Friedrich Accum
Encyclopedia
Friedrich Christian Accum or Frederick Accum (March 29, 1769 – June 28, 1838) was a German chemist
, whose most important achievements included advances in the field of gas lighting
, efforts to keep processed foods free from dangerous additives, and the promotion of interest in the science of chemistry to the general populace. From 1793 to 1821 Accum lived in London. Following an apprenticeship
as an apothecary
, he opened his own commercial laboratory enterprise. His business manufactured and sold a variety of chemicals and laboratory equipment. Accum, himself, gave fee based public lectures in practical chemistry and collaborated with research efforts at numerous other institutes of science.
Intrigued by the work of Frederick Winsor
, who had been championing the introduction of gas lighting in London, Accum too, became fascinated by this new innovation. At the request of the Gas Light and Coke Company
, he carried out many experiments in this novel field of inquiry. After a time of close working association with this company, he became a member of its board of directors in 1812. The company was charged with founding the first gasworks in London to supply gas lighting to both private and public areas. Accum was instrumental in the conception and design of this extremely successful gasworks.
The majority of Accum's publications were written in English. They were executed in a style that made them quite accessible to the common man. Many scientific contributions were brought forth through his writings, which were influential in the popularization of chemistry during this era. In 1820, Accum published Treatise on Adulteration of Food, in which he denounced the use of chemical additives to food. This ground breaking work marked the beginning of an awareness of need for food safety oversight. Accum was the first person to tackle the subject and to reach a wide audience through his activities. His book, controversial at the time, found a wide audience and sold well. However, it threatened established practices within the food processing industry, earning him many enemies among the London food manufactures. Accum left England after a lawsuit was brought against him. He lived out the rest of his life as a teacher at an industrial institution in Berlin.
, about 50 km (31.1 mi) west of Hanover
. His father was from Vlotho an der Weser, and had been in an infantry regiment in the service of Count Wilhelm von Schaumburg-Lippe. In 1755, Accum's father converted from Judaism
to Protestant Christianity
. Soon after, his father married Judith Berth dit La Motte in Bückeburg. Judith was the daughter of a hat maker, who resided in the French community in Berlin, and the granddaughter of a refugee who suffered under the Huguenot
persecutions in France.
At the time of his conversion baptism, the senior Accum changed his name from Markus Herz to Christian Accum. In addition to choosing the name "Christian," which means "follower of Christ", Accum's father chose to emphasize his newly embraced religion by adopting the surname Accum, which derives from the Hebrew word "Akum," meaning "not-Jewish." It is not known whether he did this on his own initiative or because of pressure from his fiancee's family. After his marriage, Christian Accum opened his own soap-making shop in Bückeburg at his in-law's personal residence. Nine years after his marriage to Judith, he received legal citizenship from the city. On May 9, 1772, his father Christian died at the age of 45; a mere three years after the birth of his first son.
Friedrich Accum attended the Bückeburg Gymnasium Adolfinum and additionally received private tutelage in the subjects of French and English. Following the conclusion of his studies, he finished an apprenticeship as an apothecary
with the Brande family in Hanover, who were family friends. The Brandes also conducted business in London and were the apothecaries to the Hanoverian King of England, George III. As one of the leading centers for scientific research and industry at the close of the 18th century, London attracted the best and brightest minds of Europe. Friedrich Accum felt the pull and relocated there in 1793. He found work as an assistant in another Brande apothecary located on Arlington Street.
(1768–1842) and the London chemist William Nicholson
(1753–1815). In Mr. Nicholson's circulating journal, (Nicholson's Journal) Accum published his first article in 1798. On May 10, 1798 Accum married Mary Ann Simpson (March 6, 1777–March 1, 1816 in London). He had, in the intervening period, anglicized his name to "Frederick Accum". Frederick and Mary had a total of eight children, but only two survived past childhood.
In the fall of the year 1799, a translation of Franz Carl Achard's ground-breaking work on the production of sugar from beets appeared in Nicholson's Journal. Until that time, sugar cane, which was grown overseas, was the only plant from which sugar could be derived. This information made possible the creation of a domestic sugar industry, and was greeted with great interest. A short time after the article's publication, Accum had samples of beet sugar sent from Berlin, and presented them to William Nicholson. This was the first time sugar derived from beets had ever been present in England. Following his careful analysis of both types of sugar, Nicholson published a detailed report in the January edition of his journal, stating that there was no appreciable difference in taste between the two.
. There he would live for the next twenty years. His family home also served as a school, an experimental laboratory and a mercantile for chemicals and scientific instruments. Accum's business cards of the time described his activities thus:
For his customers in London, Accum compiled and distributed a catalog of his merchandise for sale. This catalog was also sent to other locales upon request.
For many years, Accum's establishment was the only significant institution in England that provided lectures on the theory of chemistry as well as training in laboratory practice. Amateurs were welcome to perform simple experiments on site to enhance their knowledge. Accum's teachings attracted various prominent students. These included the well-known London politician and later prime minister Lord Palmerston, the Duke of Bedford
, and the Duke of Northumberland
. Additionally, his laboratory was the first in Europe to be visited by students and scientists from the United States, among whom were Benjamin Silliman
and William Dandridge Peck
. When Silliman later became Professor of Chemistry at Yale College
(precursor to Yale University
) in New Haven, he ordered his first laboratory equipment from Accum in London. Accum's biographer, Charles Albert Browne, stated in his 1925 work that some of the older American colleges still had sales receipts from Accum's London business.
With the development of new laboratory apparatus, Accum positioned himself in the middle market range with respect to cost and usability. Accum developed portable laboratory kits, intended for farmers, for the analysis of soils and stones. With affordable prices ranging from three to eighty pounds sterling, these chests were the first truly portable laboratories.
in Ablemarle Street, a research institute founded two years earlier by Count Rumford. Accepting the position, he began as laboratory assistant to Humphry Davy
, who had been hired at the same time as director of the laboratory, and would later become the president of the Royal Society. Accum’s employment at the Royal came to an end in September 1803. His biographer, R. J. Cole, speculates this change was connected with the simultaneous departure of Count Rumford for employment in Paris. Rumford had been the driving force behind securing a position for Accum.
By 1803, Accum had published a series of articles in Nicholson's Journal, which discussed a number of subjects: investigating methods to determine the purity of medicines, determining the existence of benzoic acids in vanilla extract, observing the explosivity of sulphur-phosphorus mixtures.
In 1803 one of Accum's most significant publications was completed. Cole, Accum's biographer states that this book, System of Theoretical and Practical Chemistry, "was the first text-book of general chemistry written in the English language to be based on Lavoisier's new principles; it is outstanding, also, in that it is written in a popular style, the subject matter being graduated as with a modern text-book."
Accum held his first lecture on chemistry and mineralogy in a small room in his house on Old Compton Street. His audience grew so rapidly that he soon had to rent the Medical Theatre on Cork Street. After resigning from the Royal Institution and taking a new position with the Surrey Institution, he continued with his popular lectures. An advertisement in The Times
on January 6, 1809 indicates that Accum offered a course on mineralogy and the chemical analysis of metals every Wednesday evening.
