536 THE POPULAR SCIENCE MONTHLY. 



ful to cool the enthusiasm of the scientific visionary, who is apt 

 often to account for what never has existed." 



The king could, however, discuss soberly the topics beloved by 

 the F. R. S., who had many a long scientific talk with him. He 

 tried experiments himself, and Pepys speaks of going down at 

 Whitehall " into the king's little elaboratory under his closet ; a 

 pretty place ; and there saw a great many chymical glasses and 

 things but understood none of them." Pepys was accompanied 

 by his fellow-members, Lord Brouncker and Sir R. Murray. Un- 

 der date of May 3, 1G61, Evelyn writes : " This evening I was with 

 my Lord Brouncker, Sir Robert Murray, Sir Pa. Neill, Monsieur 

 Zulichem, and Mr. Bull (all of them of our society and excellent 

 mathematicians) to show his Majesty, who was present, Saturn's 

 annulus very neere eclipsed by the moon ; also Jupiter and sate- 

 lites, thro' his Majesty's great telescope, drawing 35 foote; on 

 which were divers discourses." Another day Evelyn accompanied 

 Charles "to Mons. Febure, his chymist (and who had formerly 

 been my master in Paris), to see his accurate preparation for the 

 composing Sir Walter Raleigh's rare cordial ; he made a learned 

 discourse before his Majesty in French on each ingredient." 

 Another scientist of high rank was Prince Rupert, who with his 

 own hands (which the jeering courtiers said too often bore the 

 stains of the laboratory) taught Evelyn to engrave mezzotinto, 

 and whom Evelyn introduced to the Royal Society, where, in spite 

 of smoke-begrimed linen and fingers stained with acids, the sol- 

 dier chemist was warmly welcomed as an agreeable companion 

 and scientific brother. The well-known " Prince Rupert's drops " 

 may be numbered among the scientific toys invented in this age. 



Pepys gives an amusing account of an encounter between 

 Charles II and the celebrated scholar, wit, and inventor, Sir 

 William Petty. " Thence to Whitehall," he says, " where in the 

 duke's chamber the king come and stay'd an hour or two, laugh- 

 ing at Sir William Petty, who was there about his boat (one of 

 his inventions) ; and at Gresham College in general ; at which 

 poor Petty was, I perceived, at some loss; but did argue dis- 

 cretely, and bear the unreasonable follies of the king's objec- 

 tions and other bystanders with great discretion, and offered to 

 take odds against the king's best boats ; but the king would not 

 lay, but cried him down with words only. Gresham College he 

 mightly laughed at for spending time only in weighing ayre and 

 doing nothing else since they sat.'\ 



Some time before this Evelyn wrote : " I went with that ex- 

 cellent person and philosopher, Sir Robert Murray, to visit Mr. 

 Boyle. At Chelsy I saw divers effects of the Eolipile for weigh- 

 ing aire!" Boyle was the discoverer of "the law of the air's 

 elasticity." 



