1883.] 071 Count Eumford, Originator of the Boyal Institution. 439 



a piece of iron. They made the metal so Lot, that it could not be 

 safely touched. As in the case of Rumford, people were looking on 

 at this experiment, and Buyle's people, like those of Eumford, were 

 struck with wonder, to see the sulphur of gunpowder ignited by heat 

 produced without any fire. Hooke is equally clear as regards the 

 nature of heat, and, like Rumford himself, but more than a century 

 before him, he compares the vibrations of heat with sonorous vibra- 

 tions. That Rumford went beyond these men is not to be denied. 

 It could not be otherwise with a spirit so original and penetrating. 

 But to speak of the space between him and Aristotle as if it were a 

 scientific vacuum is surely a mistake. 



While in Paris, Rumford made the acquaintance of Madame 

 Lavoisier, a lady of wealth, spirit, social distinction, and, it is to be 

 added, a lady of temper. Her illustrious husband had suffered under 

 the guillotine on the 8th of 3Iay, 1794; and inheriting his great 

 name, together with a fortune of three million francs, she gathered 

 round her, in her receptions, the most distinguished society of Paris. 

 She and Rumford became friends, the friendship afterwards passing 

 into what was thought to be genuine affection. The Elector of 

 Bavaria took great interest in his projected marriage, and when that 

 consummation came near, settled upon him an annuity of 1000 florins. 

 Before their marriage he was joined by Madame Lavoisier at 

 Munich, whence they made a tour to Switzerland together. In a 

 letter to his daughter he thus describes his bride elect : " I made 

 the acquaintance of this very amiable woman in Paris, who, I believe, 

 would have no objection to having me for a husband, and who in all 

 respects would be a proper match for me. She is a widow without 

 children, never having had any ; is about my own age (she was four 

 years younger than Rumford), enjoys good health, is very pleasant in 

 society, has a handsome fortune at her own disposal, enjoys a most 

 respectable reputation, keeps a good house, which is frequented by all 

 the first philosophers and men of eminence in the science and literature 

 of the age, or rather of Paris. And, what is more than all the rest, 

 is goodness itself." He goes on to describe her as having been very 

 handsome in her day, " and even now at forty-six or forty-eight is not 

 bad looking." He describes her as rather embonpoint, with a great 

 deal of vivacity, and as writing incomparably well. 



Before the marriage could take place, he was obliged to obtain 

 from America certificates of his birth, and of the death of his former 

 wife. All preliminaries having been arranged, Count Rumford and 

 Madame Lavoisier were married in Paris on the 21th of October, 

 1805. He describes the house in which they lived, Rue d'Anjou, 

 No. 39, as a paradise. " Removed from the noise and bustle of the 

 street, facing full to the south, in the midst of a beautiful garden of 

 more than two acres, well planted with trees and shrubbery. The 

 entrance from the street is through an iron gate by a beautiful 

 winding avenue well planted, and the porter's lodge is by the side of 

 Vol. X. (No. 76.) 2 g 