His increasing interest in mineralogy at this time is also apparent from the titles of two books he authored between 1803 and 1809. The first was a two volume work that appeared in 1804 entitled A Practical Essay on the Analysis of Minerals, which was reissued in 1808 as A Manual of Analytical Mineralogy. In 1809 he published Analysis of a Course of Lectures on Mineralogy. Beginning in 1808, while at the Surrey Institution, Accum also published,, a series of articles on the chemical properties and composition of mineral water
in Alexander Tilloch
's Philosophical Journal.
In 1811, when the Parisian saltpetre
manufacturer Bernard Courtois
made iodine
for the first time from the kelp
ash, his discovery was greeted with great interest by experts. Accum was among the first chemists in England to undertake experiments to isolate iodine. In two articles published in Tilloch's Philosophical Journal in January and February 1814, Accum described the iodine content of different kinds of seaweed and gave a detailed account of a process for iodine production.
The production of gases from coal had been noted by Henry Clayton. He shared this observation with Robert Boyle
in a letter written in the 17th century. The letter was published in the Philosophical Transactions of the Royal Society in 1739. Clayton wrote:
Clayton's findings did not have any practical application until the end of the 18th century. The gas produced during the coking of coal was allowed to escape unused until William Murdoch
began to promote coal gas as an illuminant. Other such experiments, though limited in depth, had been done by: George Dixon in 1780 in Cockfield, Jean-Pierre Minckelers
in 1785 in Louvain, and Archibald Cochrane
in 1787 at his estate Culross Abbey
. The true prototypes for later gasworks were first constructed in 1802 at the Soho Foundry
and in 1805 at George Lee
's cotton
mill in Salford close to Manchester
. However innovative the new technology, it was met with great skepticism by many critics. As late as 1810 Murdock was asked in a committee of the House of Commons
: "Do you mean to tell us that it will be possible to have a light without a wick?" Not until the second decade of the 19th century did gaslight spread from industrial mills to urban street lighting and domestic lighting. Accum played a crucial role in this unfolding revolution.
Accum became involved with the production of gas for lighting purposes through the efforts of Friedrich Albert Winsor (1763–1830), another German émigré, who had been waging a longstanding publicity campaign. In 1809, Accum was asked to appear before a Parliamentary committee that was considering granting a charter for a gaslight company Winsor had been promoting. While unsuccessful in its first attempt, the bill passed in 1810 and the company was incorporated under the name "Gas Light and Coke Company". The newly incorporated company met the conditions laid out in the bill and began operating in 1812 with Accum as a member of its board of directors. Accum oversaw the construction of a gas plant on Curtain Road, which was the first such plant in the history of gaslight. After that time, gaslight was no longer limited to industrial mills and was introduced into urban life. Westminster Bridge was lighted with gas lamps in 1813, and a year later, the streets in Westminster followed. In 1815, Accum published "Description of the Process of Manufacturing Coal-Gas". In the introduction, Accum compared the newly formed gas utility with the water companies that had been operating in London since the early 18th century: "Through gas, it will be possible to have light in all rooms, as is presently the case with water." When this book was translated into German in Berlin in 1815, an explanatory note had to be added, as no such water utilities existed there: "There are many private homes in England that are provided with pipes in the walls so that in almost all rooms, all one needs to do to get water is open a faucet."
In London, in 1814, there was a single gasometer of 400 m³ (14,125.9 cu ft), by 1822, there were four gas companies, whose gasometers had a total combined volume of almost a million ft3 To keep delivery routes for the gas pipelines as short as possible, gas plants were set up within the city districts where the gas was consumed. The arrival of these types of chemical plants to inhabited parts of the city provoked public criticism of the new technology. This was also directed at poisonous effluent generated by the plant operations. These harsh critiques were especially fierce once accidental explosions occurred at some plants. Accum, who by this point was a leading proponent of gaslight in addition to his work as a chemist, strongly refuted these criticisms in his writings. Through careful analysis he showed that as a whole, accidents were caused by carelessness of plant workerman rather than problems with the technology, and were therefore avoidable.
From early on in its conception, Accum had been concerned with the byproducts of coal gas production, which included tar and sulphur compounds. These were typically buried or dumped into nearby waterways. The ammonium and sulphur compounds were especially damaging to the environment. In 1820, Accum began demanding legal measures to prevent the discharge of these byproducts into the sewage systems and rivers. His criticisms were met with few positive reactions. Various catastrophes due to gas explosions drew far more attention than the environmental impact of long term release of poisonous byproducts.
A thousands copies of A Treatise on Adulterations of Food and Culinary Poisons were sold within a month of its publication. A second run was printed in the same year, and a German translation was printed in Leipzig two years later. The book's cover shows that Accum was capable of using dramatic imagery to try to draw attention to his scientific knowledge. It featured a rectangular frame supporting a spider's web and surrounded by intertwined snakes. A spider lurks in the middle of the web over its prey, and a skull crowns the entire collection with a caption beneath it, taken from the Old Testament
: "There is death in the pot."
The various chapters of the book alternate between harmless forgeries such as mixing dried pea grounds in coffee, and much more dangerous contamination by truly poisonous substances. Accum explained to his readers that there was a high lead
content in Spanish olive oil
, caused by the lead containers used to clear the oil, and recommended using oil from other countries such as France and Italy, where this was not practiced. He warned against bright green sweets
sold by itinerant merchants in the streets of London as the colour was produced with "sapgreen", a colorant with high copper content. "Vinegar
", he explained to his readers, "was frequently mixed with sulphuric acid in order to increase its acidity."
Accum paid particular attention to beer
, introducing the subject with the comment: "Malt beverages, and especially port
, the preferred drink of the inhabitants of London and other large cities, is among the items which is most frequently adulterated in the course of supply." He claimed that English beer was occasionally mixed with molasses
, honey
, vitriol, pepper
and even opium
. Among the most shocking customs he pointed out was the practice of adding fishberries
, part of the Menispermaceae
family, to port. It became evident during the French Revolutionary Wars
that the practice was getting out of hand, and Accum attributed the intoxicating power of the drink to the addition of this plant matter. Accum used various sources to substantiate his claims. As evidence for his claims about Cocculus indicus he used, among others, import statistics, which he complemented with observations about when the price of Cocculus indicus from commodity price lists of brewing materials merchants increased. He also looked at historic price trends for the same commodities.
The Treatise on Adulterations of Food and Culinary Poisons has two further notable characteristics. First, like Accum's earlier writings, it was written with descriptions of the simple techniques of analytical chemistry he employed, thereby making them more accessible to his readers. He wanted to make every test repeatable in the simplest possible way by a non-expert. Accum wrote in the foreword to his first edition:
The second characteristic was that Accum did not limit his campaign to simply exposing problems. At the end of every chapter, he included names of merchants of who had in years prior to 1820 been caught adulterating foodstuffs. In this way, Accum tried to deprive them of business and thereby had an effect on the London economy.
, and also later in the Allgemeinen Deutschen Biographie
(according to which Accum was embroiled in charges of embezzlement as librarian of the Royal Institution and escaped to Germany), did not correspond to the facts.
