Scheele t e lovits 5. Electronic library "scientific heritage of Russia". Crystallization of salts from solutions

Johann Tobias (Tovy Egorovich) Lovitz (German Johann Tobias Lowitz; April 25, 1757 - December 7, 1804) - an outstanding Russian chemist, academician of the St. Petersburg Academy of Sciences (from 1793).

Biography

Lovitz's father Georg-Moritz Lovitz, a German by birth and an astronomer by profession, was the leader of the expedition of the Petersburg Academy of Sciences to study the passage of Venus through the solar disk. During a trip to the Caspian Sea, the expedition came across a disorderly retreat of Pugachev's troops, who were making short work of officials and everyone who seemed rich to the rebels. Lovitz could not escape the danger; his whole family (young daughter, son and wife), other members of the expedition, as well as expensive measuring instruments were with him. Lovitz hoped to find protection in the German colony, but one of the colonists betrayed him. Pugachev demanded to bring both father and son Lovitsev to him.

On the way, the escort Cossack took pity on the boy and pushed him out of the wagon. The shock experienced was so strong that it caused epilepsy in Lovitz Jr. Seizures of this disease tormented Tobiya Lovitz almost all his life.
The stepmother did not accept Tobias, who had escaped from execution, into her family. She even refused to raise her own daughter, believing that the Petersburg Academy of Sciences, which sent her husband on a dangerous expedition, should take care of the orphaned children.

Tobiya Lovitz and his little sister Sophia were taken in by the family of the famous mathematician, academician of the St. Petersburg Academy of Sciences Leonard Euler (1707-1783). Lovitz, not ending the gymnasium, from 1777 began working first as a student and then as a pharmacist in the Main St. Petersburg Pharmacy, preparing and refining a variety of pharmaceuticals.

A family

Lovitz's personal life was not easy. In 1784 he married the daughter of the merchant Kunkel. In this marriage, six children were born, five of them Lovitz buried one after another in early childhood. His wife died soon after. The only son survived. For the second time Lovitz married the elder sister of his late wife, who loved her nephew very much. Four years later, Lovits's second wife also died, giving birth to three daughters, two of whom survived. The new loss shocked the already middle-aged Lovitz so much that severe attacks of epilepsy returned to him. In addition, while working, he once cut the tendons of his left arm with a shard of glass, the hand ceased to function and “dried up”. In 1802 Lovitz tied himself in marriage for the third time. He even wanted to take a balloon flight in honor of this event, but due to a severe attack of bleeding from his throat, he could not carry out his plan.

T. Lovitz died in 1804 from apoplexy at the age of 47.

The inscription is engraved on the monument to him: "It is not enough for yourself, for all of us - a lot."

Laboratory in the kitchen

Lovitz discovered the phenomenon of adsorption, developed methods of sorption and crystallization purification of substances, discovered chromium in Russian chromium ores, proposed a "seed" method for obtaining well-faceted crystals, discovered the property of polybasic acids to give two series of salts - acidic and medium, for example NaHC03 and Na2C03. Many of Lovitz's ideas were rediscovered by French and German chemists.

In 1787, at the suggestion of the President of the St. Petersburg Academy of Sciences, E.R. Dashkova, Lovitz was elected a correspondent of the Academy, and in 1793 became its permanent member and received an academic apartment. Lovitz set up a home laboratory in the kitchen of his apartment, where he conducted experiments until the end of his days - since the chemical laboratory of the academy, created by M.V. Lomonosov, by that time practically no longer existed.

Ice vinegar Lovitsa

In 1793 Lovitz obtained the world's first crystals of acetic acid CHjCOOH, which he called "glacial vinegar" or "glacial acetic acid". He described the smell and taste of these crystals as follows: “The smell of molten ice vinegar is pungent, unbearable for the nose. The taste is very sour. One drop of this vinegar on the tongue causes pain felt for twenty hours ... ".

At the time of Lovitz and Lomonosov, chemists, in addition to composition and description appearance substances established its smell and taste.

It is not surprising that burns of the mucous membranes of the nose and mouth, poisoning and other injuries constantly accompanied the work of chemists and made it very dangerous. In 1800, Lovitz accidentally spilled concentrated acetic acid on the table.

Collecting it with filter paper, Lovitz squeezed it over the glass with his fingers. He soon noticed that his fingers lost sensitivity, were white and swollen. After a few days, the skin on the fingers began to burst and fall off in large and thick chunks.

The resulting injury prompted Lovitz to use concentrated acetic acid to remove corns. Now I would say that Lovitz did not follow basic safety precautions when conducting experiments, and not only in the case of acetic acid. For example, to obtain low temperatures, he mixed sodium hydroxide NaOH with snow with his bare hands (!), As a result of which the fingers were struck with abscesses, lost nails and were partially frostbitten: the temperature of the mixture of NaOH and snow reached -50 ° C. After each such experiment Lovitz could not work for several months.

