Augustus Allen Hayes (February 28, 1806 – June 21, 1882) was an American chemist.

Biography

Hayes was born in Windsor, Vt., Feb. 28, 1806. He was graduated from the Norwich military school in 1823, and studied chemistry under Prof. James Freeman Dana at Dartmouth, 1823–1826. Hayes was assistant professor of chemistry in the New Hampshire medical college, 1826–1828, and an expert chemist in Boston, Mass., 1828–1882. He was the discoverer of the organic

alkaloid Alkaloids are a broad class of natural product, naturally occurring organic compounds that contain at least one nitrogen atom. Some synthetic compounds of similar structure may also be termed alkaloids. Alkaloids are produced by a large varie ...

sanguinaria ''Sanguinaria canadensis'', bloodroot, is a perennial, herbaceous flowering plant native to eastern North America. It is the only species in the genus ''Sanguinaria'', included in the poppy family Papaveraceae, and is most closely related to ' ...

; invented in 1838 a novel arrangement of steam boilers for the economical generation of steam: and first suggested the application of

oxide An oxide () is a chemical compound containing at least one oxygen atom and one other element in its chemical formula. "Oxide" itself is the dianion (anion bearing a net charge of −2) of oxygen, an O2− ion with oxygen in the oxidation st ...

s of iron in refining

pig-iron Pig iron, also known as crude iron, is an intermediate good used by the iron industry in the production of steel. It is developed by smelting iron ore in a blast furnace. Pig iron has a high carbon content, typically 3.8–4.7%, along with silica ...

; and a process for the production of

saltpetre Potassium nitrate is a chemical compound with a sharp, salty, bitter taste and the chemical formula . It is a potassium salt of nitric acid. This salt consists of potassium cations and nitrate anions , and is therefore an alkali metal nitrate ...

from

sodium nitrate Sodium nitrate is the chemical compound with the chemical formula, formula . This alkali metal nitrate salt (chemistry), salt is also known as Chile saltpeter (large deposits of which were historically mined in Chile) to distinguish it from ordi ...

by the action of

potassium hydroxide Potassium hydroxide is an inorganic compound with the formula K OH, and is commonly called caustic potash. Along with sodium hydroxide (NaOH), KOH is a prototypical strong base. It has many industrial and niche applications, most of which utili ...

. Hayes was state assayer of Massachusetts, and he received the honorary degree of M.D. from Dartmouth in 1846. He died in

Brookline, Mass Brookline () is an affluent town in Norfolk County, Massachusetts, United States, and part of the Boston metropolitan area. An exclave of Norfolk County, Brookline borders six of Boston's neighborhoods: Brighton, Allston, Fenway–Kenmore, Miss ...

., June 21, 1882.

Publications

Hayes the author of papers on: *''The Cause of the Color of

Lake Leman Lake Geneva is a deep lake on the north side of the Alps, shared between Switzerland and France. It is one of the largest lakes in Western Europe and the largest on the course of the Rhône. Sixty percent () of the lake belongs to Switzerl ...

, Geneva''; *''The Bed Oxide of Zinc in New Jersey,'' *and technical papers contributed to the ''Proceedings'' of various scientific societies of which he was a member and to the ''

American Journal of Science The ''American Journal of Science'' (''AJS'') is the United States of America's longest-running scientific journal, having been published continuously since its conception in 1818 by Professor Benjamin Silliman, who edited and financed it himself ...

''.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Hayes, Augustus Allen 1806 births 1882 deaths