THE CENTURY 
 
 
 SCIENCE SERIES 
 
 
 Hi 
 
 iMPHRY Davy 
 
 POET 
 
 AND PHILOSOPHER 
 
 
 THORPE 
 
 SirlienryE.RosGoe
 
 THE LIBRARY 
 
 OF 
 
 THE UNIVERSITY 
 
 OF CALIFORNIA 
 
 LOS ANGELES
 
 THE CENTURY SCIENCE SERIES 
 
 Edited by SIR HENRY E. ROSCOE, D.C.L., LL.D., F.K..S. 
 
 HUMPHRY DAVY 
 POET AFD PHILOSOPHER
 
 The Century Science Series. 
 
 EDITED BY 
 
 SIR HENRY E. ROSCOE, D.C.L., F.R.S. 
 
 John Dalton and the Rise of Modem Chemistry. 
 
 By Sir Henry E. Roscoe, F.R.S. 
 
 Major Rennell, F.R.S., and the Rise of English 
 Geography. 
 
 By Sir Clements R. Markham, C. B., F.R.S., President 
 of the Royal Geographical Society. 
 
 Justus von Liebig : his Life and Work (1803-1873). 
 
 By W. A. Shenstone, F.I.C, Lecturer on Chemistry in 
 Clifton College. 
 
 The Herschels and Modem Astronomy. 
 
 By Agnes M. Clerke, Author of "A Popular History 
 of Astronomy during the 19th Century," &c. 
 
 Charles Lyell and Modem Geology. 
 
 By Rev. Professor T. G. Bonney, F.R.S. 
 
 James Clerk Maxwell and Modem Physics. 
 
 By R. T. Glazebrook, F.R.S., Fellow of Trinity College, 
 Cambridge. 
 
 Humphry Davy, Poet and Philosopher. 
 
 By T. E. Thorpe, F.R.S., LL.D., Principal Chemist of 
 the Government Laboratories. 
 
 In Preparation. 
 
 Michael Faraday : his Life and Work. 
 
 By Professor Silvanus P. Thompson, F.R.S. 
 
 Pasteur : his Life and Work. 
 
 By NT. Armand Ruffer, M.D., Director of the British 
 
 Institute of Preventive Medicine. 
 
 Charles Darwin and the Origin of Species. 
 
 By Edward B. Poulton, M.A., F.R.S., Hope Professor 
 of Zoology in the University of Oxford. 
 
 Hermann von Helmholtz. 
 
 By A. W. RucKER, F.R.S., Professor of Physics in the 
 Royal College of Science, London. 
 
 CASSELL & COMPANY, \,\i.w\^d, London; Paris &= Melbourne.
 
 HUMPHRY DAVY
 
 THE CENTURY SCIENCE SERIES 
 
 Humphry Davy 
 
 POET AND PHILOSOPHER 
 
 T. E. THOEPE, LL.D., F.E.S. 
 
 CASSELL AND COMPANY, Limited 
 
 LONDON, PARIS ^ MELBOURNE 
 1896 
 
 ALL RIGHTS RESKRVED
 
 wz 
 
 PEEFAOE 
 
 For the details of Sir Humphry Davy's personal history, as 
 set forth in this Uttle book, I am mainly indebted to the 
 well-known memoirs by Dr. Paris and Dr. John Davy.^- As 
 biographies, these works are of very uneq^ual value. To begin 
 with, Dr. Paris is not unfrequently inaccurate in his state- 
 ments as to matters of fact, and disingenuous in his inferences 
 as to matters of conduct and opinion. The very extravagance 
 of his laudation suggests a doubt of his judgment or of his 
 sincerity, and this is strengthened by the too evident relish 
 with which he dwells upon the foibles and frailties of his 
 subject. The insincerity is reflected in the literary style of 
 the narrative, which is inflated and over- wrought. Sir Walter^ 
 Scott, who knew Davy well and who admired his genius and 
 his many social gifts, characterised the book as '' ungentle iuanly" 
 in tone; and there is no doubt that it gave pain to many 
 of Davy's friends who, like Scott, believed that justice had 
 not been done to his character. 
 
 Dr. Davy's book, on the other hand, whilst perhaps too 
 partial at times — as might be expected from one who writes 
 of a brother to whom he was under great obligations, and 
 for whom, it is evident, he had the highest respect and 
 affection— is Avritten with candour, and a sobriety of tone 
 and a directness and simplicity of statement far more effective 
 than the stilted euphuistic periods of Dr. Paris, even when 
 he seeks to be most forcible. When, therefore, I have had 
 to deal with conflicting or inconsistent statements in the two 
 works on matters of fact, I have generally preferred to accept 
 the version of Dr. Davy, on the ground that he had access to 
 sources of information not available to Dr. Paris. 
 
 Davy played such a considerable part in the social and 
 intellectual world of London during the first quarter of the 
 century that, as might be expecte:!, his name frequently 
 occurs in the personal memoirs and biographical literature 
 of his time ; and a number of journals and diaries, such as 
 those of Horner, Ticknor, Henry Cr-abb Kobinson, Lockhart, 
 Maria Edgewortli, and others that might be mentioned, make 
 reference to him and his work, and indicate what his con- 
 temporaries thought of his character and achievements. Some
 
 VI PREFACE. 
 
 of these references will be found in the following pages. It 
 will surprise many Londoners to know that they owe the 
 Zoological Gardens, in large measure, to a Professor of 
 Chemistry in Albemarle Street, and that the magnificent 
 establishment in the Cromwell Road, South Kensington, is 
 the outcome of the representations, unsuccessful for a time, 
 which he made to his brother trustees of the British Museum 
 as to the j^lace of natural history in the national collections. 
 Davy had a leading share also in the foundation of the 
 Athenseum Club, and was one of its first trustees. 
 
 I am further under very special obligations to Dr. 
 Humphry D. Rolleston, the grand-nephew of Sir Humphry 
 Davy, for much valuable material, procured through the 
 kind co-operation of Miss Davy, the granddaughter of 
 Dr. John Davy. This consisted of letters from Priestley, 
 Kirwan, Southey, Coleridge, Maria Edge worth, Mrs. Beddoes 
 (Anna Edge worth). Sir Joseph Banks, Gregory Watt, and 
 others ; and, what is of especial interest to his biographer, a 
 large number of Davy's own letters to his wife. In addition were 
 papers relating to the invention of the Safety Lamp. Some of 
 the letters have already been published by Dr. John Davy, 
 but others now appear in print for the first time. I am also 
 indebted to Dr. Rolleston for the loan of the portrait represent- 
 ing Davy in Court dress and in the presidential chair of the 
 Royal Society, which, reproduced in photogravure, forms the 
 frontispiece to this book. The original is a small highly- 
 fini.shed work by Jackson, and was painted about 1823. The 
 picture originally belonged to Lady Davy, who refers to it 
 in the letter to Davies Gilbert (quoted by Weld in his 
 " History of the Royal Society "), in which she offers 
 Lawrence's well-known portrait to the Society, and which, 
 by the way, the Society nearly lost througli the subsequent 
 action of the painter. 
 
 For the references to the early history of the Royal 
 Institution I am mainly indebted to Dr. Bence Jones's book. 
 I have, njoreover, to thank the Managers of the Institution 
 for their kindness in giving me permission to see the minutes 
 of the early meetings, and also for allowing me to consult the 
 manuscripts and laboratory journals in their possession. These 
 include the original records of Davy's work, and also the notes 
 taken by Faraday of his lectures. The Managers have also 
 allowed me to reproduce Miss Harriet Moore's sketch— first
 
 PREFACE. Vll 
 
 brought to my notice by Professor Dewar — of the chemical 
 laboratory of the Institution as it appeared in the time of 
 Davy and Faraday, and I have to thank them for the loan 
 of Gillray's characteristic drawing of the Lecture Theatre, from 
 which the illustration on p. 70 has been prepared. 
 
 I have necessarily had to refer to the relations of Davy to 
 Faraday, and I trust I have said enough on that subject. 
 Indeed, in my opinion, more than enough has been said 
 already. It is not necessary to belittle Davy in order to exalt 
 Faraday ; and writers who, like Dr. Paris, unmindful of George 
 Herbert's injunction, are prone to adopt an antithetical style 
 in biographical narrative have, I am convinced, done Davy's 
 memory much harm. 
 
 I regret that the space at my command has not allowed 
 me to go into greater detail into the question of George 
 Stephenson's relations to the invention of the safety lamp. 
 I have had ample material placed at my disposal for a dis- 
 cussion of the question, and I am specially indebted to Mr. 
 John Pattinson and the Council of the Literary and Philo- 
 sophical Society of Newcastle-upon-Tyne for their kindness in 
 lending me a rare, if not unique, collection of pamphlets 
 and reprints of newspaper articles which made their appear- 
 ance when the idea of otfering Davy some proof of the value 
 which the coal owners entertained of his invention was first 
 promulgated. George Stephenson's claims are not to be dis 
 missed summarily as pretensions. Indeed, his behaviour 
 throughout the whole of the controversy increases one's respect 
 for him as a man of integrity and rectitude, conscious of 
 what he thought due to himself, and showing only a proper 
 assurance in his own vindication. I venture to think, how- 
 ever, that the conclusion to which I have arrived, and 
 which, from the exigencies of space, is, I fear, somewhat 
 baldly stated, as to the apportionment of the merit of this 
 memorable invention, is just and can be well established 
 Stephenson might possibly have hit upon a safety lamp if 
 he had been allowed to work out his own ideas independently 
 and by the purely empirical methods he adopted, and it is 
 conceivable that his lamp might have assumed its present 
 form without the intervention of Davy ; but it is difficult 
 to imagine that an unlettered man, absolutely without know- 
 ledge of physical science, could have discovered the philosophical 
 principle upon which the security of the lamp depends. 
 May, 1896. T. E. T.
 
 COISTTENTS 
 
 CHAPTER PAGE 
 
 I.— Penzanck : 1778-1798 9 
 
 ir.— Thk Pnevmatic Institvtiox. Buistol : 1798-1801 . . 26 
 
 III. — The Pneumatic Institution, Buistol: 1798-1801 {con- 
 tinued) ......... 54 
 
 IV. — The Royal Institution ,66 
 
 V. — The Chemical Laijoratory of the Royal Institution . 90 
 
 VI. — The Isolation of the Metals of the Alkalis . 110 
 
 VII.— Chlorine 134 
 
 VIII. — Marriage — Knighthood — " Elements of Chemical 
 
 Philosophy" — Nitrogen Trichloride — Fluorine . 155 
 
 IX. — D.WY and Faraday — Iodine 173 
 
 X.— The Safety Lamp 192 
 
 XI. — Davy and the Royal Society — His Last Days . .213
 
 Humphry Davy, 
 
 POET AND PHILOSOPHEE. 
 CHAPTER I. 
 
 PENZANCE : 1778-1798. 
 
 Humphry Davy, the eldest son of "Carver" Robert 
 Davy and his wife Grace Millett, was born on the I7th 
 December, 1778.^ His biographers are not wholly agreed 
 as to the exact place of his birth. In the "Lives of 
 Philosophers of the Time of George IH." Lord Brougham 
 states that the great chemist was born at Yarfell, a 
 homestead or " town-place " in the parish of Liidgvan, 
 in the Mount's Bay, where, as the registers and tomb- 
 stones of Ludgvan Church attest, the family had been 
 settled for more than two hundred years. 
 
 Mr. Tregellas, in his " Cornish Worthies " (vol. i., 
 p. 247), also leaves the place uncertain, hesitating, 
 apparently, to decide between Varfell and Penzance. 
 
 According to Dr. John Davy, his brother Humphry 
 was born in Market Jew Street, Penzance, in a house 
 now pulled down, but which was not far from the statue 
 of him that stands in front of the Market House of 
 this town. Dr. Davy further states that Humphry's 
 parents removed to Varfell some years after his birth, 
 when he himself was taken charge of by a Mr. Tonkin. 
 
 * In some biographical notices— ^.y. in the GcniJcmcoi^'i MaffazDic, 
 xcix. pt. ii. 9— tlje jeur is given as 1779.
 
 10 HUMPHRY DAVY, 
 
 The Davys originally belonged to Norfolk. The 
 first member of the family that settled in Cornwall 
 was believed to have acted as steward to the Duke 
 of Bolton, who in the time of Elizabeth had a con- 
 siderable property in the Mount's Bay. They were, 
 as a class, respectable yeomen in fairly comfortable 
 circumstances, who for generations back had received 
 a lettered education. They took to themselves wives 
 from the Eusticks, Adamses, Milletts, and other old 
 Cornish families, and, if we may credit the testimony 
 of the tombstones, had many virtues, were not over- 
 given to smuggling or WTCcking, and, for the most 
 part, died in their own beds. 
 
 The grandfather of Humphry, Edmund Davy, was 
 a builder of repute in the west of Cornwall, Avho married 
 well and left his eldest son Robert, the father of the 
 chemist, in possession of the small copyhold property 
 of Yarfell, to which reference has already been made. 
 Robert, although a person of some capacity, seems 
 to have been shiftless, thriftless, and lax in habits. 
 In his youth he had been taught wood-carving, and 
 specimens of his skill are still to be seen in and about 
 Penzance. But he practised his art in an irregular 
 fashion, his energies being mainly spent in field 
 sports, in unsuccessful experiments in farming, and in 
 hazardous, and for the most part fruitless, ventures 
 in mining. At his death, which occurred when he 
 Avas forty-eight, his affairs were found to be sadly 
 embarrassed ; his widow and five children were left in 
 very straitened circumstances, and Yarfell had to be 
 given up. 
 
 Fortunately for the children, the mother possessed 
 the qualities which the father lacked. Casting about 
 for the means of bringing up and educating her family,
 
 POET AND PHILOSOPHER. 11 
 
 she opened a niilliner's shop in the town, in partnership 
 with a French lady Avho had fled to England during 
 the Revolution. 
 
 By prudence, good management, and the forbearance 
 of creditors, she not only succeeded in rearing and 
 educating her children, but gradually liquidated the 
 whole of her husband's debts. Some years later, by an 
 unexpected stroke of fortune, she was able to relinquish 
 her iDusiness. She lived to a good old age, cheerful 
 and serene, happy in the respect and affection of her 
 children and in the esteem and regard of her towns- 
 people. Such a woman could not fail to exercise a 
 strong and lasting influence for good on her children. 
 That it powerfully affected the character of her son 
 Humphry, he would have been the first to admit. 
 Nothino- in him was more remarkable or more beautiful 
 than his strong and abiding love for his mother. No 
 matter how immersed he was in his own affairs, he 
 could always find time amidst the whirl and excitement 
 of his London life, amidst the worry and anxiety of 
 oflicial cares — or, when abroad, among the peaks of the 
 Noric Alps or the ruins of Italian cities — ^to think of 
 his far-away Cornish home and of her round whom it 
 was centred. To the last he opened out his heart to 
 her as he did to none other; she shared in all his 
 aspirations, and lived with him through his triumphs ; 
 and by her death, just a year before his own, she was 
 happily spared the knowledge of his physical decay and 
 approaching end. 
 
 Davy was about sixteen years of age when his father 
 died. At that time he was a bright, curly-haired, 
 hazel- eyed lad, somewhat narrow-chested and under- 
 grown, awkward in manner and gait, but keenly fond
 
 12 HUMPHRY DAVY, 
 
 of out-door sport, and more distinguished for a love of 
 mischief than of learning. 
 
 Dr. Cardew, of the Truro Grammar School, where, 
 by the kindness of the Tonkins, he spent the year 
 preceding his father's death, Avrote of him that he did 
 not at that time discover any extraordinary abilities, 
 or, so far as could be observed, any propensity to those 
 scientific pursuits which raised him to such eminence. 
 "His best exercises were translations from the classics 
 into English verse." He had previously spent nine 
 years in the Penzance Grammar School under the 
 tyranny of the Rev. Mr. Cory ton, a man of irregular 
 habits and as deficient in good method as in scholar- 
 ship. As Davy used to come up for the customary 
 castigation, the worthy follower of Orbilius Avas wont to 
 repeat — 
 
 "Now, Master Davy, 
 
 Now, sir ! I have 'ee 
 
 No one shall save 'ee — 
 
 Good blaster Davy ! ' 
 
 He had, too, an unpleasant habit of pulling the boys' 
 ears, on the supposition, apparently, that their recep- 
 tivity for oral instruction was thereby stimulated. It 
 is recorded that on one occasion Davy appeared before 
 him Avith a large plaster on each ear, exph\ining, with 
 a very grave face, that he had " put the plasters on to 
 prevent mortification." Whence it may be inferred 
 that, in spite of all the caning and the ear-pulling, 
 there was still much of the unregenerate Adam left in 
 "good Master Davy." 
 
 Mr. Corj'ton's method of inculcating knowledge and 
 the love of learning, happily, had no peiTuanent ill-effect 
 on the boy. Years afterwards, when reflecting on his 
 school- life, he wrote, in a letter to his mother —
 
 POET AND PHlLOSOPHEll. 18 
 
 " After all, tlie way in which we are taught Latin and Greek 
 does not much influence the important structure of our minds. I 
 consider it fortunate that I was left much to myself when a child, 
 and put upon no particular plan of study, and that I enjoyed much 
 idleness at Mr. Coryton's school. I perhaps owe to these circum- 
 stances the little talents that I have and their peculiar application." 
 
 If Davy's abilities were not perceived by his masters, 
 they seemed to have been ililly recognised by his school- 
 fellows — to judge from the frequency with which they 
 sought his aid in their Latin compositions, and from 
 the fact that half the love-sick youths of Penzance 
 employed him to write their valentines and letters. 
 His lively imagination, strong dramatic power, and reten- 
 tive memory combined to make him a good story-teller, 
 and many an evening was spent by his comrades 
 beneath the balcony of the Star Inn, in Market Jew 
 Street, listening to his tales of wonder or horror, gathered 
 from the " Arabian Nights " or from his grandmother 
 Davy, a woman of fervid mind stored with traditions 
 and ancient legends, from whom he seems to have 
 derived much of his poetic instinct. 
 
 Those who would search in environment for the 
 conditions which determine mental aptitudes, will find 
 it very difficult to ascertain what there was in Davy's 
 boyish life in Penzance to mould him into a natural 
 philosopher. At school he seems to have acquired 
 nothing beyond a smattering of elementary mathematics 
 and a certain facility in turning Latin into English 
 verse. Most of what he obtained in the w^ay of general 
 knowledge he picked up for himself, from such books as 
 he found in the library of his benefactor, Mr. John 
 Tonkin. Dr. John Davy has left us a sketch of the 
 state of society in the Mount's Bay during the latter part 
 of the eighteenth century, which serves to show how un-
 
 14 HUMPHRY DAVY, 
 
 favourable was the soil for the stimulation and develop- 
 ment of intellectual power. Cornwall at that time had 
 but little commerce; and beyond the tidings carried by 
 pedlars or ship- masters, or contained in the Sherborne 
 Mercury — the only newspaper which then circulated in 
 the west of England — it knew little or nothing of what 
 was going on in the outer world. Its roads were mostly 
 mere bridle-paths, and a carriage was as little known in 
 Penzance as a camel. There was only one carpet in 
 the town, the floors of the rooms being, as a rule, sprinkled 
 with sea-sand : — 
 
 " All classes were very superstitious ; even the belief in witches 
 maintained its ground, and there was an almost unbounded 
 credulity respecting the supernatural and monstrous. . . 
 Amongst the middle and higher classes there was little taste for 
 literature and still less for science, and their pursuits were 
 rarely of a dignified or intellectual kind. Hunting, shooting, 
 wrestling, cock-fighting, generally ending in drunkenness, were 
 what they most delighted in. Smuggling was carried on to a 
 great extent, and drunkenness and a low scale of morals were 
 naturally associated with it." 
 
 Davy, an ardent, impulsive youth of strong social 
 instincts, fond of excitement, and not over studious, 
 seems, now that he was released from the restraint of 
 school-life, to have come under the influence of such 
 surroundings. For nearly a year he was restless and 
 unsettled, spending much of his time like his father in 
 rambling about the country and in fishing and shooting, 
 and passing from desultory study to occasional dis- 
 sipation. The death of his father, however, made a 
 profound impression on his mind, and suddenly changed 
 the whole course of his conduct. As the eldest son, 
 and approaching manhood, he seems at once to have 
 realised what was due to his mother and to himself. 
 The circumstances of the family supplied the stimulus
 
 'OET AND PHILOSOPHER. 
 
 15 
 
 to exertion, and he dried his mother's tears with the 
 assurance that he would do all in his power for his 
 brothers and sisters. A few weeks after the decease 
 of his father he was apprenticed to Mr. Bingham Borlase, 
 an apothecary and surgeon practising in Penzance, and 
 at once marked out for himself a course of study and 
 self-tuition almost unparalleled in the annals of biography, 
 and to which he adhered with a strength of mind and 
 tenacity of purpose altogether unlooked for in one of his 
 years and of his gay and careless disposition. That it 
 Ams sufficiently ambitious will be evident from the 
 following transcript from the opening pages of his 
 earliest note-book — a small quarto, with parchment 
 covers, dated 1795 : — 
 
 1, Theology, 
 
 
 or Religion, 
 
 Jtaught by Nature ; 
 
 Ethics or Moral virtues 
 
 1 by Revelation. 
 
 2. Geography, 
 
 6. Physics. 
 
 3. My Profession. 
 
 1 . The doctrines and pro- 
 
 1. Botany. 
 
 perties of natural bodies. 
 
 2. Pharmacy. 
 
 2. Of the operations of 
 
 3. Nosology. 
 
 nature. 
 
 4. Anatomy. 
 
 3. Of the doctrines of 
 
 5. Surgery. 
 
 fluids. 
 
 6. Chemistry. 
 
 4. Of the properties of 
 
 4. Logic. 
 
 organised matter. 
 
 5. Languages. 
 
 5. Of the organisation 
 
 1. English. 
 
 of matter. 
 
 2. French. 
 
 6. Simple astronomy. 
 
 3. Latin. 
 
 7. Mechanics. 
 
 4. Greek. 
 
 8. Rhetoric and Oratory. 
 
 5. Italian. 
 
 9. History and Chronology. 
 
 6. Spanish. 
 
 10. Mathematics. 
 
 7. Hebrew. 
 
 
 The note-book opens with " Hints Towards the Investi- 
 gation of Truth in Religious and Political Opinions, com- 
 posed as they occurred, to be placed in a more regular
 
 16 HUMPIlllY DAW, 
 
 manner hereafter." Then follow essays " On the Immor- 
 tality and Immateriality of the Soul " ; " Body, Organised 
 Matter " ; on " Governments " : on " The Credulity of 
 Mortals " ; " An Essa}^ to Prove that the Thinking- 
 Powers depend on the Organisation of the Body"; "A 
 Defence of Materialism"; "An Essay on the Ultimate 
 End of Being"; "On Happiness"; "On Moral Obligation." 
 
 These early essays display the workings of an original 
 mind, intent, it may be, on problems beyond its immature 
 powers, but striving in all sincerity to work out its own 
 thoughts and to arrive at its own conclusions. Of course, 
 the daring youth of sixteen who enters upon an inquiry 
 into the most difficult problems of theology and meta- 
 physics, with, what he is pleased to call, unprejudiced 
 reason as his sole guide, quickly passes into a cold fit 
 of materialism. His mind was too impressionable, how- 
 ever, to have reached the stage of settled convictions; 
 and in the same note-book we subsequently find the 
 heads of a train of argument in favour of a rational 
 religious belief founded on immaterialism. 
 
 Metaphysical inquiries seem, indeed, to have occupied 
 the greater part of his time at this period ; and his note- 
 books show that he made himself acquainted with the 
 writings of Locke, Hartley, Bishop Berkeley, Hume, Hel- 
 vetius, Condorcet, and Reid, and that he had some know- 
 ledge of the doctrines of Kant and the Transcendentalists. 
 
 That he thought for himself, and was not unduly 
 sw^ayed by authority, is evident from the general tenour 
 of his notes, and from the critical remarks and comments 
 by which they are accompanied. Some of these are 
 worth quoting: — 
 
 " Science or knowledge is the association of a number of ideas, 
 with some idea or term capable of recalling them to the mind in 
 a certain order."
 
 POET AND PHILOSOPHER. 17 
 
 " By examining the phenomena of Nature, a certain similarity 
 of effects is discovered. The business of science is to discover 
 tliese effects, and to refer them to some common cause ; that is 
 to generalise ideas." 
 
 As his impulsive, ingenuous disposition led him, even 
 to the last, to speak freely of what was uppermost in 
 his mind at the moment, we may be sure that his elders, 
 the Kev. Dr. Tonkin, his good friend John Tonkin, and 
 his grandmother Davy, with whom he was a great 
 favourite, as he was with most old people, must have 
 been considerably exercised at times with the meta- 
 physical disquisitions to which they were treated ; and 
 we can well imagine that their patience was occasionally 
 as greatly tried as that of the worthy member of the 
 Society of Friends who wound up an argument with the 
 remark, " I tell thee what, Humphry, thou art the most 
 quibbling hand at a dispute I ever met with in my life." 
 Whether it was in revenge for this sally that the young 
 disputant composed the " Letter on the Pretended In- 
 spiration of the Quakers " which is to be found in one 
 of his early note-books, does not appear. 
 
 We easily trace in these early essays the evidences 
 of that facility and charm of expression which a few 
 years later astonished and delighted his audiences at 
 the Royal Institution, and which remained the character- 
 istic features of his literary style. These qualities were 
 in no small degree strengthened by his frequent exercises 
 in poetry. For Davy had early tasted of the Pierian 
 spring, and, like Pope, may be said to have lisped in 
 numbers. At five he Avas an iinprovisatore, reciting 
 his rhymes at some Christmas gambols, attired in a 
 fanciful dress prepared by a playful girl who was re- 
 lated to him. That he had the divine gift was acknow- 
 ledged by no less an authority than Coleridge, who
 
 18 HUMPHRY DAVY, 
 
 said that " if Davy had not been the first Chemist, he 
 would have been the first Poet of his age." Sou they 
 also, who knew him Avell, said after his death, " Davy 
 was a most extraordinary man : he would have excelled 
 in any department of art or science to which he had 
 directed the powers of his mind. He had all the 
 elements of a poet; he only wanted the art. I have 
 read some beautiful verses of his. When I went to 
 Portugal, 1 left Davy to revise and publish my poem of 
 * Thalaba.' " 
 
 Throughout his life he was wont, when deeply 
 moved, to express his feelings in verse ; and at times 
 even his prose Avas so suffused with the glow of poetry 
 that to some it seemed altiloquent and inflated. Some 
 of his first efforts appeared in the " Annual Anthology," 
 a work printed in Bristol in 1799, and edited by Sou they 
 and Tobin, and interesting to the book-hunter as one 
 of the first of the literary " Annuals " which subsequently 
 became so fashionable. 
 
 Davy had an intense love of Nature, and nothing 
 stirred the poetic fire within him more than the sight 
 of some sublime natural object such as a storm-beaten 
 cliff*, a mighty mountain, a resistless torrent, or some 
 spectacle which recalled the power and majesty of the 
 sea. Not that he was insensible to the simpler charms 
 of pastoral beauty, or incapable of sympathy with 
 Nature in her softest, tenderest moods. But these 
 things never seemed to move him as did some scene of 
 grandeur, or some manifestation of stupendous natural 
 energy. 
 
 The following lines, written on Fair Head during 
 the summer of 1806, may serve as an example of how 
 scenery when associated in his mind with the sentiments 
 of dignity or strength affected him : —
 
 POET AND PHILOSOPHER. 19 
 
 " Majestic Cliff ! Thou birth of unknown time, 
 Long had the billows beat thee, long the waves 
 Rush'd o'er thy hoUow'd rocks, ere life adorn'd 
 Thy broken surface, ere the yellow moss 
 Had tinted thee, or the wild dews of heaven 
 Clothed thee with verdure, or the eagles made 
 Thy caves their aery. So in after time 
 Long shalt thou rest unalter'd mid the wreck 
 Of all the mightiness of human works ; 
 For not the lightning, nor the whirlwind's force, 
 Nor all the waves of ocean, shall prevail 
 Against thy giant strength, and thou shalt stand 
 Till the Almighty voice which bade thee rise 
 Shall bid thee fall." 
 
 In spite of a love-passage which seems to have 
 provoked a succession of sonnets, his devotions to 
 Calliope were by no means so unremitting as to prevent 
 him from following the plan of study he had marked 
 out for himself. His note-books show that in the early 
 part of 1796 he attacked the mathematics, and with 
 such ardour that in little more than a year he had 
 worked through a course of what he called " Mathe- 
 matical Rudiments," in which he included " fractions, 
 vulgar and decimal ; extraction of roots ; algebra (as far 
 as quadratic equations) ; Euclid's elements of geometry ; 
 trigonometry ; logarithms ; sines and tangents ; tables ; 
 application of algebra to geometry, etc." 
 
 In 1797 he began the study of natural philosophy, 
 and towards the end of this year, when he was close on 
 nineteen, he turned his attention to chemistry, merely, 
 however, at the outset as a branch of his professional 
 education, and with no other idea than to acquaint 
 himself with its general principles. His good fortune 
 led him to select Lavoisier's "Elements" — probably Kerr's 
 translation, published in 1796 — as his text-book. No 
 choice could have been happier. The book is well suited 
 b2
 
 ^6 liUMPHRY DAVY, 
 
 to a mind like Davy's, and he could not fail to be im- 
 pressed by the boldness and comprehensiveness of its 
 theory, its admirable logic, and the clearness and pre- 
 cision of its statements. 
 
 From reading and speculation he soon passed to 
 experiment. But at this time he had never seen a 
 chemical operation performed, and had little or no ac- 
 quaintance with even as much as the forms of chemical 
 apparatus. Phials, wine-glasses, tea-cups, and tobacco- 
 pipes, with an occasional earthen crucible, were all the 
 paraphernalia he could command ; the common mineral 
 acids, the alkalis, and a few drugs from the surgery 
 constituted his stock of chemicals. Of the nature of 
 these early trials we know little. It is, however, almost 
 certain that the experiments with sea-weed, described in 
 his two essays " On Heat, Light and the Combinations 
 of Light " and " On the Generation of Phosoxygen and 
 the Causes of the Colours of Organic Beings " (see p. 30), 
 were made at this time, and it is highly probable that 
 the experiments on land-plants, which are directly related 
 to those on the Fiici and are described in connection 
 with them, were made at the same period. That he 
 pursued his experiments with characteristic ardour is 
 borne out by the testimony of members of his family, 
 particularly by that of his sister, who sometimes acted 
 as his assistant, and whose dress too frequently suffered 
 from the corrosive action of his chemicals. The good 
 Mr. Tonkin and his worthy brother, the Reverend Doctor, 
 were also from time to time abruptly and unexpectedly 
 made aware of his zeal. " This boy Humphry is incor- 
 rigible I He will blow us all into the air!" were occasional 
 exclamations heard to follow the alarming noises which 
 now and then proceeded from the laboratory. The well- 
 known anecdote of the syringe which had formed part
 
 POET AND PHILOSOPHER. 21 
 
 of a case of instruments of a shipwrecked French 
 surgeon, and which Davy had ingeniously converted 
 into an air-pump, although related by Dr. Paris '' with 
 a minuteness and vivacity worthy of Defoe," is, in all 
 probability, apocryphal. Nor has Lord Brougham's story, 
 that his devotion to chemical experiments and " his dis- 
 like to the shop " resulted in a disagreement with his 
 master, and that " he went to another in the same 
 place," where " he continued in the same course," any 
 surer foundation in fact. 
 
 Two or three circumstances conduced to develop 
 Davy's taste for scientific pursuits, and to extend his 
 opportunities for observation and experiment. One was 
 his acquaintance with Mr. Gregory Watt ; another was 
 his introduction to Mr. Davies Gilbert (then Mr. Davies 
 Giddy), a Cornish gentleman of wealth and position, 
 who lived to succeed him in the presidential chair of 
 the Royal Societ}^ 
 
 Gregor}^ Watt, the son of James Watt, the engineer, 
 by his second marriage, was a young man of singular 
 promise who, had he lived, would — if we may judge 
 from his paper in the Philosophical Transactions — have 
 almost certainly acquired a distinguished position in 
 science. Of a weakly, consumptive habit, he was ordered 
 to spend the winter of 1797 in Penzance, where he 
 lodged with Mrs. Davy, boarding with the family. 
 Young Watt was about two years older than Davy, and 
 had just left the University of Glasgow, "his mind 
 enriched beyond his age with science and literature, 
 with a spirit above the little vanities and distinctions 
 of the world, devoted to the acquisition of knowledge." 
 He remained in Penzance until the following spring, and 
 by his example, and by the generous friendship which 
 he extended towards him, he developed and strengthened
 
 22^ HUMPHRY DAVY, 
 
 Davy's resolve to devote himself to science. Davy's 
 introduction to^Mr. Gilbert, "a man older than himself, 
 with considerable knowledge of science generally, and 
 with the advantages of a University education," was also 
 a most timely and propitious circumstance. According 
 to Dr. Paris — 
 
 " ^Ir. Gilbert's attention was attracted to the future philosopher, 
 as he was carelessly swinging over the hatch, or half-gate, of Mr. 
 Borlase's house, by the humorous contortions into which he threw 
 his features. Davy it may be remarked, when a boy, possessed a 
 countenance which even in its natural state was very far from 
 comely ; while his round shoulders, inharmonious voice and in- 
 significant manner, were calculated to produce anything rather 
 than a favourable impression : in riper years, he was what might 
 be called ' good-looking,' although as a wit of the day observed, 
 his aspect was certainly of the ' bucolic ' character. The change 
 which his person underwent, after his promotion to the Eoyal 
 Institution, was so rapid that in the days of Herodotus, it would 
 have been attributed to nothing less than the miraculous inter- 
 position of the Priestesses of Helen. A person, who happened to 
 be walking with Mr. Gilbert upon the occasion alluded to, observed 
 that the extraordinary looking boy in question was young Davy, 
 the carver's son, who, he added, was said to be fond of making 
 chemical experiments." 
 
 Mr. Gilbert was thus led to interest himself in the 
 boy, Avhom he invited to his house at Tredrea, offering 
 him the use of his library, and such other assistance in 
 his studies as he could render. On one occasion he was 
 taken over to the Hayle Copper-House, and had the 
 opportunity of seeing a well-appointed laboratory : 
 
 " The tumultuous delight which Davy expressed on seeing, for 
 the first time, a quantity of chemical apparatus, hitherto only 
 known to him through the medium of engravings, is described by 
 !N[r. Gilbert as surpassing all description. The air-pump more 
 especially fixed his attention, and he worked its piston, exhausted 
 _the receiver, and opened its valves, with the simplicity and joy of 
 a child engaged in the examination of a new and favourite toy."
 
 POET AND PHILOSOPHER. 23 
 
 It has already been stated that in the outset Davy 
 attacked science as he did metaphysics, approaching it 
 from the purely theoretical side. As might be surmised, 
 his love of speculation quickly found exercise for itself, 
 and within four months of his introduction to the study 
 of science he had conceived and elaborated a new 
 hypothesis on the nature of heat and light, which he 
 communicated to Dr. Beddoes. 
 
 Dr. Thomas Beddoes was by training a medical man, 
 who in various ways had striven to make a name for 
 himself in science. He is known to the chemical biblio- 
 grapher as the translator of the Chemical Essays of 
 Scheele, and at one time occupied the Chair of Chemis- 
 try at Oxford. The geological world at the end of the 
 eighteenth century regarded him as a zealous and un- 
 compromising Plutonist. His character was thus de- 
 scribed by Davy, who in the last year of his life jotted 
 down, in the form of brief notes, his reminiscences of 
 some of the more remarkable men of his acquaintance: — 
 
 " Beddoes was reserved in manner and almost dry ; but liis 
 countenance was very agreeable. He was cold in conversation, 
 and apparently much occupied with his own peculiar views and 
 theories. Nothing could be a stronger contrast to his apparent 
 coldness in discussion than his wild and active imagination, 
 which was as poetical as Darwin's. . . . On his deathbed 
 he wrote me a most affecting letter, regretting his scientific 
 aberrations." 
 
 One of Dr. Beddoes's " scientific aberrations " was the 
 inception and establishment of the Pneumatic Institution, 
 which he founded with a view of studying the medicinal 
 effects of the different gases, in the sanguine hope that 
 powerful remedies might be found amongst them. The 
 Institution, which was supported wholly by subscription, 
 was to be provided with all the means likely to promote
 
 24 HUMPHRY DAVY, 
 
 its objects — a hospital for patients, a laboratory for 
 experimental research, and a theatre for lecturing. 
 
 In seeking for a person to take charge of the labora- 
 tory, Dr. Beddoes bethought him of Davy, who had been 
 recommended to him by Mr. Gilbert. In a letter dated 
 July 4th, 1798, Dr. Beddoes thus writes to Mr. Gilbert:— 
 
 " I am glad that Mr. Davy has impressed you as he has me. 
 I have long wished to write to you about him, for I think I can 
 open a more fruitful field of investigation than any body else. 
 Is it not also his most direct road to fortune 'I Should he not 
 bring out a favourable result he may still exhibit talents for 
 investigation, and entitle himself to public confidence more 
 effectually than by any other mode. He must be maintained, 
 but the fund will not furnish a salary from which a man can 
 lay up anything. He must also devote his time for two or 
 three years to the investigation. I wish you would converse 
 with him upon the subject. ... I am sorry I cannot at this 
 moment specify a yearly sum, nor can I say w^ith certainty 
 Avhether all the subscribers will accede to my plan ; most of them 
 will, I doubt not. I have written to the principal ones, and will 
 lose no time in sounding them all." 
 
 A fortnight later. Dr. Beddoes again wrote to Mr. 
 Gilbert :— 
 
 "I have received a letter from Mr. Davy since I wrote to 
 you. He has oftener than once mentioned a genteel maintenance, 
 as a preliminary to his being employed to superintend the 
 Pneumatic Hospital. I fear the funds will not allow an ample 
 salary ; he must however be maintained. I can attach no idea 
 to the epithet genteel, but perhaps all difficulties ^vould vanish 
 in conversation ; at least I think your conversing Avith Mr. Davy 
 will be a more likely way of smoothing difficulties than our corre- 
 spondence. It appears to me, that this appointment will bear 
 to be considered as a part of Mr. Davy's medical education, 
 and that it will be a great saving of expense to him. It may 
 also be the foundation of a lucrative reputation ; and certainly 
 nothing on my part shall be Avanting to secure to him the credit 
 he may deserve. He does not undertake to discover cures for
 
 POET AND PHILOSOPHER. 25 
 
 this or that disease ; he may acquire just applause by bringing 
 out clear, though negative results. During my journeys into 
 the country I have picked up a variety of important and curious 
 facts from different practitioners. This has suggested to me the 
 idea of collecting and publishing such facts as this part of the 
 country Avill from time to time aflford. If I could procure chemical 
 experiments that bore any relation to organised nature, I would 
 insert them. If Mr. Davy does not dislike this method of 
 publishing his experiments I would gladly place them at the 
 head of my first volume, but I wish not that he should make 
 any sacrifice of judgment or inclination." 
 
 Thanks to Mr. Gilbert, the negotiation Avas brought 
 to a successful issue. Mrs. Dav}^ yielded to her son's 
 wishes, and Mr. Borlase surrendered his indenture, on 
 the back of Avhich he wrote that he released him from 
 " all engagements whatever on account of his excellent 
 behaviour " ; adding, " because being a youth of great 
 promise, I would not obstruct his present pursuits, which 
 are likely to promote his fortune and his fame." The 
 only one of his friends who disapproved of the scheme 
 was his old benefactor, Mr. John Tonkin, who had hoped 
 to have established Davy in his native town as a surgeon. 
 Mr. Tonkin was so irritated at the failure of his plans 
 that he altered his will, and revoked the legacy of his 
 house, which he had bequeathed to him.
 
 26 
 
 CHAPTER 11. 
 
 THE PNEUMATIC INSTITUTION, BRISTOL, 1798-1801. 
 
 On October 2nd, 1798, Davy set out for Clifton with such 
 books and apparatus as he possessed, and the MSS. of 
 his essays on Heat and Light safely stowed away among 
 his baggage. He was in the highest spirits, and full of 
 confidence in the future. On his way through Oke- 
 hampton he met the London coach decked with laurels 
 and ribbons, and bringing the news of Nelson's victory of 
 the Nile, which he interpreted as a happy omen. A few 
 days after his arrival, he thus wrote to his mother: — 
 
 ''October Wth, 1798. Clifton. 
 
 "My deae Mother,— I have now a Httle leisure time, and 
 I am about to employ it in the pleasing occupation of com- 
 municating to you an account of all the neio and wonderful 
 events that have happened to me since my departure. 
 
 " I suppose you received my letter, written in a great hurry 
 last Sunday, informing you of my safe arrival and kind reception. 
 I must now give you a more particular account of Clifton, the 
 place of my residence, and of my new friends Dr. and Mrs. 
 Beddoes and their family. 
 
 " Clifton is situated on the top of a hill, commanding a view 
 of Bristol and its neighbourhood, conveniently elevated above 
 the dirt and noise of the city. Here are houses, rocks, woods, 
 town and country in one small spot ; and beneath us, the sweetly- 
 flowing Avon, so celebrated by the poets. Indeed there can 
 hardly be a more beautiful si)ot ; it almost rivals Penzance and 
 the beauties of Mount's Bay. 
 
 " Our house is capacious and handsome ; my rooms are very 
 large, nice and convenient; and, above all, I have an excellent 
 laboratory. Now for the inhabitants, and, first, Dr. Beddoes,
 
 POET AND PHILOSOPHER. 27 
 
 who, between you and me, is one of the most original men I ever 
 saw — uncommonly short and fat, with little elegance of manners, 
 and nothing characteristic externally of genius or science ; 
 extremely silent, and in a few words, a very bad companion. 
 His behaviour to me, however, has been particularly handsome. 
 He has paid me the highest compliments on my discoveries, 
 and has, in fact, become a convert to my theory, which I little 
 expected. He has given up to me the whole of the business 
 of the Pneumatic Hospital, and has sent to the editor of the 
 Monthly Magazine a letter, to be published in November, in 
 which I have the honour to be mentioned in the highest terms. 
 Mrs. Beddoes is the reverse of Dr. Beddoes— extremely cheerful, 
 gay and witty ; she is one of the most pleasing women I have 
 ever met with. With a cultivated understanding and an excellent 
 heart, she combines an uncommon simplicity of manners. We are 
 already very great friends. She has taken me to see all the fine 
 scenery about Clifton ; for the Doctor, from his occupations and 
 his bulk, is unable to walk much. In the house are two sons 
 and a daughter of Mr. Lambton, very fine children, from five to 
 thirteen years of age. 
 
 " I have visited ]\Ir. Hare, one of the principal subscribers to 
 the Pneumatic Hos])ital, who treated me with great politeness. 
 I am now very much engaged in considering of the erection of 
 the Pneumatic Hospital, and the mode of conducting it. I shall 
 go down to Birmingham to see Mr. Watt and Mr. Keir in about 
 a fortnight, where I shall probably remain a week or ten days ; 
 but before then you will again hear from me. We are just going 
 to print at Cottle's ; in Bristol, so that my time will be 
 much taken up the ensuing fortnight in preparations for the 
 press. The theatre for lecturing is not yet open ; but, if I can 
 get a large room in Bristol, and subscribers, I intend to give a 
 course of chemical lectures, as Dr. Beddoes seems much to 
 wish it. 
 
 " My journey up was uncommonly pleasant ; I had the good 
 fortune to travel all the way with acquaintances. I came into 
 Exeter in a most joyful time, the celebration of Nelson's victory. 
 The town was beautifully illuminated, and the inhabitants loyal 
 and happy . . . 
 
 "It will give you pleasure when I inform you that all my 
 expectations are answered and that ray situation is just what I
 
 28 HUMPHRY DAVY, 
 
 could wish. But, for all this, I very often think of Penzance and 
 my friends, with a wish to be there ; however that time will 
 come. We are some time before we become accustomed to new 
 modes of living and new acquaintances. 
 
 " Believe me, your affectionate son, 
 " Humphry Davy." 
 
 Mrs. Beddoes, of whom Davy speaks in such appre- 
 ciative terms, w^as one of the many sisters of Maria 
 Edge worth. She seems to have possessed much of the 
 intelligence, wit, vivacity, and sunny humour of the 
 accomplished authoress of " Castle Rackrent " ; and, by 
 her charm of manner and her many social gifts, to have 
 made her husband's house the centre of the literar}^ and 
 intellectual life of Clifton. Thanks to her influence, 
 Davy had the good fortune to be brought into contact, 
 at the ver}^ outset of his career, with Southey, Coleridge, 
 the Tobins, Miss Edgeworth, and other notable literary 
 men and women of his time, with man}^ of whom he 
 established firm and enduring friendships. He had 
 always a sincere admiration for his fair patroness, and 
 a grateful memory of her many acts of kindness to him 
 at this period of his life. That she in turn had an 
 esteem amounting to affection for the gifted youth is 
 evident from the language of tender feeling and warm 
 regard in which her letters to him are expressed. 
 The sonnets accompanying these letters are couched 
 in terms which admit of no doubt of the strength of 
 her sentiments of sympathy and admiration, and some 
 of the best efforts of his muse were addressed to her 
 in return. 
 
 His work and prospects at the Pneumatic Institution 
 are sufficiently indicated in the following letter to his 
 friend and patron, Mr. Davies Gilbert, written five weeks 
 after his arrival at Clifton : —
 
 POET AND PHILOSOPHER. 29 
 
 " Clifton, November 12, 1798. 
 
 " Dear Sir,— I have purposely delayed writing until I could 
 communicate to you some intelligence of importance concerning 
 the Pneumatic Institution. The speedy execution of the plan 
 will, I think, interest you both as a subscriber and a friend to 
 science and mankind. The present subscrii)tion is, we suppose 
 nearly adequate to the purpose of investigating the medicinal 
 powers of factitious airs ; it still continues to increase, and we 
 may hope for the ability of pursuing the investigation to its full 
 extent. We are negotiating for a house in Dowrie Square, the 
 proximity of which to Bristol, and its general situation and 
 advantages, render it very suitable to the purpose. The funds 
 will, I suppose, enable us to provide for eight or ten patients in 
 the hospital, and for as many out of it as we can procure. 
 
 ' We shall try the gases in every possible way. They may be 
 condensed by pressure and rarefied by heat. Quere^ — Would not 
 a powerful injecting syringe furnished with two valves, one open- 
 ing into an air-holder and the other into the breathing chamber, 
 answer the purpose of compression better than any other 
 apparatus? Can you not, from your extensive stores of 
 philosophy, furnish us with some hints on this subject 1 May not 
 the non-respirable gases furnish a class of different stimuli? of 
 which the oxy-muriatic acid gas [chlorine] would stand the 
 highest, if we may judge from its effects on the lungs ; then, 
 probably, f/aseous oxyd of azote [nitrous oxide?] and hydro- 
 carhonate [the gases obtained by passing steam over red-hot 
 charcoal]. 
 
 " I suppose you have not heard of the discovery of the native 
 sidphate of strontian in England. I shall perhaps surprise you 
 by stating that we have it in large quantities here. It had long 
 been mistaken for mlphaie of harytes, till our friend Clayfield, 
 on endeavouring to procure the muriate of harytes from it by 
 decompositiofi, detected the strontian. We opened a fine vein 
 of it about a fortnight ago at the Old Passage near the mouth of 
 the Severn.* .... 
 
 " We are printing in Bristol the first volume of the * West 
 
 * Cf. An account of several veins of Sulphate of Strontites, found in 
 the neighbourhood of Bristol, with an Analysis of the different varieties. 
 By W. Clayfield. " Nicholson's Joum.," III., 1800, pp. 36-41.
 
 30 HUMPHRY DAVY, 
 
 Country Collection,' which will, I suppose, be out in the begin- 
 ning of January. 
 
 " Mrs. Beddoes .... is as good, amiable, and elegant as 
 when you saw her. 
 
 " Believe me, dear {Sir, with affection and respect, truly yours, 
 
 "Humphry Davy." 
 
 The work alluded to in this letter niade its appearance 
 in the early part of 1799, under the title of "Contribu- 
 tions to Physical and Medical Knowledge, principally 
 from the West of England; collected by Thomas 
 Beddoes, M.D." The first half of the volume, in 
 accordance with the editor's promise, is occupied by 
 two essays from Davy : the first " On Heat, Light, and 
 the Combinations of Light, with a new Theory of 
 Respiration " ; the second " On the Generation of 
 Phosoxygen (Oxygen Gas), and on the Causes of the 
 Colours of Organic Beings." 
 
 To the student these essays have no other interest 
 than is due to the fact that they are Davy's first con- 
 tribution to the literature of science. No beginning 
 could be more inauspicious. It is the first step that 
 costs, and Davy's first step had well nigh cost him all 
 that he lived for. As additions to knowledge they are 
 worthless ; indeed, a stern critic might with justice 
 characterise them in much stronger language. Nowa- 
 days such Avritings would hopelessly damn the reputa- 
 tion of any young aspirant for scientific fame, for it 
 is indeed difficult to believe, as we read paragraph after 
 paragraph, that their author had any real conception 
 of science, or that he was capable of understanding the 
 need or appreciating the value of scientific evidence. 
 
 The essays are partly experimental, partly specula- 
 tive, and the author apparently would have us believe 
 that the speculations are entirely subservient to and
 
 POET AND PHILOSOPHER. 31 
 
 dependent on the experiments. Precisely the opposite 
 is the case. Davy's work had its origin in Lavoisier's 
 " Traite Elementaire," almost the only text-book of 
 chemistry he possessed. Lavoisier taught, in conformity 
 with the doctrine of his time, that heat was a material 
 substance, and that oxygen was essentially a compound 
 body, composed of a simple substance associated with 
 the matter of heat, or caloric. The young novitiate puts 
 on his metaphysical shield and buckler ; and with the 
 same jaunty self-confidence that he assailed Locke and 
 criticised Berkeley, enters the lists against this doctrine, 
 determined, as he told Gregory Watt, " to demolish the 
 French theory in half an hour." 
 
 After a few high-sounding but somewhat disconnected 
 introductory sentences, and a complimentary allusion to 
 " the theories of a celebrated medical philosopher, Dr. 
 Beddoes," he proceeds to put Lavoisier's question, " La 
 lumiere, est-elle une modification du calorique, ou bien 
 le calorique est-il une modification de la lumiere ? " to 
 the test of experiment. This he does by repeating 
 Hawksbee's old experiment of snapping a gunlock " armed 
 with an excellent flint " in an exhausted receiver. The 
 experiment fails in his hands ; such phenomena as he 
 observes he misinterprets, and he at once concludes that 
 light and heat have nothing essentially in common. 
 " Nor can light be as some philosophers suppose, a 
 vibration of the imaginary fluid ether. For even grant- 
 ing the existence of this fluid it must be present in the 
 exhausted receiver as well as in atmospheric air ; and if 
 light is a vibration of this fluid, generated by collision 
 between flint and steel in atmospheric air, it should 
 likewise be produced in the exhausted receiver, where 
 a greater quantity of ether is present, which is not the 
 case." Since, then, it is neither an effect of caloric nor of
 
 32 HUMPHRY DAVY, 
 
 an ethereal fluid, and "as the hnpulse of a material body 
 on the organ of vision is essential to the generation of 
 a sensation, li(j}it is consequently matter of a peculiar 
 Jcind, capable when moving through space with the 
 greatest velocity, of becoming the source of a numerous 
 class of our sensations." 
 
 By experiments, faultless in principle but wholly 
 imperfect in execution, he next seeks to show that 
 caloric, or the matter of heat, has no existence. His 
 reasoning is clear, and his conceptions have the merit 
 of ingenuity, but any real acquaintance with the con- 
 ditions under which the experiments w^ere made would 
 have convinced him that the results were untrustworthy 
 and equivocal ; and yet, in spite of the dubious character 
 of his observations, he arrived at a theory of the essential 
 nature of heat which is in accord with our present 
 convictions, and which he states in the following 
 terms : — 
 
 " Heat, or that i)ower which i)revents the actual contact of 
 the corpuscles of bodies, and which is the cause of our peculiar 
 sensations of heat and cold, may be defined a peculiar motion, 
 probably a vibration, of the corpuscles of bodies, tending to 
 separate them." 
 
 This conception of the nature of heat did not, of 
 course, originate with him, and it was a question with 
 his contemporaries how far he was influenced by 
 Rumford's work and teaching. On this point Dr. 
 Beddoes's testimony is direct and emphatic. He says : — 
 
 "The author [Davy] derived no assistance whatever from the 
 Count's ingenious labours. My first knowledge of him arose from 
 a letter written in April 1798, containing an account of his re- 
 searches on heat and light ; and his first knowledge of Count 
 Eumford's paper was conveyed by my answer. The two Essays 
 contain proofs enough of an original mind to make it credil)le
 
 POET AND PHILOSOPHER. 38 
 
 that the simple and decisive expei-iments on heat were indepen- 
 dently conceived. Nor is it necessary, in excuse or in praise of 
 his system, to add, that, at the time it v^^as formed, the author was 
 under twenty years of age, pupil to a surgeon-apothecary, in the 
 most remote town of Cornwall, with little access to philosophical 
 books, and none at all to philosophical men." 
 
 Having thus, witli Beddoes, expunged caloric from 
 his chemical system, Davy proceeds to elevate the 
 matter of light into its place. According to Lavoisier 
 oxygen gas was a compound of a shnple substance and 
 caloric ; Davy seeks to show that it is a compound of a 
 simple substance and light. He objects to the use of 
 the word " gas," since, according to French doctrine, it 
 is to be taken as implying not merely a state of aggrega- 
 tion but a combination of caloric with another substance, 
 and suggests therefore that what was called oxygen 
 gas should henceforth be known as j^hosoxygen. His 
 " proofs " that oxygen is really a compound of a simple 
 substance with " matter in a peculiar state of existence " 
 are perhaps the most futile that could be imagined. 
 Charcoal, phosphorus, sulphur, hydrogen, and zinc were 
 caused to burn in oxygen ; light was evolved, oxides 
 were formed, and a deficiency of weight was in each 
 case observed. He regrets, however, that he " possessed 
 no balance sufficiently accurate to determine exactly the 
 deficiency of weight from the light liberated in different 
 combustive processes." 
 
 " From these experiments, it appears that in the chemical 
 process of the formation of many oxyds and acids, light is liberated, 
 the phosoxygen and combustible base consumed, and a new body 
 formed. . . . Since light is liberated in these processes, it is 
 evident that it must be liberated either from the phosoxygen or 
 from the combustible body. ... If the light liberated in combus- 
 tion be supposed (according to Macquer's and Hutton's theories) 
 to arise from the combustible body, then phosoxygen must be 
 c
 
 84 HUMPHRY DAVY, 
 
 considered as a simple substance ; and it follows on this su[)- 
 position, that whenever phosoxygen combines with combustible 
 bodies, either directly or by attraction from any of its combina- 
 tions, light must be liberated, which is not the case, as carbon 
 iron and rnan)^ other substances, may be oxydated by the de- 
 composition of water without the liberation of light." 
 
