THEODORE G. WORMLEY

As already mentioned, in 1915 É.M. Chamot stated that "...the earliest comprehensive work dealing with microchemical methods was from the pen of an American –Theodore G. Wormley."

Theodore Wormley, M.D. (Figure 7) was Professor of Chemistry and Toxicology in the Starling Medical College, and of Natural Sciences in Capital University, Columbus, Ohio.  In 1857, he announced his intention to publish a book on the microchemistry of poisons, and a prospectus announcing its plan was published in March, 1861, at which time the drawings were almost completed.  A few years afterward (1865), A. Helwig published his Das Mikroskop in der Toxikologie [Helwig, A. (1865)], but it would prove to be nowhere near the magnitude of Wormley's book.  The first edition of Wormley's Micro-chemistry of Poisons [Wormley, Theodore G., M.D. (1867)], was published in 1867.  In his Introduction, Wormley defines what he means by microchemistry:  "By the term MICRO-CHEMISTRY of POISONS, we understand the study of the chemical properties of poisons as revealed by the aid of the microscope."  In the Preface, he states, prophetically, "Heretofore the microscope has received but little attention as an aid to chemical investigations, yet it is destined to very greatly expand our knowledge in this department of study."  His superb book is quite large (668 pages), and contains seventy-eight illustrations engraved upon steel.  Interestingly, Wormley could not find an engraver who would take on the task of engraving the microscopical images of the delicate crystalline reactions, so his wife taught herself to engrave in steel, and it was she who drew from nature and transferred to steel all of the microscopical images in the form of thirteen beautiful plates.  Wormley affectionately dedicated the book to her. In the back of the book, there is a long, fold-out Tabular View of the Behavior of Alkaloids with Reagents. The described tests and Wormley's book in general, are as valid and useful today as they were almost 140 years ago. Demand for the book was strong, and necessitated a second edition [Wormely, Theodore G., M.D. (1885)], in 1885, by which time Wormley was Professor of Chemistry and Toxicology in the Medical Department of the University of Pennsylvania. This second edition is enlarged to 784 pages, with ninety-six illustrations, an Appendix on the Detection and Microscopic Discrimination of Blood, and a chromolithographic frontispiece of blood spectra. Additional tests and case-histories were added, as well as a revision of the chemical nomenclature. Wormley's book in either edition is highly recommended, both for its historical significance and for its still useful microchemical tests. It is found in both one and two-volume versions.

[Unfortunately, my copies are too tightly bound to be scanned for illustrations without damage to the book.]

click image to enlarge (171K) Figure 7. Theodore G. Wormley, M.D. Portrait in McCrone Research Institute Museum.

EMANUEL BORICKY

Emanuel Boricky was Professor Extraordinaire at the University of Prague, and Curator of the Bohemian Museum, in what is today the Czech Republic.  In 1877, he published a very important contribution on the microchemical analysis of rocks and minerals.  The publication (Figure 8), Elements of a New Chemical Microscopical Analysis of Minerals and Rocks [Boricky, Emanual (1877)], constituted a part of the Chemical-Petrological Division's Natural History Investigation of Bohemia.  In it, he described the removal of small samples of the mineral components of rocks, and their subsequent micro­chemical analysis with the aid of the microscope.  The relatively short publication (80 pages) contains three woodcuts, and is also illustrated with two lithographic plates showing the microscopical appearance of the chemical reactions (Figure 9).  An English translation [Winchell N.H. (1892)], of this valuable monograph was published by Professor N.H. Winchell in the Nineteenth Annual Report (1890) of the Geological and Natural History Survey of Minnesota (Minneapolis, 1892).

The practical microscopist will not have a need for this publication, which, like Raspail's works, are of considerable interest, but they are essential items in the library of those microscopists interested in the his­torical development of their craft.

click image to enlarge (234K) Figure 8. Title page of Emanuel Boricky's monograph on Elements of a New Chemical Microscopical Analysis of Minerals and Rocks (1877).

click image to enlarge (225K) Figure 9. One of two lithographic plates illustrating microchemical reactions, from Boricky's 1877 monograph on the microchemical analysis of minerals and rocks.