12 
Sir  Jinmphri/  JJmy,  Jiart.,  P.R.S. 
for  their  life-long  work  at  Hothainsted.'  Still,  in  1^55, 
Lawes,  when  referring  to  Gilbert  and  the  debt  of  gratitude 
due  to  him,  could  speak  of  the  “ science  which  has  hardly 
a recognised  existence.”  Now,  as  Dr.  Voelcker  writes,  it  has 
received  complete  acknowledgment  and  as  Mr.  Prothero  says  : 
“ On  their  work  has  been  built  the  modern  fabric  of  British 
agriculture.”  ^ 
To  return  to  the  main  circumstances  of  Davy’s  life,  it  may 
be  here  noted  that  he  held  the  office  of  Secretary  of  the  Royal 
Society  from  lb()7  to  1812,  being  associated  with  two  very 
distinguished  j)hilosophers,  viz.,  Wollaston  as  Senior  Secretary, 
and  Thomas  Young  as  Foreign  Secretary. 
It  has  already  been  mentioned  that  Davy  originally  had 
the  intention  of  studying  for  the  medical  profession.  This 
scheme  he  had  given  up  when  he  took  office  at  the  Royal 
Institution  and  devoted  himself  to  scientific  research,  but  he 
does  not  appear  to  have  been  altogether  satisfied  with  his 
financial  pros{)ects,  in  spite  of  his  success,  and  he  was  for  a 
time  rather  undecided  as  to  his  future.  He  scarcely  saw 
at  the  Royal  Institution  a prospect  of  independence,  and  he 
therefore  looked  forward  to  success  as  a London  physician. 
He  entered'  his  name  on  the  boards  of  the  University  of 
Ciambridge  and  kept  some  terms,  but  soon  gave  up  this  idea. 
He  had  previously  declined  an  invitation  to  enter  the  (diurch. 
The  Bisho})  of  Durham  and  Sir  Thomas  Bernard  were  among 
those  ])owerful  friends  who  tried  to  })ersuade  him  that  his 
eloquence  might  be  of  service  in  the  cause  of  religion,  and  held 
out  to  him  the  brightest  prosj)Octs  of  preferment.'' 
Some  reason  for  indecision  at  this  ])eriod  of  life  may  be 
found  in  the  fact  that  he  was  a man  who  was  bound  to  succeed 
in  any  walk  of  life  he  might  have  entered.  With  the  feeling 
* Mr.  Albert  Pell  writes  : “ When  I came  of  age  I read  Davy’s  writings 
witli  intense  pleasure — his  agricultural  ones  with  enthusiasm,  his  fishing  ones 
with  excitement,  both  with  wonder.  It  caused  me  pain  to  find  Liebig  and  Lawes 
rivalling  his  great  authority.  Davy  laid  great  stress  on  the  value  of  ‘humus,’ 
i.e.,  the  fertilising  properties  founcl  in  the  surface  soil  and  other  garden  soil 
that  had  been  long  manipulated  and  nourished  by  the  gardener.  Its  virtues 
seemed  to  be  or  were  regarded  as  empirical,  and  on  the  whole  it  was  thought 
less  of  when  the  analyst  came  on  the  field  ; but  I remember  Lawes  speaking 
enthusiastically  of  its  virtues,  and  taking  me  to  a small  patch,  a portion  of  the 
garden  that  had  been  cultivated  for  centuries  at  Rothamsted,  and  pointing  out 
how  he  had  for  years  sown  and  grown  red  clover  on  it  without  any  indications 
of  ‘sickness’  showing  itself.” 
Journal  R.A.S.E.,  Vol.  62,  1901,  )ip.  351,  352. 
’ Jbid.y  i>age  24. 
Davy’s  Life,  of  Davy  (Works,  '\''ol.  1,  page  127). 