 Davy is here on the horns of a dilemma, but he 
 ignores the difficulty, and, with characteristic '' flexibility 
 of adaptation," proceeds to ofier synthetical proofs '' that 
 the presence of light is absolutely essential to the pro- 
 duction of phosoxygen." The character of the "proofs" 
 is sufficiently indicated by the following extracts: — 
 
 "When pure oxyd of lead is heated as much as possible, 
 included from light, it remains unaltered ; but when exposed to 
 the light of a burning-glass, or even of a candle, phosoxygen is 
 generated and the metal revivified." 
 
 "Oxygenated muriatic acid [chlorine] is a compound of 
 muriatic acid, oxygen and light, as will be hereafter proved. 
 The combined light is not sufficient to attract the oxygen from 
 the base [muriatic acid] to form phosoxygen ; but its attraction 
 for oxygen renders the [oxygenated muriatic] acid decomposable. 
 If this acid be heated in a close vessel and light excluded no 
 phosoxygen is formed ; but if it be exi)0sed to the solar light, 
 phosoxygen is formed ; the acid loses its oxygen and light and 
 becomes muriatic acid." 
 
 " A plant of Arenaria Tenuifolia planted in a pot filled with 
 very dry earth, was inserted in carbonic acid, under mercury. 
 The apparatus was exposed to the solar light, for four days 
 successively, in the month of July. By this time the mercury 
 had ascended considerably. The gas in the vessel was now 
 measured. There was a deficiency of one-sixth of the whole 
 quantity. After the carbonic acid was taken up by potash, the 
 remaining quantity, ecpial to one-seventh of the whole, \ya.s,j'hos- 
 oji-y(jtn almost pure. From this experiment, it is evident that 
 carbonic acid is decomposed by two attractions ; that of the 
 vegetable for carbon and of light for oxygen : the carbon com- 
 bines with the plant, and the light and oxygen combined are 
 liberated in the form of phosoxygen."
 
 POET AND PHILOSOPHER. 35 
 
 The accounts which Davy gives of his experiments, 
 as well as of the phenomena which he professes to have 
 observed, may awaken an uneasy doubt as to his absolute 
 integrity ; for, it is hardly necessary to point out, he 
 could not possibly have obtained the results which he 
 describes. The presence or absence of light in no wise 
 affects the decomposition by heat of minium ; chlorine, 
 as he himself subsequently established, contains no 
 oxygen : and a plant is incapable of decomposing pure 
 undiluted carbonic acid, even in the brightest sunshine. 
 But the work of a youth of nineteen, imaginative, 
 sanguine, and impetuous, with no training as an ex- 
 perimentalist, and with only a limited access to scientific 
 memoirs, cannot be judged by too severe a canon. The 
 faculty of self-deception, even in the largest and most 
 receptive minds, often in those of matured power and 
 ripened experience, is boundless. Davy himself affords 
 an exemplification of the truth of his own words, 
 written years afterwards : " The human mind is always 
 governed not by what it knows, but by what it believes ; 
 not by what it is capable of attaining, but by what it 
 desires." 
 
 It is not necessary to show how the presumptuous 
 youth drove his hobby with all the reckless daring of a 
 Phieton. Phlogiston and oxygen had in turn been the 
 central conceptions of theories of chemistry; phos- 
 oxygen was to supplant them. It was to explain every- 
 thing — the blue colour of the sky, the electric fluid, 
 the Aurora Borealis, the phenomena of fiery meteors, 
 the green of the leaf, the red of the rose, and the sable 
 hue of the Ethiopian ; perception, thought, and happi- 
 ness ; and why women are fairer than men. But 
 Jupiter, in the shape of a Reviewer, soon hurled the 
 adventurous boy from the giddy heights to which he 
 c 2
 
 36 HUMPHRY DAVY, 
 
 had soared. The " West Country Collection " received 
 scant sympathy from the critics, and the phosox3'gen 
 theory was either mercilessly ridiculed, or treated with 
 contempt. 
 
 There is no doubt that Davy keenly felt the posi- 
 tion in which he now stood. His pride was humbled, 
 and the humiliation was as gall and wormwood. 
 The vision of fame which his ardour had conjured up 
 on the top of the Bristol coach — was it all a baseless 
 fabric, and its train of honours and emoluments an 
 insubstantial pageant ? All he could plead was that his 
 critics had not understood that these experiments 
 were made when he had studied chemistry, only four 
 months, when he had never seen a single experiment 
 executed, and when all his information Avas derived 
 from Nicholson's " Chemistry " and Lavoisier's "Elements." 
 But his good sense quickly came to his rescue. After 
 the first feelings of anger and mortification had passed, 
 he recognised the justice of his punishment, much as he 
 might resent the mode in which it was inflicted. How 
 keen was the smart will appear from the following re- 
 flection, written in the August of the year in which the 
 essays were published : — 
 
 " When I consider the variety of theories that may be formed 
 on the slender foundation of one or two facts, I am convinced 
 that it is the business of the true philosopher to avoid them 
 altogether. It is more laborious to accumulate facts than to 
 reason concerning them ; but one good experiment is of more 
 value than the ingenuity of a brain like Newton's." 
 
 About the same time he wrote : — 
 
 " I was perhaps wrong in pubUshing, with such haste, a new 
 theory of chemistry. My mind was ardent and enthusiastic. 
 I believed that I had discovered the truth. Since that time my 
 knowledge of facts is increased — since that time I have become 
 more sceptical."
 
 POET AND PHILOSOPHER. 87 
 
 In the October of the same year he wrote : — 
 
 " Convinced as I am that chemical science is in its infancy, that 
 an infinite variety of new facts must be accuiuulated before our 
 powers of reasoning will be sufficiently extensive, I renounce my 
 own particular theory as being a complete arrangement of facts : 
 it appears to me now only as the most prohahle arrangement." 
 
 By the end of the year the repentance was complete, 
 and recantation followed. In a letter which appeared 
 in Nicholson's Journal in February, 1800, he corrects 
 some of the errors into which he had fallen, and 
 says, " I beg to be considered as a sceptic with regard 
 to my own particular theory of the combinations 
 of light, and theories of light in general." To the 
 end of his days Davy never forgot the lesson which 
 his earliest effort had taught him; and there is no 
 question that the memory of it acted as a salutary 
 check on the exuberance of his fancy and the flight of 
 his imagination. The wound to his self-love was, 
 however, never Avholly healed. Nothing annoyed him 
 more than any reference to Beddoes's book, and he 
 declared to Dr. Hope that he would joyfully relinquish 
 any little glory or reputation he might have acquired by 
 his later researches were it possible to withdraw his 
 share in that work and to remove the impression he 
 feared it was likely to produce. 
 
 And yet, in spite of the unqualified censure with 
 which they were received, and of the severe condemna- 
 tion of them by their own author, we are disposed to 
 agree with Dr. Davy that posterity will not suffer 
 these essays to be wholly blotted out from the records 
 of science. That the experimental part was ibr the 
 most part radically bad, that the generalisation was 
 hasty and presumptuous, and the reasoning imperfect, 
 cannot be gainsaid. But, withal, the essays display
 
 38 HUMPHRY DAVY, 
 
 some of Davy's best and happiest characteristics. There 
 is dignity of treatment and a sense of the nobility of the 
 theme on which he is engaged ; the Kterary quality is 
 admirable ; there is clearness of perception and per- 
 spicuity of statement ; the facts as he knew them — or 
 as he thought he knew them — are marshalled with 
 ingenuity and Avith a logical precision worthy of his 
 model and teacher Lavoisier ; his style is sonorous and 
 copious, even to redundancy — some of the periods 
 indeed glow with all the fervour and richness of his 
 Royal Institution lectures. However wild and visionary 
 his speculations may seem, minds like those of Cole- 
 ridge and Southey were not insensible to the intrinsic 
 beaut}'' of some of his ideas. His theory of respiration 
 might not be true, but it had at least the merit of poetic 
 charm in its consequence that the power and perspi- 
 cacity of a thinker had some relation to the amount of 
 light secreted by his brain. Even good old Dr. Priestley, 
 whose Pegasus could never be stirred beyond the 
 gentlest of ambles, tells us in the Appendix to his 
 " Doctrine of Phlogiston Established " that Mr. H. 
 Davy's essays had impressed him with a high opinion 
 of the philosophical acumen of their author. " His ideas 
 were to me new and very striking ; but," he adds, 
 with a caution that was not habitual, " they are of too 
 great consequence to be decided upon hastily." 
 
 Among the letters entrusted to me is one from 
 Priestley, which must have been particularly gratifying 
 to the young man. It is as follows: — 
 
 " Nortlmmberland, Oct. 31, 1801. 
 " Sir, — I have read with admiration your excellent publica- 
 tions, and have received much instruction from them. It gives 
 me peculiar satisfaction that, as I am far advanced in life, and 
 cannot expect to do much more, I shall leave so able a fellow-
 
 POET AND PHILOSOPHER. ' B9 
 
 labourer of my own country in the great fields of experimental 
 philosophy. As old an experimenter as I am, I was near forty 
 before I made any experiments on the subject of Air, and then 
 without, in a manner, any previous knowledge of chemistry. 
 This I picked up as I could, and as I found occasion for it, from 
 books. I was also without apparatus, and laboured under many 
 other disadvantages. But my unexpected success induced the 
 friends of science to assist me, and then I wanted for nothing. 
 I rejoice that you are so young a man ; and perceiving the 
 ardour with which you begin your career, I have no doubt of 
 your success. 
 
 " My son, for whom you express a friendship, and which he 
 warmly returns, encourages me to think that it may not be dis- 
 agreeable to you to give me information occasionally of what is 
 passing in the philosophical world, now that I am at so great a 
 distance from it, and interested, as you may suppose, in what 
 passes in it. Indeed, I shall take it as a great favour. But you 
 must not expect anything in return. I am here perfectly in- 
 sulated, and this country furnishes but few fellow-labourers, and 
 these are so scattered, that Ave can have but little communication 
 with each other, and they are equally in want of information with 
 myself. Unfortunately, too, correspondence with England is very 
 slow and uncertain, and with France we have not as yet any 
 intercourse at all, tho we hope to have it soon. . . . 
 
 " I thank you for the favourable mention you so fre ^uently 
 make of my experiments, and have only to remark that in Mr. 
 Nicholson's Journal you say that the conducting power of 
 charcoal was first observed by those who made experiments on 
 the pile of Volta ; whereas it was one of the earliest that I made, 
 and gave an account of in my History of Electricity, and in 
 the Philosophical Transactions. And in your treatise on the 
 Nitrous Oxide p. 55 you say, and justly, that I concluded this 
 air to be lighter than that of the atmosphere. This, however, was 
 an error in the printing that I cannot account for. It should 
 have been alkaline air, as you will see the experiment necessarily 
 requires. 
 
 " With the greatest esteem, I am Sir, yours sincerely 
 
 " J. Peiestley." 
 
 In Davy's next contribution, " On the Silex com- 
 posing the Epidermis, or External Bark, and contained
 
 40 HUMPHRY DAVY, 
 
 in other parts of certain Vegetables," published in 
 Nicholson's Journal in the early part of 1800, we find 
 the evidence of a chastened and contrite spirit. The 
 theme is humble enough, and the language as sober 
 and sedate as that of Mr. Cavendish. The chance 
 observation of a child that two bonnet-canes rubbed 
 together in the dark produced a luminous appearance, 
 led him to investigate the cause, which he found to 
 reside in the crystallised silica present in the epidermis. 
 Reeds and grasses, and the straw of cereals, were also 
 found to be rich in silica, from which he concludes 
 that " the flint entering into the composition of these 
 hollow vegetables may be considered as analogous 
 to the bones of animals ; it gives to them stability 
 and form, and by being situated in the epidermis 
 more effectively preserves their vessels from external 
 injury." It is doubtful, however, whether the rigidity 
 of the stems of cereals is wholly due to the silica they 
 contain. 
 
 From a letter to Mr. Davies Gilbert, dated April 10th, 
 1799, we learn that he had now begun to investigate 
 the eftects of gases in respiration. In the early part of 
 the year he had removed to a house in Dowry Square, 
 Clifton, where he had fitted up a laboratory. After 
 thanking his friend for his critical remarks on his 
 recently published essays, he says : 
 
 "Your excellent and truly philosophic observations will induce 
 me to pay greater attention to all my positions. ... I made 
 a discovery yesterday which proves how necessary it is to repeat 
 experiments. The gaseous oxide of azote is perfectly respirable 
 when pure. It is never deleterious but when it contains nitrous 
 gas. I have found a mode of obtaining it pure, and I breathed 
 to-day, in the presence of Dr. Beddoes and some others, sixteen 
 quarts of it for near seven minutes. It appears to support li''e 
 longer than even oxygen gas, and absolutely intoxicated me.
 
 POET AND PHILOSOPHER. 41 
 
 Pure oxygen gas produced no alteration in my pulse, nor any 
 other material effect ; whereas this gas ra'sed my pulse upwards 
 of twenty strokes, made me dance about the laboratory as a 
 madman, and has kept my S[)irits in a glow ever since. Is not 
 this a proof of the truth of my theory of respiration 1 for this 
 gas contains more light in proportion to its oxygen than any 
 other, and I hope will ]irove a most valuable medicine. 
 
 "We have upwards of eighty out-patients in the Pneumatic 
 Institution, and are going on wonderfully well." 
 
 This observation of the respirability of nitrous oxide, 
 and of the effects of its inhalation, was quickly con- 
 firmed. Southey, Coleridge, Tobin (the dramatist), 
 Joseph Priestley, the son of the chemist, the two 
 Wedgwoods, and a dozen other people of lesser note 
 were induced to breathe the gas and to record their 
 sensations. The discovery was soon noised abroad ; 
 Dr. Beddoes dispatched a short note to Nicholson's 
 Journal, and the fame of the Pneumatic Institution 
 went up by leaps and bounds. 
 
 Maria Edgeworth, who was at the time on a visit 
 to her sister, thus writes : — 
 
 " A young man, a Mr. Davy, at Dr. Beddoes', wdio has applied 
 himself much to chemistry, has made some discoveries of import- 
 ance, and enthusiastically expects wonders wnll be performed by 
 the use of certain gases, wdiicli inebriate in the most delightful 
 manner, having the oblivious effects of Lethe, and at the same 
 time giving the rapturous sensations of the Nectar of the Gods ! 
 Pleasure even to madness is the consequence of this draught. 
 But faith, great faith, is I believe necessary to produce any effect 
 upon the drinkers, and I have seen some of the adventurous 
 philosophers who sought in vain for satisfaction in the bag of 
 Gaseous Oxyd, and found nothing but a sick stomach and a giddy 
 head." 
 
 Laughing-gas, indeed threatened to become, like 
 Priestley's dephlogisticated air, " a fashionable article in 
 hixury." Monsieur Fievee, in his " Lettres sur I'Angleterre,
 
 42 HUMPHRY DAVY, 
 
 1802," names it in the catalogue of follies to which the 
 English were addicted, and says the practice of breathing 
 it amounted to a national vice ! 
 
 Davy had no sooner discovered that the gas might 
 be respired, than he proceeded to attack the whole subject 
 of the chemistry of the oxides of nitrogen, and of nitrous 
 oxide in particular, and after ten months of incessant 
 labour he put together the results of his observations 
 in an octavo volume, entitled, ''Researches, Chemical 
 and Philosophical, chiefly concerning Nitrous Oxide, 
 or Dephlogisticated Nitrous Air, and its Respiration. By 
 Humphry Davy, Superintendent of the Medical Institu- 
 tion." The book appeared in the summer of 1800, and 
 immediately re-established its author's character as an 
 experimentalist. Thomson, in his " History of Chemistry," 
 says of it : " This work gave him at once a high reputa- 
 tion as a chemist, and was really a wonderful performance, 
 when the circumstances under which it was produced 
 are taken into consideration." In spite, however, of the 
 eulogies with which it was welcomed, its sale was never 
 very extensive, and a second edition was not required. 
 In fact, the work as a whole was hardly calculated to 
 attract the general public, whose only concern with 
 laughing-gas was in its powers as an exhilarant. Indeed, 
 this aspect of the question is not wholly lost on Davy 
 himself, who is careful to point out that " if the pleasure- 
 able effects or medical properties of the nitrous oxide 
 should ever make it an article of general request, it may 
 be procured with much less time, labour, and expense 
 than most of the luxuries, or even necessaries, of life " ; 
 and in a footnote he adds. " A pound of nitrate of 
 ammonia costs 5s. lOd. (its present price is 9d. ! ). This 
 pound, properly decomposed, produces rather more than 
 34 moderate doses of the air, so that the expense of a
 
 POET AND PHILOSOPHER. 43 
 
 dose is about 2d. What fiuid stimulus can be procured 
 at so cheap a rate ? " 
 
 To the chemical student the book had, and still has, 
 many features of interest. It contains a number of 
 important facts, based on original and fairly accurate 
 observation. In the arrangement of these facts " I have 
 been guided as much as possible," says their author, " by 
 obvious and simple analogies only. Hence, I have seldom 
 entered into theoretical discussions, particularly con- 
 cerning light, heat, and other agents, which are known 
 only by isolated effects. Early experience has taught 
 me the folly of hasty generalisation." The work is 
 divided into four main sections. The first chiefly re- 
 lates to the production of nitrous oxide, and the analysis 
 of nitrous gas and nitrous acid. He minutely studies 
 the mode of decomposition of ammonium nitrate (first 
 observed by Berthollet), and shows that it is an endo- 
 thermic phenomenon, varying in character with the 
 temperature and manner of heating. He is thus led to 
 offer the following Speculations on the Decompositions 
 of Nitrate of Anmionia : — 
 
 " All the phenomena of chemistry concur in proving that the 
 affinity of one body, A, for another, B, is not destroyed by its 
 combination with a third, C, but only modified ; either by con- 
 densation or expansion, or by the attraction of C for B. On this 
 principle the attraction of compound bodies for each other must 
 be resolved into the reciprocal attractions of their constituents, 
 and consequently the changes produced in them by variations 
 of temperature explained from the alterations produced in the 
 attractions of those constituents." 
 
 The singular property possessed by ammonium nitrate 
 of decomposing in several distinct modes according to 
 the rapidity of heating and the temperature to which 
 the substance is raised, first indicated by Davy, has been 
 minutely studied by M. Berthelot, who has shown that
 
 44 HUMPHRY DAVY, 
 
 this comparatively simple salt may be decomposed in 
 as many as six different ways. It may be (1) dissociated 
 into gaseous nitric acid and ammonia ; (2) decomposed 
 into nitrous oxide and water ; (3) resolved into nitrogen, 
 oxygen, and water, (4) or into nitric oxide, nitrogen, and 
 water, (5) or into nitrogen, nitrogen peroxide, and water ; 
 or lastly (6), under the influence of spongy platinum, it 
 may be resolved into gaseous nitric acid, nitrogen and 
 aqueous vapour. These different modes of decomposition 
 may be distinct or simultaneous ; or, more exactly, the 
 predoDiinance of any one of them depends on relative 
 rapidity and on the temperature at which decomposition 
 is produced. This temperature is not fixed, but is itselt 
 subordinate to the rapidity of heating (c/. Berthelot's 
 " Explosives and Their Power," translated by Hake and 
 Macnab). The assertion of De la Metherie, that the 
 gas produced by the solution of platinum in nitro- 
 muriatic acid was identical with the dephlogisticated 
 nitrous air of Priestley (nitrous oxide), led Davy to 
 examine the gaseous products of this reaction more 
 particularly. He had no difficulty in disproving the 
 statement of the French chemist ; but his observations, 
 although accurate, led him to no definite conclusion. 
 " It remains doubtful," he saj's, " whether the gas 
 consists simply of highly oxigenated muriatic acid and 
 nitrogen, produced by the decomposition of nitric acid 
 from the coalescing affinities of platina and muriatic 
 acid for oxygen ; or whether it is composed of a peculiar 
 gas, analogous to oxigenated muriatic acid and nitrogen, 
 generated from some unknown affinities." The real nature 
 of the gas, which has also been considered by Lavoisier 
 as a particular species, not hitherto described, was first 
 established by Gay Lussac, when Davy had himself proved 
 that " oxigenated muriatic acid " was a simple substance.
 
 POET AND PHILOSOPHER. 45 
 
 In the second section the combinations and composi- 
 tion of nitrous oxide are investigated, and an account is 
 given of its decomposition by combustible bodies, and a 
 series of experiments are described which are now among 
 the stock iUustrations of the chemical lecture-room. As 
 to its composition, he says, "taking the mean estimations 
 from the most accurate experiments, we may conclude 
 that 100 grains of the known ponderable matter of 
 nitrous oxide consist of about 36*7 oxygen and 63 'S 
 nitrogen" — no very great disparity from modern numbers, 
 viz. 36*4 oxygen and 63*6 nitrogen. He concludes this 
 section with a short review of the characteristic properties 
 of the combinations of oxygen and nitrogen, among 
 which he is led to class atmospheric air. 
 
 " That tlie oxygen and nitrogen of atmospheric air exist in 
 chemical union, appears almost demonstrable from the following 
 evidences. 
 
 " 1st- The equable diffusion of oxygen and nitrogen through 
 every part of the atmosphere, which can hardly be supposed 
 to depend on any other cause than an affinity between these 
 principles. 
 
 "2^^iy- The difference between the specific gravity of at- 
 mospheric air, and a mixture of 27 parts oxygen and 73 nitrogen, 
 as found by calculation ; a difference apparently owing to expan- 
 sion in consequence of combination." 
 
 These "evidences" had already been adduced by 
 others, as stated by Davy ; the first was subsequently 
 disproved by Dalton, the second was based on inaccurate 
 analyses of air. 
 
 To these Davy added two other ''proofs" which 
 originated with him : — 
 
 "3diy. The conversion of nitrous oxide into nitrous acid, 
 and a gas analogous to common air, by ignition. 
 
 " 4ti''y. The solubility of atmospheric air undecompounded."
 
 46 HUMPHRY DAVY, 
 
 Of these it may be stated that the first is invalid, 
 and the second not true. Nitrous oxide may, under 
 certain circumstances, give rise to a mixture of oxygen 
 and nitrogen, but not necessarily in the same proportion 
 as in connnon air : and the air boiled out from water has 
 not the same composition as atmospheric air. 
 
 Davy a few years afterwards obtained much clearer 
 views as to the real nature of the atmosphere, and was, 
 in fact, one of the earliest to recognise that it is merely 
 a mixture of oxygen and nitrogen. 
 
 The third section consists of an account of observa- 
 tions on the action of nitrous oxide upon animals, and an 
 mvestigation of the changes effected in it by respiration ; 
 whilst the fourth and last gives a history of the respira- 
 bility and of the extraordinary effects of nitrous oxide, 
 with details of experiments on its powers made by 
 different individuals. 
 
 The last portion of the inquiry — in time of execution 
 the first — is particularl}^ interesting to the biographer of 
 Davy, not only because the work in it was originated and 
 carried out by him, but also from the light it incidentally 
 tlirows on his character and genius : — 
 
 "A short time," he says, "after I began the study of chemistry, 
 in March 1798, my attention was directed to the dephlogisticated 
 nitrous gas of Priestley, by Dr. ^Mitchell's Theory of Contagion." 
 " Dr. Mitchell," he tells us in a foot-note, " attempted to prove 
 from some phenomenon connected with contagious diseases, that 
 dephlogisticated nitrous gas which he called oxide of septon, 
 Avas the principle of contagion, and capable of producing the 
 most terrible effects when respired by animals in the minutest 
 quantities, or even when applied to the skin or muscular fibre." 
 "The fallacy of this theory," he continues, "was soon demonstrated 
 by a few coarse experiments made on small quantities of the gas 
 procured from zinc and diluted nitrous [nitric] acid. Wounds 
 were exposed to its action, the bodies of animals were immersed 
 in it without injury ; and I breathed it mingled in small quantities
 
 POET AND PHILOSOPHER. 47 
 
 with common air, without remarkable effects. An inability to 
 procure it in sufficient quantities prevented me at this time from 
 pursuing the experiments to any greater extent. I communicated 
 an account of them to Dr. Beddoes." 
 
 Ill the early part of April, 1799, lie obtained nitrous 
 oxide in a state of purity, and, as already stated, made 
 the attempt to respire it. 
 
 " I was aware," he says, " of the danger of this experiment. It 
 certainly would never have been made if the hypothesis of Dr. 
 Mitchell had in the least influenced my mind. I thought that the 
 effects might be possibly depressing and painful, but there were 
 many reasons which induced me to believe that a single inspira- 
 tion of a gas apparently possessing no immediate action on the 
 irritable fibre, could neither destroy nor immediately injure the 
 powers of life." 
 
 The experiment was made : the gas passed into the 
 bronchia without stimulating the glottis, and produced 
 no uneasy feeling in the lungs. There was a sense of 
 fulness in the head accompanied with loss of distinct 
 sensation and voluntary power — a feeling analogous to 
 that produced in the first stage of intoxication, but 
 unattended by pleasurable sensation. In company with 
 Dr. Beddoes the experiment was repeated, with the 
 following results : — 
 
 " Having previously closed my nostrils and exhausted my 
 lungs, I breathed four quarts of nitrous oxide from and in to a 
 silk bag. The first feelings were similar to those produced in 
 the last experiment ; but in less than half a minute, the respira- 
 tion being continued, they diminished gradually, and were suc- 
 ceeded by a sensation analogous to gentle pressure on all the 
 muscles attended by a highly pleasurable thrilling, particularly 
 in the chest and the extremities. The objects around me became 
 dazzling, and my hearing more acute. Towards the last inspira- 
 tions, the thrilling increased, the sense of muscular power became 
 greater, and at last an irresistible propensity to action was 
 indulged in ; I recollect but indistinctly what followed ; I know 
 that my motions were various and violent. These effects very
 
 48 HUMPHRY DAVY, 
 
 soon ceased after respiration. In ten minutes I had recovered 
 my natural state of mind. The thrilling in the extremities 
 continued longer than the other sensations. This experiment 
 was made in the morning ; no langour or exhaustion was conse- 
 quent, my feelings throughout the day were as usual, and I 
 passed the night in undisturbed repose. The next morning the 
 recollections of the effects of the gas were very indistinct, and 
 had not remarks written immediately after the experiment re- 
 called them to my mind I should have even doubted of their reality. 
 I was willing indeed to attribute some of the strong en)otion to 
 the enthusiasm, which I supposed must have been necessarily 
 connected with the perception of agreeable feelings, when I was 
 prepared to experience painful sensations. Two experiments, 
 however, made in the course of this day, with scepticism, con- 
 vinced me that the effects were solely owing to the specific 
 operation of the gas." 
 
 Having thus ascertained the powders of the gas, he 
 made many experiments to ascertain the length of time 
 it might be breathed with safety, its action on the pulse, 
 and its general effects on the health when often respired. 
 
 After a number of experiments made to determine 
 its effect in allaying fatigue, in inducing sleep, or in 
 alleviating the after-effects of vinous intoxication, he 
 resolved 
 
 "to breathe the gas for such a time and in such quantities as 
 to produce excitement equal in duration and superior in intensity 
 to that occasioned by high intoxication from opium or alcohol." 
 
 For this purpose he was enclosed in an air-tight 
 or box-chamber, into which from time to time, by the 
 help of Dr. Kinglake, successive quantities of twenty 
 quarts of nitrous oxide w^ere introduced. As he breathed 
 the gas, he found that his temperature and pulse 
 gradually increased. He experienced a generally diffused 
 warmth Avithout the slightest moisture of the skin, a 
 sense of exhilaration similar to that produced by a small 
 dose of w^ine, and disposition to muscular motion and to
 
 POET AND PHfLOSOPHEK. 49 
 
 merriment. Luminous points seemed frequently to pass 
 before his eyes, his hearing became more acute, and he 
 feh a pleasant lightness and power of exertion in the 
 muscles ; and, on account of the great desire of action, 
 rest was painful. After having been in the box for 
 an hour and a quarter he began to respire twenty quarts 
 of unmingled nitrous oxide. What followed is best 
 described in his own words : — 
 
 "A thrilling, extending from the chest to the extremities, was 
 almost immediately produced. I felt a sense of tangible extension 
 highly pleasurable in every limb ; my visible impressions were 
 dazzling, and apparently magnified, I heard distinctly every sound 
 in the room, and was perfectly aware of my situation. By degrees, 
 as the pleasurable sensations increased, I lost all connection with 
 external things ; trains of viviil visible images rapidly passed 
 through my mind, and were connected with words in such a 
 manner, as to i^roduce perceptions perfectly novel. I existed in a 
 world of newly connected and newly modified ideas : I theorised, 
 I imagined that I made discoveries. When I was awakened from 
 this semi delirious trance by Dr. Kinglake, who took the bag from 
 my mouth, indignation and pride were the first feelings produced 
 by the sight of the persons about me. My emotions were enthusi- 
 astic and sublime, and for a minute I walked round the room 
 perfectly regardless of what was said to me. As I recovered my 
 former state of mind I felt an inclination to communicate the 
 discoveries I had made during the experiment. I endeavoured to 
 recall the ideas : they were feeble and indistinct ; one collection 
 of terms however presented itself ; and with a most intense 
 belief and prophetic manner, I exclaimed to Dr. Kinglake, 
 ' Nothing exists hut thonr/hts ! The universe is composed of i7ii2Jres- 
 sions, ideas, 2^leastcres and jKiins / ' " 
 
 As might be anticipated, the friend of Coleridge and 
 Southey, himself a youth of sensibility and poetic feeling, 
 was curious to learn whether this wonderful gas would 
 increase his stock of the divine afflatus. He walked 
 amidst the scenery of the Avon, "rendered excjnisitciv 
 beautiful by bright moonshine," and, with a mind hlled
 
 50 HUMPHRY DAVY, 
 
 with pleasurable feelings, he breathed the gas, and we 
 have as a consequence the following effusion: — 
 
 " Xot in the ideal dreams of wild desire 
 
 Have I beheld a rapture-wakening form : 
 My bosom burns witli no unhallow'd fire, 
 
 Yet is my cheek with rosy blushes warm ; 
 Yet are my eyes with sparkling lustre fill'd ; 
 
 Yet is my mouth replete with murmuring sound ; 
 Yet are my limbs with inward transports fill'd, 
 
 And clad with new-born mightiness around." 
 
 Whether, as the result of this effort, Davy ever again 
 essayed to tempt the muse when under the influence 
 of nitrous oxide is doubtful. No^vadays the gas is too 
 frequently associated with unhappy memories of the 
 dentist's chair to call up pleasurable associations in a 
 poet's mind. 
 
 Davy concludes his memoir with some cautious spec- 
 ulations as to the mode of action of nitrous oxide. That 
 it acts en the blood he was w^ell aware, but it has been 
 left for subsequent research to determine in what manner. 
 He points out that "as nitrous oxide in its extensive 
 operation appears capable of destroying physical pain, it 
 may probably be used wdth advantage during surgical 
 operations in which no great effusion of blood takes 
 place." As is well known, nitrous oxide is now one of 
 the commonest aniTesthetic agents. 
 
 As regards the general question how far the gases are 
 likely to subserve the interests of medicine, he is very 
 guarded. 
 
 "Pneumatic chemistry," he says, "in its application to 
 medicine is an art in infancy, v/eak, almost useless, but appar- 
 ently possessed of capabilities of improvement. To be rendered 
 strong and mature, she must be nourished by facts, strengthened 
 by exercise, -and cautiously directed in the application of her 
 powers by rational scepticism."
 
 POET AND PHILOSOPHER. 51 
 
 Davy's success with nitrous oxide led him to atteujpt 
 to respire other gases — such as hydrogen, nitric oxide, 
 carbonic acid— with in one or two cases ahnost fatal con- 
 sequences. On one occasion he tried to breathe water- 
 gas, made by passing steam over charcoal, and was with 
 difficulty brought to life again. These deleterious experi- 
 ments, carried on with all the ardour and impetuosity of 
 his nature, and at the expense of niuch nervous energy, 
 reacted prejudicially on his health, and he was obliged" to 
 seek relaxation and quiet in the pure atmosphere of his 
 native place. 
 
 With the approach of winter he was back again in 
 Bristol, with health restored and vigour renewed. The 
 following letter to Mr. Davies Gilbert is interesting as 
 fixing the time at which he entered on the path of inquiry 
 which was to lead him to his greatest triumphs : — 
 
 "Pneumatic Institution, Oct 20, 1800. 
 
 "In pursuing experiments on galvanism, during the last two 
 months, I have met with unexpected and unhoped-for success. 
 Some of the new facts on this subject promise .to afford instru- 
 ments capable of destroying the mysterious veil which Nature has 
 thrown over the operations and properties of ethereal fluids. 
 
 "Galvanism I have found, by numerous experiments, to 1)e 
 a process imrely chemical^ and to depend wholly on the oxidation 
 of metallic surfaces, having different degrtes of electric conducting 
 power. 
 
 " Zinc is incapable of decomposing 2'>ure water ; and if the 
 zinc plates be kept moist with pure water, the galvanic pile 
 does not act ; but zinc is capable of oxidating itself when 
 placed in contact with water, holding in solution either oxygen, 
 atmospheric air, or nitrous or muriatic acid, &c. ; and under such 
 circumstances the galvanic phenomena are produced, and their 
 intensity is in proportion to the rapidity with which the zinc is 
 oxidated. 
 
 " The galvanic pile only acts for a few minutes, when intro- 
 duced into hydrogen, nitrogen, or hydrocarbomte [the gas obtained 
 l)y the action of steam on charcoal] ; that is, only as long as the 
 d2
 
 52 HUMPHRY DAVY, 
 
 water between its plates holds some oxygen in solution ; immerse 
 it for a few moments in water containing air, and it acts 
 again. 
 
 " It acts very vividly in oxygen gas, and less so in the atmos- 
 phere. When its plates are moistened by marine acid, its action 
 is very powerful, but iniinitely more so when nitrous [nitric] acid 
 is employed. Five plates with nitrous [nitric] acid gave sparks 
 equal to those of the common pile. From twenty plates the shock 
 was insupportable. 
 
 "I had almost forgotten to mention, that charcoal is a good 
 galvanic exciter, and decomposes water, like the metals, in the 
 pile ; but I must stop, without being able to expatiate on the 
 connection which is now obvious between galvanism and some of 
 the phenomena of organic motion 
 
 "I remain with sincere respect and affection, yours 
 
 '' HuMPHKY Davy." 
 
 To his mother he writes : — 
 
 " Hotwells, November 19, 1800. 
 
 " My dear Mother,— Had I believed that my silence of six 
 weeks would have given you a moment's uneasiness, I should 
 have written long ago. But I have been engaged in my favourite 
 pursuit of experimenting, and in endeavouring to amuse two of 
 my friends whoTiave spent some days at the Institute. One of 
 them is your quondam lodger, Gregory Watt, who desired to be 
 kindly remembered to you and the family. . . . 
 
 " Accept my affectionate thanks for j^our presents. I have 
 received them all, and I have made a good use of them all. Several 
 times has a supper on the excellent marinaded pilchards made 
 me recollect former times, when I sat opposite to you, my dear 
 mother, in the little parlour, round the little table eating of the 
 same delicious food, and talking of future unknown things. Little 
 did I then think of my present situation, or of the mode in which 
 I am, and am to be, connected with the Avorld. Little did I then 
 think that I should ever be so long absent from the place of my 
 birth as to feel longings so powerful as those I now feel for visiting 
 it again. . . . 
 
 '' I shall see with heartfelt pleasure the time approaching when 
 I shall again behold my first home— when I shall endeavour to 
 repay some of the debts of gratitude I owe to you, to the Doctor
 
 POET AND PHILOSOPHER. 53 
 
 [Tonkin], and to my aunts. My next visit shall not be so short a 
 one as the last. I will stay with you at least two or three months. 
 You have let half your house. Have you a bed-room reserved for 
 me, and a little room for a laboratory ? Which part have you 
 let ? When I come to Penzance we will settle all about John ; 
 till then I should like for him to learn French and Latin with 
 ^Ir. Dugart. The expense of this or any other part of his educa- 
 tion I will be glad to defray. Do not by any means put him with 
 Mr. Coryton. ... I will write to Kitty in the course of next 
 month. I am glad to hear Grace is better. . . . 
 
 "All in the way of progress goes on nobly. My health was 
 never better than it has been since I left Cornwall last. I shall 
 be very glad to hear from you soon. You have a hundred objects 
 to write about interesting to me. I can only write of myself. . . 
 Love to Kitty, Grace, Betsy and John. 
 " Farewell, my dear mother. I am your affectionate son 
 
 "H. Davy." 
 
 The following letter is to his old friend and benefactor, 
 Mr. John Tonkin:— 
 
 " Dowry Square, Clifton, Jan. 12, 180L 
 " Respected Sir, .... Natural philosophy has lately been 
 enriched with many curious discoveries, amongst which galvanism, 
 a phenomenon that promises to unfold to us some of the laws of 
 our nature is one of the most important. In medicine, the in- 
 oculation for the cow-pox is becoming general, not in England alone, 
 but over the whole of Europe ; and taking circumstances as they 
 now stand, it promises gradually to annihilate small-pox. My 
 discoveries relating to the nitrous oxide, the pleasure-producing 
 air, are beginning to make some noise ; the experiments have 
 been repeated, with the greatest success, by the ])rofessors of the 
 University of Edinburgh, who have taken up the subject with 
 great ardour ; and I have received letters of thanks and of praises 
 for my labours from some of the most respectable of the English 
 philosophers. I am sorry to be so much of an egotist ; yet I 
 cannot speak of the Pneumatic Institution and its success without 
 speaking of myself. Our patients are becoming daily more 
 numerous, and our Institution, in spite of the political odium 
 attached to its founder, is respected, even in the trading city of 
 Bristol. . . . I am at this moment very healthy and very
 
 54 HUMPHRY DAVY, 
 
 happy ; 1 have had great success in my experiments and I gain 
 a competence by my pursuits, at the same time that I am (in 
 hopes at least) doing something towards promoting the public 
 good. If I feel any anxiety, it is that of being removed so far 
 from you, my mother, and my relations and friends. If I was 
 nearer, I would endeavour to be useful to you : I would endeavour 
 to pay some of the debts of gratitude, I owe to you, my first 
 protector and earliest friend. As it is, I must look forward to a 
 futurity that will enable me to do this ; but, believe me, wherever 
 I am, and whatever may be my situation, I shall never lose the 
 remembrance of obligations conferred on me, or the sense of 
 gratitude which ought to accompany them. 
 
 " I remain, respected Sir, with unfeigned duty and affection, 
 yours «H. Davy." 
 
 CHAPTER III. 
 
 THE PNEUMATIC INSTITUTION, BRISTOL, 1798-1801 {contnmecl). 
 
 Perhaps at no time of his life was Davy more keenly 
 sensible of the joy of living than at this period — " in the 
 flower and freshness of his youth," as Southey says. 
 That he was eager, active, buoyant, happy, is obvious 
 from his letters. He had the sweet consciousness of 
 success, and all the sweeter that it had so quickly 
 followed the bitterness of disappointment. He had 
 been able to measure himself against some of the ablest 
 minds of the time — of men who were making the in- 
 tellectual history of the early part of this century — and 
 the comparison, we may be sure, was not altogether 
 unpleasing to him. 
 
 The love of fame — "the honourable meed of the 
 applause of enlightened men," as he called it — was his 
 ruling passion and the motive principle of his life. As 
 his experience and the range of his knowledge widened, 
 he felt a growing conviction that with health and
 
 t'OET AND PHlLOSOPHET^. 55 
 
 strength he need set no bounds to the hmits of his 
 ambition. 
 
 Of the impression he made on others, and of the 
 influence and power he exerted on minds far more 
 matured than his own, we have abundant evidence in the 
 letters of his contemporaries. Miss Edgeworth's good- 
 humoured patronage quickly passed into amazement 
 and ended in awe. Writing to William Taylor of 
 Norwich, Southey calls Davy " a miraculous young man, 
 whose talents I can only wonder at." Amos Cottle, 
 poet and publisher, to whom he was introduced shortly 
 after his arrival at Bristol, says of him in the "Re- 
 miniscences of Coleridge and Southey " : — 
 
 " I was much struck with the intellectual character of his face. 
 His eye was piercing, and when not engaged in converse, was 
 remarkably introverted, amounting to absence, as though his 
 mind had been pursuing some severe train of thought scarcely to 
 be interrupted by external objects ; and, from the first interview 
 also, his ingenuousness impressed me as much as his mental 
 superiority." 
 
 Cottle on one occasion said to Coleridge, " During 
 your stay in London you doubtless saw a great many 
 of what are called the cleverest men — how do you 
 estimate Davy in comparison with these ? " Mr. Cole- 
 ridge's reply was strong but expressive : " Why, Davy 
 can eat them all ! There is an energy, an elasticity, in 
 his mind which enables him to seize on and analyse all 
 questions, pushing them to their legitimate consequences. 
 Every subject in Davy's mind has the principle of 
 vitahty. Living thoughts spring up like turf under 
 his feet." It can hardly be doubted that Davy's con- 
 nection with that remarkable literary coterie which 
 made its headquarters in the neighbourhood of Bristol 
 in the last year of the eighteenth century, strongly
 
 56 HUMPHRY DAVY, 
 
 stiiiiulated his intellectual activity. In one of his poems 
 written at this period he speaks of having 
 
 " felt tlie warmth, 
 The gentle influence of congenial souls, 
 Whose kindred hopes have cheer'd me " 
 
 That these " congenial souls " in turn felt his influence 
 no less strongly will be apparent from the following 
 letters — the first from Southey, who then resided at 
 Westbury, the others from Coleridge, who had just 
 removed to the Lake country : — 
 
 "Thursday, May Uh, 1799. 
 
 " Your ' Mount's Bay,' my dear Davy, disappointed me in its 
 length. I expected more, and wished more, because what there 
 is is good ; there is a certain swell, an elevation in the flow of the 
 blank verse, which, I do not know how, produces an efi"ect like 
 the fulness of an organ-swell upon the feeling. I have felt it 
 from the rhythm of Milton, and sometimes of Akenside, a pleasure 
 wholly independent from that derived from the soul of the poetry, 
 arising from the beauty of the body only. I believe a man who 
 did not understand a word of it would feel pleasure and emotion 
 at hearing such lines read with the tone of a poet . . . 
 
 " I must not press the subject of poetry upon you, only do not 
 lose the feeling and the habit of seeing all things with a poet's 
 eye ; at Bristol you have a good society, but not a man w^ho 
 knows anything of poetry. Dr. Beddoes' taste is very pessimism. 
 Cottle only likes what his friends and himself write. Every 
 person fancies himself competent to pronounce upon the merits 
 of a poem, and yet no trade requires so long an ai)prenticeship, 
 or involves the necessity of such multifarious knowledge . . . 
 
 "At Lymouth I saw Tobin's friend Williams who opened 
 upon me with an account of the gaseous oxide. I had the 
 advantage of him, having felt what he it seems had only seen. 
 Lymouth where he is fixed is certainly the most beautiful place 
 I have seen in England, so beautiful that all the after-scenes 
 come flat and uninteresting. The Valley of Stones is about half 
 a mile distant, a strange and magnificent place, which ought to 
 have filled the whole neighbourhoo 1 with traditions of giants, 
 devils, and magicians, bat I could find none, not even a lie
 
 POET AND PHILOSOPHER. 57 
 
 preserved. I know too little of natural history to hypothesize 
 upon the cause of this valley ; it appeared to me that nothing 
 but water could have so defleshed and laid bare the bones of the 
 earth— that any inundation which could have overtopped these 
 heights must have deluged the kingdom ; but the opposite hills 
 are clothed with vegetable soil and verdure, therefore the cause 
 must have been partial -a waterspout might have occasioned it 
 perhaps — and there my conjectures rested, or rather took a new 
 direction to the pre-Adamite kings, the fiends who married 
 Diocletian's fifty daughters— their giant progeny, old Merlin and 
 the builders of the Giant's Causeway. 
 
 "For the next iVnthology I project a poem on our Clifton 
 rocks ; the scenery is fresh in my sight, and these kind of poems 
 derive a more interesting cast as recoUectioyis than as immediate 
 pictures. Farewell. Yours truly, " Robert Southey." 
 
 "Keswick, Friday Evening, July 25, 1800. 
 
 " My dear Davy,— Work hard, and if success do not dance 
 up like the bubbles in the salt (with the spirit lamp under it*) 
 may the Devil and his dam take success ! My dear fellow ! from 
 the window before me there is a great camp of mountains. Giants 
 seem to have pitched their tents there. Each mountain is a 
 giant's tent, and how the light streams from them ! Davy ! I 
 ache for you to be with us. 
 
 " W. Wordsworth is such a lazy fello\v, that I bemire myself 
 by making promises for him : the moment I received your letter, 
 I wrote to him. He will, I hope, write immediately to Biggs 
 and Cottle. At all events, these poems must not as yet be 
 delivered up to them, because that beautiful poem, 'The Brothers,' 
 which I read to you in Paul Street, I neglected to deliver to you, 
 and tliat must begin the volume. I trust, however, that I have 
 invoked the sleeping bard with a spell so potent, that he will 
 awake and deliver up that Sw^ord of Argantyr, which is to rive 
 the enchanter Gaudijverse from his crown to his feet. 
 
 '* What did you think of that case I translated for you from 
 the German ? That I was a well-meaning sutor who had ultra- 
 crepidated with more zeal than wisdom ! ! I give myself credit 
 for that word ' ultra-crepidated,' it started up in my brain like 
 a creation . . . 
 
 * Doubtless an allusion to the decomposition of ammonium nitrate, 
 which Coleridge had frequently seen Davy effect.
 
 58 HUMPHRY DAVY, 
 
 " We drank tea the night before I left Grasmere, on the island 
 in that lovely lake ; our kettle swung over the fire, hanging from 
 the branch of a fir-tree, and I lay and saw the woods, and moun- 
 tains, and lake all trembling, and as it were idealized through the 
 subtle smoke, which rose up from the clear red embers of the fir- 
 apples which we had collected ; afterwards we made a glorious 
 bonfire on the margin, by some elder bushes, whose twigs heaved 
 and sobbed in the uprushing column of smoke, and the image of 
 the bonfire, and of us that danced round it, ruddy, laughing faces 
 in the twilight ; the image of this in a lake, smooth as that sea, 
 to whose waves the Son of God had said, Peace ! May God, and 
 all his sons, love you as I do. " S. T. Coleridge. 
 
 " Sara desires her kind remembrances. Hartley is a spirit 
 that dances on an aspen leaf : the air that yonder sallow-faced 
 and yawning tourist is breathing, is to my babe a perpetual 
 nitrous oxide . . ." 
 
 " Thursday night, Oct. 9, 1800. 
 
 " My dear Davy,— I was right glad, glad with a stagger of 
 the heart, to see your writing again. Many a moment have I 
 had all my France and England curiosity suspended and lost, 
 looking in the advertisement front column of the ]\Iorning Post 
 Gazetteer, for J/r. Davifs Galvanic habitudes of charcoal. Upon 
 my soul, I believe there is not a letter in those words round which 
 a world of imagery does not circumvolve ; your room, the garden, 
 the cold bath, the moonlit rocks . . . and dreams of wonderful 
 things attached to your name ... I pray you do write 
 to me immediately, and tell me what you mean by the possi- 
 bility of your assuming a new occupation ; have you been suc- 
 cessful to the extent of your expectations in your late chemical 
 inquiries'? . . . 
 
 " As to myself, I am doing little worthy the relation. I write 
 for Stuart in the Morning Post, and I am compelled by the god 
 Pecunia, which was one name of the supreme Jupiter, to give a 
 volume of letters from Germany, which will be a decent lounge 
 book, and not an atom more. The Christabel was running up 
 to 1,300 lines, and was so much admired by Wordsworth, that he 
 thought it indelicate to print two volumes with his name, in 
 which so much of another man's was included . . . We mean 
 to publish the Christabel, therefore, with a long blank-verse of 
 Wordsworth's, entitled The Podlar [afterwards changed to ' The
 
 POET AND PHILOSOPHER. 59 
 
 Excursion ']. I assure you I think very differently of Christahel. 
 I would rather have written Ruth and Nature's Lady, than a 
 million such poems. But why do I calumniate my own spirit by 
 saying I would rather ? God knows it is as delightful to me that 
 they are written . . . 
 
 "Wordsworth is fearful you have been much teazed by the 
 printers on his account, but you can sympathise with him . . . 
 
 " When you write, and do write soon, tell me how I can get 
 your Essay on the Nitrous Oxide . . . Are your galvanic 
 discoveries important 1 What do they lead to 1 All this is ultra 
 crejndation^ but would to heaven I had as much knowledge as I 
 have sympathy ! . . . 
 
 " God bless you ! Your most affectionate 
 " S. T. Coleridge." 
 
 " Greta Hall, Tuesday night, Dec. 2, 1800. 
 
 "My dear Davy, — By an accident I did not receive your 
 letter till this evening. I would that you had added to the 
 account of your indisposition the probable causes of it. It has 
 left me anxious whether or no you have not exposed yourself 
 to unwholesome influences in your chemical pursuits. There are 
 few beings both of hope and performance, but few who combine 
 the 'are' and the 'will be.' For God's sake, therefore, my dear 
 fellow, do not rip open the bird that lays the golden eggs . . . 
 
 "At times, indeed, I would fain be somewhat of a more 
 tangible utility than I am ; but so I suppose it is with all of us — 
 one while cheerful, stirring, feeling in resistance nothing but a 
 joy and a stimulus ; another while drowsy, self-distrusting, prone 
 to rest, loathing our own self-promises, withering our own hopes 
 — our hopes, the vitality and cohesion of our being ? 
 
 "I purpose to have Christabel published by itself — this I 
 publish with confidence— but my travels in Germany come from 
 me now with mortal pangs. 
 
 "Wordsworth has nearly finished the concluding poem. It 
 is of a mild, unimposing character, but full of beauties to 
 those short-necked men who have their hearts sufficiently near 
 their heads — the relative distance of Avhich (according to citizen 
 Tourder, the French translator of S])allanzani) determines the 
 sagacity or stupidity of all bipeds and quadrupeds. . . . 
 
 " God love you ! 
 " S. T. Coleridge."
 
 60 * HUMPHRY DAVY, 
 
 "No man ever had genius who did not aim to 
 execute more than he was able." So wrote Davy in one 
 of his early note-books ; and of no man was this more 
 true than of Davy himself Busy as he was with experi- 
 mental research at this time, his mind Avas by no means 
 wholly occupied with it. Change of mental occupation 
 was, indeed, a necessity to him. At no period of his 
 life could he exercise that power of sustained and con- 
 centrated thought which so strikingly characterised 
 Newton or Dalton or Faraday. The following scheme of 
 intellectual work which he marked out for himself 
 shortly after his arrival in Bristol, is characteristic of 
 the restless, changeful activity of his mind : — 
 
 " Resolution : To work two hours with pen before 
 breakfast on the ' Lover of Nature ' ; and ' The Feelings 
 of Eldon ' from six till eight ; from nine till two in 
 experiments ; from four to six, reading ; seven till ten, 
 metaphysical reading {i.e. ' System of the Universe ')." 
 The " Lover of Nature " and " The Feelings of Eldon " 
 were two among the half-dozen romances he projected 
 at one time or other, and of which fragments were found 
 amongst his papers, and by means of which he intended 
 to inculcate his own metaphysical and philosophical 
 ideas and his views on education and the development 
 of character. Dr. John Davy tells us that his note-books 
 at this period were not less characteristic ; " they contain, 
 mixed together, without the least regard to order, 
 schemes and minutes of experiments, passing thoughts 
 of various kinds, lines of poetry (but these are in small 
 proportion), fragments of stories and romances, meta- 
 physical fragments, and sketches of philosophical 
 essays." 
 
 Many of these jottings and reflections are evidently 
 based on his own experience, and hence serve to ilhistrate
 
 POET AND PHILOSOPHER. 61 
 
 his temperament and the workings of his mind. In an 
 essay on " Genius," written at this time, he says : — 
 
 " Great powers have never been exerted independent of strong 
 feelings. The rapid arrangements of ideas, from their various 
 analogies to the equally rapid comparisons of these analogies, 
 with facts uniformly occurring during the progress of discovery, 
 have existed only in those minds where the agency of strong 
 and various motives is perceived- of motives modifying each 
 other, mingling with each other, and producing that fever of 
 emotion, which is the joy of existence and the consciousness 
 of life." 
 
 The following extracts relate to science and 
 philosophy : — 
 
 "Philosophy is simple and intelligible. We owe confused 
 systems to men of vague and obscure ideas." 
 
 "We ought to reason from effects alone. False philosophy 
 has uniformly depended upon making use of words which signify 
 no definite ideas." 
 
 "Experimental science hardly ever affords us more than 
 approximations to truth ; and whenever many agents are con- 
 cerned we are in great danger of being mistaken." 
 
 "Scepticism in regard to theory is what we ought most 
 rigorously to adhere to." 
 
 " The feeling generally connected with new facts enables us 
 to reason more rapidly upon them, and is peculiarly active in 
 calling up analogies." 
 
 " Probabilities are the most we can hope for in our generalisa- 
 tion, and whenever we can trace the connection of a series of 
 facts, without being obliged to imagine certain relations, we may 
 esteem ourselves fortunate in our approximations." 
 
 " One use of physical science is, that it gives definite ideas." 
 
 To the same period belongs the sketch or plan of 
 a poem, in blank verse, in six books, on the deUverance 
 of the Israelites from Egypt, which either Sou they or
 
 62 HUMPHRY DAVY, 
 
 Coleridge had proposed to him as a joint- work, frag- 
 ments of which are to be found amongst the note-books. 
 
 Towards the end of 1800 Davy's visions of future 
 greatness began to take more definite shape. This is 
 hinted at in the letter from Coleridge of October 9th, 
 1800, already given, and also in one to his mother, dated 
 September 27th, 1800, in which he says, ''My future 
 prospects are of a very brilliant nature, and they have 
 become more brilliant since I last wrote to you ; but 
 wherever there is uncertainty I shall refrain from 
 anticipating." 
 
 In a few months the uncertainty was practically at 
 an end. 
 
 He had been drawn into the great vortex called 
 London, " full," as he says in a letter to Hope, " of the 
 expectation of scientific discovery from the action of 
 mind upon mind in this great hot-bed of human power." 
 He thus informs his mother : — 
 
 " 3l5^ January, 1801. 
 
 "My dear Mother, — During the last three weeks I have 
 been very much occupied by business of a very serious nature. 
 This has prevented me from writing to you, to my aunt, and to 
 Kitty. I now catch a few moments only of leisure to inform 
 you that I am exceedingly well, and that I have had proposals of 
 a very flattering nature to induce me to leave the Pneumatic 
 Institution for a permanent establishment in London. 
 
