Call Number:

Ms. Coll. 1788

Repository:

University of Pennsylvania: Kislak Center for Special Collections, Rare Books and Manuscripts

Extent:

.3 linear feet (1 box)

Language:

French

Preferred Citation:

Jean-Baptiste Boussingault agricultural chemistry notes, 1852, 1859, 1867-1868, undated, Ms. Coll. 1788, Kislak Center for Special Collections, Rare Books and Manuscripts, University of Pennsylvania

Date:

1852, 1859, 1867-1868, undated (inclusive)

Creator:

Boussingault, J.B. (Jean Baptiste), 1802-1887

Form:

Research notes and notes (documents)

Abstract:

Jean-Baptiste Boussingault (1802-1887) was a French chemist known for his work in agricultural science, petroleum science, and metallurgy. This collection contains 28 numbered and titled groups of notes on agricultural chemistry taken by Boussingault between 1867 and 1868.

Jean-Baptiste Boussingault was born on February 2, 1802, in Paris, France. He studied at the school of mines in Saint-Etienne before working in asphalt mines in Alsace.

He then served as a mining engineer in for an English company in South America. During the insurrection of the Spanish colonies, he travelled the continent widely with the staff of Simone Bolivar.

In 1832, Boussingault returned to France, became a chemistry professor at University of Lyon, and married Adele le Bel. In 1839, he was appointed chair of agricultural and analytical chemistry at the Conservatoire des Arts et Métiers in Paris, where he served until 1887. In 1848, he was elected to the National Assembly, representing Alsace.

He established what is considered to be the first agricultural experimental station at the estate at Pechelbronn, Alsace, where he owned a share through his wife.

A description of his work and contributions is as follows, "…he devoted himself mainly to agricultural chemistry and animal and vegetable physiology, with occasional excursions into mineral chemistry. His work included papers on the quantity of nitrogen in different foods, the amount of gluten in different wheats, investigations on the question whether plants can assimilate free nitrogen from the atmosphere (which he answered in the negative and propose[d] the basis of what became known as the nitrogen cycle), the respiration of plants, the function of their leaves, the action and value of manures and chemical fertilizers, and other similar subjects." (Conchology)

He authored works including, Essai de statique chimique des ltres organists (1841), Traite d'economie rurale (1844), Agronomie, chimie agricole, et physiologie (5 vols., 1860 -1874; 2nd ed., 1884), and Etudes sur la transformation du fer en acier (1875).

Sources:

"Jean-Baptiste Boussingault | Agricultural Scientist, Chemist, Geologist." Britannica, www.britannica.com/biography/Jean-Baptiste-Boussingault. Accessed 30 July 2026.

"Jean Baptiste Boussingault." Shellers From the Past and Present, www.conchology.be/?t=9001&id=13418&srsltid=AfmBOopEdGCpirhvLYQQBlPfK40od-Nyy9blAKkpbh02eLKd8CZs6iKH. Accessed 30 July 2026.

This collection contains 28 numbered and titled groups of notes on agricultural chemistry taken by Jean-Baptiste Boussingault between 1867 and 1868.

These notes include reports on the assay of phosphate in soils, the use of coprolites in the preparation of superphosphates, the detection of arsenic in cases of poisoning, composition of bone tissue, and fertilizers such as guano.

Boussingault numbered his notes and these numbers have been maintained. He numbered two sets of notes 26 and there is no number 25. Many of the groupings of notes include "préparation" and "tableau" subsections.

There are also two pamphlets by Henri Sainte-Claire Deville titled, "Recherches analytiques sur la composition des eaux potables" and "Sur le Trachytisme des Roches." One includes a signed inscription from Deville to Boussingault.

The handwriting in this collection can be difficult to decipher and, as a result, many of the titles written in this collection's inventory are incomplete. A single missing word is marked as follows: [?]. A series of missing words are marked by an ellipsis.