Instruction aiul in 1S95-96 Minister of Foreign
Aii'airs.
M. Berthelot is one of the most brilliant ex- perimental ohciiiists of our time. One of the pio- neers of organic synthesis, he has contributed to our knowledge of' almost every class of carbon compounds, and the importance of his experi- mental researches on explosives and dyestutts cannot be overestimated. He also furnished an immense number of experimental data concern- ing the phenomena of heat, which accomiiany chemical transfonnations, and the science of ther- jnochemistry is largely based on his observations, although his theorelical interpretation ot those phenomena has be..n proved to be erroneous. Ac- cordino to Berthelot, the heat evolved during a chemical reaction measures the power that causes the reaction. It has, however, been proved both theoretically and experimentally, that while this principle holds good in many eases, it is hy no means a aeneral law, "a third principle of thermodynamics," as Berthelot still claims it to be. Berthelofs published works include: tliunie ormnique fomlce sur la sipithese (2 vols., ISbll) , Lci:ons sur les principes sucrcs (1802) ! f^ef"'"* .sur les melhodes generales de synthcse (1804) ; Lceons sur I'isomerie ( 1865) ; Traitc clementaire ,le chimie organique (1st ed. 1872; 2d ed., with .Junglleisch, 2 vols., 1881); S«r l" force dc la poudrc et les matieres explosives (18(1, i»'-, and 2 vols. 1883); Verification de Vareomrtre <leli(nnne (1873) ; La synthese chinuque (18io) ; Essai de mceaniqve chimique fondee sur la ther- mochimie (2 vols., 1879); Les onymes de Valchimie (1885); Collection des anciens ehimistes grecs (2 vols., 1887): La chimte au moyen age (3 vols., 1803); Traite pratique de caiorimetrie chimique { 1893) . He also published a large number of papers on various scientihc topics, in the Comptes rendus de I'Acadcmie des .Sciences and in the Annales de chimte el de physique. For his life, consult the Popular Sci- ence Monthly, May, 1885.
BERTHIER, bfir'tya', Alexandre (1753- 1815) Prince of Neiichatel and Wagrara and Marshal of the French Empire; born at Ver- sailles. He fought under Lafayette in the Ameri- can War of Independence. At the outljreak of the French Kevolution he was appointed major- general of the National Guard of Versailles, and rose to be a general of division and chief of staff in the Army of Italy, 1795; and three years later, in the absence of Bonaparte, pro- r-laimed the Repul)lic of Rome. He was Napo- leon's chief of slalV in the Egyptian campaign, and was Minister of War from 1799 to 1808. He was made Prince of Wagraiu for his part in the battle of that name. Berthier was Napoleons lu-oxy in the marriage of Maria Louisa, in Vienna, 1810. Until 1814 he was constantly at Napoleon's side, and was very valuable in super- intending the movements of armies because of his activity, system, and insight. Napoleon recog- nized iiis good qualities, but claimed that Ber- thier was incapable of leading the smallest army corps alone. When the tide turned against Na- poleon, Berthier's course was vacillating. After his surrender at Neuehatel he made his ])eaee with Louis XVIIL, who gave him high positions. He retired to Bavaria on Napoleon's return from Elba, became insane, and committed snicide, July 1, 1815. He wrote Relation des campagnes du 'general Bonaparte en Egypte et en Hyrie (1800), and Uclation dc la bataillc de Marengo (ISOfi). His Memoires were publi^^hed in Pans in 1827
BERTHOLD VON REGENSBURG, ber'- tolt fOn rfL'gcns-lwOrK (c.1220-72) . A German Franciscan preacher. He seems to have been born at Kegensbtirg, where he received his educa- tion under David of Augsburg, a well-known teacher in the Franciscan monastery there. After 1-^50 he preached as an itinerant in boutn Germany, Switzerland, Austria, Bohemia, and Moravia, and after several ears returned to Ratisbon. He is buried in the cathedral there. In his preaching he departed from the Latin homily and formed his style largely on the best French models of the day. His sermons were usually preached in the open, and ^vfre at- tended by great throngs of people The_ best edition of Berthold's sermons is that by Pteitter and Strobl (Vienna, 18f.2-80). There is also an edition in modern German by Gobel (Regensburg J 873: latest revise, 1884). For his life, consult Unkel (Cologne. 1882).
BERTHOLLETIA, ber'thol-le'shl-a. See Bra- zil Nit.
BERTHOLLET, bfir'ti'la', Count CLAfDE Louis (1748-1822). A distinguished French theoretical chemist. He was born at Talloire, a village of Savoy, near Annecy. He studied at the University of Turin, and obtained a medical degree there 'in 1708. He afterwards went to Paris, where he was appointed physician to the Duke of Orleans. He now applied himself with great assiduity to chemistry; in 1780 he was elected a member of the Academy of Sciences, and, some time after, the Government made him superintendent of dyeing processes. In this situation he published a very valuable work on dye-in'v. In 1785 he announced his adherence to the antiphlogistic doctrines of Lavoisier, though he did not admit oxygen to be the acidifying principle, and herein he has proved to be right. In the same year he published a paper on "dephlogisticated 'marine acid"— now called chlorine— pointing out its use for bleaching purposes; and fol- lowing up the experiments of Priestley, he showed ammonia to be a compound of three volumes of hydrogen gas and one volume of nitrogen. Durina the early part of the French Revolution Bei-thoUet traveled through the country, giving instruction as to the best means of extracting and purif>-ing saltpeter to be used in the manufacture of gunpowder, and also as to the process of smelting and converting iron into steel. In 1794 he became professor at the Eeole Normale. His joining the expedition of Napoleon to Egypt led to the formation of the Institute of ' Cairo. On his return from Eg-pt he was made a senator by Bonaparte, who also conferred on him several marks of honor, and made him a count. Notwithstanding, he voted for the deposition of Napoleon in 1814. On the restoration of the Bourbons, he was made a peer; but in spite of all these honors he remained simple, modest, and unassuming. In collaboration with Lavoisier and others, he devised the system of chemical nomenclature which is still, in its main features, employed. Berthollet was the first to introduce the idea of equilibrium into chemical philosophy. Since the time of Bergman, it had been believed that the only factor determining the course of a reaction is the
