Friedrich Wohler and his American pupils - ACS Publications

Americans who went abroad for postgraduate training a considerable number .... Annalen that indicate close cooperation between master and pupil. Obvio...
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Friedrich Wohler and His American Pupils H. S. VAN KLOOSTER Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute, Troy, New York

MONG the 19th century masters of chemistry to America became professor of chemistry a t his Alma whose fame as investigators and teachers has Mater. He fought in the Union Army (1861-64) spread to all comers of the globe, Friedrich Wohler and in 1868 entered upon his duties as president of the occupies a unique position. Of the hundreds of newly established Massachusetts College of AgriculAmericans who went abroad for postgraduate training ture. In 1877 he took a year's leave of absence to a considerable number spent one or more semesters a t promote the founding of the Imperial College of -4griculthe Hanoverian city of Gottingen where Wohler taught ture in Sappora (Japan). for nearly half a century. Gottingen, the third in tbe Another pupil of Wohler who finished his training in list of four German universities most favored by Ameri- 1852 was John William Mallet (1832-1910) who precans (theother three being Berlin, Leipzig, and Heidel- sented a thesis on "the chemical examination of Celtic berg), had close to 1200 American students in the antiquities." Mallet, an Irishman, returned to his period from 1810 to 1910 and of this number about 200 native city of Dublin in 1853 but came to Amherst the studied chemistry (I). Numerous colleges and uni- same year a t the urgent request of his friend Clark. He versities had or still have on their staff one or more pro- did not stay long but went South and finished his disfessors who a t one time were students a t the George tinguished career in 1908 a t the University of Virginia Angustus University, founded in 1735 under the (3). auspices of George I1 of England (1683-1760) who was From the titles of the three theses just mentioned, it also Elector of Hanover. Taking as an example the is evident that Wohler left his pupils considerable latiinstitution with which the writer has been connected tude in the choice of topics, since they deal with mafor 25 years, we find no fewer than eight men on the terials found in their native country. These investigaInstitute faculty who received their training, wholly tions were published under single and not joint authoror partly, a t Gottingen and of these, four came under ship. It is noteworthy that during Wohler's half the influence of Wohler. As a matter of fact, the first century of active work most of his contributions appear alumnus of the Rensselaer Institute to cross the Atlantic under his own name. Apart from some 15 articles pub(in 1833) f w further study, Gz., James Curtis Booth lished with Liebig there are barely half a dozen in the (1810-11) was the first American pupil of Wohler (2). Annalen that indicate close cooperation between master Booth, who taught a t the Institute in 1831, was no and pupil. Obviously, Wohler, in his later years was doubt attracted by Wohler's early successes in syn- more active as a teacher than as a researcher. The thesizing urea (1828) and in isolating beryllium and direction of the many "practica" was left to his assistaluminum (1827). At that time Wohler was not yet a ants, Fittig, Limprecht, von Uslar, and others whose university professor, but taught a t a newly founded names are most frequently associated with the pubindustrial school (Gewerbe Schnle) in Cassel. His lished work of his students. This is forcefully brought fame did not spread so rapidly as that of his noted con- out in a letter to Liebig of December 29, 1871, in which temporary, friend, and co-worker, Liebig. It was only he writes: "After every lecture i t bothers me to realize in the early fifties, when Wohler had practically com- that formerly I did not present matters the way I do pleted his lifework as a creative chemist, though he was now. That is why I enjoy lecturing and abhor the to continue his teaching career for another 30 years, laboratory periods. One might like the contact with a that American students of chemistry went to Gottingen few intelligent people but not the company of 75, most to study under Wohler. of them incompetent" (4). The earliest of .these American chemists were Newton Owing to his linguistic abilities and long-continued Spaulding Manrosz (1828-62) and William Smith correspondence with his former teacher Berzelius whose Clark (1826-86). On March 18, 1852, Wohler wrote works he had translated into German, Wohler's to Liebig: "I am sending an article by Manrosz on literary talents were developed to such an extent that he the 'artificial production of crystallized minerals."' easily became one of the foremost epistolary writers of This was Manrosz' doctoral thesis which was pnb- his time. As such he endeared himself to several of his lished in the A n d e n (82, 348). Manrosz, a graduate American students by furnishing them with letters of of Yale (1850), taught later a t Amherst (186142) introduction to his bosom friend Liehig. Some of and found an ulrtimely death a t the battle of Antietam these are published in the "Liebig-Wohler Brief(1862). In the same year (1852) Clark obtained his wechsel," sometimes without mentioning the godegree with a thesis on "metallic meteorites" which between. In a copy of this correspondence the writer was, likewise, ,published in the A n d e n (82, 367). found a letter written by Dr. Samuel P. Sadtler in A graduate of Amherst (1848), Clark, on his return which he says: "You will find on p. 310 of Vol. I1 the I.58

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letter under date of April 20, 1871. I had just obtained my degree and was starting for a six weeks' trip to southern Germany, Switzerland, and northern Italy before returning to America. So he (W.) said, he had just written to Liebig and I should deliver it and have an opportunity of meeting Liebig which I of course appreciated very much."

