Augustus Voelcker

Augustus Voelcker
Born	(1822-09-24)24 September 1822 Frankfurt am Main
Died	London
Nationality	German
Fields	Chemist
Known for	Royal Agricultural Society of England
Influences	Friedrich Wöhler Justus von Liebig Gerardus Johannes Mulder James Finlay Weir Johnston

Augustus Voelcker F.R.S. (24 September 1822 – 5 December 1884), full name John Christopher Augustus Voelcker, was a Royal Agricultural Society of England chemist. Voelcker was known for his methodical and precise analytical practices as applied to agricultural chemistry.

Biography

After working as a pharmacist's assistant in Frankfurt until 1842, then in a similar capacity in Schaffhausen until 1844, Voelcker entered University of Göttingen where he studied chemistry under professor Friedrich Wöhler. He also attended University of Giessen, where the German chemist Justus von Liebig lectured on agricultural chemistry. He went to Utrecht in 1846 to work as assistant to professor Gerardus Johannes Mulder where Voelcker studied the chemistry of animal and vegetable production. In 1847 he went to Edinburgh as assistant to James Finlay Weir Johnston, the Highland and Agricultural Society of Scotland's chemist at the time. Whilst in Edinburgh, he lectured at Durham University and also became friends with the chemist George Wilson. From 1849, as the first professor of chemistry at the Royal Agricultural College, Cirencester, Voelcker lectured on such topics as sewage.

Voelcker was consultant chemist for the Bath Royal Literary and Scientific Institution (1849–1863)

Voelcker was recruited as consultant chemist to the Royal Bath and West of England Society by Sir Thomas Dyke Acland, 11th Baronet in about 1849. He was appointed consultant chemist to the Bath Royal Literary and Scientific Institution in 1855, a post he held until 1863, although he continued to maintain connections with the society. Voelcker contributed to the society's journal and lectured throughout the area. He was well aware of agricultural economics, for, as he said

any good analytical chemist can ascertain the exact amount of the different constituents of the manure, and, knowing the market price at which they can be obtained separately, he is enabled to calculate with tolerable accuracy its commercial value

He set up a private consulting practice in London in 1863; he provided advice in many fields including sewage, water and gas supply, river pollution, and agricultural holdings. For example, by using the cost of ammonia as nine pence per pound, and the cost of phosphates as two pence per pound, an 1885 book reported Voelcker as calculating the annual value of excrement per adult as nine shillings (worth 43 pound sterling in 2024). He was elected chairman of the London Farmers Club in 1875.

Voelcker's fourth son was Arthur Francis Voelcker, M.D., F.R.C.P. (1861–1946).

Selected works

• Several papers in German and Dutch scientific journals (1844–1846)

Works taken from

• Read before the Royal Society of Edinburgh, 4 March 1850
• Read before the Botanical Society of Edinburgh, 10 January 1850

External links

• Works written by or about John Augustus Voelcker at Wikisource