PREFACE. vii 



For the account of the origin and progress of the 

 Institution I have searched the minutes of the meet- 

 ings of the managers, the proprietors, and the mem- 

 bers. I am much indebted to Earl Spencer, who has 

 lent me from the Althorp library a printed copy of 

 the first prospectus of the Eoyal Institution. This 

 was written by Count Eumford. I have found many 

 forgotten things in the manuscript letters to and from 

 Sir Joseph Banks, to which I have had access by per- 

 mission of the Knatchbull family ; also in a manuscript 

 life of Mr. Webster, the architect of the Royal Institu- 

 tion theatre ; and in some letters which belonged to Mr. 

 Savage, the clerk and first printer at the Institution, 

 and for which I am indebted to his daughters. 



For the sketch of the lives of Dr. Grarnett and of 

 Dr. Young I have been able to find very little original 

 matter. 



For the life of Sir Humphry Davy I have met with 

 some new facts in his laboratory note- books. These 

 books give most of his daily work at the time when 

 he was making his great discoveries regarding chemical 

 electricity, the alkalies, and chlorine. I have also had 

 the use of the notes by Faraday of four of the last lec- 

 tures given by Davy at the Institution. This is the 

 manuscript volume sent to Davy by Faraday when he 

 asked to be employed at the Institution. It consists 

 of 386 small quarto pages. Davy at this time was 

 thirty-three, and Faraday was twenty-one. The one 