Lovits Toviy Yegorovich (Johann Tobias, Johann Tobias Lowitz) is one of the most prominent academician-chemists of the Petersburg Academy of Sciences of the post-Lomonosov period.
As a chemist, he is renowned for his in-depth research in the analytical, physical, organic, pharmaceutical and technical chemistry second half of the 18th century. His activity took place at the first stage of the "chemical-analytical period in the development of chemistry." The beginning of this period is taken to be the middle of the 18th century, conventionally dating the discovery of nickel by the Swedish mineralogist A.F. Kronstedt in 1751.
Chemists played a significant role in the analysis of materials collected during expeditions organized in the 18th century. throughout the large territory of Russia: Siberia, the Urals, Kamchatka, etc. These materials included not only mineralogical exhibits, but botanical and zoological exhibits. Chemical analysis was the main content of scientific research in the second half of the 18th century.
The wide development of chemical analytical methods contributed to the development of chemistry as a science and further progress in the field of natural science in general. At this time, many new elements were discovered, many chemical compounds of various structures were identified.
THOSE. Lovitz made his significant contribution to the development of this area of \u200b\u200bchemistry. In addition, he developed new methods of analysis and made improvements to those already known. This period in the development of chemistry can also be characterized as the time of accumulation of a large amount of empirical material.
From the point of view of theoretical concepts, the second half of the XVIII century. characterized by the transition from old phlogistic ideas to materialistic ideas about the nature of things.
THOSE. Lovitz gradually abandoned the phlogiston theory, considering it at an intermediate stage as a materialistic substance with negative weight.
The debunking of the phlogiston theory, which came from the West, was facilitated by the works of M.V. Lomonosov on the law of conservation of matter, the kinetic theory of heat and other directions.
THOSE. Lovitz is one of the brightest representatives of a large galaxy of European scientists who prepared the development of atomic-molecular science in the 19th century.
Tovy Egorovich Lovitz (Johann Tobias Lovitz) was born on April 25, 1757 in Göttingen, Germany. His father, Georg-Moritz Lovitz (1722-1774), who was born in Fürth near Nuremberg, was a map painter in his youth, and also engaged in the manufacture of astronomical instruments and instruments, then became interested in the creation of globes. He became famous for predicting the exact date of a solar eclipse (July 25, 1748), after which he was invited to the post of professor of mathematics and physics at the Nuremberg gymnasium, receiving the observatory in charge. This was followed by an invitation to the University of Göttingen for the Department of Mathematics and Astronomy.
With the birth of Tobias John's son, G.M. Lovitz found himself in a difficult financial situation, the mother of the child died; he was looking for vacancies. On the recommendation of the famous mathematician Leonard Euler, who lived in Russia, with whom the astronomer G.M. Lovitz, in 1767 he was invited to the St. Petersburg Academy. The following year, he and his son moved to Russia.
At this time, scientific and expeditionary activity revived in St. Petersburg. In particular, an expedition is being prepared to observe the passage of Venus through the solar disk.
Davyd Egorovich, as Georg Moritz began to be called in Russia, takes with him his 11-year-old son Tobias, who is later called Tobias, on an expedition in the hope that a long journey across the endless expanses of Russia will benefit the weak and painful boy from birth, especially in Petersburg there was no one to leave him to.
The St. Petersburg Academy of Sciences has developed a plan for the proposed long-term expedition. Seven points were designated for observation, three in the Far North, three in the European East and one in Siberia. The general management of this expedition was entrusted to S.Ya. Rumovsky (1734-1812), who headed the geographical department of the Academy of Sciences.
Equipment for the expedition was purchased abroad, but some of the instruments were manufactured and repaired in the workshops of the Academy of Sciences under the leadership of N.P. Kulibin. (1735-1818).
In addition to the main task of observing the path of Venus's passage through the solar disk, it was ordered to draw up a plan of the area between the Volga and Don in order to clarify the possibility of building the Volga-Don Canal, conceived by Peter I.
The expedition lasted for about 5 years. In August 1774, the head of the expeditions D.E. Lovitz. was captured by one of the detachments of Pugachev, who was retreating under the pressure of the tsarist troops along the Volga, and executed. Young Tobias, together with other surviving members of the expedition, were brought to St. Petersburg.
Despite the fact that the boy was deprived of the "happiness of health" during the expedition, thanks to five years of closeness with his father, he adopted his diligence, vitality and mastery of many crafts.
Left an orphan, the 17-year-old boy, not without the help of his father's comrades, was assigned to the Academic Gymnasium at public expense. Foreign languages \u200b\u200bwere taught at the gymnasium, including Latin, French, Russian, German; as well as arithmetic, geometry, trigonometry, mechanics, optics, physics, geography, drawing and some others. T.E. Lovitz showed a particular interest in mathematics, excelled in German. Poor knowledge of Russian before entering the gymnasium, after two years of study, he did not achieve much success.
The gymnasium of that time was distinguished by its harshness and roughness of morals. Lovitz studied there for about two years. He developed a disease called "melancholy", which was accompanied by seizures of the epileptic type. On the advice of doctors, in 1777, he resigned from the gymnasium as a student and entered the St. Petersburg Main Pharmacy as a pharmacist's apprentice, at which, like in many other pharmacies of that time, a chemical laboratory worked.
The pharmacy was headed by a prominent pharmacist and chemist of that time I.G. Model (1711-1775). At one time M.V. Lomonosov (1711-1765) used the chemicals and utensils of this pharmacy. Traditionally, the specialists of the Main Pharmacy of St. Petersburg maintained close ties with the chemists of the Academy of Sciences. On the recommendation of the Model, the German pharmacist I.G. Georgi, who later worked closely with T.E. A catcher.
Passion for mathematics was replaced by hobby for chemistry, T.E. Lovitz read a lot and was engaged in "chemical experiments". His successes allowed him in 1779 to become a "pharmacist gesel" (ie, assistant or companion of the pharmacist).
Nevertheless, the living conditions of the young man without family and relatives contributed to the development of the disease. Having lost hope of recovery, in 1780 he went to Göttingen to visit his uncle, officially formalizing the trip as a business trip "to acquire knowledge."
While living in his homeland, Lovitz began to practice long walks, which had a beneficial effect on his health.
In this regard, in 1782, he undertook a long walking tour of 200 miles in Germany and Switzerland.
Before returning to Russia to work as a pharmacist, he embarks on a seven-month journey through European countries for final recovery.
At the beginning of 1784, he again came to St. Petersburg and got a job at the same Main Pharmacy, finally turning to chemistry.
Having neither a university diploma, nor a diploma for the title of a doctor or pharmacist, only passing 2 courses of lectures in Göttingen, essentially being a self-taught chemist, gifted with natural observation, he carries out many chemical experiments with particular care, becoming at the same time the discoverer of many chemical phenomena, being at the same time an excellent chemist - analyst.
In 1775 T.E. Lovitz accidentally, while performing a purely pharmaceutical preparative task, namely the purification of tartaric acid, made the first scientific discovery, using coal as a purification agent. Subsequently, he used coal to refine bread wine, honey, saltpeter, pharmaceuticals and organic compounds... Lovitz's discovery is one of the outstanding scientific achievements of the late 18th century. Before T.E. Lovitsa carried out separate experiments on the adsorption of gases on coal [J. Priestley (1733-1804) and Guiton de Morveaux (1737-1816)], which ceased for decades. We can say that T.E. Lovitz opened the first page in the theory of adsorption in the liquid phase.
These works were of great practical application. Working on the purification of potash nitrate, which was the most important component of the only explosive at that time - black powder, he improved the method of purification with "coals" by adding small amounts of alum, which has a stabilizing effect on coal suspensions. Using the preliminary purification of mother liquors from organic impurities using coal, Lovitz prepared pure crystalline preparations of citric, succinic and benzoic acids. To prepare glacial acetic acid, he used both a combined method using coal as an adsorbent and chemical methods of purification and isolation of a crystalline product (1789).
In the process of working on the purification of various substances, he discovered the difference in crystallization during the evaporation of solutions and their cooling, introducing the concepts of forced and spontaneous crystallization, respectively. He found that crystallization by cooling forms crystalline hydrates of the compounds. Thus, sodium chloride dihydrate (NaCl.2H2O) and alkali hydrates (KOH.2H2O) were isolated. He, on the instructions of the Free Economic Society (VEO) (1765), used coal to purify rotten and spoiled water.
He is also credited with introducing the concepts of supersaturation and supercooling of solutions. Along the way, he found recipes for obtaining cooling mixtures that allow obtaining temperatures (-50 C). At the same time, Lovitz established the effect of the aggregate state of substances on the thermochemistry of the transition from one state to another.
Lovitz also discovered the effect of nuclei in the initiation of the crystallization process. Carrying out experiments on crystallization, he was able to grow "beautiful crystals" of "extraordinary size" of some substances not yet isolated in crystalline form. The embryonic crystallization method was also the basis for the separation of mixtures of salts. He found that salts are easily separated if they differ significantly in solubility. If the solution contains compounds that are similar in solubility and in the form of crystals formed during cooling, "difficulties for their determination" are created. Lovitz's remark about the uniformity of crystals of different salts underlies the doctrine of isomorphism of crystals, which is not associated with the name Lovitz, but is attributed to E. Mitgerlich (1794–1883).
Studying the crystallographic forms of many substances, he tried to find the relationship between the crystal structure and chemical composition. He considered the crystallographic form of a substance to be an important "analytical feature". He studied the crystallographic forms of hundreds of different salts and compounds. He crystallized these salts himself and sculpted their crystal models from black wax. In 1797, a note was published in the academic news about the donation of this collection to the Academy. Lovitz made two more collections of crystal models, donating them to Moscow University. Traces of this collection are lost.
