THE REVIVAL OF SCIENCE 287 



making gunpowder, for making " hails hot " 

 and for boring cannon. His traditional invention 

 of the almost lost art of mezzotint is probably due 

 to the fact that, at an early date, the real inventor, 

 Ludwig von Siegen, explained to him his process 

 and that Prince Rupert demonstrated with his 

 own hands this new method of engraving to 

 Evelyn. 



Another aristocratic inventor, Edward Somer- 

 set, second Marquis of Worcester, has received 

 more credit than he deserved. He was interested 

 in mechanics and employed a skilled mechanician, 

 one Kaltoff, in his laboratory, but his claims to 

 have invented a steam-engine do not bear critical 

 investigation, and his well-known " Century of 

 Inventions " does not rise to the level of " The 

 Boy's Own Book " of the last century. Many of 

 his suggestions, though ingenious, are based on 

 fallacies, and comparatively few of them were 

 practical. 



A curiously versatile amateur in science was 

 Sir Kenelm Digby. Like most prominent men 

 of his time, he intervened in theological questions, 

 besides playing an active part in public affairs. 

 He was an original member of the Royal Society, 

 but, although he is reported to have been the first 



