Louis Joseph d'Albert, 6th Duke of Chaulnes (1741–1792), sixth Duke of Chaulnes and son of Michel Ferdinand d'Albert d'Ailly, was a

chemist A chemist (from Greek ''chēm(ía)'' alchemy; replacing ''chymist'' from Medieval Latin ''alchemist'') is a graduated scientist trained in the study of chemistry, or an officially enrolled student in the field. Chemists study the composition of ...

and French aristocrat.

Biography

At the death of his father in 1769, Louis Joseph inherited the title of Duke of Picquigny. He studied science successfully and in 1764 was elected a

Fellow of the Royal Society Fellowship of the Royal Society (FRS, ForMemRS and HonFRS) is an award granted by the Fellows of the Royal Society of London to individuals who have made a "substantial contribution to the improvement of natural science, natural knowledge, incl ...

in London. He retired from military service at the age of twenty-four with the simple rank of

colonel Colonel ( ; abbreviated as Col., Col, or COL) is a senior military Officer (armed forces), officer rank used in many countries. It is also used in some police forces and paramilitary organizations. In the 17th, 18th, and 19th centuries, a colon ...

and instead undertook the study of

natural sciences Natural science or empirical science is one of the branches of science concerned with the description, understanding and prediction of natural phenomena, based on empirical evidence from observation and experimentation. Mechanisms such as peer ...

. In 1775, he proved that the poisonous air produced in the brewing process was

carbon dioxide Carbon dioxide is a chemical compound with the chemical formula . It is made up of molecules that each have one carbon atom covalent bond, covalently double bonded to two oxygen atoms. It is found in a gas state at room temperature and at norma ...

, and demonstrated a method of easily preparing acidic water with instruments with which water was shaken above vats where

beer Beer is an alcoholic beverage produced by the brewing and fermentation of starches from cereal grain—most commonly malted barley, although wheat, maize (corn), rice, and oats are also used. The grain is mashed to convert starch in the ...

was fermenting. He showed a method of extracting and purifying salts from urine. In 1773, he found a way to crystallize

alkalis In chemistry, an alkali (; from the Arabic word , ) is a basic salt of an alkali metal or an alkaline earth metal. An alkali can also be defined as a base that dissolves in water. A solution of a soluble base has a pH greater than 7.0. The a ...

by saturating carbon dioxide over a vat of beer. Chemists at the time recognised that asphyxiation from coal fumes is due to the formation of carbon dioxide. Chaulnes proposed a way to recover from suffocation through the administration of

ammonia Ammonia is an inorganic chemical compound of nitrogen and hydrogen with the chemical formula, formula . A Binary compounds of hydrogen, stable binary hydride and the simplest pnictogen hydride, ammonia is a colourless gas with a distinctive pu ...

gas in various forms. After experiencing success with animals, he wanted to confirm his discoveries on human beings. He gave instructions to his valet and, when he had practised enough, he shut himself in a glass cabinet, sat on a mattress and surrounded himself with burning charcoal. The valet obeyed promptly and brought his master back to life. In the course of Chaulnes' travels he visited Egypt in 1763 where he recorded what he saw with accurate drawings of several monuments which until then had been un-published or poorly described. However, he included only one in the paper ''Mémoire sur la véritable entrée du monument égyptien qui se trouve à quatre lieues du Caire, près de Sakara'', Paris, 1783, in-4°. That monument, known as the Well of Birds, was a tomb for sacred animals. The author recounts his fruitless attempts to make plaster casts of the superb hieroglyphs and gives other curious details. He also published ''Mémoire et Expériences sur l'air fixe qui se dégage de la bière en fermentation'', included in vol. 9 of an anthology of foreign scholars of the Academy of Sciences, 1780. On 11 February 1773 The Duke of Chaulnes had an altercation with Caron de Beaumarchais who accused him of stealing his mistress, the actress Mademoiselle Ménard. He was then imprisoned at the Château de Vincennes.

Notes

{{DEFAULTSORT:Dalbert Dailly, Louis Joseph Dukes of Chaulnes 1792 deaths 1741 births 18th-century French chemists Fellows of the Royal Society House of Albert 18th-century peers of France