But the difficulties of growing the right crystals led to the search for another way to identify salts. He resorted to the method of preparing "salt deposits" on glass plates, while discovering that these deposits are more uniform and permanent, and crystals of the same shape give different deposits. The advantage was also the ability to work with small quantities of a substance, regardless of their dissolution properties. THOSE. Lovitz proposed several ways to obtain "salt deposits", which testifies to the meticulousness of his work.
To aid subsequent research, Lovitz himself makes drawings of these plaques.
In 1798, at a meeting of an academic conference, Lovitz demonstrated his first 85 preparations, as well as tables depicting salt deposits under a microscope. This work was published in Russian in 1804.
The microcrystalloscopic analysis used for preliminary analysis so far is undoubtedly obliged to the works of T.E. Catcher. THOSE. Lovitz, working on the isolation of glacial acetic acid, made a certain contribution to the development of titrimetry, using solutions of a certain concentration (1791)
Lovitz paid great attention to working with minerals (he collected a collection of minerals). So, working with "heavy spar" containing barium, in 1792 he isolated a new element strontium, independently of the Scottish study of Crawford, who worked with the mineral strontianite (1790).
Almost simultaneously with the French chemist L. Vauquelin (1797), he isolated chromium compounds from the mineral crocoite (1798).
Lovitz was distinguished by great modesty and exactingness towards himself, he was in no hurry to publish his results, and therefore is not considered the discoverer of these elements.
While analyzing the Ural ore, which is similar to titanium, he discovered the amphoteric properties of titanium. At the same time, he was the first to prove the existence of titanium ores in Russia.
T.E. Lovitsa discovery of beryllium (1797). Already in 1779, he informed the Academic Meeting of the presence of a new element in Siberian ore.
In addition to the above analyzes, analyzes were made of known rocks, clays, pyrites, ocher, natural alum and soda, graphite, zeolites, precious minerals, as well as fossil fuels, coal, peat, organic substances, etc.
The reports on these analyzes, ordered by the VEO, the Medical College, the Academy of Sciences, were detailed in nature, as a rule, contained recommendations for their use in practice.
At the same time, Lovitz proposed methods for processing minerals and important reactions for their detection. He also developed a "wet" method for treating poorly soluble natural compounds, which consisted of dissolving them in alkali, applied to natural silica. Subsequently, this method became widespread in chemistry.
Lovitz's merit is also the introduction of the concept of acidic and medium salts. He carried out, in particular, a specific separation of potassium carbonate from bicarbonate and obtaining bicarbonate in pure form.
At the end of the 18th century. organic chemistry was in its infancy. Therefore, Lovitz's work in this area is an outstanding phenomenon.
Working as a pharmacist with many solvents, he was the first to isolate and obtain pure glacial acetic acid, anhydrous ethyl (sulfuric) ether and ethyl alcohol. An article in Latin on the preparation of anhydrous ethyl alcohol attracted the attention of D.I. Mendeleev. This work was noted in his doctoral dissertation.
THOSE. Lovitz, along with other scientists of the time, was involved in obtaining sugar from "natural homemade products." So, using coal as a purification agent, he managed to obtain crystalline sugar from honey water. He shows the difference between honey and cane sugar.
He repeatedly reported to the Academic Assembly on research into the production of sugar and the search for the cheapest method of its production from domestic plant raw materials, in particular carrots and sugar beets.
Having no desire to quickly publish his work, Lovitz often found himself in the shadow of other researchers. However, in 1785 he first got the opportunity to publicly present the results of his work. THOSE. Lovitz presented a report to the Medical College (reorganized in 1784 from the Medical Chancellery, established by Peter I in 1763), and then to the VEO. A number of reports were also presented to the Academy of Sciences, with which he kept in touch.
At that time, non-members of the Academy of Sciences and VEO experienced difficulties with the publication of their works in the publications of these institutions. Therefore, in 1786 Lovitz used the authoritative journal "Chemical Annals of Krell" for the publication of the first two articles on the proposal of Academician Georgi II. Articles were devoted to the purification of tartaric acid.
At the suggestion of E.R. Dashkova (Director of the Academy of Sciences) Lovits T.E. (October 4, 1787) was elected a correspondent of the Academy of Sciences, which gave him the opportunity to publish in academic publications, but did not give him the right to be listed in academic institutions. Nevertheless, he was awarded an incentive pension of 100 rubles. in year.
NA endorsement of Lovitz's discoveries helped propel him forward. In July 1787 he was appointed pharmacist of the Main Pharmacy, and in October of the same year - a pharmacist. In 1786 he was also accepted as a member of the VEO, in 1789 he figured as a member of the presidium of this society.
Since joining the VEO, Lovitz has become an active member, carrying out many analyzes and tests of products sent from all over the country.
Already the first successes of T.E. Lovitsa made his name widely known. This is not to say that Lovitz's work was met with unanimous approval. Several "refutations" have appeared abroad, calling into question his priority in the discovery of the phenomenon of adsorption.
However, the accumulation of data supporting the discovery led, in the end, to a unanimous favorable assessment of the results of his research. Although many inventors, especially abroad, through minor changes in Lovitz's methods tried to gain fame.
In Russian society, the attitude towards Lovitz's works during his lifetime was exceptionally good. VEO often awarded him medals for individual works.
Academy of Sciences in October 1790 appointed him an adjunct and doubled his pension.
In May 1793 Lovitz was elected an ordinary academician and professor of chemistry, despite the fact that the place of professor of chemistry at the Academy of Sciences was occupied by I.I. Georgi. At the same time, academicians - chemists N.P. Sokolov and E.G. Laxman.
In September 1793 Lovitz was appointed an honorary member of the Medical College. With many of the Russian scientists he was in friendly communication and correspondence, in particular with one of the prominent chemists of that era A.A. Musin-Pushkin, with V.M. Severgin (Adjunct of Mineralogy), etc.
When elected an academician, Lovitz was allowed to continue working in the laboratory of the Main Pharmacy, since the Academy of Sciences did not have a chemical laboratory suitable for serious experimental research.
The expansion of the front of experimental work forced Lovitz to leave the laboratory of the Main Pharmacy (due to the tightness) and start working as a "laboratory assistant" in the laboratory at the Main Reserve Store of Pharmaceutical Materials in the Apothecary Garden. Finally, in 1797, the Academy of Sciences proposed to take over the head of the academic laboratory. Nevertheless, he was unable to work in this laboratory due to its complete inability to research crystallization.
All works recent years life he performed in a home laboratory, where there was an extensive mineralogical museum.
Scientific activity of T.E. The catch lasted for about 17 years. Already in 1802 he fell ill again. The causes of the disease were not only tireless activity in conditions far from ideal for health, but also an uncomfortable personal life.
There were relapses of the illness of his youth.
At that time, there was no ventilation in laboratories, often chemists resorted to "organoleptic" methods of analysis. I had to work with highly active substances, chlorine, cyanide compounds, caustic alkalis, which led to poisoning, caused difficult healing chemical burns.
In addition, in 1800, after being wounded by a glass that had fallen from a cabinet, when the tendons of the left arm were cut, the hand ceased to function.
But Lovitz was also interested in broader scientific issues. In 1802, he decided to conduct a balloon flight to study the composition and properties of the atmosphere in its upper layers. One of the goals of the trip was: "maybe a law will be discovered that determines the height of the atmosphere with greater accuracy." But his health condition did not allow him to carry out his plans. The Academy of Sciences instructed Academician Ya.D. Zakharov.
He was also interested in the composition of meteorites. The archival materials contained the results of analyzes of the Kharkov and Doroshensky meteorites, in which T.E. Lovitz discovered chromium.
At the end of his life, Lovitz was actually introduced to himself. Immersed in "melancholy", he tries unsuccessfully to distract himself with scientific pursuits. On the night of November 26-27, 1804, Lovitz died of apoplectic stroke. Only three days later, the executor Ilyinsky reported his death to the Board of the Academy of Sciences.
The death of Toviy Yegorovich Lovitz was a great loss for the Academy of Sciences, although official circles did not show due attention to his works. A short obituary about Lovitz appeared only in 1809. The compilers of the obituary and all his contemporaries were amazed by his work life full of personal misfortunes. Scientific works are discussed only in general terms.
Material traces of Lovitz's activity are 6 glazed boxes with models of crystals sculpted by T.E. A catcher of black wax and stored in the Mineralogical Museum of the Academy of Sciences.
The monument at the grave of Lovits, who was buried in St. Petersburg at the old Volkov Lutheran cemetery, has now been destroyed.
On it, after listing all the titles of T.E. The inscription was carved in Lovitsa: "It is not enough for yourself, for all of us - a lot." The inscription is laconic and modest, like Lovitz himself.
A.I. Scherer (1771–1824), a Methodist chemist of that time, as can be seen from a letter in 1806, was going to write a biography of Lovitz, for this purpose he took from the Archive materials left over from T.E. The catch, which was later lost.
The work on the biography took a long time. Not a single volume of Lovitz's writings has been published. Only 15 years after Lovitz's death, Scherer delivered a speech in his memory at a conference of the Pharmaceutical Society. This speech was published in 1820 in German and contained brief biographical information with an almost complete lack of scientific characterization of his work.
After 1820 the name Lovitz was mentioned only sporadically. In 1909, P. Walden (1863–1957), professor of chemistry, since 1910 a full member of the Academy of Sciences, who paid attention to the history of chemistry, published an article "Tovy Lovitz - a forgotten physicochemist".

