20 Biographical Memoir of Sir Humphry Davy, 



these truths, — Mr Davy, not yet thirty-two years of age, occu- 

 pied, in the opinion of all that could judge of such labours, the 

 first rank among the chemists of this or of any other age ; it re- 

 mained for him, by direct service rendered to society, to acquire 

 a similar degree of reputation in the minds of the general pub- 

 lic. The first opportunity of accomplishing this, was afforded 

 by a request made to him, to point out proper means of prevent- 

 ing the fatal effects of the frequent explosions which take place 

 in coal-pits. 



There escapes insensibly from beds of coal, when they are 

 wrought, a certain quantity of inflammable gas, which, mingling 

 with a portion of atmospheric air, is kindled by the miners' 

 lamps, and explodes with a dreadful detonation, frequently de- 

 stroying great numbers of the workmen. Cavendish was ac- 

 quainted with its nature, and especially its specific lightness, and 

 his discovery suggested the principle on which aerostatic balloons 

 were constructed. No one, however, had taken any steps to 

 prevent these destructive effects, when one of these explosions 

 happened in 1812 in a mine called Felling, and killed, in an in- 

 stant, upwards of a hundred miners, under circumstances so ap- 

 palling, that all belonging to the profession became alarmed. 

 Each morning they took leave of their families like soldiers 

 about to mount a breach. Roused by interest, a committee of 

 proprietors of mines tried how to prevent the danger, and Mr 

 Davy was invited to point out the means which science could 

 afford for this purpose. 



To others it would have seemed as if an impossibility had 

 been asked ; as if he had been required to carry fire into a 

 magazine of powder, and yet prevent its explosion ; but Mr 

 Davy did not despair, and perhaps his genius never appeared 

 in a more conspicuous light, or more deserving of admiration, 

 than in this instance. 



This was not one of those cases in which the result is attain- 

 ed by a consecutive series of experiments, accumulated by 

 chance, rather than suggested by experience ; the problem was 

 proposed, and the means of solving it were to be sought for in 

 the general principles of science, without expecting aid from 

 others, or from chance. 



Mr Davy began by analyzing the gas, determining the quan- 



