CHAP. VII., 3.] 



ELECTRICITY. DAVY. 



171 



(766.) 

 Distin- 

 guished 

 testimonies 

 to his 

 scientific 

 sharacter. 



(767.) 

 Chemical 

 esearches 

 >n chlo- 

 ine and 

 odine. 



(768.; 

 )avy's ex- 

 ensive po- 

 >ularity, 

 md its 

 esults. 



est international hostilities, by the scientific prize of 

 3000 francs, founded by the Emperor Napoleon. 1 



The genius displayed in these, Davy's most cele- 

 brated researches, is evident on a careful perusal of 

 his papers ; but still more from a consideration of the 

 state of science of the time, and of the willing tribute 

 to his merits paid by the ablest of his contempo- 

 raries. Few persons of the present day will venture 

 to controvert the assertion of his acute contem- 

 porary, Dr Thomas Young (than whom no man was 

 ever a less indiscriminate eulogist), that Davy's 

 researches were " more splendidly successful than 

 any which have ever before illustrated the physical 

 sciences, in any of their departments ;" and that the 

 contents of the Bakerian Lectures, in particular, " are 

 as much superior to those of Newton's Optics, as the 

 Principia are superior to these or any other human 

 work." 2 A not less impartial tribute to his superla- 

 tive genius has been yielded by M. Dumas, who, if I 

 mistake not, has described Davy as being the ablest 

 and most successful chemist who ever lived. A si- 

 milar homage is paid to him by the sagacious Cuvier. 



It is not within our scope to consider minutely 

 Davy's purely chemical discoveries and experiments, 

 though they were numerous and important, indepen- 

 dently of those made with the aid of electricity. His 

 proofs of the elementary nature of chlorine and iodine 

 were amongst the most considerable in their results. 

 But as a mere analyst, Davy had neither the leisure 

 nor the taste for continuous plodding labour, and 

 he therefore naturally made mistakes in chemical 

 details. His Elements of Chemical Philosophy re- 

 mained, in consequence, a fragment of an exten- 

 sive work. His contemporary, Berzelius, following 

 his steps in electro-chemical discovery, attained far 

 greater address, and became an author of high and 

 merited reputation, whilst his school surpassed all 

 others in Europe in producing accomplished analysts. 8 



The years immediately following the publication of 

 his Bakerian Lectures were passed by Davy in the 

 u envied possession of the highest fame, and in the 

 tranquil furtherance of his first and greatest disco- 

 veries. His lectures at the Royal Institution con- 

 tinued to be one of the most fashionable resorts in 

 London, and he was freely admitted in return into 

 the most aristocratic society ; he had but to express a 

 wish, and a voltaic battery of no less than 2000 pairs, 

 containing 128,000 square inches of surface, was con- 

 structed for his use, by means of a liberal subscrip- 

 tion. His health, when seriously compromised by 

 the severity of his labours, was a matter of public 

 concern, and its variations were announced by frequent 

 bulletins. The copyright of his lectures on agricul- 

 ture was sold for a price unexampled perhaps before 



or since for such a work. In 1812 he was knighted 

 by the Prince Regent, and soon after he married a 

 lady of fortune and accomplishments. His duties at 

 the Royal Institution became thenceforth honorary. 

 He had in a space of ten years attained the pinnacle of 

 scientific reputation, and he was for the time truly 

 happy: unenvious of others deeply attached to 

 his relatives generous of his resources unwearied 

 in his philosophic labours. A certain change (it 

 must with regret be owned) came over his state of 

 mind, tarnished his serenity, and gradually though 

 imperceptibly weakened his scientific zeal. It was 

 to be ascribed solely, we believe, to the severe ordeal 

 of exuberant but heartless popularity which he un- 

 derwent in London. The flatteries of fashionable 

 life acting on a young, ardent, and most susceptible 

 mind, mingling first with the graver applause of his 

 philosophic compeers, and at length, by their reitera- 

 tion and seductions quite overpowering it, by degrees 

 attached Davy to the fashionable world, and loosened 

 his ties to that laboratory which had once been to him 

 the sole and fit scene of his triumphs. Had he been 

 blest with a family, his course would probably have 

 been evener and happier. Let us not severely criti- 

 cise, where we still find so much to admire and to imi- 

 tate. But we record the fact, for the consolation of 

 those who, beginning the pursuit of science, as Davy 

 did, in a humble sphere, and with pure ardour, may 

 fancy that they are worthy of pity, if they do not at- 

 tain with him the honours of wealth and title, and the 

 homage, grateful to talent, of rank, wit, and beauty. 



A research, second perhaps only to his electro- (769.) 

 chemical discoveries, remains to be noticed, as the Third pe- 

 chief fruit of the third period of his life, on which we jjj? e d of his 

 now enter ; the first being his early career before 

 settling in London ; the second, that passed in the 

 Royal Institution. 



Researches on Flame The Safety-Lamp. The (770.) 

 subject was, the laws of combustion, and the happy Researches 

 invention of the safety-lamp. Though intimately ^ e safety^ 

 connected with the doctrine of simple heat, it may, lamp, 

 most properly, from its chemical character, and 

 from its connection with Davy's history, be considered 

 briefly here. The lamentable loss of life occurring 

 in coal mines from explosions of fire-damp or inflam- 

 mable air disengaged from the workings, had for 

 many years attracted the attention and sympathy of 

 the public, and had likewise been carefully considered 

 by scientific men. The explosive gas was known to 

 be the light carburetted hydrogen. Two plans alone 

 seemed to present themselves for diminishing the 

 danger : the one to remove, or chemically to de- 

 compose the fire-damp altogether ; the other, to pro- 

 vide a miner's lamp which, by its construction, should 



Jerzelius. 



1 Such was the national feeling at this time in England, that worthy people were found who considered Davy as almost a 

 traitor, when he accepted the French prize. See Southey's Life, 



2 Quarterly Review, No. 15. 



3 Jons Jacoh Berzelius, the greatest analytical chemist of his day, was born in East Gothland, in the same year with Davy, 

 and died in 1848, when he had almost completed his 69th year. He contributed, in a signal manner, to the establishment of 

 Dalton's principle of definite chemical equivalents ; but he made no single discovery of commanding importance. 



2 



