William Prout, an English physician and chemist who contributed several important discoveries to medicine and chemistry, died on this date in 1850. Prout lectured before the Royal Society of London in 1827 on “the ultimate composition of simple alimentary substances.” He deduced that carbohydrates, fats and proteins were major components of food, a theory that still holds true today. In chemistry, he experimented with uric acid, combining it with nitric acid and ammonia to derive ammonium purpurate, which could be used to dye wool. Prout also theorized that all atoms are multiples of the hydrogen atom, a theory that eventually became known as “Prout’s Hypothesis.”

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