The SCIENTIFIC CONTRIBUTIONS of the DE ELHUYAR BROTHERS* MARY ELVIRA WEEKS The University of Kansas, Lawrence, Kansas
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LTHOUGH Don Fausto de Elhuyart and his brother, Don Juan Jose, achieved undying fame by their isolation of the element now known as tungsten, only meager accounts of their contributions have been recorded in the English language, and even in Spanish and Spanish-American journals i t is difficult to find more than brief mention of Don Juan Jose. This Castilian literature, however, contains a wealth of information about the scientific activities of Don Fausto, and the recent observance of the centenary of his death has brought forth new biographical material. In the latter part of the eighteenth century the Count of Pefiailorida, with the approval of King Charles 111, founded in the Basque provinces a patriotic organization known as "The Basque Society of Friends of their Country" (Sociedad Vascongada de Amigos del Pais). In the early days of its existence, this learned society consisting of studious men of the nobility and clergy used to meet every evening in the week. On Mondays they discussed mathematics; on Tuesdays they made experiments with AbbC Nollet's electrical machine or with their air pump from London or discussed the physical theories of the day, such as Franklin's views on electricity; on Wednesdays they read history and translations-by members of the society; on T h u r s d a y s they listened i o music; on Fridays they studied geography; on S a t u r d a y s t h e y conversed on current events; a n d on Sundays they again listened to music. According to a contemporary w r i t e r , Don Juan Sempere y Guarinos' : * Presented before the Division of H i s t o r y o f Chemistry a t the Chicago meeting of the A. C. S., Sept. 11, 1933. t Even in Spanish literature, the spelling, of t h i s name vanes.
The two most glorious monuments of the Socieded Vmcongodo are the Seminary of Vergara and the House of Mercy of Vitoria. . This Seminaly was the first in Spain in which virtue was united with the teaching of the sciences most useful to the state. Vergara was the first town in which chairs of chemistry and metallwgy were founded.
Soon after this Seminary was founded in 1777, two brilliant and promising youths of Basque and French lineage, Don Juan JosC de Elhuyar y de Zubice and his younger brother, Don Fausto, were commissioned to study abroad. Don Juan Jose was sent by the King to master the science of metallurgy and Don Fausto was chosen by the Count of Peiiaflorida to study mineralogy at the expense of the Society of Friends of their Country and become the first professor of that subject a t the new Seminary.2 Don Fausto was born a t Logrofio in northern Spain on October 11, 1755, and was educated in Paris under the best masters. While the gifted young Louis Joseph P r ~ u s t who , ~ later defended the law of definite proportions so valiantly against Berthollet, taught chemistry a t Vergara, Don Fausto and Don Juan Jose went to Freiberg, where in 1778 they enrolled as students in the Royal School of Mines, studied subterranean geometry, mining, metallurgy and machine construction, and became ardent disciples of the great mineralogist, Abraham Gottlob W e r n e r . They also visited
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S E M P E R EJ., , "Ensayo d e u n a bibliateca espailola d e 10s m e j o r e s escritores del Reynado de Carlos 111," I m p r e n t a Real Madrid, 1789, Vol. pp. 151-77. El primer centenaria d e D. F a u s t o d e Elhuyar," Anales roc. espaii. fts. qupui, 31, 115-43 (Mar. 15, 1933). =Ateneo ciatifico, literario, y a r t i s t i c 0 de Madrid, "La Espaira d e l Sigla XIX," L i b r e r i a d e D. Antonio San Martin, Madrid. 1886, Vol. 2, pp. 412-52. I t was here that Don Juan Jose and Don Fausto de Elhuyar carried out their re- Chapter on the hismarkable analysis of wolfrarnite, which resulted in the isolation of a new metal, "wolf- tory of the physiram." or tunesten. Amone the ~rofessors at this Seminary were L. J. Proust, Fran~ois c a l s c i e n c e s by Mourelo.