 " You have perhaps heard of the Royal Philosoi)hical Institu- 
 tion, established by Count Paunford, and others of the aristocracy. 
 It is a very splendid establishment, and wants only a combination 
 of talents to render it eminently useful. 
 
 '• Count Euraford has made proposals to me to settle myself 
 there, with the present appointment of assistant lecturer on 
 cheinistry, and experimenter to the Institute ; but this only to 
 prepare the way for my being in a short time sole professor of 
 chemistry. &c. ; an appointment as honourable as any scientific 
 appointment in the kingdom, with an income of at least 500/ 
 a year.
 
 POET AND PHILOSOPHER. 63 
 
 '' I write to-day to get the specific terms of the present 
 appointment, when I shall determine whether I shall accept of it 
 or not. Dr. Beddoes has honourably absolved me from all engage- 
 ments at the Pneumatic Institution, })rovided I choose to quit it. 
 However, I have views here which I am loath to leave, unless for 
 very great advantages. 
 
 " You will all, I dare say, be glad to see me getting amongst 
 the Boyalists, but I will accept of no appointment except upon 
 the sacred terms of independence. . . . 
 
 " 1 am your most aftectionate son 
 " H. Davy." 
 
 In the middle of February he was in London nego- 
 tiating with Rum ford. He Avrote to his mother, " His 
 proposals have not been unfair, and I have nearly settled 
 the business." How the business Avas actually settled 
 appears from the following extract from the Minute 
 Book of the Royal Institution of a resolution adopted at 
 a Meeting of the Managers on February 16th, 1801 : — 
 
 " Resolved — That Mr. Humphry Davy be engaged in the 
 service of the Koyal Institution, in the capacities of Assistant 
 Lecturer in Chemistry, Director of the Laboratory, and Assistant 
 Editor of the Journals of the Institution, and that he be allowed 
 to occupy a room in the house, and be furnished with coals and 
 candles ; and that he be paid a salary of one hundred guineas 
 per annum." 
 
 He returned to Bristol to hand over his charge of 
 the Pneumatic Institution, and to take leave of his 
 many friends in that city. The following letter to Mr. 
 Davies Gilbert is interesting and characteristic : — 
 
 "Hotwells, March 8th, 1801. 
 " I cannot think of quitting the Pneumatic Institution, without 
 giving you intimation of it in a letter ; indeed, I believe I should 
 have done this some time ago, had not the hurry of business, and 
 the fever of emotion produced by the prospect of novel changes 
 in futurity, destroyed to a certain extent my powers of consistent 
 action.
 
 64 HUMPHRY DAVY. 
 
 " You, my dear Sir, have behaved to me with great kindness, 
 and the little ability I possess you have very much contributed 
 to develope ; I should therefore accuse myself of ingratitude 
 were I to neglect to ask your approbation of the measures I 
 have adopted with regard to the change of my situation, and the 
 enlargement of my views in life. 
 
 " In consequence of an invitation from Count Eumford, given 
 to me with some proposals relative to the Royal Institution, I 
 visited London in the middle of February, where, after several 
 conferences with that gentleman, I w^as invited by the Managers 
 of the Royal Institution to become the Director of their labora- 
 tory, and their Assistant Professor of Chemistry ; at the same 
 time I was assured that, within the space of two or three seasons, 
 I should be made sole Professor of Chemistry, still continuing 
 Director of the laboratory. 
 
 "The immediate emolument offered was sufficient for my 
 wants ; and the sole and uncontrolled use of the apparatus of the 
 Institution, for private experiments, was to be granted me. The 
 behaviour of Count Rumford, Sir Joseph Banks, Mr. Cavendish, 
 and the other principal managers, was liberal and polite; and 
 they promised me any apparatus that I might need for new 
 experiments. 
 
 " The time required to be devoted to the services of the 
 Institution was but short, being limited chiefly to the winter and 
 spring. The emoluments to be attached to the office of sole 
 Professor of Chemistry are great ; and, above all, the situation is 
 permanent, and held very honourable. 
 
 " These motives, joined to the approbation of Dr. Beddoes, who 
 with great liberality has absolved me 'from my engagements at 
 the Pneumatic Institution, and the strong wishes of most of my 
 friends in London and Bristol, determined my conduct. 
 
 " Thus I am quickly to be transferred to London, whilst my 
 sphere of action is considerably enlarged, and as much power as 
 I could reasonably expect, or even wish for at my time of life, 
 secured to me without the obligation of labouring at a profession. 
 
 "The Royal Institution will, I hope, be of some utility to 
 Society. It has undoubtedly the capability of becoming a great 
 instrument of moral and intellectual improvement. Its funds 
 are very great. It has attached to it the feelings of a great 
 number of people of fashion and property, and consequently may
 
 POET AND PHILOSOPHER. 65 
 
 be the means of employing, to useful purposes, money which 
 would otherwise be squandered in luxury, and in the production 
 of unnecessary laboiu*. Count Ivumford professes that it will be 
 kept distinct from party politics ; I sincerely wish that such may 
 be the case, though I fear it. As for myself, I shall become 
 attached to it full of hope, with the resolution of employing all 
 my feeble powers towards promoting its true interests. 
 
 " 80 much of my paper has been given to pure egotism, that 
 I have but little room left to say anything concerning the state 
 of science. . . . 
 
 " Here, at the Pneumatic Institution, the nitrous oxide has 
 evidently been of use. Dr. Beddoes is proceeding in the execution 
 of his great popular physiological work, which, if it equals the 
 plan he holds out, ought to supersede every work of the kind. 
 
 " I have been pursuing Galvanism with labour, and some 
 success. I have been able to produce galvanic power from simple 
 plates, by effecting on them different oxidating and de-oxidating 
 processes ; but on this point I cannot enlarge in the small re- 
 maining space of paper. . . . 
 
 " It will give me sincere pleasure to hear from you, wdien you 
 are at leisure. After the lltli I shall be in towai — my direction, 
 Royal Institution, Albemarle Street. I am, my dear friend, 
 with respect and affection, a Yours 
 
 "Humphry Davy." 
 
 With Davy's departure we, too, may take our leave 
 of the Pneumatic Institution. Like most of Dr. 
 Beddoes's performances, it — to use Davy's words — failed 
 to equal the plan its projector held out. It struggled 
 on for awhile, living on such success as Davy had 
 brought it, and ultimately died of inanition. Its 
 founder ended his days a disappointed num, and on 
 his deathbed wrote to his former assistant, in connection 
 wdth whom his memory mainly lives, " like one Avho has 
 scattered abroad the Arena fafaa of knowledge, from 
 T>diich neither branch, nor blossom, nor fruit, has resulted, 
 I require the consolations of a friend."
 
 66 
 
 CHAPTER IV. 
 
 THE llOYAL INSTITUTION. 
 
 The Royal Institution, as originally conceived, was an 
 establishment for the benefit of the poor. It was 
 founded at the close of the last century by Benjamin 
 Thomson, a Royalist American in the service of the 
 Elector Palatine of Bavaria, by whom he was created 
 a Count of the Holy Roman Empire. Count Rumford, 
 as he is commonly called, was a practical philanthropist 
 and a man of science, best known to this age by his 
 association with the present-day doctrine of the nature 
 of heat ; and to his contemporaries, by his constant 
 efforts to apply science to domestic economy. In 1796 
 Rumford put forth a " proposal for forming in London 
 by private subscription an establishment for feeding the 
 poor, and giving them useful employment, and also for 
 furnishing food at a cheap rate to others who may 
 stand in need of such assistance, connected with an 
 institution for introducing and bringing forward into 
 general use new inventions and improvements, par- 
 ticularly such as relate to the management of heat and 
 the saving of fuel, and to various other mechanical 
 contrivances by which domestic comfort and economy 
 may be promoted." Rumford, as he says in one of his 
 letters to Thomas Bernard — another practical philan- 
 thropist, and one of his earliest associates in the under- 
 taking here referred to — was " deeply impressed with the 
 necessity of rendering it fasltvmable to care for the 
 poor and indigent." The immediate result was the
 
 POET AND PHILOSOPHER. 67 
 
 foundation of the Society for Bettering the Condition 
 of the Poor ; but as regards the associated Institution, 
 it was eventually considered that it would be '' too 
 conspicuous, and too interesting and important, to be 
 made an appendix to any other existing establish- 
 ment, and consequently it must stand alone, and on 
 its own proper basis." 
 
 In 1799, Rum ford conferred with the Committee 
 of the Society for Bettering the Condition of the Poor 
 as to the steps to be taken to found, " by private 
 subscription, a public institution for diffusing the 
 knowledge and facilitating the general and speedy 
 introduction of new and useful mechanical inventions 
 and improvements ; and also for teaching, by regular 
 courses of philosophical lectures and experiments, the 
 applications of the new discoveries in science to the 
 improvement of arts and manufactures, and in facili- 
 tating the means of procuring the comforts and con- 
 veniences of life." The Institution was duly launched 
 in March, 1799, with Sir Joseph Banks as Chairman 
 of Managers, Count Rumford as Secretary, and Mr. 
 Thomas 'Bernard, the promoter of the Institution for 
 the Protection and Instruction of Climbing Boys, and 
 of the Society for the Relief of Poor Neighbours in 
 Distress, as Treasurer. The second volume of the 
 " Reports of the Society for Bettering the Condition 
 of the Poor " contains a long account of the Institution, 
 '' so far as it may be expected to affect the poor," from 
 the pen of Mr. Bernard, concerning which Dr. Bence 
 Jones, a former Secretary of the Institution, drily 
 remarks, '' It is difficult to believe that the Royal Insti- 
 tution of the present day was ever intended to resemble 
 the picture given of it in this Report." 
 
 Rumford, from the outset, threw himself with great 
 
 E 2
 
 68 HUMPHRY DAVY, 
 
 zeal and ardour into the work of organising and starting 
 the Institution, and it was mainly by his energy and 
 administrative ability that so speedy a beginning was 
 made. Mr. Mellish's house in Albemarle Street was 
 bought, and its apartments were quickly transformed 
 into lecture rooms, model rooms, library, offices, etc. In 
 May "a good cook was engaged for the improvement of 
 culinary advancement — one object, and not the least 
 important — for the Royal Institution." Rumford Avas 
 requested by the Managers to live in the house, to 
 superintend the servants, to preserve order and decorum, 
 and to control the expenses of housekeeping. 
 
 Towards the end of 1799 Dr. Garnett was secured 
 as Lecturer and Scientific Secretary. Thomas Garnett, 
 a physician, who at one time practised at Harrogate, 
 and who is known to chemists for his researches into the 
 composition of the Harrogate mineral waters, Avas at 
 the time Professor of Chemistry and Experimental 
 Philosophy at Anderson's Institution in GlasgoAv. He 
 had a considerable reputation as a lecturer, on the 
 strength of which he was invited by Rumford to come 
 to London. Garnett's lectures began in March, 1800, 
 in what is now the upper Library of the Institution, 
 and Avhich had been fitted up to accommodate the 
 greatest possible number of auditors " AA^th a greater 
 deference to their curiosity than to their convenience." 
 
 Although not altogether unsuccessful at the Insti- 
 tution, Garnett — in spite of " the Northern accent Avhich 
 he still retained in a slight degree, and which rendered 
 his voice someAvhat inharmonious to a London audience " 
 — Avas hardly the type of man required for such a place, 
 and differences soon arose betAveen him and Rumford. 
 To add to his difficulties he had, just prior to his removal 
 from Glaso'OAv, lost his Avife, and the event seems to have
 
 POET AND PHILOSOPHER. 69 
 
 wholty unnerved him. He grew listless and melancholy ; 
 and eventually, in 1801, he was called upon to resign. 
 After leaving the Institution, he struggled on for a time, 
 oivino- courses of scientific lectures in his own house, 
 and at Tom's Coffee-House in the City, and seeking for 
 practice as a physician. Sick in mind and weak in 
 body, he soon broke down, and died in 1802, at the 
 age of thirty-six, leaving his children penniless. The 
 Managers so far bettered the condition of the poor as to 
 subscribe, on behalf of the Institution, £50 towards the 
 publication of his posthumous work on the " Laws of 
 Animal Life," and to allow the book to be dedicated to 
 them. 
 
 The accompanying illustration (p. 70), from a 
 drawing by Gillray, entitled " Pneumatic Experiments 
 at the Royal Institution," shows the theatre during a 
 lecture by Garnett, with Davy acting as assistant. Sir 
 John Hippesley is represented as breathing the 
 " pleasure-giving air." The standing figure near the 
 door is Rumford, and among the audience are Isaac 
 Disraeli, Lord Stanhope, Earl Pomfrct, and Sir H. 
 Eno-lefield. 
 
 Accounts differ as to the precise means by which 
 Davy was brought to the notice of Count Rumford, nor 
 is it very important to know whether it was through the 
 intervention of Da vies Gilbert, or Dr. Hope, or Mr. 
 Underwood, or, as was most probably the case, of all 
 three. 
 
 In a letter to Hope now before me Davy writes : — 
 " I believe it is in a great measure owing to your kind mention 
 of me to Count Rumford, that I occupy my present situation in 
 the Eoyal Institution. I ought to be very thankful to you ; for 
 most of my wishes through life are accomplished, as I am enabled 
 to pursue iny favourite study, and at the same time to be of some 
 little utility to Society."
 
 POET AND PHILOSOPHER. 71 
 
 This much, at least, is certain : there was an absohite 
 aoreement amonof those Avho had the best means of 
 judging that no better appointment was possible. And 
 yet, if we are to credit Dr. Paris, the first impression 
 produced on Rumford by Davy's personal appearance 
 was highly unfavourable, and the Count would not 
 allow him to lecture in the theatre until he had given 
 a specimen of his abilities in the smaller lecture-room, 
 which old habitues of the Royal Institution well re- 
 member. Dr. Paris adds that his first lecture entirely 
 removed every prejudice, and at its conclusion Rum- 
 ford exclaimed, "Let him command any arrange- 
 ments which the Institution can afford." And he 
 was accordingly on the next day promoted to the 
 theatre. 
 
 Six weeks after his arrival, he gave his first public 
 lecture. How he acquitted himself, may be gleaned from 
 the following account, given under the heading of the 
 "Royal Institution of Great Britain" in the Philo- 
 sopiiical Magazine, vol. x., p. 281 (1801) : — 
 
 '* It must give pleasure to our readers to learn that this new 
 and useful institution, the object of which is the application of 
 science to the common purposes of life, may be now considered 
 as settled on a firm basis. . . . 
 
 " We have also to notice a course of lectures, just commenced 
 at the institution, on a new branch of philosophy — we mean the 
 Galvanic Phenomena. On this interesting branch Mr. Davy (late 
 of Bristol) gave the first lecture on the 25th of April. He began 
 with the history of Galvanism, detailed the successive discoveries, 
 and described the different methods of accumulating galvanic 
 influence ... He showed the effects of galvanism on the 
 legs of frogs, and exhibited some interesting experiments on the 
 galvanic effects on the solutions of metals in acids. . . . 
 
 " Sir Joseph Banks, Count Rumford, and other distinguished 
 philosophers were present. The audience were highly gratified, 
 and testified their satisfaction by general applause. Mr. Davy.
 
 72 HUMPHRY DAVY, 
 
 who appears to be very young, acquitted himself admirably well ; 
 from the s])arkling intelligence of his eye, his animated manner, 
 and the tout ensemhle, we have no doubt of his attaining a 
 distinguished eminence." 
 
 The Managers were so far satisfied, that at a meeting 
 held on June 1st they passed the following resolutions : — 
 
 " Resolved — That Mr. Humphry Davy, Director of the 
 Chemical Laboratory, and Assistant Lecturer in Chemistry, 
 has, since he has been employed at the Institution, given satis- 
 factory proofs of his talents as a Lecturer." 
 
 '' Eesolved--That he be appointed, and in future denominated. 
 Lecturer in Chemistry at the lioyal Institution, instead of con- 
 tinuing to occupy the place of Assistant Lecturer, which he has 
 hitherto filled." 
 
 In the following July, Dr. Young ("Phenomenon 
 Young," as he was called at Cambridge), the great 
 exponent of the Undulatory Theory of Light, w\as engaged 
 as Professor of Natural Philosophy, Editor of the 
 Journals, and General Superintendent of the House. "^ 
 
 At a meeting held in the same month, the Managers 
 
 " Eesolved — That a Course of Lectures on the Chemical 
 Principles of the Art of Tanning be given by Mr. Davy. To 
 commence the second of November next ; and that respectable 
 persons of the trade, who shall be recommended by Proprietors 
 of the Institution, be admitted to these lectures gratis." 
 
 To order a young man of twenty-two, wdio had probably 
 never seen the inside of tannery, to give an account of 
 the art and mystery of leather-making, would seem to 
 savour somewhat of what Coleridge would style " ultra- 
 crepidation,'' and accordingly the Managers further 
 
 "Ptesolved — That Mr. Davy have permission to absent himself 
 during the months of July, August, and September for the 
 
 * Young's connection with the Iloyal Institution was comparatively 
 brief. On July 4th, 1803, it was resolved " That Dr. Y'oung be paid the 
 balance of two years' complete salary, and that his engagement with the 
 Institution t Tminate from this time."
 
 POET AND PHILOSOPHER. 73 
 
 purpose of making himself more particularly acquainted with the 
 practical part of the business of tanning, in order to prepare 
 himself for giving the above-mentioned course of lectures." 
 
 Lectures on " The Chemical Principles of the Process 
 of Tanning Leather, and of the objects that must 
 particularly be had in view in attempts to improve 
 that most useful art " are mentioned in Rumford's first 
 prospectus, and the foregoing resolutions were probably 
 passed in consequence. Davy did a considerable amount 
 of experimental work in connection with these lectures, 
 and the Journal of the Royal Institution contains several 
 short communications from him on the chemistry of the 
 subject, but the main facts he discovered are contained 
 in a memoir read to the Royal Society on February 24th, 
 1803, and published in the PUilosopltical Transactions 
 of that year, under the title of an " Account of Some 
 Experiments and Observations on the constituent Parts 
 of certain astringent Vegetables ; and on their Operation 
 in Tannino-." 
 
 Although Davy, by his earnestness, his knoAvledge, 
 his felicity of expression, and by a certain dignity of 
 treatment which seemed to invest even the homeliest 
 subjects with unlooked-for importance, could interest 
 an audience on almost any subject he brought before 
 them, we may be sure that his soul soon sighed for a 
 loftier theme than leather. He found it on the occasion 
 of his lecture of January 21st, 1802, when he delivered 
 the introductory discourse of that session. The date, 
 indeed, is a red-letter day not only in Davy's history 
 but also in that of the Royal Institution. From that 
 time the position of the Institution in the scientific and 
 social world of London Avould seem to be assured. 
 
 Its affairs up to this time had been gradually going 
 from bad to worse. The enthusiasm with which it was
 
 74 HUMPHRY DAVY, 
 
 Started a couple of years back had apparently spent itself, 
 and Rumford, by his hauteur and high-handed manage- 
 ment, had alienated many powerful friends. The sub- 
 scri23tions, which in 1800 had reached £11,047, had fallen 
 in 1802 to £2,999, w^hilst the expenses were annually in- 
 creasing. The outlook was gloomy in the extreme, and 
 everything seemed to portend that the latest scheme for 
 the amelioration of humanity was about to share the 
 too common fate of such projects. The young man of 
 twenty-three, how^ever, changed all this as if by the 
 stroke of a magician's wand. Xo Prince Fortunatus 
 could have done more. 
 
 His theme was not too ambitious ; it would be con- 
 sidered even trite and commonplace to-day, and the man 
 would be very bold or very simple wdio would now 
 attempt to deal with it in the theatre of the Royal 
 Institution : for this introductory lecture was nothing 
 more than an exordium on the worth of science as an 
 agent in the improvement of society. It was, and was 
 felt to be, however, an a/pologia for the very existence 
 of the Institution. Rumford and his fellow managers 
 would seem to have staked everj^thing on a single throw. 
 Davy's powder as a lecturer had been noised abroad, and 
 we may be sure that Coleridge and his other friends 
 did not keep their tongues still. Coleridge, indeed, told 
 the literary world that he assiduously attended Davy's 
 lectures, to increase his stock of metaphors. The youth 
 w^ho had discovered " the pleasure-producing air " was 
 talked about in fashionable circles ; and Mr. Bernard and 
 the Count used their persuasiveness, and Sir Joseph 
 Banks his social power, to secure for him the most 
 cultured audience in London. If we may credit Dr. 
 Paris, other influences, too, were at work. Davy's 
 association with Beddoes had probably gained for him
 
 POET AND PHILOSOPHER. 75 
 
 the goodwill of the Tepidarians, even if it did not 
 actually give him the entree to the Society; and these 
 Red Republicans, whose "pious orgies" at Old Slaughter's 
 Coffee-House in St. Martin's Lane consisted mainly in 
 libations of tea, vied with the Royalists in their efforts 
 to pave his triumphal way. His success was instant 
 and complete. In a series of lofty and impassioned 
 periods he traced the services of science to humanity; 
 he dwelt upon its dignity and nobility as a pursuit, 
 upon its value as a moral and educational force. The 
 small, spare youth, with his earnestness, his eloquence, 
 his unaffected manner, the play of his mobile features, 
 his speaking eyes — "eyes which," as one of his fair 
 auditors was heard to remark, " were made for some- 
 thing besides poring over crucibles" — held his hearers 
 spellbound as he declaimed such sentences as these: — 
 
 " Individuals intluenced by interested motives or false views 
 may check for a time the progress of knowledge ;— moral causes 
 may produce a momentary slumber of the public spirit ;— the 
 adoption of wild and dangerous theories, by ambitious or deluded 
 men, may throw a temporary opprobrium on literature ; but the 
 influence of true philosophy will never be despised ; the germs 
 of improvement are sown in minds, even where they are not per- 
 ceived ; and sooner or later the springtime of their growth must 
 arrive. In reasoning concerning the future hopes of the human 
 species, we may look forward with confidence to a state of society, 
 in which the different orders and classes of men will contribute 
 more effectually to the support of each other than they have 
 hitherto done. This state, indeed, seems to be approaching fast ; 
 for, in consequence of the multiplication of the means of instruc- 
 tion the man of science and the manufacturer are daily becoming 
 more assimilated to each other. The artist, who formerly affected 
 to despise scientific principles, because he was incapable of per- 
 ceiving the advantages of them, is now so far enlightened as to 
 favour the adoption of new processes in his art, whenever they 
 are evidently connected with the diminution of labour ; and the 
 increase of projectors, even to too great an extent, demonstrates
 
 76 HUMPHRY DAVY, 
 
 the enthusiasm of the public mind in its search after improve- 
 ment 
 
 " The unequal division of property and of labour, the differ- 
 ences of rank and condition amongst mankind, are the sources of 
 power in civilised life— its moving causes, and even its very soul. 
 In considering and hoping that the human species is capable of 
 becoming more enlightened and more happj^ we can only expect 
 that the different parts of the great whole of society should be 
 intimately united together, by means of knowledge and the useful 
 arts ; that they should act as the children of one great parent, 
 with one determinate end, so that no jjower may be rendered useless 
 — no exertions thrown away. 
 
 " In this view, we do not look to distant ages, or amuse our- 
 selves with brilliant though delusive dreams, concerning the 
 infinite improveability of man, the annihilation of labour, disease, 
 and even death, but we reasou by analogy from simple facts, we 
 consider only a state of human progression arising out of its present 
 condition, — we look for a time that we may reasonably expect — 
 
 FOR A BRIGHT DAY, OF WHICH WE ALREADY BEHOLD THE DAWN." 
 
 Those who may read these sentences will either smile 
 at their seeming archaism, or w^onder at the antiquity of 
 their argument : for the lesson which Davy inculcated 
 at the beginning of the century is still at its close dinned 
 into our ears, and practically all the stock reasons urged 
 by latter-day ^vriters and platform speakers on technical 
 education and the abstract value of science are to be 
 found in his lectures. But the circumstances of 1802 
 Avere widely different from those of 1896. The birth of 
 the century was a singularly auspicious time for science ; 
 and many cultured men who knew nothing of science, 
 yet felt in a dim sort of way that it Avas destined to be a 
 mighty factor in civilisation. Davy's words struck a 
 sympathetic chord : they served to formulate and define 
 ideas of which all who lived in the spirit of the times and 
 shared in its movement must have been conscious. 
 Speaking to willing and receptive ears, and with every
 
 POET AND PHILOSOPHER. 77 
 
 attribute of manner, speech, and interest in his favour, 
 he saw his chance; and with a practical sagacity beyond 
 his years, he seized it. 
 
 Davy's triumph is recorded in many contemporary 
 notices, and it Hves as one of the traditions of the Royal 
 Institution. 
 
 Francis Horner thus records his impressions in his 
 journal, under date March 31st, 1802 : — 
 
 " I have been once to the Royal Institution and heard Davy 
 lecture to a mixed and large assembly of both sexes, to the 
 number i)erhaps of three hundred or more. It is a curious scene ; 
 the reflections it excites are of an ambiguous nature, for the pros- 
 pect of possible good is mingled with the observation of much 
 actual folly. The audience is assembled by the influence of 
 fashion merely ; and fashion and chemistry form a very in- 
 congruous union. . . . 
 
 •'Davy's style of lecturing is much in favour of himself, though 
 not, perhaps, entirely suited to the place ; it has rather a little 
 awkwardness, but it is that air which bespeaks real modesty and 
 good sense ; he is only awkward because he cannot condescend 
 to assume that theatrical quackery of manner which might have a 
 more imposing effect. This was my impression from his lecture. 
 I have since (April 2nd) met Davy in company, and was much 
 pleased with him ; a great softness and propriety of manner, 
 which might be cultivated into elegance ; his physiognomy struck 
 me as being superior to what the science of chemistry, on its 
 present plan, can afford exercise for ; I fancied to discover in it 
 the lineaments of poetical feeling." ("Memoirs of Horner," vol. i., 
 p. 182.) 
 
 Davy's friend Purkis has left us the following still 
 more glowing account : — 
 
 " The sensation created by his first [second] course of Lectures 
 at the Institution, and the enthusiastic admiration which they 
 obtained, is at this peiiod scarcely to be imagined. Men of the 
 first rank and talent, — the literary and the scientific, the practical 
 and the theoretical, blue stockings, and women of fashion, the old 
 and the young, all crowded— eagerly crowded the lecture-room.
 
 78 HUMPHRY DAVY, 
 
 His youth, his simplicity, his natural eloquence, his chemical 
 knowledge, his happy illustrations, and well-conducted experi- 
 ments, excited universal attention and unbounded applause. 
 Compliments, invitations, and presents were showered upon him 
 in al)undance from all quarters ; his society was courted by all, 
 and all appeared proud of his acquaintance. . . A talented lady, 
 since well-known in the literary world, addressed him anonym- 
 ously in a poem of considerable length, replete with delicate 
 panegyric and genuine feeling. . . It was accompanied with a 
 handsome ornamental appendage for the watch, which he was 
 requested to wear when he delivered his next lecture, as a token of 
 having received the poem and pardoned the freedom of the writer." 
 
 The anonymous poem "replete with delicate panegyric 
 and genuine feeling " is before me as I write. It is signed 
 " Fidelissima," and is one of several w^hich the same 
 talented lady addressed to him at different times, and 
 which were found among his papers at his death. Some 
 of them, as sonnets, are of considerable merit, and, had 
 space permitted, are Avell worthy of reproduction. 
 
 The Tepidarians — again on the authority of Dr. 
 Paris — were delio^hted. Sano-uine in the success of their 
 child — for so they considered Davy — they purposely 
 appointed their anniversary festival on the day of his 
 anticipated triumph. Their dinner was marked by every 
 demonstration of hilarity, and the da}^ Avas ended b}' a 
 masquerade at Ranelagh. 
 
 Dr. John Davy, it should be said, rather sniffs at the 
 Tepidarians and their " ultra-principles," and doubts if his 
 brother ever belonged to their society. Be this as it may, 
 it is certain that the " Royalists " and the fashionable 
 world into which he was drawn soon influenced Davy's 
 social and political views. Dr. Davy, whilst willing 
 enough to appreciate at their proper value his brother's 
 natural and intellectual advantages as contributing!- to 
 his success, points out that other circumstances connected
 
 POET AND PHILOSOPHER. 79 
 
 with the Institution and the period conspired to help 
 him : — 
 
 " The Royal Institution was a new experiment. Novelty in 
 itself is delightful, especially to people of rank and fortune, who 
 at that time in consequence of the Continent being closed, and 
 owing to the war, must have been delighted to have had opened 
 to them a new and unexitected source of interest, fitted to amuse 
 those who were suflFering from ennui, and to instruct those who 
 were anxious for instruction. The Royal Institution, moreover, 
 was the creation of a large number of influential persons, both in 
 the higher ranks of society and of science. This alone might have 
 sufficed to render it fashionable, and, if fashionable, popular. 
 The period, morally and politically considered, aided the effect ; a 
 time of great political excitement had just terminated ; a time of 
 gloom and despondency was then commencing. Whatever diverted 
 the public mind and afforded new objects of contemplation, pure 
 and independent sources of amusement and gratification, must 
 have been very welcome to all reflecting persons, even without 
 taking into account the possible and probalile good which might 
 be conferred by the Institution on society, in accordance with the 
 intentions with which it was first established." 
 
 Davy thus expressed his own feeling of satisfaction 
 
 to his mother : — urn 
 
 London. 
 
 " My dear Mother, — I have been very busy in the preparation 
 for my lectures ; and for this reason I have not written to you. I 
 delivered my second lecture to-day, and was very much flattered 
 to find the theatre overflowing at this, as well as at the flrst. I 
 am almost surprised at the interest taken by so many people of 
 rank, in the progress of chemical philosophy ; and I hope I am 
 doing a great deal of good, in being the means of producing and 
 directing the taste for it. 
 
 " I have been perfectly well since I visited Cornwall ; and I 
 enter upon my campaign in high health and spirits. After four 
 months of hard but pleasant labour, I shall again be free ! 
 
 " I hope you are all well. I very often reflect upon the times 
 that are past ; and my mind is always filled with gratitude to the 
 Supreme Being, who has made us all happy ; and that, in placing 
 us in distant parts, and in different circles, neither our feelings 
 or affections have been disturbed . . .
 
 80 HUMPHRY DAVY, 
 
 " I shall be very glad to see you again. I intend in June to 
 pass through Scotland and to visit the AVestern Isles ; but I hope 
 I shall spend a part of the autumn with you. 
 
 " Pray write to me and give me a little news. Beg Kitty and 
 Grace and Betsy and John to recollect me. 
 
 " I am, my dear mother, your verv affectionate son 
 
 " H. Davy." 
 
 The interest and spirit of enthusiasm thus roused 
 was sedulously cultivated by Dav}^, and turned to the 
 purposes of the Institution which he served. Rumford 
 was no longer its moving and controlling spirit: his duty 
 to the Elector of Bavaria, and his ill-starred devotion to 
 ^ladame Lavoisier, had gradually drawn him away from 
 London, and in 1803 he ceased to take any active part 
 in the fortunes of his offspring. Shortly afterwards Sir 
 Joseph Banks also withdrew. In a letter written April, 
 1804, he tells Rumford that his continued absence from 
 England is a great detriment to the Institution : — 
 
 " It is now entirely in the hands of the profane. I have de- 
 clared my dissatisfaction at the mode in which it is carried on, 
 and my resolution not to attend in future. Had my health and 
 spirits not failed me, I could have kept matters in their proper 
 level, but sick, alone, and unsu])ported, I have given up what 
 cannot now easily be recovered." 
 
 Sir John Hippesley, who became treasurer, strove to 
 make the Institution above all things fashionable. He 
 had a project for placing private boxes in the theatre, and 
 was concerned about its w^ant of a proper coat-of-arms. 
 Mr. Bernard still continued to hope that Sydney Smith's 
 lectures on Moral Philosophy might somehow better 
 the condition of the poor. The}^ would, at least, said 
 Horner, " make the real blue-stockings a little more dis- 
 agreeable than ever, and sensible women a little more 
 sensible." But the real directing power was Dav}^, and 
 he gradually stamped upon the place the character it
 
 POET AND PHILOSOPHER. 81 
 
 now possesses. How he felt his power and used it, may 
 be gleaned from the following extract from a lecture in 
 1809, in reference to a fund which had been raised to 
 supply him with a great voltaic battery : — 
 
 "In a great country like this, it was to be expected that 
 a fund could not long be wanting for pursuing or perfecting 
 any great scientific object. But the promptitude with which the 
 subscription filled was so great, as to leave no opportunity to many 
 zealous patrons of science for showing their liberality. The 
 munificence of a few individuals has afforded means more ample 
 and magnificent than those furnished by the Government of a 
 rival nation ; and I believe we have preceded them in the appli- 
 cation of the means. In this kind of emulation, our superiority, 
 I trust, will never be lost ; and I trust that the activity belonging 
 to our sciences will always flow from the voluntary efforts of in- 
 dividuals, from whom the support will be an honour— to whom 
 it will be honourable. . . . 
 
 " Without facilities for pursuing his object, the greatest 
 genius in experimental research may live and die useless and 
 unknown. Talents of this kind cannot, like talents for literature 
 and the fine arts, call forth attention and respect. They can 
 neither give popularity to the names of patrons, nor ornament 
 their houses. They are limited in their effects, which are directed 
 towards the inmutable interests of society. They cannot be made 
 subservient to fashion or caprice ; they must forever be attached 
 to truth, and belong to nature. If we merely consider instruction 
 in physical science, this even requires an expensive apparatus to 
 be efficient; for without proper ocular demonstrations, all lec- 
 tures must be unavailing,— things rather than words should be 
 made the objects of study. A certain knowledge of the beings 
 and substances surrounding us must be felt as a want l)y every 
 cultivated mind. It is a want which no activity of thought, no 
 books, no course of reading or conversation, can supply. That a 
 spirit for promoting experimental science is not wanting in the 
 country, is proved by the statement which I have just made, by 
 the foundation in which I have the honour of addressing you, and by 
 the number of institutions rising in different parts of the metroi)olis 
 and in the provinces. But it is clear that this laudable spirit may 
 produce little effect from want of just direction. To divide and to
 
 82 HUMPHRY DAVY, 
 
 separate the sources of scientific interest, is to destroy all their just 
 effect. To attempt, with insufficient means, to sujjport philosophy, 
 is merely to humiliate her and render her an object of dirision. 
 Those who establish foundations for teaching the sciences ought, 
 at least, to understand their dignity. To connect pecuniary 
 speculation, or commercial advantages, with schemes for promoting 
 the progress of knowledge, is to take crops without employing 
 manure ; is to create sterility, and to destroy improvement. A 
 scientific institution ought no more to be made an object of profit 
 than an hospitable, or a charitable establishment. Intellectual 
 wants are at least as worthy of support as corporeal wants, and they 
 ought to be provided for with the same feeling of nobleness and 
 liberality. The language expected by the members of a scientific 
 body from the directors ought not to be, ' We have increased your 
 property, we have raised the value of your shares.' It ought 
 rather to be, ' We have endeavoured to apply your funds to useful 
 purposes, to promote the diffusion of science, to encourage dis- 
 covery, and to exalt the scientific glory of your country.' 
 
 " What this institution has done, it would ill become a person 
 in my place to detail ; but that it has tended to the progress of 
 knowledge and invention, wdll not, I believe, be questioned. 
 Compare the expenditure with the advantages. It would not 
 support the least of your public amusements ; and the income of 
 an establishment, which, in its effects, may be said to be national, 
 is derived from annual subscriptions scarcely greater than those 
 which a learned professor of Edinburgh obtains from a single 
 class. . . . 
 
 " The progression of physical science is much more connected 
 with your prosperity than is usually imagined. You owe to 
 experimental philosophy some of the most important and peculiar 
 of your advantages. It is not by foreign conquests chiefly that 
 you are become great, but by a conquest of nature in your own 
 country. It is not so much by colonization that you have attained 
 your preeminence or wealth, but by the cultivation of the riches 
 of your own soil. Why, at this moment, are you able to supply 
 the world with a thousand articles of iron and steel necessary for 
 the purposes of life ? It is by arts derived from chemistry and 
 mechanics, and founded purely upon experiments. Why is the 
 steam engine now carrying on operations which formerly employed, 
 in painful and humiliating labour, thousands of our robust
 
 POET AND PHILOSOPHER. 83 
 
 peasantry, who are now more nobJy or more usefully serving their 
 country either with the sword or with the plough 1 It was in 
 consequence of experiments upon the nature of heat and pure 
 physical investigations. 
 
 "In every part of the world manufactures made from the 
 mere clay and pebbles of your soil may be found ; and to what is 
 this owing ? To chemical arts and experiments. You have ex- 
 celled all other people in the products of industry. But why? 
 Because you have assisted industry by science. Do not regard as 
 indifferent what is j^our true and greatest glory. Except in these 
 respects, and in the light of a pure system of faith, in what are 
 you superior to Athens or to Rome? Do you carry away from 
 them the palm in literature and the fine arts 1 Do you not rather 
 glory, and justly too, in being, in these respects, their imitators ? 
 Is it not demonstrated by the nature of your system of public 
 education, and by your popular amusements? In what, then, are 
 you their superiors? In every thing connected witJi physical 
 science ; with the experimental arts. These are your character- 
 istics. Do not neglect them. You have a Newton, who is the 
 glory, not only of your own country, but of the human race. You 
 have a Bacon, whose precepts may still be attended to with ad- 
 vantage. Shall Englishmen slumber in that path which these 
 great men have opened, and be overtaken by their neighbours ? 
 Say, rather, that all assistance shall be given to their efforts ; 
 that they shall be attended to, encouraged, and supported." 
 
 On a subsequent occasion, when the subjugation of 
 Europe was threatened by the restless military spirit of 
 France, he thus dilated upon the influence of experi- 
 mental philosophy in strengthening the desire for 
 rational freedom : — 
 
 " The scientific glory of a country may be considered, in some 
 measure, as an indication of its innate strength. The exaltation 
 of reason must necessarily be connected with the exaltation of the 
 other noble faculties of the mind ; and there is one spirit of enter- 
 prise, vigour, and conquest, in science, arts, and arms. 
 
 " Science for its progression requires patronage,— but it must 
 be a patronage bestowed, a patronage received, with dignity. It 
 must be preserved independent. It can bear no fetters, not even 
 F 2
 
 84 HUMPHRY DAVY, 
 
 fetters of gold, and least of all those fetters in which ignorance 
 or selfishness may attempt to shackle it. 
 
 " And there is no country which ought so much to glory in its 
 progress, which is so much interested in its success, as this happy 
 island. Science has been a prime cause of creating for us the 
 inexhaustible wealth of manufactures, and it is by science that it 
 must be preserved and extended. We are interested as a com- 
 mercial people, — we are interested as a free people. The age of 
 glory of a nation is likewise the age of its security. The same 
 dignified feeling, which urges men to endeavour to gain a dominion 
 over nature, will preserve them from the humiliation of slavery. 
 Natural, and moral, and religious knowledge, are of one family ; 
 and hapjty is that country, and great its strength, where they 
 dwell together in union." 
 
 It was, of course, to be expected that amidst the 
 general chorus of approval some discordant notes should 
 be heard. Peoj^le who preferred the severe and formal 
 manner of his colleague, Dr. Young, who, in spite of his 
 profound knowledge, could never keep an audience 
 together, said that Davy's style was too florid and 
 imaginative ; that his iuiagery ^vas inappropriate, and his 
 conceits violent ; that he was affected and swayed by a 
 mawkish sensibility. Dr. Paris would have us believe 
 there was some show of justice in this accusation, but 
 he thinks that " the style which cannot be tolerated in 
 a philosophical essay may under pectiliar circumstances 
 be not only admissible but even expedient in a popular 
 lecture." The " peculiar circumstance " in Davy's case 
 was, in Dr. Paris's opinion, the Royal Institution audience. 
 
 "Let us consider for a moment," he says, "the class of persons 
 to whom Davy addressed himself. Were they students ]»repared 
 to toil with systematic precision, in order to obtain knowledge as 
 a matter of necessity ? — No— they were composed of the gay and 
 the idle, who could only be tempted to admit instruction by the 
 prospect of receiving pleasure,— they were children, who could 
 only be induced to swallow the salutary draught by the honey 
 around the ri'.n of the cap."
 
 POET AND PHILOSOPHER. 85 
 
 That Davy himself was not wholly unconscious of 
 this fact may be gathered from a letter which he wrote 
 to Mr. Davies Gilbert at about this time. He says : — 
 
 " My labours in the Theatre of the Royal Institution have 
 been more successful than I could have hoped from the nature of 
 them. In lectures, the effect produced upon the mind is generally 
 transitory ; for the most part, they amuse rather than instruct, 
 and stimulate to enquiry rather than give information. ]\Iy 
 audience has often amounted to four and five hundred, and 
 upwards ; and amongst them some promise to become per- 
 manently attached tO chemistry. This scieiice is much the 
 fashion of the day." 
 
 Whatever may be urged against Davy's style of 
 lecturing, his purely scientific memoirs are unquestion- 
 ably models of their kind. His language is so simple, 
 and his mode of expression so uniformly clear, and so 
 free from technicality, that even an ordinary reader can 
 follow them with delight. In this respect he was con- 
 sistently faithful to the direction he gives in his '' Last 
 Days":— 
 
 "In detailing the results of experiments, and in giving them 
 to the wodd, the chemical philosopher should adoi)t the simplest 
 style and manner ; he will avoid all ornaments, as something 
 injurious to his subject, and should bear in mind the saying of 
 the first King of Great Britain, respecting a sermon which was 
 excellent in doctrine, but overcharged with poetical allusions and 
 figurative language, — 'that the tropes and metaphors of the speaker 
 were like the brilliant wild flowers in a field of corn, very pretty, 
 but which did very much hurt the corn.' " 
 
 Dr. Paris's remarks concerning Davy's personal man- 
 ner and his style of lecturing were warmly controverted 
 at the time of their publication by several of Davy's 
 friends. Dr. John Davy's account is so clear and 
 explicit, and so obviously based upon personal obser- 
 vation, for which he had ample opportunities, that, even 
 after making every allowance for brotherly bias, we prefer
 
 86 HUMPHRY DAVY, 
 
 to regard it as gWing a more just impression of Davy's 
 bearing in the lecture-theatre, and of the care and pains 
 he took to ensure success. 
 
 "He was," says Dr. Davy, "always in earnest; and when be 
 amused most, amusement appeared most foreign to his object. 
 His great and first object was to instruct, and, in conjunciion 
 with this, maintain the importance and dignity of science : indeed 
 the latter, and the kindling a taste for scientific pursuits, might 
 rather be considered his main object, and the conveying instruc- 
 tion a secondary one." 
 
 His lecture was almost invariably written expressly 
 for the occasion, and usually on the day before he de- 
 livered it. 
 
 " On this day he generally dined in his own room, and made 
 a light meal on fish. He was always master of his suV>.ject ; and 
 composed with great rapidity, and with a security of his powers 
 never failing him. i . . It was almost an invarial)le rule 
 with him, the evening before, to rehearse his lecture in the 
 presence of his assistants, the preparations having been made 
 and everything in readiness for the experiments ; and this he did, 
 not only with a view^ to the success of the experiments, and the 
 dexterity of his assistants, but also in regard to his own discourse, 
 the effect of which, he knew, depended upon the manner in which 
 it was delivered. He used, I remember, at this recital, to mark 
 the words which required emi^hasis and study the effect of in- 
 tonation ; often repeating a passage two or three different times, 
 to witness the difference of effect of variations in the voice. His 
 manner was perfectly natural, animated and energetic, but not 
 in the least theatrical. In speaking, he never seemed to consider 
 himself as an object of attention ; he spoke as if devoted to Lis 
 subject, and as if his audience were equally devoted to it and 
 their interest concentrated in it. The impressiveness of his 
 oratory was one of its great charms . . . and his eloquence, — 
 the declamation, as it might be called by some, in which he 
 indulged on the beauty and order of Nature . . . was so well 
 received because it was not affected ; merely his own strong 
 impressions and feelings embodied in words, and delivered with 
 an earnestness which marked their sincerity."
 
 POET AND PHILOSOPHER. 87 
 
 It must, however, be admitted that this extraordinary 
 success was not without its evil influence on Davy's 
 moral qualities. Considering his age, and his tempera- 
 ment, his ambition and love of applause, he would have 
 been something more than human if he could have 
 remained wholly unafiected by the conditions in which 
 he was placed. " The bloom of his simplicity was 
 dulled by the breath of adulatioa." He assumed the 
 garb and the airs of a man of fashion, and courted the 
 society of the rich and the aristocratic. Time which 
 would have been inore profitably spent in the study, 
 or in the society of his intellectual fellows, was frittered 
 away in the frivolities of London society, or in the 
 s(don8, or at the soirees of leaders of the "smart" people 
 of the period. The pecuHar circumstances of the Royal 
 Institution, and the necessity for the continued adhesion 
 to it of persons of rank and wealth, may to some extent 
 have led him away from the quieter and serener joys of 
 the philosophic life. 
 
 " In the morning," says Paris, "he was the sage interpreter of 
 Nature's laws ; in the evening, lie sparkled in the galaxy of 
 fashion ; and not the least extraordinary point in the character 
 of this great man, was the facility with which he could cast 
 aside the cares of study, and enter into the trifling amusements 
 of society. — ' ]\^e otium quidem otionim^ was the exclamation of 
 Cicero ; and it will generally apply to the leisure of men actively 
 engaged in the pursuits of science ; but Davy, in closing the door 
 of his laboratory, opened the temple of pleasure. ... In 
 ordinary cases, the genius of evening dissipation is an arrant 
 Penelope ; but Davy, on returning to his morning labours, 
 never found that the thread had been unspun during the 
 interruption." 
 
 The following letter from Coleridge will serve to 
 show how this change was foreseen and deplored by his 
 truest friends : —
 
 88 HUMPHRY DAVY, 
 
 "Xether Stowey, Fehy. 17, 1803. 
 
 "My dear Purkis, . . I have been here nearly a fort- 
 night ; and in better health than usual. Tranquillity, warm rooms 
 and a dear old friend, are specifics for my complaints. Poole is 
 indeed a very, very good man. I like even his incorrigibility in 
 small faults and deficiencies ; it looks like a wise determination of 
 Xature to let well alone ; and is a consequence, a necessary one 
 perhaps, of his immutability in his important good qualities. . 
 
 " I rejoice in Davy's progress. There are three suns recorded 
 in Scripture:— Joshua's, that stood still; Hezekiah's, that went 
 backward ; and David's that went forth, and hastened on his 
 course, like a bridegroom from his chamber. May our friend's 
 prove the latter ! It is a melancholy thing to see a man, like the 
 Sun in the close of the Lapland summer, meridional in his horizon ; 
 or like wheat in a rainy season, that shoots up well in the stalk, 
 but does not kern. As 1 have hoped, and do hope, more proudly 
 of Davy than of any other man ; and as he has been endeared to 
 me more than any other man, by the being a Thing of Hope to 
 me (more, far more than my self to my own self in my most genial 
 moments,) — so of course my disa])pointment would l:)e jiroportion- 
 ally severe. It were falsehood, if I snid that I think his j^resent 
 situation most calculated, of all others, to foster either his genius, or 
 the clearness and incorriiptness of his opinions and moral feelings. 
 I see two Serpents at the cradle of his genius : Dissipation with a 
 perpetual increase of acquaintances, and the constant presence of 
 Inferiors and Devotees, with that too great facility of attaining 
 admiration which degrades Ambition into Vanity — but the 
 Hercules will strangle both the reptile monsters. I have thought 
 it possible to exert talents with perseverance, and to attain true 
 greatness wholly pure, even from the impulses ; but on this sub- 
 ject Davy and I always differed. . . . Yours sincerely 
 
 " S. T. COLEKIDOE." 
 
 It would seem that Coleridge's doubts and fears were 
 shared also by his host, and w^ere communicated b}' him 
 to the object of them. This, at least, may be inferred from 
 the following extract from a letter from Davy to Poole : — 
 
 "London, Mmj 1, 1803. 
 
 " ^Iy dear Poole Be not alarmed, my de^r 
 
 friend, as to the effect of worldly society on my mind. The age
 
 POET AND PHILOSOPHEK. 89 
 
 of danger has passed away. There are in the intellectual being of 
 all men, permanent elements, certain habits and passions that 
 cannot change. I am a lover of Nature, with an ungratified 
 imngination. I shall continue to search for untasted charms — 
 for hidden beauties. 
 
 "My real, my tml-incj existence is amongst the objects of 
 scientific research : common amusements and enjoyments are 
 necessary to me only as dreams, to interrupt the flow of thoughts 
 too nearly analogous to enlighten and to vivify. 
 
 " Coleridge has left London for Keswick ; during his stay in 
 town, I saw him seldomer than usual ; when I did see him, it was 
 generally in the midst of large companies, where he is the image 
 of power and activity. His eloquence is unimi)aired ; perhaps it 
 is softer and stronger. His will is i)ro])ably less than ever com- 
 mensurate with his ability. Brilliant images of greatness float upon 
 his mind : like the images of the morning clouds upon the waters, 
 their forms are changed by the motion of the waves, they are 
 agitated by every breeze, and modified byevery sunbeam. He talked 
 in the course of one hour, of beginning three works, and he recited 
 the i)oem of Christabel unfinished, and as I had before heard it. 
 What talent does he not waste in forming visions, sublime, but 
 unconnected with the real world ! I have looked to his efforts, as 
 to the efforts of a creating being; but as yet, he has not even laid 
 
 the foundation for the new world of intellectual form 
 
 " Your affectionate friend 
 "Humphry Davy." 
 
 Space will not permit of any more detailed account 
 of Davy's career as a lecturer at the Royal Institution. 
 During the twelve years he occupied its Chair of Chemis- 
 try he held undisputed sway as the greatest living ex- 
 positor of chemical doctrine, and session after session saw 
 the theatre crowded with eager and expectant audiences. 
 
 This continued and increasing success was due not 
 merely to his art and skill as a speaker, but to the 
 remarkable and astonishing character of what he had to 
 tell — of work which made the laboratory of the Royal 
 Institution even more famous than its lecture-rooms.
 
 90 
 
 CHAPTER Y. 
 
 THE CHEMICAL LABORATORY OF THE ROYAL INSTITUTION. 
 
 The chemical laboratory of the Royal Institution, as the 
 scene of Davy's greatest discoveries — discoveries which 
 mark epochs in the development of natural knowledge — 
 will for ever be hallowed ground to the philosopher. 
 The votaries of Hermes have raised far more stately 
 temples ; to-day they follow their pursuit in edifices 
 which in architectural elegance and in equipment are 
 palaces compared with the subterranean structure 
 which lies behind the Corinthian facade in Albemarle 
 Street. But to the chemist this spot is what the Ka'ba at 
 Mecca is to the follower of Mohammed, or what lona was 
 to Dr. Johnson : and, if we may venture to adapt the 
 language of the English moralist, that student has little 
 to be envied whose enthusiasm would not grow warmer 
 or whose devotion would not gain force vrithin the place 
 made sacred by the genius and labours of Davy and 
 Faraday. 
 
 And yet, were these great men to revisit the scene of 
 their triumphs, they would hardly recognise it, so com- 
 pletely altered is it by adaptations and rearrangements 
 rendered necessary by their discoveries. How it appeared 
 in their own time may be seen from the illustration on 
 page 91, taken from a water-colour drawling by Miss 
 Harriet Moore, in the possession of the Managers of the 
 Royal Institution. 
 
 The first year of the century is memorable for the 
 invention of the voltaic pile, and for the discover}^, by 
 Nicholson and Carlisle, on April 30th, 1800, of the electro-
 
 92 HUMPHRY DAVY, 
 
 lytic decomposition of water. As Davy said, " the voltaic 
 battery was an alarm-bell to experimenters in every part 
 of Europe ; and it served no less for demonstrating new 
 properties in electricity, and for establishing the laws of 
 this science, than as an instrnment of discovery in other 
 branches of knowledge ; exhibiting relations between sub- 
 jects before apparently without connection, and serving 
 as a bond of unity between chemical and physical 
 philosophy." The ca^^ital discovery of Yolta was made 
 known in England at the earliest possible moment through 
 the mediation of Sir Joseph Banks, and the study of 
 voltaic electricity, its effects and applications, was 
 immediately afterwards entered upon by many English 
 men of science w^ith great zeal and ardour. Davy at this 
 time had just completed his work on Nitrous Oxide ; and, 
 powerfully impressed with the significance of Nicholson 
 and Carlisle's observation, he at once turned his attention 
 to the subject, and even before leaving Bristol he had sent 
 a number of short papers on what was then usually 
 termed the galvanic electricity to Nicholson's Journal. 
 He showed that oxygen and hydrogen were evolved from 
 separate portions of water, though vegetable and even 
 animal substances intervened ; and conceiving that all 
 decomposition might be polar, he " electrised " difterent 
 compounds at the different extremities, and found that 
 sulphur and metallic substances appeared at the negative 
 pole, and oxygen and nitrogen at the positive pole, though 
 the bodies furnishing them were separate from each 
 other. The papers, however, are mainly remarkable for 
 the fact that they served to establish the intimate con- 
 nection between the electrical effects and the chemical 
 changes going on in the pile, and for the conclusion 
 drawn concerning their mutual dependence. Within 
 a few days after his removal to the Royal Institution
 
 POET AND PHILOSOPHER. 98 
 
 he resumed his inquiries, publishing his results in a 
 series of notices in the short-lived Journal of the Royal 
 Institution. 
 
 In 1801 he sent his first communication to the 
 Eoyal Society, on " An Account of some Galvanic Com- 
 binations, formed by the Arrangement of single metallic 
 Plates and Fluids, analogous to the new Galvanic Ap- 
 paratus of Mr. Volta." 
 
 But at this period, and for some time afterwards, 
 Davy was not altogether free to develop his own ideas, 
 as the work of the laboratory was controlled by a com- 
 mittee which met, from time to time, to deliberate and 
 settle ujjon the researches which were to be undertaken 
 by their Professor. As we have seen, he was requested, 
 in the first place, to turn his attention to tanning, and to 
 investigate the astringent principles employed in the 
 manufacture of leather. Afterwards, when the Managers 
 determined to form a mineralogical collection, and to 
 institute an assay office for the improvement of mineral- 
 ogy and metallurgy, he was ordered to make analyses of 
 rocks and minerals. And lastly, in consequence of an 
 arrangement between the Managers and the Board of 
 Agriculture, efi'ected by Arthur Young, he was required 
 to take up the subject of Agricultural Chemistry. To a 
 man of Thomas Young's temperament the fussy activity 
 of committees, directed by such people as Bernard and 
 Hippesley, would have been resented as an irksome, if 
 not intolerable, interference ; but Davy invariably acted 
 as if he considered that their decisions promoted the 
 true interests of the Institution, and entered with 
 ardour into each new scheme. There was no irk- 
 someness to him in being called upon to change the 
 current of his ideas, for he delighted in the oppor- 
 tunity of exhibiting his versatility ; and, confident in his
 
 94 HUMPHRY DAVY, 
 
 powers, he had the ambition to touch everything in 
 turn, and to adorn it. That he should have succeeded 
 so well under such conditions is perhaps the strongest 
 evidence that could be adduced of the strength and 
 elasticity of his eager, active mind, and of his astonishing 
 power of rapid, w^ell-directed work. 
 
