COUNT RUMFOKD. 155 



A la Memoire 



de 



Benjamin Thompson, 



Comte de Rumford, 



ti6 en 1753, a Concord ' pres Boston, 



en Amerique, 



mort le 21 Aout, 1814, a AuteuiL 



Physicien celebre, 



Philanthrope §claire, 



Bes decouvertes sur la lumiere 



et la chaleur 



ont illustre son nom. 



Ses travaux pour ameliorsr 



le sort des pauvres 



le feront toujours ch§ri 



des amis de l'humanite. 



The flat stone is thus inscribed : — 



En Baviere 



Lieutenant General, 



Chef de l'Etat-Major General, 



Conseiller d'Etat, 



Ministre de la Guerre. 



En France 



Membre de lTnstitut, 



Academie des Sciences. 



Ktjmford's Scientific Work. 



As a factor in human affairs, Eumford ascribed to 

 gunpowder a dominant importance. No other invention 

 had exercised so great an influence. Hence the arduous 

 labour he expended in determining its action. At 

 Stoneland Lodge, the country seat of Lord George 

 Germain, in the year 1778, his inquiries into the 

 force and applications of gunpowder began.- He directed 

 his attention to the position of the vent, the weight and 

 pressure of the charge, its bursting power, the quickness 

 of combustion, the weight and velocity of the projectile, 

 the effect of windage, and to many other matters of in- 

 terest to the gunner. On all these questions he threw 

 1 Ought to be Woburn. 



11 