Cole completely reprinted the minutes of an extraordinary meeting of the Royal Institution of December 23, 1820, which show that these events were initiated through an observation made by a librarian of the Royal Institution named Sturt. Sturt reported to his superiors that on November 5, 1820, a number of pages were removed from books in the reading room of the institution, books Accum had read. On the instructions of his superiors, Sturt cut a small hole in the wall of the reading room to watch Accum from an adjoining room. On the evening of December 20, as recorded in the minutes, Sturt could see Accum tear out and walk off with a paper concerning the ingredients and uses of chocolate. The paper had been in an issue of Nicholson’s Journal. Accum's premises on Old Compton Street were searched on the order of a magistrate for the City of London, and torn pages were indeed discovered there. These could be matched to books belonging to the Royal Institution.
The Royal Institution committee that met on December 23, 1820 was not, however, satisfied with this judgment, and decided to take further legal action against Accum. On January 10, 1821, an open letter directed to Earl Spencer
, the president of the Institution, appeared in The Times
defending Accum. The letter was signed "A.C", and Cole supposed that the author was the surgeon Anthony Carlisle
, who had been friends with Accum since the first years of the latter's stay in London. This unsought support availed Accum little, as the minutes of the Royal Institution from April 16, 1821 show. These report the commencement of a lawsuit against Accum for theft of paper valued at 14 pence. Two of his friends were included in the indictment: the publisher Rudolph Ackermann
and the architect John Papworth. These three appeared in court and paid altogether 400 pounds sterling as surety. Accum did not make an appearance at the court session. He had fled England and returned to Germany.
Immediately upon his arrival in Germany, Accum went to the town of Althaldensleben
. There, the industrialist Johann Gottlob Nathusius
had acquired various estates and was using them to found a sprawling industrial settlement. Nathusius was a German pioneer in the field of sugar production from beets, and had established a factory for its production in that town between 1813 and 1816. It was probably Nathusius’ extensive library and chemical laboratory that drew Accum. He remained only a short time in Althaldensleben, however, as he soon got a professorship at the Gewerbeinstitut and the Bauakademie
in Berlin. His teaching in the areas of physics, chemistry, and mineralogy, were collected in the two volume work, Physische und chemische Beschaffenheit der Baumaterialien, deren Wahl, Verhalten und zweckmässige Anwendung, published in Berlin in 1826. It was the only work Accum published originally in German.
A few years after settling down in Berlin, Accum had a notable house built at 16 Marienstraße (later 21 Marienstraße), where he dwelt until his death. During his last years, he suffered from a bad case of gout
Chemist
A chemist is a scientist trained in the study of chemistry. Chemists study the composition of matter and its properties such as density and acidity. Chemists carefully describe the properties they study in terms of quantities, with detail on the level of molecules and their component atoms...
, whose most important achievements included advances in the field of gas lighting
Gas lighting
Gas lighting is production of artificial light from combustion of a gaseous fuel, including hydrogen, methane, carbon monoxide, propane, butane, acetylene, ethylene, or natural gas. Before electricity became sufficiently widespread and economical to allow for general public use, gas was the most...
, efforts to keep processed foods free from dangerous additives, and the promotion of interest in the science of chemistry to the general populace. From 1793 to 1821 Accum lived in London. Following an apprenticeship
Apprenticeship
Apprenticeship is a system of training a new generation of practitioners of a skill. Apprentices or protégés build their careers from apprenticeships...
as an apothecary
Apothecary
Apothecary is a historical name for a medical professional who formulates and dispenses materia medica to physicians, surgeons and patients — a role now served by a pharmacist and some caregivers....
, he opened his own commercial laboratory enterprise. His business manufactured and sold a variety of chemicals and laboratory equipment. Accum, himself, gave fee based public lectures in practical chemistry and collaborated with research efforts at numerous other institutes of science.
Intrigued by the work of Frederick Winsor
Frederick Albert Winsor
Frederick Albert Winsor, originally Friedrich Albrecht Winzer was a German inventor, one of the pioneers of gas lighting in the UK and France....
, who had been championing the introduction of gas lighting in London, Accum too, became fascinated by this new innovation. At the request of the Gas Light and Coke Company
Gas Light and Coke Company
The Gas Light and Coke Company , was a company that made and supplied coal gas and coke. The Company was located on Horseferry Road in Westminster, London...
, he carried out many experiments in this novel field of inquiry. After a time of close working association with this company, he became a member of its board of directors in 1812. The company was charged with founding the first gasworks in London to supply gas lighting to both private and public areas. Accum was instrumental in the conception and design of this extremely successful gasworks.
The majority of Accum's publications were written in English. They were executed in a style that made them quite accessible to the common man. Many scientific contributions were brought forth through his writings, which were influential in the popularization of chemistry during this era. In 1820, Accum published Treatise on Adulteration of Food, in which he denounced the use of chemical additives to food. This ground breaking work marked the beginning of an awareness of need for food safety oversight. Accum was the first person to tackle the subject and to reach a wide audience through his activities. His book, controversial at the time, found a wide audience and sold well. However, it threatened established practices within the food processing industry, earning him many enemies among the London food manufactures. Accum left England after a lawsuit was brought against him. He lived out the rest of his life as a teacher at an industrial institution in Berlin.
Youth and education
Accum was born in Bückeburg, Schaumburg-LippeSchaumburg-Lippe
Schaumburg-Lippe was until 1946 a small state in Germany, located in the present day state of Lower Saxony, with its capital at Bückeburg.- History :...
, about 50 km (31.1 mi) west of Hanover
Hanover
Hanover or Hannover, on the river Leine, is the capital of the federal state of Lower Saxony , Germany and was once by personal union the family seat of the Hanoverian Kings of Great Britain, under their title as the dukes of Brunswick-Lüneburg...
. His father was from Vlotho an der Weser, and had been in an infantry regiment in the service of Count Wilhelm von Schaumburg-Lippe. In 1755, Accum's father converted from Judaism
Judaism
Judaism ) is the "religion, philosophy, and way of life" of the Jewish people...
to Protestant Christianity
Christianity
Christianity is a monotheistic religion based on the life and teachings of Jesus as presented in canonical gospels and other New Testament writings...
. Soon after, his father married Judith Berth dit La Motte in Bückeburg. Judith was the daughter of a hat maker, who resided in the French community in Berlin, and the granddaughter of a refugee who suffered under the Huguenot
Huguenot
The Huguenots were members of the Protestant Reformed Church of France during the 16th and 17th centuries. Since the 17th century, people who formerly would have been called Huguenots have instead simply been called French Protestants, a title suggested by their German co-religionists, the...
persecutions in France.
At the time of his conversion baptism, the senior Accum changed his name from Markus Herz to Christian Accum. In addition to choosing the name "Christian," which means "follower of Christ", Accum's father chose to emphasize his newly embraced religion by adopting the surname Accum, which derives from the Hebrew word "Akum," meaning "not-Jewish." It is not known whether he did this on his own initiative or because of pressure from his fiancee's family. After his marriage, Christian Accum opened his own soap-making shop in Bückeburg at his in-law's personal residence. Nine years after his marriage to Judith, he received legal citizenship from the city. On May 9, 1772, his father Christian died at the age of 45; a mere three years after the birth of his first son.
