4 
Sir  Ihanphri/  Davy,  Bart.,  P.R.S. 
Davy  made  cliemical  ex})eriments,  whicli  often  caused  those  he 
lived  with  to  t'eai’  that  he  woidd  blow  uj)  the  house.  These 
appear  to  have  taken  place  on  the  ground  floor  of  Mr.  Tonkin’s 
house,  and  not  in  the  attic  as  stated  by  Dr.  Paris. 
Davy  possessed  many  endearing  qualities  and  made  friends 
of  the  best  men  of  his  neighbourhood.  Among  the  most  dis- 
tinguished  of  these  were  Gregory,  son  of  the  great  James  Watt, 
Thomas  Wedgwood,  and  Davies  Gilbert,  afterwards  President 
of  the  Royal  Society. 
In  1798  Davy  began  his  public  career.  Thomas  Beddoes 
(17(50-1808)  at  this  time  established  at  Clifton  a Pneumatic 
Institution  for  the  treatment  of  disease  by  inhalation.  The 
main  intention  of  the  foundation  was  to  make  trial  of  different 
gases  for  the  purpose  of  ascertaining  their  medicinal  effects  in 
various  diseases.  Beddoes  was  in  want  of  an  assistant  in  the 
laboratory,  and  Davies  Gilbert  recommended  Davy  as  a suitable 
person  for  the  post.  Borlase  liberated  him  from  his  indentures,' 
and  he  removed  from  Penzance  to  (difton,  where  he  was 
comfortably  settled  in  Beddoes’  house.  Mrs.  Beddoes  (Anna, 
sister  of  Maria  Edgeworth)  was  described  by  Davy  as  “ the 
Ix'st  and  most  amiable  woman  in  the  world,”  and  in  her  house 
he  formed  many  friendships  with  distinguished  men,  such  as 
(Coleridge,  Southey,  and  Thomas  Poole. 
Beddoes  was  favouraldy  imj)ressed  by  Davy’s  account  of 
his  ex])eriments  on  heat  and  light  which  Gregory  Watt  had 
given  him,  and  he  published  it  in  Contributions  to  Physical  and 
Ahedical  Knowledye,  'princiixdly  from  the  west  of  PJngland, 
wdiich  he  edited.  Half  of  the  first  volume  of  this  work, 
piddished  in  1799,  consisted  of  Davy’s  “Essays.” 
At  Clifton,  Davy  made  experiments  in  breathing  airs 
dangerous  to  life,  and  first  discovered  the  virtues  of  nitrous 
oxide.  He  did  not  remain  long  at  Clifton,  and  when  he  left,  the 
Pneumatic  Institution  (for  which  James  fVatt  had  constructed 
apparatus,  and  Mr.  Land)ton  (afterwards  Earl  of  Durham)  and 
Thomas  Wedgwood  supplied  the  principal  funds,  respectively 
1,500k  and  1,000/.)  soon  ceased  to  exist. 
In  March,  1801,  Davy  was  a])pointed  Director  of  the 
Chemical  Laboratory  and  Assistant  Lecturer  in  Chemistiy  at 
the  Royal  Institution,  on  the  recommendation  of  Dr.  Hope, 
Professor  of  Chemistry  at  Edinburgh,  who  had  made  his 
acquaintance  at  Clifton.  He  was  a brilliant  lecturer,  and  the 
effect  of  his  first  lectures  was  very  striking.  So  staid  a 
’ Danfs  Fragmentary  Uemaim,  edited  by  John  Davy,  M.D.,  1868,  page  19. 