List of used sources about T.E. Lovitsa

1. N.A. Figurovsky, N.N. Ushakov. Tovy Egorovich Lovitz (1757-1804) Moscow, "Science", 1988.
2. A. N. Shamin, editorial in the book (see item 1) p. 5-11.
3. N.A. Figurovsky. Life and scientific activity of T.E. Catcher. In T.E. Lovitz "Selected Works on Chemistry and Chemical Technology" (Publishing House of the Academy of Sciences of the USSR. Moscow, 1955 pp. 403-514.
4. Great encyclopedia. Moscow, "Terra", 2006.
5. Dictionary of Scientific Biography. Copyright 1973 American Council of Learned Societies. Prinston University v. V111, p. 519. Charles Sciribner's sons. New York.
6.V.A. Volkov, E.V. Vonsky, T.I. Kuznetsova. Outstanding chemists of the world. Biographical reference ed. Kuznetsova V.I., M., "Higher school", 1991, p. 271.
7. Great Chemists, ed. Eduard Farber. New York, London, 1961.
8.G.G. Lemmlein, E.V. Tsekhnovitser "On the history of the emergence of microchemical analysis." // Archive of the history of science and technology. L., ANSSSR, IV, 1934, pp. 365–369.
9.A. Ladenburg. Lectures on the history of the development of chemistry from Lavoisier to our time with the addition of an essay on the history of chemistry in Russia by Acad. P.I. Walden. // Matezis Publishing House, Odessa, 1917, pp. 390–394, 385, 387, 389, 396, 400, 405, 407, 411, 437, 464, 465, 481, 595, 600, 625, 640 ...
10. Dr. Wilh. Ost wald. Lehrbuch der Allgemeinen Chemie in zwei Banden // Bd. II, 2, Verwandtschaftslehre. // Leipzig, 1896-1902, s. 382, 705, 710.
11. H. Kopp. Geschichte der Chemie. Braunsehweig, v. IV, 1847, s. 11, 47, 204, 277, 278, 304, 334, 405.
12.S.A. Balezin, S.D. Beskov. Outstanding Russian scientists and chemists. // Uchpedgiz. 1953, pp. 46–51.
13. Sabadwari F., Robinson A. History of analytical chemistry. // M., Mir, 1984, p. 301.
14. Lukyanov P.M. History of chemical industries in Russia. // M., Ed. ANSSSR, 1949, vol. II, 480, 495, 548, 611, 614.
15. Handwritten materials of chemists of the second half of the 18th century. in the archives of the ANSSSR. // M., L., Ed. ANSSSR, 1957, pp. 38–8, 164–179.