 We have already dealt with his researches in con- 
 nection with tanning. The efforts of the Managers 
 towards the improvement of mineralogy and metallurgy, 
 in spite of the generous assistance of Mr. Greville, Sir J. 
 St. Aubin, and Sir A. Hume, and the " activity and 
 intelligence of Mr. Davy," proved abortive. 
 
 One outcome of Davy's association with the matter 
 may be seen in his paper, published by the Royal Society 
 in 1805, on " An Account of some analytical Experi- 
 ments on a mineral Production from Devonshire, con- 
 sisting principally of Alumine and Water." The 
 mineral referred to w^as discovered by Dr. Wavel in an 
 argillaceous slate near Barnstaple, and hence was termed 
 tvavellite. Davy failed to recognise its true nature, w^hich 
 was first correctly ascertained by Berzelius. A few 
 weeks later, he sent to the Royal Society a second 
 paper " On a Method of Analyzing Stones containing 
 fixed Alkali, by Means of the Boracic Acid." The 
 method, however, is of comparatively limited application, 
 and is seldom, if ever, now used in analysis. Determina- 
 tive chemistry was never one of Davy's strong points, 
 and few of his analytical processes are now employed. 
 Patient manipulation, and minute and sustained atten- 
 tion to detail, were altogether foreign to his disposition 
 and habits, although he had the highest appreciation of 
 these qualities in men like Cavendish and Wollaston. 
 
 The lectures on agriculture however, were a great 
 success, and brought increased fame and no small
 
 POET AND PHILOSOPHER. 95 
 
 profit to the lecturer. His association with the Board 
 of Agriculture developed into a permanent appointment ; 
 for ten successive years he continued to lecture on the 
 subject before its members, and in 1813 he put together 
 the results of his labours in his well-known " Elements 
 of Agricultural Chemistry." In simplicity and absence 
 of ornament the style of these lectures is in marked 
 contrast to that which he usually employed at the Royal 
 Institution. Dealing with men to whom the matter 
 was of paramount importance, he had no need to stimu- 
 late their interest by the arts he employed in the theatre 
 in Albemarle Street. The very nature of the subject, 
 perhaps, served to remind him that tropes and meta- 
 phors were here as much out of place as " the brilliant 
 wild flowers in the field of corn — very pretty, but which 
 did very much hurt the corn." 
 
 It would be impossible in the space at our disposal 
 to attempt to give a minute analysis of Davy's work in 
 connection with agriculture. Its interest now is, for the 
 most part, historical ; what is of permanent importance 
 in the way of fact has long since been woven into the 
 common web of knowledge. Its greatest value was not 
 in the novelty or the abundance of its facts, but rather 
 as a closely-reasoned exposition of the relation of agri- 
 culture to science, and of the necessity for applying the 
 principles and methods of science to the art. The 
 philosophic breadth of his views, supported, on occasion, 
 by apt example and striking analogy, might be illus- 
 trated by many extracts. This, for example, is how he 
 speaks of the value of the scientific method, and of 
 chemistry, to husbandry : — 
 
 "Nothing is more wanting in agriculture than experiments, 
 in which all the circumstances are minutely and scientifically 
 detailed. This art will advance with rapidity in proportion
 
 yb HUMPHRY DAVY, 
 
 as it becomes exact in its methods. As in physical researches 
 all the causes should be considered ; a difference in the results 
 may be produced, even by the fall of a half an inch of rain more 
 or less in the course of a season, or a few degrees of temperature, 
 or even by a slight difference in the subsoil, or in the inclination 
 of the land. 
 
 "Information collected, after views of distinct inquiry, would 
 necessarily be more accurate, and more capable of being connected 
 with the general principles of science ; and a few histories of the 
 results of truly philosophical experiments in agricultural chemistry 
 would be of more value in enlightening and benefitting the farmer, 
 than the greatest possible accumulation of imperfect trials con- 
 ducted merely in the empirical spirit. It is no unusual occurrence, 
 for persons who argue in favour of practice and exjjerience, to 
 condemn generally all attempts to improve agriculture by 
 philosophical in(|uiries and chemical methods. That much 
 vague speculation may be found in the works of those who 
 have lightly taken up agricultural chemistry, it is impossible to 
 deny. It is not uncommon to find a number of changes rung 
 upon a string of technical terms, such as oxygen, hydrogen, 
 carbon, and azote, as if the science depended upon words rather 
 than upon things. Bat this is, in fact, an argument for the 
 necessity of the establishment of just j^rinciples of chemistry on 
 the subject. Whoever reasons upon agriculture, is obliged to 
 recur to this science. He feels that it is scarcely possible to 
 advance a stej) without it ; and if he is satisfied with insufficient 
 views, it is not because he prefers them to accurate knowledge, 
 but, generally, because they are more current. ... It has 
 been said, and undoubtedly with great truth, that a philosophical 
 chemist would most probably make a very unprofitable business 
 of farming ; and this certainly would be the case, if he were a 
 mere philosophical chemist ; and unless he had served his 
 apprenticeship to the practice of the art, as well as to the theory. 
 But there is reason to believe that he would be a more successful 
 agriculturist than a person equally uninitiated in farming, but 
 ignorant of chemistry altogether ; his science, as far as it went, 
 would be useful to him. But chemistry is not the only kind of 
 knowledge required : it forms a part of the philosophical basis 
 of agriculture ; but it is an important part, and whenever applied 
 in a proper manner must produce advantages."
 
 POET AND PHILOSOPHER. 97 
 
 How highly these lectures were appreciated will be 
 evident from the terms in which they were referred to 
 by Sir John Sinclair in his address of 1806 to the 
 Board. He says : — 
 
 "In the year 18(>2, when my Lord Carrington was in the chair, 
 the Board resolved to direct the attention of a celebrated lecturer, 
 Mr. Davy, to agricultural subjects ; and in the fotjowing year, 
 during the presidency of Lord Sheffield, he first delivered to the 
 members of this Institution, a course of lectures on the Chemistry 
 of Agriculture. The plan has succeeded to the extent which 
 might have been expected from the abilities of the gentleman 
 engaged to carry it into effect. The lectures have hitherto been 
 exclusively addressed to the members of the Board ; but to such a 
 degree of perfection have they arrived, that it is well worthy of 
 consideration, whether they ought not to be given to a larger 
 audience." 
 
 The " degree of perfection " was in no small degree 
 due to the amount of experimental and observational 
 work which Davy introduced into his lectures. Mr. 
 Bernard allotted him a considerable piece of ground on 
 his property at Roehampton for experimental purposes, 
 and the Duke of Bedford carried out trials for him at 
 Woburn. He studied from time to time all the opera- 
 tions of practical farming, examined a great variety of 
 soils, and investigated the nature and action of manures. 
 He was thus brouijht into contact with some of the 
 largest landowners and agriculturists of his time, and 
 was an honoured guest in the houses of men like Lord 
 Sheffield, Lord Thanet, Mr. Coke of Holkham, and 
 others.^ In the practical interest he thus displayed in 
 the most useful of all the arts he sought to emulate 
 the example of his illustrious prototype Lavoisier, and 
 
 * In the print of the *' AVoburn .Slieep-Shcaring," Davy is repre- 
 sented as one of a group comprising Mr. Coke, Sir Joseph Banks, Sir 
 John Sinclair, and Mr. Arthur Young. 
 G
 
 98 HUMPHRY DAVY, 
 
 his work constitutes the foundation of every treatise on 
 the subject since the appearance, in 1840, of Liebig's 
 well-known book. 
 
 Professor Warington, than whom no one is more 
 fitted to express an opinion, has favoured me with the 
 following critical estimate of the value of Davy's work : — 
 
 " The lectures profess to l^e exhaustive and thus present all 
 that Davy had been able to collect on the subject of the relations 
 of chemistry to agriculture during a period of at least 10 years. 
 He appears to have made a careful study of the problems of 
 agriculture for many years, and to be acquainted with English 
 practice, and English ex]>eriments. There is but little reference 
 to foreign practice, or foreign opinion, save where the work done 
 has been purely chemical, as e.f/. that of Gay Lussac, or Vau- 
 quelin. He approaches his subject in a thoroughly scientific 
 manner, taking an independent view of each question, bringing 
 all the knowledge at his disposal to bear upon it, and not 
 hesitating to come to conclusions different from those usually 
 received. The fjreat step taken in these lectures is the assertion 
 that Agriculture must look to Natural Science, and especially to 
 Chemistry, for the explanation of its problems and the improve- 
 ment of its practice. Davy seems to have been the first, at least 
 in this country, who boldly claimed for ' Agricultural Chemistry ' 
 the position of a distinct branch of science. He was probably 
 the earliest example of a first-class chemist, who seriously and 
 continuously devoted his best attention to the subject of agri- 
 culture. 
 
 "The lectures, looked at from a modern standpoint, are of 
 unequal value. The method of food-analysis is very poor, and it 
 is somewhat surprising that the accurate mode of determining 
 nitrogen employed by Gay Lussac is not made use of in Davy's 
 analyses. Nevertheless he manages to ascertain that spring 
 sown wheat is richer in gluten than autumn sown, and the wheat 
 of hot countries richer than the wheat of temperate regions, 
 statements which are quite correct. 
 
 " Lecture Vl. is decidedly poor. Davy believes that plants 
 feed on carbonaceous matter by their roots, and this mistaken 
 theory leads him to assign an undue value to organic substances as 
 manures. It seems curious nowadays to find the whole subject
 
 POET AND PHILOSOPHER. 99 
 
 of manures treated with hardly any reference to their contents in 
 nitrogen, phosphoric acid, or i)otash. 
 
 " Lecture IV. is one of his best lectures, full of keen observa- 
 tion and suggestive experiment. 
 
 " The references to his own agricultural experiments are very 
 numerous ; he seems to have made experiments on every subject 
 of inquiry that came before him. There is however no attempt 
 at an extended and thorough investigation of any subject, and 
 for want of this the truth is sometimes missed. Thus in his 
 trials of various ammonium salts as manures he finds the car- 
 bonate to be eflfective, the chloride to be of little value, and the 
 sulphate of no good at all, whereas the last-named salt is now 
 generally chosen as a manure. 
 
 "There are some paragraphs that read like the inspirations 
 of genius, though it is now of course difficult to tell to what 
 extent his statements and opinions were warranted by the facts 
 then known. He gives a wonderfully correct idea of the action 
 of peas or beans in rotation, even including the statement that 
 they obtain their nitrogen from the atmosphere." 
 
 Although his time and energy Avere necessarily largely 
 absorbed by the demands of the Managers, Davy never 
 lost sight of the subject of voltaic electricity, and at 
 intervals he was able to resume his inquiries upon it. 
 What specially impressed him was the power of the 
 voltaic pile as an analytic agent; and his laboratory 
 journals, preserved at the Royal Institution, record the 
 results of numerous trials on the behaviour of compound 
 substances under its influence. In spite of innumerable 
 distractions and constant interruptions, due mainly to 
 the precarious position of the Institution, Davy gradually 
 succeeded in unravelling the fundamental laws of electro- 
 chemistry, and in thus importing a new order of con- 
 ceptions, altogether unlooked for and undreamt of, into 
 science. This really constitutes his greatest claim as 
 a philosopher to our admiration and gratitude. The 
 isolation of the metals of the alkalis, and the proof of 
 G 2
 
 100 HUMPHRY DAVY, 
 
 the compound nature of the alkalhie earths, were un- 
 questionably achievements of the highest brilliancy, and 
 as such appeal strongly to the popular imagination. 
 But they were only the necessary and consequeatial 
 links in a chain of discovery which, had Davy neglected 
 to make them, would have been immediately forged by 
 others. It is significant that almost immediately after 
 the capital discovery of Nicholson and Carlisle, Dr. 
 Henry of Manchester, the Avell-known friend and 
 collaborator of Dalton, should have made the attempt 
 to separate the presumed metallic principle of potash 
 by the agenc}^ of voltaic electricity. 
 
 Davy communicated the results of his inquiries made 
 prior to the summer of 1806 in a paper to the Royal 
 Society, which was made the Bakerian lecture of the 
 year.* It is entitled "On some chemical Agencies of 
 Electricity," and is divided in nine sections and an 
 introduction. In the first section, " On the Changes 
 produced by Electricit}^ in Water," he set at rest the 
 disputed question as to the origin of the acid and 
 alkaline matter which had been observed to form during 
 the electrolysis of this liquid. By some these substances 
 were supposed to be generated from pure Avater b}^ the 
 
 * This lecture, which is one of the events of each session of the Royal 
 Society, owes its origin to Mr. Henry Baker, F.R.S., a learned antiquary 
 and naturalist, who, by his will of July, 1763, bequeathed the sum of 
 £100 to the Society, the interest of which was to be applied " for an 
 oration or discourse to be spoken or read yearly by some one of the Fellows 
 of that Society, on such part of Natural History or Experimental Philo- 
 sophy, at such time, and in such manner, as the President and Council 
 of the said Society for the time being, shall please to order and appoint." 
 Baker died in 177-t, and the bequest came into operation during the 
 presidency of Sir John Pringle ; and Peter Wonlf e — one of the last of the 
 English alchemists— was appointed to deliver the lecture, which he did 
 for three successive years.
 
 POET AND PHILOSOPHER. 101 
 
 action of electricity ; and M. Brugnatelli had even at- 
 tempted to prove the existence of a body sui generis 
 which he termed the electric acid. By a series of 
 convincing experiments Davy showed that the sub- 
 stances were due to the presence of saUne matter in 
 the water, derived either from faulty purification, or 
 from the solvent action of the water on the vessels, etc., 
 with which it was in contact. Cruickshank had found 
 that in some cases the acid Avas nitric acid and the 
 alkali ammonia : these substances were shown by Davy 
 to be due to the presence of dissolved air. When pure 
 water, contained in vessels on which it exerted no 
 solvent action, was "electrised" in vacuo, not a trace of 
 either acid or alkali was produced. 
 
 In the second section, " On the Agencies of Electricity 
 in the Decomposition of various Compounds," he begins 
 by pointing out that in all the experiments recorded in 
 the preceding section — that is, in all changes in which 
 acid and alkaline matter had been present — the acid 
 matter collected in the water round the positive pole, 
 and the alkaline matter round the negative pole. This 
 he shows to be true even of such sparingly soluble 
 substances as gypsum, the sulphates of strontium and 
 barium, and fluorspar. By connecting together cups 
 or vessels made of the substances under investigation 
 by a thread of well-washed asbestos, as suggested by 
 Wollaston, he found that in all cases the acid element 
 collected round the positive, and the earthy base round 
 the negative pole. Basalt from Antrim, a zeolite from 
 the Giant's Causeway, vitreous lava from Etna, and 
 even glass, in like manner yielded alkaline matter to 
 water when subjected to the action of voltaic electricity. 
 Soluble salts, such as the sulphates of sodium, potassium, 
 and ammonium, the nitrates of potassium and barium.
 
 102 HUMPHRY DAVY, 
 
 the succinate, oxalate and benzoate of ammonium, were 
 similarly decomposed : the acids in a certain time 
 collected in the tube containing the positive wire, and 
 the alkalis and earths in that containing the negative 
 wire. When metallic solutions, such as those of iron, 
 zinc, and tin were employed, metallic crystals or de- 
 positions were formed on the negative wire, and oxide 
 was likewise deposited round it : and a great excess of 
 acid was soon found in the opposite cup. 
 
 In the next section, '' On the Transfer of Certain of 
 the Constituent Parts of Bodies by the Action of Elec- 
 tricity," he points out that the observations of Gautherot 
 and of Hisinger and Berzehus rendered it probable that 
 the saline elements evolved in decompositions by elec- 
 tricity were capable of being transferred from one 
 electrified surface to another, according to their usual 
 order of arrangement^ but that exact observations on 
 this point were wanting. He connected a cup of gypsum 
 with one of agate by means of asbestos, and filling each 
 with purified water, he inserted the negative wire of the 
 battery in the agate cup, and the positive wire in that of 
 the sulphate of lime. In about four hours he found 
 a strong solution of lime in the agate cup, and sulphuric 
 acid in that of gypsum. By reversing the order, and 
 carrying on the process for a similar length of time, the 
 sulphuric acid appeared in the agate cup, and the solu- 
 tion of lime on the opposite side. Many trials were made 
 with other saline substances with analogous results. 
 
 The time required for these transmissions (the 
 quantity and intensity of the electricity, and other 
 circumstances remaining the same) seemed to be re- 
 lated to the length of the intermediate colunm of 
 water. 
 
 To ascertain whether the contact of the saline
 
 POET AND PHILOSOPHER. 103 
 
 solution with a metallic surface was necessary for the 
 decomposition and' transference, he introduced purified 
 w^ater into two glass tubes ; a vessel containing solution of 
 potassium chloride was connected with each of the tubes 
 by means of asbestos ; on introducing the wires into the 
 tubes alkaline matter soon appeared in one tube, and 
 acid matter in the other ; and in the course of a few 
 hours moderately strong solutions of potash and of 
 hydrochloric acid were formed. 
 
 Two tubes, one containing distilled water, the other 
 a solution of potassium sulphate, were each connected by 
 asbestos threads with a vessel containing a dilute solution 
 of litmus ; the saline matter was negatively electrified ; 
 and as it was natural to suppose that the sulphuric acid 
 in passing through the water to the positive side would 
 redden the litmus in its course, some slips of litmus 
 paper were placed above and below the pieces of asbestos, 
 directly in the circuit : it w^as found that the acid and 
 alkali passed through the litmus solution without 
 effecting any change in colour. 
 
 "As acid and alkaline substances during the time of their 
 electrical transfer passed through water containing vegetable 
 colours without affecting them, or apparently combining with 
 them, it immediately became an object of inquiry whether they 
 would not likewise pass through chemical menstrua having 
 stronger attractions for them ; and it seemed reasonable to 
 suppose that the same power which destroyed elective affinity 
 in the vicinity of the metallic points would likewise destroy it, 
 or suspend its operation, throughout the whole of the circuit." 
 
 To test this supposition, solution of potassium sul- 
 phate was placed in contact with the negative wire, and 
 pure water in contact with the positive Avire and a weak 
 solution of annnonia was made the middle link of the 
 conducting chain, so that no sulphuric acid could pass
 
 104 HUMPHRY DAVY, 
 
 to the positive pole in the distilled water without passing 
 throiio'h the solution of annnonia. 
 
 o 
 
 In less than five minutes it was found that acid was 
 collecting round the positive pole, and in half an hour 
 the water was sour to the taste, and gave a precipitate 
 with barium nitrate. Hydrochloric acid from common 
 salt, and nitric acid from nitre were transmitted through 
 concentrated alkaline menstrua under similar circum- 
 stances. Strontia and baryta readily passed, like the 
 other alkaline substances, through hj-drochloric and 
 nitric acids: and vice versa these acids passed with 
 facility through aqueous solution of baryta and strontia ; 
 but it was impossible to pass sulphuric acid through 
 baryta or strontia, or to pass baryta and strontia through 
 sulphuric acid, as precipitates of insoluble barium and 
 strontium sulphate were formed. 
 
 In the next section, " On Some General Observations 
 on these Phenomena, and on the Mode of Decomposition 
 and Transition," he summarises the foregoing results : — 
 
 " It will be a general expression of the facts that have been 
 detailed, relating to the changes and transitions by electricity, in 
 common philosophical language, to say that h3^drogen, the alkaline 
 substances, the metals, and certain metallic oxides, are attracted 
 by negatively electrified metallic surfaces, and repelled by posi- 
 tively electrified metallic surfaces ; and contrariwise, that oxygen 
 and acid substances are attracted by positively electrified metallic 
 surfaces, and repelled by negatively electrified metallic surfaces ; 
 and these attractive and repulsive forces are sufficiently energetic 
 to destroy or suspend the usual operation of elective affinity. 
 
 " It is very natural to suppose, that the repellent and attract- 
 ive energies are communicated from one iJcirtic'e to another 
 liartiole of the same kind, so as to establish a conducting chain 
 in tlie fluid ; and that the locomotion takes place in consequence ; 
 and that this is really the case seems to be shown by many 
 facts. Thus, in all the instances in which I examined alkaline
 
 POET AND PHILOSOPHER. 105 
 
 solutions through which acids had been transmitted, I always 
 found acid in them whenever any acid matter remained at the 
 original source. . . . 
 
 " In the cases of the separation of the constituents of water, 
 and of solutions of neutral salts forming the whole of the chain, 
 there may possibly be a succession of decompositions, and re- 
 compositions throughout the fluid. And this idea is strengtheiied 
 by the experiments on the attempt to pass barytes through 
 sulphuric acid, and muriatic acid through solution of sulphate of 
 silver, in which as insoluble compounds are formed and carried 
 out of the sphere of the electrical action, the power of transfer 
 is destroyed." 
 
 In the next section, " On the General Principles of 
 the Chemical Changes produced by Electricity," he 
 points out that it had been already shown by Bennet 
 that many bodies brought into contact and afterwards 
 separated exhibited oj^j^osite states of electricity ; and 
 that this observation had been confirmed and extended 
 by Volta, who had supposed that it also takes place with 
 regard to metals and fluids. In his paper in the PhAlo- 
 aopldcal Transactions of 1801, the first he sent to the 
 Toyal Society, Davy had shown that when alternations 
 of single metallic plates and acid and alkaline solutions 
 were employed in the construction of voltaic combina- 
 tions, the alkaline solutions always received the elec- 
 tricity from the metal, and the acid always transmitted 
 it to the metal. 
 
 In the simplest case of electrical action, the alkali 
 which receives electricity from the metal would neces- 
 sarily, on being separated from it, appear positive,, wdiilst 
 the acid under similar circumstances would be nega- 
 tive ; and these bodies, having respectively with regard 
 to the metals that which may be called a positive 
 and a negative electrical energy, in their repellent and 
 attractive functions seem to bo governed by laws the
 
 106 HUMPHRY DAVY, 
 
 same as the common laws of electrical attraction and 
 repulsion. 
 
 The seventh section treats of " The Relations between 
 the Electrical Energies of Bodies and their Chemical 
 Affinities " : — 
 
 "As the chemical attraction between two bodies seems to be 
 destroyed by giving one of them an electrical state different from 
 that which it naturally possesses : that is, by bringing it artificially 
 into a state similar to the other, so it may be increased by exalting 
 its natural energy. Thus, whilst zinc, one of the most oxidable of 
 the metals, is incapable of combining with oxygen when negatively 
 electrified in the circuit, even by a feeble power ; silver, one of 
 the least oxidable, easily unites to it when positively electrified ; 
 and the same thing might be said of other metals. Amongst the 
 substances that combine chemically, all those, the electrical 
 energies of which are well known, exhil:)it opposite states ; thus 
 copper and zinc, gold and quicksilver, sulphur and the metals, 
 the acid and alkaline suljstances, afford opposite instances ; and 
 supposing perfect freedom of motion in their particles or elemen- 
 tary matter, they ought according to the principles laid down, to 
 attract each other in consequence of their electrical powers. In 
 the present state of our knowledge it would be useless to attempt 
 to speculate on the remote cause of the electrical energy, or the 
 reason why different bodies, after Ijeing Ijrought into contact 
 should Ite found differently electrified ; its relation to chemical 
 afiinity is however, sufiiciently evident. May it not be identical 
 with it, and an essential property of matter ? " 
 
 How ]3avy sought to elaborate a theory of chemical 
 affinity on these facts will be sufficiently obvious from 
 the following extracts : — 
 
 " Supposing two bodies, the particles of which are in different 
 electrical states, and those states sufficiently exalted to give them 
 an attractive force superior to the power of aggregation, a com- 
 bination would take place which would be more or less intense 
 according as the energies were more or less perfectly balanced ; 
 and the change of properties would be correspondeutly i)ropor- 
 tional."
 
 POET AND PHILOSOPHER. 107 
 
 " When two bodies repellent of each other act upon the same 
 body with diiferent degrees of the same electrical attracting 
 energy, the combination would be determined by the degree ; and 
 the substance possessing the weakest energy would be repelled ; 
 and this principle would afford an expression of the causes of 
 elective affinity and the decompositions produced in consequence." 
 
 " Or where the bodies having different degrees of the same 
 energy, with regard to the third body, had likewise different 
 energies with regai'd to each other, there might be such a balance 
 of attractive and repellent powers as to produce a triple compound ; 
 and by the extension of this reasoning, complicated chemical 
 "union may be easily explained." 
 
 As the combined efiect of many particles possessing 
 a feeble electrical energy may be conceived equal or 
 even superior to the effect of a few particles possessing a 
 strong electrical energy, the same principle may explain 
 the influence of mass action, as elucidated by Berthollet. 
 
 He conceives also that it may be possible to obtain 
 a measure of chemical affinity founded upon the energy 
 of the voltaic apparatus required to destroy the chemical 
 equilibrium. He points out that, as light and heat are 
 the common consequences of the restoration of the 
 equilibrium between bodies in a high state of opposite 
 electricities, so it is perhaps an additional circumstance 
 in favour of his theor}^ to state that heat and light are 
 likewise the result of all intense chemical action. And as 
 in certain forms of the voltaic battery when large quan- 
 tities of electricity of low intensity act, heat is produced 
 without lio^ht ; so in slow combinations there is an 
 increase of temperature without luminous appearance. 
 The effect of heat in producing combination may, he 
 assumes, be also explained according to these ideas. It 
 not only gives more freedom of motion to the particles, 
 but in a number of cases — e.g. tourmaline, sulphur, etc. 
 — it seems to exalt the electrical energies of bodies.
 
 108 HUMPHRY DAVY, 
 
 In the eighth section he seeks to apply these principles 
 to the mode of action of the voltaic pile, and to explain 
 the nature of the changes which occur between the 
 plates and the exciting fluid, and he points out that the 
 theory in some measure reconciles the hypothetical 
 principles of the action of the pile adopted by its in- 
 ventor with the opinions concerning the chemical origin 
 of galvanism held by the majority of British men of 
 science at that period. At the same time, Davy argues 
 that the facts are in contradiction to the assumption 
 that chemical changes are the primary causes of the 
 phenomena of galvanism. Moreover, in mere cases of 
 chemical change — as in iron burning in oxygen, the 
 deflagration of nitre with charcoal, the combination of 
 potash with sulphuric acid, the amalgamation of zinc, 
 — electricity is never exhibited. 
 
 In the concluding section he trusts that many 
 applications of the general facts and principles thus 
 indicated to the processes of chemistry, both in art 
 and in nature, may suggest themselves to the philo- 
 sophical inquirer. It is not improbable, he thinks, that 
 the electric decomposition of the neutral salts in different 
 cases may admit of economical uses. He is induced to 
 hope that the new mode of analysis may lead to the 
 discovery of the true elements of bodies: — 
 
 " For if chemical union be of the nature which I have ventured 
 to suppose, however strong the natural electrical energies of the 
 elements of bodies may be, yet there is every probability of a 
 limit to their strength : whereas the powers of our artitical in- 
 struments seem capable of indefinite increase." 
 
 Phenomena similar to those occurrmg in the voltaic 
 cell must be produced in various parts of the interior 
 strata of our globe, and it is very probable that many 
 mineral formations have been materially influenced, or
 
 POET AND PHILOSOPHER. 100 
 
 even occasioned, by such action. The electrical power 
 of transference may serve to explain some of the 
 principal and most m3'sterious facts in geology. 
 
 "Natural electricity has hitherto been little investigated, 
 except in the case of it^ evident and powerful concentration in 
 the atmosphere. Its slow and silent operations in every part of 
 the surface will probably be found more immediately and im- 
 portantly connected with the order and economy of nature ; and 
 investigations on this subject can hardly fail to enlighten our 
 philosophical systems of the earth, and may possibly place new 
 powers within our reach." 
 
 The publication of this paper exercised a profound 
 sensation, both at home and abroad. Berzelius, years 
 afterwards, spoke of it as one of the most remarkable 
 memoirs that had ever enriched the theory of chemistry 
 — and the praise is the more significant when it is re- 
 membered that Davy had thereby seemed to have taken 
 possession of a field of inquiry which the Swedish 
 chemist, who was only a year younger than Davy, had 
 been among the first to enter. Still more significant 
 was the action of the French Institute. Bonaparte, 
 when First Consul, had announced to the Institute his 
 intention of founding a medal " for the best experiment 
 which should be made in the course of each year on the 
 galvanic fluid," and had further expressed his desire to 
 give the sum of sixty thousand francs " a celui qui, par 
 ses experiences et ses decouvertes fera a faire a Felectricite 
 et au galvanisme un pas comparable a celui qu'ont fait 
 faire a ces sciences Franklin et Volta." A committee 
 of the Institute, consisting of Laplace, Halle, Coulomb, 
 Hauy and Biot, was appointed to consider the best 
 means of accomplishing the wishes of the First Consul, 
 and twelve months after the publication of the Bakerian 
 lecture they awarded its author the medal. Whether
 
 110 HUMPHRY DAVY, 
 
 the Institute had the means of awardmg the sixty 
 thousand francs as Avell is more than doubtful, for it 
 does not appear that the sum named by Bonaparte ever 
 went beyond the promise of it. All that the Institute 
 got for themselYOS was, as Maria Edgeworth said, ''a 
 rating all round in imperial Billingsgate." The two 
 countries at this period were at war, and the feeling of 
 animosity was most bitter. Of course, there were 
 persons who said that patriotism should forbid the 
 acceptance of the award. Davy's own view was more 
 sensible and politic. "Some people," he said to his 
 friend Poole, " say I ought not to accept this prize ; 
 and there have been foolish paragraphs in the papers 
 to that effect ; but if the two countries or governments 
 are at war, the men of science are not. That would, 
 indeed, be a civil war of the worst description : Ave 
 should rather, through the instrumentality of men of 
 science, soften the asperities of national hostility." 
 
 CHAPTER YI. 
 
 THE ISOLATION OF THE METALS OF THE ALKALIS. 
 
 However devoted Davy might be to scientific investi- 
 gation, he was no less mindful of the sacred claims of 
 the long vacation. In the summer of 1805 he went to 
 the Lake Country, where he met Scott in company 
 with Wordsworth ; and the occasion on Avhich the party 
 " climbed the dark brow of the mighty Helvellyn," and 
 which gave rise to Scott's well-known poem, is thus 
 referred to by Lockhart : — 
 
 " This day tliey were accompanied by an illustrious philosopher 
 [Davy], who was also a true poet— and might have been one of the 
 greatest of poets had he chosen ; and I have heard Mr. Words-
 
 POET AND PHILOSOPHER. Ill 
 
 worth say, that it would be difficult to express the feelings with 
 which he, who so often had climbed Helvellyn alone, found himself 
 standing on its summit with two such men as Scott and Davy." 
 
 But the greater part of this summer he spent in the 
 north of Ireland, examining the extraordinary geological 
 features of that district. Lady Brownrigg, the sister of 
 the Bishop of Raphoe, has given a spirited little account 
 of her impressions of his appearance and manner at 
 that period. She was, she says, very young at the time. 
 
 " We had been invited (I say loe^ for I was then with the 
 Bishop of Eaphoe) by Dr. Richardson to go to his cottage at 
 Portrash, 'to meet the famous Mr. Davy.' We arrived a short 
 time before dinner. In passing through a room we saw a youth, 
 as he appeared, who had come in from fishing, and who, with a 
 little note-book, was seated in a window-seat, having left a bag, 
 rod &c., on the ground. He was very intent upon this little 
 book, and we passed through unnoticed. We shook hands with 
 our host and hostess, and prepared for dinner. I went into 
 the drawing-room, under some little awe of this great philo- 
 sopher, annexing to such a character at least the idea of an 
 elderly grave gentleman, not perhaps, with so large a wig as Dr. 
 Parr, or so sententious a manner as Dr. Johnson, — but certainly 
 I never calculated on being introduced to the identical youth, 
 with a little brown head, like a boy, that we had seen with his 
 book, and who, when I came into the drawing-room was in the 
 most animated manner recounting an adventure on the Causeway 
 which had entertained him and from his manner of telling it was 
 causing loud laughing in the whole room." 
 
 Davy also spent nmch of the summer of 1806 in 
 Ireland, and the journal which he kept during his tour 
 contains many interesting notes of his impressions of 
 the coimtry and the people. In the course of his 
 journey he visited Edgeworthstown — " the moral and 
 intellectual paradise of the author of ' Castle Rackrent,' 
 as he calls it. That gifted lady tells her cousin 
 Sophy Ruxton that as the result her head "was stuffed
 
 112 HUMPHRY DAVY, 
 
 full of geological and chemical facts." " Mr. JJavy," 
 she adds, " is wonderfully improved since you saw him 
 at Bristol ; he has an amazing fund of knowledge upon 
 all subjects, and a great deal of genius.' 
 
 There w^as much in Davy's own temperament to 
 make him understand and appreciate the Irish char- 
 acter ; himself a man of quick impulse and active 
 sympathy, he was profoundl}^ moved by the spectacle of 
 Ireland's political degradation. In a letter to his friend 
 Poole, written after his return to London, he says : — 
 
 " I long very much for the intercourse of a week with j'ou : 
 I have very much to say about Ireland. It is an island which 
 might be made a new and a great country. It now boasts a 
 fertile soil, an ingenious and robust peasantry, and a rich aris- 
 tocracy; but the bane of the nation is the equality of ]joverty 
 amongst the lower orders. All are slaves, without the probability 
 of becoming free ; they are in the state of equality which the 
 sa7is culottes wished for in France ; and until emulation, and 
 riches, and the love of clothes and neat houses are introduced 
 among them, there will be no permanent improvement. 
 
 " Changes in political institutions can, at first, do little 
 towards serving them ; it must be by altering their habits, by 
 ditiusiug manufactories, by destroying middlemen, by dividing 
 farms, and by promoting industry by making the pay proportional 
 to the work : but I ought not to attempt to say anything on the 
 subject when my limits are so narrow ; I hope soon to converse 
 Avith you about it." 
 
 With the exception of a rapid journey into Cornwall, 
 for the sake of seeing his family, he spent the greater 
 part of the summer and autumn of 1807 in town. He 
 had been made Secretary of the Royal Society in 
 succession to Gray, and was obliged to be in or near 
 London in order to see the Philosopldccd Transactions 
 through the press. From the Laboratory Journal it would 
 appear that he was occupied at this time on a variety of
 
 POET AND PHILOSOPHER. 113 
 
 disconnected investigations such as the nature of 
 Antwerp Bkie, and the effect of electricity on flame. 
 In a letter to Davies Gilbert, dated September 12th, he 
 states that he has been a good deal engaged in experi- 
 ments on distillation for revenue purposes. 
 
 Towards the end of this month, or during the tirst 
 week of October, he resumed his experiments with the 
 voltaic battery, and he was led to study its action on 
 the alkalis. There is some evidence that he had attacked 
 the same question at Bristol. In a note-book of that 
 period, under date August 6th, 1800, is the following sen- 
 tence : " I cannot close this notice without feeling grateful 
 to M. Volta, Mr. Nicholson, and Mr. Carlisle, whose ex- 
 perience has placed such a wonderful and important 
 instrument of analysis in my power " — evidently a 
 jotting to be used in one of the short communications to 
 Nicholson's Journal. This is immediately followed by 
 " Query : Would not potash, dissolved in spirits of wine, 
 become a conductor ? " And he then gives an account 
 of some experiments on the action of voltaic electricity 
 on aqueous solutions of ammonia, caustic potash, and 
 hydrochloric acid, which apparently led to the same 
 result as that already obtained by Nicholson and Carlisle 
 in the case of water. 
 
 It is difficult to determine whether he had any precise 
 idea in again attacking the problem, or any expectation 
 of a definite result. In one of his lectures at the Koyal 
 Institution on Electro-Chemical Science, delivered some 
 time subsequently, he said he had a suspicion at that 
 time that potash might turn out to be " phosphorus, or 
 sulphur united to nitrogen" : 
 
 " For as the volatile alkali was regarded as composed of an 
 extremely light inflammable body — hydrogen — united to nitrogen, 
 1 conceived that phosplioriis and sidplmr, much denser bodies, 
 II
 
 114 HUMPHRY DAVY, 
 
 might produce denser alkaline matter ; and as there were no 
 hiovm combination of these with nitrogen, it was probable that 
 there might be unknown combinations." 
 
 Davy once said that "analogy was the fruitful 
 parent of error " ; and the whole history of science 
 probably furnishes no more extraordinary instance of 
 perverted analogy, or one more unexpected in its con- 
 sequences. In another of his lectures he said of the 
 alchemists that "even their failiires developed some 
 unsought-for object partaking of the marvellous " — and 
 the statement in this case is even more true of himself. 
 Each phase in the story of this discovery indeed partakes 
 of the marvellous. Sometime during the tirst fortnight 
 in October, 1807, he obtained his first decisive result : and 
 on the 19th of November he delivered what is generally 
 regarded as the most memorable of all his Bakerian 
 lectures, " On some new Phenomena of chemical 
 Changes produced by Electricity, particularly the De- 
 composition of the fixed Alkalies, and the Exhibition 
 of the new substances which constitute their bases ; 
 and on the general Nature of alkaline Bodies." Fcav 
 discoveries of like magnitude have been made and 
 perfected in so short a time, and few memoirs have been 
 more momentous in result than that which Davy put 
 together in a few hours, and in which he announced his 
 results to the world. The w^hole work was done under 
 conditions of great mental excitement. His cousin 
 Edmund Davy, who at the time acted as his assistant, 
 relates that wdien he saw the minute globules of the 
 quicksilver-like metal burst through the crust of potash 
 and take fire, his joy knew no bounds ; he actually 
 danced about the room in ecstasy, and it was some time 
 before he was sufficiently composed to continue his 
 experiments. The rapidity with which he accumulated
 
 POET AND PHILOSOPHER. 115 
 
 results after this first feeling of delirious delight had 
 passed was extraordinary. Before the middle of Novem- 
 ber he had obtained most of the leading facts. In a 
 letter dated November 13th he tells W. H. Pepys — 
 
 " I have decomposed and recomposed the fixed alkalies, and 
 discovered their bases to be two new inflammable substances 
 very like metals ; but one of them lighter than ether, and in- 
 finitely combustible. So that there are two bodies decomposed, 
 and two new elementary bodies found." 
 
 The stories told by Paris of his habits at this period, 
 and of his various expedients to gain time — of his rushing 
 off' to dinner with persons of the highest rank with no 
 fewer than five shirts on, and as many pairs of stockings, 
 because in his haste he could not put on fresh linen 
 without removing that Avhich was underneath ; of his 
 continuing his chemical labours on his return to the 
 laboratory until three or four in the morning ; and of 
 his then being up before the servants, are certainly 
 much exaggerated, if not wholly apocryphal. He was, 
 it is true, not very systematic in the disposal of his 
 time, but he seldom entered the laboratory before ten or 
 eleven in the morning, and rarely left it later than four, 
 and he was scarcely ever known to visit it after he had 
 dressed for dinner. Except when preparing a lecture, 
 he seldom dined in his rooms at the Institution : 
 his brother tells us that his invitations to dinner were 
 so numerous that he was, or might have been, constantly 
 engaged ; and after dinner he was much in the habit of 
 attending evening parties, and devoting the evening to 
 amusement, " so that to the mere frequenters of such 
 parties he must have appeared a votary of fashion rather 
 than of science." 
 
 It was characteristic of him, that on the very eve of 
 the announcement of the discovery which raised him to 
 II 2
 
 116 HUMPHRY DAVY, 
 
 the summit of his scientitic fame, he could unbend 
 the strung bow and thus write to his youngest sister : — 
 
 " My dear Sister. .... I looked last week at the pattern of 
 the gown that my sister put into my hands, and found it so worn 
 and tattered that nothing can be made of it ; I cannot therefore 
 get your gowns made till you send me another. The best way 
 will be to give me measure of the waist, shoulders, length &c., 
 in this way, and there can then be no difficulties : thus waist, 
 15 inches, or whatever it may be; between shoulders: length 
 from waist to skirt or train. 
 
 " I do not wish to send gowns you cannot wear, and in this 
 way they can be well made. By a piece of tape you can easily 
 measure and then try the length by a car}»enter's rule, and give 
 me the results for yourself, and for Kitty, and Grace, and I shall 
 then be able to send your gowns a few days after I receive your 
 letter. . . . 
 
 '' I shall write to my mother soon, about John. And now, my 
 dear sister, having written you as stupid a letter as ever was 
 written about gowns, I shall end with love to my mother. Kitty, 
 Grace, and my aunts. "Your aflfectionate brother 
 
 "H. Davy." 
 
 The Bakerian lecture in which Davy announces the 
 discovery of the compound nature of the fixed alkalis 
 opens with a reference to the concluding remarks of his 
 lecture of the previous year, " that the new methods ot 
 investigation promised to lead to a more intimate know- 
 ledge than had hitherto been obtained concerning the 
 true elements of bodies. This conjecture, then sanctioned 
 only by strong analogies, I am now happy to be able to 
 support by some conclusive facts." 
 
 In the first attempts he made to decompose the fixed 
 alkalis he acted upon concentrated aqueous solutions of 
 potash and soda with the highest electrical power he 
 could then command at the Royal Institution — viz. from 
 voltaic batteries containing 24 plates of copper and zinc 
 of 12 inches square, 100 plates of 6 inches, and 150
 
 POET AND PHILOSOPHER. 117 
 
 of 4 inclies, charged with sohitions of ahiiii and nitric 
 acid ; but although there was high intensity of action 
 nothing but hydrogen and oxygen was disengaged. He 
 next tried potash in igneous fusion, and here the results 
 were more encouraging : there were obvious and striking 
 signs of decomposition : combustible matter was pro- 
 duced accompanied with flame and a most intense light. 
 He had observed that although potash when dry is a non- 
 conductor, it readily conducts when it becomes damp by 
 exposure to air, and in this state " fuses and decomposes 
 by strong electrical powers." 
 
 " A small piece of pure potasli, wliich had been exposed for a 
 few seconds to the atmosphere, so as to give conducting power to 
 the surface was placed upon an insulated disc of platina, con- 
 nected with the negative side of the battery of the power of 250 
 of 6 and 4, in a state of intense activity ; * and a platina wire 
 communicating with the positive side was brought in contact with 
 the upper surface of the alkali. . . . 
 
 " Under tliese circumstances a vivid action was soon observed 
 to take place. The potash began to fuse at both its points of 
 electrization. There was a violent eflfervescence at the upper sur- 
 face ; at the lower, or negative surface, there was no liberation 
 of elastic fluid ; but small globules having a high metallic lustre, 
 and being precisely similar in visible characters to quicksilver 
 appeared, some of which burnt with explosion and bright flame, as 
 soon as they were formed, and others remained, and were merely 
 tarnished, and finally covered by a white film which formed on 
 their surfaces." 
 
 The platina, as such, was, he found, in no way 
 connected with the result : a substance of the same 
 
 * It is frequently stated that Davy was enabled to isolate the metals of 
 the alkalis because of the large and powerful voltaic battery which he had 
 at his disposal in the Royal Institution. This is not correct. The battery 
 he employed was of very moderate dimensions, and not by any means 
 extraordinary in power. It was the success he thus achieved that caused 
 the large battery, which is probably referred to, to be constructed, by 
 special subscription, in 1809.
 
 118 HUMPHRY DAVY, 
 
 kind was produced when copper, silver, gold, plumbago, 
 or even charcoal was employed for completing the 
 circuit. 
 
 "Soda when acted upon in the same manner as potash, 
 exhibited an analogous result ; but the decomposition demanded 
 greater intensity of action in the batteries, or the alkali was 
 required to be in much thinner and smaller pieces." 
 
 " The substance i)roduced from potash remained fluid at the 
 temperature of the atmosphere at tlie time of its production ; that 
 from soda, which was fluid in the degree of heat of the alkali 
 during its formation, became solid on cooling, and appeared 
 having the lustre of silver." 
 
 It would seem from his description of its properties 
 that the potassium he obtained Avas most probably 
 alloyed with sodium derived from impure potash. 
 Potassium is solid up to 143^ F. ; but, as T3avy subse- 
 quently found, an alloy of potassium and sodium is 
 fluid at ordinary temperatures. 
 
 When the potassium was exposed to air its metallic 
 histre was immediately destroyed, and it was ultimately 
 wholly reconverted into potash by absorption of oxygen 
 and moisture. 
 
 With the substance from soda the appearance and 
 effects were analogous. 
 
 When heated in oxygen to a sufficiently high 
 temperature, both substances burnt Avith a brilliant 
 white flame. 
 
 On account of their alterability on exposure to air, 
 Davy had considerable difficult}^ in preserving and 
 confining them so as to examine the properties of 
 the new substances. As he says, like the alkahests 
 imagined b}^ the alchemists, they acted more or 
 less upon almost every body to which they were 
 exposed.
 
 POET AND PHILOSOPHER. 119 
 
 He eventually found that they might be preserved in 
 naphtha. 
 
 The " basis " of potash at 50" F. was a soft and 
 malleable solid with the lustre of polished silver. 
 
 "At about the freezing point of water it becomes harder and 
 brittle, and when broken in fragments, exhibits a crystallized 
 texture, which in the microscope seems composed of beautiful 
 facets of a perfect whiteness and high metallic splendour." 
 
 It may be converted into vapour at a temperature 
 approaching a red-heat, and may be distilled unchanged; 
 it is a perfect conductor of electricity and an excellent 
 conductor of heat. Its most marked difference from 
 the common run of metals was its extraordinarily low 
 specific gravity. Davy endeavoured to gain an approxi- 
 mation to its relative weight by comparing the weight of 
 a globule with that of an equal-sized globule of mercury. 
 
 " Taking the mean of 4 experiments, conducted with great 
 care, its specific gravity at (52'^ Fahrenheit, is to that of mercury 
 as 10 to 223, which gives a proportion to that of water nearly as 
 6 to 10 ; so that it is the lightest fluid body known. In its solid 
 form it is a little heavier." 
 
 Although no great stress can be laid on numbers so 
 obtained, they serve to indicate that Davy had not yet 
 obtained the pure metal. The real ratio of the specific 
 gravities of potassium and mercury is as 10 to 154. 
 
 An account is then given of the behaviour of 
 potassium towards oxygen, oxymuriatic acid gas 
 [chlorine], hydrogen, water, alcohol, ether, the various 
 mineral acids, phosphorus^ sulphur, mercury, a number 
 of metallic oxides, and the various forms of glass. 
 
 The "basis" of soda is described as a white opaque 
 substance of the lustre and general appearance of silver. 
 It is soft and malleable, and is a good conductor of 
 heat and electricity. Its specific gravity was found by
 
 120 HUMPHRY DAVY, 
 
 flotation in a mixture of oil of sassafras and naphtha to 
 be 0'934S (the true specific gravity of sodium is 0-974). 
 It Avas found to fuse at about 180^ F. (the real melting- 
 point of sodium is 1975°). Its action on a number of 
 substances — oxygen, hydrogen, water, etc. — is then de- 
 scribed, and its general behavioiu' contrasted with that 
 of the " basis " of potash. 
 
 Davy then attempted, by synthetical experiments, to 
 determine the amount of the " metallic bases " in potash 
 and soda respectively, and, considering the extremely 
 small quantities he had to operate upon, the results are 
 fairly accurate. 
 
 He then enters upon some general observations on the 
 relations of the "bases" of potash and soda to other bodies. 
 
 "Should the bases of potash and soda be called metals ? The 
 greater number of philosoi)hical persons to whom this question 
 has been put, have answered in the affirmative. They agree with 
 metals in opacity, lustre, malleability, conducting powers as to 
 heat and electricity, and in their qualities of chemical com- 
 bination. 
 
 "Their low specific gravity does not appear a sufficient reason 
 for making them a new class ; for amongst the metals themselves 
 there are remarkable differences in this respect, . . . and in 
 the philosophical division of the classes of bodies, the analogy 
 between the greater numl)er of properties must always be the 
 foundation of arrangement. 
 
 " On this idea, in naming the bases of potash and soda, it will 
 be proper to ado])t the termination which, by common consent, 
 has been applied to other newly discovered metals, and which, 
 though originally Latin, is now naturalized in our language. 
 
 " Potasium [sir] and sodium are the names by which T have 
 ventured to call the new substances ; and whatever changes of 
 tljeory, with regard to the composition of bodies, may hereafter 
 take place, these terms can scarcely express an error ; for they 
 may be considered as implying simply the metals produced from 
 potash and soda. I have consulted with many of the most 
 eminent scientific persons in this country, upon the methods of
 
 POET AND PHILOSOPHER. 121 
 
 derivation, and the one I have adopted has been the one most 
 generally approved. It is perhaps more significant than elegant. 
 But it was not possible to found names upon specific properties 
 not common to both ; and though a name for the basis of soda 
 might have been borrowed from the Greek, yet an analogous one 
 could not have been applied to that of potash, for the ancients do 
 not seem to have distinguished between the two alkalies." 
 
 He thinks there is the greater necessity for avoiding 
 any theoretical views in terms because the time is yet 
 far distant for a complete generalisation of chemical 
 facts, and although the antiphlogistic explanation of the 
 phenomena has been uniformly adopted, the motive for 
 employing it has been rather a sense of its beauty and 
 precision than a conviction of its permanency and truth. 
 
 "The discovery of the agencies of the gases destroyed the 
 hypothesis of Stahl. The knowledge of the powers and effects of 
 the etherial substances may at a future time possibly act a similar 
 part with regard to the more reSned and ingenious hypothesis of 
 Lavoisier ; but in the present state of our knowledge, it a]ipears 
 the best approximation that has been made to a perfect logic of 
 chemistry." 
 
 Led by analogy, Davy soon convinced himself that 
 the volatile alkali — ammonia — also contained oxygen, 
 and in amount not less than 7 or 8 per cent. It is not 
 necessary to go into detail concerning the experiments 
 on which this erroneous conclusion was founded. Davy 
 was subsequently made aware of his error ; but at the 
 time he seemed anxious to overturn — as, indeed, he did in 
 the end, but on other grounds — the Lavoisierian doctrine 
 that oxygen was the principle of acidity, by showing that 
 it was equally the principle of alkalescence. 
 
 In concluding his paper, he mentions that he has 
 begun experiments on the alkaline earths. 
 
 " From analogy alone it is reasonable to expect that the 
 alkaline earths are compounds of a similar nature to the fixed
 
 122 HUMPHRY DAVY, 
 
 alkalies, peculiar highly combustible metallic bases united to 
 oxygen. I have tried some experiments upon barytes and 
 strontites, and they go far towards proving that this must be 
 the case." 
 
 "Barytes and strontites have the strongest relations to the 
 fixed alkalies of any of the earthy bodies ; but there is a chain of 
 resemblances through lime, magnesia, glucina, alumina, and silex. 
 And by the agencies of batteries sufficiently strong, and by the 
 application of proper circumstances, there is no small reason to 
 hope that even these refractory bodies will yield their elements 
 to the methods of analysis by electrical attraction and repulsion." 
 
 Althougli certain of the conjectures with which the 
 paper terminates have been proved to be erroneous, 
 others have been shown to be sound. Thus he points 
 out that the metals of the alkalis will undoubtedly prove 
 powerful agents for analysis : 
 
 " Having an affinity for oxygen stronger than any other known 
 substances they may possibly supersede the application of 
 electricity to some of the undecompounded bodies." 
 
 Such is a brief summary of the contents of one of 
 the most classical papers in tbe Philosophical Transac- 
 tions, Its publication created an extraordinary sensa- 
 tion, not less profound, and certainly more general from 
 the very nature of the subject, than that which follow^ed 
 his first Bakerian lecture. That potash and soda should 
 contain metals— and such metals! — w^as undreamt of, 
 and was a shock to the settled convictions of persons 
 who, like the Aberdonian professor, declared that 
 this " ane Davy was a vera troublesome person in 
 chemistry." 
 
 But this '' troublesome person " had well nigh ceased 
 from troubling any more. Almost immediately after 
 the delivery of his lecture he collapsed — struck down by 
 an illness which nearly proved fatal, and for weeks his 
 life hung on a thread. He had been in a low^ feverish
 
 POET AND PHILOSOPHER. 123 
 
 condition for some time previously, and a great dread 
 had fallen upon him that he should die before he had 
 completed his discoveries. It was in this condition of 
 body and mind that he applied himself to the task of 
 putting together an account of his results. Four days 
 after this was given to the world he took to his bed, 
 and he remained there for nine weeks. Such a blow 
 following hard on such a triumph, aroused the liveliest 
 sympathy. The doors of the Royal Institution were 
 beset by anxious inquirers. His physicians, Babington, 
 Frank, and Baillie, tended him with the greatest 
 assiduity. Mrs. Greenwood, the housekeeper, and his 
 cousin, Edmund Davy, nursed him night and day. So 
 great was the popular feeling that, when he was at the 
 worst, written reports of his condition at various periods 
 of the day had to be posted in the hall. The strength 
 of the feeling may be gleaned, too, from the sentences 
 with which Dr. Dibdin began his lecture introductory to 
 the session of 1808 : — 
 
 " The Managers of this Institution have requested me to 
 impart to you that intelligence, which no one who is alive to the 
 best feelings of human nature can hear without the mixed emo- 
 tions of sorrow and delight. 
 
 " Mr. Davy, whose frequent and powerful addresses from this 
 place, supported by his ingenious experiments, have been so long 
 and so well known to you, has for the last five weeks been struggling 
 between life and death. The effects of these experiments re- 
 cently made in illustration of his late splendid discovery, added 
 to consequent bodily weakness, brought on a fever so violent as to 
 threaten the extinction of life. Over him it might emphatically 
 be said in the language of our immortal Milton, that 
 
 '. . . . Death his dart 
 Shook, but delayed to strike.' 
 
 " If it had pleased Providence to deprive the world of all 
 further benefit from his original talents and intense application
 
 124 HUMPHRY DAVY, 
 
 there has certainly been sufficient already effected l)y him to 
 entitle him to be classed among the brightest scientific lumin- 
 aries of his country." 
 
 After having given an outline of Davy's investigations 
 " at the particular request of the Managers," Dr. Dibdin 
 proceeds : — 
 
 "These may justly be placed amongst the most brilliant and 
 valuable discoveries which have ever been made in chemistry, for 
 a great chasm in the chemical system has been filled up ; a blaze 
 of light has been diffused over that part which before was utterly 
 dark ; and new views have been opened, so numerous and in- 
 teresting, that the more any man who is versed in chemistry 
 reflects on them, the more he finds to admire and to heighten his 
 expectation of future important results. 
 
