SECOND PERIOD. 35 



which it was professed by Piouelle, it soon be- 

 came generally known : his method was first 

 to excite the attention by surprising experiments, 

 and then direct it to general views. His elo- 

 cution was often incorrect and coarse i but 

 always animated and picturesque , and his en- 

 thusiasm communicated itself to his auditors. His 

 lectures , by exciting a taste for chemistry , dif- 

 fused the ideas of Stahl , as those of Fourcroy 

 have since disseminated the principles of Lavoi- 

 sier, and the new nomenclature. 



When forced by ill health to retire in 1768. 

 he was replaced by his brother, who became 

 titular professor in 1770. His successor had not 

 the same talent for striking the imagination , 

 but he was thoroughly acquainted with the prac- 

 tice , and rendered his lectures interesting by the 

 choice of experiments. 



While Rouelle zealously inculcated the new 

 theory , Bourdelin continued to repeat the ideas 

 of Lemery; a most shocking discrepancy hence 

 resulted, between the doctrines of the professor 

 and those of the demonstrator; which was the 

 more apparent, as the latter declaimed with 

 vehemence against the old opinions. But Bour- 

 delin, a man of correct mind and inoffensive cha- 

 racter , and moreover wholly devoted to the 

 practice of medicine , was neither incensed a l 



3. 



