INVENTIONS AND DISCOVERIES. 



73 



each bone, each fragment, regained 

 its place. I have no expres- 

 sions to describe the pleasure ex- 

 perienced in perceiving that, as I 

 discovered one character, all the 

 consequences, more or less foreseen 

 of this character, -were successively 

 developed. The feet were confor- 

 mable to what the teeth had an- 

 nounced, and the teeth to the feet ; 

 the bones of the less and the 



thighs, arid everything that ought 

 to unite these parts, were conform- 

 able to each other. In one word, 

 each of the species sprung up from 

 one of its elements. Those," he 

 adds, " who will have the patience 

 to follow me in these memoirs, 

 may form some idea of the sensa- 

 tions which I experienced in thus 

 restoring, by degrees, those ancient 

 monuments of mighty revolutions." 



INTENTIONS AND DISCOVERIES, 



INDUCTIVE PHILOSOPHY ROGER 

 BACON ITS FOUNDER. 



Roger Bacon was the true founder 

 of the inductive philosophy. He 

 taught the scientific world, that 

 truth could not be obtained without 

 experiment and observation, and 

 that no reasonings, however ingeni- 

 ous, and no arguments, however 

 sound, could of themselves satisfy 

 a mind anxiously seeking for what 

 is true. Nearly two centuries af- 

 terwards, Leonardo da Vinci taught 

 and practised the same truth. It 

 sprung up,heaven-born,in the minds 

 of Copernicus, Galileo, Tycho, Pas- 

 cal, Huygens, and Gilbert ; and Sir 

 Isaac Newton may be considered as 

 havingcarriedto perfection the true 

 method of investigating truth by 

 observation and experiment. The 

 great doctrine, thus innate in some 

 minds, was taught with peculiar 

 eloquence and success by Lord Ba- 

 con. (Sir D. Brewster.) 



THE DAVY LAMP. 



Sir H. Davy spoke of the desire 

 for knowledge being powerfully 

 enhanced, when that knowledge is 

 felt to be practical power, and when 

 that power may be applied to lessen 

 the miseries or increase the comforts 

 of our fellow-creatures. It was in 

 this spirit that he prosecuted the 

 discovery of the safety-lamp. 



In August, 1815, his attention 



was first particularly directed to 

 the subject of fire-damp. He was 

 then in the Highlands of Scotland 

 on a shooting excursion. On his 

 way back he stopped at Newcastle, 

 and made minute inquiries into the 

 circumstances of the mines in con- 

 nection with the destructive agent. 

 At his request, specimens of fire- 

 damp were forwarded to him in 

 London. He then entered, in his 

 laboratory, on the experimental in- 

 vestigation. On the 9th of Novem- 

 ber, the results of his inquiry were 

 read to the Eoyal Society, and the 

 principle of the safety-lamp was 

 announced ; and the lamp itself was 

 perfected in December. 



For this great service done to 

 science and humanity, Sir Hum- 

 phry received votes of thanks from 

 the entii'C coal trade in the north 

 of England, together with a service- 

 of plate valued at 2500. The late 

 Emperor Alexander of Russia sent 

 him a silver-gilt vase, and the hon- 

 our of a baronetcy was conferred 

 upon the chemist by his own Sove- 

 reign. When urged by his friends, 

 including Mr. Buddie, to take out 

 a patent for his discovery, " No, my 

 good friend," he said to that gentle- 

 man, "I never thought of such a 

 thing; my sole object was to serve 

 the cause of humanity, and if I 

 have succeeded, I am amply re- 

 warded in the gratifying reflection 

 of having done so. More wealth," 