 " Mr. Davy's name, in consequence of these discoveries, will 
 be always recorded in the annals of science amongst those of the 
 most illustrious philosophers of his time. His country with 
 reason will be proud of him, and it is no small honour to the 
 Royal Institution that these great discoveries have been made 
 within its walls ; in that laboratory, and by those instruments, 
 which from the zeal of promoting useful knowledge have, with so 
 much propriety, been placed at the disposal and for the use of its 
 most excellent professor of chemistry." 
 
 Dr. Dibdin then informs his auditors that Davy's 
 illness, severe as it had been, was now beginning to 
 abate, and that it may be reasonabty hoped that the 
 period of convalescence was not very remote. 
 
 His bodily weakness, however, continued for some 
 time, and it was not until the middle of March that he 
 Avas able to resume his duties as lecturer. His mind, 
 as his note-books show^ much more quickty recovered 
 its wonted vigour. Perhaps it was in that condition of 
 melancholy and debility produced by sickness, which he 
 regarded as favourable to intellectual exertion, when, as 
 he says, " the mind necessarily becomes contemplative 
 when the body is no longer active, and the empire of
 
 POET AND PHILOSOPHER. 125 
 
 sensation yields to that of imagination," that he finished 
 the poem beginning : — 
 
 " Lo ! o'er the earth the kindling spirits pour 
 
 The Hames of life that bounteous Nature gives ; 
 The limpid dew becomes the rosy flower, 
 
 The insensate dust awakes, and moves, and lives." 
 
 It is too long to give here, but of all his poetical effu- 
 sions it is perhaps the best, as it certainly is the most 
 highly-polished. 
 
 One proof of what Davy was to the Royal Institution 
 is seen in the position to which it was reduced in con- 
 sequence of his protracted illness. In the early part of 
 the previous December the Managers made the following 
 announcement : — 
 
 "Mr. Davy, having l)een confined to his bed this last fortnight 
 by a severe illness, the Managers are under the painful necessity 
 of giving notice that the lectures will not commence until the 
 first week of January next." 
 
 By the interruption of the lectures the income of 
 the Institution was greatly diminished; it fell from £4,141 
 in the preceding year to £1,560. This was the low- 
 water mark of its financial state. How acute was the 
 condition may be seen from the report of the Visitors in 
 1808. 
 
 Davy, although better, was still in bed, confined 
 there by the want of a sofa in his room. This was not 
 provided by the Managers until January 25th, when, as the 
 minutes tell us, they furnished him with one at a cost of 
 three guineas. One would have thought he might have 
 had Albemarle Street blocked with sofas if some of those 
 lady-friends who sent him sonnets, and intrigued for his 
 company at their salons, had only known of his condition. 
 
 The laboratory journals show that on April 19th 
 he was able to resume his experiments, and that he
 
 126 HUMPHRY DAVY, 
 
 proceeded to attack the composition of muriatic [hydro- 
 chloric] acid. The note runs, " Indications of the de- 
 composition of muriatic acid. To use every effort to 
 ensure accuracy in the results." He seems to have 
 decomposed muriatic acid gas by means of charcoal 
 terminals, and also to have acted on a mixture of dry 
 calcium chloride and mercury. 
 
 On June 30th he contributed a paper to the Royal 
 Society on " Electro-Chemical Researches on the De- 
 composition of the Earths; with Observations on the 
 Metals obtained from the alkaline Earths, and on the 
 Amalgam procured from Ammonia." 
 
 That the earths would turn out to be related to the 
 metals was surmised by Becher and Stahl. Boyle 
 considered it possible that metals might be produced 
 from them, and Neumann described unsuccessful ex- 
 periments to obtain a metal from quicklime. Bergman 
 imagined that baryta was a metallic calx, and Baron 
 that alumina contained a metal. The supposition that 
 the calces were all compounds of metals was, of course, a 
 part of the antiphlogistic doctrine ; but Lavoisier never 
 hazarded any conjecture as to the nature of potash and 
 soda. It went almost without saying therefore that 
 when Davy had demonstrated the real character of the 
 fixed alkahs, the alkaline earths Avould be found to have 
 an analogous constitution. 
 
 The attempts made by Davy to decompose the 
 alkaline earths by methods similar to those adopted in 
 the case of potash or soda were not very successful, and 
 it was only when he had received intimation from 
 Berzelius that they might be procured in the form of 
 amalgams by operating in contact with mercury that 
 he obtained any decisive results. In no case, however, 
 was he able to prepare a pure metal, and his description
 
 POET AND PHILOSOPHER. 127 
 
 of the physical properties of the substances he actually 
 procured is exceedingly meagre. He seems to have 
 been satisfied for the moment in demonstrating that — 
 
 "The evidence for the composition of the alkaline earths is 
 of the same kind as that for the composition of the common 
 metallic oxides; and the principles of their decomposition are 
 precisely similar, the inflammable matters in all cases separating 
 at the negative surface in the voltaic circuit, and the oxygen at 
 the positive surface." 
 
 " These new substances will demand names ; and on the same 
 principles as I have named the Imses of the fixed alkalies, potassium 
 and sodium, I shall venture to denominate the metals from the 
 alkaline earths barium, strontium, calcium and magnium ; the 
 last of these words is undoubtedly objectionaljle but magnesium 
 has l^een already applied to metallic manganese [by Bergman] 
 and would consequently have been an equivocal term." 
 
 However, as he states in his " Elements of Chemical 
 Philosophy," " the candid criticisms of some philosophical 
 friends " induced him to subsequently change the name 
 to magnesium. 
 
 He next made " Inquiries Relative to the Decom- 
 position of Alumine, Silex, Zircone, and Glucine," but 
 although he made a large number of trials, the results 
 were equivocal. 
 
 "Had I been so fortunate," he says, "as to have obtained 
 more certain evidences on this subject, and to have procured 
 the metallic substances I was in search of, I should have pro- 
 posed for them the names of silicium, alumium, zirconium, 
 and glucium." 
 
 One of the most interesting sections of the paper 
 relates to the production of a so-called amalgam from 
 ammonia, first obtained by Berzelius and Pontin. This 
 curious substance has been the subject of much investi- 
 gation, and little doubt is now entertained that it is 
 merely a mercurial froth, as first stated by Daniell — that
 
 128 HUMPHRY DAVY, 
 
 is, mercury distended by ammonia and hydrogen gases. 
 Davy, however, saw in it the proof of the presence of 
 oxygen in ammonia, and of the existence of what he 
 called " the compound basis " of ammonia. He says : — 
 
 "The more the properties of the amalgam obtained from 
 ammonia are considered the more extraordinary do they appear. 
 Mercury by combination with about Y2noo P^rt of its weight of 
 new matter is rendered a solid, yet has its specific gravity di- 
 minished from 13'5 to 3, and it retains all its metallic characters ; 
 its colour, lustre, opacity, and conducting powers remaining un- 
 impaired. It is scarcely possible to conceive that a substance 
 which forms with mercury so perfect an amalgam, should not be 
 metallic in its own nature; and on this idea to assist the dis- 
 cussion concerning it, it may be conveniently termed ammonium." 
 
 Davy's term " ammonium " is still retained in chemical 
 nomenclature, but there is at present no evidence for 
 the independent existence of such an entity ; the so-called 
 ammonium amalgam is certainly no proof. 
 
 On December 15th, 1808, he delivered his third 
 Bakerian lecture. It was entitled " An Account of some 
 new analytical Researches on the Nature of certain 
 Bodies, particularly the Alkalies, Phosphorus, Sulphur, 
 Carbonaceous Matter, and the Acids hitherto undecom- 
 pounded, with some general Observations on Chemical 
 Theory." Although this is one of the longest and 
 most laboured of Davy's papers, it is, perhaps, one 
 of the least satisfactory. It is a record of many ex- 
 periments with few definite results. Few as these 
 Avere, they yet paved the way for consequences of the 
 greatest importance. Gay Lussac and Thenard, on 
 the publication of Davy's second Bakerian lecture, 
 succeeded in devising a method by which larger 
 quantities of potassium might be obtained than by the 
 electrolytic process. It consisted in passing molten
 
 POET AND PHILOSOPHER. 120 
 
 potash over heated inetalHc iron and condensing the 
 volatihsed potassium in naphtha. On heatmg potassium 
 in ammonia, they found that hj^drogen was obtained 
 together with potash, whence they conchided that 
 potassium was a hydruret of pota^Ji. This experiment 
 was repeated by Davy ; he observed the formation of a 
 substance since known as pofa-<^sa'm i<If, and completely 
 disproved the conjecture of the French chemists. His 
 experiments on sulphur, phosphorus, and the various 
 forms of carbon were, however, wholly fallacious, and his 
 conclusions as to the non-elementary nature of these 
 substances were erroneous, and Avere subsequently 
 corrected by him. His work on the decomposition of 
 boracic acid is, however, accurate, and he has every 
 right to be considered as an independent discoverer, 
 with Thenard, of the element subsequently called by 
 him boron. At hrst Davy was inclined " to consider 
 the boracic basis as metallic in its nature," and to 
 propose for it the name of horachiin. His experiments 
 with " fluoric acid " were vitiated by the circumstance 
 that he worked with a mixture of hydrofluoric acid and 
 silicon fluoride. Unwittingly he obtained small quan- 
 tities of silicon, although he failed to recognise the 
 individuality of this substance. Nor were the experi- 
 ments with muriatic acid more decisive. Incidentally 
 he obtained the two chlorides of phosphorus, but for a 
 time their true nature escaped him, although he gives 
 a fairly accurate description of their main properties. 
 
 The paper, although containing an account of much 
 experimental work, was evidently put together in haste ; 
 it would have been better for his reputation had he 
 delayed its publication. He seems to have been con- 
 scious of its imperfections, and to have sought to 
 strengthen his conclusions by new experiments w^hich 
 I
 
 130 HUMPHRY DAVY, 
 
 he gives in an appendix. These, so far from substan- 
 tiating his views, increased his doubts, and it is remark- 
 able how he misinterpreted the phenomena he observed. 
 Thus in one series of experiments he obtained con- 
 siderable quantities of the "alcohol of sulphur of 
 Lampadius," and attempted to ascertain its nature, but 
 his preconceptions as to the non- elementary nature of 
 carbon and sulphur prevented him from recognising that 
 it is a sulphide of carbon. 
 
 One explanation of this untoward haste is to be 
 found in the position in which Davy was placed. He 
 simply hungered for scientific fame, and his appetite 
 grew by what it fed on. There was at the time the 
 most intense spirit of rivalry between the English and 
 French chemists — it was a phase of the national feeling 
 which actuated the two peoples — and, in spite of his 
 phrases, Davy keenly felt what he considered an intrusion 
 into his own field of Avork. His illness had thrown him 
 back, and the French chemists had stolen a march on 
 him in the meantime. Moreover, he had Berzelius on 
 his flank. All these circumstances, wdiilst they impelled 
 him to activity, were unfavourable in a man of Davy's 
 temperament to the incubatory period, " the wambling 
 in the w^ame " process, which is often needed before the 
 true aspect and meaning of things are perceived ; and 
 there is no doubt that the fear of being anticipated urged 
 him to the expression of hypotheses and surmises Avhich 
 at a later and calmer period he regretted and renounced. 
 
 But such was his position in England at this period, 
 that a Bakerian lecture seemed to be expected from him 
 at each succeeding session of the Royal Society as a 
 matter of course, and he was always ready to respond 
 to the expectation, even it" he did not invariably satisfy it. 
 
 On November 16th, 1809, he read his fourth Bakerian
 
 POET AND PHILOSOPHER. 131 
 
 lecture. It was " On some new Electrochemical Re- 
 searches on various Objects, particularly the metallic 
 Bodies, from the Alkalies and Earths, and on some 
 Combinations of Hydrogene." He begins by again 
 drawino^ attention to the various surmises which had 
 been made respecting the true nature of potassium 
 and sodium. Although these substances had been 
 isolated, and in the hands of chemists for upwards of 
 two years, their properties were so extraordinary when 
 compared with those of the metals in general, that 
 many philosophers hesitated to consider them as true 
 metals. Gay Lussac and Thenard, as already men- 
 tioned, regarded them as compounds of potash or soda 
 with hydrogen ; Curaudau as combinations of carbon 
 or carbon and hydrogen with the alkalis ; whilst an 
 ingenious inquirer in this country communicated to 
 Nicholson's Journal his belief that they were really 
 composed of oxygen and hydrogen! Davy, in the light 
 of the fuller knowledge he obtained from Gay Lussac 
 and Thenard's paper in the " Mem. d'Arcueil "—a copy of 
 which he owed to Berthollet — had no difficulty in again 
 proving "that by the operation of potassium upon am- 
 monia, it is not a imetallic body that is decompounded, 
 but the volatile alkali, and that the hydrogen produced 
 does not arise from the potassium, as is asserted by the 
 French chemists, but from the aniinonia." 
 
 M. Curaudau's hypothesis is shown to be based upon 
 the accidental association of naphtha with the metals he 
 employed. In repeating some experiments of Ritter's, 
 designed to show that potassium contained hydrogen, 
 Davy was led to the discovery of telluretted hydrogen, 
 the properties of which he describes in some detail. 
 Tellurium at that time was regarded as a metal, but 
 Davy points out its strong analogies to sulphur, with 
 i2
 
 132 HUxAIPHRY DAVY, 
 
 which element, indeed, it is now classed. Incidentally 
 he throws light upon the nature of the intolerably fetid 
 product known as " the fuming liquor of Cadet," obtained 
 by distilling acetate of potash with arsenious oxide. On 
 account of its extreme inflaunnability, it was thought by 
 Dav}^ that this liquid might possibly be a pyrophorus or 
 volatile alloy of potassium and arsenic. 
 
 " From a repetition of the process I find that though potash is 
 decompounded in this operation yet that the volatile substance 
 is not an alloy of potassium but contains charcoal and arsenic 
 probably with hydrogen. The gases not absorbable by water 
 given off in this operation are peculiar. Their smell is intensely 
 fetid. They are inflammable, and seem to contain charcoal, 
 arsenic and hydrogen : whether they are mixtures of various 
 gases, or a single compound, I am not at present able to decide." 
 
 So far as it goes, this description of the nature of the 
 substance is correct ; it was Bunsen, in 1837, who first 
 demonstrated the real character of " the fuming liquor of 
 Cadet." 
 
 The paper is noteworth}^ for the clear distinction 
 which is drawn for the first time between potash hydrate 
 (potassium hydroxide of modern nomenclature) and 
 potassium oxide, the product formed by heating the 
 metal in ordinary oxygen. 
 
 There is much in the rest of the paper that is 
 ingenious and suggestive, and not a few isolated facts 
 that seem to have been lost sight of, or rediscovered 
 by subsequent observers, such, for example, as the 
 action of potassium upon metallic iron — an action which 
 has vitiated the attempts to determine the vapour den- 
 sity of that metal in iron vessels. It is curious to note 
 with what persistency Davy clings to the belief that 
 nitrogen will turn out to be a compound substance, 
 and with what pertinacity he importunes it to give up
 
 POET AND PHILOSOPHER. 133 
 
 its components. At tiuies he thinks he is on the verge 
 of proof. " I hope on Thursday," he wrote to his friend 
 Children, " to show you nitrogen as a complete wreck, 
 torn to pieces in different ways." But still nitrogen, with 
 that passive immutability which is characteristic of it, 
 in spite of every form of torture, remained whole and 
 indissoluble. On this point he wrote in the Laboratory 
 Journal under date February 15th: — "Were a descrip- 
 tion, indeed, to be given of all the experiments I have 
 made, of all the difficulties I have encountered, of the 
 doubts that have occurred, and the hypotheses formed 
 
 ." But the sentence was not finished. The attack 
 
 was renewed and continued throughout the whole of 
 the spring and summer, until, fairly baffled, Davy con- 
 fessed himself beaten, and turned his attention to other 
 matters. The condition of his laboratory at this time 
 may be gleaned from the following note in the Journal : — 
 
 "Objects much wanted in the laboratory of the Royal Institu- 
 tion : cleanliness, neatness and regularity. 
 
 "Tlie laboratory must be cleaned every morning when opera- 
 tions are going on before ten o'clock. 
 
 "It is the business of W. Payne to do this, and it is the duty 
 of Mr. E. Davy to see that it is done and to take care of and keep 
 in order the apparatus. 
 
 "There must be in the laboratory pen, ink, paper, and wafers, 
 and these must not be kept in the slovenly manner in which 
 they are usually kept. I am now writing with a pen and ink 
 such as was never used in any other place." 
 
 Then follows a list of articles wanting, " including 
 most of the common metallic and saline solutions." 
 
 "The laboratory is constantly in a state of dirt and confusion. 
 
 " There must be a roller with a coarse towel for washing the 
 hands and a basin of water and soap, and every week at least a 
 whole morning must be devoted to the inspection and ordering of 
 the voltaic battery."
 
 134 HUMPHRY DAVY, 
 
 It would be interesting to know the comments of 
 the persons named in this note as to the cause of the 
 dirt and confusion which reigned in the laboratory. 
 Davy was perfectly reckless with apparatus ; with him 
 to think was to act, and he frequently had half a dozen 
 experiments going on simultaneously, upon disconnected 
 parts of the same inquiry. Anyone who has had the 
 opportunity of seeing his laboratory notes, or of glancing 
 over the rough drafts of his memoirs, which have been 
 preserved by the pious care of Faraday, will appreciate 
 the significance of the remarks upon his writing materials. 
 His usual method of erasure was by dipping his finger 
 in the ink-pot ; and, if we may be pardoned the use of 
 the colloquialism, he was simply " Death on pens ! " 
 
 CHAPTER VII. 
 
 CtlLORlNE. 
 
 The rivalry between the French and English chemists 
 continued, but it took a new departure. Gay Lussac 
 and Thenard had stolen a march on Davy by their 
 discovery of a chemical method of making the metals 
 of the alkalis, whereby they were able to use these 
 metals as chemical reagents to greater advantage : but 
 the tables were quickly turned. On July 12th, 1810, 
 Davy read to the Royal Society his memorable paper 
 " On the oxynuiriatic Acid, its Nature and Combina- 
 tions ; and on the Elements of the muriatic Acid : with 
 some Experiments on Sulphur and Phosphorus, made in 
 the Laboratory of the Royal Institution." This paper, 
 in which he first demonstrates the nature of chlorine, 
 is very short — only some twenty-six quarto pages — but
 
 POET AND PHILOSOPHER. 135 
 
 it is unquestionably one of the most brilliant, as it is 
 one of the most forcible of his productions. 
 
 Davy is here seen at his best. He is bold and yet 
 wary, and as dexterous as trenchant; so confident is 
 he in the strength of his position that he casts aside 
 every argument that might tell in his favour, unless it 
 is based on the most unimpeachable evidence. It is 
 difficult to know what to admire most — the clearness 
 of perception, the precision of the statement, the strict- 
 ness of the logic, the aptness of the illustration, or the 
 argumentative skill with which the whole is marshalled 
 and presented. As a piece of induction, the memoir is a 
 model of its kind, and as an exercise in " the scientific 
 use of the imagination " it has few equals. Most scientific 
 papers will stand a considerable amount of winnowing, 
 and there is no assay-master more scrupulously strict 
 than Time. " The more a science advances, the more it 
 becomes concentrated in little books," says Leibnitz; but 
 the most fastidious of critics might read and re-read this 
 work without wishing to omit or amend a sentence. 
 
 Every chemical student to-day is told that the 
 elementary nature of chlorine was first deriionstvated by 
 Davy, and if the student is informed what Davy meant by 
 the term '' element," the statement is not incorrect. What, 
 however, Davy actually did was to demonstrate that the 
 substance called oxymuriatic acid contained no oxygen ; 
 that it was a peculiar substance which " has not as yet 
 been decompounded," and therefore is " elementary as 
 far as our knowledge extends." The very character of 
 the name which he suggested indicates this cautious 
 and philosophical view. In making the suggestion, he 
 says : — 
 
 "To call a body which is not known to contain oxygen and which 
 cannot contain muriatic acid, oxymuriatic acid, is contrary to the
 
 136 HUMPHRY DAVY, 
 
 principles of that nomenclature in which it is adopted ; and an 
 alteration of it seems necessary to assist the progress of dis- 
 cussion, and to diffuse just ideas on the subject. If the great 
 discoverer of this substance [Scheele, who first observed it in 
 1774] had signified it by any simple name, it would have been 
 proper to have recurred to it; hut, dephlor/f'sticated income acid 
 is a term which can hardly be adopted in the present advanced 
 era of the science. 
 
 "After consulting some of the most eminent chemical 
 philosophers in this country, it has been judged most proper to 
 suggest a name founded upon one of its obvious and characteristic 
 properties — its colour, and to call it chlorine, or chloric gas.* 
 
 " Should it hereafter be discovered to be compound, and even 
 to contain oxygen, this name can imply no error, and cannot 
 necessarily require a change." 
 
 As tlie actual facts and arguments on which Davy 
 based his views are seldom set forth in text-books, or 
 presented to the student by teachers, it may be desirable 
 to o-ive a detailed account of his famous memoir. He 
 
 o 
 
 begins by saying : — 
 
 "The illustrious discoverer of the oxymuriatic acid considered 
 it as muriatic acid freed from hydrogen ; and the common 
 muriatic acid as a compound of hydrogen and oxymuriatic acid : 
 and on this theory he denominated oxymuriatic acid dephlo- 
 gisticated muriatic acid. 
 
 " M. Berthollet, a few years after the discovery of Scheele, 
 made a number of important and curious experiments on this 
 body; from which he concluded that it was composed of muriatic 
 acid and oxygen ; and this idea for nearly twenty years has been 
 almost universally adopted." 
 
 Havmg thus accurately stated the position, he 
 proceeds to attack it. In the first place, he points out 
 that Henry, ten years before, had shown that hydrogen 
 could be produced from muriatic acid gas by the 
 agency of electricity ; this hydrogen was assumed by 
 
 [* From x^^'po^.]
 
 POET AND PHILOSOPHER. 137 
 
 Henry to be due to water contained in the gas. Davy, 
 in his Bakerian lecture of 1808, had shown that muriatic 
 acid gas gave hydrogen when treated with potassium, 
 and he had stated " that muriatic acid can in no instance 
 be procured from oxymuriatic gas, or from dry muriates, 
 unless water or its elements be present." 
 
 Gay Lussac and Thenard had concluded "that 
 muriatic acid gas contains about one-quarter of its 
 weight of water ; and that oxymuriatic acid is not de- 
 composable by any substances but hydrogen, or such 
 as can form triple combinations with it." 
 
 He then points out, what he had already stated in 
 a former paper, that charcoal freed from hydrogen 
 and moisture by intense ignition in vacuo may be 
 heated to whiteness by the voltaic battery in oxy- 
 muriatic or muriatic acid gases without affecting any 
 change in them. 
 
 It now occurred to him that if the liquor of Libavius 
 (stannic chloride) is a combination of muriatic acid and 
 oxide of tin, as then surmised, oxide of tin ought to be 
 separated from it by means of ammonia. On admitting 
 ammonia gas to the tin chloride over mercur}^, the 
 substances combined with great heat, a white solid was 
 obtained ; " some of it was heated to ascertain if it 
 contained oxide of tin, but the whole volatilised, pro- 
 ducing dense pungent fumes." The experiment was 
 repeated with every care, but no oxide of tin could be 
 obtained. 
 
 He was next led to study the behaviour of ammonia 
 with the substances he had formerly obtained, by the 
 action of oxynmriatic gas on phosphorus (see p. 129). 
 One of these is solid, and is now known as phosphorus 
 ])entachloride ; the other is liquid, and is termed phos- 
 phorus trichloride.
 
 138 HUMPHRY DAVY, 
 
 " The first," he says, " on the generally received theory of the 
 nature of oxy muriatic acid, must be considered as a compound of 
 muriatic acid and phosphoric acid. It occurred to me that if the 
 acids of phosphorus really existed in these combinations, it would 
 not be difficult to obtain them, and thus to gain proof of the 
 existence of oxygen in oxymuriatic acid." 
 
 He therefore brought ammonia gas into contact with 
 the solid compound of oxymuriatic acid and phosphorus. 
 Much heat was produced, and a white opaque powder 
 was formed. 
 
 "Supposing that this substance was composed of the dry 
 muriate and phosphate of ammonia ; as muriate of ammonia is 
 very volatile, and as ammonia is driven off from phosphoric acid, 
 by a heat below redness I conceived that by igniting the product 
 obtained I should procure phosphoric acid . . . but found 
 to my great surprise that it was not at all volatile nor decom- 
 Xjosable at this degree of heat, and that it gave off no gaseous 
 matter. The circumstance that a substance composed principally 
 of oxymuriatic acid and ammonia should resist decomposition or 
 change at so high a temperature induced me to pay particular 
 attention to the properties of this new body." 
 
 What he actually obtained was mainly a mixture ot 
 the so-called phosj)harii and cklorophosphainide, re- 
 markably stable substances, the characteristic properties 
 of Avhich he describes with accuracy. He then ex- 
 amined the action of ammonia gas on sulphur chloride, 
 " the sulphuretted muriatic liquor of Dr. Thomson," but 
 as the compounds formed 
 
 " did not present the same uniform and interesting properties as 
 that from the phosphoric sublimate, I did not examine them 
 minutely : I contented myself by ascertaining that no substance 
 known to contain oxygen could be procured from oxymuriatic 
 acid in this mode of operation." 
 
 He then shows that ammonia and oxymuriatic acid, 
 in condensing to sal ammoniac with liberation of
 
 POET AND PHILOSOPHER. 139 
 
 nitrogen, contrary to the general belief, form no water. 
 According to Cruickshank, who appears to have been 
 the first to make the observation, "hydrogenous gas" 
 required rather more than its own volume of oxygenated 
 muriatic acid to saturate it when a mixture of the two 
 was exploded by means of the electric spark, " the 
 products being water and muriatic acid." Gay Lussac 
 and Thenard had stated that no water was thus formed. 
 
 "I have attempted," says Davy, "to make the experiment 
 still more refined by drying the oxymuriatic acid and the hydrogen 
 by introducing them into vessels containing muriate of lime 
 [calcium chloride] and by suffering them to coml)ine at common 
 temperatures ; but I have never been able to avoid a slight con- 
 densation ; though in proportion as the gases were free from 
 oxygen or water, this condensation diminished." * 
 
 " MM. Gay Lussac and Thenard have proved by a coi»ious 
 collection of instances, that in the usual cases where oxygen is 
 procured from oxymuriatic acid, water is always present, and 
 muriatic acid gas is formed ; now as it is shewn that oxymuriatic 
 acid gas is converted into muriatic acid gas by combining with 
 hydrogen, it is scarcely possible to avoid the conclusion, that the 
 oxygen is derived from the decomposition of the water, and 
 consequently that the idea of the existence of water in muriatic 
 acid gas, is hypothetical, depending ujjon an assumption which 
 has not yet been proved— the existence of oxygen in oxymuriatic 
 acid gas. 
 
 "MM. Gay Lussac and Thenard indeed have stated an ex- 
 periment, which they consider as proving that muriatic acid gas 
 contains one quarter of its weight of combined water. They 
 passed this gas over litharge, and obtained so much water ; but 
 it is obvious, that in this case, they formed the same compound as 
 that produced by the action of oxymuriatic acid on lead ; and in 
 this process the muriatic acid must lose its hydrogen and the 
 lead its oxygen ; which of course would form water ; these able 
 
 * Theoretically, there should be no contraction. One volume of 
 chlorine combines with one volume of hydrogen to form two volumes of 
 hydrogen chloride [muriatic acid gas]. Dalton's law of gaseous volumes 
 had been established by Gray Lussac before 1810.
 
 140 HUMPHRY DAVY 
 
 chemists, indeed, from the conclusion of their memoir, seem 
 aware, that such an explanation may be given, for they say, that 
 the oxymuriatic acid may be considered as a simple body." 
 
 He then repeats the experiments which first led 
 him to suspect the existence of combined water in 
 muriatic acid. 
 
 " When mercury is made to act upon 1 volume of muriatic 
 acid gas, by voltaic electricity, all the acid disappears, calomel is 
 formed, and about "5 of hydrogen evolved." 
 
 The same result is obtained by the use of potassium. 
 
 "And in some experiments made very carefully by my brother, 
 Mr. John Davy, on the decomposition of muriatic acid gas, by 
 heated tin and zinc, hydrogen, ecpial to about half its volume, 
 was disengaged, and metallic muriates, the same as those produced 
 by the combustion of tin and zinc in oxymuriatic gas, resulted." 
 
 " It is evident from this series of observations, that Scheele's 
 view (though obscured by terms derived from a vague and 
 unfounded general theory) of the nature of the oxymuriatic and 
 mui iatic acids, may be considered as an expression of facts ; 
 whilst the view adopted by the French school of chemistry, and 
 which, till it is minutely examined, appears so beautiful and 
 satisfactory rests in the present state of our knowledge upon 
 hypothetical grounds." 
 
 He then proceeds to explain the action of water 
 upon the chlorides of tin, and phosphorus; and shows 
 that it is by the decomposition of the water that the 
 hydrogen is furnished to the oxymuriatic acid, and the 
 oxygen to the tin and phosphorus. 
 
 " The vivid combustion of bodies in oxymuriatic acid gas, at 
 first view, appears a reason why oxygen should be admitted in 
 it ; but heat and light are merely results of the intense agency 
 of combination. Sulphur and metals, alkaline earths and acids 
 become ignited during their mutual agency ; and such an effect 
 might be expected in an operation so rapid as that of oxymuriatic 
 acid upon metals and inflammable bodies.'' 
 
 " That the quantity of hydrogen evolved during the decom-
 
 POET AND PHILOSOPHER. 141 
 
 position of muriatic acid gas by metals, is the same that would be 
 ])roduced during the decomposition of water by the same bodies, 
 appears, at first view, an evidence in favour of the exi.-tence of 
 water in muriatic acid gas ; but as there is only one known com- 
 l)ination of hydrogen with oxymuriatic acid, one quantity must 
 .always be separated. Hydrogen is disengaged from its oxy- 
 muriatic combination by a metal, in the same manner as one 
 metal is disengaged by another from similar combinations." 
 
 He once more shows that by the strongest analytical 
 power he can command oxymuriatic acid fails to yield 
 any substance differing from itself : 
 
 " I have caused strong explosions from an electrical jar, to 
 pass through oxymuriatic gas, by means of points of platina, for 
 several hours in succession ; but it seemed not to undergo the 
 slightest change." 
 
 Such, then, are the reasons which induced Davy to 
 consider that oxymuriatic acid contains no oxygen ; that 
 it had hitherto been " undecompounded," and that, 
 therefore, by the strict logic of chemistry, it was to 
 be regarded as an elementary body. Had his paper 
 concluded at this point, his position w^ould have been 
 unassailable, even in the light of nearly ninety years 
 of subsequent work. But he could not stop here. 
 Berthollet, the author of the prevailing theory, had 
 discovered a salt then known as hyper-oxyniiuriate of 
 potash, presumably capable of furnishing an acid termed 
 by Chenevix lufper-oxygenised miiriatic acid. This 
 salt is now termed potassium chlorate, after the acid 
 which Davy subsequently succeeded in isolating, and 
 which, when the chlorine theory was generally accepted, 
 was called chloric acid by Gay Lussac. The existence 
 of the hyper oxy muriate of potash was for a time a 
 stumbling-block, and Davy sought to explain it on the 
 assumption that it was nothing more than a triple 
 compound of oxymuriatic acid, potassium, and oxygen.
 
 142 HUMPHRY DAVY, 
 
 " We have no right to assume the existence of any peculiar 
 acid in it, or of a considerable portion of combined water ; and 
 it is perliaps more conformable to the analogy of chemistry to 
 suppose the large quantity of oxygen combined with the potassium, 
 which we know has an intense affinity for oxj'gen, and which from 
 some experiments, I am inclined to believe, is capable of com- 
 bining directly with more oxygen than exists in potash, than with 
 the oxynmriatic acid which, as far as is known, has no affinity for 
 that substance." 
 
 It is perfectly true, as Davy surmised, that potassium 
 can combine with more ox3^gen than is contained in 
 potash, but it is no less true, as he himself proved by 
 his discovery of the so-called euchlorine, that chlorine 
 can combine Avith oxygen. Although he made several 
 attempts to isolate Mr. Chenevix's hyper-oxygenised 
 muriatic acid, he was not successful at the time, and 
 was evidently disposed to doubt its separate existence. 
 
 The remaining portion of the paper, although of 
 interest as exemplifying Davy's power of dealing with 
 the broad issues which his views raise, need not detain 
 us now. He seizes the opportunity, how^ever, to correct 
 his statements with regard to the presumed compound 
 nature of sulphur and phosphorus, and gives details of 
 observations, some of Avhich, as in other of his papers, 
 have been " discovered " by subsequent observers. Thus 
 he states : — 
 
 '' I have never been able to burn sulphur in oxygen without 
 forming sulphuric acid in small quantities ; but in several experi- 
 ments 1 have obtained from 92 to 98 parts of sulphurous acid 
 from 100 of oxygen in volume ; from which I am inclined to 
 believe that sulphurous acid consists of sulphur dissolved in an 
 equal volume of oxygen." 
 
 It was hardly to be expected that views so entirely 
 opposed to the convictions of chemists at the time 
 should pass unchallenged. Berzelius, the countryman
 
 POET AND PHILOSOPHER. 143 
 
 of Scheele, warmly defended the doctrine of the French 
 School, and yet another Scotch professor sought to 
 show that Davy was still "vera troublesome." The 
 controversy, in which Davy himself took little part, 
 occasioned considerable stir at the period, and was 
 even of interest outside philosophical circles. The 
 discussion was not without its uses, inasmuch as it 
 led to fresh discoveries. The noise of it all, however, 
 is now forgotten. Berzelius eventually enjoined his 
 cook to speak no longer of oxy muriatic acid : " Thou 
 must call it chlorine, Anna ; that is better." Dr. Murray, 
 with the pertinacity of his race, still clung to the 
 old doctrine, and defended it with no little dialectical 
 subtlety, but he alone was faithful among the faithless. 
 It is true there has been an occasional flutter in 
 the dovecots since these times, and the faith of 
 chemists in the validity of Davy's teaching has been 
 once or twice assailed, but as yet it has survived all 
 assaults. 
 
 The Royal Institution possesses a book which no 
 lover of science can regard with other than reverential 
 interest. It is a small, well-bound quarto of some 386 
 manuscript pages, of notes taken by Michael Faraday, 
 when a bookbinder's apprentice, of the last of Davy's 
 lectures at the Institution. A Mr. Dance — his name 
 deserves to be held in remembrance — had given 
 the youth a ticket for the lectures, and Faraday, 
 perched in the gallery over the clock, had zealously 
 followed the expositions of the brilliant lecturer, and 
 had subsequently, when asking for an engagement at 
 the Institution, sent in these notes, neatly written out 
 and embellished with drawings of the apparatus, to the 
 Professor as evidence of the applicant's " knowledge, 
 diligence and order." Among the lectures is one on
 
 144 HUMPHRY DAVY, 
 
 chlorine, given on March 14th, 1812, the notes of which 
 are as characteristic of the auditor as of the lecturer. 
 We read : — 
 
 "Accustomed for years to consider the cliemical principles of 
 the P^-encli School of Physical Sciences as correct, I had adopted 
 them and put faith in them until they became prejudices, and I 
 even felt unwilling to give them up when my judgment was 
 fully convinced by experiment that they were erroneous. 1 know 
 that this is the case in some degree with almost every person ; he 
 is unwilling to believe that he is wrong and therefore feels averse 
 to adopt what is right when it oi)poses his principles.' 
 
 Then follows an account of various experiments 
 showing the properties of chlorine, and the proofs that 
 it contains no oxygen : — 
 
 "Oxygen does combine with chlorine. I have ventured to 
 name the compound eucJiIorm" ; it is of a very bright yellow- 
 green colour. Xaines should represent things not opinions for in 
 the last case they often tend to misrejjresent and mislead. 
 
 "Had Mr. Berthollet obtained oxygen from chlorine there 
 would have been no error in his theory, but by not attending to 
 the minute circumstances of his experiment, by not ascertaining 
 that the water present acted no part and was not decomposed 
 he fell into an error, and of course all the conclusions he drew 
 were false and erroneous. Nothing should be allowed but what 
 can be proved by experiment, and nothing should be taken for 
 granted upon analogy or supposition." 
 
 Faraday concludes as folloAvs : — 
 
 " Mr. Davy now proceeded to comment and make observations 
 on the former theory of chlorine gas. Here I was unable to 
 follow him. The plan ^vhich I pursue in taking of notes is con- 
 venient and self-sufficient with respect to the theoretical and also 
 the practical part of the lecture, but for the embellishments and 
 ornaments of it it will not answer. Mr. Davy's language at those 
 times is so superior (and indeed throughout the whole course of 
 the lecture) that then lam infinitely below him, and am incapable 
 of following him even in an humble style. Therefore I shall not 
 attempt it ; it will be sufficient to give a kind of contents of it.
 
 POET AND PHILOSOPHER. 145 
 
 He said that liyi)otlieses should not be considered as facts and 
 Iniilt upon accordingly. Nevertheless, if cautiously pursued, they 
 might lead to mature fruit. That nothing should be taken for 
 granted unless proved. By considering oxygen as contained in 
 chloiine the whole chemical world had been wrapped in error 
 respecting that body for more than one-third of a century. 
 
 " He noticed that all the truly great scientific men were 
 .possessed of great humility and diffidence of their own opinions 
 and powers. He spoke of Scheele, the discoverer of chlorine ; 
 observed that he possessed a truly philosophical spirit, gave up 
 his opinions when he supix)sed them to be erroneous, and without 
 hesitation or reluctance adopted those of others which he con- 
 sidered more correct ; admired his spirit and recommended it to 
 all philosophers ; compared it to corn, which looked but simple 
 and insignificant in l)]ossom, and asked for little praise, yet was 
 the support of man." 
 
 In his fifth Bakerian lecture, " On some of the 
 Combinations of Oxymuriatic Gas and Oxygene, and on 
 the chemical Relations of these Principles to infianimable 
 Bodies," read before the Royal Society on November 
 15th, 1810, he still further develo^Dcd his ideas respecting 
 the nature of chlorine. Gay Lussac and Thenard, who 
 had convinced themselves that potassium and sodium 
 are not hydrates of potash and soda, had made known 
 the fact that potassium can combine with oxygen in 
 more than one proportion ; and Davy had confirmed 
 their conclusion, seeing in it a further proof of his 
 views concerning the constitution of the hyper-oxy- 
 muriate of potash. He then studied the behaviour 
 of a large number of the metals and their oxides with 
 chlorine, making in many cases quantitative deter- 
 minations, from which very fair approximations to 
 the combining proportions or atomic weights of the 
 substances may be deduced. Thus, he says "the number 
 representing the proportion in which mercury combines 
 must be about 200," and that " the quantity of chlorine
 
 146 HUMPHRY DAVY, 
 
 in corrosive sublimate is exactly double that in calomel, 
 and that the orange oxide contains twice as much 
 oxygen as the black, the mercury being considered the 
 same in all." The atomic weight of silver deducible 
 from the amount of chlorine taken up by that metal 
 during its conversion into horn silver is almost exactly 
 the value obtained by the most rigorous analyses of 
 modern times. It is, however, noteworthy that in this 
 paper Davy is brought into sharp conflict with Dalton, 
 and there is a characteristic exhibition of temper in the 
 way in which he protests against the manner in Avhich 
 Dalton had sought to use certain of his numerical 
 estimations in deducing the weights of atoms. The 
 comparative merits of Mr. Higgins and John Dalton 
 as the real authors of the explanation of the laws of 
 chemical combination have now been fully and tinally 
 assessed, but it was wholly unnecessary for the purpose 
 of Davy's contention to underrate the originality of the 
 Manchester chemist. Dalton was no doubt wrong in 
 the assumption that 47 represented the Aveight of the 
 atom of nitrogen, and Davy was right in pointing out 
 the invalidity of the basis on which this assumption 
 rested, and in his statement that 13*4 more nearly 
 represented the smallest proportion in which nitrogen is 
 known to combine. Davy says : — 
 
 " I sliall enter no further at present into an examination of 
 tlie opinions, results, and conclusions of my learned friend ; I 
 am however obliged to dissent from most of them, and to protest 
 against the interpretations that he has been pleased to make of 
 my experiments ; and I trust to his judgment and candour for a 
 correction of his views. 
 
 " It is impossible not to admire the ingenuity and talent with 
 
 which Mr, Dalton has arranged, combined, weighed, measured, 
 
 and figured his atoms ; but it is not, I conceive, on any specu- 
 
 ations upon the ultimate particles of matter, that the true theory
 
 POET AND PHILOSOPHER. 147 
 
 of definite proportions must ultimately rest. It has a surer basis 
 in the mutual decomposition of the neutral salts, observed by 
 Richter and Guyton de Morveau, in the mutual decompositions 
 of the compounds of hydrogen and nitrogen, of nitrogen and 
 oxygen, of water and the oxymuriatic compounds ; in the 
 multiples of oxygen in the nitrous compounds ; and those of 
 acids in salts, observed by Drs. Wollaston and Thomson ; and 
 above all, in the decompositions by the Voltaic apparatus, where 
 oxygen and hydrogen, oxygen and inflammable bodies, acids and 
 alkalies, &c., must separate in uniform ratios." 
 
 It has been alleged that Davy in thus expressing 
 himself offered a kind of factious opposition to the views 
 of Dalton. In so far as they were atomic, this is possibly 
 true, for Davy never brought himself to regard the fact 
 of chemical combination occurring in definite propor- 
 tions as admitting of the simple mechanical explanation 
 of Dalton, Avhich he considered too speculative. That, 
 however, he did ample justice to Dalton's merits 
 ultimately will be seen from the terms in which he 
 speaks of them on the occasion of the award to Dalton 
 in 1826 of the first of the Royal medals. In one of his 
 unfinished Dialogues, written shortly before his death, 
 " On the Powers which act upon Matter and produce 
 Chemical Changes," he thus expresses himself: — 
 
 " The atomic doctrine, or theory, has been embraced by several 
 modern chemists ; but the development of it is owing to Mr. 
 Dalton who seems to have been the first person to generalize the 
 facts, of chemistry relating to definite proportions. . . . Mr. 
 W. Higgins appears to have had only some loose idea of particles 
 combining with particles, without any profound views of the 
 quantity being unalterable ; and there is good reason for thinking 
 that these ideas, as he expresses them, were gained from another 
 source, Dr. Bryan Higgins, who many years before supported the 
 notion, that chemical substances were formed of molecules, either 
 simple or compound, surrounded by an atmosphere of heat ; and 
 his views, though not developed with precision, approached nearer 
 to those of Mr. Dalton, than those of his cousin. But neither of 
 j2
 
 148 HUMPHRY DAVY, 
 
 these gentlemen attempted any statical expressions ; and to 
 Richter and Dalton belongs the exclusive merit of having made 
 the doctrine jji-acticable. As a theoretical view, other authors 
 have a claim to it, and the early followers of Newton, such as 
 Kiel, Hartley, and Marzucchi, all attempted a corpuscular 
 chemistry, founded upon figure, weight, and attractive power of 
 the ultimate particles of matter ; but this chemistry was of no 
 real use, and had no other foundation than in the imagination. 
 Indeed, in my opinion, Mr. Dalton is too much of an Atomic 
 Philosopher ; and in making atoms arrange themselves according 
 to his own hypothesis, he has often indulged in vain speculation ; 
 and the essential and trulj'" useful part of his doctrine, the ex- 
 pression of the quantities in which bodies combine, is perfectly 
 independent of any views respecting the ultimate nature either of 
 matter or its elements," 
 
 He concludes the paper in which he so minutely 
 studied the action of chlorine upon oxides by asking, if 
 it be said that the oxygen arises from the decomposition 
 of the oxymuriatic gas and not from the oxides, why is 
 it always the quantity contained in the oxide that is 
 evolved ? And wdiy in some cases, as those of the per- 
 oxides of potassium and sodium, it bears no relation to 
 the quantity of oxymuriatic gas ? 
 
 " When potassium is burnt in oxymuriatic gas, a dry compound 
 is obtained. If potassium combined with oxygen is employed, 
 the whole of the oxygen is expelled, and the same compound 
 formed. It is contrary to sound logic to say, that this exact 
 quantity of oxygen is given off from a body not known to be 
 compound, when we are certain of its existence in another ; and 
 all the cases are parallel." 
 
 An argument in favour of the existence of oxygen in 
 chlorine might be derived from the circumstance of the 
 formation of the latter gas by the action of muriatic acid 
 on peroxides. Davy found that, by heating muriatic 
 acid gas in contact with dry peroxide of manganese, 
 water was rapidly formed and oxymuriatic gas produced.
 
 POET AND PHILOSOPHER. 149 
 
 " Now as muriatic acid gas is known to consist of oxymuriatic 
 gas and hydrogen, there is no simple explanation of the result, 
 except by saying that the hydrogen of the muriatic acid combined 
 with oxygen from the peroxide to produce water." 
 
 The bleaching power of chlorine had been explained 
 by Scheele on the supposition that it destroyed colours 
 by combining with phlogiston. Berthollet considered 
 it to act by supplying oxygen. Davy then made the 
 well-known experiment proving that the dry gas " is 
 incapable of altering vegetable colours, and that its 
 operation in bleaching depends entirely upon its 
 property of decomposing water and liberating its 
 oxygen." It had been supposed that oxymuriatic acid 
 gas was capable of being condensed and crystallised at 
 a low temperature. He shoAvs that it was only damp 
 chlorine or its solution in water that yielded any solid 
 product. He exposed the pure gas, dried by muriate of 
 hme, to a temperature of —40'' F., without observing any 
 change. It is curious, however, that liquid chlorine had 
 actually been obtained by Northmore five years before 
 by heating the so-called hydrate of chlorine under 
 pressure. The phenomenon was misunderstood, and it 
 was reserved for Faraday, in 1828, to show that the 
 product was actually the liquefied gas. 
 
 Davy, who was not always happy in his suggestions 
 as to chemical nomenclature, proposed to denote the 
 compounds of oxymuriatic gas by the names of their 
 bases with the termination ane. 
 
 " Thus, argentane may signify horn-silver ; stannane Libavius's 
 liquor ; antimonane, butter of antimony ; sulphurane, Dr. Thom- 
 son's sulphuretted liquor, and so on for the rest. ... In 
 cases when two or more proportions of inflammable matter 
 combine with one of gas; or two or more of gas with one of 
 inflammable matter, it may be convenient to signify the pro- 
 portions by affixing vowels before the name, when the inflammable
 
 150 HUMPHRY DAVY, 
 
 matter predominates, and after the name when the gas is in 
 excess ; and in the order of the alphabet, a signifying two, e, 
 three, /, four and so on.'" 
 
 Thus he called phosphorus pentachloricle 79^0.9 
 phorana, and the trichloride jjhosphoraiie, because there 
 was a larger percentage proportion of phosphorus in the 
 latter compound than in the former. That DaA^y was 
 not unaware of the difficulties and inconveniences of 
 such a system of nomenclature may be inferred from 
 what he says in his "Elements" concerning the names 
 for the two chlorides of mercur}^, the true composition 
 of Avhicli he was the first to discover : — 
 
 "The names mercurcme and 7nercurana which jnay be adopted 
 to signify the relations of their composition, are too similar to 
 each other to be safely used as familiar appellations for the two 
 substances, as corrosive sublimate is a powerful poison, calomel 
 an excellent medicine." 
 
 In matters of chemical nomenclature Davy was a great 
 latitudinarian. All that he contended for was that names 
 should be independent of all speculative vicAvs, and should 
 rather be derived from some simple and invariable pro- 
 perty. It is remarkable, however, that he who invented 
 the happy term " chlorine" should have objected to the 
 word "cyanogen." At the close of the short paper "On the 
 Prussic Basis and Acid," in which he first made known 
 the existence of the cyanides of phosphorus and of iodine, 
 he said : — 
 
 " I wish M. Gay Lussac could be prevailed upon to give up 
 the inexpressive and difficult names of cyanogen and hydrocyanic 
 acid, and to adopt the simple ones of prussic gas and prussic 
 acid." 
 
 By treating the potassium hyper-oxy muriate of 
 Berth ollet (potassium chlorate) with hydrochloric acid, a 
 greenish-yellow^ explosive gas is obtained wdiich Chenevix
 
 POET AND PHILOSOPHER. 151 
 
 had referred to as " hyper-oxygenised muriatic acid," and 
 as indicating the existence of a compound of oxymuriatic 
 gas and oxygen in a separate state. Davy, as we have 
 seen, was at first incKned to doubt the existence of this 
 substance, and to consider the gas as simply chlorine. 
 But on comparing it with chlorine prepared in other ways 
 he perceived a difference ; its solution in water was of 
 lemon 3^ellow or orange colour ; when treated with mer- 
 cury it becomes of a brilliant yellow green. It is, moreover, 
 highly explosive, especially when heated, even at the 
 warmth of the hand, when it loses its vivid colour, and is 
 resolved into a mixture of oxygen and chlorine. Metals, 
 arsenic, phosphorus, charcoal, nitric oxide, act upon it in 
 a manner different from that of chlorine. Davy makes 
 use of these differences as a proof of the correctness of 
 his views of the nature of chlorine. 
 
 "If the power of bodies to burn in oxymuriatic gas depended 
 upon the presence of oxygen, they all ought to burn with much 
 more energy in the new compound ; but copper and antimony, and 
 mercury and arsenic and iron and sulphur have no action upon it, 
 till it is decomposed ; and they act then according to their relative 
 attractions on the oxygen, or on the oxymuriatic gas. Theie is 
 a simple experiment which ilkistrates this idea. Let a glass 
 vessel containing brass foil be exhausted, and the new gas 
 admitted, no action will take place ; throw in a little nitrous gas 
 [nitric oxide], a rapid decomposition occurs, and the metal burns 
 with great brilliancy. 
 
 "As the new compound in its purest form is possessed of a 
 bright yellow-green colour, it may be expedient to designate it by 
 a name expressive of this circumstance and its relation to oxy- 
 muriatic gas. As I have named that elastic fluid Chlorine ; so I 
 venture to propose for this substance the name Euchlorine, or 
 Euchloric gas from ev and x^■WJOoe. The point of nomenclature 
 I am not inclined to dwell upon. I shall be content to adopt 
 any name that may be considered as most appropriate by the 
 al)le chemical philosophers attached to this Society" [the Royal 
 Society],
 
 152 HUMPHHY DAVY, 
 
 Euclilorine was subsequently discovered by Soubeiran 
 to be a mixture of chlorine and chlorine peroxide, a gas 
 which Davy himself afterwards isolated in a pure state. 
 It is however obvious from the accounts he gives that even 
 in his first paper he must have been experimenting with 
 a fairly pure product, due probably to the circumstance 
 that he had collected the mixed gases over mercury, Avhich 
 retains the greater part of the chlorine. Former experi- 
 menters had collected the gas over water, which dissolves 
 the chlorine peroxide more readily than the chlorine. 
 Madame de Stael once observed that an interesting book 
 might be written on the important consequences which 
 have sprung from little differences. It ought to be noted, 
 however, that Davy had himself doubts whether his 
 euchlorine was not a mixture of chlorine and the gas 
 which he subsequently discovered, and to which he says : 
 " I shall not propose to give any name till it is deter- 
 mined whether euchlorine is a mixture or a definite 
 compound." 
 
 It has been stated that Davy discovered the two 
 chlorides of phosphorus. In a paper read to the Royal 
 Society on June 18th, 1812, " On some Combinations 
 of Phosphorus and Sulphur and on some other Subjects 
 of Chemical Inquiry," he reverts to these substances, as 
 they " offer decided evidences in favour of an idea that 
 has been for some time prevalent among many en- 
 lightened chemists and which I have defended in 
 former papers published in the Philosophical Trans- 
 actions : namely that bodies unite in definite pro- 
 portions, and that there is a relation between the 
 quantities in which the same element unites with 
 different elements." 
 
 He first makes a determination, singularly accurate 
 for the time, of the amount of chlorine contained in the
 
 POET AND PHILOSOPHER. 153 
 
 lower chloride, and finds that 13G grains on decomposi- 
 tion with water afforded 43 grains of horn-silver ; theory 
 requires 426 grains. By synthetical experiments he came 
 to the conclusion that the amount of chlorine absorbed by 
 phosphorus to form the higher chloride was exactly double 
 that contained in the loAver chloride : he found that 3 
 grains of phosphorus combined with 20 grains of chlorine : 
 in reality it should require only 17| grains. 
 
 He shows that by treatment with water the lower 
 chloride yields j)hosp]ioroii8 acid, the properties and mode 
 of decomposition of which by heat he accurately describes. 
 He further concludes, as the logical consequence of his 
 view of the composition of the two chlorides, and the 
 mode of their decomposition by water, that phosphorous 
 acid contains half the amount of oxygen present in phos- 
 phoric acid, the quantity of phosphorus being the same. 
 It is noteworthy that in his argument, as indeed on all 
 subsequent occasions when he speaks of the decomposi- 
 tion of water in definite proportions, he regards water as 
 composed of 2 combining proportions of hydrogen and 
 1 of oxygen, and the number representing it as 17, oxygen 
 being regarded as 15. Certain of his statements con- 
 sidered in the light of subsequent work are interesting. 
 Thus he says : — 
 
 " A solid acid volatile at a moderate degree of lieat, may be 
 produced by burning phosphorus in very rare air, and this seems 
 to be phosphorous acid free from water ; but some phosphoric 
 acid, and some yellow oxide of phosphorus are always formed at 
 the same time." 
 
 He also observes that unless the product of the com- 
 bustion of phosphorus is strongly heated in oxygen it 
 contains phosphorous acid as well as phosphoric acid. 
 He further states that sulphurous acid (sulphur dioxide) 
 consists of equal weights of oxygen and sulphur, which is
 
 154 HUMPHRY DAVY. 
 
 almost strictly true, and that sulphuretted hydrogen is 
 composed of 1 combining proportion of sulphur and 
 2 of h3^drogen, although his values for the combining 
 proportions of sulphur and oxygen are incorrect. He 
 repeats Dalton's experiment of the formation of " solid 
 sulphuric acid " by the mutual action of sulphur dioxide 
 and nitric oxide, and shoAvs that the substance is only 
 produced in presence of vapour of water ; the two sub- 
 stances, he says, then " form a solid crystalline hydrat ; 
 which when thrown into water gives off nitrous gas and 
 forms a solution of sulphuric acid." This substance 
 is the so-called " leaden- chamber crystal," or nitro- 
 sulphonic acid, the existence of which Avas first made 
 known by Scheele. 
 
