144  Obituary.  {A%K8arn- 
OBITUARY. 
Paul  Antoine  Cap  died  November  12,  1877,  at  tne  advanced  age  of  90  years. 
.He  was  a  prominent  pharmacien  at  Paris  and  the  author  of  an  elementary  work  on 
pharmacy  and  of  numerous  essays  on  pharmaceutical  subjects,  a  number  of  which 
were  transferred  to  the  earlier  volumes  of  the  "American  Journal  of  Pharmacy  M 
up  to  the  year  1865.  The  deceased  was  a  corresponding  member  of  the  Philadel- 
phia College  of  Pharmacy. 
NAPOLeoN  NiCKLes,  pharmacist  at  Benfeld,  Alsace-Lorraine,  died  there  January 
6,  aged  69  years.  The  deceased  was  born  Oct.  23,  1808,  became  an  apprentice  in 
January,  1822,  and  subsequently  served  as  clerk  at  Strasburg  and  other  towns  of 
Alsace-Lorraine.  He  graduated  at  Strasburg  in  1833,  and  in  the  following  year 
established  himself  at  Benfeld,  where  he  continued  to  cultivate  his  favorite  study  of 
botany.  His  scientific  attainments  were  recognized  by  many  French  and  German 
societies,  in  electing  him  honorary  or  corresponding  member.  He  was  the  author 
of  several  works  on  botanical  and  agricultural  subjects,  and  a  contributor  to  the 
"Journal  de  Pharmacie  d' Alsace-Lorraine." 
Henry  Daniel  Ruhmkorff,  the  famous  magneto-electrician,  died  at  Paris 
Dec.  20,  1877,  in  the  seventy-fifth  year  of  his  age.  He  was  born  at  Hannover, 
Germany,  but,  while  a  youth,  came  to  Paris,  where,  in  1844,  he  attracted  attention 
by  a  new  thermo-electric  battery,  and  in  1851  constructed  the  apparatus  known 
everywhere  as  RuhmkorfTs  apparatus.  In  1855  he  was  awarded  the  first  prize  of 
50,000  francs  for  the  excellence  of  his  electric  apparatus. 
Antoine  CesAR  Becquerel  was  born  March  8,  1788,  at  Chatillon  sur  Loing, 
Department  of  Loire,  and  received  his  scientific  education  at  the  Paris  Polytechnic 
School.  After  having  served  in  the  army  until  1815,  he  devoted  himself  to  his 
favorite  branch  of  science,  physics,  and  more  especially  to  magnetism  and  electricity 
in  their  application  to  the  arts  and  sciences.  One  of  the  fruits  of  these  investiga- 
tions was  his  well  known  work,  Electrochimie  appliquee  aux  arts,  which  appeared  in 
1842.  A  number  of  his  essays  have  appeared  in  the  earlier  volumes  of  this  journal. 
He  labored  for  a  long  time  as  professor  of  physics  at  the  Jardin  des  Plantes,  and 
was  a  member  of  the  Academy  of  Sciences  since  1824,  and  of  many  learned  socie- 
ties.   He  died  January  18,  having  nearly  completed  his  ninetieth  year. 
Victor  Henri  Regnault,  another  eminent  scientist  of  France,  died  at  Paris, 
January  19,  at  the  age  of  6 7 \  years.  He  was  born  at  Aix-la-Chapelle  in  1810, 
finished  his  scientific  education  at  the  Paris  Polytechnic  College,  occupied  after- 
wards the  chair  of  physics  and  chemistry  at  Lyons,  and  was  then  called  to  Paris, 
first  to  the  Polytechnic  School,  and  in  1841  to  the  College  de  France.  Since  1854 
he  was  director  of  the  porcelain  manufactory  at  Sevres.  The  most  important 
researches  of  the  deceased  were  on  the  expansion,  compression  and  density  of  gases 
and  liquids,  on  the  latent  heat  of  vapors,  on  the  specific  heat  of  bodies,  etc.  A 
few  of  his  papers,  having  some  bearing  on  pharmacy,  will  be  found,  in  abstract,  in 
former  volumes  of  this  journal. 
