1 8 I.OEWENFELD, Contnbjitiojzs to the Hist 0}y of Science. 



Davy's bold idea to group hydrogen among the 

 metals appears here for the first time. I believe I am 

 right in describing this theory as now generally accepted. 

 The above letter shows that these documents are to be 

 handled with a certain caution. It w^ould be erroneous to 

 say that Berzelius and Pontin were the first discoverers of 

 the amalgam of ammonia. It was discovered in the first 

 instance by Johann Thomas Seebeck. The small letter 

 reproduced in PL IV. is by Davy, and is addressed to 

 Coleridge, who, like Southe\-, was an intimate friend of the 

 great philosopher, and held the opinion that " if Davy had 

 not been the first chemist he would have been the first 

 poet of his age." 



A rather unfriendly criticism of Davy is contained in 

 the following letter by Berzelius." 



Stockholm, le 3 Sept., 1847. 



MON TKES CHER AMI ! 



J'ai a vous presenter des remercimens de 1' Acade- 

 mic des Sciences d'abord pour votre brochure : Cause 

 du deraillement des Waggons, etc., et ensuite pour 

 I'ouvrage intitule : Application de la geometrie de- 

 scriptive aux ombres a la perespective, etc. Si je n'ai 

 pas plutot repondu a votre aimable lettre du 21 Fev- 

 rier, c'est que je voulais vous annoncer I'arrive de ce 

 dernier, qui n'arriva a Stockholm, que pendant mon 

 absence por assister a la reunion des Naturalistes 

 Scandinaves pendant I'cte passe. 



Ce que vous me dites dans votre lettre pour 

 rapport a Mr. Dumas" tout le monde qui vient de 



■ii About the relations between Berzelius and Davy, vide "Jacob 

 Ber7,elius, Selbstbiographishe Aufzeichnungen." Edited by H. G. Soder- 

 baum, Leipzig, 1903, page 54 and passim. 



1- Jean Baptisle Dumas (1800- 1884), eminent French chemist. 



