Louis XVIII

When Napoleon fell from power, however, Laplace carefully dissociated himself from the emperor. In the Senate, Laplace voted for the return of the Bourbon monarchy and absented himself from Paris in 1815 during Napoleon s brief hundred-day return from Elba. In 1817 Louis XVIII raised Laplace to the rank of marquis. Laplace remained loyal to the Bourbons for the rest of his life, and his 1826 refusal to sign a petition supporting freedom of the press condemned him as far as the liberals in the Academy were concerned. 

A basic scientific investigation of fire retardancy, however, remained to be initiated by Gay-Lussac in France at the request of King Louis XVIII in 1821 who was again interested in reducing the flammability of theater curtains. This researcher noted that the ammonium salts of sulfuric, hydrochloric and phosphoric acids were very effective fire retardants on hemp and linen and that the effect could be improved considerably by using mixtures of ammonium chloride, ammonium phosphate and borax. This work has withstood the test of time and remains valid to this day. Thus the basic elements of modern fire retardant chemistry had been defined early in recorded history and remained the state of the art until early in the twentieth century. The most effective treatments for cellulosic materials being concentrated in Groups III, V and VII elements. 

Bom in France, Jean-Baptiste Biot (1774-1862) was imprisoned for taking part in a street riot during the French Revolution. He became a professor of mathematics at the University of Beauvais and later a professor of physics at the College de France. He was awarded the Legion of Honor by Louis XVIII. (Also see p. 212.)... 

Pierre Thouvenel (Lorraine, 1747-Paris, 38 February 1815), General Inspector of Mineral Waters in France, fugitive to Italy in the Revolution, physician to Louis XVIII on the Restoration, published on animal nutrition, on mucous bodies and on medical chemistry, and was the first French author to write on galvanism. He made analyses of cantharides and woodlice and with his brother wrote a prize essay on saltpetre (see p. 466) Pierre Thouvenel also gained a prize on this subject. Rewrote on the phlogistic and antiphlogistic theories. ... 

Jean Antoine Claude Chaptal (Nogaret (Lozere), 9 May (or 4 June) 1756-Paris, 30 July 1832) was professor of chemistry and a practising physician in Montpellier. His lectures there were published in 1783. In 1793 brought by Fourcroy to Paris to be director of a gunpowder factory, but he returned to his chair at Montpellier in 1794. In 1798 he followed Berthollet at the ficole des Arts in 1800-4 Minister of the Interior he was instrumental in developing chemical industry, and in directing large chemical factories which he owned at Rouen and Montpellier. Napoleon made him Count de Chante-loup and Louis XVIII in 1819 created him a peer of France. 

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