Am.  Jour.  Pliarni.  I 
■     Sapt.,  1885.  ; 
Obituary. 
46S 
OBITUARY. 
Professor  Dr.  Hermann  von  Fehling  was  born  in  Liibeck,  North 
Germany,  June  9th,  1812,  and  died  in  Stuttgart,  July  1, 1885.  After  finish- 
ing his  school  education,  he  entered  a  pharmacy  as  apprentice  and  subse- 
quently studied  chemistry  under  Gmelin,  at  Heidelberg,  where  he  gradu- 
ated. Hecontiimed  his  studies  under  Liebig,  at  Giessen,  where,  in  1838, 
he  discovered  paraldehyde,  and  made  researches  on  benzoic  acid,  fulminic 
acid  and  other  compounds.  In  1839  he  received  a  call  as  Professor  of 
Chemistry  and  director  of  the  chemical  laboratory  connected  with  the 
Polytechnic  School  at  Stuttgart,  where  he  has  since  resided,  and  was  in 
addition  to  his  educational  duties,  entrusted  with  labors  in  other  fields  as 
one  of  the  inspectors  of  pharmacies,  as  director  of  a  laboratory  for  techno- 
logical research,  as  a  member  of  the  medical  commission  (board  of  health), 
etc.  The  researches  in  theoretical  chemistry  were  gradually  and  under  the 
influence  of  his  duties,  superseded  by  such  of  a  more  practical  nature^ 
notably  on  analytical  methods,  and  it  is  one  of  these — the  estimation  of 
sugar  by  means  of  an  alkaline  copper  solution  in  the  presence  of  alkali 
tartrates— which  has  made  his  name  well  known  throughout  the  civilized 
world.  As  a  member  of  the  German  i3harmacopoeia  commission  he  natu- 
rally exerted  considerable  influence  on  the  character  of  this  work  as  far  as 
the  chemical  properties  and  the  analytical  investigations  of  the  admitted 
preparations  are  concerned.  Aside  from  the  official  documents,  the  papers 
on  his  theoretical  and  analytical  researches  and  a  German  translation  of 
Payen's  industrial  chemistry,  Fehling's  literary  labors  were  prominently 
connected  with  the  celebrated  Handworterbuch  (Dictionary)  of  Chemistry, 
commenced  by  Liebig,  Poggendorff  and  Wohler  in  1842,  for  some  time 
edited  by  Kolbeand  subsequently  by  Fehling,  under  whose  supervision  the 
first  edition  was  finished  in  1864,  and  the  second,  still  unfinished,  edition 
commenced  in  1871. 
Dr.  Theodor  Geiseler  died  July  6,  1885,  in  Koenigsberg,  where  he 
was  born  September  9,  1799.  In  1814  he  became  an  apprentice  in  a  Berlin 
IDharmacy,  and  after  clerking  for  some  years  in  various  cities,  continued 
his  studies  in  Berlin  where  he  passed  the  State's  examination  in  1824.  He 
succeeded  his  father  in  business  in  his  native  city  and  joining  the  North 
German  Apothecaries'  Society,  soon  became  a  prominent  member  and  one 
of  its  directors.  His  numerous  contributions  to  pharmaceutical  literature 
were  mostly  published  in  the  "Archiv  der  Pharmacie  "  previous  to  18G0 
and  comprise,  besides  papers  on  ethical  and  educational  subjects,  investi- 
gations on  galenical  preparations,  on  the  valuation  of  medicinal  articles,  and 
on  chemicals,  such  as  phosphoric  acid,  chlorine  water,  potassium  tartrate, 
ammonium  acetate,  zinc  cyanide,  ferrous  sulphate,  ferrous  iodide,  lead  sub- 
acetate,  bismuth  subnitrate,  salts  of  mercury  and  others.  In  1833  the  Uni- 
versity of  Giessen  conferred  upon  him  the  title  of  doctor  of  philosoi^hy, 
the  subject  of  his  dissertation  being  amygdalin  and  bitter  almond  water  ; 
and  a  number  of  scientific  societies  honored  him  by  the  election  as  honorary 
or  corresponding  member. 