T.E. The catchers available in the fund of the Central Library System of the BEN RAS

1. T.E. Lovitz "Selected Works on Chemistry and Chemical Technology" (editorial board, articles and notes by NA Figurovsky). // M., Ed. ANSSSR, 1955. In translation, pp. 15–400.
2. Lowitz T. Inventa nova de vi dephlogisticante carbonum ejusque insigni usu in variis operationibus chemicis. // Nova Acta Academiae Scientiarum Imperialis Petropolitanae, 1787. t. 5, Hist. 41-43.
3. Lowitz T. Methodus Facillima, Crematum Frumenti sine Rectificatione ab ingrato suo odore et sapore Liberandi. // Nova Acta Sci., 1787, t. 5., p. 54-58.
4. Lowitz T. Sur la depuration de l'Eau corrompue. // Annales de Chimie. 1793, t. 18, p. 88-98.
5. Lowitz T. Inflammation spontanee d une composition metallique. // Nova Acta Sci. 1794 (1801) t. X11, p. 39.
6.Kraft, Lowitz T., Matieresde dissoudre ou a delayer avec l eau pour eteindre
Promptement les incendies. // NovaActa Sci., 1794, t. X11, p. 46-47.
7. Lowitz T. Exposito novorum experimentorum circa frigus artificiale. // Nova Acta Sci., 1794. t. X11, p. 80.
8. Lowitz T. Hyacinthorum Sibericorum, a Celebr. Laxmano detectorum. Analysis chemical. // Nova Acta Sci., 1794, t. X11, p. 82-83.
9. Lowitz T. Silicis Topazii Sibirici examen chemicum. // Nova Acta Sci., 1795, t. X111, p. 89.
10. Lowitz T. Communiques al Academiae; + Su rune terre inconnue dans le Spath pesant “and” Sur la depuration de l ether sulfurique. ”// Nova Acta Sci., 1795. t. X111 S. 29.30.
11. Lowitz T. Methodus nova potassinum carbonicum plene saturatum obtiendi, adjectis novis observationibus potassini acido carbonico imperfecte satiati naturam spectantibus. // Nova Acta Sci., 1797, t. X111, p. 257-274.
12. Lowitz T. Extraits des Registeres de l Academie: ”Sur la Cogelation artificialle duMercure. // Nova Acta Sci., 1793, t. X1, p. 1 5-16.
13. Lowitz T. Analyze chymique de deux nouvelles especes de pierres. // Nova Acta Sci., 1793, t. X1, p. 19-21.

As happened more than once with the works of Russian scientists, the works of Lovitz were stubbornly hushed up by Western European scientists for many decades, and a number of discoveries made by him were attributed to others without sufficient reason. Correcting historical injustice, we can now with good reason call Lovitz one of the founders of physical chemistry.

The chemist's father, Georg Moritz Lovitz, moved with his son, born in 1757, to St. Petersburg, where he was invited as a professor of astronomy and a member of the Russian Academy of Sciences. In Petersburg, young Lovitz graduated from the gymnasium at the Academy of Sciences.

In 1769 he took part in an astronomical expedition to the Caspian Sea led by his father. In 1774, during the trip, members of the expedition were captured by one of Pugachev's detachments. Lovitz's father, probably mistaken for a government officer, was hanged. The rest of the expedition members, including the young Lovits, escaped and returned to Petersburg in 1775.

In 1776, Lovitz went to work at the court "Main Imperial Pharmacy", from where, having acquired an interest in chemistry, in 1780 he went to complete his education at the University of Göttingen. After graduating in 1783, he returned to Russia the following year, where he again entered the court pharmacy, first as an assistant, and then as a pharmacist.

IN the laboratory of this pharmacy, Lovitz made his first discovery a year later, which gave him an honorable place in the history of chemical science. In June 1785, he discovered the adsorption of solutes by charcoal.

The impetus for this discovery was the need to find a way to purify tartaric acid, which Lovitz received in large quantities in a pharmacy for medical purposes. Darkening was almost always observed during evaporation of acid solutions, even if evaporation was carried out with all precautions, over low heat. "This darkening is especially unpleasant for me," Lovitz wrote, "and I want nothing so much as to find a way to avoid this unpleasant phenomenon, which is a consequence of the easy destruction of this acid." And Lovitz found such a remedy. Having made the appropriate experience, he discovered the adsorption of solutes by charcoal.

Being a real scientist, he did not calm down, discovering a single fact, but now he tried to generalize his discovery and made numerous experiments, studying in detail various cases of using coal as an adsorbing agent. First of all, Lovitz studied the effect of coal powder on various contaminated liquids and came to the conclusion that coal cleans all kinds of dirty ("brown") salt solutions, clarifies the color of honey, syrup and other juices, and discolors solutions of dyes.

Lovitz went on to study the effects of coal on various odorous substances. It turned out that coal deprives simple vodka of the smell and taste of fusel oil, purifies stagnant ("rotten"), foul-smelling water, making it suitable for drinking. Lovitz tried charcoal powder on garlic and even bedbugs, finding that charcoal made them odorless.

He also discovered the antiseptic effect of coal. Charcoal protects meat from rotting, can be used against "tooth flesh", and if you rub your teeth and then rinse them, then the bad breath is destroyed. Coal has an antiseptic effect when taken orally.

