Jules-marie-augustin chautard

Jules-Marie-Augustin Chautard (1826-1901), a French multifaceted scientist who started as a pharmacist and then turned physicist and coin collector. His main activities were related to phenomenon of light polarization, particularly in camphor and lavender, and the spectral study of chlorophyll. He showed that camphor appeared as dextro, levo, and racemic isomers, the same as tartaric acid, and demonstrated that these isomers could be obtained by chemical means. He postulated that a compound appearing in one isomeric form should also be present in the two other forms. He showed that the spectrum of chlorophyll possessed some typical lines, which allowed its detection down to one part in ten thousand, and also when mixed with other substances, fact that provided an important physiological and forensic tool. Together with Dessaignes they separated physalin, the active bitter component of the plant Chinese lantern (Physalis alkekengi).