LAVOISIER. 313 



by Arago.) It is equally certain from the examination 

 of Mr. Cavendish's papers, and from the publication 

 lately made of his journals, first, that he never so 

 clearly as Mr. Watt drew the inference from his expe- 

 riments ; and, secondly, that though those experiments 

 were made before Mr. Watt's inferences, yet Mr. 

 Cavendish's conclusion was not drawn even privately 

 by himself, till after Mr. Watt's inference had been 

 made known to many others.* 



In 1783, after Mr. Cavendish's experiment had been 

 made, and after Mr. Watt's theory had been formed 

 upon the experiments of Warltire and Priestley, and 

 of Mr. Watt himself, Sir Charles Blagden went to Paris. 

 The experiments of Mr. Cavendish were made in 1781 ; 

 the theory of Mr. Watt was contained in a letter 

 which was communicated to the Royal Society in 

 April, 1783 : there is even reason to think from his 

 correspondence, that it was formed earlier. Mr. Ca- 

 vendish never gave the least intimation of having 

 drawn any such inference from his experiment before 

 April, 1783, when Mr. Watt's letter was in the hands 

 of the President of the Royal Society, and was acces- 

 sible to Sir Charles Blagden, one of the Council. Mr. 

 Cavendish's Diary of his experiments has been care- 

 fully examined, and fac-similes have been printed by 

 Mr. Harcourt of all that relates to the discovery ; not 

 a word is to be found of the inference or conclusion 

 from the experiment, of a date prior to April, 1783, 

 when Mr. Watt's letter was in the hands of the Society. 

 It is certain that, whether he took the theory from 



* Mr. Harcourt's publication, contrary indeed to his design, has, in a 

 very remarkable manner, strengthened the evidence in Mr. Watt's favour. 

 (' Life of Watt,' in vol. i., p. 201.) Professor Robison's article in the 

 ' Encyclopaedia Britannica ' gives an opinion coinciding with mine ; and it 

 was published thirteen years before Mr. Cavendish's death. I first stated 

 that opinion in a published form in 1803-4. (' Edinburgh Review,' vol. 

 iii., p. 11.) See the Appendix to this Life, in which some account is given 

 of the extraordinary errors and carelessness about facts, which distinguish 

 M. Cuvier's Eloge of Mr. Cavendish. 



