A%pTu;imrm'}  Helen  Abbott  Michael.  181 
equipment,  but  called  at  the  professors'  homes  as  well.  Since  it  is 
but  seldom  that  we  are  favored  with  a  description  of  the  laboratories 
and  studies  of  the  great  men  in  chemistry  as  seen  through  a  femi- 
nine eye,  the  following  two  paragraphs,  descriptive  of  Hofmann's 
laboratory  and  study,  may  be  quoted  as  an  illustration  of  the  kind 
of  notes  which  Miss  Abbott  took  down  : 
"  The  laboratory  looked  like  a  place,  a  home,  which  had  not  the 
personal  supervision  of  a  head.  I  see  where  my  weak  points  are, 
and  what  is  necessary  for  me  to  do  to  fortify  myself  by  study.  The 
beginners  are  made  to  work  on  some  inorganic  compound  first  for 
qualitative  study  ';  then  they  are  hurried  to  organic  chemistry.  It 
is  the  worship  of  the  benzole  ring.  The  assistant  told  me  that  it 
was  all  he  cared  for.  Tiemann,  the  one  who  has  synthetically  made 
vanillin,  was  absent. 
"  Hofmann's  study  in  his  house  is  quite  a  large  room,  containing 
family  portraits.  Over  his  desk  is  a  marble  female  bust.  The  fur- 
niture is  black  and  gold,  sofas  and  chairs  covered  with  green.  The 
carpet  looks  like  chinchilla,  a  velvet  one.  The  chemical  lecture- 
room  of  the  university  (Hofmann's)  is  where  the  Chemical  Society 
usually  meets.    I  was  present  on  the  opening  night,  October  ioth." 
After  her  visit  to  the  scientific  centers  of  England,  Norway, 
Sweden,  Denmark,  Germany,  Switzerland  and  France,  she  returns 
via  England  to  the  United  States  and  begins  studying  under  the 
direction  of  Professor  Arthur  Michael,  of  Tufts  College.  She  was 
married  to  him  in  June,  1 888,  and  in  the  summer  of  the  same  year 
Professor  and  Mrs.  Michael  started  on  a  trip  around  the  world,  which 
lasted  about  a  year  and  a  half. 
On  their  return  to  America,  Professor  Michael  accepted  the 
position  of  Director  of  the  Chemical  Laboratory  of  the  newly  estab- 
lished Clark  University  at  Worcester.  He  resigned  shortly  after- 
wards, and  the  following  year  (1891)  he  and  Mrs.  Michael  took  up 
their  residence  at  Bonchurch,  Isle  of  Wight,  England,  where  they 
equipped  a  private  laboratory  and  continued  their  research  work. 
After  a  residence  of  four  years,  they  returned  to  Boston,  Professor 
Michael  resuming  his  connection  with  Tufts  College. 
During  this  period  there  appeared,  in  1 892,  "  Ueber  eine  neue 
Bildungsweise  von  aromatischen  Nitrilen"  and  "  Zur  Kenntniss  der 
Mandelsaure  und  ihres  Nitrils,"  joint  reports  with  John  Jeanpretre 
in  the  Berichte  ;  "  Zur  Kenntniss  der  Addition  von  Brom  und  Chlor 
