Heinrich Girard

Heinrich Girard

Heinrich Girard (actually: Carl Adolph Heinrich Girard ; born June 2, 1814 in Berlin , † April 11, 1878 in Halle (Saale) ) was a German geologist and mineralogist.

Life

The son of the toy dealer Paul Emil Girard came from a Huguenot family , where he was the fourth youngest child. After attending a preparatory institution in Berlin in his early youth, he attended the trade school in Berlin from the age of 12 to 16. Since he originally wanted to take up the profession of pharmacist, he completed an apprenticeship in the Bärwald'sche pharmacy. At the same time, he continued his education with private teachers and passed his Abitur examination at the French grammar school in Berlin at Easter 1835 . He then moved to the University of Berlin to study natural sciences and worked intensively on mineralogy and geology. His teachers at the time were Hermann Burmeister (1807–1892), Paul Erman (1764–1851), Hinrich Lichtenstein (1780–1857), Eilhard Mitscherlich (1794–1863), Johann Christian Poggendorff (1796–1877), Carl Ritter (1779– 1859), Gustav Rose (1798–1873) and Heinrich Rose (1795–1864).

Of great use and interest for him were major trips on which he accompanied the botanist Heinrich Friedrich Link (1767-1851) to Italy, as well as Leopold von Buch (1774-1853), who saw him a lot and encouraged him in every respect. At the instigation of a larger German silver goods factory, he made trips to Switzerland and the Pyrenees, where he dealt with a report on the nickel mines there. On April 18, 1840, he was due a dissertation "de basaltis eorumque et vulcanorum rationibus" of the Faculty of Philosophy in Berlin to the doctor of philosophy doctorate .

After completing his doctorate, Girard was employed as a custodian at the Berlin Mineralogical Museum, whose mineralogical department was assigned to him by Christian Samuel Weiss (1780-1856), while the paleontological department was administered by Ernst Beyrich (1815-1896). In 1845 he qualified as a lecturer in mineralogy at the Berlin University . During this time, repeated wanderings and research, sometimes accompanied by his audience, in northern Germany. One of the fruits of this was his first larger work: "Geognostic Investigations in the North German Plain" (1846). In December 1848 he was a founding member of the German Geological Society and, alongside Heinrich Ernst Beyrich , Julius Ewald and Gustav Rose, its first secretary. In 1849 Girard became associate professor of mineralogy and geology at the University of Marburg , where he was entrusted with the management of the minerals cabinet and the establishment of a mineralogical institute. For political reasons, however, he had to leave Marburg and at the end of 1853 was appointed full professor of mineralogy and geology at the University of Halle-Wittenberg . He has worked here since the summer semester of 1854. As long as he was in full strength, he was a popular teacher, who, full of life and with a fine sense, presented his rich knowledge to the learning youth.

His amiable disposition, his appealingly stimulating mindset in social intercourse and his fluency in practical matters have earned him a lot of trust from his colleagues and fellow citizens. He had also taken part in the organizational tasks of the Halle university and was rector of the Alma Mater in 1863/64 . He had also been a member of the city council for a long time. Several years before his death, he was forced to resign from his work due to increasing sickness. He belonged to the Leopoldina since June 1, 1856 under the name “Free Life”. Oswald Heer named the Triassic insect Legnophora girardi Heer 1864 in his honor. Anton Handlirsch identified this fossil as the wing fruit of a conifer during a follow-up examination.