In 1853 the first native Yorker to take his degree under Wohler, Charles Aram Joy (1823-91), finished his studies a t Giittingen, after a two years' stay, the customary period required to take the coveted Ph.D. degree in Germany. During the last year of his stay a t the university Joy was also quite active in the affairs of the American Colony a t Gottingen, of which he was the first recorded "Patriarch." His five immediate successors were also chemistry students. In fact, during the fifties the chemists formed the majority of American students (12 out of a total of 15 in the summer of 1855). On his return to America, Joy went back to his Alma Mater, Union College, as professor of chemistry. In 1857 he left for New York where he taught a t Columbia University and later also a t the School of Mines (1865-77) until ill health forced him to resign. Frequent mention is made in the Liebig-Wohler correspondence of the Joys, particularly of Mrs. Joy, a native of M i d e n (Hanover) whom Joy had mamed on his second trip to Germany in 1855. Wohler, a homely individual, whose features remind us somewhat of Lincoln, was intensely human and greatly impressed by the "eternally feminine that attracts all of us" (Goethe). The charm of the "pretty" and "witty"

Mrs. Joy was "unforgettable" and W6hler notifies Liebig that he keeps up a lively correspondence with Mrs. Joy which he (L.) would love to read if it appeared in print. Another pupil of Wohler who took his doctor's degree in 1853 was Charles Anthony Goessmann (18271910), born in Naumburg (Hessen-Kassel), for 53 years a resident and for 42 years a citizen of the United States. His life and work have been fully described in a memorial volume issued by the Massachusetts Agricultural College in 1917 ' 5 ) . After serving as an assistant to Wohler for five years, Goessmann left for Philadelphia to become chemist and superintendent of the sugar refinery conducted by two of his Gottingen students, the brothers E. P. and J. H. Eastwick. Resigning this position in the fall of 1860, he spent the next eight years as chemist to the Onondaga Salt Company in Syracuse (New York). A few months after his appointment in Syracuse, Professor C. F. Chandler of Union College in Schenectady (New York) urged him to accept the professorship of chemistry a t the Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute in nearby Troy, which had become vacant through the death of the incumbent William Elderhorst (1828-61).

A compatriot of Goessmann and a native of Celle (Hanover) Elderhorst as a youth had first joined the cadet corps of the Hanoverian army in which his father held the rank of lieutenant colonel. On account of his weak eyes he was discharged in 1845. He then matriculated at the University of Gottingen where he studied chemistry, mineralogy, and botany till 1850 without, however, completing the requirements for a doctor's degree. Coming to America in

the fall of 1853 he spent some time in Charleston (South Carolina) and New York before he was called to Rensselaer in 1855. Here he served for six years as professor of theoretical and practical chemistry. On a trip to Venezuela in the summer of 1861 he was taken sick with yellow fever and died in Maracaibo on July 28th. (Prof. Chandler's recommendation was largely responsible for Goessmann's appointment, in the fall of 1861, as professor of chemistry and physics a t Rensselaer.) This position, which gave Goessmann his first chance to teach in America and to build up a thorough course of instruction in chemistry, was on a part-time basis, occupying only the winter season when there was little activity in the salt works. Unable to discharge the duties of both positions satisfactorily, Goessmann in 1866 relinquished Troy for Syracuse. In 1868 he reentered the teaching profession a t the urgent solicitation of his former classmate Clark who had just then been made president of the Massachusetts Agricultural College a t Amherst. Here Goessmann stayed for the rest of his days and accomplished his lifework as chief chemist and director af the Massachusetts Agricultural Experiment Station. In 1854 only one American student, Samuel S. Gamgues, obtained his degree in Gottingen. On his return to America, Garrigues settled in his home town, Philadelphia, as manufacturing chemist. Later on he went to Ann Arbor as state inspector of salt, in which capacity he framed, with the help and advice of Goessmann, the salt laws of Michigan. In 1855 and 1856 there was a sizable group of a dozen American chemistry students of which no fewer than five took their doctor's degree under Wohler. These men were the last to profit from the laboratory instruction of Goessmann. On December 20, 1855, they presented their "honored teacher" a beautiful balance with a plate bearing the names of John Dean, Chas. F. Chandler, Evan Pugh, George C. Caldwell, Edward P. Eastwick, Joseph H. Eastwick, James F. Magee, David K. Tuttle, James D. Hague, and Henry B. Nason. This was a remarkable group of men, several of whom occupied in later life prominent positions in their respective fields of activity. Two of them, Chandler and E. P. Eastwick, were among the founders and charter members of the American Chemical Society, organized in April, 1876, and three of them, Chandler, Nason, and Caldwell became president of the Society. The outstanding chemist of this team was Charles Frederick Chandler (1836-1925), one of the founders of the ColumbiaSchool of Mines and a pioneer of chemical industry in America (6). After graduation from the Lawrence Scientific School of Harvard University, Chandler in 1855, on the advice of Prof. Joy of Union College, went to Gottingen to work under Wohler, and graduated in 1857 on a thesis dealing with the analysis of minerals. Armed with his doctor's diploma Chandler rushed back to Schenectady and found that there was no job open except that of janitor a t $500 a year, which he promptly accepted. Two years later Prof. Joy was called to Columbia Univer-

sity, and Chandler a t the age of 21 was promoted from janitor to adjunct- and shortly afterwards to full professor. In 1864 Chandler left for New York where he remained till his death in 1925. Evan Pngh (1828-64) obtained his degree in 1856 with a thesis on "Miscellaneous chemical analyses." After some further study in Gennany, he went to England where he worked for two years a t the Rothhamsted Experiment Station. Having established a well-deserved reputation in agricultural chemistry he became, on his return to America, the first president and professor of chemistry a t Pennsylvania State College. He has left a diary, some parts of which have been published in THISJOURNAL (7). Pngh was an excellent scholar and a keen observer. In one of his letters he makes the remark: "Go to W6hler and get excellent lectures embracing principles easily understood and good process instruction in the laboratory . . . . As a teacher he (Wohler) is unsurpassed; his only fault (if any he has) is that he teaches too much." This agrees with what William Dittmar wrote: "As a teacher Wohler ranks with Liebig and Berzelius. In a sense he was the greatest of the three. Berzelius never bad the opportunity to teach large numbers of students in his laboratory and Liebig lacked the many-sidedness so characteristic of the Gottingen laboratory as long as it was really under Wiihler's personal direction" (8). Another noted agricultural chemist who obtained his doctor's degree in 1856, with a thesis on the fatty acids contained in the oil of arachis hypogaea, was George C. Caldwell (1834-1907). Graduating from Harvard University in 1854, he attended the College of Agriculture a t Ciencester (England) and finished his training under Wohler and Goessmann. Upon returning to America he fist taught a t Pennsylvania State College and from 1867 until his retirement, a t Cornell University where he became the head of the Chemical Department. In 1869 he published "Agricultural Chemical Analysis,'' for a good many years the standard treatise upon this subject. Of the two Americans who finished their studies in Gottingen in 1857, uiz., Nason and Tuttle, the former was, without doubt, better known among contemporary chemists. Henry Bradford Nason (1831-96), a native of Foxborough, Massachusetts, and a graduate of Amherst (1855), entered the University of Gottingen in the fall of 1855. He studied chemistry, mineralogy, and geology and obtained his Ph.D. with a thesis on the formation of ether. Appointed professor of natural history a t the Rensselaer Institute in 1858 and a t the same time a t Beloit College in Wisconsin, he divided his time between Troy and Beloit until 1866 when be became the successor of his former teacher Goessmann and resiened the ~ositiona t Beloit. He traveled widely both here and in Europe to broaden his knowledge of mineralogy, metallurgy, and geology, which subjects he also taught in his later years at the Institute. A versatile and scholarly writer, he pub-

