578 Analysis of Books, 8fc. 



tion of Accidents in Coal Mines,' in consequence of the fatal 

 calamities which had been of such frequent occurrence by the 

 explosions from fire-damp. Numerous abortive projects had been 

 proposed to the Society, and some few had commanded their 

 attention, when Dr. Gray directed Sir H. Davy's attention to the 

 subject in August, 1815. He was then in Scotland, but immedi- 

 ately began its investigation. 



' He commenced with ascertaining the degree of combustibility of the 

 fire-damp, and the limits in which the proportions of atmospheric air 

 and carburetted hydrogen can be combined, so as to afford an explosive 

 mixture. He was then led to examine the effects of the admixture of 

 azote and carbonic acid gas ; and the result of those experiments fur- 

 nished him with the basis of his first plan of security. His next step 

 was to inquire whether explosions of gas would pass through tubes ; and 

 on finding that this did not happen if the tubes were of certain lengths 

 and diameters, he proceeded to examine the limits of such conditions ; 

 and by shortening the tubes, diminishing their diameters, and multiply- 

 ing their number, he at length arrived at the conclusion that a simple 

 tissue of wire-gauze afforded all the means of perfect security ; and he 

 constructed a lamp, which has been truly declared to be as marvellous 

 in its operation, as the storied lamp of Aladdin realizing its fabled 

 powers of conducting in safety through "fiends of combustion," to the 

 hidden treasures of the earth. When it is remembered that the security 

 thus conferred upon the labouring community is not merely the privilege 

 of the age in which the discovery was effected, but must be extended to 

 future times, and continue to preserve human life as long as coal is dug 

 from our mines, can there be found, in the whole compass of art or 

 science, an invention more useful and glorious ? ' 



A subscription was raised by the gentlemen interested in the 

 coal mines of the Tyne and the Wear, and a service of plate was 

 presented to Sir Humphry Davy. The lamp was named after him 

 by the miners, arid is now called a Davy ; and the Emperor of 

 Russia, to whom he had presented a model of the safety lamp, 

 honoured him with the present of a handsome silver gilt vase. He 

 has been heard to declare that the discovery had given him more 

 satisfaction than anything he ever did, as it served the cause of 

 humanity, and would save the lives of thousands of poor labourers. 

 Other interesting results to science have arisen out of the investiga- 

 tion for constructing a safety lamp. We have been made better 

 acquainted with the nature of flame and the circumstances by which 

 it is modified, leading to some practical views connected with the 

 useful arts. These Davy communicated to the Royal Society, in 

 January, 1816, for which, and his previous researches on flame 

 and combustion, the Society adjudged to him the Rumford gold and 

 silver medals. These communications he put into a form more 

 accessible to the practical parts of the community, by reprinting 

 them collectively in an octavo volume, ' On the Safety Lamp, with 

 some Researches on Flame, 1818.' 



Having made some experiments on fragments of the papyri, or 

 manuscript rolls, which had been found in the ruins of Herculaneum, 