Soon Lovitz's discovery was put to practical use. In 1794, he reported on the use of coal powder in Russian navy for cleaning spoiled water during sea trips. This method was described by him back in 1790 in his work "Indication of a new way to make water fit for drinking during sea voyages." In addition, at Russian vodka factories, the method of purification of raw wine alcohol, developed by Lovitz, was applied.

Lovitz's discovery made a big impression on the scientific community. Many prominent foreign scientists repeated his experiments and tried to explain the adsorbing effect of coal. The discovery of the scientist is of colossal significance in our time. Coal, appropriately treated (activated), finds wide industrial and defense applications, and the theory of adsorption is a large and important chapter of modern physical chemistry.

Lovits's scientific and practical activities did not go unnoticed. In 1786 he was elected a member of the Free Economic Society, and in 1788 - a corresponding member of the Academy of Sciences, two years later - an adjunct of chemistry at the Academy of Sciences and, finally, in 1793 he received the title of ordinary academician.

H Several years after the discovery of adsorption, Lovitz became a pioneer in the study of crystallization phenomena. While developing a method for obtaining pure concentrated acetic acid, studying its properties, in 1788 he discovered anhydrous crystalline acetic acid, calling it "glacial acetic acid" (this name has survived to this day). Studying in detail the conditions of crystallization of "ice vinegar", Lovitz discovered such phenomena as supersaturation and supercooling of solutions, grafting and growing crystals, etc.

At the same time, he expressed the idea of \u200b\u200busing multiple crystallization to completely purify substances from impurities. Currently, this method is widely used in scientific and industrial practice.

It should be noted that Lovitz's remarkable discoveries in the field of crystallization processes, which are still the subject of careful study, which he outlined as early as 1794 in his article "Notes on the crystallization of salts and a report on a reliable means of obtaining the correct crystals", were subsequently attributed to various foreign scientists ... Thus, the method of grafting crystals was attributed to N. Leblanc (1802), the discovery of supersaturated solutions - to J.L. Gay-Lussac (1813), the development of a method of slow crystallization - to N. Clement and C. B. Dezorm (1814), etc.

Having received crystals of caustic potassium in 1792, Lovitz noticed that their mixing with snow "causes a very sensitive cold." He investigated this phenomenon and discovered artificial mixtures, which are now widely used in laboratory and factory work. He also proposed the first recipes for cooling mixtures, which have mostly survived to this day. So, he found that a mixture of 3 parts of snow and 4 parts of crystalline calcium chloride lowers the temperature to -50 ° C, and in 1878 - 80 years after the discovery of Lovitz - it was determined that a mixture of 2.8 parts of snow and 4 parts of the same salt lowers the temperature to -54.9 ° C (almost complete coincidence).

However, these discoveries, which at one time attracted great attention of Western European scientists, were later attributed to others, and the name of Lovitz was not mentioned in German textbooks on chemistry and physics already in 1852.

A Nalytic chemistry, the foundations of which were developed during the time of Lovitz, also owes him several discoveries. In 1795, the scientist found ways of separating barium from strontium and calcium, dissolving natural silicates (developed by him in the study of Russian minerals and natural products) and some others.

In 1798, while studying the crystallization of salt solutions, Lovitz used a microscope and came to the conclusion that microscopic examination of the shape of crystals can be used for rapid analysis of salts. Thus, he initiated a very valuable microchemical analysis, which became widespread only 100 years after Lovitz.

In addition to the extensive research mentioned above, he made a number of other discoveries. For example, the property of polybasic acids discovered by him in 1789 to give two series of salts (acidic and medium) just four years after his death was used by W.H. Wollaston to experimentally confirm the atomic theory. Further, chloroacetic acids, first obtained in 1793 by Lovitz by the action of chlorine on acetic acid, were later rediscovered by the French J.B.A. Dumas (1830) and N. Leblanc (1844) and subsequently played a large role in the development of the theory of organic chemistry. Finally, even ways to artificially obtain a sugar substance were outlined by Lovitz about 100 years before the practical implementation of this synthesis.

No matter what this brilliant experimenter and subtle observer undertook, he knew how to find the most interesting everywhere and was always able to properly evaluate and study the phenomenon he discovered.

Tovy Egorovich Lovits died in 1804 in St. Petersburg. His name will forever remain in the history of chemical science.

D. N. Trifonov

Tovy Egorovich Lovits

In 1768 the German astronomer Georg Lovitz was invited to St. Petersburg by the Academy of Sciences. Lovits was appointed the head of the Astrakhan astronomical expedition for research in the southeast of European Russia. The expedition was designed for several years.

Lovitz's only son, Tobias, was not healthy, and his father took him with him, hoping that the trip would benefit the boy. In June 1774, on the way to St. Petersburg, a tragic event occurred: the expedition encountered the defeated retreating detachments of Emelyan Pugachev ... wrote in the History of Pugachev: “Pugachev fled along the Volga. Then he met the astronomer Lovitz and asked what kind of man. Hearing that Lovitz was observing the flow of the heavenly bodies, he ordered to hang him closer to the stars. " The seventeen-year-old boy miraculously escaped death. He experienced a tremendous shock from which he did not fully recover.

In Petersburg, Tobias found himself completely alone. At the state expense, he was assigned to the Academic Gymnasium. There he was prepared for a difficult life. Well versed in mathematics, physics and astronomy (thanks to his father), he, in fact, did not have a liberal arts education and had a poor command of Russian. In the gymnasium, cruel and rude customs reigned. The time spent in it became a complete nightmare for Tobias. Of the seven years allotted for training, he survived only two years.

He was almost twenty, but he had difficulty imagining his future. It is not known exactly whether someone gave good advice, or whether the decision came to him on his own, but in February 1777 he entered the Main St. Petersburg Pharmacy as a student. It was better equipped than the chemical laboratory of the Academy of Sciences, which gradually fell into decay after death.

This is how Lovitz's passion for chemistry began. The pharmacy library had many books containing various chemical information. The obsession of the apothecary apprentice caused only surprise, if not ridicule, of those around him. In May 1779, Tobias became an assistant pharmacist, but this appointment only intensified the persecution by the "colleagues".

The consequence was a serious illness. Few hoped for a favorable outcome. However, Tobias survived. He later confessed: "I came to my senses ... but I felt only the full measure of my distress." He had no family, no loyal friends, no basic amenities. He realized that he could save life only by drastically changing its course. And Lovitz decides to return to his homeland, to Göttingen. His only close relative lived there - his maternal uncle. And those few people who knew and remembered his father.

