Alexander Marcet

Alexander John Gaspard Marcet ( born August 1, 1770 in Geneva, † October 19, 1822 in London) was a Swiss- British chemist and physician.

Marcet was born the son of a watchmaker and member of the Council of the Two Hundred. Alexander Marcet studying philosophy and law at the Academy of Geneva and traveled 1793/94 with Nicolas- Théodore de Saussure to England. Since he was convicted in the wake of the revolution in Geneva to five years in exile, he traveled in 1794 with Charles- Gaspard de la Rive to Edinburgh, where he studied medicine and graduated in 1797 with a dissertation on diabetes mellitus. He worked in London hospitals, in 1804 at Guy's Hospital, where he also taught chemistry from 1805. In 1800 he took British citizenship. In 1819 he returned to Geneva, where he became professor of medicinal chemistry ( until 1821 ) and a member of those representing the Council ( until 1822 ).

Marcet explored as one of the first, the chemical structure of the oceans. He discovered in 1819 that the ratio of the major ions of sea water - sodium, chloride and magnesium ions - in all oceans is exactly the same. This principle of constant proportions applies regardless of the total salt content of the respective sea.

Works

• An essay on the chemical history and medical treatment of calculous Disorders. In 1817.
• Chemical studies on the urinary stones. In 1820.