Friedrich Accum attended the Bückeburg Gymnasium Adolfinum and additionally received private tutelage in the subjects of French and English. Following the conclusion of his studies, he finished an apprenticeship as an apothecary
Apothecary
Apothecary is a historical name for a medical professional who formulates and dispenses materia medica to physicians, surgeons and patients — a role now served by a pharmacist and some caregivers....
with the Brande family in Hanover, who were family friends. The Brandes also conducted business in London and were the apothecaries to the Hanoverian King of England, George III. As one of the leading centers for scientific research and industry at the close of the 18th century, London attracted the best and brightest minds of Europe. Friedrich Accum felt the pull and relocated there in 1793. He found work as an assistant in another Brande apothecary located on Arlington Street.
The first year in London
After gaining experience as an assistant in the apothecary, Accum pursued Scientific and medical studies at the School of Anatomy in Great Windmill Street in London. He became acquainted with the surgeon Anthony CarlisleAnthony Carlisle
Sir Anthony Carlisle FRCS, FRS was an English surgeon.He was born in Stillington, County Durham, the third son of Thomas Carlisle and his first wife, and the half-brother of Nicholas Carlisle, FRS. He was apprenticed to medical practitioners in York and Durham, including his uncle Anthony Hubback...
(1768–1842) and the London chemist William Nicholson
William Nicholson (chemist)
William Nicholson was a renowned English chemist and writer on "natural philosophy" and chemistry, as well as a translator, journalist, publisher, scientist, and inventor.-Early life:...
(1753–1815). In Mr. Nicholson's circulating journal, (Nicholson's Journal) Accum published his first article in 1798. On May 10, 1798 Accum married Mary Ann Simpson (March 6, 1777–March 1, 1816 in London). He had, in the intervening period, anglicized his name to "Frederick Accum". Frederick and Mary had a total of eight children, but only two survived past childhood.
In the fall of the year 1799, a translation of Franz Carl Achard's ground-breaking work on the production of sugar from beets appeared in Nicholson's Journal. Until that time, sugar cane, which was grown overseas, was the only plant from which sugar could be derived. This information made possible the creation of a domestic sugar industry, and was greeted with great interest. A short time after the article's publication, Accum had samples of beet sugar sent from Berlin, and presented them to William Nicholson. This was the first time sugar derived from beets had ever been present in England. Following his careful analysis of both types of sugar, Nicholson published a detailed report in the January edition of his journal, stating that there was no appreciable difference in taste between the two.
Laboratory worker, merchant and private tutor
In 1800, Accum and his family changed residence in London from 17 Haymarket to 11 Old Compton StreetOld Compton Street
Old Compton Street runs east-west through Soho, London, England.- History :The street was named after Henry Compton. who raised funds for a local parish church, eventually dedicated as St Anne's Church in 1686...
. There he would live for the next twenty years. His family home also served as a school, an experimental laboratory and a mercantile for chemicals and scientific instruments. Accum's business cards of the time described his activities thus:
Mr Accum acquaints the Patrons and Amateurs of Chemistry that he continues to give private Courses of Lectures on Operative and Philosophical Chemistry, Practical Pharmacy and the Art of Analysis, as well as to take Resident Pupils in his House, and that he keeps constantly on sale in as pure a state as possible, all the Re-Agents and Articles of Research made use of in Experimental Chemistry, together with a complete Collection of Chemical Apparatus and Instruments calculated to Suit the conveniences of Different Purchasers.
For his customers in London, Accum compiled and distributed a catalog of his merchandise for sale. This catalog was also sent to other locales upon request.
For many years, Accum's establishment was the only significant institution in England that provided lectures on the theory of chemistry as well as training in laboratory practice. Amateurs were welcome to perform simple experiments on site to enhance their knowledge. Accum's teachings attracted various prominent students. These included the well-known London politician and later prime minister Lord Palmerston, the Duke of Bedford
Duke of Bedford
thumb|right|240px|William Russell, 1st Duke of BedfordDuke of Bedford is a title that has been created five times in the Peerage of England. The first creation came in 1414 in favour of Henry IV's third son, John, who later served as regent of France. He was made Earl of Kendal at the same time...
, and the Duke of Northumberland
Duke of Northumberland
The Duke of Northumberland is a title in the peerage of Great Britain that has been created several times. Since the third creation in 1766, the title has belonged to the House of Percy , which held the title of Earl of Northumberland from 1377....
. Additionally, his laboratory was the first in Europe to be visited by students and scientists from the United States, among whom were Benjamin Silliman
Benjamin Silliman
Benjamin Silliman was an American chemist, one of the first American professors of science , and the first to distill petroleum.-Early life:...
and William Dandridge Peck
William Dandridge Peck
William Dandridge Peck was America ’s first native entomologist. He was a professor at Harvard College. His pioneering entomological article was "The Description and History of the Canker Worm" Mass. Mag. Vol.7 , describing the species as Phalaena vernata, the spring cankerworm.-External links:...
. When Silliman later became Professor of Chemistry at Yale College
Yale College
Yale College was the official name of Yale University from 1718 to 1887. The name now refers to the undergraduate part of the university. Each undergraduate student is assigned to one of 12 residential colleges.-Residential colleges:...
(precursor to Yale University
Yale University
Yale University is a private, Ivy League university located in New Haven, Connecticut, United States. Founded in 1701 in the Colony of Connecticut, the university is the third-oldest institution of higher education in the United States...
) in New Haven, he ordered his first laboratory equipment from Accum in London. Accum's biographer, Charles Albert Browne, stated in his 1925 work that some of the older American colleges still had sales receipts from Accum's London business.
With the development of new laboratory apparatus, Accum positioned himself in the middle market range with respect to cost and usability. Accum developed portable laboratory kits, intended for farmers, for the analysis of soils and stones. With affordable prices ranging from three to eighty pounds sterling, these chests were the first truly portable laboratories.
Teacher and researcher
In March 1801, Frederick Accum was offered a position at the Royal InstitutionRoyal Institution
The Royal Institution of Great Britain is an organization devoted to scientific education and research, based in London.-Overview:...
in Ablemarle Street, a research institute founded two years earlier by Count Rumford. Accepting the position, he began as laboratory assistant to Humphry Davy
Humphry Davy
Sir Humphry Davy, 1st Baronet FRS MRIA was a British chemist and inventor. He is probably best remembered today for his discoveries of several alkali and alkaline earth metals, as well as contributions to the discoveries of the elemental nature of chlorine and iodine...
, who had been hired at the same time as director of the laboratory, and would later become the president of the Royal Society. Accum’s employment at the Royal came to an end in September 1803. His biographer, R. J. Cole, speculates this change was connected with the simultaneous departure of Count Rumford for employment in Paris. Rumford had been the driving force behind securing a position for Accum.
By 1803, Accum had published a series of articles in Nicholson's Journal, which discussed a number of subjects: investigating methods to determine the purity of medicines, determining the existence of benzoic acids in vanilla extract, observing the explosivity of sulphur-phosphorus mixtures.
In 1803 one of Accum's most significant publications was completed. Cole, Accum's biographer states that this book, System of Theoretical and Practical Chemistry, "was the first text-book of general chemistry written in the English language to be based on Lavoisier's new principles; it is outstanding, also, in that it is written in a popular style, the subject matter being graduated as with a modern text-book."