 Davy's conclusions concerning the composition of the 
 oxides and chlorides of phosphorus Avere subsequently 
 contested by Berzelius and Dulong, who shoAved that 
 althouo^h the amount of chlorine in the loAver chloride 
 Avas identical AA^ith that Avhich he had found, the ratio 
 of this amount to that in the higher chloride AA^as as 3 
 to 5, and not as 1 to 2, and that the same ratio held 
 good as regards the oxygen in phosphorous oxide and 
 phosphoric oxide. DaA^y, six years afterAv^ards, repeated 
 his experiments, but AA^thout discovering the fallacy in 
 his first observations. 
 
 The other incidents in Davy's scientific career may 
 be most convenientl}^ dealt AA'ith in connection Avith his 
 personal histor}^
 
 155 
 
 CHAPTER VIIL 
 
 MARRIAGE — KNIGHTHOOD — ELEMENTS OF CHEMICAL 
 PHILOSOPHY — NITROGEN TRICHLORIDE — FLUORINE. 
 
 Davy was now (1810) thirty- two years of age, and near 
 the summit of his scientific fame, and perhaps also, says 
 his brother John, who was then in daily association 
 with him, at the height of his happiness. 
 
 " He had earned an unsullied and noble reputation ; he was 
 loved and admired by friends, who had cheered him on in his 
 career ; he had hardly passed the prime of manhood ; he was in 
 possession of excellent health ; he had open to him almost every 
 source of ordinary recreation and enjoyment ; and he had, besides, 
 the unfailing pleasures derived from the active and successful 
 pursuit of science. His letters written at this time, [to his mother 
 and sisters] strongly mark a happy contentment, as well as a very 
 amiable and affectionate state of mind." 
 
 His popularity at the Hoyal Institution was un- 
 bounded ; indeed, he was the very prop of its existence, 
 and was so recognised. But honourable as his position 
 was, it brought him little more than a competency ; and 
 however generously disposed the Managers might have 
 felt towards him, the financial circumstances of the 
 Institution afforded no certainty of a future inde- 
 pendence. The Bishop of Durham and Sir Thomas 
 Bernard sought to induce him to enter the Church, in 
 the hope that his talents and eloquence would minister 
 no less to the cause of religion than to his own 
 prospects of preferment. At this period he had serious 
 thoughts of again applying himself to the study of 
 medicine, with a view of practising as a physician, and he 
 actually entered his name at Cambridge and kept some
 
 156 HUMPHRY DAVY, 
 
 terms there. But whether the unfortunate experience 
 of his colleagues Wollaston and Young deterred him, 
 or whether, as is more probable. Science had too strong 
 a hold upon his atfections, it is certain he made no 
 resolute attempt to abandon her. 
 
 Money was never an object with Davy, except as the 
 means of procuring him the advantages which the 
 moneyed classes can command ; had he cared for it, his 
 talents were a marketable commodity, and would have 
 brought him riches in many ways. The smiling goddess 
 now showed him one way as honourable as it was 
 lucrative and j^leasurable. The Dublin Society invited 
 him to lecture to them on the discoveries which had 
 made him famous, with the promise of a more sub- 
 stantial token of their appreciation than the sound of 
 their applause. 
 
 The following minutes from the Proceedings of the 
 Society serve to explain this : — 
 
 "May 3, 1810. Besohed— That it is the wish of the Society 
 to communicate to the Irish public in tlie most extended manner 
 (consistent with the engagements of the Society), the knowledge 
 of a science so intimately connected with the improvement of 
 agriculture and the arts, which is their great object to promote ; 
 and that, with this view, it appears to them extremely desirable 
 to obtain the fullest communication of the recent discoveries in 
 electr.j-chemical science which have' been made by ]\[r. Davy. 
 
 ^^ Be solved — That application be made to the Royal Society 
 recjuesting that they be pleased to dispense with the engagements 
 of ]\rr. Davy [as Secretary], so far as to allow the Dublin Society to 
 solicit the favour of his delivering a course of electro-chemical 
 lectures in their new laboratory, as soon as may be convenient 
 after the i)resent course of cliemical lectures shall have been 
 completed by their professor, Mr. Higgins. 
 
 " Resoh)ed — That the sum of 400 guineas be appropriated out 
 of the funds of the Society, to be presented to Mr. Davy, as a 
 remuneration, which they ]iropose him to accept, and as a mark 
 of the importance they attach to the communication they solicit,"
 
 POET AND PHILOSOPHER. 157 
 
 We further read : " Mr. Davy arrived in Dublin and 
 delivered his course of lectures to a crowded auditory." 
 At the close of his lectures the following resolution was 
 passed : — 
 
 "November 29tli, 1810. 7?eso/wcZ— That the tlianks of the 
 Society be communicated to Mr. Professor Davy, for the excellent 
 course of lectures which, at their retjuest, he has delivered in 
 their new laboratory ; and to assure him, that the views which 
 led the Society to seek for these communications have been 
 answered even beyond their hopes ; that the manner in which 
 he has unfolded his discoveries has not only imparted new and 
 valuable information, but, further, appears to have given a 
 direction of the public mind towards chemical and philosophical 
 inquiries, which cannot fail in its consequences to produce the 
 improvement of the sciences, arts, and manufactures in Ireland. 
 That Mr. Davy be requested to accept the sum of five hundred 
 guineas from the Society." 
 
 From Mr. Hare's " Life and Letters of Maria Edge- 
 worth '*' we gain some further information of the manner 
 in which these lectures Avere received. In a letter to her 
 cousin, Miss Ruxton, Miss Edgeworth writes : 
 
 " We are to set out for Dublin on the 13th [November] to hear 
 Davy's lectures." 
 
 Mrs. Edgeworth adds : 
 
 " We spent a few weeks in Dublin. Davy's lectures not only 
 opened a new world of knowledge to ourselves and to our young 
 people, but were especially gratifying to Mr. Edgeworth and 
 Maria, confirming, by the eloiiuence, ingenuity, and philosophy 
 which they displayed, the high idea which they had so early 
 formed of Mr. Davy's powers." 
 
 Additional evidence of his success is seen in the 
 circumstance that the Society decided to repeat their 
 invitation : 
 
 "June 13th, 1811. Resolved — That a letter be written to 
 Mr. Professor Davy requesting him to favour the Dublin Society 
 and the Irish public with a further communication of the recent
 
 HUMPHRY DAVY 
 
 discoveries in cbemical philosophy, and to deliver a course of 
 lectures in their laboratory for that purpose, in the months of 
 November and December next; and requesting that he will also 
 repeat to them, at the same time, the course of lectures in 
 geological science which he has read this year to the Royal 
 Institution ; and that he will be so good as to procure for the 
 Society copies of as many of the geological sketches referred to in 
 that course as he may think necessary for the elucidation of the 
 subject ; and further requesting him to superintend the con- 
 struction of a voltaic battery of large plates, for the use of the 
 Society, to be transmitted to them in time for these lectures." 
 
 We next read : 
 
 " December 5tli, 1811. Resolved unanimoudy — That the 
 thanks of the Society be communicated to Mr. Davy, for the 
 two excellent courses of lectures in chemical and geological science 
 which, at their request, he has delivered in their laboratory, full 
 of valuable information ; and which have not merely continued, 
 but materially increased, the spirit of i)hilosophical research in 
 Ireland. 
 
 " Resolved ^uianiviously — That Mr. Davy be requested to 
 accept the sum of £750 as a remuneration on the part of the 
 Society." 
 
 On the occasion of his second visit Trinity College, 
 Dublin, conferred on him the degree of LL.D. It was 
 the only mark of distinction he ever received from any 
 University. Before he gave his lectures he visited 
 Edgeworthstown, as w^e learn in a letter from Maria to 
 Miss Ruxton : 
 
 " Davy spent a day here last week, and was as usual full of 
 entertainment and information of various kinds. He has gone 
 to Connemara, I believe, to fish, for he is a little mad about 
 fishing ; and very ungrateful it is of me to say so, for he sent to 
 us from Boyle the finest trout ! and a trout of Davy's catching 
 is, I presume, worth ten trouts caught by vulgar mortals." 
 
 To his mother he writes : 
 
 " Ballina, Ireland, October 24th. 
 "My dear Mother,— I am safe and well, in a remote and 
 beautiful part of Ireland, where I have been making an excursion
 
 POET AND PHILOSOPHER. 159 
 
 with two of my friends. I shall return to Dublin in two or three 
 days, and shall be very glad to hear from you or my sisters there. 
 I hope you are all well and happy. 
 
 " I heard from John a few days ago ; he was ([uite well and in 
 good spirits. 
 
 "The laboratory in Dul)lin, which has been enlarged so as to 
 hold 550 people, will not hold half the persons who desire to 
 attend my lectures. The 550 tickets issued for the course by the 
 Dublin Society, at two guineas each, were all disposed of the first 
 week ; and I am told now that from ten to twenty guineas are 
 offered for a ticket. 
 
 " This is merely for your eye ; it may please you to know that 
 your son is not unpopular or useless. Every person here, from 
 the highest to the lowest, shows me every attention and kindness. 
 
 " I shall come to see you as soon as I can. I hear with infinite 
 delight of your health, and I hope Heaven will continue to pre- 
 serve and bless a mother who deserves so well of her children. 
 " I am your very affectionate son 
 
 "H. Davy. 
 
 " My kindest love to my sisters and aunts." 
 
 But Davy's affections at the moment were not wholly 
 spent upon his kindred, and another mistress than 
 Science had become the object of his devotion. The 
 " little madness " of which Maria Edgeworth wrote was 
 always a vulnerable point with Davy, for he followed 
 the calling of the Apostles with all the zeal and ardour 
 he gave to philosophy, and to engage him upon the 
 subject of angling was a more direct road to his 
 sympathies than to talk to him of science. 
 
 The wooing began in this wise : 
 
 " Mr. Davy regrets that he cannot send Walton to Mrs. 
 Apreece this morning. He did not recollect that he had lent the 
 book to a friend who lives a little way out of town. He will send 
 honest Isaac to Mrs. Apreece to-morrow or Thursday. 
 
 "Mrs. Apreece is already of the true faith of the genuine 
 angler, the object of whose art and contemplation is to exalt 
 spirit above matter, to enable the mind to create its own enjoy- 
 ments and to find society even in the bosom of Nature."
 
 160 HUMPHRY DAVY, 
 
 Matters went on apace. Shortly afterwards we 
 read : 
 
 " I return the ticket. I begin to like the oi)er.i from associa- 
 tion. The same association would, I think, make me love a 
 desert, and perhaps, in a long time, might make me an admirer 
 of routs." 
 
 Again : 
 
 " To avoid studiously what other people seek would have the 
 semblance of affectation and though sincerely I have no ambition 
 to shine in courts or to become a courtier ; yet I have sympathy 
 more than enough to wish to be where you like to go." 
 
 On another occasion he wrote : 
 
 " I find an invitation from Mr. T — — on my return last night 
 
 for Wednesday. Pray do you go to the Miss Ch 's to-night 
 
 or to Miss S 's to-morrow night? I wish to know as you are 
 
 my magnet (though you differ from a magnet in having no re- 
 pulsive point) and direct my course. Your society always de- 
 lightful to me is really at this moment balm to a wounded mind." 
 
 The following is a New Year's Day letter written to 
 arrive on January 1st, 1812 : — 
 
 " I hope the cold weather has not increased your indisposition 
 and that the foggy sky has not made you melancholy. I trust 
 you are now well and happy : I give myself pleasure by believing 
 that you are. 
 
 " I have a motive for writing this day besides that of doing 
 what I like. I find that Friday the 10th is a Royal Society Club 
 day and that I ought to dine with the Club. All other days are 
 yours and that shall be yours if you command it, but I know 
 you wish me to do wliat I ought to do, and you noui cannot doubt 
 the exclusive nature of your influence and the absolute nature of 
 your power. 
 
 " I spent the last two days very pleasantly at Wilderness, 
 Lord Camden's ; there was a very agreeable social party and a 
 Christmas country ball : a fine park had lost its beauty from 
 the old age of the year and everything was white ; the circle 
 round the fire had in consequence more charms and my friend 
 and I left it this morning very well amused.
 
 POET AND PHILOSOPHER. 161 
 
 " To-day we celebrate the old Mr. Children's birthday who is 
 70. He bears his years healthfully and joyfully. 8uch winter's 
 days as his are rather to be desired than feared — sunny, calm 
 and warm. 
 
 " I hope, my darling friend, that you bear no uneasiness in 
 your kind and good heart and that you give its true meaning to 
 my unlucky sentence. Indeed I never in the whole course of 
 our social converse ever intended to offend you or give you a 
 moment of uneasiness and I do not think I sliould feel anything 
 long painful that I thought would promote your happiness even 
 though it should require from me the greatest of all sacrifices. 
 You know what this is and I trust you will never oblige me to 
 make it. 
 
 "I go on Thursday to a wild part of Kent to shoot pheasants : 
 the house is Mr. Hodges, the post-town Cranbrook. I shall 
 accompany Children to town on Sunday ; and I hope you will 
 permit me to see you that evening if I come in time, or Monday 
 morning. I am going on steadily for three hours a day with 
 Radiant Heat and Light. I might petition for one of your 
 distant beams of light. You know it would delight me ; but 
 whether it comes or no you shall not caase to be my sun." 
 
 These letters, with many others addressed by him 
 to the lady, are now before me. They had been care- 
 fully tied up and preserved, and are all dated by 
 her on the back — even do^vn to the little missives sent 
 across from Albemarle Street to Berkeley Square, where 
 she resided. From the number and frequency of these 
 it is evident that the porter suffered from no lack of 
 exercise. After her death in 1855 these letters came into 
 the possession of Dr. John Davy, together with other 
 papers, and some have been published already in his 
 "Fragmentary Remains." The correspondence is of 
 especial interest from the sidelight it throws on Davy's 
 disposition and character. Many of the letters are 
 delightful in tone and feeling ; not even Amadis de 
 Gaul, that cream and flower of gentility, or that mirror 
 of chivalry, the Knight of the Woful Figure, could have
 
 1G2 HUMPHRY DAVY, 
 
 been more courteous in bearing, or have shown a 
 warmer and at the same time a more deferential admira- 
 tion of the lady he wooed. But the w^orld, after all, has 
 no concern Avitli their tender confidences. It is sufficient 
 to say that Davy's letters are such as might be ex- 
 pected from his ardent temperament and active imagin- 
 ation ; from his love of natural scenery, his faculty of 
 happy expression, and graphic power of description. 
 
 Early in 1812 Sir Joseph Banks, whose constant 
 thought was of and for the Royal Society, thus wrote to 
 his friend Sir George Stanton : — 
 
 " Tlie Royal Society has been well supplied with papers, and 
 continues to be so. Davy, our secretary, is said to be on the 
 point of marrying a rich and handsome widow, who has fallen in 
 love with Science and marries him in order to obtain a footing 
 in the Academic Groves ; her name is Apreece, the daughter of 
 Mr. Carr, [Kerr] who made a fortune in India, and the niece of 
 Dr. Carr, [Kerr] of Northampton. If this takes place, it will 
 give to science a kind of new eclat; we want nothing so much 
 as the countenance of the ladies to increase our popularity." 
 
 The lady was the Avidow of Shuckburgh Ashby 
 Apreece, the eldest son of Sir Thomas Apreece ; she was 
 the daughter and heiress of Charles Kerr of Kelso, 
 who had been secretary to Lord Rodney, and had 
 made a fortune in the West Indies. She Avas also 
 a "far-aAvay cousin" of Sir Walter Scott, and on 
 the occasion of his tour in the Hebrides Avith his 
 family, " his dear friend and distant relation," as he calls 
 her, accompanied them. She had been, he says, " a 
 lioness of the first magnitude in Edinburgh " during the 
 preceding winter ; and in one of his letters to Byron in 
 1812, inviting him to Abbotsford, he mentions as one of 
 the visitors that AA^ould make his house attractive " the 
 fair or shall I say the sage Apreece that was. Lady Davy
 
 POET AND PHILOSOPHER. 163 
 
 that is, who is soon to show us how much science she 
 leads captive in Sir Humphry ; so 3'our lordship sees, 
 as the citizen's wife says in the farce, ' Threadneedle 
 Street has some charms,' since they procure us such 
 celebrated visitants." How Scott regarded her is further 
 indicated in the letters which he addressed to her on the 
 occasion of his son's marriage, and during the financial 
 crash which overwhelmed him. 
 
 When the marriage was arranged Davy thus wrote 
 to his mother : — 
 
 " My dear ]\Iother, — You possibly may have heard reports of 
 my intended marriage. Till within the last few days it was 
 mere report. It is I trust now a settled ari-angement. I am 
 the happiest of men, in the hope of a union with a woman equally 
 distinguished for virtues, talents and accomplishments. . . . 
 
 " You, I am sure, will sympathise in my happiness. I believe 
 I should never have married, but for this charming woman, whose 
 views and whose tastes coincide with my own, and who is 
 eminently (pialiiied to promote my best efforts and objects in 
 life. ... 
 
 " I am your affectionate son, 
 
 "H. Davy." 
 
 In the following letter to Dr. John Davy, who was 
 then in Edinburgh as a student of medicine, we have 
 also the announcement of another event : — 
 
 "Friday, A2:>ril lOfh, 1812. 
 
 "My bear Brother, — You will have excused me for not 
 writing to you on subjects of science. I have been al)sorbed by 
 arrangements on which the happiness of my future life depends. 
 Before you receive this these arrangements will, I trust, be 
 settled ; and, in a few weeks, I shall be able to return to my 
 habits of study and of scientific research. 
 
 " I am going to be married to-morrow ; and I have a fair 
 prospect of happiness, with the most amiable and intellectual 
 woman I have ever known. 
 
 "The Prince Regent, unsolicited by me, or by any of my 
 k2
 
 164 HUMPHRY DAVY, 
 
 intimate friends, was pleased to confer the honour of kniglithood 
 on me at the last levee. This distinction has not often been 
 bestowed on scientific men ; but I am proud of it, as tlie greatest 
 of human geniuses bore it ; and it is at least a proof that the 
 court has not overlooked my humble efforts in the cause of 
 science. 
 
 "I have discovered pure phosphorous acid (a solid body, very 
 volatile) ; and a pure hydro-phosphorous acid, containing two pro- 
 portions of water and four of phosphorous acid, and decomposing 
 by heat into phosphoric acid and a new gas containing four 
 proportions of hydrogen and one of phosi)horus. . . . 
 
 "Pray address to me Sir H. Davy, Beechwood Park, near 
 Market St. Albans. 
 
 "Believe me, my dear John, I shall always take the warmest 
 interest in your w elfare and happiness, and will do everything to 
 promote your views. I shall have some ideas on your studies 
 soon to communicate. 
 
 " I am, my dear brother most affectionately yours 
 
 " H. Davy." 
 
 He was knighted by the Prince Regent at a levee 
 held at Carlton House on the 8th April, 1812, being the 
 first person on whom that honour was conferred by the 
 Regent. On the following day he delivered his farewell 
 lecture as Professor of Chemistry at the Royal Institution. 
 It was on the Metals, and a report of it is contained in 
 Faraday's manuscript notes before referred to. Farada}^ 
 says : — 
 
 " Having thus given the general character of the metals, Sir 
 H. Davy proceeded to make a few^ observations on the connection 
 of science with the other parts of polished and social life. Here 
 it would be inii)roper for me to follow him. I should merely 
 injure and destroy the beautiful, the sublime observations that 
 fell from his lips. He spoke in the most energetic and luminous 
 manner of the advancement of the arts and sciences, of the con- 
 nection that had always existed between them and other parts of 
 a nation's economy. He noticed the peculiar congeries of great 
 men in all departments of life that generally appeared together,
 
 POET AND PHILOSOPHER. 165 
 
 noticed Anaximaiider, Anaximenes, Socrates, Newton, Bacon, 
 Elizabeth, etc., but, by an unaccountable omission, forgot himself, 
 though I venture to say no one else present did. 
 
 " During the whole of these observations his delivery was easy, 
 his diction elegant, his tone good, and his sentiments sublime." 
 
 Two days afterwards he was married, and Lady Davy 
 and he passed most of the spring and summer in the 
 North of England and in Scotland, on a round of visits, 
 cultivatmg those patrician instincts and susceptibilities 
 to the charms of rank that his new station served to 
 accentuate. 
 
 Writing to Miss Margaret Ruxton, Maria Edgeworth 
 says : — 
 
 " I suppose you have heard various jeux d'esprit on the marriage 
 of Sir Humphry Davy and Mrs. Apreece 1 I scarcely think any 
 of them worth copying," 
 
 But she gives the following : — 
 
 " Too many men have often seen 
 Their talents underrated ; 
 But Davy owns that his have been 
 Duly Apreeciated.'^ 
 
 Shortly after his wedding he wrote to his brother 
 John : — 
 
 " I comnnmicated to you in a former letter, my plans, as they 
 were matured. I have neither given up the Institution, nor am 
 I going to France ; and, wherever I am, I shall continue to 
 labour in the cause of science with a zeal not diminished by 
 increase of happiness and (with respect to the world) increased 
 independence. 
 
 "I have just finished the first part of my 'Chemistry' to my 
 own satisfaction, and I am going to publish my 'Agricultural 
 Lectures ' for which I am to get 1,000 guineas for the copyright 
 and 50 guineas for each edition, which seems a fair price. . . 
 
 " I was appointed Professor (honorary) to the Institution, at 
 the last meeting. I do not pledge myself to give lectures. . . .
 
 166 HUMPHRY DAVY, 
 
 If I lecture it will be on some new series of discoveries, should 
 it be my fortune to make them ; and I give up the routine of 
 lecturing, merely that I may have more time to pursue original 
 inquiries, and forward more the great objects of science. This 
 has been for some time my intention, and it has been hastened 
 by my marriage. 
 
 " I shall have great pleasure in making you acquainted with 
 Lady D. She is a noble creature (if I may he permitted so to 
 speak of a wife), and every day ndds to my contentment by the 
 powers of her understanding, and her amiable and delightful 
 tones of feeling." 
 
 The allusion to the Institution is thus more circum- 
 stantially dealt with in the folloAving Minutes of the 
 Meetings of the Managers : — 
 
 ''May 11, 1812. Mr. Hatchett reported that Sir H. Davy, 
 though he cannot pledge himself to deliver lectures, will be 
 willing to accept the offices of Professor of Chemistry and 
 Director of the Laboratory and Mineralogical Collection without 
 salary.' 
 
 Following which we read — 
 
 " That the Managers hear with great regret the notification 
 which they have just received that Sir H. Davy cannot pledge 
 himself to continue the lectures Avhich he has been accustomed to 
 deliver Avith so much honour to the Institution and advantage to 
 the public ; but at the same time, they congratulate themselves 
 on the liberal offer which Sir Humphry Davy has made to 
 superintend the chemical department, and to assist and advise 
 any lecturer the Managers may be pleased to appoint." 
 
 The Managers thereupon ordered a special general 
 meeting to nominate him Professor of Chemistry, and 
 he w^as elected on June 1st. How necessary Davy was 
 to the very existence of the Institution may be gleaned 
 from the fact that the balance in its favour at the end 
 of the year was £3 9s. lid. 
 
 The " Chemistrj^ " above referred to is his " Elements
 
 POET AND PHILOSOPHER. 167 
 
 of Chemical Philosophy," which was published a few 
 months after his marriage, with a dedication to Lady 
 Davy. She is asked to receive it as a proof of his ardent 
 affection, which must be unalterable, as it is founded 
 upon the admiration of her moral and intellectual 
 qualities. The work was begun in the autumn of 1811, 
 and was composed with great rapidity, the " copy " being 
 sent to the press as it left his pen. The introductory 
 part on the History of Chemistry, and that on the General 
 Laws of Chemical Changes and on Radiant or Ethereal 
 Matter, and probably some other portions, are either 
 transcripts or amplifications of his Royal Institution 
 lectures. Other sections are avowedly based upon his 
 own work as published in the Fhilosophical Trans- 
 actions. Indeed, it was remarked by a critic that the 
 work could never be completed upon the plan on 
 which it was commenced, which was little less than 
 a system of chemistry in which all the facts were to be 
 veritied by the author. 
 
 Thomas Young, his former colleague at the Royal 
 Institution, in the Quarterly Review for September, 
 1812, thus speaks of it : — 
 
 " With all its excellencies this work niu;st be allowed to bear 
 no inconsiderable marks of haste, and we would easily have 
 conjectured, even if the author had not expressly told us so in 
 his dedication, that the period employed on it has been the 
 'happiest of his life/ . . . 
 
 " The style and manner of this work are nearly the same with 
 those of the author's lectures delivered in the theatre of the 
 Royal Institution. They have been much admired by some of 
 the most competent judges of good language and good taste, 
 and it has been remarked that Davy was born a poet, and has 
 only become a chemist by accident. Certainly the situation in 
 which he was placed induced him to cultivate an ornamented and 
 popular style of expression and embellishment, and what was 
 encouraged by temporary motives has become natural to him
 
 168 HUMPHRY DAVY, 
 
 from habit. Hence have arisen a multitude of sentimental 
 reflections and appeals to the feelings, which many will think 
 beauties and some only prettinesses ; nor is it necessary for us 
 to decide in which of the two classes of readers we wish ourselves 
 to be arranged, conceiving that in matters so indifferent to the 
 immediate object of the work a great latitude may be allowed to 
 the diversity of taste and opinion." 
 
 Despite its egoism and the obvious marks of haste 
 and imperfection it displays, the w^ork may still be read 
 with interest by the chemical student. We would 
 recommend him before perusing it to study Dalton's 
 " New System of Chemical Philosophy," and he will 
 gain a vivid impression of the extraordinary strides 
 which the science had made during the four years which 
 intervened between the publication of these memorable 
 books. Each work, too, is strongly typical of its author, 
 an I reflects in the most striking manner the range and 
 limitations of his powers and the characteristics of his 
 genius. 
 
 ToAvards the middle of October Davy returned to 
 town. In a letter written to his friend Children, from 
 Edinburgh, he says: — 
 
 " I have received a very interesting letter from Ampere. He 
 says that a combination of chlorine and azote has been discovered 
 at Paris, which is a fluid, and explodes by the heat of the hand ; 
 the discovery of which cost an eye and a finger to the author. 
 He gives no details as to the mode of combining them. I have 
 tried in my little apparatus with ammonia cooled very low, and 
 chlorine, but without success." 
 
 The substance here referred to is nitrogen chloride, 
 one of the most formidable explosives kno^vn to chemists, 
 and which seriously maimed Dulong, its discoverer, as 
 stated. The "little apparatus" refers to a portable 
 chemical chest Avhich accompanied Davy on all his
 
 POET AND PHILOSOPHER. 169 
 
 travels. Any new combination of nitrogen was certain 
 to attract his immediate attention. He seems to have 
 remained to the last convinced that nitrogen would turn 
 out to be a non-elementary substance, and it is remark- 
 able how eagerly he caught at any hint or surmise which 
 appeared likely to afford supjDort to his conjecture. He 
 at once repeated Dulong's experiments in Chiklren's 
 laboratory at Tunbridge, and succeeded in obtaining 
 considerable information concerninii;- the chemical and 
 ph3^sical properties of this extraordinary substance, when 
 he was wounded in the eye by its explosion. 
 
 He thus breaks the news of his accident to Lady 
 Davy : — 
 
 " . . . . Yesterday I began some new ex|)eriinents to 
 which a very interesting discovery and a slight accident put an 
 end. I made use of a compound more powerful than gun- 
 powder destined perhaps at some time to change the nature of 
 war and influence the state of society. An explosion took 
 place which has done me no other harm than that of preventing 
 me from working this day [Sunday] and the effects of which will 
 be gone to-morrow and which I should not mention at all, except 
 that you may hear some foolish exaggerated account of it, for 
 it really is not worth mentioning. . . ." 
 
 In reality the accident was more serious than he 
 would have Lady Davy believe, and the injury prevented 
 him from resuming his work for some time. 
 
 Li a letter written about the middle of January, 1813, 
 from Wimpole, where he was staying with Lord Hard- 
 wicke, he says : — 
 
 " I have had another severe attack of intiammation in the eye, 
 and was obliged to have the conjunctiva and cornea punctured. 
 I suspect the cause was some little imperceptible fragment. I 
 am just recovering, and hope 1 shall see as well soon as with the 
 other eye."
 
 170 HUMPHRY DAVY, 
 
 In the following April he was sufficiently recovered 
 to resume the stud}^ of Dulong's compound, and in a 
 letter to Sir Joseph Banks, dated June 20th, 1813, and 
 subsequently published in the Plvilosophical Trans- 
 actions, he gives a number of details concerning its 
 nature and composition. He accurately determined its 
 specific gravity — viz. 1*653 — but although he made a 
 number of determinations of the amounts of its con- 
 stituents by various methods, his deduction that it 
 consisted of one proportion of nitrogen to four of chlorine 
 was incorrect. The experiments of Gattermann, made 
 with great skill and courage, have conclusively shown 
 that the compound is, as long surmised, a trichloride of 
 nitrogen. 
 
 At about the same period, as we learn from a letter 
 to his brother, dated April 4th, 1813, he attacked the 
 chemistry of fluorine : — 
 
 " I am uow quite recovered, and Jane [Lady Davy] is very 
 well, and we have both enjoyed the last month in London. I 
 have been hard at work. I have expelled fluorine from fluate 
 of lead, fluate of silver, and fluate of soda by chlorine. It is 
 a new acidifier, forming three powerful acids ; hydro-fluoric, 
 silicated fluoric, and fluo-boric. It has the most intense energies 
 of combination of any known body, instantly combining with all 
 metals, and decomposing glass. Like the fabled waters of the 
 Styx, it cannot be preserved, not even in the ape's hoof. We 
 have now a triad of supporters of combustion." 
 
 The results of Davy's work were communicated to 
 the Eoyal Societ}^ on July 8th, 1813. In his paper he 
 states that M. Ampere of Paris had furnished him with 
 many ingenious and original arguments in favour of the 
 analogy betAveen the muriatic and fluoric compounds, 
 based partly upon his (Davj^'s) views of the nature of 
 chlorine, and partly upon reasonings drawn from the
 
 POET AND PHILOSOPHER. 171 
 
 experiments of Gay Lussac and Thenard. After a short 
 account of the main properties of the sihcated fluoric 
 acid gas (siUcon fluoride), discovered by Scheele, fluoric 
 acid (hydrofluoric acid), discovered by Scheele but 
 first obtained pnre by Gay Lussac and Thenard, and 
 fluoric acid (boron fluoride), discovered by Gay Lussac 
 and Thenard, he states that, on the hypothesis of 
 M. Ampere — 
 
 "the silicated fluoric acid is conceived to consist of a pecuHar 
 undecompouiided princiide, analogous to chlorine and oxygen, 
 united to the basis of silica, or sUiciun; the fluo-boric acid of the 
 same principle united to boron ; and the pure li(iuid fluoric acid 
 as this principle united to hydrogen." 
 
 He then seeks to put the hypothesis to the test of 
 experiment by combining fluoric acid with ammonia in 
 a platinum apparatus ; the white solid substance he 
 obtained — so-called fluate of ammonia — contained no 
 moisture, and hence he inferred that no water was 
 present and that therefore fluoric acid was free from 
 oxygen. The inference was more correct than the 
 experiment warranted. He further found that the 
 action of potassium upon fluate of ammonia is precisely 
 similar to its action upon muriate of ammonia, when 
 ammonia and hydrogen are disengaged and muriate 
 of potassa formed. He then attempted to electrolyse 
 solutions of hydrofluoric acid. He says : 
 
 " I undertook the experiment of electrizing pure liquid fluoric 
 acid, with considerable interest, as it seemed to offer the most 
 probable method of ascertaining its real nature ; but considerable 
 difficulties occurred in executing the process. The liquid fluoric 
 acid immediately destroys glass, and all animal and vegetable 
 substances ; it acts on all bodies containing metallic oxides ; and 
 I know of no substances which are not rapidly dissolved or 
 decomposed by it except [certain] metals, charcoal, phosphorus, 
 sulphur and certain combinations of chlorine."
 
 172 HUMPHRY DAVY, 
 
 After various unsuccessful attempts to make tubes 
 of sulphur and of the chlorides of lead and copper, he 
 succeeded 
 
 "in boring a piece of horn-silver in such a manner that I was 
 able to cement a platina wire into it by means of a spirit lamp, 
 and by inverting this in a tray of platina filled with li(iuid fluoric 
 acid, I contrived to submit the fluid to the agency of electricity." 
 
 He found that the platina wire at the positive pole 
 rapidly corroded, and became covered with a chocolate 
 pow^der, and what appeared by its inflannnability to be 
 hydrogen separated at the negative pole. He tried a 
 number of other experiments with different vessels and 
 various electrodes, but with no better success. 
 
 He suffered great inconvenience from the fumes of 
 hydrofluoric acid ; they acted vigorously on the nails, 
 and produced a most painful sensation when in contact 
 Avitli the eyes. The conclusion he drew from his experi- 
 ments was that fluoric acid is " composed of hydrogen, 
 and a substance as yet unknown in a separate form, 
 possessed like oxygen and chlorine, of the negative 
 electrical energy, and hejice determined to the positive 
 surface, and strongly attracted by metallic substances." 
 
 He then attem2:)ted to isolate the fluoric principle by 
 treating various fluates in a platinum apparatus with 
 chlorine gas, but although there w^as evidence of de- 
 composition and the platinum was violently acted upon, 
 he could obtain no new gaseous matter. 
 
 " From the general tenour of the results that I have stated, 
 it appears reasonable to conclude that there exists in the fluoric 
 compounds a peculiar substance, possessed of strong attractions 
 for metallic bodies and hydrogen, and which combined with 
 certain inflammable bodies forms peculiar acids, and which in 
 consequence of its strong affinities and high decomposing agencies, 
 it Avill be very difficult to examine in a pure form, and for the
 
 POET AND PHILOSOPHER. 173 
 
 sake of avoiding eiicuinlocution, it may be denominated fluorine, 
 a name suggested to me by M. Ampere. 
 
 "It is easy to perceive in following the above theory, that all 
 the ideas curreiit in chemical authors respecting the fluoric 
 combinations, must be changed. Fluor-spar, and other analogous 
 substances, for instance, must be regarded as binary compounds 
 of metals and fluorine " 
 
 Davy's views are now part of current chemical 
 doctrine, and his previsions as to the nature of fluorine 
 and its extraordinary chemical activity have been 
 verified in the most striking manner by the admirable 
 investigations of Moissan. 
 
 CHAPTER IX. 
 
 DAVY AND FARADAY — IODINE. 
 
 The year 1(S13 is memorable in the history of the Royal 
 Institution, from the fact that Faraday's long and 
 honourable association with it dates from that time. 
 The circumstances which led to tins connection Avere 
 subsequentl}' stated by himself in the following letter 
 
 to Dr. Paris : — 
 
 " Royal Institution, Dec. 2:ird, 1829. 
 
 "My dear Sir, — You ask me to give you an account of my 
 first introduction to Sir H. Davy, which I am very happy to 
 do, as I think the circumstances will bear testimony to his 
 goodness of heart. 
 
 " When I was a bookseller's apprentice, I was very fond of 
 experiment and very averse to trade. It happened that a gentle- 
 man, a member of the Royal Institution, took me to hear some 
 of Sir H. Davy's last lectures in Albemarle Street. I took notes, 
 and afterwards wrote them out more fairly in a quarto volume. 
 
 " My desire to escape from trade, which I thought vicious 
 and selfish, and to enter into the service of Science which I 
 imagined made its pursuers amiable and liberal, induced me at 
 last to take the bold and simple step of writing to Sir H. Davy,
 
 174 HUMPHRY DAVY, 
 
 expressing my wishes, and a hojie that, if an opportunity came in 
 his way, he would favour my views ; at the same time I sent 
 the notes I had taken at his lectures. 
 
 "The answer, which makes all the point of my communication, 
 I send you in the original, requesting you to take great care of it, 
 and to let me have it back, for you may imagine how much I value. 
 
 " You will observe that this took place at the end of the 
 5'ear 1812, and early in 1813 he requested to see me, and told 
 me of the situation of assistant in the laboratory of the TJoyal 
 Institution, then just vacant. 
 
 "At the same time that he thus gratified my desires as to 
 scientific employment, he still advised me not to give up the 
 prospects I had before me, telling me that Science was a harsh 
 mistress ; and, in a pecuniary point of view, but poorly rewarding 
 those who devoted themselves to her service. He smiled at my 
 notion of the superior moral feelings of philosophic men, and 
 said he would leave me to the experience of a few years to set 
 me right on that matter. 
 
 " Finally, through his good efforts I went to the Iloyal 
 Institution early in March of 1813, as assistant in the laboratory; 
 and in October of the same year went with him abroad as his 
 assistant in experiments and in writing. I returned with him in 
 April 1815, resumed my station in the Royal Institution, and 
 have, as you know, ever since remained there. 
 
 " I am, dear Sir, very truly yours 
 " M. Faraday." 
 
 The answer whicli Faraday characteristically says 
 makes all the point of the foregoing communication is 
 as follows : — 
 
 "Bnrmher 24th, 1812. 
 " Sir, — I am far from displeased with the proof you have given 
 me of your confidence, and which displays great zeal, power of 
 memory, and attention. I am obliged to go out of town, and 
 shall not be settled in town till the end of January : I will then 
 see you at any time you wish. 
 
 "It would gratify me to be of any service to you. I wish it 
 may be in my power. 
 
 " I am, Sir, your obedient humble servant, 
 
 " H. Davy,"
 
 POET AND PHILOSOPHER. 175 
 
 The immediate cause of the connection was very 
 trivial and commonplace. 
 
 Mr. W. Payne, whose name may be recalled in con- 
 nection with Davy's memorandum respecting the state 
 in which the Laboratory of the Institution was kept, in 
 the latter part of February, 1813, had a disagreement 
 with Mr. Newman, the instrument-maker, and so far 
 forgot himself as to strike that gentleman. Whereupon 
 the Managers immediately resolved that Mr. Payne 
 should be dismissed from the Koyal Institution, and 
 that a gratuity of £10 should be paid him in considera- 
 tion of his long services. Davy appears then to have 
 called to mind the modest, bright-eyed, active youth 
 with the pleasant smile, who had expressed his desire 
 to devote himself to science. 
 
 In the minutes of the meeting of Managers on 
 March 1st, 1813, we read — 
 
 " Sir Humpliry Davy lias the honour to inform the Managers 
 that he has found a person who is desirous to occupy the situation 
 in the Institution hitely filled by William Payne. His name is 
 Michael Faraday. He is a youth of twenty-two years of age. 
 As far as Sir H. Davy has been able to observe or ascertain, he 
 appears well fitted for the situation. His habits seem good, his 
 disposition active and cheerful, and his manner intelligent. He 
 is willing to engage himself on the same terms as those given to 
 Mr. Payne at the time of quitting the Institution. 
 
 '' Iiesolved—Tlmt Michael Faraday be engaged to fill the 
 situation lately occupied by Mr. Payne on the same terms." 
 
 In the minutes of the general monthly meeting of 
 the members on April 5th, 1813, for putting in nomin- 
 ation from the chair the professors for the year ensuing, 
 we read : — 
 
 " Sir H. Davy rose, and begged leave to resign his situation of 
 Professor of Chemistry ; but he by no means wished to give up 
 his connection with the Royal Institution, as he should ever be
 
 176 HUMPHRY DAVY, 
 
 happy to coiiimiinicate his researches in the first instance to the 
 Institution . . . , and to do all in his power to promote the 
 interest and success of this Institution. Sir H. Davy having 
 retired, E;nd Spencer moved That the thanks of this Meeting be 
 returned to Sir H. Davy for the estimable services rendered by 
 him to the lioyal Institution. This motion was seconded by the 
 Earl of Darnley, and, on being put, was carried unanimously. 
 Earl Spencer further moved. That in order more strongly to 
 mark the high sense entertained by this Meeting of the merits of 
 Sir H. Davy, he be elected Honorary Professor of Chemistry ; 
 which, on being seconded by the Earl of Darnley, met with 
 unanimous approbation." 
 
 Mr. Brande was subsequently elected Professor. 
 
 During the autumn Davy obtained permission from 
 Napoleon to pass through France in the course of an 
 extended tour on the Continent which Lady Davy and 
 he now projected. He thus announced his intention to 
 his mother : — 
 
 "Andover, Oct. 14, 1813. 
 
 " My dear Mother, — We are just going to the Continent upon 
 a journey of scientific inquiry which I hope will be pleasant to 
 us and useful to the world. We go rapidly through France to 
 Italy, and from there to Sicily ; and we shall return through 
 German}'. We have every assurance from the governments of 
 the countries through which we pass, that we shall not be 
 molested, but assisted. AYe shall stay probably a year or 
 two. . . . 
 
 "As soon as I have settled a plan of correspondence abroad, 
 I will write to you, and shall hear of you from John as often as 
 possible. As I am permitted to pass through an enemy's country, 
 there must be no politics in any letters to me ; and you had 
 better not write except through the channel I shall hereafter 
 point out. . . . 
 
 " When I return I shall peacefully fix my abode for life in 
 my own country. Pray take care of Betsy. When the wind is 
 cold she should not think of going out. Tell Grace not to be 
 afraid, though I am going through France. My love to Kitty, 
 and to Grace and Betsy. I am, my dear mother, wishing you all 
 health and happiness, your very affectionate son " H. Davy."
 
 POET AND PHILOSOPHER. 177 
 
 On October 4th we find that he reported to the 
 Managers that — 
 
 " Michael Faraday had expressed a wish to accompany hiin 
 on his scientific travels, but that he would not engage Mr. Faraday 
 if the Professor of Chemistry considered his services as at all 
 essential to the Institution, or if the Managers had the slightest 
 objection to the measure." 
 
 Mr. Brande reported that arrangements could be 
 made to allow Mr. Faraday to leave, 
 
 " and that as he had shown considerable diligence and attention 
 in cleaning and arranging the mineral collection he recommended 
 his services to the Managers' attention, as this was not his imme- 
 diate duty." 
 
 A few days afterwards the party, consisting of Sir 
 H. and Lady Davy, Mr. Faraday, and Lady Davy's maid, 
 together with the chemical cabinet, crossed in a cartel 
 from Plymouth to Morlaix. Here they were arrested, 
 but after a week's detention, allowed to depart for Paris, 
 where they arrived on October 27th. Nothing could 
 exceed the cordiality and warmth of Davy's reception 
 by the French savants. On November 2n(l he attended 
 a sitting of the First Class of the Listitute, and was 
 placed on the right hand of the President, who announced 
 to the meeting that it was honoured by the presence of 
 " Le Chevalier Davy." Each day saw some reception or 
 entertainment in his honour. On November 10th he 
 dined with Rumford at Auteuil. How ujuch had 
 happened in the ten years since last they met, and how 
 different their situations now ! Davy at the very sunnnit 
 of his scientific eminence, courted and caressed by society, 
 honoured and admired by his intellectual peers ; Rumford, 
 his former patron, a broken-hearted, disappointed man 
 about to sink into the grave, worried to death, in fact, 
 by his wife, and the victim of the spitefid ^persecutions
 
 178 HUMPHRY DAVY, 
 
 she instigated. Ot the remarkable men of science whom 
 Davy met on these occasions he has left us some slight 
 sketches composed during his last illness, some of which 
 are of interest to the student who desires to know some- 
 thing of the men whose names are as household words 
 in the history of chemistry. Guy ton de Morveau — who 
 played such a leading part in the poUtical Revolution of 
 France, as well as in the revolution of its chemistry, and 
 who, with Fourcroy, popularised the doctrines of Lavoisier 
 whilst bringing his head to the scaffold — was found to 
 be a gentleman of mild and conciliatory manners. 
 
 Vauquelin gave him the idea of the French chemists 
 of another age, belonging rather to the pharmaceutical 
 laboratory than to the philosophical one. 
 
 " Nothing coukl be more singular than his manners, his life, 
 and his rnenar/e. Two old maiden ladies, Mdlles. de Fourcroy. 
 sisters of the professor of that name, kept his house. I remember 
 the first time that I entered it, I was ushered into a sort of bed- 
 chamber, which likewise served as a drawing-room. One of 
 these ladies was in bed, but employed in preparations for the 
 kitchen ; and was actually paring truffles. . . . Nothing 
 could be more extraordinary than the simplicity of his conversa- 
 tion ;— he had not the slightest tact, and even in the presence of 
 young ladies, talked of subjects which, since the paradisaical 
 times, never have been the objects of common conversation." 
 
 " CuviER had even in his address and manner the character of 
 a superior man ;— much general power and eloquence in conversa- 
 tion, and a great variety of information on scientific as well as 
 popular subjects. I should say of him, that he is the most 
 distinguished man of talents I have known ; but I doubt if he is 
 entitled to the appellation of a man of genius." 
 
 " Humboldt was one of the most agreeable men I have ever 
 known, social, modest, full of intelligence, with facilities of 
 every kind : almost too Jiutnt in conversation. His travels 
 display a spirit of enterprise. His works are monuments of the 
 variety of his knowledge and resources."
 
 POET AND PHILOSOPHER. 179 
 
 Of bis great rival his comment is as follows : — 
 
 "Gay Lu.ssac was quick, lively, ingenious, and profound, 
 with great activity of mind and great facility of manipulation. 
 I should place him at the head of living chemists of France." 
 
 " Berthollet was a most amiable man ; when the friend of 
 Napoleon even, always good, conciliatory and modest, fiank and 
 candid. He had no airs, and many graces. In every way below 
 La Place in intellectual powers, he appeared superior to him in 
 moral qualities. Berthollet had no appearance of a man of 
 genius ; but one could not look on La Place's physiognomy 
 without being convinced that he was a very extraordinary man." 
 
 All accounts appear to show that Davy hardly treated 
 his hosts with the cordiality and respect they extended 
 to him. His Chauvinism seemed to get the better of his 
 courtesy. There was, it is said, a flippancy in his manner 
 and a superciliousness and hauteur in his deportment 
 which surprised as nmch as they offended. Napoleon, 
 with characteristic bluntness, told one of the members 
 of the Institute that he had heard the young English 
 chemist had a poor opinion of them all. Dr. Paris, who 
 could certainly speak from personal knowledge, states 
 that Davy's unfortunate manner was not so nuich the 
 expression of a haughty consciousness of superiority as 
 the desire to conceal a inauvaise honte and gaucherie — 
 an ungraceful timidity he could never conquer, and 
 which often led him to force himself into a state of 
 effrontery and with a violence of eftbrt which passed for 
 a sally of pride or the ebuUition of temper. 
 
 Whatever Davy's manner might have been, it was 
 not allowed to afitect the admiration felt for his genius, 
 and on December 13th, 1813, he was with practical 
 unanimity elected a Corresponding Member of the First 
 Class of the Institute. 
 
 During the last week of the preceding November 
 l2
 
 180 HUMPHRY DAVY, 
 
 Ampere had given Davy a small quantity of a substance 
 which he had obtained from Clement, and which had 
 been discovered by Courtois, a soap-boiler and manu- 
 facturer of saltpetre in Paris, in kelp or the ashes of 
 sea-weeds. The substance had the extraordinary 
 property of giving a violet-coloured vapour, but its true 
 nature and relations were unknown, and it was commonly 
 designated as X. Although actually known for some 
 time previously, the first public notice of its existence 
 was made by Clement at a meeting of the Institute on 
 November 29th, 1813, and at the meeting on December 
 6th Gay Lussac presented a short note on the substance, to 
 which he gave the name iode, and stated that it had 
 analogies to chlorine. A week later — that is, on the 
 day of Davy's election to the Institute — a letter from 
 him to Cuvier was read, in which he gave a general 
 view of the chemical characters of the body; and on 
 January 20th, 1814, a paper by him, dated Paris, De- 
 cember 10th, 1813, and entitled " Some Experiments and 
 Observations on a new Substance which becomes a 
 violet- coloured Gas by Heat," was read to the Royal 
 Society. 
 
 After reciting the above facts he explains why he 
 has ventured to take up a subject on which Gay Lussac 
 was still engaged. The explanation Avas no doubt 
 necessary ; he had evidently not forgotten Gay Lussac's 
 intrusion into his own field of work on the occasion of 
 the discovery of the metals of the alkalis. He first 
 draws attention to the peculiarities of the combination 
 of the new substance with silver ; this, he shows, is 
 markedly different from silver chloride. He then 
 forms this compound synthetically; forms also the 
 combination with potassium by direct union., and 
 describes its properties ; studies the action of chlorine
 
 POET AND PHILOSOPHER. 181 
 
 on the new substance, and notes the formation 
 of the yellow solid chloride and the mode of its decom- 
 position by water ; prepares a number of metallic com- 
 pounds ; studies the action of the new substance on 
 phosphorus, the nature of the product, and its mode of 
 decomposition by water, with formation of the white 
 crystalline phosphonium iodide and hydriodic acid gas. 
 By acting on this gas with potassium he shows that 
 it yields half its volume of hydrogen and forms the same 
 product as by the direct union of the alkali metal with 
 the new substance. Ho further finds that this sfas is 
 formed when the new substance and hydrogen are passed 
 through a heated tube ; it has a A^ery strong attraction 
 for water, which dissolves it to a large extent, and the 
 concentrated solution rapidly becomes tawny. When 
 the new substance is treated with potash solution it 
 forms the same product as by its direct union with 
 potassium, together with a salt precisely similar to 
 potassium hyperoxynuunate, and which, like that salt, 
 is decomposed when heated, with evolution of oxygen. 
 He shows that the new substance is expelled from its 
 compounds when these are heated with chlorine. He 
 studies the nature of the black fulminating compound 
 discovered by Desormes and Clement by acting on the 
 new substance with solution of ammonia, and concludes 
 that it is analoo-ous to the detonatinsf oil of DulouGf. 
 He attempts to determine the combining proportion of 
 the new substance, on the assumption that its compounds 
 are analogous to those of chlorine, but he has to admit 
 that his experiments have been made upon quantities 
 too small to afford exact results. Nevertheless they 
 prove that the value is nuich higher than those of the 
 simple hiflammable bodies, and higher even than those 
 of most of the metals. He further shows that the
 
 182 HUMPHRY DAVY, 
 
 combination with hydrogen must be one of the heaviest 
 elastic flnids existing. 
 
 " From all the facts that have been stated, there is every 
 reason to consider this new substance as annndecompoundedhod;/. 
 In its specific gravity, lustre, colour, and the high number in which 
 it enters into combination, it resembles the metals ; but in all 
 its chemical agencies it is more analogous to oxygen and chlorine ; 
 it is a non-conductor of electricity, and possesses, like these 
 bodies, the negative electrical energy with respect to metals, 
 inflammable and alkaline substances, and hence when combined 
 with these substances in aqueous solution and electrized in the 
 voltaic circuit, it separates at the positive surface ; but it has a 
 positive energy with respect to chlorine. ... It agrees with 
 chlorine and fluorine in forming acids with hydrogen. 
 
 "The name lone has been proposed in France for this new 
 substance from its colour in the gaseous state, from Tor, viola ; and 
 its combination with hydrogen has been named lii/droionic acid. 
 The name ione, in English, would lead to confusion, for its 
 compounds would be called ionic and ionicui. By terming it 
 iodine, from \u)ci]q. violaceous, this confusion will be avoided, and 
 the name will be more analogous to chlorine and fluorine." 
 
 The rapidity with which Dav}" ascertained the 
 properties and relations of the new substance was 
 characteristic of him. A fortnight's work — done partly 
 at his hotel and parti}' in the laboratory of the yoimg 
 Chevrenl, amidst a succession of interruptions caused b}^ 
 fetes, levees, and visits of ceremony — sufhced to accumu- 
 late the material for his Royal Society paper, in which 
 he gives Avith unerring precision, in spite of the small 
 quantit}' of the matter at his disposal, the broad outlines 
 of the chemistry of iodine. The paper shows him at his 
 best : he seems to have seized, as if by instinct, upon the 
 central fact of the analogy of iodine to chlorine, and he 
 Avorked out the clue with a perspicacity and insight 
 worthy of his genius. 
 
 As may be surmised, Dav3''s action hardlj^ con-
 
 POET AND PHILOSOPHER. 183 
 
 tribiited to his popularity with a certain section of the 
 savants of Paris. Gay Lussac and Thenar d were ex- 
 tremely angry with Ampere and Clement for having 
 given him the material for his investigation, and the 
 feeling broke out after the publication of Gay Lussac's 
 memoir in the Annales de Chimie in 1814. Davy in 
 a note published in the Journal of the Royal Institution 
 says : — 
 
 "Who had most share in developing the chemical history 
 of that body [iodine], must be determined by a review of the 
 papers that have been published upon it, and by an examination 
 of their respective dates. When M. Clement showed Iodine to 
 me, he believed that the hydriodic acid was muriatic acid ; and 
 M. Gay Lussac, after his early experiments, made originally with 
 M. Clement, formed the same opinion, and mai7itained it, when I 
 ^rst stated to him my belief that it was a new and peculiar acid, 
 and that Iodine was a substance analogous in its chemical relations 
 to Chlorine." 
 
 Davy left Paris towards the end of December, passing 
 into Auvergne and thence to Montpellier, where he 
 resumed his work on iodine. He then went to Genoa, 
 where he made some experiments on the electricity of 
 the torpedo, and about the middle of March arrived at 
 Florence. In a letter to his brother John he says : — 
 
 " I have worked a good deal on iodine and a little on the 
 torpedo. Iodine had been in embryo for two years. I came to 
 Paris ; Clement requested me to examine it, and he believed 
 that it was a compound, affording muriatic acid. I worked upon 
 it for some time, and determined that it was a new body, and 
 that it afforded a peculiar acid by combining with hydrogen, and 
 this I mentioned to Gay Lussac, Ampere, and other chemists. 
 The first immediately 'took the word of the Lord out of the 
 mouth of His servant,' and treated this subject as he had treated 
 potassium and boron. The paper which I sent to the Royal 
 Society on iodine I wrote with Clement's approbation and a note 
 published in the 'Journal de Physique' will vindicate my priority.
 
 184 HUMPHRY DAVY, 
 
 I have just got ready for the Royal Society a second paper on this 
 fourth supporter of combustion. 
 
 "The old theory is nearly abandoned in France. Berthollet, 
 with much candour, has decided in favour of chlorine. I know 
 no chemist but Thenard who upholds it at Paris, and he upholds 
 it feebly, and by this time, probably, has renounced it. 
 
 " I doubt if the organ of the torpedo is analogous to the pile 
 of Volta. I have not been able to gain any chemical eflfects 
 by the shock sent through water ; but I tried on small and not 
 very active animals. I shall resume the inquiry at Naples, where 
 I hope to be about the middle of May. In my journey I met 
 with no difficulties of any kind, and received every attention 
 from the scientific men of Paris, and the most liberal permission 
 to go vrhere I pleased from the government. 
 
 " I lived very much with Berthollet, Cuvier, Chai»ta1, Vauquelin, 
 Humboldt, Morveau, Clement, Chevreul, and Gay Lussac. They 
 were all kind and attentive to me ; and, except for Gay Lussac's 
 last turn of publishing without acknowledgement what he had 
 first learnt from me, I should have had nothing to complain of ; 
 but who can control self-love ? 
 
