240 
Obituary. 
(  Am  Jouk.  Phaum. 
t     Mar.  1, 1873. 
he  elaborated  the  botanical  collections  of  the  exploring  expeditions  of  the 
National  Government  and  published,  since  1838,  the  "  Flora  of  the  United 
•States,"  which  work  we  believe,  has  not  been  completed  yet. 
He  was  kind  and  genial  in  his  intercourse  with  others,  and  always  Teady  to 
•cheer  and  aid  the  student  with  his  valuable  counsel. 
Justus  von  Liebiox  died  at  Munich  on  the  18th  day  of  April,  at  the  age  of 
70  years.  He  was  born  May  8th,  1803,  at  Darmstadt,  where  his  father  carried 
on  a  business  in  paints  and  druggists'  materials,  and  by  experiments  for  prepar- 
ing paints  and  chemicals  incited  at  an  early  period  his  son's  inclination  and  fond- 
ness of  experimental  chemistry  and  his  study  of  chemical  literature,  of  which  he 
found  a  good  supply  at  the  Court  Library  at  Darmstadt.  Determined  to  be- 
come a  chemist,  Liebig  was  apprenticed  in  1818  to  an  apothecary  in  Heppen- 
faeim,  but  soon  left  him  (in  1819)  to  go  to  the  university  of  Bonn,  and  afterwards 
to  Erlangen,  to  study  the  natural  sciences  and  particularly  chemistry.  But  his 
favorite  science  \vas  at  that  time  little  cultivated  at  the  German  Universities; 
in  1822  he  went  to  Paris  to  receive  the  instructions  of  masters  like  Gay-Lussac, 
Thenard,  Dulong,  etc.,  and  soon  after  presented  to  the  Paris  Academy  of 
Sciences  his  researches  ©n  fulminic  acid,  which  directed  Alexander  von  Hum- 
boldt's attention  towards  him,  through  whom  Gay-Lussac  was  more  especially 
interested  in  the  young  chemist,  so  that  he  took  the  latter  into  his  private 
laboratory. 
In  1824,  Liebig  received  the  appointment  as  professor  extraordinary  of 
chemistry  at  the  University  of  Giessen,  and  two  years  later  as  ordinary  pro- 
fessor. Here  he  established  a  model  chemical  laboratory  and  reorganized  the 
practical  instruction  so  that  the  little  University  soon  became  celebrated,  at- 
tracting a  large  number  of  students.  In  1845  he  was  made  a  Baron,  and  having 
declined  all  previous  offers  to  other  Universities,  he  accepted  in  1852  a  call  to 
Munich,  where  he  became  professor  of  chemistry  and  conservator  of  the 
laboratory,  and  subsequently  President  of  the  Academy  of  Sciences  and  Con- 
servator General  of  all  the  scientific  cabinets  belonging  to  the  State  of  Bavaria. 
Under  Gay-Lussac's  guidance  already,  he  commenced  his  labors  for  perfect- 
ing the  methods  of  element  ary  analysis,  in  which  he  subsequently  succeeded  so 
well  that  for  more  than  40  years  nearly  all  ultimate  analyses  have  been  made 
according  to  his  plans  or  by  slight  modifications  of  the  same. 
Liebig's  researches  are  by  far  too  numerous  to  be  mentioned  even  in  the 
limited  space  of  this  sketch  ;  but  there  is  hardly  a  section  of  organic  chemistry 
which  has  not  been  enriched  by  his  own  personal  labors,  or  by  the  investigations 
of  his  pupil*  performed  under  his  supervision.  His  researches  were  undertaken 
not  solely  for  the  purpose  of  establishing  or  combatting  a  theory,  but  he  was 
always  inclined  to  point  out  the  practical  utility  of  the  results  obtained  towards 
their  technical  application  or  to  the  vital  affairs  of  man;  his  researches  in  agri- 
cultural and  animal  chemistry,  his  soup  for  infants,  extract  of  meat,  etc.,  afford 
abundant  proofs  of  the  latter,  while  many  of  the  industrial  processes  now  in 
use  were  either  elaborated  by  him  or  are  but  slightly  modified  from  his  sug- 
gestions. Many  of  his  investigations  were  made  in  conjunction  with  other 
chemists,  seme  of  the  earlier  with  Pelouze;  but  particularly  fruitful  were  his 
joint  labors  with  Wohler,  who,  his  senior  by  three  years,  i9  still  active  at 
Gottingen. 
Liebig's  researches  were  published  in  Comptes  Rendus  of  the  Paris  Academy, 
in  the  Journal  de  Chimie  et  de  Physique,  in  the  Jonrnal  de  Chimie  Medicale, 
in  Poggen'iorf's  Annalen,  etc  ,  but  particularly  in  Annalen  der  Pharmacie,  the 
title  of  which  was  in  1840  changed  to  Annalen  der  Chemie  und  Pharmacie  and 
which  has  been  edited  by  Liebig  and  Wohler  since  1838,  of  late  years  assisted 
by  younger  chemists. 
Such  fruitful  and  important  results  of  his  scientific  labors  were  universally 
recognized,  resulting  in  his  election  as  honorary  member  of  most  learned 
societies,  among  them  also  of  the  Philadelphia  College  of  Pharmacy. 
