There he lived from 1729 to 1734. The last event recorded of him was characteristic. It had been announced that he was dead. Dippel published an indignant denial, and declared his assurance that he would not die until the year 1808. The prophecy failed, for the next year, 1734, he was found dead in bed at the castle of Wittgenstein. The story of his discovery of Prussian blue is curious. When he was in Berlin, an artist, named Diesbach, was preparing some Florentine lake from a combination of alum and cochineal, acted on by sulphate of iron and fixed alkali. He asked Dippel for some of the alkali left over in his retort after he had distilled some of his animal oil. This seemed to spoil the product, for it yielded a blue instead of a crimson lake. Dippel tried it himself and got the same result. But he did not appreciate the value of this product, and it was left for Scheele to trace its chemical history. SPERMACETI. “The sovereign’st thing on earth was parmceti for an inward bruise.”--_Henry IV._ Part I, Act I, Sc. 3. Woodall (1639) writing of spermaceti, says, “It is good also against bruises inwardly taken with Mummia.” Culpepper (1695) says, “Sperma Cœti is well applied outwardly to eating ulcers, and the marks which the small-pox leaves behind; it clears the sight, provokes sweat. Inwardly, it troubles the stomach and belly, helps bruising and stretching the nerves, and therefore is good for women newly delivered.” Dr. James (1747) describes it as a noble medicine and refers to its chief use for outward application in small-pox to prevent the pitting. It was melted with oil of almonds, and with this mixture the pustules were kept moist when they began to harden. He says, “Although this is but a modern practice in this distemper, yet Schroder takes notice of its use in his time in smoothing and filling up the fissures or cavities made by blotches and scabs.”