 " It ought not to interfere v»'ith truth and justice ; but I will 
 not moralise nor complain. Iodine is as useful an ally to me as 
 I could have found at home." 
 
 At Florence he worked in the laboratory of the 
 Accademia del Cimento on iodine and on the diamond. 
 The results of his work on iodine he embodied in a 
 paper read to the Royal Society on June 10th, 1S14, 
 which deals mainly with the iodates, or, as he preferred 
 to call them, the oxyiodes. The object of his work 
 on the diamond was to determine whether any peculiar 
 matter separated from it during its combustion, and 
 whether the gas formed in the process was precisel}^ 
 the same in its chemical nature as that produced by 
 the combustion of plumbago and charcoal. At Florence 
 he made use of the great burning-glass originally 
 employed in the trials on the action of solar heat on 
 the diamond instituted b}^ Cosmo III., Grand Duke of
 
 POET AND PHILOSOPHER. 185 
 
 Tuscany ; he completed the research in the laboratory 
 of the Accademia del Lincei at Rome. 
 
 From the results of his different experiments, which 
 were communicated to the Royal Society on June 23rd, 
 1814, it appeared that the diamond affords no other 
 substance by its combustion in oxygen than pure 
 carbonic acid gas, and that the only chemical difference 
 perceptible between diamond and the purest charcoal 
 is that the latter contains a minute proportion of 
 hydrogen. " But," he asks, " can a quantity of an 
 element, less in some cases than 50^00 P^i't of the 
 weight of the substance, occasion so great a difference 
 in physical and chemical characters ? " This he con- 
 cludes is most unlikeh^, for, as he points out, even 
 when the minute quantity of hydrogen is expelled by 
 heating the charcoal in chlorine, the specific differences 
 remain. 
 
 The doctrine at that time current, and which seemed 
 indeed almost axiomatic, "That bodies cannot be 
 exactly the same in composition or chemical nature, and 
 3^et totally different in all their physical properties," 
 received its first great shock. Davy's work, no doubt, 
 paved the way for the recognition of the fact of allo- 
 tropy, and thereafter of isomerism. 
 
 In May he Avent to Naples and made his first ascent 
 of Vesuvius, which he revisited on several subsequent 
 journeys. He conunissioned one of the guides to inform 
 him from time to time of the condition of the volcano, 
 and the man's letters, in spite of their phonetic address 
 — " Siromfredevi - Londra " — duly found their way to 
 Albemarle Street. He also interested himself in the 
 excavations at Pompeii instituted by direction of Murat, 
 then King of Naples, and he performed a number of 
 experiments on the colours used by the ancients in
 
 186 HUMPHRY DAVY, 
 
 painting, an account of which was communicated to 
 the Royal Society on February 23rd, 1815. 
 
 He then passed northw\ards with the intention of 
 spending the summer at Geneva. On his way he called 
 at Milan to pay his respects to Yolta. Of this visit he 
 wrote : — 
 
 "Volta I saw at Milan, in 1814, at that time advanced in 
 years, — I think nearly seventy and in bad health. His conversa- 
 tion was not brilliant ; his views rather limited, but marking great 
 ingenuity. His manners were perfectly simple. He had not the 
 air of a courtier, or even of a man who had seen the world." 
 
 If Dr. Paris's story is to be credited, the lack of 
 brillianc}^ in the conversation of the great Italian 
 physicist ma}^ be attributed to the circumstances of this 
 meeting. Davy, we are told, had written to announce 
 his intended visit, and on the appointed day and hour 
 Volta, in full dress, awaited his arrival. 
 
 " On the entrance of the great English philosopher into the 
 apartment, not only in dhhahille, l^ut in a dress of which an 
 English artisan would have been ashamed, Volta started back in 
 astonishment, and such was the efiect of his surprise, that he was 
 for some time unable to address him." 
 
 The party remained at Geneva until the middle of 
 September, partaking freely of the intellectual life which 
 that charming city afforded. Here he met Saussure 
 Pictet, De la Rive, Madame de Staid, Benjamin Constant, 
 Necker, and Talma, whose society he greatl}^ enjoyed. 
 With the approach of winter he returned to Italy via 
 the Brenner and Venice, and on November 2nd arrived 
 at Rome, where he remained until March 1st, 1815, 
 occupying himself with his inquiry into the composition 
 of ancient colours. In this he was greatly assisted by the 
 kmdness of his friend Canova, the celebrated sculptor, who 
 was then charged with the care of the works connected
 
 POET AND PHILOSOPHER. 187 
 
 with ancient art in Rome, and who snppKed him with 
 material from the colours found in the Baths of Titus and 
 of Livia, and other palaces and baths of ancient Rome 
 and Pompeii. Davy's memoir, which appears in the 
 Philosophical Transactions for 1815, displays consider- 
 able antiquarian and bibliographical research, and, con- 
 sidering his limited means, much analytical skill and 
 ingenuity. The ancient reds he found to consist of 
 minium, several varieties of iron ochre, and vermilion 
 or cinnabar. The ^^ellows Avere mixtures of ochres and 
 chalks, or of ochre with minium. He was unable to 
 discover that orpiment was used ; a deep orange yellow 
 on stucco in the ruins near the monument of Caius 
 Cestius consisted of a mixture of massicot and minium. 
 The blues were mainly mixtures of the Egyptian or 
 Alexandrine blue, with more or less chalk. This 
 Egyptian blue, he found, was a frit, made by heating 
 soda, sand, and copper, either used as an ore or as metal. 
 He gives a method of making it, and speaks highly of 
 its permanence and beauty. The greens were, as a rule, 
 compounds of copper. The exact nature of the purples 
 he was unable to determine ; they were probablj^ organic, 
 but whether obtained from shell-fish or madder could 
 not be ascertained. The purplish reds in the Baths of 
 Titus were found to be mixtures of red ochres, and the 
 blues were copper compounds. The blacks and browns 
 were mixtures of carbonaceous matter with oxides of 
 iron or manganese. The whites were mainly chalk, or 
 occasionally clay ; cerusse, or white-lead, was apparently 
 not used. 
 
 Before leaving Italy he again went to Naples, for 
 the purpose of witnessing Vesuvius in eruption, and on 
 several occasions he was as near the crater as he could 
 get. He left Naples on March 21st, and came home by
 
 188 HUMPHRY DA.VY, 
 
 way of Verona, Innsbruck, Ulm, Stuttgart, Heidelberg, 
 and the Rhine, arriving in London April 23rd, 1815. A 
 few days after his arrival he wrote to his mother :- — 
 
 " We have had a very agreealJe and instructive journey and 
 Lady Davy af-rees with me in thinking that England is the only 
 country to live in, however interesting it may be to see other 
 countries. 
 
 " I yesterday bought a good house in Grosvenor Street, and we 
 shall sit dow^n in this happy land. 
 
 '• I beg you to give my best and kindest love to my sisters, and 
 to remember me with all affection to my aunts." 
 
 Faraday was again engaged as assistant in the 
 laborator}^ of the Royal Institution and superintendent 
 of the apparatus (at a salary of 30s. a Aveek), and was 
 accommodated with apartments at the top of the house. 
 
 In Dr. Bence Jones's "Life of Faraday" we have 
 more detailed information concerning this tour, derived 
 from the journal which Faraday kept whilst he was 
 abroad. Faraday describes in considerable detail the 
 life in Paris and the work on Iodine ; we have accounts 
 of Chevreul's laboratory at the Jardin des Plantes, and 
 of Gay Lussac's lectures at the Ecole Polytechnique ; of 
 the work on the torpedo at Genoa ; of the combustion 
 of the diamond at the Accademia del Cimento, and a 
 description of the great burning-glass, and hoAV it Avas 
 actually emplo^-ed ; of the experiments of Morichini on 
 the alleged magnetisation of a needle by the solar rays ; 
 of his meeting Yolta — " an hale, elderly man, bearing 
 the red ribbon, and very free in conversation " ; of the 
 Avork at Rome on chlorous oxide and iodic acid, and on 
 the pigments employed by the ancients. 
 
 " The constant presence of Sir Humphry Davy," Avrote Faraday 
 to his friend Abbott, " is a mine inexhaustible of knowledge and 
 improvement." But he adds : " I liave seAeral times been morQ
 
 POET AND PHILOSOPHER. 189 
 
 than half decided to return hastily home ; but second thoughts 
 have still induced nie to try what the future may produce. . . 
 the glorious opportunities I enjoy of improving in the knowledge of 
 chemistry and the sciences continually determine me to finish 
 this voyage with Sir H. D. But if I wish to enjoy these advan- 
 tages I have to sacrifice much, and though these sacrifices are 
 such as an humble man would not feel, yet I cannot quietly make 
 them." 
 
 Faraday's troubles arose from his anomalous position 
 in the party. When Davy elected to go abroad, he 
 arranged to take his valet with him; but at the eleventh 
 hour this man, moved by the tears of his wife — to whom 
 the " Corsican Ogre " was a kind of bogey — refused to 
 proceed. " When Sir H. informed me of this circn.un- 
 stance," says Faraday, "he expressed his sorrow at it, 
 and said — that if I would put up with a few things on 
 the road imtil he got to Paris, doing those things which 
 could not be trusted to strangers or waiters ... he 
 would get a servant. ... At Paris he could find no 
 servant to suit him," nor w^as he more successful at 
 Montpellier or at Genoa. It was, doubtless, difficult at 
 this period to find a man in such places who understood 
 English and was in other respects suitable. Faraday 
 goes on to say : — 
 
 " Sir Hum])hry has at all times endeavoured to keep me from 
 the performance of those things which did not form a part of 
 my duty, and which might be disagreeable. ... 1 should 
 have but little to comi)lain of, were I travelling with Sir 
 Humphry alone, or weie Lady Davy like him ; but her temper 
 makes it oftentimes go wrong with me, with herself and with 
 Sir H. . . 
 
 •• She likes to (show her authority, and at first I found her 
 extremely earnest in mortifying me. This occasioned quarrels 
 between us, at each of which I gained ground and she lost it ; for 
 the fre(i[uency made me care nothing about them, and weakened 
 her authority, and after each she behaved in a miJder manner."
 
 190 HUMPHRY DAVY, 
 
 How Davy and his wife appeared to the world at 
 this tirae may be seen from the following extracts from 
 Ticknor's Life : — 
 
 " 1815. June 13. — I breakfasted this morning with Sir H. 
 Davy, of whom we have heard so much in America. He is now 
 about thirty-three [he was actually thirty-seven], l:»ut with all the 
 freshness and bloom of twenty-five, and one of the handsomest men 
 I have seen in England. He has a great deal of vivacity— talks 
 rapidly, though with great precision— and is so much interested in 
 conversation that his excitement amounts to nervous impatience, 
 and keeps him in constant motion. He has just returned from 
 Italy, and delights to talk of it ; thinks it, next to England, the 
 finest country in the world, and the society of Rome surpassed only 
 by that of London, and says he should not die contented without 
 going there again." 
 
 " 15 June. — As her husband had invited me to do, I called this 
 morning on Lady Davy. I found her in her parlour, working on 
 a dress, the contents of her basket strewed about the table, and 
 looking more like home than anything since I left it. She is 
 small, with black eyes and hair and a very pleasant face, an un- 
 commonly sweet smile ; and when she speaks has much spirit 
 and expression in her countenance. Her conversation is agreeable, 
 particularly in the choice and variety of her phraseology, and has 
 more the air of eloquence than I have ever heard before from a 
 lady. But, then, it has something of the appearance of formality 
 and display, which injures conversation. Her manner is gracious 
 and elegant ; and though I should not think of comparing her to 
 Corinne yet I think she has uncommon powers." 
 
 In Henry Crabb Robinson's Diary ^Ye read, under 
 date May 31st, 1813:— 
 
 " Dined with Wordsworth at Mr. Carr's. Sir Humphry 
 and Lady Davy there. She and Sir H. seem to have hardly 
 finished their honeymoon. Miss Joanna Baillie said to Words- 
 worth, ' We have witnessed a picturesque happiness.' " 
 
 In 1815 it was very evident the honeymoon had 
 waned and that the picturesque happiness was at an
 
 POET AND PHILOSOPHER. 191 
 
 end. However fitted her ladyship might be to shine in 
 salons, at routs and fashionable gatherings, she lacked 
 the homelier, kindlier charms which grace the placens 
 uxor. An accomplished woman, of fastidious taste, fond 
 of study, upright in her dealings, and charitable to the 
 poor, she was withal cold and unsympathetic, self-willed 
 and independent, " fitted to excite admiration rather 
 than love, and neither by nature happy in herself, 
 or qualified to impart, in the best sense of the term, 
 happiness to others." Such is the character given of 
 her by Dr. Davy ; and he adds, " There was an over- 
 sight, if not a delusion, as to the fitness of their union " ; 
 and " it might have been better for both if they had 
 never met." It was, no doubt, from the fulness of his 
 own experience that Davy once wrote to a friend : — 
 
 " Upon points of affection it is only for the parties themselves 
 to form just opinions of what is really necessary to ensure the 
 felicity of the marriage state. Riches appear to me not at all 
 necessary, but competence, I think is ; and after this more 
 depends upon the temper of the individual than upon personal, or 
 even intellectual circumstances. The finest sjjirits, the most 
 exquisite wines, the nectars and ambrosias of modern tables, will 
 be all spoilt by a few drops of bitter extract ; and a bad temper has 
 the same effect in life, which is made up, not of great sacrifices or 
 duties, but of little things, in which smiles and kindness, and 
 small obligations given habitually, are what win and preserve the 
 heart, and secure comfort."
 
 192 
 
 CHAPTER X. 
 
 THE SAFETY LAMP. 
 
 Shortly after Davy's return to England his sympathy 
 was enUsted in a cause which enabled him to display 
 all the attributes of his genius, and to achieve a trmmpli 
 which, while greatly enhancing his popular reputation, 
 added no little to his scientific fame. To show him how 
 he midit be useful, was at all times a certain method 
 of securing his interest ; for, like Lavoisier, he was even 
 more the friend of humanity than of science, and to 
 make science serviceable to humanity was, he considered, 
 the highest object of his calling. 
 
 During the early years of this century the country 
 was repeatedly shocked by the occurrence of a succession 
 of disastrous colliery explosions, especially in the north 
 of England, attended by great destruction of life and 
 property and widespread misery and destitution. The 
 development of our iron-trade, the improvements in 
 the steam-engine, and the more general application of 
 machinery to industry had greatly stimulated the opening 
 out of our coal-fields ; and the w^orking of coal was being 
 extended with a rapidity that greatly aggravated the 
 evils and dangers at all times inseparable from it. In 
 the early days of coal-getting, when the pits were shallow 
 and the workings comparatively near the shafts, tu-e- 
 damp, although not unheard of, was httle dreaded, and 
 explosions were rare — so rare, indeed, that when they 
 occurred they were thought worthy of mention in the 
 Philosophical Trau. •^actions of the Koyal Socio t}^ As 
 the pits became deeper, and the ways more extended.
 
 POET AND PHILOSOPHEK. 198 
 
 explosions became more frequent, and at times it was 
 impossible to work the coal, owing to the accunmlation 
 of fire-damp and its liability to " fire " at the candles 
 of the miners. In 1782 attempts were first made to 
 ventilate the pits by " fire-lamps " or furnaces, and by 
 mechanical means, so as to sweep out the "sulphur" by 
 means of fresh air. Carlisle Spedding, a little later, 
 invented the steel mill — a contrivance by which a disc 
 of steel was caused to revolve against a piece of flint, 
 so as to throw off a shower of sparks sufficiently luminous 
 to enable the miner to carry on his business. 
 
 In spite of the " spark-emitting wheel," and of the 
 systems of ventilation introduced by Ryan, James 
 Spedding, John Buddie, and others, " the swart demon 
 of the mine " grew more and more formidable, and 
 demanded a greater number of victims every year. 
 Mechanical science would appear to have spent itself, 
 and the mining world was gradually coming to look 
 upon fire-damp with the fatalism with which ignorant 
 and superstitious people regard the plague. Some 
 of the great coal owners — powerless to do more, but 
 afraid of the rising tide of public opinion — used their 
 influence with the newspapers to suppress all allusion 
 to these calamities. But many persons, especially the 
 physicians and clergymen in the mining districts, who 
 were witnesses of the suffering and distress which the 
 " tiring " of a mine occasioned, kept public attention 
 alive by means of pamphlets and letters and notices to 
 such journals as would insert their communications. 
 One colliery — the Brandling Main or Felling Colliery, 
 near Gateshead - on - Tyne — acquired an unenviable 
 notoriety from the frequency with which it fired. On 
 May 25th, 1812, an explosion occurred which killed 
 ninety -two men and boys. No calamity of such magni-
 
 194 HUMPHRY DAVY, 
 
 tude had ever happened before in a coal mine. Eighteen 
 months afterwards a second explosion took place by 
 which twenty-three lives were lost. In the following 
 year explosions occurred at Percy Main, Hebburn, and 
 Sealield. In June, 1815, Xewbottle ColHery exploded 
 with the loss of tifty-seven men and boys, and this 
 was immediately followed by a similar disaster at 
 Sheriff HilL The Rev. Mr. Hodcrson— the historian of 
 Northumberland — in whose parish the Brandling ^lain 
 was situated, pubhshed a particular account of the first 
 Felling Colliery Explosion. This was widel}' circulated, 
 and ultimately found its way into Thomson's Annals 
 of Philosox->hy , which continued to print accounts of 
 similar accidents as they occurred. At length Mr. J. J. 
 Wilkinson, a baiTister resident in the Temple, suggested 
 the formation of a society to investigate the whole 
 subject and to seek for remedies. The Bishop of 
 Durham and the Rev. Dr. Gray, afterwards Bishop of 
 Bristol, but then Rector of Bishopwearmouth, led the 
 way, and ultimately the society was instituted on October 
 1st, 1813, with Sir Ralph Millbanke, afterwards Sir Ralph 
 Noel, as President. Its first report contains a letter 
 from Mr. John Buddie, the great authority on the 
 ventilation of coal mines, in which he expresses his 
 conviction that mechanical agencies are practically 
 powerless to prevent explosions in mines subjected to 
 sudden bursts of fire-damp, and he concludes 
 
 "that the hopes of this society ever seeing its most desirable 
 object accomplished must rest upon the event of some method 
 being discovered of producing such a chemical change upon 
 carburetted hydrogen gas as to render it innoxious as fast as it is 
 discharged, or as it approaches t!:e neighbourhood of lights. In 
 this view of tlie. s^ibject, it is to scientific men only that we must 
 look up for assistance in providing a cheap and eliectual 
 remedy."
 
 POET AND PHILOSOPHER. 195 
 
 The society received a number of suggestions, for the 
 most part wholly impracticable, and generally of the 
 character of that of Dr. Trotter, who proposed to flood 
 the mines with chlorine. A variety of air-tight or in- 
 sulated lamps were suggested by Clanny, Brandling, 
 J\[urray, and others, much on the same lines as that 
 devised by Humboldt, but none of them appears to have 
 been seriously tried. 
 
 Under these circumstances it was decided to ask for 
 the co-operation of Davy, and with that object Mr. 
 Wilkinson called upon him at the Royal Institution, in 
 the autumn of 1813, but found he had left for Paris. 
 A few months after his return the Rev. Dr. Gray wrote 
 to hhn on the subject, and received the following letter 
 in reply : — 
 
 ''August 3, 1815. 
 
 " It will give me great satisfaction if my chemical know- 
 ledge can be of any use in an enquiry so interesting to humanity, 
 and I beg you will assure tlie committee of my readiness to 
 co-operate with them in any experiments or investigations on the 
 subject. 
 
 " If you think my visiting the mines can be of any use, I will 
 cheerfully do so. 
 
 "I shall be here ten days longer, and on my return South, 
 will visit any place you will be kind enough to point out to 
 me, where I may be able to acquire information on the subject 
 of coal gas." 
 
 Dr. Gray, in reply, referred him to Mr. John Buddie, 
 of the Wall send Colliery. 
 
 On August 24th, 1815, Mr. Buddie wrote to Dr. 
 Gray : — 
 
 " Permit me to oflfer my best acknowledgments for the oppor- 
 tunity which your attention to the cause of humanity has afforded 
 me of being introduced to Sir Humphry Davy, 
 M 2
 
 196 HUMPHRY DAVY, 
 
 " I was this morning favoured with a call from him, and he 
 was accompanied by the Kev. Mr. Hodgson. He made particular 
 enquiries into the nature of the danger arising from the discbarge 
 of the inflammable gas in our mines. I shall supply him with a 
 quantity of the gas to analyze ; and he has given me reason to 
 expect that a substitute may be found for the steel mill, which 
 will not fire the gas. He seems also to think it possible to 
 generate a gas, at a moderate expense, which, by mixing with the 
 atmospheric current, will so far neutralise the inflammable air, as 
 to prevent it flring at the candles of the workmen. 
 
 "If he should be so fortunate as to succeed in either the one 
 or the other of these points, he will render the most essential 
 benefit to the mining interest of this country, and to the cause of 
 humanity in particular." 
 
 After spending a few da3'S in the district w4th ^Ir. 
 Hodgson and Dr. Gray, in the course of wdiich he saw 
 and experimented with Dr. Clanny's lamp, he went on a 
 round of visits in Durham and Yorkshire, and arrived 
 in London at the end of September. Early in October 
 a quantity of fire-damp was sent to him by Mr. Hodgson, 
 the receipt of which he acknowdedged on the 15th, 
 saying :— 
 
 " ^ly experiments are going on successfully and I hope in a 
 few days to send you an account of them ; I am going to be 
 fortunate far beyond my expectations." 
 
 Four days afterwards he agam WTOte to Mr. Hodgson 
 stating that he had discovered 
 
 " that explosive mixtures of mine-damp will not pass through 
 small apertures or tubes ; and that if a lamp or lanthorn be made 
 air -tight on the sides, and furnished with apertures to admit the 
 air, it will not communicate flame to the outward atmosphere." 
 
 On the 25th October he gave an account of his work 
 to the Chemical Club. On October 30th he wrote to 
 Dr. Gray and to Mr. Hodgson, giving a description of
 
 POET AND PHILOSOPHER. 197 
 
 three forms of safe lamps. His letter to Dr. Gray was 
 as follows : — 
 
 "As it was the consequence of your invitation that I en- 
 deavoured to investigate the nature of the fire-damp, I owe to 
 you the first notice of the progress of my experiments. 
 
 " My results have been successful far beyond my expectations. 
 I shall enclose a little sketch of my views on the subject ; and I 
 hope in a few days to be able to send a paper with the apparatus 
 for the committee. I trust the safe lamp will answer all the 
 objects of the collier. 
 
 " I consider this at present as a private communication. I 
 wish you to examine the lamps I have had constructed, before you 
 give any account of my labours to the committee. 
 
 "I have never received so much })Ieasure from the result of 
 any of my chemical labours ; for I trust the cause of humanity 
 will gain something by it." 
 
 Mr. Hodgson's letter was shown to several persons, 
 and appears to have been copied by some, on or about 
 November 2nd, and an extract from it appeared in 
 Dunn's " View of the Coal Trade." 
 
 On November 9th Davy read his first paper on the 
 subject before the Royal Society ; it was entitled " On 
 the fire-damp of coal mines, and on the methods of light- 
 ing the mines so as to prevent its explosion." After de- 
 scribing the manner in which his attention had been 
 specially called to the subject, he states that he first 
 made experiments with a variety of phosphori (Kunckel's, 
 Canton's, and Baldwin's), and also with the electrical 
 light in close vessels, in the hope that they might be 
 found to afford the requisite ajnount of illumination ; but 
 the results were not encouraging. 
 
 After an account of the chemical characters of the 
 tire-damp sent to him by Mr. Hodgson, he describes the 
 results of experiments on its combustibility and explosive 
 nature, and on the degree of heat required to explode it
 
 198 HUMPHRY DAVY, 
 
 when mixed with air. In respect of its combustibiHty 
 fire-damp was found to difter most materially from the 
 other common inflammable gases in that it required a 
 far higher temperature to effect its inflammation or 
 explosion. Moreover, it was found that the flame formed 
 by the union of air and iire-damp would not pass through 
 tubes of a certain minimum diameter ; 
 
 " and ill comparing the power of tuljes of metal and those of 
 glass, it appeared that the flame passed more readily through glass 
 tubes of the same diameter ; and that explosions were stopped by 
 metallic tubes of one-fifth of an inch when they were an inch and 
 a half long ; and this phenomenon probably depends upon the 
 heat lost during the explosion in contact with so great a cooling 
 surface, wdiich brings the temperature of the first portions exploded 
 below that required for the firing of the other portions. Metal is a 
 better conductor of heat than glass ; and it has been already shown 
 that fire-damp requires a very strong heat for its inflammation." 
 
 The observation that mixtures of air and coal-gas would 
 not explode in very narrow tubes had been previously 
 made, unknown to Davy, by Wollaston and Tennant. 
 Davy likewise found that explosions Avould not pass 
 through very fine Avire sieves or wire gauze. He also 
 noted that an admixture of carbonic acid and nitrogen, 
 even in small proportions, with explosive mixtures of fire- 
 damp greatly diminished the velocity of the inflammation. 
 
 " . . . It is evident then, that to prevent explosions in 
 coal mines it is only necessary to use air-tight lanterns, supplied 
 with air from tubes or canals of small diameter, or from apertures 
 covered with wire-gauze placed below the flame, through which 
 explosions cannot be communicated and having a chimney at 
 the upper part, as a similar system for carrying oti" the foul air ; 
 and common lanterns may be easily adapted to the purpose by 
 being made air-tight in the door and sides, by being furnished 
 with the chimney and the system of safety apertures below and 
 above. The principle being known, it is easy to adapt and 
 multiply practical applications of it."
 
 IdD 
 
 m 
 
 ^x
 
 200 
 
 HUMPHRY DAVY, 
 
 He then devised a number of lamps on this principle, 
 and subjected them to trial with explosive mixtures in 
 various ways. The plate on page 1 99, copied from the 
 original paper in the Philosophical Transactions, shows 
 the successive forms through which the 
 lamps passed. 
 
 On January 11th, 1816, he read a 
 second paper to the Royal Society, 
 entitled, "An account of an invention 
 for giving light in explosive mixtures of 
 fire-damp in coal mines by consuming 
 the fire-damp," in which he shows that 
 the tubes or canals as well as the sides 
 of the lanterns may be replaced by 
 cages or C3dinders of wire gauze. The 
 intiammable mixture will readily pass 
 through the meshes of the gauze and 
 will burn w^ithin it, filling the cylinder 
 w^ith a bright flame, but no explosion 
 w^ill pass outwards, even although the 
 wire becomes heated to redness. 
 
 A fortnight later he read a third 
 paper to the Society, " On the Com- 
 bustion of Explosive Mixtures confined 
 by Wire Gauze, with some Observations 
 on Flame," in which he gives the results 
 of further inquiries respecting the limits 
 of the size of the ajoertures, and of the wire in the 
 metallic gauze required to shield the flame of an oil- 
 lamp, and describes a number of illustrations of the 
 action of the gauze in lowering the temperature of the 
 explosive mixture below the point of ignition. Some ot 
 these illustrations are noAv among the stock experiments 
 of the lecture theatre. He ofl^ers some observations
 
 POET AND PHILOSOPHER. 201 
 
 concerning the essential nature of flame, and concludes 
 by informing the Society that his "cylinder lamps 
 [i.e. lamps of which the flames are enclosed within a 
 cylinder of gauze: see Fig. 11, p. 199] have been tried 
 in two of the most dangerous mines near Newcastle 
 with perfect success." 
 
 The form which the lamp finally took in the hands 
 of Mr. Newman, the instrument-maker, is seen on p. 200. 
 
 The trials above referred to were first made by 
 Mr. Matthias Dunn and the indefatigable Mr, Hodgson 
 in the Hebburn Colliery, and shortly afterwards by Mr. 
 John Buddie in the Wall's End Colliery. Mr. Buddie has 
 placed on record his impressions of his first experience. 
 
 " I first tried it," he says, " in an explosive mixture on the 
 surface ; and then took it into a mine ; . . . it is impossible 
 for me to express my feelings at the time when I first suspended 
 the lamp in the mine and saw it red hot. ... I said to those 
 around me ' We have at last subdued this monster.' " 
 
 Some months afterwards Davy accompanied Mr. 
 Buddie into the pit and saw his lamp in actual use. 
 
 "Sir Humphry was delighted," says Mr. Buddie, "and 1 was 
 overwhehned with feeUngs of gratitude to that great genius which 
 had produced it." 
 
 Further testimony of Mr. Buddie's appreciation of 
 this memorable invention may be seen from the following 
 extract from a letter by him to Davy. It is not only 
 interesting in view of Davy's remark that " the evidence 
 of the use of a practical discovery is of most value when 
 furnished by practical men," but also as showing the 
 rapidity with which the discovery was taken advan- 
 tage of : — 
 
 "Walls End Colliery, Newcastle, June 1st, 181G. 
 
 " After having introduced your safety lamp into general use 
 in all the collieries under my direction, where inflammaMe air
 
 202 HUMPHRY DAVY, 
 
 prevails, and after using them daily in every variety of explosive 
 mixture, for upwards of three months, I feel the highest possible 
 gratification in stating to you that they have answered to my 
 entire satisfaction. 
 
 " The safety of the lamps is so easily proved by taking them 
 into any part of a mine charged with fire-damp, and all the 
 explosive gradations of that dangerous element are so easily and 
 satisfactorily ascertained by their application, as to strike the 
 minds of the most prejudiced with the strongest conviction of 
 their high utility ; and our colliers have adopted them with the 
 greatest eagerness. 
 
 " Besides the facilities afforded by this invention to the 
 M'orking of coal mines abounding in fire-damp, it has enabled 
 the directors and superintendents to ascertain, with the utmost 
 precision and expedition, both the presence, the quantity, and the 
 correct situation of the gas. Instead of creeping inch by inch 
 wdth a candle, as is usual, along the galleries of a mine suspected 
 to contain fire-damp, in order to ascertain its presence, we walk 
 firmly in Avith the safe lamps, and wdtli the utmost confidence 
 prove the actual state of the mine. By observing attentively 
 the several appearances upon the fiame of the lamp, in an 
 examination of this kind, the cause of accidents which have 
 happened to the most experienced and cautious miners is com- 
 pletely developed ; and this has been, in a great measure, matter 
 of mere conjecture. 
 
 "I feel peculiar satisfaction in dwelling upon a subject which 
 is of the utmost importance, not only to the great cause of 
 humanity, and to the mining interest of the country, but also to 
 the commercial and manufacturing interests of the United 
 Kingdom ; for I am convinced that by the happy invention of the 
 safe lamp large proportions of the coal mines of the empire will 
 be rendered available, which otherwise might have remained 
 inaccessible, at least without an invention of similar utility, which 
 could not have been wrought without much loss of the mineral, 
 and risk of life and capital. 
 
 " It is not necessary that I should enlarge upon the national 
 advantages which must necessarily result from an invention 
 calculated to prolong our supply of mineral coal, because I think 
 them obvious to every reflecting mind ; but I cannot conclude, 
 without exiiressing my highest sentiments of admiration for
 
 POET AND PHILOSOPHER. 203 
 
 those talents which have developed the properties, and controlled 
 the power, of one of the most dangerous elements which human 
 enterprise has hitherto had to encounter." 
 
 This letter is only one of many received by Davy 
 from practical men, all telling the same story of wonder 
 and astonishment " that so snnple a looking instru- 
 ment should defy an enemy heretofore unconquerable " : 
 and all expressing the deepest gratitude to him as its 
 inventor, often in language which gains in force, and 
 even in eloquence, from its very homeliness and simple 
 pathos. 
 
 The following address from the Whitehaven colliers 
 was among the papers lent to me by Dr. Rolleston : — • 
 
 " September 18, 1816. 
 " We, the undersigned, miners at the Whitehaven Collieries, 
 belonging to the Earl of Lonsdale, return our sincere thanks to 
 Sir Humphry Davy, for his invaluable discovery of the safe 
 lamps, which are to us life preservers ; and being the only return 
 in our power to make, we most humbly offer this, our tribute of 
 gratitude." 
 
 The names of eighty-two miners are appended — the 
 majority of them — viz. forty-seven — with their mark ( + ) 
 affixed. 
 
 What the learned world thought may be judged 
 from the following extracts from an article in the 
 Edinburgh Revietv — a periodical not always character- 
 ised by a just appreciation of the work of the Royal 
 Institution professors, for the literature of science con- 
 tains few things more disingenuous or more spiteful than 
 the attack of "the young gentleman from Edinburgh" 
 — afterwards known as Lord Brougham — on Thomas 
 Young when he first made known the undulatory theory 
 of light. In the Review for February, 181 G, Mr. Playfair
 
 204 HUMPHRY DAVY, 
 
 begins his article on Davy's discovery by pointing out 
 that — 
 
 " The safe lamp is a present from philosophy to the arts, and 
 to the class of men furthest removed from the influence of science. 
 The discovery is in no degree the eflfect of accident ; and chance, 
 which comes in for so large a share in the credit of human 
 inventions, has no claims on one which is altogether the result of 
 patient and enlightened research. . . . 
 
 "This is exactly such a case as we should choose to place 
 before Bacon, were he to revisit the earth, in order to give him, 
 in a small compass, an idea of the advancement which philosophy 
 has made, since the time when he had pointed out to her the 
 route which she ought to pursue. The great use of an immediate 
 and constant appeal to experiment cannot be better evinced than 
 in this example. The result is as wonderful as it is important. 
 An invisible and imj^alpable barrier made efiectual against a 
 force the most violent and irresistible in its operations ; and a 
 power, that in its tremendous effects seemed to emulate the 
 lightning and the eartliquake, confined within a narrow^ s])ace, 
 and shut up in a net of the most slender texture,— are facts which 
 must excite a degree of wonder and astonishment from which 
 neither ignorance nor wisdom can defend the beholder. When 
 to this we add the beneficial consequences and the saving of the 
 lives of men and consider that the effects are to remain as long as 
 coal continues to be dug from the bowels of the earth, it may fairly 
 be said that there is hardly in tlie whole compass of art or science a 
 single invention of which one would rather wish to be the author." 
 
 Davy was urged by several of his friends to protect 
 his invention by a patent. Among them was Mr. Buddie, 
 who pointed out to him that he might have received his 
 five or ten thousand a year from it. 
 
 " ^fy good friend," was his answer, "I never thought of such 
 a thing : my sole object was to serve the cause of humanity ; and 
 if I have succeeded, I am amply rewarded in the gratifying re- 
 flection of having done so. . . . More wealth could not increase 
 either my fame or my happiness. It might undoubtedly enable 
 me to put four horses to my carriage ; but what would it avail me 
 to have it said that Sir Humphry drives his carriage and four ? "'
 
 POET AND PHILOSOPHER. 205 
 
 The gratitude of some of the leading colhery pro- 
 prietors for an invention so unselfishly placed at their 
 disposal found expre.ssion in a letter from the chairman 
 of a general meeting of the coal-owners held at New- 
 castle on March 18th, 1816, conveying the terms of a vote 
 of thanks. A few months afterwards it was determined 
 that their appreciation should take a more substantial 
 form, and a general meeting of the coal-owners was held 
 at Wallsend Colliery on August 31st, 1816, at which it 
 was resolved to make Davy a present of plate. 
 
 A note of opposition was at once sounded, and it 
 came from one of the proprietors of the Felling Colliery. 
 Mr. W. Brandling urged that it was not proved that Sir 
 Humphry Davy was the first and true inventor of the 
 safety lamp, or even the discoverer of the principle on 
 which it was based. 
 
 " The conviction," he said, " upon my mind is, that Mr. George 
 Stephenson, of Killingworth Colliery, is the person who first 
 discovered and applied the principle upon which safe lamps may 
 be constructed ; for whether the hydrogen gas is admitted through 
 capillary tubes, or through the apertures of wire-gauze, which 
 may be considered as merely the orifices of capillary tubes, does 
 not, as I conceive, in the least affect the principle." 
 
 The opposition thus started very quickly gathered 
 strength, and by appeals to local prejudice and to 
 ignorance a degree of heat and even animosity was 
 imported into the question, which served no other 
 purpose than to confuse the true issue. At an adjourned 
 meeting of the coal-oAvners held on October 11th, 1816, 
 Mr. William Brandling moved — 
 
 " That the meeting do adjourn, until by a comparison of dates 
 it shall be ascertained whether the merit of the safety lamp 
 belongs to Sir Humphry Davy, or to Mr, George Stephenson."
 
 206 HUMPHRY DAVY, 
 
 Although Mr. Brandhng failed to convince the 
 meeting, it becomes necessary in the interests of truth 
 and justice to examine the grounds upon which George 
 Stephenson — a man of undoubted genius, and of an 
 integrity as blameless as that of Davy, and who, as the 
 pioneer of railway enterprise, subsequently acquired 
 a fame as high and as deserved as that of the great 
 chemist — has claims to be regarded as an inventor of 
 the safety lamp. In equit}', it must be admitted that 
 the question is not merely a question of dates, for in 
 assigning merit in a matter of this kind the calmer 
 judgment of posterity is not wholly swayed by priority 
 of date ; it looks to circumstances, conditions, motives, 
 and it apportions its meed of approbation accordingl}-. 
 The glory of Priestley as an independent discoverer of 
 oxygen is in nowise dimmed by the circumstance that 
 Scheele is now known to have discovered it before him. 
 It cannot be truthfully asserted that Davy was not an 
 independent inventor of the safety lamp. What has to 
 be determined is, has George Stephenson any such 
 claim ? 
 
 Stephenson's claim has been ably and temperately 
 stated by Dr. Smiles in his biography of George 
 Stephenson, in "The Lives of the Engineers," but 
 an unbiassed review of the evidence will convince 
 most people that, however certain it may be that 
 the Killing-worth engine - tenter w^as an independent 
 searcher after a method of protecting a flame, it is 
 equally certain that he w^as not the discoverer of the 
 true principle on which the safety lamp is constructed, 
 and that the lamp associated with his name, although 
 it bears the impress of the crude ideas with which 
 he started, owes its real mei-it to the discoveries of 
 Davy.
 
 POET AND PHILOSOPHER. 207 
 
 This controversy and the feeUng it gave rise to greatly 
 exasperated Davy, and his anger is manifested in his 
 letters at the time. The action of the Brandlings he 
 seemed to think was inspired by the most unworthy 
 motives. As to his rival, he says :— 
 
 "I never heard a word of George Stephenson and his lamps 
 till six weeks after my principle of security had been published ; 
 and the general impression of the scientific men in London, which 
 is confirmed by what I heard at Newcastle, is, that Stephenson 
 had some loose idea floating in his mind, which he had unsuccess- 
 fully attempted to put in practice till after my labours were made 
 known ;— then, he made something like a safe lamp, except that 
 it is not safe, for the apertures below^ are four times, and those 
 above twenty times too large ; but, even if Stephenson's plans 
 had not been posterior to my principles, still there is no analogy 
 between his glass exploding machine, and my metallic tissue 
 jiermeable to light and air, and impermeable to flame." 
 
 On the 25th of September, 1817, as Davy passed 
 through Newcastle on his return from Scotland, the 
 coal-owners who had subscribed to his testimonial 
 invited hiin to a banquet and presented him with the 
 plate, which, in accordance with his wishes, took the 
 form of a dinner-service. " 1 wish," he had said, " that 
 even the plate from which I eat should awaken my 
 remembrance of their liberality, and put me in mind of 
 an event which marks one of the happiest periods of my 
 life." The chairman — his friend Mr. Lambton, afterwards 
 the Earl of Durham, and who was with him under the 
 care of Dr. Beddoes at Bristol — made the presentation in 
 an impressive and felicitous speech, and Davy acknow- 
 ledged it in terms worthy of himself and of the occasion. 
 In a subsequent speech, in response to the toast of his 
 health, he dilated upon the theme always uppermost in 
 his mind, and to which he never neglected the opportunity 
 to give utterance, namely, the benefit of abstract science
 
 208 HUMPHRY DAVY, 
 
 to mankind. He had an admirable moral to which to 
 point, and it was driven home with all his wonted skill 
 and power. 
 
 In what manner this plate, which was valued at 
 about £2,500, Avas subsequently made subservient to 
 the interests of science w^ill be seen hereafter. 
 
 The friends of Stephenson w^ere not wanting in the 
 courage of their convictions or in determination to give 
 substantial proof of it. In the following November they 
 met and resolved that as in their opinion Mr. G. Stephen- 
 son had been the first to discover the principle of safety 
 and to apply it, he was entitled to some reward. Where- 
 upon Davy's friends again assembled in public meeting 
 on November 26th, 1817, and passed resolutions to the 
 effect that in their opinion the merit belonged to 
 Sir Humphry Davy alone, and that Stephenson's latest 
 lamps were evident imitations of those of Sir Humphry 
 Davy ; and they fiu'ther ordered that copies of their 
 resolutions should appear in a number of local, London, 
 and Edinburgh papers, and be sent to the principal 
 owners and lessors of collieries upon the Tyne and Wear. 
 Davy's friends in London also exerted themselves in his 
 behalf, and a copy of resolutions similar in purport to 
 those passed in New^castle, signed by Sir Joseph Banks, 
 P.R.S., Brande, Hatchett, and Wollaston, w^as sent to the 
 newspapers. 
 
 Mr. Brandling and his friends eventually collected 
 about £800 (including 100 guineas which the meeting 
 of October 11th had awarded Stephenson as an acknow- 
 ledgment of his efforts to construct a safe lamp), and 
 gave it, together wdth a silver tankard, to Mr. Stephenson 
 at a public dinner in January, 1818. 
 
 This is not the place to follow the subsequent history 
 of the Davy lamp, or to describe the various modifications
 
 POET AND PHILOSOPHER, 209 
 
 wiiich have grown out of it, or even to show the dangers 
 Avhich a larger experience reveals as latent in its 
 original form. These dangers have in great measure 
 arisen from the development of the very system of 
 ventilation which Buddie himself instituted ; and he 
 who in his joy exultingly exclaimed, " At last, we have 
 subdued this monster ! " has unwittingly contributed to 
 the maleficent activity of the monster in coping with the 
 lamp as Buddie knew it. 
 
 In the course of his numerous trials made to elucidate 
 the principle of the safety lamp, Davy observed certain 
 peculiarities connected with flame which led him to take 
 up the general question. Hence arose a series of investi- 
 gations, which have contributed in no small degree to 
 our knowledge of a particularly difficult and intricate 
 subject. 
 
 He proved, in the first place, that flame must be con- 
 sidered as an explosive mixture of inflammable gas or 
 vapour and air, and that the heat communicated by it 
 must depend upon its mass. The different appearance 
 of a flame of coal gas burning in a jet in the open air, 
 and in his safety lamp mixed with common air, led 
 him to investigate the cause of luminosity in flame. 
 He says : — 
 
 "In reflecting on the circumstances of the two species of 
 combustion I was led to imagine that the cause of the superiority 
 of the light of the strmm of coal gas might be owing to the de- 
 composition oi a part of the gas towards the interior of tlie flame, 
 where the air was in smallest quantity, and the deposition of solid 
 charcoal, which, first by its ignition, and afterwards by its com- 
 bustion, increased in a high degree the intensity of the light.^' 
 
 The principle of the increase of the brilliancy and 
 density of flame by the production and ignition of solid 
 matter explains the appearance of the different parts of
 
 210 HUMPHRY DAVY, 
 
 the flames of burning bodies, and of the blow-pipe 
 flame ; it also explains the intensity of the light of those 
 flames in which fixed solid matter is produced in com- 
 bustion, e.g. phosphorus and zmc in oxygen, potassium 
 in chlorine ; and, on the other hand, the feebleness of 
 the light of flames in which gaseous and volatile matter 
 is alone produced, e.g. hydrogen in oxygen, phosphorus 
 in chlorine. Davy's theory has not been unchallenged, 
 but all subsequent research, when pushed sufficiently 
 far, has shown that, as regards all ordinary illuminating 
 flames, i.e. carbonaceous flames — e.g. coal-gas, oil, paraffin, 
 candle — the presence of solid incandescent carbon is a 
 prime cause of their luminosity. It had been observed 
 that the rarefaction of a mixture of inflammable gases 
 diminishes its combustibility : Davy proved that this 
 diminution was not the result of the removal of pressure 
 jper se, but of the cooling effect thus indirectly produced. 
 Hence, the lower the temperature of ignition of a gas- 
 eous mixture the more it may be rarefied without be- 
 coming uninflammable. In like manner he shows that by 
 heating the gaseous mixture it may be caused to explode 
 at a lower temperature, and that w^hen gases combine by 
 sudden compression, the combination is caused by the 
 heat evolved. Also that the power of an indifferent gas 
 to prevent the explosion of a gaseous mixture depends 
 upon its 2:>ower of abstracting heat, and that the higher 
 the temperature of ignition of the explosive mixture 
 the less is the amount of indifferent gas required to stop 
 the explosion. He proved that it ^vas quite possible to 
 effect the gradual combination of gases without flame — 
 that is, w^ithout the production of heat sufficient to raise 
 the products to incandescence; and he discovered the 
 singular fact that platinum would induce the combina- 
 tion of many inflammable gases and vapours, and on
 
 POET AND PHILOSOPHER. 211 
 
 this circumstance based the construction of his Hanieless 
 lamp. 
 
 In the early summer of 1818, he thus wrote to his 
 mother : — 
 
 "My dear Mother,— We are just going on a very interesting 
 journey. I am first to visit the coal miners of Flanders, who 
 have sent me a very kind letter of invitation and of thanks for 
 saving their lives. We are then going to Austria, where I shall 
 show Vienna to Lady Davy, and then visit the mines ; and 
 lastly, before I return, we are going to visit Naples. 
 
 "I have the commands of his Royal Highness the Prince 
 Regent to make experiments upon some very interesting ancient 
 manuscripts, which I hope to unfold. I had yesterday the honour 
 of an audience from his Royal Highness, and he commissioned 
 me to pursue this object in the most gracious and kind manner. . . . 
 
 " We shall be absent some months. With kindest love to my 
 sisters and my aunts, 
 
 " I am, my dear mother, 
 
 " Your most affectionate son, 
 
 "H. Davy." 
 
 A few months after this visit to the Prince Regent 
 he received the intimation that he had been created a 
 baronet. 
 
 He arrived at Naples in the autumn, and began his 
 researches on the Herculaneum manuscripts referred to 
 in his letter. His first results were sufficiently en- 
 couraging to induce him to make some prolonged 
 experiments with a view of discovering a method of 
 unfolding them. He found that the papyri had suffered 
 not so much from tire, as was believed, as from a gradual 
 change in vegetable structure, similar to that which 
 accompanies the transformation of vegetable matter 
 into limite. He manaofed to unroll a number, and an 
 account of his results was communicated to the Royal 
 Society in 1821. But from the fragmentary character 
 N 2
 
 212 HUMPHRY DAVY, 
 
 ot the papyri these were found to be of Uttle value to 
 literature. Subsequently difficulties were put in his 
 way by the curators of the museum, and ultimately 
 his investigations were abandoned, not without some 
 little exhibition of temper and resentment on his 
 part. 
 
 During his stay at Naples he again interested himself 
 in the volcanic phenomena of Vesuvius, and his observa- 
 tions constitute the material of a paper which was 
 published in the Philosopliiccd Trav^sacfions in 1827, 
 and mau}^ of his personal experiences in connection 
 with the subject are referred to in his last work, 
 " Consolations in Travel." 
 
 He left Naples in the spring of 1819, and after a 
 short stay at the baths of Lucca he went for the summer 
 and early autumn into the Tyrol, whence he again pro- 
 ceeded to Lucca, and on the approach of winter returned 
 to Naples, where he arrived on December 1st. He quitted 
 it in the spring of 1820, and travelled slowly home by 
 the south of France and Bordeaux, arrivinof in Eng^land 
 about the middle of June. On the 19th of that month 
 Sir Joseph Banks died, and so terminated his fort3^-two 
 years' presidency of the Royal Society, to which posi- 
 tion he was elected before Davy was even born. Davy 
 immediately announced his intention of becoming a 
 candidate for the vacant chair, and was elected at the 
 following anniversary meeting on November 30th.
 
 213 
 
 CHAPTER XL 
 
 DAVY AND THE ROYAL SOCIETY — HIS LAST DAYS. 
 
 Davy was elected into the Royal Society in 1803. His 
 certificate describes him as " a gentleman of very con- 
 siderable scientific knowledge, and author of a paper in 
 the Philosophical Transactions." Two years afterwards 
 — that is, in his twenty-seventh year — he was awarded 
 the Copley medal ; from which we may infer either that 
 the Society considered their medal not to have the 
 lustre it now possesses, or that they had a confident 
 belief in the power and coming greatness of the 
 recipient, since the papers for which it w^as given are 
 j^erhaps the least meritorious of Davy's productions. 
 His active interest in the aftairs of the Society led to 
 his election — or rather selection, for the appointment 
 in those days was made by the President — as one of the 
 Secretaries, a position he held until 1812, when he 
 resigned it at the time of his marriage. In 1816 he 
 received the Rumford medal of the Society for his work 
 in connection with flame and the safety-lamp — an award 
 which would have given a peculiar satisfaction to 
 Rumford had he lived to witness it. 
 
 On the death of Sir Joseph Banks the general voice 
 of the Fellows seemed to designate Wollaston as his 
 successor. It was, indeed. Sir Joseph Banks's desire that 
 Dr. Wollaston should be nominated. " So excellent a 
 man," he remarked to Barrow, " of such superior talents, 
 and everyway fitted for the situation. Davy is a lively 
 and talented man, and a thorough chemist ; but . . . 
 he is rather too lively to till the chair of the Royal Society
 
 214 HUMPHRY DAVY, 
 
 with that degree of gravity Avhich it is most becoming 
 to assume." Oh this gravity ! " La gravite," says La 
 Rochefoucauld, " est un mystere du corps, invente pour 
 cacher les defauts de I'esprit." And Sir Joseph had 
 enough of it and to spare. Wollaston — a man of wide 
 knowledge, steady, cautious, and sure, — of cool judgment 
 and sagacious views, as Davy said of him — felt no 
 inclination to accept a position for which his retiring 
 habits and reticent disposition to some extent unfitted 
 him, and he declined to be put in nomination. Davy's 
 attitude is indicated in the following letter to his friend 
 Poole :— 
 
 " I feel that the President's chair, after Sir Joseph, will be no 
 light matter ; and unless there is a strong feeling in the majority 
 of the body that I am the most proper person, I shall not sacrifice 
 my tranquillity for what cannot add to my reputation, though it 
 may increase my power of being useful. 
 
 " I feel it a duty that I owe to the Society to offer myself ; 
 but if they do not feel that tliey want me, (and the most active 
 members, I believe, do) I shall not force myself upon them." 
 
 The "strong feeling in the majority" was shown on the 
 day of election. A few votes were given in favour of Lord 
 Colchester, but Davy's triumph ^vas practically complete. 
 
 He thus ^vrites to Mr. Poole in answer to a letter of 
 congratulation : — 
 
 "I have never needed any motive to attach me to science, 
 which I have pursued with equal ardour under all circumstances, 
 for its own sake, and for the sake of the public, uninfluenced by 
 the fears of my friends, or the calumnies of my enemies. I glory 
 in being in tlie chair of the Pioyal Society, because I think it 
 ought to be a reward of scientific labours, and not an appendage 
 to rank or fortune ; and because it will enable me to be useful in 
 a higher degree in promoting the cause of science." 
 
 Davy was re-elected to the Presidential Chair w^ithout 
 opposition for seven successive years — until, in short, his
 
 POET AND PfHLOSOPHEK. 215 
 
 failing health compelled him to resign. Although the 
 Society owes much to him, he himself derived little 
 satisfaction or pleasure from the position. He soon 
 found, as he anticipated, that the President's Chair, after 
 Sir Joseph, was no light matter ; and there is little doubt 
 that the worries and cares of the office contributed to his 
 untimely death. In bearing, manner, temperament — in 
 fact, in almost every particularity — he was the very oppo- 
 site to his predecessor ; and when the discontent which 
 had slumbered, with an occasional awakening, during Sir 
 Joseph's long reign, and which his firmness, tact, and the 
 weight of his personal character had for the time allayed, 
 broke out, Davy was too impulsive and irascible to deal 
 with it as Banks had done, and matters which a less 
 sensitive or a more impassive man would have unheeded 
 were causes of annoyance and ill-temper to him, and 
 served to add to the spirit of disunion Avhich prevailed. 
 But if he occasionally lacked discretion, he was never 
 wanting in zeal. He laboured incessantly to add to the 
 dignity and usefulness of the Society. He strove in 
 every way to enhance the character of its publications 
 and to raise the standard of Fellowship. His great 
 ambition was to bring the Society into more intimate 
 relation with the State. 
 
 " It was his wish," says his brother, '• to have seen the Royal 
 Society an efficient establishment for all the great practical 
 purposes of science, similar to the college contemplated by =Lord 
 Bacon, and sketclied in his New Atlantis ; having sul)ordinate 
 to it the Royal Observatory at Greenwich for astronomy ; the 
 British Museum, for natural history, in its most extensive 
 acceptation." 
 
 Realising in his own case what such a laboratory as 
 that of the Royal Institution, supported wholly by private 
 liberality, had done for science, it was his desire that
 
 216 HUMPHRY DAVY, 
 
 similar laboratories, amply provided with all means 
 requisite for original inquiry, should be maintained and 
 administered by the Society. But, as his brother adds, 
 the Government, although ready enough to consult him 
 when in want of his knowledge or of that of other Fellows 
 of the Society, was lukewarm and indifferent in matters 
 of science, and he received no effectual support. It is 
 true that towards the end of his Presidency the Society 
 received a mark of Royal favour by the foundation of 
 the Royal Medals in 1825, but from various causes the 
 medals were not actually forthcoiuing until 1833, ^vhen 
 the Duke of Sussex was in the Chair, althous^h no fewer 
 than ten aw^ards had been made in the meantime. In his 
 attention to the personal duties of his office Davy w^as 
 unremitting. His addresses were a feature of the session ; 
 in these he displayed all the ardour, eloquence and 
 poetical fervour, and, it may be added, all the egoism, 
 Avhich characterised his lectures. He delighted to dwell 
 upon the power and dignity of science, its w^orth as a 
 mental instrument, and its value to the national life. 
 In his announcements of the aw^ards of the Society's 
 medals the range of his knowdedge, his power of exposi- 
 tion, and his faculty of felicitous expression found ample 
 opportunity for exercise. He Avas the first President to 
 introduce obituary notices of Fellows, and his elocjes are 
 marked by judgment, taste, and warmth of feeling. 
 