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the mines and metallurgical industries of Sweden and England, and at least one of the brothers profited by a brief course of study a t Upsala under the celebrated Torbern Bergman. When Don Fausto took up his teaching duties at Vergara just after the Christmas vacation in 1781,* he was already famous because of his achievements in northern Europe. He soon published papers on the manufacture of tin plate, the mines of Somorrostro, the iron-works of Biscaya, and the working of copper mines. Soon after devoting themselves to laboratory research in Vergara, the de Elhuyar brothers analyzed a specimen of wolframite from a tin mine in Zinnwald and separated from it an insoluble yellow powder which they called wolframic add and which they later showed to be identical with tungstic acid. Since these Spanish chemists were the first to reduce wolframic acid, Dr.
name4 has been changed in some languages to forms derived from tungstein, the accepted international symbol, W, still bears witness that the metal was first obtained from wolframite, not from tungstein (scheelite). Although the isolation of this metal has sometimes been erroneously credited to Don Fausto alone, the original paper published in 1783 in the Extractas de las Juntas Generules of the Royal Basque Society under the title "Chemical Analysis of Wolfram and Examination of a new Metal which Enters into its Composition" bore the names of both brothers. Because of the great importance of this memoir it was soon translated into French, English, and Germam5 Dr. Fages and Dr. Moles have both pointed out that, in isolating the new metal, the de Elhuyar brothers did much more than merely confirm the hypothesis of Bergman. Instead of analyzing tungstic acid intentionally prepared to test this hypothesis, as has so often been stated, they analyzed wolfram without any prep
'MOLES. E., "Wolframio, no tungsteuo. Vanadio o eritronio," Anales soc. cspaii. jb,pin.,[3],26,234-52(June,1928). "LH~AR, J. J. AND F., "Au&lisis quimico de valfram v examen de un nueva metal que entra en su~composicibn."ErlrnG tos Real Soc. Bascongeda, pp. 46-88 (1783); Mdnzoires Acad. Toulowe. 2. 1 4 1 4 8 (1784): Enelish translation bv CHARLES
At this period he was already famous because of the research a t Vergara in which he and his brother liberated the rlcrnrit now known 35 ~ungaten. Thts nortwit rtas i,equrathud to the .\lining Council by 1)un Fausto's dauyhtcr. DoAa 1.uisn de lilhuyor de Martinez de AragOn.
E. Moles of the University of Madrid and the late Dr. Fages y Virgili have pointed out that the metal ought to be called by the name wolframium (wolfram) which the de Elhuyar brothers gave it. Although this
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* The author wishes t o correct a statement in Reference 8. Elhuyar taught a t Vergara hefore going t o Mexico, not after his return.
From
F. G. Corlzing, " A Sludcnl R m e r i ~ "
ABRAHAM GOTTLOB WERNER,1750--1817 Professor of *geagnosy a t the Freiherg School of Mines. Because his followers believed in the aqueous origin of rocks, they were called Neptunists. Among his distinguished students were the de Elhuyar brothers, Baron Alexander von Humboldt, and A. M.'.del Rio, the discoverer of vanadium (erythronium).
conceived ideas. Dr. Fages stated that, after the de Elhuyar brothers had discovered the acid in wolframite,
. . . their great enlightenment and erudition, supporting their great genius, caused them to suppose that the earth encountered, completely new t o them and to almost all chemists, might he the same that Scheele had discovered a few months before in another mineral, entirely independently. .'.'
