Notices respecting New Books. 215 



appears to have possessed remarkable placidity of temper, and an 

 amiable and benevolent disposition. 



When very young he was placed at the Grammar School in Pen- 

 zance, whence he went to Truro, where he finished his education. 

 Although quick and industrious in his school exercises, he was 

 found very deficient in the qualifications for the class of his age ,• 

 but by industry and attention he subsequently acquitted himself to 

 the entire satisfaction of his master. 



In his boyish days he was fond of romance, of writing verses and 

 ballads, of fireworks, shooting and fishing. The taste for poetry 

 increased with his years, and Dr. Paris has given some specimens of 

 his poetic talent which are not unworthy of his genius. At twelve 

 years of age he composed an epic poem, of which, however, not even 

 a fragment has been preserved. His love of fishing he always re- 

 tained : it appears, indeed, to have increased, rather than dimi- 

 nished with his years. — " His temper during youth," says Dr. Paris, 

 " is represented as mild and amiable. He never suppressed his feel- 

 ings, but every action was marked by ingenuousness and candour." 



In February 1795 he was apprenticed to Mr. Borlase, a surgeon 

 and apothecary, and afterwards a physician at Penzance j and al- 

 though his mind had been for some time engrossed with philoso- 

 phical pursuits, it does not appear that he had any decided turn for 

 Chemistry, until after he had been placed with Mr. Borlase ; but he 

 then commenced the study of it with ardour. " As far as can be 

 ascertained," says Dr. Paris, " one of the first original experiments 

 on chemistry performed by him at Penzance, was for the purpose 

 of discovering the quality of the air contained in the bladders of 

 sea-weed, in order to obtain results in support of a favourite 

 theory of light ; and to ascertain whether, as land vegetables are 

 the renovators of the atmosphere of land animals, sea vegetables 

 might not be the preservers of the equilibrium of the atmosphere 

 of the ocean. From these experiments he concluded, that the dif- 

 ferent orders of the marine Cryptogamia were capable of decom- 

 posing water, when assisted by the attraction of light for oxygen." 

 He seems also to have paid attention to Geology while with Mr. 

 Borlase ; — during his walks his usual companion was a hammer, with 

 which he procured specimens from the rocks on the beach. — " In 

 short," observes Dr. Paris, " it would ai)pear that, at this period, he 

 paid much more attention to philosojihy than to physic ; that he 

 thought more of the bowels of the earth than of the stomachs of 

 his patients; and that when he should be bleeding the sick, he was 

 opening veins in the granite." 



During his stay with Mr. Borlase he became acquainted with 

 Mr. Davies Gilbert (then Giddy), who accidentally hearing that he 

 was fond of chemical experiments, expressed a desire to have some 

 conversation with him; and during this he soon discovered ample 

 evidence of young Davy's singular genius, and the consequence was 

 an offer of the use of his library or any other as.sistance he might 

 require for the pursuit of his studies. 



In October )7!>B Davy (luitted Penzance to superintend the 



Pneu- 



