Although Bergman had very high thoughts of Afzelius, his appointment would
turn out to be less fortunate for Swedish chemical research. Afzelius did not carry
out any original research and during his 36 years as professor—he retired in 1820
—only two theses were defended by his students [26]. He did not publish a single
paper in the Transactions of the Royal Swedish Academy of Sciences. The claim
[27] that Afzelius stayed true to the phlogiston theory until his death is, however,
not true [28]. While Afzelius did not share Bergman’s interest in chemical research
or writing, he seems to have been an appreciated and knowledgeable teacher and it
should be kept in mind that this was the main duty for a professor. Few professors
were as ambitious researchers as Bergman at the time.
28.5 Scheele’s Illness and Death
Unlike Bergman, Scheele had a good health, except for a short period of ache in a
hip in 1782 [29]. In the fall of 1785, however, Scheele started to feel ill [30]. It
started with swollen eyelids, which he treated with Spanish fly as he lacked leeches.
This was followed by fever and aching joints. He was now treated with leeches and
bloodletting, but with little effect: in January 1786, his condition got more serious.
He had pain in arms and legs, he got weak and tired and his fingers got swollen. He
started coughing and suffered from spasms in his respiratory passages. It became
hard for him to run his shop and to carry out his experiments. He lost appetite and
felt cold, a worrying sign as he had always hated warm rooms [30]. According to
Margaretha Pohl, Scheele tried to continue with his work as normal, and when she
asked him how he felt, he would ask sarcastically whether she was a doctor and
could help him [31]. Despite his poor health, Scheele finished the manuscript of
what would be his last paper, On Sal essentiale Gallarum, which was sent to
Wilcke on February 16. In the letter following the manuscript, he wrote: “I have
since last November been a gout patient. The foot, knee, arms and hands are in pain,
and I feel no relief regardless of what medicine I use”. This last manuscript was
mainly based on old results; the isolation of gallic acid by Scheele is mentioned in
Gahn’s notes from spring 1770 (Sect. 13.2).
Scheele also had to defend a paragraph in his book On Air and Fire against
German chemists Johan Friedrich Göttling (1755–1809) and Johan Christian
Wiegleb. Scheele had performed experiments with “pyrophorus”, also known as
Homberg’s pyrophorus, a self-igniting substance. It was initially obtained by
Homberg during attempts to transmute mercury to silver, experiments that for some
reason involved heating of excrements with alum [32]. It was later found that the
excrements could be replaced by other combustible materials such as charcoal.
Scheele had found that alum could be replaced by potassium sulphate and that the
pyrophor consisted of potassium polysulphide (liver of sulphur) and charcoal. Both
moisture and air were needed for spontaneous ignition. Scheele had to defend these
findings and give clearer instructions for the new formulation [33]. Scheele was
380
28 The End of the Story
turn out to be less fortunate for Swedish chemical research. Afzelius did not carry
out any original research and during his 36 years as professor—he retired in 1820
—only two theses were defended by his students [26]. He did not publish a single
paper in the Transactions of the Royal Swedish Academy of Sciences. The claim
[27] that Afzelius stayed true to the phlogiston theory until his death is, however,
not true [28]. While Afzelius did not share Bergman’s interest in chemical research
or writing, he seems to have been an appreciated and knowledgeable teacher and it
should be kept in mind that this was the main duty for a professor. Few professors
were as ambitious researchers as Bergman at the time.
28.5 Scheele’s Illness and Death
Unlike Bergman, Scheele had a good health, except for a short period of ache in a
hip in 1782 [29]. In the fall of 1785, however, Scheele started to feel ill [30]. It
started with swollen eyelids, which he treated with Spanish fly as he lacked leeches.
This was followed by fever and aching joints. He was now treated with leeches and
bloodletting, but with little effect: in January 1786, his condition got more serious.
He had pain in arms and legs, he got weak and tired and his fingers got swollen. He
started coughing and suffered from spasms in his respiratory passages. It became
hard for him to run his shop and to carry out his experiments. He lost appetite and
felt cold, a worrying sign as he had always hated warm rooms [30]. According to
Margaretha Pohl, Scheele tried to continue with his work as normal, and when she
asked him how he felt, he would ask sarcastically whether she was a doctor and
could help him [31]. Despite his poor health, Scheele finished the manuscript of
what would be his last paper, On Sal essentiale Gallarum, which was sent to
Wilcke on February 16. In the letter following the manuscript, he wrote: “I have
since last November been a gout patient. The foot, knee, arms and hands are in pain,
and I feel no relief regardless of what medicine I use”. This last manuscript was
mainly based on old results; the isolation of gallic acid by Scheele is mentioned in
Gahn’s notes from spring 1770 (Sect. 13.2).
Scheele also had to defend a paragraph in his book On Air and Fire against
German chemists Johan Friedrich Göttling (1755–1809) and Johan Christian
Wiegleb. Scheele had performed experiments with “pyrophorus”, also known as
Homberg’s pyrophorus, a self-igniting substance. It was initially obtained by
Homberg during attempts to transmute mercury to silver, experiments that for some
reason involved heating of excrements with alum [32]. It was later found that the
excrements could be replaced by other combustible materials such as charcoal.
Scheele had found that alum could be replaced by potassium sulphate and that the
pyrophor consisted of potassium polysulphide (liver of sulphur) and charcoal. Both
moisture and air were needed for spontaneous ignition. Scheele had to defend these
findings and give clearer instructions for the new formulation [33]. Scheele was
380
28 The End of the Story