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The de Elhuyar brothers concluded from their analysis that wolframite is composed of wolframic acid combined with iron and manganese. Their method of obtaining the metal by reduction of tungstic (wolframic) acid with charcoal has been described in other papers,4.6,7.8 As late as 1786 the great analytical chemist, Martin Heinrich Klaproth, admitted that all his own attempts had failed and that "up to the present only Hr. Elhuyar has succeeded in getting the metal."S Although the de Elhuyar brothers were unsuccessful in their attempts to synthesize wolframite, they foreshadowed modem methods of mineral ~ynthesis.~ They also devised an ingenious method of determining the specific gravity of solids, and their values for wolframite, tungsten trioxide, and metallic tungsten were surprisingly a c c ~ r a t e . ~ Their dissertation on wolframite, published three-quarters of a century before Thomas Graham founded the science of colloid chemistry, contains a clear description of a wolframic (tungstic) acid sol.* Spanish writers have commented on the lucid and refined style of this great memoir, which, though written in the phraseology of the phlogistonists, Professor of mineralogy, French, and Spanish at the School exhibits scientific concepts and technic which are of Mines of Mexico. Member of the American Philosophical astonishingly modern. In the French translation of it, Society. He discovered the element vanadium (erythronium), but later confused it with chromium. This portrait the de Elhuyar brothers modestly admit that no use has belongs to the School of Mines of Mexico. yet been found for the new metal, but add that "we must not conclude from this that it is entirely useless."3 In the meantime, events in the western hemisphere mineralogy, successfully administered technical comhad caused King Charles to make new plans for the missions of great responsibility, and developed the de Elhuyar brothers. As early as 1774 Don Joaquin mines of New Granada. Early in the spring of 1786 de Veldzquez Cdrdenas y Le6n had presented a plan for Don Fausto collaborated with FranSois Chavaneau, the establishment of a school of mines a t Mexico City professor of chemistty a t Vergara, in some remarkable which had received the King's approval. However, researches on platinum. In a letter written in Vergara the realization of the plan had unfortunately been on March 17th of that year to Don Juan Jose, who was deferred by the death in 1786 of this distinguished then living in BogotA, Colombia, Don Fausto gave a Mexican scientist. In order to fulfilhis cherished hope clear description of their process for making pure of developing the mines of America, King Charles sent platinum malleable. In his bibliography of Spanish Don Juan Jose to New Granada (Colombia) and Don science, MenCndez y Pelayo mentions a paper on loFausto to H u n p r y and Germany to prepare himself cating veins of mercury which Don Juan Jose published for the exacting duties of Director General of Mines of in the same year.I0 Don Juan Jose was a h i ~ h l yesteemed friend of the M m u i c n 2.6 t , J& Celestino Mutis, who The former served for many years as professor of great ~ ~ a n i s h b o t a n i sDOU once said proudly, "I have been the instrument for the glorious acquiring of the two learned D'Elhuyar [sic] "Discursos leidos ante la Real Academia de Ciencias en la brothers and the rapid introduction of Baron Born's recepci6n ~Gblicadel Ilmo," Sr. D. Juan Fages y Virgii, Madrid, 1909, 118 pp. Address on "The chemists of Vergara." new mining pro~ess."'~ The Republic of Colombia has
' KOPPEL, I.. "Beitrag zur Entdeckungsgeschichte des Wolframs," Chen.-Ztg., 50, 969-71 (Dec. 25, 1926). WEEKS, M. E., "The discovery of the elements. V. Chromium, molybdenum, tungsten, and uranium," J. &EM. Eouc., 9, 459-61 (Mar., 1932); ibid., M a c k Printing Co., Easton, Pa., 1933, pp. 5C-2. KLAPROTH,M. H., "Untersuchung des angehlichen Tungteins und des Wolframs aus Cornwall," Crell's Ann., 6, 507 1786).
*The author wishes to thank Seiior Pahla Martinez del Ria, head of the Extension Dept. of the National University of Mexico, for his kind assistance in locating this portrait. l o MENBNDEZ, M., "La ciencia espafiola," 3rd ed., A. Perez Dubruli, Madrid, 1888, Val. 3, pp. 39&6. GALVEZ-CARERO, A. DE, "Apuntes biogrificos de D. Fausto de Elhuyar y de Zubice." Boletln del Institute Geol@gico y Minero de EspeAa, Vol. 5% Grificas reunidas, Madrid. 1933, 253 pp.