Accum held his first lecture on chemistry and mineralogy in a small room in his house on Old Compton Street. His audience grew so rapidly that he soon had to rent the Medical Theatre on Cork Street. After resigning from the Royal Institution and taking a new position with the Surrey Institution, he continued with his popular lectures. An advertisement in The Times
The Times
The Times is a British daily national newspaper, first published in London in 1785 under the title The Daily Universal Register . The Times and its sister paper The Sunday Times are published by Times Newspapers Limited, a subsidiary since 1981 of News International...
on January 6, 1809 indicates that Accum offered a course on mineralogy and the chemical analysis of metals every Wednesday evening.
His increasing interest in mineralogy at this time is also apparent from the titles of two books he authored between 1803 and 1809. The first was a two volume work that appeared in 1804 entitled A Practical Essay on the Analysis of Minerals, which was reissued in 1808 as A Manual of Analytical Mineralogy. In 1809 he published Analysis of a Course of Lectures on Mineralogy. Beginning in 1808, while at the Surrey Institution, Accum also published,, a series of articles on the chemical properties and composition of mineral water
Mineral water
Mineral water is water containing minerals or other dissolved substances that alter its taste or give it therapeutic value, generally obtained from a naturally occurring mineral spring or source. Dissolved substances in the water may include various salts and sulfur compounds...
in Alexander Tilloch
Alexander Tilloch
-Early life:The son of John Tilloch, a tobacco merchant and magistrate of Glasgow, he was born there on 28 February 1759. He was educated at Glasgow University, and turned his attention to printing. In 1781 he began work on stereotypes. In 1725 William Ged had obtained a privilege for a development...
's Philosophical Journal.
In 1811, when the Parisian saltpetre
Potassium nitrate
Potassium nitrate is a chemical compound with the formula KNO3. It is an ionic salt of potassium ions K+ and nitrate ions NO3−.It occurs as a mineral niter and is a natural solid source of nitrogen. Its common names include saltpetre , from medieval Latin sal petræ: "stone salt" or possibly "Salt...
manufacturer Bernard Courtois
Bernard Courtois
Bernard Courtois, also spelled Barnard Courtois, was a French chemist born in Dijon, France.- Early life :...
made iodine
Iodine
Iodine is a chemical element with the symbol I and atomic number 53. The name is pronounced , , or . The name is from the , meaning violet or purple, due to the color of elemental iodine vapor....
for the first time from the kelp
Kelp
Kelps are large seaweeds belonging to the brown algae in the order Laminariales. There are about 30 different genera....
ash, his discovery was greeted with great interest by experts. Accum was among the first chemists in England to undertake experiments to isolate iodine. In two articles published in Tilloch's Philosophical Journal in January and February 1814, Accum described the iodine content of different kinds of seaweed and gave a detailed account of a process for iodine production.
Accum's role in the history of gaslight
Artificial lighting of any sort was largely absent during the industrial development of the late 18th and early 19th centuries. Using candles or oil lamps to illuminate a textile factory was costly, and economically unsound. With the advent of industrial means of production, not only were new textile halls physically larger, but they also had to be lit more brightly for longer periods of time. Driven by great demand, and made possible through Lavoisier's theoretical work regarding the role of oxygen in combustion, the end of the 18th century saw a continuous series of improvements in lighting technology.The production of gases from coal had been noted by Henry Clayton. He shared this observation with Robert Boyle
Robert Boyle
Robert Boyle FRS was a 17th century natural philosopher, chemist, physicist, and inventor, also noted for his writings in theology. He has been variously described as English, Irish, or Anglo-Irish, his father having come to Ireland from England during the time of the English plantations of...
in a letter written in the 17th century. The letter was published in the Philosophical Transactions of the Royal Society in 1739. Clayton wrote:
I then got some Coal from one of the Pits nearest thereunto, which I distilled in a Retort in an open Fire. At first there came over only Phlegm, afterwards a black Oil, and then likewise a Spirit arose, which I could noways condense, but it forced my Lute, or broke my Glasses. Once, when it had forced the Lute, coming close thereto, in order to try to repair it, I observed that the Spirit which issued out caught Fire at the Flame of the Candle, and continued burning with Violence as it issued out, in a Stream, which 1 blew out, and lighted again, alternately, for several times.
Clayton's findings did not have any practical application until the end of the 18th century. The gas produced during the coking of coal was allowed to escape unused until William Murdoch
William Murdoch
William Murdoch was a Scottish engineer and long-term inventor.Murdoch was employed by the firm of Boulton and Watt and worked for them in Cornwall, as a steam engine erector for ten years, spending most of the rest of his life in Birmingham, England.He was the inventor of the oscillating steam...
began to promote coal gas as an illuminant. Other such experiments, though limited in depth, had been done by: George Dixon in 1780 in Cockfield, Jean-Pierre Minckelers
Jean-Pierre Minckelers
Jean-Pierre Minckelers Jean-Pierre Minckelers (first name also Jan Pieter, last name also Minkelers or Minckeleers) Jean-Pierre Minckelers (first name also Jan Pieter, last name also Minkelers or Minckeleers) (b. Maastricht, the Netherlands, 1748; d...
in 1785 in Louvain, and Archibald Cochrane
Archibald Cochrane, 9th Earl of Dundonald
Archibald Cochrane, 9th Earl of Dundonald was a Scottish nobleman and inventor. The son of Thomas Cochrane, 8th Earl of Dundonald, he joined the British Army as a youth and also served time in the Royal Navy before returning to Culross in 1778 after inheriting the Earldom of Dundonald from his...
in 1787 at his estate Culross Abbey
Culross Abbey
Culross Abbey is a former Cistercian abbey in Culross, Scotland, headed by the Abbot or Commendator of Culross. It is still used as the local parish church by the Church of Scotland.-History:...
. The true prototypes for later gasworks were first constructed in 1802 at the Soho Foundry
Soho Foundry
Soho Foundry was a factory created in 1795 by Matthew Boulton and James Watt at Smethwick, West Midlands, England , for the manufacture of steam engines.-History:...
and in 1805 at George Lee
George Lee
George Lee may refer to:* Sir George Lee , English politician* George Lee , Yorkshire cricketer* George B...
's cotton
Cotton
Cotton is a soft, fluffy staple fiber that grows in a boll, or protective capsule, around the seeds of cotton plants of the genus Gossypium. The fiber is almost pure cellulose. The botanical purpose of cotton fiber is to aid in seed dispersal....
mill in Salford close to Manchester
Manchester
Manchester is a city and metropolitan borough in Greater Manchester, England. According to the Office for National Statistics, the 2010 mid-year population estimate for Manchester was 498,800. Manchester lies within one of the UK's largest metropolitan areas, the metropolitan county of Greater...
. However innovative the new technology, it was met with great skepticism by many critics. As late as 1810 Murdock was asked in a committee of the House of Commons
British House of Commons
The House of Commons is the lower house of the Parliament of the United Kingdom, which also comprises the Sovereign and the House of Lords . Both Commons and Lords meet in the Palace of Westminster. The Commons is a democratically elected body, consisting of 650 members , who are known as Members...
: "Do you mean to tell us that it will be possible to have a light without a wick?" Not until the second decade of the 19th century did gaslight spread from industrial mills to urban street lighting and domestic lighting. Accum played a crucial role in this unfolding revolution.
