There is no living chemist, to whom analytical chemistry lies under greater obligations than to Berzelius, whether we consider the number or the exactness of the analyses which he has made. Jacob Berzelius was educated at Upsala, when Professor Afzelius, a nephew of Bergman, filled the chemical chair, and Ekeberg was _magister docens_ in chemistry. Afzelius began his chemical career with considerable _éclat_, his paper on sulphate of barytes being possessed of very considerable merit. But he is said to have soon lost his health, and to have sunk, in consequence, into listless inactivity. Andrew Gustavus Ekeberg was born in Stockholm, on the 16th of January, 1767. His father was a captain in the Swedish navy. He was educated at Calmar; and in 1784 went to Upsala, where he devoted himself chiefly to the study of mathematics. He took his degree in 1788, when he wrote a thesis "De Oleis Seminum expressis." In 1789 he went to Berlin; and on his return, in 1790, he gave a specimen of his poetical talents, by publishing a poem entitled "Tal öfver Freden emellan Sverige och Ryssland" (Discourse about the Peace between Sweden and Russia). After this he turned his attention to chemistry; and in 1794 was made _chemiæ docens_. In this situation he continued till 1813, when he died on the 11th of February. He had been in such bad health for some time before his death, as to be quite unable to discharge the duties of his situation. He published but little, and that little consisted almost entirely of chemical analyses. His first attempt was on phosphate of lime; then he wrote a paper on the analysis of the topaz, the object of which was to explain Klaproth's method of dissolving hard stony bodies. He made an analysis of gadolinite, and determined the chemical properties of yttria. During these experiments he discovered the new metal to which he gave the name of _tantalum_, and which Dr. Wollaston afterwards showed to be the same with the _columbium_ of Mr. Hatchett. He also published an analysis of the automalite, of an ore of titanium, and of the mineral water of Medevi. In this last analysis he was assisted by Berzelius, who was then quite unknown to the chemical world.