Catholic chemist. Born Valognes, France, 1807; died Paris, France, 1867. He was professor in the University of Lille and the College de France; president of the Mint Commission and member of the French Academy of Sciences. Associated with Liebig, Frümy, Cahours, and Gillis, he was the first to synthesize a fatty substance from glycerine, to isolate tannic acid, and to make gun-cotton in France. Discovering the nitro-sulphates, he introduced a new analytical method for the determination of copper and suggested sodium sulphate for glassmaking.