tind in the United States, for instruction in chemical analysis and chemistry applied to the arts. A course under Dr. Booth was considered essential to those who followed chemistry, and many of his students have become well known. Among these are J. F. Frazer, Thos. H. Garrett, his late partner, R. S. McCuUoh, Campbell Morfit, Clarence Morfit, and R. E. Rogers. During the same year (1830) he became professor of applied chemistry at the Franklin institute, and for nine successive winters he continued his lectures, making three full courses of three years each. In 1849 he was appointed melter and refiner of the U. S. mint in Philadelphia, a place which he retained until 1888. His published papers cover topics in the entire domain of analytical and technical chemistry. His larger works include the first and second "Animal Report of the Delaware Geological Survey " (Dover, 1839); "The Memoirs of the Geological Survey of the State of Delaware" (Dover, 1841); "Encyclopaedia of Chemistry," in the preparation of which he was assisted by Martin H. Boye, R. S. McCulloh, and Campbell Morfit (Philadelphia, 1850); and a report on "Recent Improvements in the Chemical Arts" (Washington, 1852). He was president of the American chemical society in 1884 and 1885.
BOOTH, Junius Brutus, actor, b. in London,
1 May, 1796; d. 3 Nov., 1852. His father, Richard
Booth, the son of a silversmith of Bloomsbury,
after studying law, having become imbued with
republican ideas, embarked with a cousin to volunteer
in the cause of American independence, but
was taken prisoner and carried back to England.
He practised his profession with success, lived in
affluence in Bloomsbury, and was known as a scholar,
but unpopular on account of his republicanism.
It was one of his eccentricities to insist upon his
friends paying reverence to a portrait of
Washington in his drawing-room. Junius Brutus, the
eldest son, received a classical education, essayed
painting, sculpture, and poetry, was induced for a
time to work in his father's office with a view of
becoming a solicitor, and then, evincing a preference
for naval life, was commissioned as a
midshipman to Capt. Blythe's brig “Boxer”; but, when that vessel was ordered to Nova Scotia, the father,
unwilling that his son should serve against the
United States, dissuaded him from joining the ship.
After appearing as an amateur in a small London
theatre, he announced his intention of becoming
an actor, and, against his father's wishes, made
an engagement, and played subordinate parts, in
Peckham, Deptford, and in 1814 made a
professional tour through Holland and Belgium. A
few critics and influential friends, who recognized
his talents, seconded his efforts to secure a London
engagement; but he was forced to accept an offer
to play in the Worthing and Brighton theatres for
the season of 1815. He left there in October,
having finally secured a contract with the management
of Covent Garden theatre. But, as he was
announced for inferior parts instead of for Richard
III., he returned to Worthing, and gained a
triumph as a substitute for Edmund Kean in the
character of Sir Giles Overreach, captivating an
audience that was at first indignant at the young
actor's presumption. He continued to play at
Worthing, and found influential admirers, who
prevailed upon the manager, Harris, to give him a
trial as Richard III. at Covent Garden, where he
appeared in that character on 17 Feb., 1817, and
delighted the metropolitan audience. Before the
third performance, after a quarrel with the
manager, he was induced by Kean, of the Drury lane
company, to enter into an engagement with the
rival theatre, where he was announced to play
Iago to Kean's Othello; but he soon learned with
chagrin that in entrapping him into signing the
articles Kean designed only to prevent rivalry by
robbing the new favorite of the opportunity to
appear in leading parts. Booth, when made aware
of this, signed an agreement with the proprietors
of Covent Garden theatre, who apprised him of legal
flaws in the Drury lane contract. The town was
divided into Boothites and Keanites, and Booth's
reappearance at Covent Garden as Richard was the
occasion of a riotous tumult, which was renewed
on subsequent evenings. He played Richard and
Sir Giles Overreach alternately, and then
Posthumus in “Cymbeline,” appeared as Othello at Woolwich, afterward as Sir Edward Mortimer in
“The Iron Chest” at Covent Garden, acted with
applause, in July, 1818, at Glasgow and Edinburgh,
strolled through the provinces, gave Shylock in
the Jewish dialect at Covent Garden during the
succeeding autumn, and in the winter entered into
an engagement with the Coburg theatre, where he
acted Richard, Horatius, and Brutus. In April,
1820, he appeared again at Covent Garden as
Lear, which was recognized as one of his finest
parts. In August, 1820, he performed with Kean
at Drury lane, playing Iago, Edgar in “King Lear,” and Pierre. In the winter, while Kean was in the United States, he acted Lear, Cassius, and the part
of an Indian chief at Drury lane theatre. On 18
Jan., 1821, Mr. Booth married Mary Anne Holmes,
and after a wedding tour they sailed for the West
Indies, but stopped at Madeira, and took passage
thence for the United States, landing at Norfolk,
Va., 30 June, 1821. On 6 July, Booth appeared in
Richmond. His freedom from vanity and calculating
self-interest was evinced in his sudden
arrival unheralded in the United States. After a
triumphant appearance in New York and in
southern cities he seriously entertained the idea
of retiring from the stage and spending his days
in quiet as a light-house keeper. His first appearance
in New York was at the Park theatre on 5 Oct., 1821. In the summer of 1822 he purchased, in Harford co., Md., twenty-five miles from Baltimore, a retreat in the midst of woods, to which he always afterward retired when not occupied on
the stage, and where he carried on amateur farming
with the help of a few slaves. Thither his
father, the constant admirer of America, came the
same year to pass his remaining days. In 1825 he
again visited London with his family, and when the
Royalty theatre was burned lost his entire wardrobe.
After he returned to the United States he
began an engagement at the Park theatre, New
York, on 24 March, 1827, in which he acted Selim
in the “Bride of Abydos” at his benefit. In June he appeared in the part of Pescara in “The
Apostate,” a character written for him by Shiel. In
1828 he undertook the management of the Camp
street theatre in New Orleans, and, while playing
Richard III. to packed houses, studied French parts,
and afterward personated characters in several
French dramas, astonishing the audience with the
purity of his accent and his familiarity with the
peculiarities of French acting. The manager of
the Théâtre d'Orléans persuaded him to take the
part of Orestes in Racine's “Andromaque,” in
which he greatly pleased the French-speaking
public. In September, 1831, in New York, he
played Pierre in “Venice Preserved,” and Othello to Forrest's Jaffier and Iago. The same year he
took the lease of the Adelphi theatre in Baltimore.
While his theatre was undergoing repairs he took
the Holiday street theatre. During the season he
ap-