He enters the University of Göttingen to study medicine - too costly and time-consuming to complete. And Tobias himself understands that the path of Aesculapius is not his path. He is increasingly reminded of classes in the laboratory of a St. Petersburg pharmacy. In addition, the relationship with his uncle and his family did not work out.

Lovitz loved travel. At first, these were small walks, then he began to take long excursions. My health - physical and spiritual - improved dramatically. In 1782 he covered more than 200 miles in Germany, France, Switzerland and Italy. Takes an ascent to the Bernese Glacier in the Alps. And climbs Mont Blanc. “My passionate desire to visit the highest point in Europe was so great that I climbed with the greatest difficulty and danger to the highest peak of this wonderful mountain ...” Tobias wrote to one of his Petersburg friends.

Further stay in Gottingen became more and more hopeless. The decision to return to St. Petersburg matures. He asks the leadership of the Academy and in the spring of 1783 receives an assurance that he can count on the same place in the pharmacy.

On the morning of May 1784 Tovy Yegorovich Lovits (as he will be called in Russian) arrives in St. Petersburg. Now he will forever remain in Russia, will be a part of her history.

Evil fate continues to hover over Lovitz. His family life was going well, but four young children die one after another, and then his wife goes to the grave. His second marriage was also sad. In the obituary about Lovits they will write: "His life was darkened by a thousand sorrows and his days were a weave of suffering." But there were also the following words: "He knew no other joys besides those that his chemical discoveries brought him."

In the person of Tobi Lovits, Russian natural science acquired the greatest chemist of the 18th century, versatile in interests and successful in achievements. However, is there no exaggeration in such a statement? After all, he is considered the founder of Russian chemistry. It was he who created the first Chemical laboratory in our state and conducted extensive research there. There are no words: according to the "Hamburg score", the figures of Lomonosov and Lovitz are incomparable. What the activities of the great scientist-encyclopedist meant for Russia needs no comment. But to be impartial, it is not so easy to name specific chemical discoveries made by Lomonosov; discoveries that would certainly find a place in the chronological chronicle of the development of chemistry. Lovitz's achievements in this chronology would take several obvious positions. wrote: “By the originality of his scientific works, by the exemplary experimental implementation of them and by the scientific significance of the new data he obtained, T. Lovitz should be recognized as the best experimental chemist of the 18th century in Russia. His work is equally concerned with analytical, physical and organic chemistry. “And,” Walden adds, “if Russia in the 18th century were destined to have ... just one more chemist who would combine the far-sighted plans of Lomonosov the philosopher with the patient ingenuity of Lovits the experimenter, then chemical science in Russia would rise to the same level with Western European science. " For all the time he worked in St. Petersburg, Lovshch had almost no assistants and students. Except, perhaps, who discovered the first catalytic chemical reaction in 1811.

It is surprising how much Lovitz did - a tireless explorer, in whose personal life one tragic event followed another, and more and more ailments declared themselves; the truly obsessive researcher is a brilliant self-taught chemist with essentially no education.

The discovery of adsorption (absorption) from solutions of substances by charcoal is dated to the nearest day (June 5, 1785). “It [this discovery] alone would have made Lovitz immortal,” his biographer would later write. This was the first step towards the creation in the future of the most important scientific discipline - physical and chemistry of surface phenomena. Lovitz used charcoal to clean a wide variety of products (medicines, drinking water, bread vodka, honey and other sugary substances, saltpeter, etc.). The practical effect was so great that the name of the author of the discovery became widely known abroad, and the Petersburg Academy of Sciences in 1787 elected Lovitz as a corresponding member (he became a full member in 1793). One of the first in the world, Lovitz began to systematically investigate crystallization processes; he can be considered the founder of the study of the mechanism of crystal formation from solutions. Introduced the concepts of "oversaturation" and "hypothermia" into use. He isolated caustic alkalis in crystalline form, prepared glacial acetic acid and, acting on it with chlorine, observed the formation of chloroacetic acids; finally got anhydrous alcohol ("pure alcohol"). He was the first in Russia to become interested in the chemistry of sugars and to distinguish between honey and cane sugar.

As an analytical chemist, Lovitz was engaged in the analysis of minerals and improved the methods of qualitative and quantitative analysis (for example, he proposed a method for the qualitative determination of substances by their crystalline form). Independently of the Scottish researchers A. Crawford and W. chemical element strontium in heavy spar. Knowing nothing about the discovery of chromium by the French analyst L. Vauquelin, Lovitz, almost simultaneously with him, isolated this element from the mineral crocoite. Began to study titanium and niobium chemistry. Perhaps the scientist could be called the first specialist in the chemistry of rare elements in Russia ... In addition, he developed a new method for the analysis of natural silicates and silica. He has published over 170 works in Russian, German, French and latin... The excellent style of presentation indicates that the Russian language has become his mother tongue.

His creative activity did not weaken even when, in 1800, due to a serious injury, he lost control of his left hand. The scientist even planned to make a balloon ascent. Perhaps here obsession would have allowed Lovitz to achieve his goal. But on November 27, 1804, he died of apoplectic stroke. And he was only 47 years old.

Unfortunately, Lovitsu was destined for many years of oblivion. The Academy commissioned Scherer to prepare his scientific legacy for publication. He limited himself to writing a short article. Through the fault of Scherer, the most valuable archival documents were lost. The name Lovitz has become less and less common in literature - domestic and foreign. Very few chemists gave credit for his achievements. Only in the mid-1950s. the Russian chemistry historian for the first time collected and commented on all the published works of the scientist.

Why did Lovitz's contribution to chemistry not receive a timely proper assessment?

The works of A. Lavoisier (oxygen combustion theory) and J. Dalton (creation of the foundations of chemical atomistics) contributed to early XIX in. the rapid progress of chemistry. Outstanding discoveries followed one another; a whole cohort of talented European scientists led a genuine chemical revolution. And against this enchanting background, the achievements of a researcher from distant and for many mysterious Russia were lost.

In our homeland, the conditions have not yet emerged for the significance of Lovitz's discoveries to be properly understood and appreciated. Only a few natural testers were professionally engaged in chemistry; their names are now familiar only to meticulous historians of science. In essence, systematic chemical research began in Russia in the years when such luminaries as,. At the beginning of the century, Lovitz simply did not find successors to his work.

Lovitsa's tombstone was engraved in no-Latin: “Not enough for myself, for all of us — a lot” (the stone disappeared somewhere in our bad times). Perhaps one could hardly find more apt words of memory. They are like an epigraph to the life of a scientist, evidence that he has adequately overcome this "moment called life."

