xxxiii 



few days to stay with one of his daughters at Cannes. There he had 

 the pleasure of seeing once more his friend Dumas, who was apparently 

 in good health. Yery shortly after his return, he heard of Dumas' 

 death. He had just then business at Liege. He hurried through 

 this as early as possible, for the sake of attending the funeral of his 

 old master, and was imprudent enough to pass two consecutive nights 

 in railway trains. On reaching home, he got a notice that he was 

 expected to give an address over the grave of Dumas, on behalf of 

 the Faculte des Sciences et Medecine. He set to work at once to 

 compose the eloquent discourse which he delivered on this occasion. 

 But the strain on his powers was too great, and his friends noticed 

 with pain his altered appearance. Still he went on with his work, 

 and resumed his lectures, though with visible effort. He gave his 

 last lecture on the 27th April with his usual animation, but at the end 

 was in a fainting state. He was now obliged to give up, and, as he 

 himself remarked with some pride, it was the first time during a 

 professorship of thirty years that he had put up a notice announcing 

 that his state of health prevented his lecturing. Still his condition 

 was not considered serious, and he himself did not appear to have any 

 misgivings about his health. He was full of the idea of replacing his 

 illustrious master, Dumas, as Secretaire Perpetuel of the Academie 

 des Sciences. He consulted some of his frien.ds on this subject. They 

 seeing that he was overdone by his work, yet feeling how desirable it 

 was that he should hold this appointment, urged him to apply; but at 

 the same time to give up more than an equivalent part of his other 

 work. This he promised to do, and they still hoped to see him at the 

 head of the Academie. But disease was making rapid progress, and 

 he expired on the 12th of May, after a few days' illness, and only one 

 month after paying his last tribute to the memory of Dumas. 



He was followed from his home in the Boulevard St. Germain to 

 his grave in Pere-la- Chaise by an immense procession, consisting of 

 official deputations from the Senat, the Institut, and various learned 

 institutions with which he was connected, and of hundreds of 

 students principally from the ficole de Medecine and the Faculte des 

 Sciences. 



The labours of Wurtz have exerted a powerful influence on the 

 development of chemistry. Among his most important discoveries 

 may be mentioned those of the compound ammonias and the glycols, 

 by which two extensive and fertile provinces were opened up in 

 organic chemistry. His researches on the mixed alcohol radicals 

 threw great light on the constitution of hydrocarbons, which had been 

 the subject of a long controversy. He also made important experi- 

 ments on dissociation. He discovered butylic alcohol. Other impor- 

 tant investigations were his synthesis of glycerine, and of neurine, 

 his elaborate investigation of lactic acid, his researches on the poly- 



vol. xxxvm. • e 



