190 EULOGY ON ARTHUR AUGUSTE DE LA RIVE. 



inspiration, the truth dawned upon him, and delivered him from this state 

 of distraction. He caught sight of tiie ])roper solution of the problem, 

 and in the experimental verification of this, Auguste De La Kive came to 

 his aid, and by his ready invention reduced the phenomenon to its 

 simplest elements. He removed one by one the sides of the rectangle, 

 and reduced it at last to a single vertical wire, freely suspended, which, 

 when the voltaic current passed through it, was as sensible to the action 

 of the earth as the entire rectangle. These delicate experiments so in- 

 terested Ampere that he came from Paris to Presinge, the country res- 

 idence of De La Eive, to witness them, and to perfect the explanation to 

 which he had given so much thought. 



The memoir of the young physicist on the subject contains not only 

 the new results he had obtained, but also the learned and decisive 

 formula by which Ampere connected them with his theory, now com- 

 plete and triumphant. 



Thus in the very commencement of his career the name of Auguste 

 De La Rive was associated with one of the most interesting episodes in 

 thedevelopmentofthetheoryof Ampere, and his first investigations placed 

 him at once in the focus to which all the intelligence of the age was 

 directed. They not only brought him into relation with Ampere, but 

 prepared the way for the life-long friendship which afterward united 

 him with Faraday, who already, grateful to his father for early recog- 

 nition and encouragement under peculiar circumstances, was predis- 

 posed to regard him with favor. When Davy vs as making his admirable 

 investigations in regard to the voltaic battery. Great Britain and 

 France were engaged in a desperp/te contest. The first class of the 

 Listitute, however, considering the field of science and the pursuit of 

 truth above the prejudices occasioned by national quarrels, awarded to 

 the English philosopher the prize offered in the department of electricity 

 by Napoleon. Although the countries were then at open war, Davy 

 shortly after received permission to visit Auvergne, in order to study 

 the extinct volcanoes of that province, and was also allowed to go to 

 Italy and continue his researches on volcanoes in action. In this court- 

 eous exception, France set an example eminently worthy to be followed 

 by all civilized nations. The passport Davy received included himself, 

 his wife, and one servant. Faraday, eager to acquire knowledge, did 

 not hesitate to accept the latter position. The young savant was unob- 

 served in his new capacity while in Paris, as lie did not speak a word 

 of Frencli, but it was quite otherwise at Presinge, where Davy remained 

 some time. Gaspard De La Rive, observing his isolation, addressed 

 some kind words to him during a hunting excursion. Discovering 

 immediately that he was by no means an ordiLaiy servant, an explana- 

 tion followed, and he was requested to take the place in the family, at 

 the table of his host, which his true position and talent deserved. 

 Davy, however, while he did not object to this arrangement when he 

 was absent, insisted that in his presence the subordinate position 



