I. Charles Gaspard De

I. Charles Gaspard De, a Swiss chemist, born in Geneva, March 14, 1770, died there, March 18, 1834. In 1794 he left Switzerland on account of the political disturbances, and went to Edinburgh, where he studied medicine and chemistry and became president of the royal medical society. He returned to Geneva in 1799, took charge of an insane asylum, and in 1802 was made honorary professor of pharmaceutical chemistry. He also became prominent in politics, and was a member of the representative council. He founded the museum of natural history, a botanic garden, and courses of public lectures. He was the first on the continent to make known the discoveries of Davy and other English physicists, and to construct a large galvanic battery. Many of his writings were published in the Biblio-theque Britannique and the Bibliotheque uni-verselle of Geneva.

II. Auguste De

II. Auguste De, son of the preceding, born in Geneva, Oct. 9, 1801, died in Marseilles, Nov. 27, 1873. He studied under his father, and became professor in the academy of Geneva, a correspondent of the French institute, a member of the London royal society, and editor of the Bibliotheque universelle. He vindicated by his experiments the electrochemical theory in respect to galvanic batteries. In 1842 he received the Montyon prize of 3,000 francs from the French academy of sciences for his inventions relating to galvano-plasty. In 1864 he was made one of the eight foreign associates of the French academy. His principal work is Traite d'electricite theorique appliquee (3 vols., Paris, 1854-'8).