OBITUARY. 
479 
as  particularly  valuable,  not  merely  in  forensic  analysis,  but  more  especially 
for  technical  purposes :  we  refer  to  the  detection  of  minute  quantities  of 
free  sulphuric  acid  by  means  of  veratria.  The  liquid  is  mixed  with  a  little 
of  the  alkaloid,  heat  is  applied,  and  the  colorless  solution  is  evaporated  to 
dryness  on  a  water  bath,  when  the  residue  will  have  a  crimson  color  more 
or  less  intense.  The  author  has  detected  ^  grain  of  sulphuric  acid  in 
this  way,  and  even  g^gy  grain  gives  to  the  residue  a  perceptible  red  tint. 
Since  no  other  known  acid  has  the  same  reaction,  neither  sulphuric  acid 
in  combination,  the  test  will  be  a  valuable  one  for  the  detection  of  sulphuric 
acid  in  acid  liquids,  in  which  it  is  frequently  used  as  an  adulterating 
agent  (vinegar  for  instance),  or  is  present  as  an  impurity. 
We  have  devoted  so  much  space  to  the  review  of  this  work,  because  we 
hail  it  as  a  very  important  addition  to  our  scientific  literature,  and  as  such 
heartily  recommend  it  to  our  readers.  The  author  we  sincerely  wish  may 
find  the  leisure  of  extending  his  researches  also  in  the  directions  pointed 
out  above,  for  which,  from  his  past  experience,  he  appears  to  be  eminently 
qualified.  J.  M.  M. 
OBITUARY. 
Theophile  Jules  Pelouze,  died  on  Friday  last,  the  31st  of  May,  at  his 
country  house  at  Bellevue,  close  to  Sevres.  Born  the  13th  of  February, 
1807,  at  Valognes  (Departement  de  la  Manche),  he  inherited  his  love  for 
science  and  arts  from  his  father,  Edmund  Pelouze,  a  man  of  great  prac- 
tical  talents,  formerly  employed  in  the  manufactory  of  Gobelins,  and  after- 
wards director  of  the  gasworks  of  the  Manby  and  Wilson  Company  at 
Paris.  Pelouze  the  elder  is  known  as  the  author  of  a  great  number  of 
treatises  on  various  branches  of  applied  chemistry — on  glass-making,  on 
brick  making,  on  colors  and  varnish-making,  on  washing  and  bleaching 
for  housewives,  etc.  His  treatise  on  the  last-named  subjects  was  published 
under  the  name  of  his  wife.  His  chief  work,  "On  the  Manufacture  of 
Gas,"  was  revised  by  his  son,  and  came  out  in  a  second  edition  as  late  as 
1859. 
Young  Pelouze  entered  life  as  a  pharmaceutical  chemist;  but  he  was 
onl^  twenty  years  old  when  Gay-Lussac  made  him  his  assistant,  and  pub- 
lished some  of  his  researches  conjointly  with  him.  Three  years  later,  in 
1839,  he  became  professor  of  chemistry  at  Lille.  Here  he  examined  the 
juice  of  beetroot,  and,  in  conjunction  with  Kuhlmann,  published  a  paper 
on  its  fermentation.  From  1831  until  1847  he  took  the  place  of  Gay- 
Lussac  as  Professor  of  Chemistry  at  the  Ecole  Polytechnique,  and  at  about 
the  same  time  (1831)  he  was  elected  to  supply  the  place  of  Thenard  as 
professor  at  the  College  de  France.  Shortly  after  these  elections  Pelouze 
managed  to  go  to  Giessen,  and  to  publish  joint  researches  with  Liebig  on 
the  ether  contained  in  wine,  to  which  they  gave  the  name  of  oenanthic 
ether,  but  which  was  afterwards  proved  by  DelfFs  to  be  identical  with  pel- 
argonic  ether.  In  1833  Pelouze  became  Assayer,  and  in  1846  Controller 
(Verificateur)  of  the  Mint.    He  was  elected  a  member  of  the  Academie 
