84 Biographical Account of [Feb., 



siderations. Lord Stanhope embraced the philosophical side of 

 the question, and this has ultimately prevailed. 



One of the objects of great practical utility to which his Lord 

 ship devoted much attention was the means of preserving build- 

 ings from fire. He endeavoured to accomplish this object by 

 employing the simple and well-known principle that combustion 

 can never take place where the air is excluded, even although 

 the fire may act powerfully upon the surface of the combustible 

 body. To illustrate his principle, and at the same time to put 

 his method to the test of very ample experiment, he erected 

 wooden houses of considerable size, rendered fire-proof accord- 

 ing to his method, and, after filling the lower chamber with a 

 collection of very inflammable materials, he set fire to it, and, 

 although they burned with great fury, the flames were not able 

 to penetrate into the upper chamber. At one of these experi- 

 ments a great number of persons of distinction were present - r 

 and, during the burning of the combustible substances, sat with- 

 out inconvenience in the upper apartment, partaking of a collation 

 in which ice formed a prominent ingredient. An account of 

 these experiments was published in the Phil. Trans, for 1778. 



Another object which engrossed a considerable share of Lord 

 Stanhope's attention was the employment of steam for the pro- 

 pulsion of vessels. For a period of 20 years he continued his 

 experiments on this object, and is said to have expended very 

 large sums of money in the prosecution of them. He is under- 

 stood to have constructed two or three different kinds of appa- 

 ratus which were adequate to the purpose ; but in his expectation 

 of accomplishing something that was still more perfect, he. 

 hesitated in making them public, and thus lost, in a great 

 measure, the honour of the invention. Mr. Fulton, with less 

 science, but with more decision, has immortalized himself by a 

 discovery which, in its ultimate consequences, may prove, per- 

 haps, one of the most important, even in this age of discovery. 

 It is indeed well known that Lord Stanhope and Mr. Fulton 

 were at one period in the habit of frequently meeting and con- 

 versing on topics connected with the improvement of the mecha- 

 nical arts, and that of steam-vessels in particular. Probably no 

 documents exist which can enable us to decide upon the share 

 which each of them had in this invention, or to whom the priority 

 of discovery belongs. 



Besides these, which may be regarded as among Lord Stan- 

 hope's most important pursuits, he published a pamphlet on 

 preventing frauds on the gold coin, and afterwards on Bank- 

 notes, proceeding, in both instances, upon the obvious principle 

 of employing very skilful workmen, whose performances could 

 not be imitated by those who engage in attempts at forgery. 

 He constructed a very ingenious and effective " arithmetical 

 machine," which, by the mere revolution of a handle, was capable 

 s»f working any sum in the four fundamental operations of addition, 



