RECORDS 



OF 



GENERAL SCIENCE. 



Article I. 



Biographical Account of Sir Humphry Davy, Bart.^ 



The actions of those who have stood well in the eyes of 

 their fellow-countrymen form always subject for pleasant 

 consideration , but when these actions have been in the highest 

 degree brilliant, when they have conferred benefits upon 

 society which we have no measures for precisely calculat- 

 ing, — and have opened new channels for the improvement of 

 society, the claims upon our attention are completely irre- 

 sistible. Such a demand, is but an act of justice to that 

 great philosopher Davy, whose fame is not of the ephemeral 

 nature of those who like some flowers of other lands shoot 

 up, bedecked with imposing beauty, and rapidly disappear — 

 the tenants of an hour — no more to spread their buds to 

 the refreshing dew drop. 



Humphry Davy, the son of Robert Davy, a Builder, and 

 Grace Millett, was born on the 17th of December, 1778, 

 in Market Jew Street, Penzance. The origin of his family, 

 he appears to have been anxious to ascertain, but could not 

 succeed in tracing it back beyond 200 years, during which 

 period, according to the tombstone in the parish churchyard 

 of Ludgvan, many of his forefathers occupied the respect- 



• This Memoir has been drawn up from the materials afforded by the able and 

 delightful " Memoirs of the Life of Sir Humphry Davy, Bart., by his brother John 

 Davy, M. D., &c." It is impossible to refrain from admiring the affectionate 

 spirit which has dictated these memoirs. But it is a subject of question, whether 

 it is consonant with that strict impartiality with which every pubhc man ought to 

 be, and will ultimately be dealt with. 



VOL. IV. B 