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lished a number of textbooks on qualitative analysis and determinative mineralogy, translated Wohler's "Handbook of Mineral Analysis," and edited a revised . .. . . , version of Elderhorst's "Manual of Blowpipe Analy. ... sis," a popular text first published in 1856 and subse. . , .~.; quently reissued in four editions, the last one in 1878. He was the recipient of several honorary degrees and became president of the American Chemical Society in 1890. David K. Tuttle (1835-1915) was graduated from Harvard in 1855 and spent two years a t Gottingen, obtaining his degree in 1857. The next four years he was assistant professor of chemistry a t the University of Virginia. From 1861 to 1886 he was connected with various industrial works and from 1886 to his death he was assayer, melter, and refiner a t the Mint in Philadelphia, a position which Booth had held before him. A patriarch of the American Colony in his student days, he was in his mature years the president of the Gottingen Verein in Philadelphia. Next to New York and Massachusetts no state has sent more students to Wohler than Pennsylvania, and of this number a large percentage came from Philadelphia where Booth had established a training school for budding chemists in his analytical laboratory. Elijah P. Hams (1831-1920) was the third Amherst graduate (1855) to receive his Ph.D. under Wohler, From the diary and the letters of Magee, published in in 1859. After six years of teaching in Victoria 1932 under the title "An American Student Abroad" (British Columbia) and two in Beloit, he returned to (9), one gains a lively picture of the studies and wanderAmherst in 1868 where he taught chemistry till his ings of a young American chemist in Europe nearly a retirement in 1907. Modest and unassuming, yet hundred years ago. James Francis Magee (1834-1903), a native Philaforceful and a strict disciplinarian, Harris was a sturdy delphian, on the completion of his high-school training, pioneer of science, who taught two generations of attended the Mount Airy Agricultural Institute in students, the best of whom (28 in all) he "sent" to the Germantown in 1850 and 1851. He then entered the University of Gottingen. Most of these returned with a Ph.D. degree and secured prominent positions in the educational field. To them, the "Old Man," as they called him with affection, was the "Father of American chemistry teachers." The ten Americans mentioned above, who obtained their Ph.D.'s in chemistry in the decade from 1850 to 1860 comprise over 45 per cent of a total of 22 who can he classed as pupils of Wohler. The remaining 12 (C. Gillingham, E. Hungerford, J. Dean, E. P. Eastwick, J. H. Eastwick, J. F. Magee, J. D. Hague, E. Marsh, A. Mnckle, A. P. S. Stewart, T. E. Hart, and T. Parkman) with two exceptions, stayed only one year. Most of these men went into business as consulting or manufacturing chemists with the exception of Dean, who became a practicing physician in Waltham (Massachusetts), Stewart, who taught chemistry a t Lincoln (Nebraska), and Hague, who became a consulting mining engineer and manager of various mining companies. The Eastwicks ran a sugar refinery in Philadelphia which existed only a few years, whereupon the two brothers went into business independently, the older in New York as a member of the firm of Havemeyer and Eastwick and the younger in Philadelphia. Both had received their preliminary training in Booth's laboratory as had also their mutual friend, Magee. i)

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service of the Pennsylvania Railroad as a rodman. In the latter part of 1853 he gave up surveying and began the study of chemistry in Booth's laboratory. Here he stayed a year and a half. Provided with a recommendation from Booth he left, in the company of his friends, the Eastwicks, for Europe in the spring of 1855. After two semesters in Gijttingen, he spent one term with Bunsen in Heidelberg and returned home in November, 1856, when he established himself as a manufacturing chemist, first alone and later in partnership with his friend and colleague, Garrigues. The partnership was dissolved in 1861, whereupon Magee organized with his brother Michael the firm of James F. Magee and Company. This firm, which dealt mainly in photographic chemicals, existed till 1 X 7 i when Magee retired from acti1.e business at the age oi 43.