 In everything that related to the dignity and ceremony 
 of his office he w\as, as might have been expected, most 
 punctilious. Although as a rule somewhat careless in 
 dress, he invariably took the chair in full Court dress, 
 sitting covered, and Avith the mace of office— the veritable 
 " bauble " which Cromwell ordered to be removed from 
 the table of the House of the Commons — in front of hun, 
 as is still the custom.
 
 POET AND PHILOSOPHER. 217 
 
 To enhance his dignity we are told tliat he petitioned 
 Government for the Red Ribbon of his predecessor, and 
 it was said that he felt so certain his request would be 
 granted that his name was printed with the coveted 
 letters K.B. appended. 
 
 During the session he followed the practice of Sir 
 Joseph Banks in assembling the Fellows at a weekly 
 conversazione at his house in Lower Grosvenor Street. 
 Subsequently, on his removal to Park Street, these 
 meetings Avere held in the apartments of the Society at 
 Somerset House. Davy's vivacity and conversational 
 powers made the gatherings in the outset a great success, 
 but when the tide of his unpopularity as President set 
 in, the attendance fell off', and they were eventually 
 discontinued. 
 
 During the autumn preceding his first election he 
 spent some time with Scott at Abbots ford, in company 
 with Wollaston and Mackenzie (the Man of Feeling), and 
 Lockhart gives some account of him as the party started 
 on a sporting expedition on a September morning. 
 
 " But the most picturesque figure was the illustrious inventor 
 of the safety lamp. He had come for his favourite sport of 
 angling . , . and his fisherman's costume — a brown hat with 
 flexible brims, surrounded with line upon line, and innumerable 
 fly-hooks ; jack-boots worthy of a Dutch smuggler, and a fustian 
 surtout dabbled with the blood of salmon — made a fine contrsist 
 to the smart jackets, white-cord breeches, and well polished 
 jockey-boots of the less distinguished cavaliers about him. Dr. 
 Wollaston was in black, and with his noble serene dignity of 
 countenance might have passed for a sporting archbisho[). . . . 
 I have seen Sir Humphry in many ])laces, and in company of 
 many different descri])tions ; but never to such advantage as at 
 Abbotsford. His host and he delighted in each other, and the 
 modesty of their mutual admiration was a memorable spectacle. 
 Davy was by nature a poet— and Scott, though anything but a 
 philosopher in tlie modern sense of that term, might, 1 think it
 
 218 HUMPHRY DAVY, 
 
 very likely, have pursued the study of physical scieuce with zeal 
 and success, had he happened to fall in with such an instructor as 
 Sir Humphry would have been to him, in his early life. Each 
 strove to make the other talk — and they did so in turn more 
 charmingly than I have ever heard either on any other occasion 
 whatsoever. Scott in his romantic narratives touched a deeper 
 cord of feeling than usual, when he had such a listener as Davy ; 
 and Davy, when induced to open his views upon any question of 
 scientific interest in Scott's presence, did so with a degree of 
 clear energetic eloc^uence, and with a flow of imagery and illustra- 
 tion, of which neither his habitual tone of table-talk (least of all in 
 London), nor any of his prose writings (except, indeed, the 
 posthumous Consolations in Travel) could suggest an adequate 
 notion. I say his prose writings — for who that has read his 
 sublime quatrains on the doctrine of Spinoza can doubt that he 
 might have united, if he had pleased, in some great didactic 
 poem, the vigorous ratiocination of Dryden and the moral 
 majesty of Wordsworth ? I remember William Laidlaw whisper- 
 ing to me, one night, when their ' wrapt talk ' had kept the 
 circle round the fire until long after the usual bed-time of 
 Abbotsford — ' Gude preserve us ! This is a very superior 
 occasion ! Eh, sirs ! ' he added, cocking his eye like a bird, ' I 
 wonder if Shakspeare and Bacon ever met to screw ilk other up ?'" 
 
 In spite of the many calls upon his time and energies 
 entailed by his duties as President, he still found 
 opportunity to work in his laboratory, and one outcome 
 of his labours was a paper "On the magnetic phenomena 
 produced by electricity," published in the Philosophical 
 Transactions for 1821 — the sequel of a letter addressed 
 to Wollaston and also printed in the Transactions. This 
 memoir was followed a few months later by a communi- 
 cation "On the Electrical phenomena exhibited in vacuo.'' 
 
 These papers, together Avith one on a New Phenom- 
 enon of Electro-Magnetism, published in 1823, are 
 interesting in relation to the development of Oersted's 
 great discover}^, and in connection wdth the subsequent 
 "vvork of Faraday.
 
 POET AND PHILOSOPHER. 219 
 
 With that power of generahsation which is one of the 
 distinguishing marks of his genius, he shows the possible 
 connection of the facts he had observed with the 
 phenomena of terrestrial magnetism. He concludes his 
 first paper by asking 
 
 " whether the magnetism of the earth may not be owing to its 
 electricity, and the variation of the needle to the alterations in 
 the electrical currents of the earth, in consequence of its motions, 
 internal changes, or its relations to solar heat ; and whether the 
 luminous effects of the auroras at the poles are not shown, by 
 these new facts, to depend on electricity. This is evident, that 
 if strong electrical currents be supposed to follow the apparent 
 course of the sun, the magnetism of the earth ought to be such as 
 it is found to be." 
 
 It is perhaps idle to speculate on such a matter, 
 but it is more than likely that had Davy been free 
 from the cares and restraints of office, and from the 
 innumerable distractions inseparable from his position 
 in the social and scientific world of London, he mio-ht 
 have revealed the possibilities in electro-magnetism 
 with the same brilliant success as he had done those 
 of voltaic electricity. He was now at the maturitj^ of 
 his mental power, and had still much of the enthusiasm 
 and ardour which characterised his earliest w^ork, and 
 under serener conditions he might have achieved 
 triumphs not less striking than those reserved for 
 Faraday. His few short papers on the subject indicate 
 that he fully realised the great wealth of the new 
 territory thus opened out to science, and into which he 
 was one of the first to penetrate. But it is sad to think 
 that he might have extended a more generous hand to 
 one who, equally with himself, was striving to enter the 
 new land, and who eventually did enter and for a 
 time possessed it. In the concluding words of Davy's
 
 220 HUMPHRY DAVY, 
 
 last paper on electro-magnetism, we discern in the 
 allusion to Wollaston's idea of the possibility of the 
 rotation of the electro-magnetic wire round its axis 
 " the rift within the lute " in his relations towards his 
 assistant, which widened in the matter of the con- 
 densation of chlorine, and which threatened to become 
 an open breach when Faraday was elected into the 
 Koyal Society. 
 
 The jealousy thus manifested by Davy is one of 
 the most pitifid facts in his historj^. It was a sign 
 of that moral weakness which was at the bottom of 
 much of his unpopularity, and which revealed itself 
 in various ways as his physical strength decayed. 
 
 Greedy as he was of fame — that infirmity of noble 
 minds — many incidents in his life up to this period 
 prove that he was not wanting on occasion in a 
 generous appreciation of the work of his contemporaries, 
 even in fields he might reasonably claim as his own. 
 But, although in his intellectual combats he could show at 
 times a certain knightly courtesy, it must be confessed 
 that he was lacking in the magnanimity which springs 
 from the charity that envieth not. 
 
 In genius he was unquestionably superior to Fara- 
 day; in true nobility of character he was far below 
 him. It is almost impossible to avoid comparing him 
 with Faraday. Indeed it is one of the penalties of his 
 position that he has to be tried by so severe a 
 standard, and it may well be that his good name, 
 which, as Bacon says, is the proper inheritance of the 
 deceased, has suffered unduly in consequence. His 
 true place in the history of science is defined by his 
 discoveries : it is a sad refiection that the lustre of 
 his fame has been dimmed rather than heightened 
 by what has ))een styled the greatest of thern all — .
 
 POET AND PHILOSOPHER. 221 
 
 Faraday. But there has undoubtedly been injustice 
 in the comparisons which have been made. What 
 Davy was to Faraday, Faraday would have been the 
 first to admit. Davy made himself what he was by 
 the sheer force of his unaided genius ; Avhat Faraday 
 became was in large measure due to his connection 
 with Davy, and the germs of his greatest works are 
 to be traced to this association. This fact has been 
 frankly acknowledged by Faraday. To the end of his 
 days he regarded Davy as his true master, preserving 
 to the last, in spite of his knowledge of the moral frailties 
 of Davy's nature, the respect and even reverence which 
 is to be seen in his early lecture notes and in his 
 letters to his friend Abbott. Faraday was not easily 
 roused to anger, but nothing so effectually moved him 
 as any aspersion of Davy's character as a man of 
 science, or any insinuation of ungenerous treatment 
 of himself by Davy. 
 
 At about this time — that is, in the autumn of 1823 
 — Davy gave the first signs of the obscure malady 
 which ultimately occasioned his death. In a letter to 
 his brother, in vvhich he describes his symptoms, we 
 have a reference, also, to his domestic worries : " To add 
 to my annoyances, I find my house, as usual, after the 
 arrangements made by the mistress of it, without 
 female servants ; but in this world we have to suffer 
 and bear, and from Socrates down to humble mortals, 
 domestic discomfort seems a sort of philosophical fate." 
 
 He was able, however, to continue his scientific work, 
 but instead of the fame and applause on which he so 
 confidently counted, he found only disappointment and 
 chagrin. 
 
 In 1823 the Admiralty sought the advice of the 
 Royal Society as to " the best means of securing to the
 
 222 HUMPHRY DAVY, 
 
 service copper of the most durable quality, and such 
 as will preserve the smoothest surface." A com- 
 mittee of the Society was appointed, under Davy's 
 direction, to consider the question, which ultimately 
 resolved itself into one of preventing the corrosion 
 of the metal. In this matter Davy's special experience 
 proved most useful, and, as a fact, he took all the 
 experimental part of the inquiry upon himself, and 
 with what result may be seen from the following letter 
 to his brother : — 
 
 "Firle, JanJ' 30, 1824. 
 
 " I liave lately made a discovery of which you will for many 
 reasons be glad. I have found a complete method of preserving 
 the copper sheeting of ships, which now readily corrodes. It is 
 by rendering it negatively electrical. My results are of the most 
 beautiful and unequivocal kind : a mass of tin renders a surface 
 of copper 200 or 300 times its own size sufficiently electrical to 
 have no action on sea water. 
 
 " I was led to this discovery by principle, as you will easily 
 imagine ; and the saving to government and the country by it will 
 be immense. I am going to apply it immediately to the navy. I 
 might have made an immense fortune by a patent for this dis- 
 covery, but I have given it to my country ; for in everything con- 
 nected with interest, I am resolved to live and die at least ^sans 
 tdche: " 
 
 His method of rendering the copper negatively 
 electric consisted in affixing to the sheets a number 
 of short bars of iron or zinc, properly curved to the 
 shape of the vessel In this way the " protectors," 
 as the zinc or iron bars were caUed, gradually corroded, 
 whilst the copper remained unattacked. But, as Dr. 
 Paris remarks, the truth of the theory was completely 
 established by the failure of the remedy. The ship's 
 bottom became so foul by the adhesion of shells and 
 Aveed that her speed was greatly impeded, and after 
 a number of trials, in the course of which a steam
 
 POET AND PHILOSOPHER. 223 
 
 vessel was placed at his disposal, in which he made 
 a voyage to Norway and back, the Admiralty directed 
 the protectors to be removed. To add to his mortifica- 
 tion, the order was issued immediately after a com- 
 munication to the Royal Society announcing the 
 complete success of his plan. Throughout the whole 
 of this business he was exposed to a number of 
 vexatious attacks, which greatly embittered him and 
 reacted disastrously upon his health and character. 
 So long as there was the hope of success and the 
 prospect of reward his claims to the originality of the 
 invention were contested; no sooner was the project 
 abandoned than he was assailed in the periodical press 
 and made an object of sarcasm and censure. As 
 might be imagined, his philosophy was not proof 
 against such attacks. He wrote to his friend 
 Children — 
 
 "A mind of much sensibility might be disgusted, and one 
 might be induced to say why should I labour for pubUc objects, 
 merely to meet abuse? — I am irritated by them more than I 
 ought to be ; but I am getting wiser every day — recollecting 
 Galileo, and the times when philosophers and public benefactors 
 were burnt for their services." 
 
 During the autumn his indisposition increased, and 
 his home letters show that the wonderful elasticity of 
 spirit, which, as his brother remarks, had hitherto carried 
 him lightly and joyously through life, over all its rubs 
 and cares, now seemed to flag. He had an ailing winter, 
 and with the spring came news of his mother's illness. 
 He could only write with difficulty : — " If it please God, 
 I will certainly be at Penzance the last week in October 
 or the first in November." He never saw her again ; she 
 rallied for a time, but died somewhat suddenly in
 
 224 HUMPHRY DAVY, 
 
 September. Davy never really recovered from the shock 
 of her death. It was with the greatest difficulty that 
 he was able to preside at the anniversary meeting of the 
 Society on the ensuing St. Andrew's Day. The effort was 
 so marked that those near him feared he was on the 
 verge of apoplexy, and he was too ill to attend the 
 dinner. A few weeks later he had a slight attack of 
 paralysis, from which he only slowly recovered. His 
 good friend Dr. Babington^ ordered him abroad, away 
 from " the convivial epicurean habits of London society," 
 and from " the many annoyances and causes of injurious 
 excitement to which he was exposed at home." He set 
 out with his brother John, in the depth pf winter — " a 
 dreary beginning of a dreary journey." He avoided 
 Paris ; he would not even pass through it, so appre- 
 hensive was he that he should not escape from " the 
 allurement— or, rather, excitement — of its society" if 
 he stopped there. The roads were in a wretched state, 
 the country covered with snow, and " no object to arrest 
 the eje, except a village here and there rising out of the 
 white waste, or a distant steeple, or some solitary tree." 
 The cold was intense, and once or twice the travellers 
 were benighted, the wheels of their carriage being locked 
 in the frozen ruts. As they passed through the to^^ms 
 Davy, who seemed to cling to life with a passionate 
 tenacity, Avould visit the- churches, and, falling on his 
 knees, would offer up a silent prayer. They crossed 
 Mont Cenis in a storm of wind and amidst drifting 
 snow, and with great difficulty got down to Susa on 
 
 * " Babington, the best and warmest-hearted friend, the kindest 
 husband and father, and perhaps the most disinterested physician of 
 his time ; with good talents, and a fine tact, and a benevolence which 
 created sympathy for him wherever he appeared, and I believe often 
 cured his patients."
 
 POET AND PHILOSOPHER. 225 
 
 sledges. The snow in Lombardy was deeper than in 
 the passes of the Alps, and even at Ravenna, where they 
 arrived in the first week of March, it was still to be seen 
 in the ditches. Here his brother left him, his duties as 
 an army surgeon calling him to Corfu. In spite of 
 severe weather, the discomforts of travelling at such a 
 time, and the forced delays at wretched inns, Davy 
 gradually improved; his brother noted before he left 
 that he was certainly stronger, less paralytic, and more 
 active. He wrote to his friend Poole : — 
 
 " I am, thank God, better, but still very weak, and wholly 
 unfit for any kind of business and study. I have, however, con- 
 siderably recovered the use of all the limbs that were affected ; 
 and as my amendment has been slow and gradual, I hope in time 
 it may be complete. But I am leading the life of an anchorite, 
 obliged to abstain from fiesh, wine, business, study, experiments, 
 and all things that I love ; but this discipline is salutary, and for 
 the sake of being able to do something more for science, and I 
 hope for humanity, I submit to it, believing that the Great 
 Source of intellectual being so wills it for good." 
 
 He tells Poole that he had chosen Ravenna — this spot 
 of the declining Empire of Rome — as one of solitude and 
 repose, and as out of the way of travellers and in a good 
 cHmate. He was interested, too, in its many associations 
 with his friend Byron, with Dante, and in its old-world 
 memories of Theodoric and his lost legions. How the 
 place affected him in his state of physical enfeeblement, 
 but with his mind chastened and purified, ma}^ be seen 
 in the character of much that he wrote there, and 
 particularly in his poems, with their many notes of 
 sadness and hope, trust and resignation. He was lodged 
 in the Apostolical Palace by the kindness of the Vice- 
 Legate — a graceful, learned, and accomplished man, with 
 whom he contracted a warm friendship. He says he
 
 226 HUMPHRY DAVY, 
 
 could not speak of his goodness without tears of gratitude 
 in his eyes, and Avith this exception and an occasional visit 
 from the Countess Guiccioli he had no societ}^ Most 
 of his time was spent in riding amidst the pines and 
 junipers, or following the petzardone among the marshes 
 of La Classe ; or in reading and in the study of natural 
 histor3\ 
 
 " The natural strength of his mind," says his brother, " was 
 very clearly manifested under these circumstances. Dependent 
 entirely on his own resources ; no friend to converse with ; no one 
 with him to rely on for aid, and in a foreign country, without 
 even a medical adviser ; destitute of all the amusements of 
 society ; without any of the comforts of home— month after 
 month, he kept on his course, wandering from river to river, from 
 one mountain lake and valley to another, in search of favourable 
 climate ; amusing himself with his gun and rod, when sufficiently 
 strong to use them, with ' speranza ' for his rallying word." 
 
 With the approach of spring he passed by Avay of 
 Gorizia into lUyria, and, as the heat increased, into 
 Upper Austria, Bavaria, and Switzerland, and back, in 
 the late summer, to Illyria. His journals give a fairly 
 full account of his movements and of the manner in 
 which he spent his time; they also indicate his state 
 of mind, the alternations of hope and despondency, and 
 his constant struggles with the insidious disease which 
 was gradually exhausting his physical powers. 
 
 He wrote to his wife from Laybach : — 
 
 " You once talked of passing this winter in Italy : but I hope 
 your plans will be entirely guided by the state of your health and 
 feelings. Your society would undoubtedly be a very great re- 
 source to me, but I am so well aware of my own present unfitness 
 for society, that I would not have you risk the chance of an un- 
 comfortable moment on my account I often read Lord Byron's 
 Euthanasia: it is the only case, probably, where my feelings 
 perfectly coincide with what his were."
 
 POET AND PHILOSOPHER. 227 
 
 At times the feeling of despair was so intense that he 
 actually seemed apprehensive of suicide. It was probably 
 under the influence of such a fear that he wrote in his 
 journal that he had too strong a faith in the optimism of 
 the system of the universe ever to accelerate his dissolution. 
 
 " I have been and am taking a care of my health which I fear 
 it is not worth ; but which, hoping it may please Providence to 
 preserve me for wise purposes, I think it my ihity" 
 
 On another occasion he wrote to Lady Davy : — 
 
 " I am glad to hear of your perfect re-establishment, and with 
 health and the society of London, which you are so well fitted to 
 ornament and enjoy, your ' viva la felicita ' is much more secure 
 than any hope belonging to me." 
 
 Subsequently he wrote : — 
 
 " Should your feelings or inclination lead you to the land of 
 the sun, I need not say what real pleasure it would give me to 
 enjoy your society ; but do not make any sacrifice on my account." 
 
 A couple of days afterwards he wrote : — 
 
 "I hope I shall have the delight of seeing you at Baden Baden. 
 If not, I shall come to England. . . . Pray let my physicians 
 know what an obedient patient I am. . . . God bless you, 
 my dear Jane ! " 
 
 Towards the end of September, and at Baden, the 
 solitary man wrote : — 
 
 " I fear my light of life is burnt out, and that there remains 
 nothing but stink, and smoke and dying snufF. . . . Dubito 
 fortissime restauraUonem meum. — Decidedly worse and have 
 decide I to go home immediately." 
 
 At Mayence he informed his wife that he trusted 
 soon to see her in Park Street. He had a lingering hope 
 that she might still be induced to cross the water, and 
 that he might meet her at Calais. 
 
 "I think you will find me altered in many things— with a 
 heart still alive to value and reply to kindness, and a disposition 
 o2
 
 228 HUMPHRY DAVY, 
 
 to recur to the brighter moments of my existence of fifteen years 
 ago, and with a feeling that though a burnt-out flame can never 
 be rekindled, a smothered one may be. ... I hope it is a 
 good omen that my paper by accident is cndeur de rose." 
 
 He had previously determined to resign the chair of 
 the Ro^^al Society, and announced his decision in a letter 
 to his old friend Davies Gilbert, the treasurer. To his 
 wife he wrote : — 
 
 " If I had perfectly recovered I know not what I should have 
 done with respect to the P. under the auspices of a new and more 
 enlightened government ; but ray state of health renders the 
 resignation ahsolutely necessary. To attempt business this year 
 would be to prepare for another attack." 
 
 He is pleased with the idea that Sir Robert Peel, 
 who had "no scientific glory to awaken jealousy," may 
 be his successor ; and he resumes : — 
 
 " The prosperity of the Royal Society will always be very dear 
 to me, and there is no period of my life to which I look back with 
 more real satisfaction than the six years of labour for the interests 
 of that body. I never ivas, and never could be, unpopular with 
 the active and leading members, as six unanimous elections proved ; 
 
 but because I did not choose the Society to be a tool of Mr. 's 
 
 journal jobs, and resisted the admission of improper members, I 
 had some enemies, who were listened to and encouraged from 
 
 Lady 's chair. I shall not name them, but as Lord Byron 
 
 has said ' my curse shall be forgiveness.' " 
 
 He arrived in London in the first week in October, 
 and towards the end of the month he wrote to his friend 
 Poole that he had consulted all the celebrated men who 
 had written upon or studied the nervous system. 
 
 " They all have a good opinion of my case, and they all order 
 absolute repose for at least twelve months longer, and will not 
 allow me to resume my scientific duties or labours at present ; 
 and they insist u^jDon my leaving London for the next three or 
 four months and advise a residence in the West of England."
 
 POET AND PHILOSOPHER. 229 
 
 Poole promptly asked him clown to Nether Stowey. 
 His friend relates that although his bodily infirmity was 
 very great and his sensibility painfully acute — (" Here 
 I am, the ruin of what I was ! " he exclaimed on his 
 arrival) — his mind still showed much of its wonted 
 ardour and vigour. He spent his mornings in literary 
 work, mainly on his " Salmonia; or, Days of Fly-fishing," 
 a philosophical disquisition on angling, published in 
 1828, and which, despite the rollicking banter of Chris- 
 topher North, passed through five or six editions. Davy 
 had the ambition to do for fly-fishing what Walton had 
 done for the humbler art of bottom-fishing. But Davy's 
 book, although constructed on much the same lines as 
 " The Compleat Angler," lacks every feature which has 
 made honest Izaak's work immortal — the quaint sim- 
 plicity, the homely wit, the delicate humour, the delight- 
 ful charm — the reflection, in a word, of the mental 
 features of a lovable man blessed with the ornament of 
 a meek and quiet spirit. The egotism and garrulity of 
 Piscator are delicious ; the loquacity and self-confidence 
 of Davy's Halieus are tiresome to the last degree. We 
 are bored with his long didactic speeches, his conscious- 
 ness of superiority, and his cheap and taw^dry sentiment. 
 It was a poor return for all the kindness and skill of 
 Babington, that his patient should have seen in such a 
 creation the character of one of the most charming and 
 estimable of men. 
 
 More than one mention has been made in this 
 biography of what Maria Edgeworth termed Davy's 
 " little madness." Indeed, the love of anoflins: amounted 
 to a passion with him ; and he told Ticknor that he 
 thought if he were obliged to renounce either fishing 
 or philosophy he should find the struggle of his choice 
 pretty severe. Whenever he could escape from tow^n
 
 230 HUMPHRY DAVY, 
 
 he would hie him to some favourite stream and spend 
 the day in the practice of his beloved art. He 
 was known to have posted a couple of hundred miles 
 for the sake of a day's fishing, and to have returned 
 contented, although he had never a rise. When con- 
 fined to Albemarle Street, and chafing at his inability 
 to get away, he would sometimes turn over the leaves 
 of his fly-book and derive much consolation from the 
 sight of his hackles and harles, his green-tails, dun cuts, 
 red spinners, and all the rest of the deadly paraphernalia 
 associated in his mind with the memories of pleasant 
 days and exciting combats. He greatly prided himself 
 on his skill, and his friends were often secretly amused 
 to notice his ill-concealed chagrin when a brother- angler 
 outvied him in the day's catch or in the narration of 
 some piscatorial triumph. They were amused, too, at 
 the costume which he was wont to don on such occasions 
 — his broad-brimmed, low-crowned hat, lined with green 
 and garnished with flies ; his grey -green jacket, with a 
 multitude of pockets for the various articles of his 
 angling gear ; his wading-boots and knee-caps — all made 
 up an attire as original as it was picturesque. In these 
 fishing expeditions he enjoyed some of the happiest 
 hours of his life ; at such times he threw oft' his cares and 
 annoyances ; he was cheerful even to hilarity, and never 
 was his conversation more sprightly or more entertaining. 
 In spite of the thoughtful care of his friend Poole, 
 Davy's health showed no material improvement, and at 
 times his feeling of despondency was very great. His 
 confidence in his mental powers, however, never forsook 
 him. He said on one occasion : — 
 
 " I do not wish to live, as far as I am personally concerned ; 
 but I have views which I could develope, if it please God to save 
 my life, which would be useful to science and to mankind."
 
 POET AND PHILOSOPHER. 231 
 
 "His inherent love of the laboratory (if I may so speak)," says 
 Mr. Poole, " was manifested in a manner which much interested 
 me at the moment. On his visiting with me a gentleman in this 
 neighbourhood who had offered to let him his house, and who has 
 an extensive philosophical apparatus, particularly complete in 
 electricity and chemistry, he was fatigued b\^ the journey ; and 
 as we were walking round the house very languidly, a door 
 opened, and we were in the laboratory. He threw his eyes round 
 the room, which brightened in the action— a glow came over his 
 countenance, and he appeared himself twenty years ago. He 
 was surprised and delighted and seemed to say, 'This is the 
 beloved theatre of my glory.' I said ' You are pleased.' He 
 shook his head and smiled." 
 
 In the spring he determined to quit England for his 
 beloved Illyria, and towards the end of May arrived by 
 easy stages at Wurzen. In his journal he wrote : — 
 
 " May 22. To my old haunt, Wurzen, which is sublime in the 
 majesty of Alpine grandeur ; the snowy peaks of the Noric Alps 
 rising above thunder clouds, whilst spring in all its bloom and 
 beauty blooms below; its buds and blossoms adorning the face 
 of Nature under a frowning canopy of dark clouds, like some 
 Judith beauty of Italy — a Transteverene brow and eye, and a 
 mouth of Venus and the Graces." 
 
 From Aussee he wrote to his brother : — 
 
 " It suits me better to wile away my days in this solitary state 
 of existence, in the contemplation of Nature, than to attempt to 
 enter into London society, where recollections call up the idea of 
 what I was, and the want of bodily power teaches me what a 
 shadow I am. ... I am now going to IschI, where there are 
 warm salt baths to try if they will renovate the muscular powers 
 of my arm and leg. ... I wish to go to Trieste in October, 
 to make the experiments I have long projected on the torpedo." 
 
 He derived some little benefit from the treatmeat at 
 Ischl, and in October went to Trieste, where he carried 
 out his projected experiments on the electricity of the 
 torpedo, the results of which he communicated to the 
 Royal Society. This paper was the last of his scientific
 
 232 HUMPHRY DAVY. 
 
 memoirs. In the middle of November he arrived at 
 Rome, where he learnt that WoUaston also had been 
 stricken with paralysis* On February 6th, 1829, he 
 wrote to Poole : — 
 
 " I am here wearing away the winter, — a ruin amongst ruins ! 
 ... I hope you got a copy of my little trifle ' Salmonia.' . . . 
 I write and philosophise a good deal, and have nearly finished 
 a work with a higher aim than the little book I speak of above, 
 which I shall dedicate to you. It contains the essence of 
 my philosophical opinions, and some of my poetical reveries. It 
 is like the ' Salmonia,' an amusement of my sickness ; but ' paulo 
 majora canamiis.^ I sometimes think of the lines of Waller, and 
 seem to feel their truth — 
 
 ' The soul's dark cottage, batter'd and decay'd, 
 Lets in new light through chinks that Time has made.' " 
 
 The work to which he here alludes, and which he 
 did not live to see printed, was his "Consolations in 
 Travel ; or, The Last Days of a Philosopher." He had 
 practically finished it at the date of his letter, and had 
 written in his journal : " Si moro, spero che ho fatto il 
 mio dovere, e che mia vita, non e state vano ed inutile." 
 On February 20th he was seized with a new attack, and 
 his right side was quite powerless. On the 23rd he 
 dictated the following letter to his brother, who was 
 then at Malta : — 
 
 " Notwithstanding all my care and discipline, and ascetic 
 living, I am dying from a severe attack of palsy, which has seized 
 the whole of the body with the exception of the intellectual organ 
 . . . the weakness increases and a few hours or days will 
 finish my mortal existence. I shall leave my bones in the Eternal 
 City. I bless God that I have been able to finish all my philo- 
 sophical labours. ... I hope you will have the goodness to 
 see these works published. ... I have given you, by a 
 codicil to my will, the copyright of these books. . . . God 
 bless you, my dear John ! May you be happy and prosperous ! " 
 * He died on December 22nd, 1828.
 
 POET AND PHILOSOPHER. 233 
 
 The letter was signed by him, and he added in his 
 own handwriting, only just legible, " Come as quickly as 
 possible." 
 
 Two days afterwards he dictated another letter, in 
 which he gives minute directions concerning some exper- 
 iments on the torpedo which he wished his brother to 
 make. He describes the apparatus which may be em- 
 ployed and indicates where the torpedoes may be procured, 
 and he concludes: "Pray do not neglect this subject, 
 which I leave to you as another legacy." It was the 16th 
 of March before Dr. Davy could reach Rome. The 
 stricken man's pale and emaciated countenance lighted 
 up as he saw his brother at his bedside. He spoke as if he 
 had only a few hours to live, and rejected all expectation 
 and hope of recover}^ saying he was sure his career was run. 
 
 Under the care and medical skill of Dr. Davy, 
 however, he rallied. 
 
 " As he mended," says his brother, " the sentiment of gratitude 
 to Divine Providence was overflowing, and he was most amiable 
 and affectionate in manner. He often inculcated the propriety, 
 in regard to happiness, of the subjugation of self, in all selfishness, 
 as the very bane of comfort, and the most active cause of the 
 dereliction of social duties, and the destruction of good and 
 friendly feelings ; and he expressed frequently the intention, if his 
 life were spared, of devoting it to purposes of utility (seeming to 
 think lightly of what he had already done), and to the service of 
 his friends, rather than to the pursuits of ambition, pleasure, or 
 happiness, with himself for their main object." 
 
 But, Dr. Davy adds : — 
 
 " Now that he was intent on recovery, he no longer took the 
 same interest in my examination of the torpedo, as if he looked 
 forward to the time when he should be able to enter jnto the 
 investigation actively again." 
 
 At the beginning of April Lady Davy arrived from 
 England, and he had so far improved that it was decided
 
 234 HUMPHRY DAVY, 
 
 to remove him to Geneva. By easy stages, and occasional 
 halts of two or three days at the more interesting places, 
 he arrived at Geneva on May 28th. He bore the journey 
 well : the delightful freshness of the spring, the bursting 
 vegetation, the many streams, the pure mountain air, and 
 the indescribable influence of Alpine scenery, seemed to 
 invigorate him. On his arrival at the inn (" La Couronne ") 
 he walked to the window, looked out upon the lake, 
 and expressed a longing wish to throw a fly upon its 
 blue waters. Lady Davy here broke to him the news of 
 the death of his old friend and colleague, Thomas Young. 
 This, coming so soon after the loss of Wollaston, pro- 
 foundly affected him. During the evening he struck 
 his elbow against the projecting arm of the sofa on 
 which he sat ; the blow gave him great pain, and seemed 
 to have the most extraordinary effect. He was got to 
 bed as soon as possible. He took an anodyne, and 
 desired to be left alone. Soon after midnight he was 
 found to be insensible, and shortly before three on the 
 morning of the 29th of May he died. In his will he had 
 enjoined that he should be buried where he died : 
 Natura curat suas reliqaias, he had written. 
 
 The City gave him a public funeral, and repre- 
 sentatives of every institution in the town followed his. 
 remains to their resting-place in the cemetery at Plain- 
 Palais. A simple monument, with the following 
 inscription, marks the spot: — 
 
 HiC JACET 
 
 HUMPHRY DAVY 
 
 Eques Magn.e Britanxi-e Baroxetus 
 Olim Regi^ SociET. Loxdix.Pr.i-;ses 
 SuMMrs Arcaxorum Natl'rje ixdigator. 
 Natus Pexzaxti-e CoirxuBiExsuM XVII Decemr. MDCCLXXVIII. 
 Obiit Gexev.e Helvetiorum XXIX Mai MDCCCXXIX.
 
 POET AND PHILOSOPHER. 235 
 
 His widow placed a tablet to his memory in the 
 north transept of Westminster Abbey. His baronetcy 
 died with him. By his will he directed that the service 
 of plate given to him by the coal-owners should, after 
 Lady Davy's death, pass to his brother, and that in the 
 event of his having no heirs in a position to make use of 
 it, it should be melted and given to the Royal Society, 
 " to found a medal to be given annually for the most 
 important discovery in chemistry anywhere made in 
 Europe or Anglo- America." This is the origin of the 
 Davy Medal which has been awarded annually by the 
 Society since 1877. 
 
 Many eloquent tributes have been paid to the genius 
 and labours of Davy, and some of these eulogies are 
 among the most brilliant passages in the literature of 
 science. One of the best-known is from the gifted 
 pen of Dr. Henry in the preface to his " Elements of 
 Chemistry," published soon after Davy's death. He 
 thus sketches the more striking characteristics of the 
 great chemist. 
 
 "Davy," he says, "was imbued with the spirit, and was a 
 master of the practice, of the inductive logic ; and he has left us 
 some of the noblest examples of the efficacy of that great instru- 
 ment of human reason in the discovery of truth. He applied it 
 not only to connect classes of facts of more limited extent and 
 importance but to develope great and comprehensive laws, which 
 embrace phenomena that are almost universal to the natural 
 world. In explaining these laws, he cast upon them the illumina- 
 tions of his own clear and vivid conceptions ; — he felt an intense 
 admiration of the beauty, order and harmony which are con- 
 spicuous in the perfect chemistry of Nature ;— and he expressed 
 these feelings with a force of eloquence which could issue only 
 from a mind of the highest powers and of the finest sensibilities." 
 
 Not less forcible or eloquent, although hardly so well 
 known, is the estimate in Silliman's American Journal
 
 236 HUMPHRY DAVY, 
 
 of Science and Arts for January, 1830. After an analysis 
 of Davy's mental attributes the writer concludes : — 
 
 "We look upon Sir Humphry Davy as having afforded a 
 striking example of what the Romans called a man of good fortune; 
 — whose success, even in their view, was not however the result 
 of accident, but of ingenuity and wisdom to devise plans, and of 
 skill and industry to bring them to a successful issue. He was 
 fortunate in his theories, fortunate in his discoveries, and fortunate 
 in living in an age sufficiently enlightened to appreciate his merits ; 
 —unlike, in this last particular, to Newton, who (says Voltaire), al- 
 though he lived forty years after the publication of the Trindpia^ 
 had not, at the time of his death, twenty readers out of Britain. 
 Some might even entertain the apprehension that so extensive a 
 popularity among his contemporaries is the presage of a short-lived 
 fame ; but his reputation is too intimately associated with the 
 eternal laws of Nature to suffer decay ; and the name of Davy, 
 like those of Archimedes, Galileo and Newton, which grow^ greener 
 by time, will descend to the latest posterity." 
 
 Such, then, is the story of a life of fruitful endeavour 
 and splendid achievement ; — the record of one who, if 
 not wholly good or truly noble, has left a track of 
 greatness in his passage through the world.
 
 I]S"DEX, 
 
 Address from Whitehaven colliers 
 
 to Davy, 203 
 Agriculture, Davy's lectures on, 
 
 94 et seq. ; 165 
 Alkali metals, Isolation of, 114, 
 
 116; their properties, 118 
 Alkaline earths. Decomposition of, 
 
 126 
 Ammonia : Davy's conjectures as 
 
 to its nature, 121 
 Ammonium amalgam : Davy's 
 
 views as to its nature, 127 
 Ammonium nitrate. Modes of de- 
 composition of, 43 
 "Annual Anthology, The," 18, 57 
 Apreece, Mrs., 159, 162 
 
 Bahington, Dr., his character, 
 
 224 
 Bakerian lecture, Origin of, 100 
 Banks, Sir Joseph, his opinion of 
 the Eoyal Institution, 80 ; his 
 account of Davy's courtship, 
 162; his opinion of Davy, 213; 
 death of, 212 
 Beddoes, Mrs., 28 
 — — , Thomas, 23 ; letters to 
 Davies Gilbert, 24, 25 ; engages 
 Davy as chemist to the Pneu- 
 matic Institution, 25 ; his testi- 
 mony to Davy's originality, 32 ; 
 his end, 65 
 Bernard, Thomas, 66, 67, 80 
 Berthollet, Davy's account of, 179; 
 his theory of the nature of 
 chlorine, 136, 144 
 Berzelius, Jakob, 94, 109, 143, 154 
 Bonaparte's medal for discoveries 
 in galvanism awarded to Davy, 
 109 
 
 Borlase, Bingham, 15, 25 
 
 Boron, Isolation of, 129 
 
 Brande, William Thomas, succeeds 
 
 Davy as Professor of Chemistry 
 
 in the Eoyal Institution, 176 
 Brownrigg, Lady, her account of 
 
 Davy, 111 
 Buddie, John, 194, 195, 201, 204, 
 
 209 ; letter to Davy, 201 
 
 Cardew, Dr., Master of Truro 
 Grammar School, his opinion of 
 Davy as a boy, 12 
 
 Chlorine, Discovery of, by Scheele, 
 136 ; its nature, 134 et seq. ; con- 
 troversy as to its nature, 143 ; 
 its bleaching power explained, 
 149 ; its liquefaction by North- 
 more, 149 ; by Faraday, 149 
 
 compounds, Davy's nomen- 
 clature of, 149 
 
 Chlorophosphamide, 138 
 
 Coal-owners' Testimonial to Davy, 
 205, 208 
 
 Coleridge, Samuel Taylor, his 
 opinion of Davy, 18, 55, 57, 88; 
 letters to Davy, 57, 58, 59 ; letter 
 to Purkis, 88 
 
 Colouring matters of the Ancients, 
 Investigation of, by Davy, 185, 
 187 
 
 " Consolations in Travel," 232 
 
 Copley medal awarded to Davy, 
 213 
 
 Cory ton, Mr., Master of Penzance 
 Grammar School, his methods of 
 tuition, 12, 13, 53 
 
 Cottle, Amos, his account of Davy, 
 55 
 
 Cuvier, Davy's account of, 178
 
 238 
 
 INDEX. 
 
 Davy : His birth, 9 ; becomes 
 chemist to the Pneumatic Insti- 
 tution, 25 ; goes to the Royal 
 Institution, 63 ; his views on the 
 Atomic Theory, 146, 147 ; mar- 
 riage, 163; is knighted, 164; is 
 elected a member of the Institute, 
 179; is created a baronet, 211; 
 his illness, 221, 224 ; death, 234 ; 
 burial, 234 ; his character, 23o, 
 236 ; as an angler, 158, 159, 229 ; 
 as a lecturer, 71, 73 et seq., 84, 
 86 ; as a man of society, 87, 115 ; 
 as a poet, 17, 18, 19, 125, 179 
 
 Davy's letters : To Mrs. Apreece, 
 159, 160, 161; to Mr. Children, 
 168, 223 ; to Lady Davy, 226, 
 227, 228 ; to Dr. John Davy, 
 163, 165, 183, 222, 231, 232 ; 
 to Faraday, 174; to Mr. Da vies 
 Gilbert, 29, 40, 51, 63, 85, 228; 
 to Dr. Gray, 195, 197 ; to Rev. 
 Mr. Hodgson, 196 ; to Dr. Hope, 
 62, 69; to his mother, 13, 26, 
 27, 52, 62, 79, 158, 163, 176, 
 188, 211, 223; to Mr. Poole, 88, 
 214, 225, 228, 232; to his sisters, 
 116 
 
 nomenclature of chlorine com- 
 pounds, 149 
 
 Davy medal. The, 235 
 
 — — , Edmund, cousin of Humphry 
 Davy, 114, 123, 133 
 
 , Edmund, grandfather of 
 
 Humphry Davy, 10 
 
 , Lady, her character, 189, 
 
 190, 191 
 
 , Robert, father of Humphry 
 
 Davy, 9, 10 
 
 Diamond, Davy's investigation of 
 nature of, 184 
 
 Dibdin, Dr., his address on the 
 occasion of Davy's illness, 123 
 
 Edgeworth, Maria, her account of 
 the respiratory action of nitrous 
 oxide, 41 ; her account of Davy's 
 visit to Ireland, 112, 158; on 
 Mrs. Apreece, 165 
 
 Electro-chemical Theory of Davy, 
 106 
 
 Electrolytic decomposition of water. 
 Discovery of, by Nicholson and 
 Carlisle, 90 
 
 Electro-magnetism, Davy's contri- 
 butions to, 218 
 
 "Elements of Chemical Philos- 
 ophy," Davy's, 167 
 
 Euchlorine, 142, 151 
 
 Faraday, Michael, attends Davy's 
 lectures, 143 ; joins the Royal 
 Institution, 173; his letters to 
 Abbott concerning Davj^, 188, 
 189 ; his relations to Davy, 220 
 
 " Fidelissima," her sonnets to Davy, 
 78 
 
 Firedamp explosions, 193 
 
 Flame, Davy's investigations on, 
 209 
 
 Fluorine, Attempts to isolate, by 
 Davy, 170 
 
 theory, The, 172 et seq. 
 
 *' Fuming liquor of Cadet," Davj^'s 
 investigation of, 132 
 
 Garnett Thomas, first lecturer in 
 
 the Royal Institution, 68 
 Gay Lussac, Davy's account of, 
 
 179 
 Gilbert, Davies (Davies Giddy), 
 
 21, 22 
 Gray, Rev. Dr., his association 
 
 with Davy, 195, 197 
 
 Heat a mode of motion, 32 
 "Heat, Light, and the Combina- 
 tions of Light," 30, 37 
 Hippesley, Sir John, 69, 80 
 Hodgson, Rev. Mr., his association 
 
 with Davy, 194, 196, 201 
 Homer, Francis, his opinion of 
 
 Davj' as a lecturer, 77 
 Humboldt, Davy's account of, 178 
 Hydrogen chloride. Synthesis of, 
 by Cruickshank, 139 
 
 lodates, Davy's investigation of, 
 184
 
 INDEX. 
 
 239 
 
 Iodine, Discovery of, by Courtois, 
 180 ; investigation of, by Clement, 
 180; by Davy, 180 et seq.; by 
 Gay Lussac, 180 
 
 Ireland, Davy's views on, 112; his 
 lectures in, 156 et seq. 
 
 Lavoisier's " Elements " — charac- 
 ter as a text-book, 19 
 
 *' Liquor of Libavius," Action of 
 ammonia on, studied by Davj', 
 137 
 
 Lockhart's account of Davy, 110, 
 217 
 
 Nitrogen believed by Davy to be 
 a compound, 132 et seq, 
 
 chloride, Investigation of, by 
 
 Davy, 168 ; its explosion injures 
 Davy, 169 
 
 oxides, Davy's work on, 42, 
 
 45 
 
 Nitrosulphonic acid, 154 
 
 Nitrous oxide, discovery of its 
 respirability, 41, 46, 49 ; com- 
 position of, 45 ; effect of breath- 
 ing, 49 
 
 Oxymuriatic acid, Davy's memoir 
 on, 134 
 
 Papyri, Davy's attempts to unroll, 
 
 211 
 Penzance, State of society in, at 
 
 close of 18th century, 14 
 Phosoxygen, 30, 33, 35, 37 
 Phospham, 138 
 
 Phosphorous acid and oxide, 153 
 chlorides discovered by Davy, 
 
 129, 152 ; action of ammonia on, 
 
 137; action of water on, 140; 
 
 analysis of, 153 
 Potassamide, Preparation of, 129 
 Pneumatic Institution, Bristol, 23, 
 
 27, 29 
 Potassium, Isolation of, 114 et seq., 
 
 116 et seq. ; properties of, 116 
 Priestley, Joseph, 38 
 
 Purkis, Mr., his account of Davy's 
 lectures, 77 
 
 Royal Institution, The, its origin 
 and character, 66, 79 ; its chem- 
 ical laboratory, 90, 133 ; minutes 
 of Managers, 63, 72, 166, 175, 
 176 
 
 medals, the, Institution of, 
 
 216 
 
 — -— Society, Davy's election into 
 the, 213; becomes Secretary, 112; 
 becomes President, 214 ; his 
 views of its functions, 215 
 
 Rumford, his theory of heat, 32; 
 founds the Royal Institution, 
 66 ; visit of Davy to, at A.uteuil, 
 177 
 
 medal awarded to Davy, 213 
 
 Safety lamp, its invention, 192 et 
 seq. ; account of, by Playfair, 
 203 
 
 " Salmonia," Account of, 229 
 
 Scheele, discoverer of chlorine, 136 
 
 Scott, Sir Walter, his friendship 
 for Lady Davy, 162 ; his friend- 
 ship for Davy, 217 
 
 Ship-sheathing, Davy's experi- 
 ments on, 222 
 
 Silex in plants, 39 
 
 Sodium, Isolation of, 118; proper- 
 ties of, 119 
 
 Southey, Robert, his opinion of 
 Davy, 18, 55, 56 ; letter to Daw, 
 56 
 
 Steel-mill, The, 193 
 
 Stephenson, George, his attempts 
 to make a safe lamp, 205 
 
 Tanning, Lectures on, 72 
 Telluretted hydi"Ogen, Discovery 
 
 of, by Davy, 131 
 Tepidarians, The, 75, 78 
 Ticknor's account of Davy, 190; 
 
 of Lady Davy, 190 
 Tonkin, John, Davy's benefactor, 
 
 9, 13, 20, 25, 53 
 Torpedo, Electricity of, 183, 231
 
 240 
 
 INDEX. 
 
 Trinity College, Dublin, confers 
 honorary LL.D. on Davy, 158 
 
 Vauquelin, Davy's account of, 178 
 
 Vesuvius, Davy's investigations on, 
 185, 187, 212 
 
 Yolta, Davy's account of, 186 ; 
 Faraday's account of, 188 
 
 Voltaic electricity, Davy's contri- 
 butions to, 93, 99, lOO', 113, 114, 
 126, 131 
 
 pile, Discovery of, 90, 93 
 
 "Warington, Professor, his estim- 
 ate of Davy as an agricultural 
 chemist, 98 " 
 
 Watt, Gregory, his character, 21, 
 52 
 
 Wavellite, Davy's analysis of. 94 
 
 "West Country Collection," 30; 
 characteristics of Davy's con- 
 tributions to, 37 
 
 WoUaston, William Hyde, charac- 
 ter of, 214, 217 ; his death, 232 
 
 Wordsworth meets Davy on. Hel- 
 vellyn, 110 
 
 Young, Thomas, his connection 
 with the Ro5-al Institution, 72 ; 
 his review of Davy's " Elements 
 of Chemical Philosophy," 167; 
 death of, 234 
 
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 gooks for ^outt0 |lcoplc. 
 
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 The King's Command: A Story 
 lor Gins. By Magg^ie Symington. 
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 Lost among W^hite Africans. By 
 
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 For Fortune and Glory: A Story of 
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 Bob Lovell's Career. By Edward S. 
 EiU-,. 
 
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 Our Pretty Pets. 
 
 Oitr Schoolday Hours. 
 
 Creatures Tame. 
 
 Creatures "Wild.
 
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 Ctssell's Shilling Story Books. 
 
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 Bunty avid the Boys. 
 The Heir of Elmdale. 
 The Mystery at Shoneliff School. 
 Claimed at Last, & Roy's Reward, 
 Thorns and Tangles. 
 The Cuekoo in the Robin's Nest. 
 John's Mistake. [Pitchers. 
 
 The History of Five Little 
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 Surly Bob. 
 
 All Illustrated, and containing Interest- 
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 Aunt Lucia's Locket. 
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 Clever Frank. 
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 Harry Maxwell. 
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 Sarah Robinson, Agnes Wes- 
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 Thomas A. Edison and Samuel 
 
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 Mrs. Somerville and Mary Car- 
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 Charles Dickens. Bv his Eldest 
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 Sir Titus Salt and George 
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 Florence Nightingale, Catherine 
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 Dr. Gvithrie, Father Mathew, 
 Elihu Burritt, George Livesey. 
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 Sir Henry Haveloek and Colin 
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 Turner the Artist. By the Rev. S. A. 
 
 George and Robert Stephenson. 
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 David Livingstone. By Robert Smiles. 
 
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 y- 
 
 Library of Wonders, 
 cloth, IS. 6d, 
 
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 Wonderful Balloon Ascents. 
 Wonderful Adventures. 
 Wonderlul Escapes. 
 
 Wonders of Animal Instinct. 
 Wonders of Bodily Strength 
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 Wee Willie V/inkie. 
 
 ITps and Dov/ns of a Donkey's 
 
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 Dick's Hero; and other Stories. 
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 Haggles, Baggies, and the 
 
 Emperor. 
 Roses from Thorns. 
 
 ift Books for Young People. 
 
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 By Edward S.ElUs. 
 Red Feather: a J a'e ot 
 
 American Frontier. 
 
 Edward S. Ellis. 
 Seeking a City. 
 Rhoda's Reward; or. 
 
 Wishes were Horses." 
 Jack Marstou's Anchor. 
 Frank's Life-Battle; or. 
 
 Three Friends. 
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 The Two Hardcastles. By Made- 
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 the 
 By 
 
 If 
 
 The 
 
 Faith's Father. 
 
 By Land and Sea. 
 
 The Yottng Berringtons. 
 
 JefF and Leflf. 
 
 Tom Morris's Error. 
 
 Worth more than Gold. 
 
 "Through Flood— Through Fire"; 
 
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 Major Monk's Motto. By the Rev. 
 
 F. Lang-bridg-e. 
 Trixy. By Maggie Symington. 
 Rags and Rainbows: A Story of 
 
 Thanksgiving. 
 Uncle W^illiam's Charges; or, The 
 
 Broken Trust. 
 Pretty Pink's Purpose; or. The 
 
 Little Street Merchants. 
 Tim Thomson's Trial. By George 
 
 Weatherly. 
 Ursula's Stumbling-Bloek. By Julia 
 
 Goddard. 
 Ruth's Life-Work. By the Rev. 
 
 Joseph Johnson.
 
 Selections from Cassell ^ Company's Publications. 
 
 Cassell's Two-Shilling Story Books. Illustrated. 
 
 Margaret's Enemy. 
 Stones of the Tower. 
 Mr. Biirke'8 Nieces. 
 May Cunningliam's Trial. 
 The Top of the Ladder : How to 
 
 Reach it. 
 Little FJotsam. 
 Madge and Her Friends. 
 The Children of the Court. 
 Maid Mai-jory. 
 
 and other Tales. 
 The Four Cats of tue Tippertona. 
 Marion's Two Homes. 
 Little Folks' Sunday Boole 
 Two Fourpenny B.ts. 
 Poor Nelly. 
 Tom HeriOt. 
 
 Through Peril to Fortune. 
 Aunt Tabitha's 'Waif.-j. 
 In Mischief Again. 
 
 Books by Edward S. Ellis. Illustrated. Cloth, 2S. 6d. each. 
 
 Shod with Silence. 
 
 The Great Cattle iraiL 
 
 The J-ath in tiie Ravine. 
 
 The Young B,i nchers. 
 
 The Hunters of the Ozark. 
 
 The Camp in the Mount aias. 
 
 Ned in the Woods. A Tale of 
 
 Early Days in the West. 
 Down the Mississippi. 
 The Last War Trail. 
 Ned on the River. Tale of 
 
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 Th-:* Phantom of the River. 
 
 Footprints in the Forest. 
 
 Up the Tapajos. 
 
 Ned in tne Block House. A 
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 The Lost Trail. 
 
 Carap-Fire and Wigwam. 
 
 Lost in the Wilds. 
 
 Lost in Samoa. A Tale of Adven- 
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 Tad ; or, " Getting Even" with 
 Him. 
 
 The "World in Pictures.' 
 IS. 6d. each. 
 
 A Ramble Round France. 
 All the Russias. 
 Chats about Germany. 
 The Eastern Wonderland 
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 Illustrated throughout. Cheap Edition. 
 
 Glimpses of South America. 
 Round Alriea. 
 
 The Land of Temnles (India). 
 The Isles of the Paciflc. 
 Peeps into Cliina. 
 
 The Land of Pyramids (Egypt). 
 
 Half-Crown Story Books. 
 
 In Quest of Gold; or. Under 
 the Whanga Falls. 
 
 On Board the Estneralcia : or, 
 
 Martin Leigh's Log. 
 The Cost of a Mistake. 
 For Queen and Bong. 
 Esther West. 
 
 Three Homes. 
 
 Working to Win. 
 
 Perils Afloat and Brigands 
 
 Ashore. 
 Pictures of School Life and Boy- 
 hood. 
 At the South Pole. 
 Ships, Sailors, and the Sea. 
 
 Books for the Little Ones. Fully Illustrated. 
 
 Rhymes for the Young Folk. 
 
 By William Ailing-ham. Beauiitully 
 
 Illustrated. Is. 6d. 
 Cassell's Robinson Crusoe. 
 
 With 100 Illustrations. Cl^th, 
 
 3s. ed; gilt edges, fs. 
 
 Cassell's Swiss Family Robinson. 
 
 Illustrated. Cloth, 3s. 6d. ; gilt 
 
 edges 5s. 
 Tlie Sunday Scrap Book. M'ith 
 
 Several Hundred Illustrations. Paper 
 
 boards, 3s. 6d. ; cloth, gilt edges, 58. 
 
 The Old Fairy Tales. With Original Illustrations. Boards, Is.; cloth, ls.6d. 
 
 Albums for Children. 3s. 6d. each. 
 
 The Album lor Home, School, Picture Album of All Sorts. With 
 
 and Play. Containing Stories by 
 Popular Autliors. Illustrated. 
 My Own Album of Animals. 
 With Full-page Illustrations. 
 
 Full-page Illustrations. 
 The Chit-Chat Album. 
 throughout 
 
 Cassell & Company's Complete Catalogue ludi be sefit post 
 
 free on application to 
 
 CASSELL & COMPANY, Limited, Ludgate Hill, London.
 
 UNIVERSITY OF CALIFORNIA LIBRARY 
 
 Los Angeles 
 
 This book is DUE on the last date stamped below. 
 
 NOV 4 a§4^ 
 
 MOV 
 
 7RS?0 
 
 •'^R.'T 
 
 ibce 
 
 BIOMED LIB 
 
 MAR 3 1986 
 
 RECD 
 
 Form L9-30m-7,'56(C824s4)444
 
 o 
 
 3 1158 01090 1469 
 
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