BERTIE BERTINI 585 compounds, in which the oil, by combining ' with the alkali, acts the part of an acid. Berthollet was the discoverer of the ammo- niuret of silver, commonly called fulminating silver. He also first obtained hydrate of pot- ash in a state of purity, by dissolving it in alcohol. In 1803 ho published his Essai de statiyite chimique, in which he attempts to confute the opinion of Bergman with regard to the nature of chemical affinity. Sir Humphry Davy, in his "Elements of Chemical Philos- ophy," gives a synopsis of the views of Berthol- let on this point, and shows them to be incor- rect. In a controversy with Proust, Berthol- let maintained that inorganic bodies are capable of combining in all proportions ; but the views of Proust have been since corroborated by the doctrine of definite proportions. On his return from Egypt, Berthollet was made a senator, and afterward grand officer of the legion of honor and grand cross of the "order of re- union." He was created count by Napoleon, and after the restoration of the Bourbons he was made a peer of France. These distinc- tions did not affect his studious and simple mode of life; and being obliged to adopt ar- morial bearings, he selected the figure of his dog. Berthollet studied the antiseptic proper- ties of charcoal, and by his advice Admiral Krusenstern preserved water fresh by placing it in charred barrels during a long voyage. He first showed how to reduce the complica- ted combinations of animal and vegetable sub- stances by combustion in one of his last memoirs, entitled Considerations sur Vanalyse negetale et Vanalyse animate (1817). His only son, AMEDEE, born in 1783, died in Marseilles in 181 1. He assisted his father in the second edition of the Elements de fart de la teinture, avec un description du blanchlment par I'acide muria- tique oxigene (2 vols. 8vo, Paris, 2d ed., 1804), and was a member of the society founded by his father at Arcueil. He distinguished himself as a chemist, and established a manufactory of carbonate of soda according to his father's pro- cess ; but competition preventing his success, he fell into dissipated courses, and committed suicide by suffocation with charcoal gas, seat- ing himself at a table with a watch and writing materials before him, and carefully noting his sensations as long as he could hold the pen. BERTIE, a county of North Carolina, at the western extremity of Albemarle sound, bounded E. by the Chowan and W. and 8. by the Roan- oke river, and drained by the Cashie ; area, 900 sq. m. ; pop. in 1870, 12,950, of whom 7,437 were colored. The surface is flat and the soil fertile. The chief productions in 1870 were 300,314 bushels of Indian corn, 54,999 of sweet potatoes, and 5,055 bales of cotton. There were 1,0(53 horses, 2,454 milch cows, 4,924 other cattle, 8,453 sheep, and 14,100 swine. Capital, Windsor. BERTIN, Lonis Francois, a French journalist, born in Paris, Dec. 14, 176fi, died there, Sept. 13, 1841. The revolution diverting him from the priesthood, he engaged in journalism, op- posing the excesses of the Jacobins. In Jan- uary, 1800, he founded the Journal desDebats, which under his direction and that of his rela- tives, and through the collaboration of Chateau- briand, Madame de Stai-1, Royer-Collard, and other celebrated writers, ultimately became the most influential journal in France. Although it professed to be exclusively literary and artis- tic, historical and political allusions were occa- sionally introduced which the authorities con- strued as royalistic. Napoleon had the editor arrested in the first year, and after nine months' imprisonment banished to Elba ; and it was only after several years that he was allowed to re- sume the control of the paper, and on condition of his paying annually 24,000 francs to the cen- sor, calling his publication the Journal de I' Em- pire, and submitting to the control of the empe- ror's agents. It was suppressed nevertheless in 1811, and Berlin again banished to Elba, whence the next year he escaped to Italy. In 1814 the publication was resumed under the original title. Bertin followed Louis XVIII. to Ghent, but opposed him after his rupture with Cha- teaubriand, on which occasion these words ap- peared in the Debats: Malheureuse France, malheureux roi. For this he was prosecuted, but acquitted on appeal. After the July revolu- tion the paper became very prosperous, Bertin invariably declining public office, though gener- ously supporting the claims of his collaborators. He has been called the chief of the Bertin dy- nasty. He wrote several novels, partly after English originals, and possessed exquisite pow- ers of literary appreciation ; but his fame rests on his eminent services to French journalism. He was succeeded as editor-in-chief by his son Louis MARIE AEMAND, born in Paris, Aug. 22, 1801. He was secretary of legation in London under Chateaubriand, and did much to enlist the best talent for the Debats, though he person- ally wrote little. On his death, Jan. 12, 1854, the direction of the journal devolved upon his brother EDOTJABD FRANQOIS, born in Paris in 1797. He was inspector of fine arts nnder Louis Philippe, and is an esteemed landscape painter. As editor of the Debats he has sup- ported the cause of Italy and of the United States, and displayed great tact in making the paper popular among all classes. His sister LOUISE ANGELIQUE, born Jan. 15, 1805, compos- ed several operas, including Faust (1831) and Esmeralda (1836), the latter founded on Victor Hugo's Notre-Dame de Paris. In 1842 she published Les glanes, a volume of poetry, to which the academy awarded a prize. BERTINI, Henri, a pianist and composer, born in London of French parentage, Oct. 28, 1798. His father and his brother were both skilful mu- sicians, and young Bertini received from them a thorough training for his profession, being taught in the system of Clement!. At the age of 12 he made a successful concert tour through Holland and Germany, subsequently perform- ed in Scotland and England, and then went to
