90 Biographical Account of 



Rome. Soon after he arrived he wrote a paper *' On the 

 formation of mists in particular situations," which was con- 

 tributed to the Royal Society. He now began his researches 

 at Naples on the Herculaneum MSS., for the purpose of 

 applying his chemical skill to the enrolling of which he 

 had particularly visited Naples. The result of this inves- 

 tigation was published in the Philosophical Transactions 

 for 1821. In this paper he proves in a satisfactory manner 

 that the MSS. at Herculaneum had not suffered from fire, 

 but from the slow and intimate action of the elements, by 

 which they had been converted into matter similar to peat 

 and Bovey coal. He succeeded in unfolding them by means 

 of chlorine and ether, and a graduated temperature, with- 

 out injuring the work. The jealousy of the Museum de- 

 feated the utility of these operations to literature, and ren- 

 dered them of more service to science. 



At the same time he attended carefully to action going 

 on in the volcanoes among which he was resident. The 

 deductions from his observations were embodied in the 

 theory which he formed, viz : that volcanic action depends 

 on the decomposition of water, by the agency of the inflam- 

 mable bases of the earths and alkalies existing in the earth. 

 But the nature of the matter ejected, and of the gases 

 exhaled from volcanoes, caused him to discard it, and lat- 

 terly to explain volcanic action by referring it to the sup- 

 position of the nucleus of our globe being in a liquid ig- 

 nited state, and liable to break out through the crust of 

 solid matter which envelopes it. The former, though the 

 less probable hypothesis, has never had but a limited num- 

 her of supporters, but has been well defended by Dr.. Dau- 

 beny of Oxford. Sir Humphry Davy left Naples early in 

 Spring, and arrived in London in June, 1819. In the course 

 of the same month the President of the Royal Society, Sir 

 Joseph Banks, died. Davy immediately came forward as 

 a candidate for the honour of succeeding him. He was 

 almost unanimously elected, and for seven years afterwards 

 he was successively re-elected without any opposition. 



He appears to have exerted himself to support science 

 by his patronage, by giving entertainments, and having 

 open meetings at his own house, after the plan followed by 

 his distinguished predecessor, who, notwithstanding Davy's 