in the spring of 1856, Magee makes the statement: "I only wish the laboratory was as good as the one in Heidelberg. There yon have everything you want, all the newest arrangements, and although I should prefer to remain in Gottingen, the advantages there (in H.) are not to be overlooked. I may find a better laboratory, but I can't find a better chemist, a pleasanter man, and one who is more attentive to his students than Wohler." As might be expected, the War between the States in the early sixties cut down the enrollment of American students to a minimum. From the spring of 1860 to that of 1865 only five: M. Perkins, G. W. Maynard, S. W. Tyler, P. N. Welch, W. H. Lee, and Wm. H. Bruckner enrolled in chemistry. With the exception of Brnckner who stayed three years, they remained one year or less and did not complete their studies. Maurice Perkins (1835-1901), a native of New London (Connecticut) studied a t the College of Physicians and Surgeons in New York and obtained an M.D. degree in 1859. After an extensive tour abroad where he studied a t Gottingen, Tiibingen, and Heidelberg, he returned to this country and became professor of analytical chemistry a t Union College and later also part-time professor at Albany Medical College, holding both positions until his death. George William Maynard (1839-1910), a noted mining engineer, a t one time referred to as "dean of American mining engineers," received his early education in Brooklyn. After graduating from Columbia University in 1859, he went abroad the next year and spent one semester in Gottingen and one term in Clausthal (186243) to specialize in mining and metallurgy. His many diversified interests took him to Ireland, Colorado, and later also to Russia. From 1868 to 1872 he was consulting engineer for the Steel Works in Troy, New York, and during that period he taught metallurgy a t the Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute. Since the Institute a t that time was without means to establish an adequate School of Mines, Maynard returned to New York, where he conducted a highly successful consulting practice. From 1865 to 1870 the number of American chemists The following extracts from Magee's letters may be of interest to present-day readers. On May 18, 1855, in Gottingen again increased, and reached a maximum he wrote: "I get up every morning a t five, study Ger- in 1869 when no fewer than 11 worked in Wohler's man toseven, when I take breakfast, go to thelaboratory, laboratory. Out of a total of 27, only eight (R. Marx, remaining there till one. We hear from nine to ten a J. H. Eaton, H. Carmichael, M. S. Southworth, H. E. lecture on chemistry by Professor Wohler. From Storrs, Ch. K. Jewett, D. E. Mellis, and R. D. Wilone to two is dinner, then we return to the laboratory liams) stayed two years or longer and the records again till six, when I generally walk till seven, a t which show that five (H. C. Bolton, H. Carmichael, H. E. time I take supper. In the evening I read chemistry Storrs, I. Remsen, and D. E. Melliss) obtained their till ten, then I retire." Speaking of his fellow com- Ph.D.'s during that period. Henry Carrington Bolton patriots he says: "America has a delegation here of (1843-1903), a New Yorker by birth, studied at which she need not be ashamed. All study hard and Columbia University under Joy, graduated in 1862, late and make good use of their time. We associate and spent the summer of 1865 with Wohler, under but very little with the German students whose only whom he started his work on fluorine compounds of uranium. He continued this research in Hofmann's pleasure seems to be in drinking beer, smokin~ - pipes, .. laboratory and took his degree in 1866. He taught and fighting duels, none of which are pleasant amusements-for ;he Americans." Comparing the facilities for a number of vears a t Trinitv Callere in Hartford a t Gijttingen with those of Heidelberg where he went (Connecticut) (li77-87) and r & n e d t o devote his

remaining years to special studies. His role as "historian and bibliographer of chemistry" has been described in THISJOURNAL (10). Henry Carmichael (1846-1924). born in Brooklyn, New York, studied a t Amherst, graduating in 1867. He then spent four years in Gottingen, obtaining his Ph.D. in 1871. On his return he taught one year a t Grinnell College, next a t Bowdoin College and the Maine Medical School (1872-86) while a t the same time acting as state assayer. He finally settled in Boston as assayist and inventor. Probably the best known of all Wohler's pupils is Ira Remsen (18461927), a native New Yorker, who after obtaining an M.D. degree a t Columbia University in 1867, switched to chemistry, spending three semesters a t Gattingen, where he obtained his doctor's degree in 1870 on a subject suggested and directed by Wohler's assistant, Fittig. For the next two years Remsen acted as assistant to Fittig in Tiibingen. Returning to America in 1872, Remsen taught chemistry for four years a t Williams College and came to Johns Hopkins University in 1876, where he wound up his brilliant career as president of the university. His life and work have been fully recorded in THISJOURNAL and in a recent monograph by his pupil Getman (11). Only brief mention can be made of some other old Gottingen students who pursued academic careers in later life. Mase Shepard Southworth was Remsen's successor a t Williams College where he taught from 1876 to 1881. J. H. Eaton taught a t Beloit College, and Chas. A. Schaeffer at Cornell University. Eugene A. Smith, who obtained his Ph.D. degree a t Heidelberg in 1880, specialized in mineralogy and geology. subjects which he taught from 1871 to 1911 at the University of Alabama. With the exception of J. P. Battershall who held a government position in New York City, the majority of this large group, which includes A. Dung, R. M m , D. Whitney, S. A. Murphy, C. A. Duval, F. Crook, L. H. Bnllard, R. Emory, G. H. Gray, J. J. Kunkel, W. H. Frueanff, J. Bamnger, and J. C. F. Randolph, entered the business world. During the final decade of Wohler's teaching career from 1870 to 1880, the number of American chemists dropped to 25, but more than 50 per cent of them stayed long enough in Gottingen to obtain a Ph.D. degree. The complete list, in chronological order, contains the names of N. M. Terry. T. R. Baker, S. P. Sadtler, L. B. Hall, H. N. Morse, A. D. Lawrie, L. Mears, E. F. Smith, W. F. Smith, J. T. Stoddard, S. M. Babcock, S. W. Dabney, and L. W. Andrews. Most of these men, as the following brief sketches indicate, have achieved prominence in their chosen specialities. Nathaniel M.Terry (1844-1922), an Amherst graduate in the class of 1867, got his Ph.D. in 1871, and thenext year became professor of physics a t the U. S. Naval Academy. From 1886 to 1913he also taught chemistry a t the Academy. Thomas R. Baker (1837-1930), a B.S. of Pennsylvania State Normal School, taught mathematics a t

Pennsylvania State College from 1861 to 1867. In 1869 he went to Gottingen where he obtained his degree in 1871. He then taught a t his Alma Mater from 1871to 1886. In 1887 he moved to Florida where he established a private laboratory in Orlando. From 1892 to 1912 he was connected with Rollins College. Samuel P. Sadtler (1847-1923) studied a t Pennsylvania (now Gettysburg) College where he obtained the degrees of A.B. and A.M. in 1867 and 1870. After spending one year a t Gottingen he obtained his Ph.D. (in 1871) and returned to Pennsylvania College as professor of chemistry, remaining there till 1877 when he was appointed professor of general and organic chemistry a t the University of Pennsylvania. He held this position until 1891. He then established with his

