As a man, Chevreul has a very pleasant expres- 

 sion, and always greets strangers or friends in a 

 very hearty fashion. There is nothing pedantic 

 in the man: he is amiable, kind-hearted, and 

 good-natured. He is al?o a very just man and a 

 stanch friend, which is shown by an incident 

 that occurred in 1874. At that time, M. de 

 Cumont, one of the most incompetent and un- 

 popular ministers of public instruction that we 

 have had of late, had made up a list of persons 

 upon whom he wished to confer the distinction of 

 the Legion d'honneur ; but these persons, belong- 

 ing to the museum, Chevreul found, with good 

 reason, rather unripe for the much coveted distinc- 

 tion, while persons who were quite worthy of it 

 were not put down on the list. Minister and 

 director disagreed, and the du-ector sent in his 

 resignation. This created quite a sensation, and 

 the minister had to abandon his project to induce 

 Chevreul to withdraw his decision. 



Upon the whole, Chevi-eul's life has been a very 

 quiet one, devoted wholly to work and study. He 

 is a rich man, as he spends very little, and his in- 

 come exceeds by a great deal his expenses. He 

 is a society man, and has very refined and pleas- 

 ant manners. A few years ago he sometimes went 

 to balls, and was a favorite with many ladies, who 

 had great pleasure in listening to his conversation. 

 He has a humorous turn of mind. Recently, when 

 accepting a new assistant, he exclaimed, " 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 is very simple : he eats 

 little. Two eggs and a slice of patty are enough 

 for the morning, with some milk and coffee ; in 

 the evening, a full plate of soup, a cutlet, and 

 some fruit, some cheese, and only water or beer, 

 no wine at all. 



A catalogue of Chevreul's works would be a 

 work in itself. The two most important branches 

 of science studied and developed by Chevreul are 

 the chemistry of fat substances, and the theory of 

 complementary colors. By his researches in the 

 former of these, Chevreul has given methods for 

 obtaining a number of very important and useful 

 substances, such as stearin, glycerine, etc. Mil- 

 lions have been earned by the appUcation of his 

 methods. 



The centennial anniversary of Chevreul was 

 celebrated by various ceremonies. The Societe 

 d'agriculture, of which he has been a member 

 for more than fifty years, and president for thirty- 



seven years, gave him, during the meeting of Aug, 

 30, a handsome present, the ' Penseur ' of Chapu, a 

 very fine bas-relief, and a medal. After the meet- 

 ing of the Agricultural society came that of the 

 Academy of sciences. Chevreul went, as usual, 

 and was greeted with great sympathy by his col- 

 leagues. The same evening Chevreul was invited 

 to the opera, where he had not been fora very long 

 time ; and he assisted at the whole play, gotten 

 up in honor of his first century. He had received 

 before, the visit of the Chinese ambassador, Tcheou- 

 Meow-Ki, who came to congratulate him ; he had 

 received a delegation from the inhabitants of the 

 Rue Chevi'eul, who sent him a fine nosegay ; he 

 had received also the visit of MM. Alcan and Ch. 

 Richet, who brought him a volume especially pub- 

 lished for the occasion, • Hommage a Chevreul,' 

 and written by Berthelot, Gautier, Grimaux, 

 Ponchet, and others, — a sort of livre jubilaire, as 

 is often published in Germany when some impor 

 tant date in the life of a professor or scientist is 

 celebrated. 



Notwithstanding all these speeches and cere- 

 monies, Chevreul slept very well, and was quite 

 fresh the next day, when took place the ceremony 

 of the unveiling of Chevreul's statue in the new 

 gallery of the museum, w^hich was hung -with 

 Gobelin tapestries of splendid hues and dimensions. 

 Although a great many persons of scientific pur- 

 suits are still out of Paris, the room was full, and 

 the heat was awful. A large crowd gathered in 

 the Jardin des plantes to witness the passage of 

 those invited. When Chevreul came in, leaning 

 on Professor Fremy's arm and on that of an old 

 soldier ninety-four years of age, unanimous ap- 

 plause went up, with many cheers for the hearty 

 old savant. Chevreul was quite astonished at the 

 sensation he created, and murmured, ' What a fine 

 crowning-point for a savanfs life ! ' The statue 

 was due to Guillaunie, and is a very fine one. It 

 does not resemble much the Chevreul of to-day, 

 but is so well arranged, and with so much taste 

 and art, that the effect is excellent. This will be 

 one of Guillaume's masterj)ieces. 



But now began the unpleasant part of the day. 

 It was half-past two, and the heat was terrific. 

 One required rain, or hail, or snow, any thing that 

 could refresh the air : nothing poured but 

 speeches and large drops of perspiration. After 

 one speech, another : one man went down the 

 tribune one side, another got up the otlier side. 

 They were audible only in a very small part of the 

 building. The gallery was intended to receive 

 specimens of natui-al history, and the skeletons of 

 all creatures that had one, and was very well de- 

 signed ; but it was not intended for speeches. 

 The consequence was that very little of them was 



