Fig. 9.18 A furnace from
von Engeström’s laboratory.
Engraving from his book
Laboratorium Chymicum,
1781
he undertook a journey in 1764–1765, travelling first to England and then to
Germany, where he studied under Andreas Sigismund Marggraf (1709–1782).
After the death of Georg Brandt, von Engeström succeeded him as director of
Laboratorium chymicum, where he remained until his retirement in 1794. As
director of Laboratorium chymicum, he was succeeded by Bergman’s student Peter
Jacob Hjelm; he died in 1813. Gahn had visited von Engeström in Stockholm, and
gave the following account to Bergman in November 1770:
I have once been to Mr v. Engeström. His Laboratory is now almost finished. The room is
rather cramped […] He has a glass furnace that he brags a lot about, […] I am not sure how
cautious he is with his knowledge, and whether one can be allowed to copy his furnaces
(Fig. 9.18) and learn the art. In addition he spoke a lot that I do not believe, and that I do not
even remember. Otherwise, he was so courteous and showed me some stone boxes and
asked me to visit him again. [108]
von Engeström’s most important contribution to science was his English
translation of Cronstedt’s mineralogy with an addition on the use of the blow-pipe.
In the Transactions of the Royal Swedish Academy of Sciences, he published twelve
papers, among them papers on the analysis of materials from China which had
9.6 Bergman’s Relations with Wallerius and von Engeström
139
von Engeström’s laboratory.
Engraving from his book
Laboratorium Chymicum,
1781
he undertook a journey in 1764–1765, travelling first to England and then to
Germany, where he studied under Andreas Sigismund Marggraf (1709–1782).
After the death of Georg Brandt, von Engeström succeeded him as director of
Laboratorium chymicum, where he remained until his retirement in 1794. As
director of Laboratorium chymicum, he was succeeded by Bergman’s student Peter
Jacob Hjelm; he died in 1813. Gahn had visited von Engeström in Stockholm, and
gave the following account to Bergman in November 1770:
I have once been to Mr v. Engeström. His Laboratory is now almost finished. The room is
rather cramped […] He has a glass furnace that he brags a lot about, […] I am not sure how
cautious he is with his knowledge, and whether one can be allowed to copy his furnaces
(Fig. 9.18) and learn the art. In addition he spoke a lot that I do not believe, and that I do not
even remember. Otherwise, he was so courteous and showed me some stone boxes and
asked me to visit him again. [108]
von Engeström’s most important contribution to science was his English
translation of Cronstedt’s mineralogy with an addition on the use of the blow-pipe.
In the Transactions of the Royal Swedish Academy of Sciences, he published twelve
papers, among them papers on the analysis of materials from China which had
9.6 Bergman’s Relations with Wallerius and von Engeström
139