390 THE KOYAL INSTITUTION. [CHAP. VI. 



until his last experiment on the diffusion of gases, in 

 February 1826, are to be found in the 'Life of Faraday.' 

 It will be sufficient to give here a statement of the 

 original researches which he communicated to the 

 Eoyal Society. 



In November 1815 and January 1816 his papers on 

 Fire-damp were read. He then worked upon flame, and 

 in January 1817 his researches on flame and his splendid 

 invention of the Davy Lamp were laid before the 

 Eoyal Society. At this time the popular reputation of 

 Davy reached its climax, and, looking back, we can 

 now see that his life should have ended here ; he 

 was then only 38 years old. He was presented with a 

 service of plate as a token of his invaluable invention 

 by the coal owners of the Tyne and Wear. He 

 bequeathed this to the Royal Society for the foundation 

 of a medal, to be given yearly to the chemist who made 

 the greatest discovery. This prize should be looked 

 on as a lasting memorial of the countless lives which 

 Davy and other chemists, by the application of their 

 scientific researches, have preserved. 



Year after year, from 1817 to 1826, Davy communi- 

 cated new investigations to the Royal Society. He 

 worked on chlorine, on phosphorus, on mists. He 

 went abroad again, and he tried chemically to unfold the 

 Herculanean papyri. He returned in 1820, and was 

 elected President of the Royal Society after the death 

 of Sir Joseph Banks. Then he worked on magnetic phe- 

 nomena produced by electricity, on electric phenomena 

 in vacuo, on water in the cavities of crystals, on new 

 phenomena of electro-magnetism. He became jealous 



