14 HISTORY OF THE DAUBENY LABORATORY 



Much of the apparatus used by him in these and also in his 

 earlier researches is preserved ; and so we possess a larger 

 collection of chemical glass, &c., of the first half of the nine- 

 teenth century than is commonly to be found in modern 

 laboratories, as well as a collection of instruments of consider- 

 able value from the point of view of the development of 

 chemical apparatus and manipulation. The extreme thick- 

 ness of the glass eudiometers and the magnitude of the 

 gas-holders define a well-marked period in the history of 

 pneumatic chemistry which followed the period of Cavendish 

 and Black. And it is wonderful what accurate results this 

 clumsy apparatus could be made to yield in skilful hands. 

 Of particular interest are the variously tinted shades of 

 coloured glass employed in his classical research on the 

 Action of Light upon Plants and of Plants upon Atmosphere, 

 and which are therefore available either for repeating the 

 experiments or for a more searching spectroscopic examina- 

 tion of the colour than Daubeny made. 



Collec- Although Daubeny 's main idea when planning his new 

 tions. building was to provide the College with a room where 

 lectures on Chemistry might be delivered and illustrated with 

 greater safety, convenience, and popularity than in the College 

 Hall, he was probably also guided by the desire to provide 

 a suitable depository for his scientific treasures, the accu- 

 mulation of a lifetime. 



The collections are enumerated in a catalogue printed in 

 1 86 1, entitled A Catalogue of the Philosophical Apparatiis, 

 Minerals, Geological Specimens, &c. in the possession of 

 Dr. Daubeny, Praelector of Natural Philosophy in Magdalen 

 College, and now deposited in the building contiguous to the 

 Botanic Gardens, belonging to that Society. 



Dr. Daubeny's original arrangement of the collections was 

 for the most part preserved intact until I893 1 , when Mr. 

 Gunther found certain changes to be necessary on account 

 of the deterioration of much of the physical apparatus by 

 the corrosive fumes of the Laboratory. The more important 

 portions of the collections were disposed as follows : 



1 Although several pieces of apparatus were found to be missing. 



