550 THE POPULAR SCIENCE MONTHLY. 



invited to accompany him in a tour in the interest of that work to 

 Lorraine and Alsace. Among the fruits of this journey was an 

 extended memoir on the analyses of mineral waters, which was 

 not, however, published during Lavoisier's life. The work of 

 publishing the atlas on the original plan proving to be a larger 

 one than the government was ready to sustain, Guettard retired 

 from it, and Monnet, who was no friend of Lavoisier's, took his 

 place. He used Guettard's and Lavoisier's material, added some- 

 thing of his own, and ignored Lavoisier, while recognizing Guet- 

 tard, in his credits. 



Other results of Lavoisier's earlier work were papers " On the 

 Pretended Conversion of Water into Silica " (in which a prevail- 

 ing error was refuted), " On a Species of Steatite," " On a Coal- 

 Mine " (in conjunction with Guettard), " The Analysis of the Gyp- 

 sums of the Environs of Paris," " Thunder," the " Aurora Bore- 

 alis," " The Conversion of Water into the Condition of Ice," and 

 " The Strata of Mountains " (general observations on the mod- 

 ern horizontal strata which have been deposited by the sea, and 

 on the conclusions that can be drawn from their disposition 

 relative to the antiquity of the terrestrial globe). The last was 

 not published till 1789, when it appeared in the " Memoirs of the 

 Academy." 



Lavoisier was nominated in 1768 to succeed Baron in the Acad- 

 emy of Sciences, by Lalande, who proposed him on the ground that 

 he had knowledge, talent, and activity, and possessed a fortune, 

 which, relieving him from the necessity of embracing another pro- 

 fession, would enable him to be very useful to science. His prin- 

 cipal competitor was Jars, an eminent metallurgist. Lavoisier 

 was chosen, but the final decision rested with the king, and his 

 minister decided that Jars should have the seat. Out of defer- 

 ence to the views of the Academy, a new position of adjunct chem- 

 ist was provisionally created for Lavoisier, with the understand- 

 ing that on the occurrence of the next vacancy in chemistry he 

 should go in without a new election. The vacancy occurred 

 through the death of Jars in the next year. 



Desiring, as the biographers pleasantly express it, to place him- 

 self on a financial footing in which he could pursue, independent- 

 ly, investigations involving costly expenditures, Lavoisier sought 

 and obtained in 1768 a position as one of the farmers-general (of 

 the revenue). He conscientiously performed the duties of his 

 office ; instituted reforms in taxation by removing useless duties, 

 and earned the gratitude of the Jews of Metz by freeing them 

 from an odious impost. M. Grimaux represents him as performing 

 the duty of making regular tours of inspection, with which he as- 

 sociated the study of the features of scientific interest which the 

 places he visited might afford. The work of this office brought 



