J. Gillis University of Ghent Ghent, Belgium Translated by Ralph E. Oes~er Cincinnati, Ohio
I I I
Kekvl6's Life at Ghent (1858-1867)
J e a n Servais St,as ( I ) , the outst,andiug Belgian chemist of t,he time (hest known for his meticulous det,ermination of atomic weight,^), was the individual most responsible for briuging August ICekulB from Heidelberg t,o t,he Universitg of Ghent,. Stss himself was rnluest,ed hy t,he Miuister Charles Rogier to xrcrpt the chair of general chemist,ry a t Ghent,, vacant heraose of t,he deat,h of Joseph Mareska iu March, 1858, hot he could not bring himself t,o leave the Ecole Militsire in Brussels, where he had spent so many years t,eachiug a d working in the privat,e Iahoratory he had set up aud furnished a t his own expense. Instruction ill chemistry in Belgian universit,ies of the mid-ninet,eeut,h century was cent,cred mainly on t,mining st,urlrnts for t,he examinat,ions which xvere prepared and administ,cred hy a composit,e government,-appoint,cd committee. Stas deplored t,his situation, which mas uot. condurive t,o the development of t,he srientific spirit, i n t,he st,udents nor in the nount,ry itself. On the ground that t,his kind of educat,ional program larked acbivity based on p e r s ~ ~research, ~al Stas persuaded the :wt,horitira to seek a foreign chemist t,o fill t,he Ghent, vacancy. He part,idarly mant.ed a man capahle of inst,itut,ing along with t,he lect,ure rourses a new pmctical rower iu which t,he student would he h i l l e d to do laboratory work, a t first uuder direction and then essrnbially on his owu. S o Belgiau rhemist. v a s available, so sinre Stas had convinred t,he authorities of the value aud souuduess of t,he idea, he was commissioned to go t o Germany t,o fiud the right man.' Stas quirldy hemme sure t,hat,KekulB was the proper person. Trained iu t,hr famous teaching laboratory at, Giesseu \vhrrr Lirhig had t,urned out so many sucressful t,rachrrs of bhr k i d St,as was seeking, I
