Entitled: 'Chemical furnaces.' Shows a variety of different types of chemical furnaces, such as an athanor, digesting furnace, balneum marae, sand-furnace, melting-furnace, elliptic furnace, and arabolic furnace. Illustration appeared in Elementa chemiae by Herman Boerhaave, 1727. Herman Boerhaave (December 31, 1668 - September 23, 1738) was a Dutch botanist, humanist and physician of European fame. He is regarded as the founder of clinical teaching and of the modern academic hospital. His 1724 textbook Elementa chemiae (Elements of Chemistry) was an outgrowth of his lectures at the University of Leyden, in which he outlined influential theories on heat, fire, and expansion of bodies. The publication of his textbook is said to mark the start of the modern concept of chemistry. He is considered one of the pioneers in physical chemistry, for introducing quantitative methods into the measure of temperature and mass and for carrying out some of the first calorimetric research. In 1741 an English translation of Boerhaave's celebrated textbook Elements of Chemistry was published under the title A New Method of Chemistry. |