CH. xxxvi. SIR HUMPHREY DAVY. 363 



of age, Dr. Beddoes, a physician, who had opened a hospital 

 for curing patients by the use of different gases, heard so 

 much of the young man's abilities that he invited him to 

 come to Bristol ; where he employed him in making experi- 

 ments. 



In this way Davy's attention was drawn to nitrous oxide, 

 a gas which had been declared by a celebrated physician, 

 Dr. Mitchell, to be very poisonous. Our young chemist 

 wanted to try this for himself, and actually began breathing 

 it in small quantities to see whether it would affect him. He 

 proved that it certainly was not so poisonous as Mitchell had 

 thought, and, growing gradually bolder and bolder in the use 

 of it, he succeeded at last in breathing the gas for several 

 minutes, at the end of which time he lost all consciousness, 

 and found himself in a land of delicious dreams, out of which 

 he awoke gradually without being injured in any way. En- 

 chanted at having discovered such a delightful sensation, he 

 carried on his experiments for more than ten months, and 

 when he published the results, and told the world that the 

 mere breathing of a gas could make a man sleep, and dream, 

 and laugh without any cause, it created a great sensation, 

 and Davy's name soon became well known. 



At this time (1801) the Royal Institution had just been 

 founded, and Count Rumford, seeing that Davy was a young 

 man of great talent, offered him the appointment of Assistant- 

 chemist. Davy accepted it, and from that time devoted himself 

 entirely to science. He was young, bright, and enthusiastic, 

 and his lectures were so clear and eloquent, that the Royal 

 Institution soon became famous under his influence, while 

 every new appliance for making chemical experiments was 

 given him in his laboratory. It was here that he made his 

 observations on flame in 1815, and constructed his Safety- 



