576 
OBITUARY. 
OBITUARY. 
Christian  F.  Schonbein,  whose  death  at  Baden-Baden,  on  September 
4th,  was  announced  in  yesterday's  Ledger,  was  born  in  Wurtemburg  on 
October  18,  1799.  At  an  early  age  he  devoted  himself  to  scientific  pur- 
suits, but  being  limited  in  his  means,  was  obliged  to  teach,  in  order  to 
complete  his  education.  In  1828,  he  was  appointed  professor  in  the  Uni- 
versity of  Basle,  in  Switzerland,  and  became  famous  in  a  few  years  for  the 
boldness  and  originality  of  his  generalizations  ;  although  inferior  to  seve- 
ral cotemporaries,  as  an  experimenter,  it  is  stated  that  he  has,  perhaps, 
never  had  a  superior  as  a  theorist. 
In  1839  Schonbein  made  his  great  discovery  of  ozone,  the  form  of  which 
oxygen  assumes  under  severe  electric  discharges,  and  which  gives  to  the 
air  the  peculiar  odor  which  prevails  after  a  stroke  of  lightning.  Twenty 
years  later,  in  1859,  he  discovered  "  Antozone,"  another  form  of  oxygen, 
which,  however,  is  as  yet  known  only  in  such  compounds  as  the  peroxyds 
of  sodium  and  potassium.  These  results  are  believed  to  be  as  remarkable 
as  almost  any  in  modern  chemistry.  In  1845  Schonbein  invented  gun- 
cotton,  the  value  of  which  as  blasting  material  is  well  known  to  the  pub- 
lic. At  first  it  was  supposed  that  the  whole  system  of  military  warfare 
would  be  changed  by  the  discovery  of  this  new  agent,  but  its  explosive 
qualities  were  found  to  be  uncontrollable  in  the  field.  In  1851,  a  more 
pacific  use  was  discovered  for  gun-cotton.  Collodion,  a  solution  of  gun-  * 
cotton  in  ether,  discovered  by  Maynard  of  Boston,  is  found  to  be  the  best 
material  to  be  sensitized  for  photographic  purposes.  Schonbein  was  the 
author  of  several  treatises  on  iron  and  its  combinations  with  oxygen,  on 
physical  chemistry,  on  combustion  and  on  the  results  of  his  own  discoveries. 
Prof.  Jean  Francis  Persoz,  of  the  Conservatoire  des  Arts  et  Metiers, 
eminent  as  a  technological  chemist  and  a  member  of  the  "  Conseil 
d'Hygiene  etde  Salubritede  Paris/'  died  at  Paris  on  the  12th  of  September, 
Persoz  was  particularly  well  versed  in  the  chemistry  of  dyeing,  and  held  a 
public  function  in  connection  with  that  art.  We  hope  to  have  a  more  ex- 
tended notice. 
Henry  F.  Fish,  one  of  the  original  members  of  the  American  Pharma- 
ceutical Association,  and  at  one  time  the  Mayor  of  Waterbury,  Connecti- 
cut, died  in  New  York  in  August  last.  Mr.  Fish  suffered  much  during 
the  latter  years  of  his  life  from  a  serious  disturbance  of  his  digestive 
organs,  often  accompanied  with  severe  pain  and  depression.  He  wrote 
several  papers  for  the  proceedings  of  the  Association,  among  which  we 
recollect  those  on  powdered  camphor,  on  conium  seed  and  on  coca,  the 
latter  rather  a  compilation. 