Fonts (selection)

• About earthquakes and volcanoes. A lecture given in the scientific association. G. Reimer , Berlin 1845 ( archive )
• The North German Plain, especially between the Elbe and the Vistula, is shown geologically. G. Reimer, Berlin 1855 ( archive )
• Geological walks. I. Wallis-Vivarais-Velay. CEM Pfeffer, Halle 1855, 2nd edition 1861 ( archive )
• His part in v. Dechen's geological map of the Rhine Province and the Province of Westphalia. J. Schropp, Berlin 1855-65
• Letters about Alexander v. Humboldt's cosmos. Edited by B. v. Cotta, J. Schaller, WC Wittwer and H. Girard. 4th part, 2nd section, edited by H. Girard. TO Weigel, Leipzig 1860 Online
• Handbook of Mineralogy. TO Weigel, Leipzig 1862
• Basis of soil science for agriculture and forestry. CEM Pfeffer, Halle 1868
• About a new occurrence of feldspar quadruplets. In: Berg- und Hüttenmännische Zeitung . I, 1842
• About the deposit of diamonds. In: Erdmann's Journal for Practical Chemistry . XXIX, 1843, p. 197
• Determination of some animal fossils collected by A. Erman in European Russia and in North Asia. In: Erdmann's Russian Archive. III, 1843, p. 539
• Results of a geognostic study of the areas between Wittenberg, Belzig, Magdeburg, Helmstedt and Stendal. In: Karsten and v. Dechen's Archive for Mineralogy ct. XVIII, 1844, p. 87
• About surface and structure conditions of the north German plain and especially about the mountain ranges, lakes and the peculiar direction of the three rivers Elbe, Oder and Vistula. III, 1846, p. 87.
• Calceola pyramidalis n. Sp. from Gothland. In: v. Leonhard's and Bronn's yearbook for mineralogy . 1842, p. 232
• Diamond and its host rock in Brazil. In: v. Leonhard's and Bronn's yearbook for mineralogy . 1843, p. 307
• Trip to the meeting of naturalists in Padua; mineralogical negotiations there; erratic blocks, glaciers, gryphees; Description of the collection of petrefacts from Padua from shell limestone, oolites and chalk. In: v. Leonhard's and Bronn's yearbook for mineralogy . 1843, p. 469
• About coprolites from the coal mountains of Hohenelbe in Bohemia. In: v. Leonhard's and Bronn's yearbook for mineralogy . 1843, p. 757
• On the geognosy of Inner Africa. In: v. Leonhard's and Bronn's yearbook for mineralogy . 1844, p. 311
• Petrefacten from Russia. In: v. Leonhard's and Bronn's yearbook for mineralogy . 1845, p. 128
• Geological travel notes from Italy. In: v. Leonhard's and Bronn's yearbook for mineralogy . 1845, p. 769
• About the tracks of prehistoric animals in the sandstone, especially of Chirotherium. In: v. Leonhard's and Bronn's yearbook for mineralogy . 1846, p. 1 ( archives )
• London clay storage facility in Northern Germany; Hydrarchus in Berlin. In: v. Leonhard's and Bronn's yearbook for mineralogy . 1846, p. 465
• Occurrence and distribution of Londonclay in the north German plain. In: v. Leonhard's and Bronn's yearbook for mineralogy . 1847, p. 563
• About the construction of the Kyffhäuser Mountains based on observations made in 1843. In: v. Leonhard's and Bronn's yearbook for mineralogy . 1847, p. 687
• About the metamorphic slates and porphyries of the Rübeland area. In: v. Leonhard's and Bronn's yearbook for mineralogy . 1848, p. 260
• Transformation of green slate into porphyry. Westphalian transition mountains near Arensberg. In: v. Leonhard's and Bronn's yearbook for mineralogy . 1848, p. 306
• Spread of the Clymenia and Goniatite Limestone in Europe. In: v. Leonhard's and Bronn's yearbook for mineralogy . 1849, p. 450
• On the varieties of the Terebratula vicinals from the Brocatello d'Arzo. In: v. Leonhard's and Bronn's yearbook for mineralogy . 1851, p. 316
• Distribution of the Goniatites and Clymenia Mountains; geological trip to Switzerland, southern France and the Pyrenees, Bex, Baveno, Lugano, Mendrisio, Tremona. In: v. Leonhard's and Bronn's yearbook for mineralogy . 1851, p. 331
• Geognostic journey from Genoa through the south of France to Barcelona. In: v. Leonhard's and Bronn's yearbook for mineralogy . 1853, p. 564
