Am\iTa°yUr'i9Pi9arm'  ^  Life  and  Work  of  Charles  Tanret.  269 
In  1886  he  gave  up  his  apothecary  shop  and  started  a  laboratory 
and  an  office  on  la  Rue  d'x\lger.  He  devoted  himself  to  analytical 
work  and  manufacturing  on  a  small  scale.  He  prepared  many  of 
the  active  principles  of  a  high  grade  of  purity.  At  the  Universal 
Exposition  of  1899  he  was  classed  first  by  the  international  jury 
of  judges  from  whom  he  received  the  Cross  of  the  Legion  of  Honor, 
the  only  honorary  distinction  which  he  was  willing  to  accept  during 
his  modest  though  productive  career.  In  awarding  the  prize  the 
jury,  in  the  conclusion  of  their  report,  said,  "  By  his  researches 
Monsieur  Tanret  has  placed  himself  in  the  front  rank  of  analysts. 
He  has  succeeded,  in  creating  new  methods  and  in  bringing  into 
all  that  he  has  published  an  experimental  school  of  the  first  order." 
In  1900  a  very  great  loss  befell  Tanret  in  the  death  of  his  wife, 
who  had  been  a  companion  and  an  inspiration  to  him  ever  since  their 
marriage  in  1873.  For  the  time  it  seemed  as  though  the  shock 
would  unnerve  him  and  cause  him  to  drop  all  of  his  scientific  work. 
In  a  little  while,  however,  he  recovered  himself  and  through  the 
sympathy  of  his  children  took  up  his  studies  with  renewed  energy. 
During  the  succeeding  years  he  published  some  of  his  most  brilliant 
investigations.  They  included  his  work  on  sugars,  the  fungi,  the 
glucosides  of  the  bitter  orange,  the  carbohydrates  of  cereals,  the 
active  principles  of  quebracho,  etc.  A  complete  list  of  Tanret's 
published  papers  as  well  as  an  excellent  biographical  sketch,  will  be 
found  in  the  November  number  of  the  Bulletin  de  la  Societe  Chim- 
ique  de  France.  There  is  also  a  biographical  note  in  the  Bulletin  des 
Sciences  Pharmacologiques,  for  January-February,  1918. 
As  has  been  said  earlier  Tanret  was  a  patriot  of  the  first  order 
and  when  the  Great  World  War  broke  out,  although  he  was  an  old 
man,  his  love  for  country  and  self-sacrificing  spirit  caused  him  to 
devote  his  entire  energies  for  the  preservation  of  the  Republic.  Im- 
mediately he  placed  the  resources  of  his  laboratory  in  the  hands  of 
the  medical  department,  turning  over  to  them  his  supplies  of  chloro- 
form, tincture  of  iodine  and  other  preparations.  When  the  first  gas 
attacks  were  made  by  the  enemy,  he  contrived  a  cotton  "  antichlore  " 
which  he  made  by  the  thousands  with  the  aid  of  his  daughter  for 
the  troops.  His  health  began  to  fail  in  April,  1916,  and  he  was 
urged  to  retire  to  his  villa  at  Sevres,  hoping  that  the  change  might 
be  of  benefit  to  him.  Among  the  surroundings  he  loved,  his  health 
improved  slightly.  His  mind  remained  vigorous  to  the  last.  Those 
of  his  friends  who  were  fortunate  enough  to  visit  him  were  im- 