Accum became involved with the production of gas for lighting purposes through the efforts of Friedrich Albert Winsor (1763–1830), another German émigré, who had been waging a longstanding publicity campaign. In 1809, Accum was asked to appear before a Parliamentary committee that was considering granting a charter for a gaslight company Winsor had been promoting. While unsuccessful in its first attempt, the bill passed in 1810 and the company was incorporated under the name "Gas Light and Coke Company". The newly incorporated company met the conditions laid out in the bill and began operating in 1812 with Accum as a member of its board of directors. Accum oversaw the construction of a gas plant on Curtain Road, which was the first such plant in the history of gaslight. After that time, gaslight was no longer limited to industrial mills and was introduced into urban life. Westminster Bridge was lighted with gas lamps in 1813, and a year later, the streets in Westminster followed. In 1815, Accum published "Description of the Process of Manufacturing Coal-Gas". In the introduction, Accum compared the newly formed gas utility with the water companies that had been operating in London since the early 18th century: "Through gas, it will be possible to have light in all rooms, as is presently the case with water." When this book was translated into German in Berlin in 1815, an explanatory note had to be added, as no such water utilities existed there: "There are many private homes in England that are provided with pipes in the walls so that in almost all rooms, all one needs to do to get water is open a faucet."
In London, in 1814, there was a single gasometer of 400 m³ (14,125.9 cu ft), by 1822, there were four gas companies, whose gasometers had a total combined volume of almost a million ft3 To keep delivery routes for the gas pipelines as short as possible, gas plants were set up within the city districts where the gas was consumed. The arrival of these types of chemical plants to inhabited parts of the city provoked public criticism of the new technology. This was also directed at poisonous effluent generated by the plant operations. These harsh critiques were especially fierce once accidental explosions occurred at some plants. Accum, who by this point was a leading proponent of gaslight in addition to his work as a chemist, strongly refuted these criticisms in his writings. Through careful analysis he showed that as a whole, accidents were caused by carelessness of plant workerman rather than problems with the technology, and were therefore avoidable.
From early on in its conception, Accum had been concerned with the byproducts of coal gas production, which included tar and sulphur compounds. These were typically buried or dumped into nearby waterways. The ammonium and sulphur compounds were especially damaging to the environment. In 1820, Accum began demanding legal measures to prevent the discharge of these byproducts into the sewage systems and rivers. His criticisms were met with few positive reactions. Various catastrophes due to gas explosions drew far more attention than the environmental impact of long term release of poisonous byproducts.
"There is death in the pot"
In 1820 Accum began the public struggle against harmful food additives with his book entitled A Treatise on Adulterations of Food and Culinary Poisons. Some additives derived from plants, and used as preservatives or to alter tastes or appearance, had already been in use for some time. The beginning of the 19th century saw a rapid increase in the industrial preparation and packaging of foods. The drastic increase of additives used in these processes became a serious health concern. The production and distribution of food, instead of being one between local farmers and townspeople, increasingly became a centralized process in large factories. The proliferation of newly discovered chemicals and the absence of laws moderating their use, made it possible for unscrupulous merchants to use them to boost profits at a cost to the public health. Accum was the first to publicly proclaim the hazards of this practice and to reach a wide audience with his concerns.A thousands copies of A Treatise on Adulterations of Food and Culinary Poisons were sold within a month of its publication. A second run was printed in the same year, and a German translation was printed in Leipzig two years later. The book's cover shows that Accum was capable of using dramatic imagery to try to draw attention to his scientific knowledge. It featured a rectangular frame supporting a spider's web and surrounded by intertwined snakes. A spider lurks in the middle of the web over its prey, and a skull crowns the entire collection with a caption beneath it, taken from the Old Testament
Old Testament
The Old Testament, of which Christians hold different views, is a Christian term for the religious writings of ancient Israel held sacred and inspired by Christians which overlaps with the 24-book canon of the Masoretic Text of Judaism...
: "There is death in the pot."
The various chapters of the book alternate between harmless forgeries such as mixing dried pea grounds in coffee, and much more dangerous contamination by truly poisonous substances. Accum explained to his readers that there was a high lead
Lead
Lead is a main-group element in the carbon group with the symbol Pb and atomic number 82. Lead is a soft, malleable poor metal. It is also counted as one of the heavy metals. Metallic lead has a bluish-white color after being freshly cut, but it soon tarnishes to a dull grayish color when exposed...
content in Spanish olive oil
Olive oil
Olive oil is an oil obtained from the olive , a traditional tree crop of the Mediterranean Basin. It is commonly used in cooking, cosmetics, pharmaceuticals, and soaps and as a fuel for traditional oil lamps...
, caused by the lead containers used to clear the oil, and recommended using oil from other countries such as France and Italy, where this was not practiced. He warned against bright green sweets
SweetS
was a Japanese idol group. Put together through auditions, the group debuted in 2003 on the avex trax label. Although the group met minor success, they disbanded after three years with the release of a final single in June 2006....
sold by itinerant merchants in the streets of London as the colour was produced with "sapgreen", a colorant with high copper content. "Vinegar
Vinegar
Vinegar is a liquid substance consisting mainly of acetic acid and water, the acetic acid being produced through the fermentation of ethanol by acetic acid bacteria. Commercial vinegar is produced either by fast or slow fermentation processes. Slow methods generally are used with traditional...
", he explained to his readers, "was frequently mixed with sulphuric acid in order to increase its acidity."
Accum paid particular attention to beer
Beer
Beer is the world's most widely consumed andprobably oldest alcoholic beverage; it is the third most popular drink overall, after water and tea. It is produced by the brewing and fermentation of sugars, mainly derived from malted cereal grains, most commonly malted barley and malted wheat...
, introducing the subject with the comment: "Malt beverages, and especially port
Port wine
Port wine is a Portuguese fortified wine produced exclusively in the Douro Valley in the northern provinces of Portugal. It is typically a sweet, red wine, often served as a dessert wine, and comes in dry, semi-dry, and white varieties...
, the preferred drink of the inhabitants of London and other large cities, is among the items which is most frequently adulterated in the course of supply." He claimed that English beer was occasionally mixed with molasses
Molasses
Molasses is a viscous by-product of the processing of sugar cane, grapes or sugar beets into sugar. The word molasses comes from the Portuguese word melaço, which ultimately comes from mel, the Latin word for "honey". The quality of molasses depends on the maturity of the sugar cane or sugar beet,...
, honey
Honey
Honey is a sweet food made by bees using nectar from flowers. The variety produced by honey bees is the one most commonly referred to and is the type of honey collected by beekeepers and consumed by humans...
, vitriol, pepper
Black pepper
Black pepper is a flowering vine in the family Piperaceae, cultivated for its fruit, which is usually dried and used as a spice and seasoning. The fruit, known as a peppercorn when dried, is approximately in diameter, dark red when fully mature, and, like all drupes, contains a single seed...
and even opium
Opium
Opium is the dried latex obtained from the opium poppy . Opium contains up to 12% morphine, an alkaloid, which is frequently processed chemically to produce heroin for the illegal drug trade. The latex also includes codeine and non-narcotic alkaloids such as papaverine, thebaine and noscapine...
. Among the most shocking customs he pointed out was the practice of adding fishberries
Anamirta cocculus
Anamirta cocculus is a Southeast Asian and Indian climbing plant. Its fruit, Cocculus indicus, is the source of picrotoxin, a poisonous alkaloid with stimulant properties....
