1829.] 



Biographical Memoirs of Eminent Persons. 



229 



horrors of phthisis. To effect this, an 

 extensive apparatus became necessary, and 

 for its regulation and superintendance, an 

 able and ingenious practitioner was re- 

 quired. A correspondence ensued, in 

 which Dr. Beddoes proposed to ]Mr. Davy, 

 who was then only nineteen, to suspend his 

 intention of going to Edinburgh, and to 

 assist him in the prosecution of his scheme. 

 jMr. Davy consented, on condition of having 

 the sole management of the experiments ; 

 and he, in consequence, removed to Bristol, 

 and resided for some time at tlie Pneu- 

 matic Institutions, Dowry Square, in the 

 immediate vicinity of the Het Vrells. 



It was about this period that Mr. Davy 

 contracted a fiiendship with Davies Gilbert, 

 Esq. (now President of the Koyal Society), 

 who strenuously exhorted liim to persist in 

 his clerical pursuits. In tl:ose pursuits he 

 was frequently assisted by another of his 

 friends, JMr. AV. Clayfield ; and at Bristol — 

 where he discovered the respirabiUty of the 

 nitrous oxide — he was already considered 

 as a very extraordinary young man. The 

 result of his inquiries into the gaseous 

 bodies was ;ifterwards published, with the 

 title of Researches, Chemical and Philoso- 

 phical. This work introduced him to 

 Count Rumford, who had lately returned 

 to England, and become one of the patrons 

 and promoters of the new school of experi- 

 mental philosophy. Through the introduc- 

 tion of the Count he was elected Professor 

 of Chemistry in the Royal Institution ; 

 succeeding in that office Dr. Young, the 

 nephew of Dr. Brocklesby. 



The new Professor now foimd himself 

 amidst philosophical information and re- 

 sources of all kinds ; and, at the Institution, 

 he had the advantage of possessing more 

 extensive means of electrical and chemical 

 experiment, than had perhaps ever before 

 been collected under one roof. 



In 1J!02, IVIr. Davy commenced a course 

 of lectures before tlie Board of Agriculture, 

 shewing the dependence of agriculture on 

 Chemistry. These lectures were continued 

 for tliree years. His talents were already 

 so well known that, in lf{03, he was chosen 

 a member of the Royal Society ; in 1805, 

 a member of the Royal Irish Academy ; 

 and, in li'iOG, he was appointed Secretary 

 of the Royal Society. He was also in 

 habits of intimacy with most of the British 

 literary characters and men of science, and 

 in correspondence witli the principal 

 chemists in every part of Europe. 



^Ir. Davy had for some years been dili- 

 gently cnjployed in making experiments 

 with tlie galvanic battery. In IfiJJO, when 

 he delivered his first Bakerian Lecture to 

 the Royal Society, he began to communi- 

 cate the result of his labours. This lecture 

 related to some new and interesting chemi- 

 cal agencies of electricity, particularly with 

 respect to acids and alkahes. 



The sul)jcct of his next Bakerian Lecture, 

 delivered in 1(J07, was "^Somc New Phe- 



nomena of Chemical Changes produced by 

 Electricity, particularly the Decomposition 

 of the Fixed Alkalies, and the exhibition of 

 new substances which constitute their bases, 

 and on the general natiure of alkaline 

 lodies." In this he brought forward his 

 great discovery of the metallic bases of 

 potash and soda, to which he gave the 

 names of potassium and sodium. By em- 

 ploying the same means, he also succeeded 

 in decomposing other substances, and ob- 

 taining tiieir mctalhc bases. His attention 

 was next turned to the oxymuriatic acid, 

 which he demonstrated not to be a com- 

 pound, and to which he gave the name of 

 Chlorine. 



Notwithstanding the war wliich then 

 existed between England and France, the 

 prize of the French Institute was, in 1810, 

 awarded to Mr. Davy; and, in 1814, the 

 same year in which he was elected a Vice- 

 President of the Royal Institution — he was 

 elected a corresponding member of that 

 body. 



It is not unamusing to remark, that, in a 

 Memoir of ]Mr. Davy, published about the 

 year 1800, we find the following advertise - 

 ment-like paragraph : — " To such of our 

 readers as have not as yet seen him, we beg 

 leave to observe, that the professor exactly 

 resembles other men, affecting nothing 

 rude, vulgar, or extravagant, either in his 

 person or address, and to the ladies, in par- 

 ticular, it would be unpardonable to omit, 

 that he is still immarried. He possesses 

 great animal spirits, is gay, conversible, des- 

 titute of the jargon of science, the common 

 refuge of httle minds, has a pleasing face, a 

 good address, a person rather slender, and is 

 from thirty-two to thirty-four years of age." 

 M^hether it was in consequence of this 

 " gentle hint," we know not, but, in the 

 year 1811, Mr. Davy became attached to 

 J\Irs. Apreece, a widow of large fortune, 

 and, in 1812, he made that lady his wife. 

 A few days previous to his marriage, he had 

 the honour of being knighted by the Prince 

 Regent. He was tlie first person on whom 

 His Royal Highness conferred that dignity. 



Sir Humphrey Davy's next discovery 

 was of great importance. In 1815, a Com- 

 mittee was formed at Sunderland, to inves- 

 tigate the cause of fire-damp in mines, 

 througli the explosion of which so many 

 hves liad, from time to time, been sacri- 

 ficed, and to seek for a preventive. His 

 assistance having been requested. Sir 

 Humphrey explored the principal collieries 

 in the north of England, and undertook a 

 series of experiments on the nature of the 

 explosive gas. The result was tlie inven- 

 tion of the safety lamp, which tlie coal- 

 owners of tlie Tync and Wear considered 

 to be of so nnicli importance, that they pre- 

 sented him with a service of plate worth 

 two thousand pounds. Within these few 

 months, however, some essential improve- 

 ments liavc been efiected in this lamp. 



In 1817) Sir Humplircy was elected one 