(1804-12-07 ) (47 years old)

Johann Tobias (Tovy Egorovich) Lovitz (it. Johann tobias lowitz; April 25, 1757 - December 7, 1804) - Russian chemist, academician of the Petersburg Academy of Sciences (since 1793).

Biography

Born in Göttingen. In 1768, together with his father, astronomer G. M. Lovits, he came to Russia. After tragic death father during the Pugachev riot was brought up by the mathematician Leonard Euler. He was a student at the Main Pharmacy in St. Petersburg (until 1780). Studied at the University of Göttingen (1780-1782). In 1784-1797. again at the Main Pharmacy in St. Petersburg, where he performed a significant part of his research. From 1797 he worked in a home laboratory, being officially in the service of the St. Petersburg Academy of Sciences as a professor of chemistry.

Scientific work

Research is devoted to various problems of chemistry. In 1784 he discovered the phenomenon of supersaturation and supercooling of solutions; established the conditions for growing crystals. In 1785 he discovered the phenomenon of adsorption by coal in solutions and investigated it in detail. He suggested using charcoal to purify water, alcohol and vodka, pharmaceuticals and organic compounds. Studied the crystallization of salts from solutions. In order to use individual crystalline modifications in the analysis of salts, he made 288 models of various substances and classified them according to chemical characteristics. Developed several recipes for cooling mixtures.

Discovered (1789) a method for producing glacial acetic acid. He was the first to obtain crystalline glucose (1792), sodium chloride dihydrate, and crystalline caustic alkalis (1795). Prepared (1796) anhydrous (absolute) diethyl ether and ethyl alcohol; the latter was used to separate barium, strontium and calcium salts. He discovered and described (1790) the Lovitz arcs named after him - an optical phenomenon that sometimes accompanies a halo.

Write a review about the article "Lovits, Toviy Egorovich"

Literature

• Figurovsky N.A., Ushakova N.N. Tovy Egorovich Lovits, 1757-1804 / Otv. ed. A. N. Shamin. - M .: Nauka, 1988 .-- 192 p. - (Scientific and biographical series). - 1,500 copies (region)
• Volkov V.A., Vonsky E.V., Kuznetsova G.I. Outstanding chemists of the world. - M .: Higher school, 1991.271 p.
• Salo V.M. To the discovery of T. E. Lovits the phenomenon of adsorption by coal. // Pharmacy. 1985. - T. 34. No. 2. S. 82-84.
• Egorov V.A., Abdulmananova E.L. / History of Pharmacy 2002.225 p.

Links

• D. N. Trifonov
• on the official website of RAS

The 1790 St Petersburg Display www.atoptics.co.uk/halo/lowpete.htm

An excerpt characterizing Lovitz, Toviy Egorovich

For Prince Andrey, seven days have passed since the time he woke up at the dressing station of the Borodino field. All this time he was almost in constant unconsciousness. A hot condition and inflammation of the intestines, which were damaged, according to the doctor who was traveling with the wounded, should have carried him away. But on the seventh day he ate a slice of bread and tea with pleasure, and the doctor noticed that the general fever had subsided. Prince Andrew regained consciousness in the morning. The first night after leaving Moscow it was rather warm, and Prince Andrey was left to spend the night in a carriage; but in Mytishchi, the wounded man himself demanded to be carried out and given tea. The pain caused by carrying him to the hut made Prince Andrei moan loudly and lose consciousness again. When they put him on the camp bed, he lay for a long time with his eyes closed, without moving. Then he opened them and whispered softly: "What about tea?" The doctor was struck by this memory for the small details of life. He felt his pulse and, to his surprise and displeasure, noticed that the pulse was better. To his displeasure, the doctor noticed this because he was convinced from his own experience that Prince Andrew could not live and that if he did not die now, he would only die with great suffering some time after. With Prince Andrey, they were carrying a major of his regiment Timokhin with a red nose, who had joined them in Moscow, wounded in the leg in the same battle of Borodino. They were accompanied by a doctor, the prince's valet, his coachman and two orderlies.
Prince Andrew was given tea. He drank greedily, looking ahead at the door with feverish eyes, as if trying to understand and remember something.
- I don’t want any more. Is Timokhin here? - he asked. Timokhin crawled along the bench to him.
“I am here, Your Excellency.
- How is the wound?
- My then with? Nothing. Here you are? - Prince Andrew again pondered, as if remembering something.
- Could you get a book? - he said.
- Which book?
- The Gospel! I do not have.
The doctor promised to get it and began to ask the prince about what he was feeling. Prince Andrey reluctantly, but reasonably answered all the doctor's questions and then said that he should have a roller, otherwise it was awkward and very painful. The doctor and the valet lifted the greatcoat with which he was covered, and, wincing at the heavy smell of rotten meat that spread from the wound, they began to examine this terrible place. The doctor was very dissatisfied with something, that he had changed something differently, turned the wounded man over so that he groaned again and again lost consciousness from pain while turning and became delirious. He kept talking about getting this book out for him as soon as possible and putting it there.
- And what does it cost you! - he said. “I don’t have it — please take it out, put it on for a minute,” he said in a pitiful voice.
The doctor went out into the hallway to wash his hands.
“Oh, shameless ones, really,” the doctor said to the valet, who was pouring water into his arms. “I didn’t finish it for a minute. After all, you put it right on the wound. It's such a pain that I wonder how he endures.
“We seem to have planted it, Lord Jesus Christ,” said the valet.
For the first time, Prince Andrei understood where he was and what had happened to him, and remembered that he was wounded and how at the moment when the carriage stopped in Mytishchi, he asked to go to the hut. Confused again from pain, he came to his senses another time in the hut, when he was drinking tea, and then again, repeating in his recollection everything that happened to him, he most vividly imagined that moment at the dressing station, when, at the sight of the suffering of a person he did not love , he received these new thoughts that promised him happiness. And these thoughts, although vague and indefinite, now again took possession of his soul. He remembered that he now had new happiness and that this happiness had something in common with the Gospel. Therefore, he asked for the Gospel. But the bad position that the wound had given him, the new turning over again confused his thoughts, and for the third time he woke up to life in the complete silence of the night. Everyone slept around him. The cricket was screaming through the passage, in the street someone was shouting and singing, cockroaches rustled across the table and images, in the autumn a fat fly was beating at his head and near a tallow candle that was burnt by a large mushroom and stood beside him.