Online Encyclopedia

Search over 40,000 articles from the original, classic Encyclopedia Britannica, 11th Edition.

ROMBERG, WILHELM (1652-1715)

Online Encyclopedia
Originally appearing in Volume V13, Page 625 of the 1911 Encyclopedia Britannica.
» Make a correction to this article.
» Add information or comments to this article.
Spread the word: del.icio.us del.icio.us it!

See also:

ROMBERG, WILHELM (1652-1715) , Dutch natural philosopher, was the son of an officer of the Dutch See also:East See also:India See also:Company, and was See also:born at See also:Batavia (See also:Java) on the 8th of See also:January 1652. Coming to See also:Europe with his See also:family in 1670, he studied See also:law at See also:Jena and See also:Leipzig, and in 1674 became an See also:advocate at See also:Magdeburg. In that See also:town he made the acquaintance of See also:Otto von See also:Guericke, and under his See also:influence determined to devote himself to natural See also:science. He, therefore, travelled in various parts of Europe for study, and after graduating in See also:medicine at See also:Wittenberg, settled in See also:Paris in 1682, From 1685 to 1690 he practised as a physician at See also:Rome; then returning to Paris in 169r, he was elected a member of the See also:Academy of Sciences and appointed director of ' Communicated by Madame See also:Wagner, See also:December 28th, 1897. its chemical laboratory. Subsequently he became teacher of physics and See also:chemistry (1702), and private physician (1705) to the See also:duke of See also:Orleans. His See also:death occurred at Paris on the 24th of See also:September 1715. Homberg was not See also:free from alchetnistical tendencies, but he made many solid contributions to chemical and See also:physical knowledge, recording observations on the preparation of See also:Kunkel's See also:phosphorus, on the See also:green See also:colour produced in flames by See also:copper, on the See also:crystallization of See also:common See also:salt, on the salts of See also:plants, on the saturation of bases by acids, on the freezing of See also:water and its evaporation in vacuo, &c. Much of his See also:work was published in the Recueil de l'Academie See also:des Sciences from 1692 to 1714. The Sal Sedativum Hombergi is boracic See also:acid, which he discovered in 1702, and " Homberg's phosphorus " is prepared by fusing sal-ammoniac with See also:quick See also:lime. HOMBURG-VOR-DER-HOHE, a town and watering-See also:place of See also:Germany, in the Prussian See also:province of See also:Hesse-See also:Nassau, prettily situated at the See also:south-east See also:foot of the See also:Taunus Mountains, 12 M. N. of See also:Frankfort-on-See also:Main, with which it is connected by See also:rail.

Pop. (1905) 13,740. Homburg consists of an old and a new town, the latter, founded by the See also:

landgrave of Hesse-Homburg See also:Frederick II. (d. 1708), being See also:regular and well-built. Besides the palatial edifices erected in connexion with the See also:mineral water-cure, there are churches of various denominations, Lutheran, See also:Roman See also:Catholic, See also:Russian-See also:Greek and See also:Anglican, See also:schools and benevolent institutions. On a neighbouring See also:hill stands the See also:palace of the former landgraves, built in 168o and subsequently enlarged and improved. The See also:White See also:Tower, 183 ft. in height, is said to date from Roman times, and certainly existed under the lords of Eppstein, who held the See also:district in the 12th See also:century. The palace is surrounded by extensive grounds, laid out in the manner of an See also:English See also:park. The eight mineral springs which See also:form the attraction of the town to strangers belong to the class of saline acidulous chalybeates and contain a considerable proportion of carbonate of lime. Their use is beneficial for diseases of the See also:stomach and intestines, and. externally, for diseases of the skin and See also:rheumatism. The establishments connected with the springs are arranged on a See also:scale of See also:great magnificence, and include the Kurhaus (built 1841-1843), with a See also:theatre, the Kaiser Wilhelmsbad and the Kurhausbad.

They See also:

lie grouped See also:round a See also:pretty park which also furnishes the visitors with facilities for various recreations, such as See also:lawn See also:tennis, See also:croquet, See also:polo and other See also:games. The See also:industries of Homburg embrace See also:iron See also:founding and the manufacture of See also:leather and hats, but they are comparatively unimportant, the prosperity of the town being almost entirely due to the See also:annual influx of visitors, which during the See also:season from May to See also:October inclusive averages 12,000. In the beautiful neighbourhood lies the See also:ancient Roman See also:castle of Saalburg, which can be reached by an electric See also:tramway. Homburg first came into repute as a watering-place in 1834, and owing to its gaming-tables, which were set up soon after, it rapidly became one of the favourite and most fashionable See also:health-resorts of Europe. In 1849 the town was occupied by See also:Austrian troops for the purpose of enforcing the imperial See also:decree against gambling establishments, but immediately on their withdrawal the See also:bank was again opened, and See also:play continued unchecked until 1872, when the Prussian See also:government refused to renew the See also:lease for gambling purposes, which then expired. As the See also:capital of the former landgraviate of Hesse-Homburg, the town shared the vicissitudes of that See also:state. Homburg is also the name of a town in See also:Bavaria. Pop. (1g0o) 4785. It has a Roman Catholic and an Evangelical See also:church, and manufactures of iron goods. In the neighbourhood are the ruins of the castles of Karlsberg and of Hohenburg. The family of the See also:counts of Homburg became See also:extinct in the 15th century.

The town came into the See also:

possession of See also:Zweibrucken in 1755 and later into that of Bavaria. See Sapp, See also:Bad Homburg (7th ed., Homburg, 1903);, Baumstark, B,id homburg and See also:seine Heilquellen (See also:Wiesbaden, 19o1); Schiek, Homburg and Umgebung (Homburg, 1896) ; Will, Der Kurort [lom''nrg, seine Mineralquellen (Homburg, 188o) ; Hoeben, Bad Homburg and sein Heilapparat (Homburg, 1901); and N. E. See also:Yorke-See also:Davies. Homburg and its See also:Waters (See also:London, 1897).

End of Article: ROMBERG, WILHELM (1652-1715)

Additional information and Comments

There are no comments yet for this article.
» Add information or comments to this article.
Please link directly to this article:
Highlight the code below, right click, and select "copy." Then paste it into your website, email, or other HTML.
Site content, images, and layout Copyright © 2006 - Net Industries, worldwide.
Do not copy, download, transfer, or otherwise replicate the site content in whole or in part.

Links to articles and home page are always encouraged.

[back]
ROMANUS IV 		[next]
ROME

Site © 2006 - Net Industries