154 THE CANADIAN NATURALIST. [April 



public evil; — one of the most remarkable social reforms on record. 

 He also devoted himself to various ameliorations, such as improv- 

 ing the construction and arrangement of the dwellings of the 

 working classes, providing for them a better education, organizing 

 houses of industry, introducing superior breeds of horses and 

 cattle, and promoting landscape-gardening, which he did by con- 

 verting an old abandoned hunting-ground near Munich into a 

 park, where, after his departure, the inhabitants erected a monu- 

 ment to his honor. For these services Sir Benjamin Thompson 

 received many distinctions, and among others was made Count of 

 the Holy Roman Empire. On receiving this dignity he chose 

 a title in remembrance of the country of his nativity, and was 

 thenceforth known as Count of Rumford. 



"His health failing from excessive labor and what he considered 

 the unfavorable climate, he came back to England in 1798, and 

 had serious thoughts of returning to the United States. Having 

 received from the American government the compliment of a 

 formal invitation to revisit his native land, he wrote to an old 

 friend requesting him to look out for a ' little quiet retreat ' for 

 himself and daughter in the vicinity of Boston. This intention, 

 however, failed, as he shortly after became involved in the enter- 

 prise of founding the Royal Institution of England. 



" There was in Rumford's character a happy combination of 

 philanthropic impulses, executive power in carrying out great 

 projects, and versatility of talent in physical research. His 

 scientific investigations were largely guided and determined by his 

 philanthropic plans and public duties. His interest in the more 

 needy classes led him to the assiduous study of the physical wants 

 of mankind, and the best methods of relieving them ; the laws 

 and domestic management of heat accordingly engaged a large 

 share of his attention. He determined the amount of heat arising 

 from the combustion of different kinds of fuel, by means of a 

 calorimeter of his own invention. He reconstructed the fire-place, 

 and so improved the methods of heating apartments and cooking 

 food as to produce a saving in the precious element, varying from 

 one-half to seven-eighths of the fuel previously consumed. He 

 improved the construction of stoves, cooking-ranges, coal-grates, 

 and chimneys ; showed that the non-conducting power of cloth is 

 due to the air enclosed among its fibres, and first pointed out that 

 mode of action of heat called convection ; indeed he was the first 

 clearly to discriminate between the three modes of propagation of 



