172 BIOGRAPHIES OF SCIENTIFIC MEN 



the chloride and iodine of nitrogen are examples of 

 first-class work ; but they are as nothing to the isola- 

 tion of the metals of the alkalis and alkaline earths. 

 The era of Davy has been called the " golden age 

 of chemistry in this country " ; certainly it was most 

 brilliant, and one never to be forgotten in the history 

 of science. 



Sir Humphry Davy said: "The foundations of 

 chemical knowledge are observation, experiment, and 

 analogy. By observation facts are distinctly and minutely 

 impressed on the mind ; by analogy similar facts are 

 connected ; by experiment new facts are discovered ; and 

 in the progress of knowledge, observation, guided by 

 analogy, leads to experiment ; and analogy, confirmed by 

 experiment, becomes scientific truth." 



Sir Humphry Davy " was a somewhat vain and 

 irritable man, whom early success had made haughty 

 to his inferiors. Indeed, in the recollections of Fara- 

 day, who as a young man attended upon him in his 

 travels, we have a rather disagreeable picture of the 

 savant who had forgotten the 'pit out of which he 

 was digged/" 



Later on, however, he appreciated the talents of 

 Faraday, although he strongly opposed the latter 's nomi- 

 nation for the fellowship of the Royal Society. Was 

 he jealous of Faraday's successes ? Davy was never 

 popular with assistants and colleagues. He was far too 