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son a consulting and analytical concern under the name of Samnel P. Sadtler and Son. Meanwhile he continued teaching a t the Philadelphia College of Pharmacy till 1916. He was the author of several popular texts and was the founder and first president of the American Institute of Chemical Engineers. Lyman Beecher Hall (1852-1935). a native of New Bedford (Massachusetts) and a graduate of Amherst College (1873). obtained his Ph.D. under Wohler in 1875. The next four years he spent at Johns Hopkins. In 1880 he became professor of chemistry a t Havetford College, where he remained till his retirement in 1917. Harmon Northrop Morse (1848-1920), born a t Cambridge (Vermont), a classmate of Hall, stayed two years in Gottingen, and also finished in 1875. After one year of teaching at Amherst he served at Johns Hopkins, first as assistant professor and later as full professor and director of the chemical laboratory. He

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is best known for his painstaking and accurate measure- different laboratories. . . For more than two years I was in the laboratory a t work by 6: 30 A.M., taking dinner at one o'clock and ments of osmotic pressures. continuing with practical work until 6: 30 and 7 p.m. . . . ." Leverett Mears (1850-1917) of Essex (Massachu. . . "After I had completed my course of lectures and worked setts), also an Amherst man (class of 1874), on com- out an original investigation or 'Arbeit' I made application to pleting the requirements for his doctor's degree under present myself for examination. The first thing I did was t o Wohler (some years later he named one of his sons write my thesis . . . in the German language. The next thing was to write my autobiography or 'Vita' in Latin. . . . The after his revered teacher) went back to Amherst as request for an examination, the thesis, and the Vita were sent to instructor from 1876 to 1881, when he was appointed the Dean of the Philosophical Faculty. . . . They were returned professor of chemistry and physics a t Williams College. t o me with a document announcing that I would be permitted In 1888 he became professor of chemistry there and t o present myself for examination upon a certain day. The next thing was t o procure a black full dress suit, swallowtail continued in that position till his death in 1917. coat, and silk hat. Clothedin these, wearingwhite kids and white Edgar Fahs Smith (1856-1928) of York (Pennsyl- necktie, I stepped forth to call upon the 26 members of my vania), a pupil and later colleague of Sadtler, gradu- faculty and extend each a cordial invitation to be present a t my ated from Pennsylvania College in 1874, whereupon he examination. . . . Two days subsequently a t 6 P.M., I repaired went abroad to study under Wohler, probably a t t o the house of the Dean, was ushered into a cosy waiting r w m and left t o my awn thoughts. Such an experience I never again Sadtler's suggestion. He finished his studies a t the desire. I only then realized into what spredicament I'd suffered same time as his friends, W. F. Smith and Mears. His myself to be led. I couldn't recall anythingof the subjects upon outstanding record as a teacher, administrator, in- which I expected to be quizzed. At length a beadle announced vestigator, and, last but not least, as a historian of the faculty assembled and ready to receive me. I was arrayed in dress of two days before. The beadle ushered me into the chemistry in America has already been given in THIS my other room and announced: Herr Candidat Smith. While I JOURNAL (12) and need not be repeated here. Some of stood, the Dean read me something to the effect that the exhis early student experiences have also been recorded amination of my thesis, etc., had been satisfactory and that (13). Dr. Smith has left a manuscript of 55 pages on they were pleased . . . to proceed with the examination. I was "German university life," from which, by courtesy of told t o be seated. . . . I sat a t one end of a long table. Aron either side was the august F a c u l t y a t the opposite Miss Eva V. Armstrong, curator of the Smith Memo- rayed end of the table the Dean, and upon the table, wines of various rial Collection, anumber of excerpts are quoted. kinds and cakes. The gentleman to my immediate right began. Speaking of the professors with whom he came in Question followed question for three long hours. With eyes firmly riveted on the dial i f an old-fashioned clock a t the opcontact, Smith says:

. . . "These men were usually reticent and extremely modest,

and of my own professors I know none of whom this could he more truly said thau of the renowned Wohler, whose labors not only overthrew the erroneous and prevalent views upon organic chemistry, but also gave us the elements silicon, boron, cerium, and last but not least in importance, aluminum. It was his custom in his chemical lectures invariably to preface the description of the compound of a metal with a brief history of the isolation of the metal itself. But when describing the above elements he omitted their history. On such occasions, or when it was known that he was likely to speak of them, his large lecture room would be crowded to overflowing and a t the mere mention of the name of one of the elements loud cheers were sent forth. Often the applause was so loud and continued that he was compelled to retire. The official title of this dear old gentleman was Herr Geheimer Obermedicinalrath Professor Doctor F. W6hler. Every student was acquainted with this fact and invariably tried t o use i t when addressing him but the recipient would dismiss i t with a wave of the hand. He suffered no one to call him more thau Herr Hofrath (Mr. Court Councillor). A more deeply interested painstaking instructor never lived. His great desire was that every student should thoroughly understand every step in his study of the elements. T o us Americans he was especially gracious. Of all the eminent European scientists he was p r e eminently the favorite with our countrymen. On one occasion, during Christmas holidays, several of us called upon him as Director of the University Laboratory, begging permission to prosecute our work during the vacation. I t was granted. Some German acquaintances hearing of what we were doing, took i t for granted that they had the same privilege. When the Hofrath heard of their action he visited us and ordered them out. His excuse for permitting us t o work and refusing them was 'The Americans are our most diligent students: they have come thousands of miles for this special work; they are separated from those dear to them and for these reasons I favor them.' That ended all controversy. . ." "I devoted on an average eighteen hours per week in attendance upon lectures. The remainder of my time was occupied with practical work in the

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posite end of the room I answered t o the best of my ability 'in der deutschen Sprache.' Once a kindly faced, aged professor moved a glass of wine and cakes towards me. I uttered thanks and continued answering. Finally, the several inquisitors declared themselves satisfied. I felt better. when up rose the Professor of Latin and observed that he had noted in the 'Vita' of the candidate frequent use of the accusative with the iafinitive-'Why.' he asked. 'was this?' For a moment I hesitated, then an early lesson suggested the reply. . . No further interrogations were put. That ended the first act. Monday morning a t nine the play resumed. The examiners were other men. They found questions enough to hold me until one o'clock. Then I was permitted t o retire for about a quarter of an hour. At the expiration of that time I was summoned before the entire august body and made happy by being told that I had been granted philosophuche doctor?uiirde. Congratulations followed. On my return to my room I discovered in my study a large fruit cake, iced over in colors-Vivat, crescal, soreat, Dr. E. F. S. This cake is something every doctor receives. . . Next day I again donned the swallow tail and tie t o Pay my final respects t o my faculty. All of them saw me and gave me Godspeed and good wishes. I t was over. The ceaseless daily toil and nightly application were finished.

