BERTHOLLET, Count CLAUDE Louts, one of the most distinguished theoretical chelm= ists of his time, was b. at Tolloire, a village of Savoy, near Annecy, on the 9th Dec., 1748. Ile studied at the university of Turin, and obtained a medical degree there in 1768. lie afterwards went to Paris, where he was appointed physician to the duke of Orleans. He now applied himself with great assiduity to chemistry;, in 1781, 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 dyeing. In 1785, he announced his adherence to the antiphlogistie doctrines of Lavoisier, with the exception that lie did not admit oxygen to be the acidifying principle, and herein he has proved to he right. In the same year, he published a paper on dephlogisticated marine acid "—now called chlorine—pointing out its use for bleaching purposes; and following up the experiments of Priestley, he showed ammonia to be a compound of three volumes of hydrogen gas, and one volume of azotic gas. During the early part of the French revolution, B. traveled through the country, giving instruction as to the best means of extracting and purifying saltpeter to be used in the manufacture of gunpowder, and also as to the process of smelting and converting iron into steel. His joining the expedition of Napoleon to Egypt led to the formation of the
institute of Cairo. On his return from Egypt, he was made a senator by Bonaparte, who also conferred on him several marks of honor, and made him a count. Notwithstanding, lie voted for the deposition of Napoleon in 1814. On the restoration of the Bourbons, lie was made a peer; but all his honors never mode him other than a simple and •unas sinning gentleman. Besides the additions to chemical knowledge already mentioned, he, in conjunction with Lavoisier, and two other chemists, promulgated a new chemical nomenclature which has proved valuable to science. lie died at Paris, 7th Nov., 1822.
See IlnAzm NUTS.
13E13'1'1E, a co. in North Carolina, on Albemarle sound, between the Chowan and Roanoke rivers; 900 sq.m.; pop. '70, 12,950-7437 colored. Level and fertile, pro ducing, corn, sweet potatoes, cotton, etc. Co. seat, Windsor.