592 
Obituary. 
( Am.  Joiir.  Pharm. 
(      Nov.,  1882. 
Woehler  executed  a  large  number  of  analyses  of  minerals,  and  intro- 
duced many  improvements  in  the  analytical  methods.  He  first  isolated  or 
improved  the  process  of  isolation  of  many  elements,  like  potassium, 
yttrium,  beryllium,  aluminium,  tungsten,  titanium,  boron,  etc.,  and  elabor- 
ated a  number  of  processes  for  use  in  pharmacy,  metallurgy  and  the  arts. 
He  showed  the  diflerence  between  infusible  and  fusible  white  precipitate, 
the  comi^osition  being  determined  by  Kane.  He  discovered  the  dimorph- 
ism and  isomorphism  of  the  oxides  of  antimony  and  arsenic,  and  showed 
that  dinior]i)hous  bodies  j^ossess  different  melting  points  in  the  amorphous 
and  crystalline  condition.  The  first  instance  of  isomerism  (polynierism) 
was  clearly  proven  through  the  discovery  of  cyanic  acid  by  Woehler  in 
1822,  and  of  fulminic  acid  by  Liebig  and  Gay-Lussac  in  1824. 
Woehler's  labors  in  organic  chemistry  were  not  less  extended  and  fruit- 
ful for  theory  as  well  as  practice.  His  preparation  of  urea  from  cyanic  acid 
and  ammonia  in  1828,  opened  the  way  for  the  production  of  organic  com- 
pounds from  inorganic  material.  But  perhaps  still  greater  results  flowed 
from  his  labors  undertaken  conjointly  with  Liebig,  who  was  then  professor 
at  the  University  of  Giessen.  The  brightest  of  these  researches  were  made 
during  the  decade  1830  to  1840,  and  embraced  (he  compounds  and  deriva- 
tives of  benzoyl,  cyanogen  and  uric  acid.  Aside  from  the  large  number  of 
new  compounds  discovered  by  the  colaborers,  facts  like  the  chemical  rela- 
tion of  oil  of  bitter  almond  to  benzoic  acid,  the  glucoside  nature  of  amyg- 
dalin  (1837),  the  substitution  of  hydrogen  by  chlorine  and  other  elements, 
and  many  others  oj)ened  new  fields  of  investigation  and  new  views,  upon 
which  could  be  gradually  built  the  theoretical  structure  of  chemistry  of  the 
present  time. 
The  literary  productions  of  Woehler  are  very  numerous  ;  his  essays  were 
published  in  the  prominent  journals  of  chemistry,  physiology  and  physics 
of  Germany,  in  the  Transactions  of  the  Academies  of  Stockholm  and  of 
Goettingen,  and  particularly  in  the  ''Annalen  der  Cheniie  und  Pharma- 
cie"  (now  "  Liebig's  Annalen")  of  w^hich  he  was  for  many  years  one  of 
the  editors.  He  also  wrote  for  the  first  edition  of  the  "  Handworterbuch 
der  Chemie  "  many  of  the  most  imxDortant  articles,  and  from  1825  translated 
into  German  the  handbook  of  chemistry  and  the  annual  report  on  the  pro- 
gress of  chemistry  by  Berzelius,  and  other  works  written  in  the  Swedish 
language.  His  little  "  Grundriss  der  Chemie"  (Outlines  of .  Chemistry) 
proved  to  be  of  such  excellence  that  it  passed  through  many  editions  and 
was  translated  into  three  or  four  languages.  The  inorganic  j^art  made  it& 
first  appearance  in  1831,  and  the  organic  part  in  1840,  and  it  is  still  in  exist- 
ence, though  of  course  in  a  greatly  modified  form,  being  at  present  edited 
by  Prof.  Fittig. 
As  a  teacher,  Woehler  was  revered  by  his  j)upils,  among  whom  was  a 
large  number  from  this  side  of  the  Atlantic ;  as  a  man  he  was  above 
reproach,  and  as  a  scientist  he  was  honored  everywhere.  The  American 
Pharmaceutical  Association,  the  Philadelphia  College  of  Pharmacy,  and 
other  American  societies  lose  in  him  one  of  their  most  valued  honorary  mem- 
bers. He  survived  his  somewhat  younger  colaborer,  Liebig,  nearly  nine 
and  a  half  years. 