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John T. Stoddard (1852-1919) was another of the numerous Amherst delegation that was attracted to Gottingen by the fame of Wohler. Graduating from Amherst in 1874, Stoddard obtained his Ph.D. in 1877. He then returned to his native city of Northampton where he taught physics and mathematics a t Smith College from 1878 to 1881, chemistry and physics from 1881to 1897, and chemistry from 1897 to 1919. Two noted agricultural chemists, niz., Babcock and Dabney, conclude the list of those who finished their degree work before Wohler's retirement in 1880. Andrews, although a contemporary of both, did not make his Ph.D. until 1882.

Stephen Moulton Bahcock (1843-1931), a native Yorker, graduated from Tufts College in 1866. After serving for two years (1875-77) as instructor a t Cornell under professor Caldwell he studied two years under Wohler, obtaining his degree in 1879. Appointed chemist a t the Agricultural Experiment Station a t Geneva (New York) in 1882, he remained there six years. In 1888 he became professor of agricultural chemistry a t the University of Wisconsin, combining this position with that of chief chemist and later director (in 1899) of the Agricultural Experiment Station until his retirement in 1913. ), now living in Charles W. Dabney (1855Cincinnati, is probably the last s u ~ v i n gAmerican pupil of Wohler. A graduate of the University of Virginia of the class of 1877, he went to Gijttingen in the following year with a letter of introduction from his professor of chemistry, John W. Mallet. Here he worked for some months under Wohler's direction, on the separation of the rare earths in gadolinite, gaining valuable experience which filled him with gratitude for the never-tiring efforts of the kind old hofrath to help his students. After some further study under Hofmann in Berlin, Dabney returned to Gottingen where he took up his thesis work under Hiibner, Wohler's immediate successor, and obtained his degree a few weeks after Wohler's retirement, in August, 1880. On his return he became State chemist of the North Carolina Experiment Station. In 1887 followed his appointment as professor of agricultural chemistry and director of the Experiment Station of Tennessee. At the same time he occupied the presidency of the University of Tennessee but relinquished these posts in 1904 for the even more important administrative position as president of the University of Cincinnati, which he filled till his retirement in 1920. Launcelot W. Andrews (1856-1938), a graduate of Yale in the class of 1875, matriculated a t the University of mttingen in the fall of 1878, remained there for three consecutive terms, and obtained his Ph.D. in 1882. He became professor of chemistry in the College of Pharmacy a t the University of Iowa in 1885. He left this position in 1904 to become research chemist for the Mallinckrodt Chemical Works in St. Louis. In 1910 he resimed and founded the Andrews Chemical .Works in ~ a v i n ~ o(Iowa). rt Of the nongraduates of the 1870-80 period (F. Blackington, A. Nette, H. M. Johnson, W. A. Talbot, W. Wheatley, F. F. Jewett, A. F. Taylor, T. Goff, H. Voorhes, J. A. Myers, L. Norton, and J. Marshall) only one stayed over three years while the others enrolled for one or two semesters. Two of these, Jewett and Marshall, were active in the field of education. Frank Fanning Jewett (1844-1924), horn in Newton Corner (Massachusetts), studied a t Yale where he obtained his A.B. degree in 1870 and the degree of A.M. in 1873. He spent one year in Gottingen (1874-75), taught for three years in Japan (1877-SO), and returned to America in 1880, when he became professor of chemistry at Oberlin College. He retired in 1914 a t

the age of 70. It was Jewett who urged his student Hall "to go after aluminum" which, as every highschool boy knows, turned out to he a successful venture. John Marshall (1855-1925), a native of Philadelphia, obtained his M.D. degree a t the University of Pennsylvania in 1878 and spent the summer semester of the foUowing year in Gottingen. He specialized later in toxicology and taught chemistry in the Medical School of his Alma Mater from 1897 to 1925. Wohler's retirement on his 80th birthday (July 31, 1880) was made the occasion for a magnificent tribute from his friends, colleagues, and puplls. A large gold medal was presented to the old master. The necessary funds were secured from more than 300 subscribers in Europe and from 75 in America. It is interesting to note that among the American contributon there were a number of German Ph.D's who had followed the example of Goessmann and established themselves on this side of the Atlantic (M. Alsherg, F. Engelhardt, A. Koegler, A. Springer, E. Waller, and A. Wendell). Dr. James Lewis Howe (Amherst 1880, Ph.D. Gijttingen 1882) recently informed the writer that Wohler used to make occasional visits to the laboratory in the two years following his retirement, stopping a t each desk to inquire what the student was doing. By the time Wohler retired, the reputation of Gottingen as a center of chemical research was so well founded that the flow of chemistry students from America continued in full swing for 30 years. The records (1) show that in these three decades 40, 36, and 32 students, respectively, registered in chemistry and among these were two future Nobel prize winners: T. W. Richards (188&89) and Irving Langmuir (1903-06), besides several others whose names are familiar to American chemists. Wohler was always greatly interested in his American students, as can be seen from the letters which he wrote, over a period of 18 years (from 1858 to 1876) to his former pupil Goessmann. These letters have been translated into English and were first published in 1917 (5). They are now made available to the readers of THIS JOURNAL through the courtesy of Prof. C. A. Peters of the Massachusetts Colle~e - of Agriculture. LETTERS OF FRIEDRICH WOHLER

