LAVOISIER. 319 



It may easily be believed that Dr. Black's surprise 

 was great upon this occasion, and that he treated the 

 flattery contained in these letters with a very marked 

 contempt. This we learn from his friend and col- 

 league, Professor Robison, (Lectures, vol. II., note.) 

 But this no one could have learnt from that illustrious 

 philosopher's manner, when he had occasion to speak 

 of his correspondent in public. I well remember the 

 uniform respect with which he mentioned him in his 

 Lectures, the admiration which he always expressed of 

 his great powers of generalization, the satisfaction with 

 which he recounted his experiments, some of which 

 he himself performed before us ; nay, the willingness 

 with which he admitted him to a share of the grand 

 discovery of the composition of water ; and showed us 

 the analytical proof, or rather illustration of the doc- 

 trine, as a most happy confirmation of it, though not 

 certainly deserving to be regarded as an unequivocal 

 demonstration. No one could ever have suspected 

 either the existence of the letters which I have cited 

 or the blank in the Memoirs with which I have con- 

 trasted them.* 



After the year 1784, though M. Lavoisier continued 

 his scientific labours, excepting his co-operation in 

 forming the new nomenclature, and his important re- 

 searches, in company with M. Seguin, upon the pro- 

 cesses of respiration and transpiration, there are no 

 results of his chemical inquiries that require to be men- 

 tioned. The paper on Respiration (Mem. 1789) con- 

 tains some very important experiments which throw 

 great light upon that process, and some upon the pro- 

 duction of animal heat. They not only clearly show 



Priestley, only as having shown that the air of the atmosphere is altered 

 by the respiration of animals. (p. 568.) 



* Other authors of eminent name have been more just, especially Four- 

 crov, who gives Dr. Black the entire credit of his great discoveries. 

 (' Elem. de Chym.' i., 36, 40 ; ' Syst, de Con. Chym.' ii., 28, 49.) In 

 one passage he distinctly states these discoveries as having led to the new 

 system. (' Elem/ L, 40.) 