, part of the Menispermaceae
Menispermaceae
Menispermaceae, the botanical name for a family of flowering plants, has been universally recognized by taxonomists. Tubocurare, a neuromuscular blocker and active ingredient in curare, is derived from plants of this family....
family, to port. It became evident during the French Revolutionary Wars
French Revolutionary Wars
The French Revolutionary Wars were a series of major conflicts, from 1792 until 1802, fought between the French Revolutionary government and several European states...
that the practice was getting out of hand, and Accum attributed the intoxicating power of the drink to the addition of this plant matter. Accum used various sources to substantiate his claims. As evidence for his claims about Cocculus indicus he used, among others, import statistics, which he complemented with observations about when the price of Cocculus indicus from commodity price lists of brewing materials merchants increased. He also looked at historic price trends for the same commodities.
The Treatise on Adulterations of Food and Culinary Poisons has two further notable characteristics. First, like Accum's earlier writings, it was written with descriptions of the simple techniques of analytical chemistry he employed, thereby making them more accessible to his readers. He wanted to make every test repeatable in the simplest possible way by a non-expert. Accum wrote in the foreword to his first edition:
In stating the experimental proceedings necessary for the detection of the frauds which it has been my object to expose, I have confined myself to the task of pointing out such operations only as may be performed by persons unacquainted with chemical science; and it has been my purpose to express all necessary rules and instructions in the plainest language, divested of those recondite terms of science, which would be out of place in a work intended for general perusal.
The second characteristic was that Accum did not limit his campaign to simply exposing problems. At the end of every chapter, he included names of merchants of who had in years prior to 1820 been caught adulterating foodstuffs. In this way, Accum tried to deprive them of business and thereby had an effect on the London economy.
Reaction to Treatise on Adulterations of Food
Accum was well aware before the publication of his book that mentioning specific names from London's business world would provoke a resistance and a possibly a severe reaction. In the foreword to the first edition he called the publication of the names of those adulterating foodstuffs an "invidious office" and a "painful duty," which he undertook as a verification for his statements. Although he further stated that he carefully avoided citing any except those authenticated in Parliamentary documents and other records, this did not save him from the ire of his opponents. By the time the second edition appeared, he mentioned in the foreword that he had received threats. At the same time, this did not stop him from putting "the unwary on their guard" against the deceits of unscrupulous men. He further added that he wished to notify his hidden enemies that he would report for posterity the crimes these swindlers and their base associates had been found guilty of in public justice—that is, of having made basic foodstuffs poisonous.Scandal and lawsuit
The process that ultimately led to Accum's departure from England and return to Germany began a few months after the publication of his book on the poisoning of foodstuffs. For a long time, many contradictory accounts have been given of the exact circumstances of his exile. Finally in 1951, Cole, in an addendum to the minutes of Royal Institution, proved that the presentation of the events adopted in the article in the Dictionary of National BiographyDictionary of National Biography
The Dictionary of National Biography is a standard work of reference on notable figures from British history, published from 1885...
, and also later in the Allgemeinen Deutschen Biographie
Allgemeine Deutsche Biographie
Allgemeine Deutsche Biographie is one of the most important and most comprehensive biographical reference works in the German language....
(according to which Accum was embroiled in charges of embezzlement as librarian of the Royal Institution and escaped to Germany), did not correspond to the facts.
Cole completely reprinted the minutes of an extraordinary meeting of the Royal Institution of December 23, 1820, which show that these events were initiated through an observation made by a librarian of the Royal Institution named Sturt. Sturt reported to his superiors that on November 5, 1820, a number of pages were removed from books in the reading room of the institution, books Accum had read. On the instructions of his superiors, Sturt cut a small hole in the wall of the reading room to watch Accum from an adjoining room. On the evening of December 20, as recorded in the minutes, Sturt could see Accum tear out and walk off with a paper concerning the ingredients and uses of chocolate. The paper had been in an issue of Nicholson’s Journal. Accum's premises on Old Compton Street were searched on the order of a magistrate for the City of London, and torn pages were indeed discovered there. These could be matched to books belonging to the Royal Institution.
The Magistrate after hearing the whole of the Case observed that however valuable the books might be from which the leaves found in Mr Accum’s house had been taken, yet the leaves separated from them were only waste paper. If they had weighed a pound he would have committed him for the value of a pound of waste paper, but this not being the case he discharged him.
The Royal Institution committee that met on December 23, 1820 was not, however, satisfied with this judgment, and decided to take further legal action against Accum. On January 10, 1821, an open letter directed to Earl Spencer
George Spencer, 2nd Earl Spencer
George John Spencer, 2nd Earl Spencer KG PC FRS FSA , styled Viscount Althorp from 1765 to 1783, was a British Whig politician...
, the president of the Institution, appeared in The Times
The Times
The Times is a British daily national newspaper, first published in London in 1785 under the title The Daily Universal Register . The Times and its sister paper The Sunday Times are published by Times Newspapers Limited, a subsidiary since 1981 of News International...
defending Accum. The letter was signed "A.C", and Cole supposed that the author was the surgeon Anthony Carlisle
Anthony Carlisle
Sir Anthony Carlisle FRCS, FRS was an English surgeon.He was born in Stillington, County Durham, the third son of Thomas Carlisle and his first wife, and the half-brother of Nicholas Carlisle, FRS. He was apprenticed to medical practitioners in York and Durham, including his uncle Anthony Hubback...
, who had been friends with Accum since the first years of the latter's stay in London. This unsought support availed Accum little, as the minutes of the Royal Institution from April 16, 1821 show. These report the commencement of a lawsuit against Accum for theft of paper valued at 14 pence. Two of his friends were included in the indictment: the publisher Rudolph Ackermann
Rudolph Ackermann
Rudolph Ackermann was an Anglo-German bookseller, inventor, lithographer, publisher and businessman.- Biography :...
and the architect John Papworth. These three appeared in court and paid altogether 400 pounds sterling as surety. Accum did not make an appearance at the court session. He had fled England and returned to Germany.
Return to Germany
In the two years before his return to Germany, Accum had published a number of books dealing with nutrition chemistry. In 1820, he published two works, one on beer production (A Treatise on the Art of Brewing) and another on wine (A Treatise on the Art of Making Wine). The following year appeared Culinary Chemistry, in which Accum provided practical information about the scientific basis of cooking. He also published a book on bread (A Treatise on the Art of Making Good and Wholesome Bread). Even when he had returned to Germany, his works continued to be reprinted and were translated into French, Italian and Germany, reaching a wide readership in Europe, as well as in the US after it was reprinted there.Immediately upon his arrival in Germany, Accum went to the town of Althaldensleben
Haldensleben
Haldensleben is a town in Saxony-Anhalt, Germany. It is situated on the Ohre river, approx. 30 km northwest from Magdeburg. It is connected by railway to Magdeburg, Oebisfelde and Eilsleben. It is the capital of the district Börde. It has a Protestant and a Catholic church. An old equestrian...