Gttingen, 3 January, 1858 Dear Doctor,Your kind and interesting letter of December 3 reminds me that I have not yet answered your first one of June 26. Therefore, I must not delay any longer, though I must admit that I have nothing to say that is worth sending across the ocean. I thank you heartily for all your communications, which I have read with great interest, and which fully confirm theimpressions I have received of life and conditions in the new world. I need not tell you that the news of your pleasant voyage and safe arrival has pleased us more than anything else. For a journey of that kind, compared with a journey from here to Fritzlar, must always be considered a venture. It pleased me also to hear that your new sphere of activity meets your expectations. Still, owing to Eastwick's promises and considering your own trustworthiness and sense of honor, I never had any doubts about the

result. At all events you are to he congratulated on having made and carried out this resolution, for there is no doubt that a sojourn in America is going t o have the greatest influence upon your whole future life, even though you do nothing more than endeavor t o acquire the good qualities for which the Americans are noted, their perseverance, self-reliance, their spirit of enterpris-ll qualities that so often fail in us Germans. And then, the opportunity t o take a broader view of the world by studying men and conditions an a great scale. I n particular, I congratulate you on your success in your new field, and having a t this early stage improved upon the method of refining sugar. Not being familiar with the regulations governing patents, I am unable to judge of the merits of your process. I am inclined to think that it would he easier and more t o your advantage to sell your process taindividual factories. In this I shall do all in my power t o assist you. First of all you might apply to Hurtzig. Respecting the new sugar plant, I have notified KOPP by sending him the main paints of your letter, noting also that you intend sending the seed. Not until after reading your exhaustive monograph concerning this research can I judge of its adaptability for publication in the Annalen. Meanwhile, I am in favour of it, provided it is not too detailed and technical. This matter seems to me t o he of great importance, provided the plant can be raised in Germany and other countries. In the latter you will have the distinction of having introduced it into Germany. Here everything remains unchanged. Limpricht, Geuther. and Wicke send their greetings. Wicke has become professor extr., Limpricht and Boedeker assessors a t the University Society. Deville was here again in the autumn. I am enclosing the results of our last researches. I presume you have seen in the Annalcn the paper on the new siliciumcompounds by Buff and myself, as well as the experiments with titanium. Deville and I have now succeeded in producing a nitrogen-silicium having the same behaviour as nitrogen. Probably you have heard of little Engelhardt's departure for America as assistant t o Professor Clark, who coaxed him over. Farewell. Best greetings t o the Eastwicks and kindly remember. Your W~HLRR In case you have an opportunity to see Herr Booth a t the mint, an old pupil of mine, give him my best greetings. I took care that he received my letter of thanks for the beautiful minerals, which you were kind enough to help unpack. Please also remember me to Gillingham, Magee, and Garrigues. Be sure to ask the latter to procure for me a few more specimens of the beautiful graphite on quartz, of which he let me have a small piece, and also to tell me the locality they come from. The graphite without the quartz would be of little interest to me.

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It is especially important for me to have crystallized graphite, which is said to occur in North America. WOHLER. I am anxious to hear in your next letter whether the Messrs. Eastwick's husiness remains unaffected by the great financial crisis. GSttingen, 9 March, 1858 Dear Gossmann,Permit me to recommend to you most particularly the hearer, Herr Stephani. He has been working in my laboratory this winter and I know him to be an excellent young man. He will tell you what brings him to America and also all that bas happened here. Kindly see that he has an opportunity to meet the Messrs. Eastwick. Booth, Garrigues, etc. I hope that you arc doing well and that you have received my letter of January 3. Your preliminary communication on the sugar plant was Ions ago printed in the Annolen. My best greetings to the Messrs. Eastwick and other friends. Pardon the shortness of this letter. which I am obliged to write in a hurry, as Stephani is about t o depart. In best friendship. your W O ~ R Gattingen, 31 Oct., 1858 Dear Doctor.I am ashamed of myself for not having answered ere this your kind and very interesting letter of August 1. I received it a t Karlsrube, where I had gone from Miinchen with Liebig in order t o attend the meeting of Naturalists. It proved t o he a brilliant success and was attended by nearly all the chemists of Germany. Kuhlmann from Lille. Despretz, Nickl&, Grandeau. Troost from Paris were there. From here besides myself were Limpricht and Wicke (also Dr. Spiegelherg and the troublesome Bialloblotzky). I have read with pleasure what you say ahout North America and its people, and also let Liehig read your letter. No doubt your views are quite correct, and I am especially pleased t o have you express them, for it shows that you know how t o adapt yourself to new conditions and take advantage of thingsintellectual and material. Apart from the fact that by accepting this position you have laid the foundation for a fine career within your sphere of activity, this sojourn will he of the greatest importance in moulding your future life. It would have interested me t o hear of your relations with the Eastwicks, how they are progressing, and whether you are satisfied with the conditions. I suppose everything is favourable, since you have never said anything to the contrary. Doubtless you have long ago learned that your monograph on Sorghum has been printed in Henneberg's Landwirlhsch. Journal, and also received free copies as well as your honorarium for the same. I have read i t with great interest, and have also forwarded a portion of the seeds to Bartling as well as to Dr. Henneberg. The latter has sown them on a piece of land a t Weende and the plants are thriving. Yesterday he sent several specimens t o the laboratory, where Dr. Schwanert is going t o ascertain the amount of sugar they contain. Seeds have also been sent to Henneberg by the Ministerium for experiment. Much attention is beine., .oaid to this Dlantin G-anvand France Your conaignmmt of weds and w y a r (I bcliwc in Italy, too hai al,u rcachcrl me, f.,r whic.11 accept my hvartiwt thank. I h:tw arlrl4 the I l t t l v specimen, uf s u p r to the laboratory collection as a present from you, and turned over the beautiful sugarloaf t o my wife. She could not be persuaded t o open the latter until recently, when she was out of sugar. We then had an opportunity to admire its beauty and quality when drinking our coffee, a t the same time remembering you gratefully. Geuther secured some seeds for Schleiden: a part of them I kept to plant, the remainder were given to Bartling for our Botanical Garden, and to". Martius, for the Botanical Garden a t Miinchen. I hope that a t least part of the lot will thrive well a t one or the other place. I was glad t o hear that Stephani had arrived and had made your