• About the Melaphyre in the area of ​​Ilefeld am Harz. In: v. Leonhard's and Bronn's yearbook for mineralogy . 1858, p. 145
• Anhydrite crystals from Stassfurt. In: v. Leonhard's and Bronn's yearbook for mineralogy . 1862, p. 591
• Hoevelite, a new mineral. In: v. Leonhard's and Bronn's yearbook for mineralogy . 1863, p. 568
• About the geognostic conditions of the north-eastern German lowlands. In: Journal of the German Geological Society . 1849, p. 339
• About basalts and their relation to the dolerites. In: Poggendorff's annals of physics and chemistry. Volume LIV, 1841, p. 557
• About the geognosy of the Mittelmark. In: Meeting reports of the Natural Research Society in Halle. 1855, p. 2
• About the extinct volcanoes of Vivarais and Velay. In: Meeting reports of the Natural Research Society in Halle. 1855, p. 7
• About the triad formation. In: Meeting reports of the Natural Research Society in Halle. 1855, p. 8
• About the origin of the earthquake according to Volger. In: Meeting reports of the Natural Research Society in Halle. 1856, p. 13
• About the profile of the coal formation erected by Prof. Goeppert in Breslau in the botanical garden. In: Meeting reports of the Natural Research Society in Halle. 1856, p. 16
• About the North German lignites in comparison with the vegetation of the west coast of South America. In: Meeting reports of the Natural Research Society in Halle. 1857, p. 4
• About rare areas in quartz. In: Meeting reports of the Natural Research Society in Halle. 1857, p. 5
• About the coal deposit near Defeld am Harz. In: Meeting reports of the Natural Research Society in Halle. 1857, p. 7
• About coprolites. In: Meeting reports of the Natural Research Society in Halle. 1857, p. 12
• On the composition of the melaphyre. In: Meeting reports of the Natural Research Society in Halle. 1857, p. 19
• About the new investigations of the Pennine Alps by Gerlach. In: Meeting reports of the Natural Research Society in Halle. 1859, p. 8
• Over the maars of the Eifel. In: Meeting reports of the Natural Research Society in Halle. 1859, p. 14
• About changes in a quartz crystal which was in hydrofluoric acid. In: Meeting reports of the Natural Research Society in Halle. 1861, p. 9
• About conical-shell-shaped depressions on the chest surface of flint and a glass ball. In: Meeting reports of the Natural Research Society in Halle. 1861, p. 11
• On Rose's Description and Classification of Meteorites. In: Meeting reports of the Natural Research Society in Halle. 1864, p. 19
• About the relief conditions of the earth's surface. In: Meeting reports of the Natural Research Society in Halle. 1865, p. 17
• About the relationship of the Jurassic to the Chalk formation, especially with regard to the relationship of the faunas. In: Meeting reports of the Natural Research Society in Halle. 1866, p. 24
• About the probable products of decomposition of the feldspäthe by the atmospheres. In: Meeting reports of the Natural Research Society in Halle. 1867, p. 11
• Over the porphyry and limestone mountains of southern Tyrol. In: Meeting reports of the Natural Research Society in Halle. 1869, p. 38

literature

• In memory of Heinrich Girard. In: CHN Knoblauch: Leopoldina - Official organ of the imperial Leopoldino-Carolinian German Academy of Natural Scientists. Booklet XVII - No. 1–2, January 1881, Halle / Saale, p. 14
• Max Lenz: History of the Royal Friedrich Wilhelms University in Berlin. Bookshop of the orphanage, Halle / Saale 1918, p. 155

Web links

• Entry on Heinrich Girard in the Catalogus Professorum Halensis
• Member entry of Carl Adolph Heinrich Girard at the German Academy of Natural Scientists Leopoldina , accessed on August 21, 2017.

Individual evidence

1. ↑ Anton Handlirsch: The fossil insects and the phylogeny of recent forms. A handbook for paleontologists and zoologists . 1. Delivery with 9 plates, Verlag Wilhelm Engelmann, Leipzig 1906, p. 406 ( archive )