658 THE POPULAR SCIENCE MONTHLY. 



as lecturer Humphry Davy." This "nice, able man" was the emi- 

 nent philosopher destined to explode a great part of Rumford's scheme, 

 his models, his fireplaces, his kitchens, his experimental cooking, and 

 his experimental dinners. In 1802 Count Rumford forsook England 

 for Bavaria as it turned out, forever and, like many other bene- 

 factors of his species, was considered a good riddance. So far as can 

 be ascertained, the American-Bavarian Count was offensively dicta- 

 torial in his manner, and exasperated those whom he did not succeed 

 in crushing. Having shaken off Dr. Garnett, the first Professor of 

 Chemistry at the Royal Institution, he engaged Davy as an assistant 

 lecturer in chemistry, director of the laboratory, and assistant editor 

 of the journals of the Institution. The future president of the Royal 

 Society was granted a room in the house, coals, candles, and a salary 

 of 100 guineas per annum. 



The first interview of Davy with Count Rumford was not very 

 agreeable to the young chemist, then in his twenty-third year. The 

 intensely juvenile air of the candidate, his almost provincial manners, 

 and a slight Cornwall accent, sufficed to reduce the glacial count to a 

 lower temperature than usual. With considerable difficulty Davy ob- 

 tained permission to give a few lectures on the properties of gases. 

 This, however, was sufficient. At the first lecture the variety and in- 

 genious combination of his ideas, and the fire, vivacity, clearness, and 

 novelty, with which they were expounded, enchanted the few who 

 came to listen to the young lecturer, in whom they found united the 

 power of poetry, oratory, and philosophy. The second lecture was 

 crowded, and his course was obliged to be removed to the large am- 

 phitheatre, whither his fervid genius, and in some degree his youth 

 and good looks, drew immense audiences. The ladies were charmed 

 by the handsome young lecturer, and never tired of praising the 

 beauty of his eyes, which they declared were " made for something 

 besides poring over crucibles." 



Before coming to the Royal Institution, Davy had already attained 

 a certain celebrity by discovering the anaesthetic properties of nitrous 

 oxide, and the period of his professorship was signalized by many 

 brilliant discoveries. Named titular Professor of Chemistry in 1802, 

 he only resigned the chair in 1813. He delivered his last lecture on 

 the 9th of April, 1812, the day after he was knighted by the prince 

 regent, and the day before his marriage with Mrs. Apreece, a wed- 

 ding which put him in possession of a large fortune. The splendor 

 shed upon the Royal Institution by the new Professor of Chemistry 

 prevented the exhibition of any regret at the entire alteration of the 

 original plan of the establishment. The Institution was no longer a 

 popular school of technical science, but became almost the exclusive 

 property of the higher classes. Ladies of the highest rank, and young 

 noblemen, assiduously followed the lectures of Davy, while his re- 

 searches in the laboratory produced the most solid results. It was 