acquaintance. Give him my best greetings. Dr. Bode of Cassel. who could not find a position here, finally left for America on an uncertainty and is. I believe, in Cincinnati. We have not heard anything for a long time from Engelhardt who, as you know, went to America with Prof. Clark. You also write nothing concerning Garrigues. Gillingham, Pugh, Joy, and the others who were here. Has not the latter become a professor in New York? Have you ever made the acquaintance of Mr. Booth, my first American pupil? All this interests me very much. There are now only three Americans working in the laboratory. Messrs. Harris, Little, and Stewart, besides two Englishmen. I have accepted only 22 laboratory students this semester, transferring half a dozen to Limpricht in order to avoid the rush in winter. Dr. Gnether still has your position, employing Fabian as an assistant. Limpricht has far assistants Dr. Schwanert, Dr. v. Uslar, and Dr. Fittig. I have transferred the 6-hour Practicvm t o the old hospital, where Dr. v. Uslar resides. This is of great advantage as long as we have no new laboratory. I t is still uncertain whether we are to have a new building, as the government has granted only 27,OM) thlr., instead of the 38,000 thlr. i t will cost according to the plans submitted. In order to design a laboratory which shall be unsurpassed. I have sent Limpricht and the architect Dbltz to Wiesbaden, Heidelberg, Stuttgart, Karlsruhe, and Miinchen, in order t o inspect and study the details of all the laboratories in those places. The agricultural laboratory under Wicke is well attended, whereas Boedeker is not popular with the medicalstudents. I suppose you have an opportunity to read the Annakn, so I need not report anything concerning new work. Perhaps you have already received the July number, and know that the remarkable siliciun-hydrogen gas may now be prepared chemically in the same manner as phosphorus-hydrogen gas. At present, I am again experimenting with nitrogen-silicium. Nothing has occurred here that is worth mentioning. A few have died (but no professors-Oesterley. v. Bobers); others are engaged, c. g., Friulein Augusta Baum. I myself have become a grandfather for the second time. All the members of my family are very well, my three oldest daughters having accompanied me an my last journey t o the beautiful Bavarian mountains. I have just now spoken t o Geuther, who sends his best greetings. H e does not know what became of the honorarium for your monograph. He will attend to the matter and have the money sent to your brother, if he has not already received it. Farewell. Remember me t o the Eastwicks and to all the friends, and let me hear from you very soon. When you see Mr. Booth, tell him that a little more osmium-iridium, in which he is so rich. would be very welcome to me. No doubt an opportunity will present itself so it ran be sent here. Cordially your Wiiu~.aa .. . ... -..

Gottingens l2 March, lS6' Dear Ghsmann,First of all, my hearty thanks for your very full and interesting letter of January 24, for the pieces Of graphite and the extraordinarily fine photographs, all of which have made the long voyage successfully and reached me safely. I t is a great satisfaction t o know that one is not being forgotten by old pupils and friends, and t o receive from them so many tokens of attachment, and that you are one of them. It gives me peculiar pleasure also to know that all goes well with you, that you are contented in your interesting surroundings and that you have so many opportunities to see great and remarkable things, to know the world and to gather experiences which will be of the greatest advantage to you in the future. . . . It is striking what an array of new impressions one may receive in America of which we in old, used-up Europe have no conception. The contents of your letter, as well as its minuteness of detail, proved that you do not think ill of me because I did not write you for such an unpardonably long time, Indeed, it shame- me to confess that my last letter was dated 3 1 October. 1 8 5 C i f I am not mistaken. The news you sent concerning the former Gbttingen Americans gave me much pleasure, and also

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that you have acted as protector to little Engelhardt, thus probably laying the foundation for his advancement. Only one have you foraotten t o mention-Professor Toy of New York, who with his bea&iful wife visited us last summer, though we have not had a word from him since. I should be obliged if you would writs him a few lines in my name, asking whether he has received the diploma of the Leopold Academy and the silver mirror from Liebig, both having been forwarded a t the time to Rinteln according to his directions. I hope he will overcome hisdilatoriness and write me himself. As you have probably seen the Annalen, and therefore know already, I shall writenothing about chemical news from our laboratory, except that there is much work being done and that it is well attended. I am aware that you have not yet received this year's March issue. At present I am having Niemann make an investigation of the famous Coca (Erythroxylon coca of Peru) and. as far as we have ascertained, it very probably contains an organic base which may be crystallized and which resembles atropin. We have christened it Cocaine. I have received 25 1b. of coca from Vienna, originally from the iVouara's tour round the world. Probably you are familiar with the new, easy method of producing violet chromium chloride, and know t h a t by melting the same with zinc, metallic chromium in microscopic crystals may easily be obtained. I do not know whether I have written you that we are going to have a new laboratory here which will, I hope, in construction and equipment surpass all other laboratories. 38,000 thlr. have been granted therefor, it is already under roof, and the finishing of the interior is so far advanced that it will be ready for use next autumn. There will be room for all Practica except those of Wicke and Boedeker. The old lahoratory, which will form part of the new wing, is being remodeled and made to harmonize with the rest of the tremendous building by having two high and many small chimneys. Limpricht, whom I sent with the architect D6ltz t o inspect all modern laboratories in Germany, has the distinction of planning all the details of the building and the interior equipment. I am sorry t o say that he is now going away from here. having received a call to Greifswald as ordinarius with a salary f, 1200 thlr. has also been entrusted with the errction of a new laboratory, a task that ail1 now be easy for him to perform.

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