. There, the industrialist Johann Gottlob Nathusius
Johann Gottlob Nathusius
Johann Gottlob Nathusius was a German industrialist.Nathusius was born in Baruth, and learned the trade of a merchant in Berlin, later joining the trading company Sengewald in Magdeburg...
had acquired various estates and was using them to found a sprawling industrial settlement. Nathusius was a German pioneer in the field of sugar production from beets, and had established a factory for its production in that town between 1813 and 1816. It was probably Nathusius’ extensive library and chemical laboratory that drew Accum. He remained only a short time in Althaldensleben, however, as he soon got a professorship at the Gewerbeinstitut and the Bauakademie
Bauakademie
The Bauakademie in Berlin, Germany, built between 1832 and 1836, is considered one of the forerunners of modern architecture due to its theretofore uncommon use of red brick and the relatively streamlined facade of the building.Designed by Karl Friedrich Schinkel, the Bauakademie was built near...
in Berlin. His teaching in the areas of physics, chemistry, and mineralogy, were collected in the two volume work, Physische und chemische Beschaffenheit der Baumaterialien, deren Wahl, Verhalten und zweckmässige Anwendung, published in Berlin in 1826. It was the only work Accum published originally in German.
A few years after settling down in Berlin, Accum had a notable house built at 16 Marienstraße (later 21 Marienstraße), where he dwelt until his death. During his last years, he suffered from a bad case of gout
Gout
Gout is a medical condition usually characterized by recurrent attacks of acute inflammatory arthritis—a red, tender, hot, swollen joint. The metatarsal-phalangeal joint at the base of the big toe is the most commonly affected . However, it may also present as tophi, kidney stones, or urate...
Publications
- System of Theoretical and Practical Chemistry, London 1803 Vol 1, Vol 2 Second edition 1807; Reprint Philadelphia 1808 Vol 1 Vol 2, Second edition 1814 Vol 1 Vol 2
- A Practical Essay on the Analysis of Minerals, London 1804; Reprint Philadelphia 1809; and a new edition expanded to two volumes in 1808 with the title A Manual of Analytical Mineralogy
- An Analysis of a Course of Lectures on Mineralogy, London 1809, expanded edition in 1810 under the title A Manual of a Course of Lectures on Experimental Chemistry and Mineralogy
- Descriptive Catalogue of the Apparatus and Instruments Employed in Experimental and Operative Chemistry, in Analytical Chemistry, and in the Pursuits of the Recent Discoveries of Electro-Chemical Science, London 1812
- Elements of Crystallography, London 1813
- Practical Treatise on Gas-Light, London 1815, went through four English editions to 1818, rewritten with the title Description of the Process of Manufacturing Coal-Gas. For the lighting of streets, houses, and public buildings, with elevations, sections, and plans of the most improved sorts of apparatus. Now employed at the gas works in London, London 1819, Second edition 1820; German translation by Wilhelm August Lampadius entitled Praktische Abhandlung über die Gaserleuchtung: enthaltend eine summarische Beschreibung des Apparates und der Maschinerie, Berlin 1816, Second edition 1819; the 1816 French edition Traité pratique de l’éclairage par le gaz inflammable contained a forward and was expanded by Friedrich Albert Winsor, Paris 1816; Italian Trattato pratico sopra il gas illuminante: contenente una completa descrizione dell’apparecchio ... con alcune osservazioni, Milan 1817
- A Practical Essay on Chemical Re-agents or Tests: Illustrated by a Series of Experiments, London 1816, expanded second edition 1818 with the title Practical Treatise on the Use and Application of Chemical Tests with Concise Directions for Analyzing Metallic Ores, Metals, Soils, Manures and Mineral Waters, Third edition 1828; reprint Philadelphia 1817; French Traité pratique sur l’usage et le mode d’application des réactifs chimiques, Paris 1819; Italian (translation of second English edition) Trattato practico per l’uso ed apllicazione de’reagenti chimici, Milan 1819
- Chemical Amusement, a Series of Curious and Instructive Experiments in Chemistry Which Are Easily Performed and Unattended by Danger, London 1817, Second edition 1817, Third edition 1818, fourth reprint 1819; German Chemische Unterhaltungen: eine Sammlung merkwürdiger und lehrreicher Erzeugnisse der Erfahrungschemie, Kopenhagen 1819, entitled Chemische Belustigungen Nürnberg 1824; second American edition based on the third English edition with additions by Thomas Cooper, Philadelphia 1818; French translation by V. Riffault Manual de Chimie Amusante; ou nouvelles recreations chimiques, contenant une suite d’experiences d’une execution facile et sans danger, ainsi qu’un grand nombre de faits curieux et instructifs, 1827, Second edition 1829 later reprinted by A. D. Vergnaud, final and sixth reprinting Paris 1854; two volume Italian translation Divertimento chimico contenente esperienze curiose, Milan 1820, second expanded edition by Pozzi La Chimica dilettevole o serie di sperienze curiose e instruttive di chimica chi si esequiscono con facilità e sicurezza, Milan 1854
- Dictionary of the Apparatus and Instruments Employed in Operative and Experimental Chemistry, London 1821, reprinted omitting the author's name as Explanatory Dictionary of the Apparatus and Instruments Employed in the Various Operations of Philosophical and Experimental Chemistry by a Practical Chemist, London 1824
- A Treatise on Adulterations of Food and Culinary Poisons: Exhibiting the Fraudulent Sophistications of Bread, Beer, Wine, Spirituous Liquors, Tea, Coffee, Cream, Confectionery, Vinegar, Mustard, Pepper, Cheese, Olive Oil, Pickles, and Other Articles Employed in Domestic Economy, and Methods of Detecting Them, London 1820, Second edition 1820, Third edition 1821, Fourth edition 1822; reprint Philadelphia 1820; German translation by L. Cerutti Von der Verfälschung der Nahrungsmittel und von den Küchengiften, Leipzig 1822, Second edition 1841
- A Treatise on the Art of Brewing: exhibiting the London practice of Brewing, Porter, Brown Stout, Ale, Table Beer, and various other Kinds of Malt Liquors, London 1820, Second edition 1821; German translation by Accum's niece Fredrica Strack , Hamm 1821; French translation by Riffault , Paris 1825, later reprinted by A. D. Vergnaud
- Guide to the Chalybeate Spring of Thetford, London 1819
- A Treatise on the Art of Making Wine, London 1820, followed by many edition, the last being 1860; French , 1827, later translation by Guilloud and Ollivier as , Paris 1851
- Treatise on the Art of Making Good and Wholesome Bread, London 1821
- Culinary Chemistry, exhibiting the scientific principles of Cookery, with concise instructions for preparing good and wholesome Pickles, Vinegar, Conserves, Fruit Jellies with observations on the chemical constitution and nutritive qualities of different kinds of food, London 1821
- Physische und chemische Beschaffenheit der Baumaterialien, deren Wahl, Verhalten und zweckmässige Anwendung, 2 volumes, Berlin 1826
External links
- Extracts from "Culinary Chemistry"
- Works by Friedrich Accum available at Project GutenbergProject GutenbergProject Gutenberg is a volunteer effort to digitize and archive cultural works, to "encourage the creation and distribution of eBooks". Founded in 1971 by Michael S. Hart, it is the oldest digital library. Most of the items in its collection are the full texts of public domain books...
- "There is death in the pot" food safety work by Fredrick Accum 1820
- Fredrick Carl Accum – A short biography by Lawson Cockroft, available online in PDF from the library of the Royal Society of Chemistry, London.
- The fight against food adulteration