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XV. Some Observations and Experiments on the Papyri found in 
the ruins of Herculaneum. By Sir Humphry Davy, Bart. 
P. R. S. 
Read March 15, 1821. 
In a paper intended for private circulation only on the MSS. 
found in the excavations made at Herculaneum, but which 
was published, by mistake, in the Journal of Science and the 
Arts, I have described, in a general manner, the circum- 
stances which led me to make experiments on these remains, 
and mentioned some of my first observations on this subject. 
Mr. Hamilton, to whom this communication was sent, en- 
tered into my views with all that ardour for promoting the 
progress of useful knowledge which so peculiarly belongs to 
his character, and on his representation of them, the Earl of 
Liverpool and Viscount Castlereagh, with the greatest 
liberality, placed at my disposal such funds as were requi- 
site for paying the persons whom it was necessary to 
employ in trying new chemical methods of unrolling the 
MSS. and for examining and preserving them when unrolled ; 
and his present Majesty, then Prince Regent, graciously 
condescended to patronize the undertaking. 
In this communication, I shall do myself the honour of 
laying before the Royal Society an account of all that I have 
been able to do on this subject ; namely, first, a detail of 
my early experiments in England on fragments of papyri, 
which induced me to believe that chemistry might afford 
considerable assistance towards unrolling the MSS. Secondly, 
