Page:Popular Science Monthly Volume 17.djvu/561

Rh gave Wöhler to make was that of a new zeolite. In reality he performed the work himself, in order to show his method and all the manipulations peculiar to himself. “Afterward,” says Wöhler, “he gave me a mineral called lievrite to analyze, which, as a test of my perseverance, I had to repeat till the results were uniform. If I had been hasty and the results did not agree, he would say, ‘Doctor, that was quickly but badly done.’” Besides mineral analyses Wöhler prepared selenium and lithium, and repeated his experiments on hydrocyanic acid, which Berzelius had highly commended in his “Jahresbericht,” and which he thought had contributed largely to establish the accuracy of the new chlorine theory. After the work in the laboratory ceased, Berzelius had promised Alexander Brongniart and his son Adolph, the botanist, to be their companion and guide on a geological journey through Sweden and Norway. Wöhler was invited to join this party, and gladly accepted the invitation. As the Brongniarts were not to arrive in Sweden before the middle of July, Wöhler improved the interval by making an extensive tour to a number of celebrated mines and quarries where he gathered a rich store of rare minerals to send to his German friends. He finally joined Berzelius at Skinskatteberg, the estate of Hisinger. The venerable and hospitable Hisinger, so well known for his contributions to the geology and mineralogy of Sweden, and also for the liberality with which he had supported Berzelius during the commencement of his studies, lived here, a very rich man, on a princely estate, surrounded by magnificent forests, gardens, and mines. The party spent a week here most delightfully, examining and testing minerals with the blowpipe and visiting mines. While they were waiting for the arrival of the Brongniarts, a traveler brought the news that Sir Humphry Davy was in Götheborg, and that he hoped to meet Berzelius before he left this part of the country. In the mean time the Brongniarts and Hans Christian Oersted arrived, but, being impatient, could not await the arrival of Davy, and continued their journey. Berzelius and Wöhler staid behind, and, in a few days, Davy's arrival was announced, and Berzeliusat once waited upon him at his hotel. “The meeting of these two men,” says Wöhler, “was very cordial”; and he adds, “Davy addressed some encouraging words to me when I was presented to him as a young chemist.” Davy returned to England, while the rest of the party continued their journey to Norway. While at Christiania they encountered the Crown-Prince Oscar, then Viceroy of Norway, and, not being able to escape in time, were detected by the Prince, who stopped the procession, and called Berzelius to his carriage and asked him to dinner. Here was a dilemma; but Berzelius contrived to procure the necessary court costume, and to answer the summons to the royal presence.

This journey to Norway was one of the bright periods in Wöhler's history, and he always recalls it with pleasure to his pupils whenever