H. S. VAN KLOOSTER Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute, Troy, New York
B o m m A n v ~ was unquestionably the best-known physician of his time. It is stated that a letter sent from the Far East, addressed to Boerhaave, Europa, reached its destination. He was born on December 31, 1668, a t Voorhout near Leiden. He studied at the University of Leiden where he received his Ph.D. degree m d at the University of Harderwijk (abolished. by Napoleon around 1810) where he obtained his M.D. degree. In 1709 he became professor of medicine and botany a t Leiden and in 1718 he also became professor of chemistry, for which he was well qualified having previously given private courses in this subject for 14 years. He died on September 24, 1738, in his seventieth year. Of his medical works, the "Institutiones medicae" were published in 1708 at Leiden and his "Aphorismi de cognoscendis et curandis morbis," the following year a t Leiden. His collected works came out at The Hague in the year he died. To chemists, Boerhaave is best known for his "Elementa Chemiae," first published a t Leiden in 1732
and issued in more than 30 editions. How he came to write this text which made him famous in all civilized countries has been told in THIS JOURNAL and elsewhere (1) and need not be repeated here. Boerhaave gives an interesting account of his medical predecessors Paracelsus and van Helmont. The English version of this has been reprinted in an early issue of THIS JOURNAL ($3). Boerhaave's original contributions t o chemistry are few in number and his experiments gave only negative results. They are, however, recorded in his collected works in two articles, "de mercurio" (3). Boerhaave's work consisted of carefully repeating experiments described by Geber, Hollandus, van Helmont, and Becher. On November 15, 1718, he started by heating a pound of mercury a t 100°F. in a long-necked flask closed by paper. He continued the heating for more than 15 years until May 23, 1734, a t which time he found the mercury unchanged, contrary to the assertions of the alchemists that mercury changes its nature upon heating. Only then did he feel justified in proclaiming the unchaugeability and the elementary nature of mercury. He sent his results and the following statement t o the Academy of Sciences a t Paris, of which he was a corresponding member: I t is up to you, very learned men, to judge on theutility and the truth of this research, to which I have devoted p a t of my spare time, in order that you may have occasion t o do more serious work. I trust to have rendered a. service also, t o atudents of chemistry so that they may not become so readily victims of the silly science of modern alchemists who have really nothing good and nothing useful to offer.
In order to judge the caliber of the work done in those days it should be remembered that in Boerhaave's time balances and thermometers were still considered curiosities in a chemical laboratory (4). As a novelty Boerhaave used to show his students a thermometer made for him by Fahrenheit (1686-1736), who was born in Dandg (Germany) but spent most of his adult life in Holland. A few sketches of Fahrenheit's thermometers appear in the "Elementa Chemiae" and have (5). been reproduced in THIS JOURNAL Every student of the history of chemistry is familiar with Wurtz' famous statement regarding Lavoisier as the founder of modern chemistry. Thorpe (6) has paraphrased this by saying: "Chemistry is an English
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and proclaims Boerhaave to have been the inaugurator of the period of scientific chemistry. Boerhaave's reputation was such that he drew students from all parts of Europe to Leiden. His fame was so great that even Czar Peter the Great (1672-1725) while working as a shipwright a t Zaandam frequently went to Leiden for lessons or advice from Boerhaave. Boerhaave's most famous pupil, Gerhard van Swieten, being a Catholic was not permitted to succeed him and left Holland as soon as he was called to Vienna by the Empress Maria Theresa. In Vienna he established a medical faculty based on the example of his alma mater. Boerhaave's successor was Gaub (1704-80), a man of lesser stature but presumably a good Protestant. The print that accompanies this article brings out Boerhaave's striking features somewhat better than
either the reproduction of the painting by Aert de Gelder which appeared in TITIE JOURNAL in 1933 (9) or the reproduction of the picture in profile in 1942 (10). LITERATURE CITED (1) DAVIS,T. L., Isis, 10, 33 (1928); J. CHEM.EDUC.,5 , 892 (1928), 10, 732 (1933). (2) DAVIS,J. CHEM. EDUC.,5, 671 (1928). (3) BOEEHIULVE, H., "Opuscula ornnis," The Hague, 1738, pp. 129, 135.
(4) H. J.. "Oude ohemische werktuieen en laborstoria , . BACKER. van zbsimodtot Raerhaave," ~roningeg,1918, p. 60. (5) BROWN, E. H., J. CHEM. EDUC.,11,449 (1934). (6) THORPE, E., "Essays in historical chemistry," London, 1902, p. 97. (7) SCOTT, A., J. Chem. Soc., 109,340 (1916). (8) BACKER, loc. cit., p. 62. (9) DAVIS,J. CHEM.EDUC.,10, 711 (1933). (10) ATKINKIN, E. R., J. CHEM.EDUC.,19. 103 (1942)
