GMELIN, LEOPOLD, a celebrated chemist, was b. at Gottingen, in Aug., 1788, and died at 'Heidelberg, in April, 1853. His father was professor of natural history and botany . at Tubingen, and afterwards of chemistry at Gottingen; and for at least four genera tions members of the Gmelin family have distinguished themselves in chemistry and natural history. After taking his degree in medicine, he spent several years at Tubingen, Vienna, and Naples, in the study of chemistry and mineralogy; and in the autumn of 1813, he began his public career as a teacher of chemistry at Heidelberg, where, twelve months afterwards, he was appointed extraordinary professor of chemis try. He discharged the duties of his office with unremitting zeal until 1848, when he had an attack of paralysis; and in 1850. in consequence of a second attack, he was obliged to resign his professoriahoffice. He published numerous contributions to chem istry and mineralogy in Schweigger's Journal, I'oggendorff's Annalen, Liebig's Annalen, and in Leonhard's Jahrbuch, between the years 1815 and 1844. In 1820 he undertook, in conjunction with Tiedemann, a series of experiments on digestion; and in 1826 these philosophers published their celebrated work on this subject, under the title of Die Ver dauung mach Versuchen. in two volumes. "But" (report of the council of .the chemical
society for 1854) "the greatest service which Gmelin rendered to science—a service in which he surpassed all his predecessors and all his contemporaries—consists in this: that he collected and arranged in order all the facts that have been discovered in con nection with chemistry. His Handbuch, der Cheinie stands alone. Other writers on chemistry have indeed arranged large quantities of materials in systematic order. but for completeness and fidelity of collation, and consecutiveness of arrangement, Gmelin's Handbook is unrivaled." The first edition of this great work appeared in 1817-19, and included, in two vols. of moderate size, the whole extent of chemical knowledge as it then existed. The fourth and last appeared between the years 1843 and 1855, and extended to six vols., the last volume being edited, after Gmelin's death, hy Schloss berger and List. An English translation of this edition (under the auspices of the Cav endish society), with important additions by Mr. Watts, the translator, was published in 1861.