150 Obituary. 



by a vote of the profession a member of the Medical Board of 

 Victoria, of which, in 1878, he became President, a position he 

 held until his death, which took place a few weeks after his 

 return from England. He was an active and useful citizen, a 

 good surgeon, and a genial companion. 



MR. EDWARD DAVY, M.R.C.S. 



Died January, 1885. 



Edward Davy was born on June 6th, 1806, and received his 

 education at a school kept by Mr. Bontflower, his maternal uncle. 

 He was afterwards apprenticed to Mr. Wheeler, house surgeon at 

 St. Bartholomew's Hospital, and about the year 1828 became a 

 member of the Royal College of Surgeons, and soon after a 

 member of the Society of Apothecaries. Shortly after this he 

 bought a business at 390 Strand, London, and began to trade as 

 an operative chemist under the name of Davy and Co. In 1836 

 he published a small work, entitled Experimental Guide to 

 Chemistry ; in this book he mentions several modifications of 

 instruments he had invented, such as " Davy's Blow-pipe," and 

 " Davy's Improved Mercurial Trough." In 1835 he invented and 

 patented a cement for mending broken china and glass, which was 

 known as " Davy's Diamond Cement," and it was about this time 

 that he first experimented on the electric telegraph. His first 

 telegraph necessitated the employment of 2i wires, insulated from 

 each other, but he mentions that the number of wires might be 

 reduced to six, owing to the numerous changes which could be 

 made upon them by combination. The source of electricity was 

 to be the prime conductor of a frictional electrical machine ; the 

 electricity was passed into the line by depressing keys suitably 

 arranged. At the receiving end pith balls hanging in front of the 

 letters of the alphabet were first attracted and then repelled from 

 brass balls, to which the respective line wires were led, their 

 discharge being effected by means of suitable earth connections. 

 But this plan was not the one which Dr. Davy recommended to 

 be put to practice ; he merely described it to give a clearer insight 

 into the principles involved. He very soon drew up a proposal 

 for a telegraph based on the electro-magnetic properties of the 

 voltaic current. This was to consist, like the former, of as many 

 line wires as there were letters of the alphabet, but the number 

 might be reduced by various combinations to which they would 

 obviously be susceptible. He used a separate line for the alarm, 

 and a common return wire. The ribbons or wires were to be all 

 insulated and laid underground in a slight frame of well- varnished 



