50 LEADING AMERICAN MEN OF SCIENCE 



the horse was registered by the needle of a spring-balance. Having 

 ascertained in this way that broad tires reduced the traction 

 power, he adopted them for his carriage notwithstanding the jeers 

 of the street crowds. 



Count Rumford died in Auteuil August 21, 1814, in his sixty- 

 second year. Baron Cuvier, Permanent Secretary of the French 

 Institute, and his intimate friend, pronounced the eulogy before 

 the Institute, coupling his name with that of another recently 

 deceased member, Parmentier, who introduced the potato into 

 France. Both savants, he says, were defenders of the human 

 race against its two greatest enemies, hunger and cold; both 

 these enemies are to be fought with the same weapon, the proper 

 use of carbon compounds. The physicist who invents an econom- 

 ical fireplace is as though he had added acres of wood; the botanist 

 who brings a new edible plant virtually increases the arable land. 

 In laboring for the poor, Count Rumford was rewarded by his 

 greatest discoveries, so Fontenelle's remark could be applied 

 to him that "he had taken the same road to Heaven and to the 

 Academy." 