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recently celebrated the bicentenary of the birth of this great Spanish botani~t.'~According to Dr. Fages, many documents preserved with the famous Mutis collection a t the Botanical Garden in Madrid show that the services of Don Juan Jose in New Granada were no less useful to Spain than those of his younger brother in Mexico. Don Juan Jose de Elhuyar died in 1804 in the Santa Ana mine at Bogat$ without ever revisiting his native land.6J1 On May 22,1783, while the de Elhuyar brothers were still engrossed in their famous experiments on wolframite, the King had issued his "Royal Ordinances for the Direction, Management, and Government of the
realms at your earliest convenience in order to go to New Spain and fill that office with the intelligence and knowledge which the discharge of your obligation demands and which His Majesty expects from your application, proficiency, and zeal.18
After a year and a half in Hungary and Germany, Professor Elhuyar spent a few mouths in Vienna studying the mines of the surrounding region and the metallurgy of many metals and enjoying the brilliant social life of the city. Before returning to Spain he married a Geman lady of distinguished lineage, Juana Raab de Moncelos, who, in the middle of June, 1788, set sail with him from Cadiz for New Spain.11 When the frigate Venus cast anchor a t Vera Cruz on September 4th of that year, the new Director General of Mines disembarked and went immediately to Mexico City. After a solemn and colorful ceremony in the Royal Palace, he entered a t once into his new duties. A few months later, as a first step in the construction of a chemical laboratory, assay furnaces were built in the patio of the college building. According to Director Elhuyar's plan, the students admitted were to range in age from fifteen to twenty years and were to wear a prescribed blue uniform with red collar and cuffs and gold buttons decorated with the signs for gold, silver, and mercury. On Sundays and church holidays they were expected to attend the church functions, both morning and afternoon, and to call on the mining officials "in order to learn the usages of polite society."'3 As an incentive to scholarship, the Director arranged that prizes for good conduct and industry should be awarded with great solemnity. These consisted of ornaments to be worn in the buttonhole.'3 The School of Mines was officially opened on New Year's Day, 1792, with an impressive ceremony in the Church of San Nicollts. It was the first scientific institution to be erected on Mexican soiLr4 The new Director of Mines soon made a thorough experimental study of the "patio," or amalgamation, " ~, .. '.. ., process of separating silver from its ores. Although BARONALEXANDER vox I-IUMBOLDT, 1769-1859 this empirical process invented by Bartolam6 de German naturalist and traveler. Author of "Cosmos" Medina had been used for more than two centuries, no and "Political Essay on New Spain." Friend of Fausto de satisfactory explanation of the chemical reactions Elhuyar and A. M. del Rio. involved had yet been given. L. J. Proust, who was Important Body of W i n g in New Spain and of its then teaching in the Academy of Artillery at Segovia, Royal General Tribunal."Ia In the spring of 1786 reviewed these remarkable experiments of Elhuyar in Don Fausto de Elhuyar was sent to Hungary and the first volume of the Anales del Real Laboratorio de Germany to study the new method of amalgamation Quimica in 1791. The late SeSor Mourelo has recently . the glory of both [Bartolam&de which Counselor Born had established in Schemnitz and stated that Freiberg. On July 18th of that year the Marquis of Medina and Alvaro Alonso Barba] sh'mes and scintiiSonora wrote as follows to Don Fausto, who was then lates more brightly in that of . .the famous mining engineer, Don Fausto Elhuyar, in whom appears in Vienna: . . . the magnificent work of those eminent completed The King has deigned to appoint Your Excellency as Director General of the Royal Askmbly of Mines of Mexico with a salary miners . . ."I5 d v e vau for Since a royal order, transmitted through the Viceroy of 4000 -0s. ~~-~~ ~-~ . . and bv his Roval command I . this order your satisfaction, and thar, well informed on thc new method of of Mexico, had decreed that Werner's theory of the
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amalgamation thar Mr. Rorn invented, you may return to those
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Acad. Ciencias. Madrid. pp. 180-1 (1932); "Centurv-old collection vields new dant wecies." Sci. N m Letkr, 24, 135 (Aug. 26. 1933).
Sociedod dentLfica Antonio Alzate, Mmorias y rcuista, 6, 177-242
la Anuario
" R A M ~ R ES., ~ , "El centenario del Colegio de Minerla."
(1892-3).
l6 MOURELO, J. R., "Un 1 2 x 0 farnoso," Revista a d . cicncias (Madrid), 29, 9-52 (Sept.. 1932). Review of BAKBA,A. A,, "El Arte de 10s Metales." 1640.
formation of veins be taught to the students, the "would recognize the character and genius of the brilliant young Don Andres Manuel del RIo was sent to [Mexican] people." The association of mining engiMexico to introduce the most approved mining methods neers from all parts of Mexico also voted unanimously which he had learned at Freiberg.13 Although del Rfo for his reappointment, and the request was granted.13 had declined the professorship of chemistry, he accepted In the meantime Don Fausto made many inspection that of mineralogy, and took with him on the warship trips to mining centers, supervised the installation of San Pedro Aldntara a quantity of equipment for the School of Mines. soon- after his a&al in Mexico City in December, 1794, Don Fausto de Elhuyar asked
The centennry of his death was recently ohserved at the School of Mining Engineering of Madrid.
