The New International Encyclopædia/Kobell, Franz von

KOBELL, Franz von (1803-82). A German mineralogist and poet, born in Munich and educated at Landshut. He became professor of mineralogy in Munich in 1826, and in 1856 was appointed first curator of the State collection of minerals. To mineralogy his greatest contributions were new methods in crystallography and the valuable invention of the stauroscope. His scientific publications include: Charakteristik der Mineralien (1830-31); Skizzen aus dem Steinreich (1850); Mineralogie: Populäre Vorträge (1862); and, above all, the Tafeln zur Bestimmung der Mineralien (1833; 13th ed. 1893); Galvanographie (1842; 2d ed. 1846), describing a method of his own invention; and Geschichte der Mineralogie (1864). Kobell's popular poetry, in the dialects of Upper Bavaria and of the Palatinate, shows the true vis comica, and the possession of rich fancy without the lack of verisimilitude. Among the works of this genre mention should be made of: Schnadahüpfln und Sprüchln (2d ed. 1852); Gedichte in pfälzischer Mundart (1839-41); and Jagd- und Weinlieder (1899). Consult Luise von Kobell, Franz von Kobell (Munich, 1884).