170 Biographical Account of [March, 



the paper contains much curious information, and some facts are 

 to be found in it of considerable interest ; as, for example, the 

 information that when a cannon is fired in St. James's Park, the 

 glass in the windows of the Treasury becomes charged with 

 electricity. 



Lime water had been proposed as a good vehicle for preserving 

 fish, &c. without salting. This method Dr. Hales examined, 

 and found not to answer. He points out its fallacy in a paper 

 printed in the Philosophical Transactions, on the Antisceptic 

 Powers of Lime Water. 



The last paper of Dr. Hales which we shall mention contains 

 a description of a method of greatly increasing the rapidity of 

 distillation. The method was to blow up a constant shower of 

 air through the boiling liquid by means of a pair of double 

 bellows. By this method he shows that a very considerable 

 quantity of sea water may be distilled on ship-board, and sweet- 

 ened in a comparatively short time, and with a small quantity of fuel. 



Though the extreme sobriety and regularity of Dr. Hales's 

 mode of living had preserved his health and vigour till a very 

 advanced age, it was not in his power to resist the effects of 

 time. He died accordingly on Jan. 4, 1761, when he had 

 nearly reached his 84t.h year. He was buried, according to his 

 own request, in his church of Teddington, which he had rebuilt 

 himself a few years before his death. But at the expense of the 

 Princess Dowager of Wales a monument was erected for him in 

 Westminster Abbey. 



Dr. Hales had been long known to the Princess of Wales, and 

 had been indeed in some measure in her service. To her consort 

 the Prince of Wales, the father of his late Majesty, he was so 

 well known, and was held in such estimation by him, that this 

 prince was accustomed frequently, alone and unattended, to sur- 

 prise him in his cabinet, where he was constantly occupied with 

 the most curious and useful researches. He forgot his rank and 

 his grandeur for the pleasure of enjoying his familiar conversa- 

 tion, from which he derived a fund of information which he 

 eould not otherwise have acquired. After the death of his 

 Royal Highness, Dr. Hales was appointed Almoner to his consort 

 the Princess of Wales. He had made no apphcation for this 

 place, the whole matter had been transacted without his know- 

 ledge, and he could not avoid expressing his astonishment when 

 he hea-rd of his appointment. Modesty indeed was his charac- 

 teristic virtue. Though known and adnxired by all the philoso- 

 phers in Europe, he received the encomiums that were 

 continually lavished upon him, as if he had not deserved them. 

 The same principle rendered bun satisfied with his situation, 

 which he considered as fully adequate to his merits. When, 

 through the interest of his friends, the King had appointed him 

 a Canon of Windsor, he employed all his credit with the Princess 

 of Wales to get tlie appointment cancelled. 