DEDICATION OF THE HISTORY OF TEE COLLEGE OF MINES oa MEXICO(Ref. 13) Translnlion: "To the illustrious memory of the eminent scientists who filled with exceptional ability the important office of First Director General of Mining, D. Joaquin de Vel&zquezChrdenas y Le6n and D. Fausta de Elhuyar, the former the initiator and the latter the founder of the College of Mines. In testimony of affection, admiration, and gratitude."
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him to translate Werner's book on the theory of forma. tion of veins into Spanish.13 When Seiior Elhuyar's nine-year term as Director was about to expire in 1797, his colleagues and students requested that he be reappointed for another nine years, or for life, or for whatever period might meet with Royal favor.13 The report stated that ". . . this Royal Seminary is persuaded that in this kingdom there is no other subject of the merit and circumstances so suited to this institution . . . as Sr. D. Fausto Eluyar [sic]." The officers of the school felt that no one else
pumps of his own invention, and for several months taught the chemistry course, because of the illness of Don Luis Lindner. Under his leadership the prestige of the school increased, and students came from distant parts of Mexico to obtain a broad cultural fwndation as well as a practical knowledge of mining. In April, 1798, the King ordered that some of the most promising youths be selected by examination to become directors and mining engineers in the viceroyships of Peru and Bnenos Aires and the provinces of Quito, Guatemala, and Chile, and to establish safe, economical methods for the exploitation of the precious metals.13 After Baron Alexander von Humboldt had visited Mexico in 1803, he wrote that "no city of the new continent, without excepting those of the United States, presents scientific establishments so large and substantial as the Capitol of Mexico. I shall mention . . . the School of Mines, directed by the learned Elhuyar . . ."I6
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HUMBOLDT, A , , "Ensayo politico sobre Nueva Espaiia." 3rd ed., Libreria de Lecointe, Paris, 1836, Vol. 1, pp. 232. 236-8: ibid.. Vol. 2. n 85.
The Baron also stated that
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a European traveler would he surphised to meet in the interior of the country, near the California boundary, young Mexicans reasoning on the decomposition of water in the operation of amalgamation in the open air. The School of Mines has a a geologioal collection classified according chemical to Werner's system, and a physical laboratory, in which are to be found not only valuable instruments of Ramsden, Adams, Lenoir and Luts but made in the same with the greatest precision and of the best wood in the country. The best mineralogical work which Spanish literature possesses. the manual of mineralogy arranged by Seflor del Rio according to the principles of the Freiberg School, where the has been printed in Mexica.1~
ture. Industrv. Po~ulation.and Civilization of New ~pa&."l~~ id.' ~his " ~ i s t & of Mexico,"'g H. H. Bancroft extolled the former treatise as follows:
With regard to the mint and coinage 1 find the work of Fausto de Efiuyar. entitled Indigaciones sobre la Amo~~daci6n en la Nneva Espaiia, Madrid, 1818, to be extremely useful. His mearches were conducted with great care, and supply a concise and correct history of the mint from its establishment down to the loth, of August, 1814, when he laid before themining tribunal of Mexico, of which he was director, the results of his In this book, which consists of 142 pages, he gives an account of the different coins struck off and the modifications which they experienced a t different periods, also of the new system when the administration was assumed by the government. He moreover causes by which the interests of the l of i ~considers ~ ~ i with ~ ~attention ~ ' t the ~~ miningindnstrysutfered,andsuggestsremedies.
capitoi
~h~ B~~~~also mentioned ~ ~ ~ " ~~ Chemistry,n the fist Spanish edition of which was published in Mexico. Chaptal's textbook of chemistry During the war of independence, the once prosperous was also used a t the Mining Academy, but in 1820 it mining industry of Mexico passed through such a was superseded by that of Or61a.13 serious depression that all courses a t the School of Professor Elhuyar often ordered instruments for the Mines were suspended, with humane provisions, howSchool of Mines through von Humboldt, who selected ever, for those of its employees who had no other source and purchased them without any commission. In of income. Don Fausto de Elhuyar relinquished his return for this courtesy he gave the Baron much valuF., yndigaciones sobre la amonedaci6n en able information for his "Political Essay on New ,,,,xr,E Spain."1sJ6 Von Humboldt later presented to Euro- Nueva Espaia," Imprenta de la calle de la Greda, Madrid, 1818, ?46 pp.; Memoria sobre el inflnjo de la mineria en la agricultura, min- mdustria, museums numerous specimens of poblacih. y civilizaci6n de la Nneva Espaia." Imerals which this Spanish scientist had given him. prenta de Amarita. Madrid. 1825. 154 pp. RAM~REZ. S., "Noticia histbrica de la riqueza minera de Two of de ElhuyarSs most famous papers were Secretaria de Fomento, Mexico. 1884, 768 pp. entitled "Suggestions on Coining in New Spain" and M6xico." a Hawe Bannoit," A, L, Bancroft works of "Memoir on the Influence of Mining on the Agricul- and Co.. San Francisco, 1883, Vol. 11. p. 679.
authority, and thus, after thirty-three years of service, his directorship came to a close on October 22, 1821. The history of the School of Mines13 by the distiuguished mining engineer, Santiago Ramirez, contains a wealth of information about Elhuyar's services to Mexico. After returning to Madrid, Profess'or Elhuyar was made a member of the General Council of Public Credit,la served on many government commissions, wrote his famous treatise on the influence of mining in New Spain," drew up the new mining law known as the Royal Decree of July 4, 1825, and was made Director General of Mining.*-ao He planned the School of Mining Engineering of Madrid and organized and developed the mining industry of his native land, which he served devotedly to the end of his life. One of the reforms which he advocated was the eight-hour day.% In spite of his many positions of iduence and responsibility, Professor Elhuyar lived in modest circumstances, devoting all his enefgy to intellectual rather than material pursuits. He died a t Madrid on January 6, 1833, a t the age of seventy-seven years. (Although the centenary of Elhuyar's death was observed on February 6, 1933, the death certificate which Seiior Cafiero recently discovered in the records of San Sebastidn parish in Madrid states that Don Fausto died on January 6th as the result of a fall.") In 1892 the Mexican government under Porlirio Diaz, the fonner students of the Mining Academy, and the leading mining companies arranged a mining exposition and a series of public functions throughout the year to commemorate the centennial anniversary of the found in^ of the Seminarv. All the scientific orwniza* Although standard Spanish and German encyclopedias state
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that Don Fausta de Elhuyar also became Secretary of State, Dr. Fagesqhas pointed out that this is incorrect. so Monos, F. A., "Minerales y mineralogistas espax501es," R&sfa Real acad. ciencies (Madrid). 21,299 (1923-24).
tions in the country participated, and the German musical society, the O w n Alemdn, gladly cooperated out of gratitude for the honors which the Seminary had bestowed on Baron von Humboldt. In each arch of the magnificent college building appeared a flag-draped escutcheon bearing an honored name, and foremost among these were Joaquh de Veldzquez Cdrdenas y Le6n, Fausto de Elhuyar, and Andris Manuel del Ri0.l' On February 6, 1933, the Spanish Society of Physics and Chemistry, the Geological and Mining Institute of Spain, and the Association of Mining Engineers met a t the School of Mining Engineering of Madrid to observe the one-hundredth anniversary of the death of Don Fausto de Elhuyar. Eloquent and scholarly addresses on the various phases of his services to science were delivered by Sefiores Bermejo, Hauser, Gdlvez-Caiiero, Moles, Novo, and Gpez SBnchez Avecil1a;and three portraits* of him were displayed by SeEor Cafiero, who has recently published a beautifully illustrated biography based on authentic documents and correspondence. Plans were announced for the publication of some of Don Fausto's papers in a series of Spanish scientific classics, and the Elhuyar Prize of 1000 pesetas was awarded to Don Fernando GonzBlez Nhiez for his revision of the atomic weight of chr~miurn.~
* * * * * * The writer is deeply grateful to Professor E. Moles. Mr. Gdlvez-Caiiero, Dr. F. G. Coming, Seiior Pablo Martinez del Rio, and Dr. F. B. Dains for the use of the illustrations accompanying this article. It is also a pleasure to acknowledge the valuable help obtained from the literature on the histomof S~anish chemistrv which Dr. Moles and Mr. ~ a i i e r i s o kihdly contributld.
* Seiior Bermejo, president of the Spanish Society of Physics
and Chemistry, also mentioned that there is a statue of Fausto de Elhuyar at the Faculty of Sciences of Saragossa.
