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Joseph Priestley

Chapter 17: Transcriber’s Notes
By T. E. Thorpe
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About This Book

The biography follows an eighteenth-century minister and experimental chemist from childhood and academy training through his teaching and pastoral posts, drawing on autobiographical papers and correspondence. It recounts his theological development and controversial writings, his close ties with scientific societies and figures, and detailed accounts of his pneumatic chemistry experiments and innovations such as preparation of mineral and gaseous substances and early eudiometry. The narrative covers his involvement in intellectual circles, the violent attack on his home and library, ensuing decision to emigrate, and his final years in America, while assessing his methods, philosophical outlook, and influence as a practical experimentalist.

J
“Jesus and Socrates compared,” Priestley’s Essay, 163.
K
Keighley, Mrs Sarah, 3, 8, 12.
Keir, Captain, 94, 127.
Kippis, Dr Andrew, 24, 26.
Kirwan, Richard, 215, 223.
L
Lavoisier, his relations to the discovery of oxygen, 195, 196, 198, 201, 215.
“Letters to a Philosophical Unbeliever,” Priestley’s, 85.
Lindsey, Theophilus, his friendship for Priestley, 73, 106.
Lunar Society of Birmingham, 94 et seq.
M
Magellan, or Magalhæns, 84, 205.
Marine Acid Air (Hydrogen Chloride), Priestley’s discovery of, 184.
“Melioration of Air, by the Growth of Plants,” Priestley’s paper on, 208.
N
Nitrosulphuric Acid, discovery of, 204.
Nitrous Air (Nitric Oxide), Priestley’s work on, 181;
his application of it to Eudiometry, 182;
nature of, 221.
Nitrous Acid, discovery of, 182;
nature of, 221.
O
Oxygen, Priestley’s discovery of, 184, 192 et seq.
P
Paoli, Pascal, 70 et seq.
Parr, Dr Samuel, 113, 144.
Phlogisticated Air (Nitrogen), Priestley’s theory of its constitution, 220.
Phlogiston, 98, 100, 162, 214, 222.
Pneumatic Trough, the, 176.
Price, Dr Richard, 61.
Pringle, Sir John, address on award of Copley Medal to Priestley, 80.
Priestley, Jonas, father of Joseph Priestley, 2.
Priestley, Joseph, his birth, 1;
ancestry, 2;
education, 8;
becomes an Arminian, 14;
goes to Daventry, 17;
his studies there, 18;
begins his Institutes of Natural and Revealed Religion, 20, 68;
his “thorn in the flesh,” 21;
goes to Needham, 22;
his privations there, 23;
goes to Nantwich, 30;
starts a school, 31;
removes to Warrington, 32;
marries, 47;
is ordained, 49;
his English Grammar, 32, 51;
Essay on Education, 53;
Lectures on History and General Policy, 55;
his Chart of Biography, 60;
is made Doctor of Laws of Edinburgh, 60;
publishes his History and Present State of Electricity, 64;
goes to Leeds, 66;
becomes a Unitarian, 69;
Theory and Practice of Perspective, 72;
History of Discoveries Relating to Vision, Light and Colours, 73;
his literary characteristics, 74;
his invention of soda-water, 77 et seq.;
is awarded the Copley Medal, 80;
becomes librarian to Lord Shelburne, 82;
visits the continent, 84;
his Disquisitions relating to Matter and Spirit, 86;
Experiments and Observations on Different Kinds of Air, 77, 103;
leaves Lord Shelburne, 88;
removes to Birmingham, 93;
his merits as a preacher, 105;
his History of the Corruptions of Christianity, 106;
his merits as a theologian, 109;
his love of literature, 111;
his physical characteristics, 114;
his habits of life, 114;
his mental characteristics, 117;
destruction of his house at Birmingham, 120 et seq.;
his address to the inhabitants of Birmingham, 134;
his account of the riots, 143;
succeeds Dr Price as minister at Hackney, 146;
withdraws from the Royal Society, 147;
determines to leave the country, 149;
his arrival in New York, 155;
settles in Northumberland, 155;
death of Mrs Priestley, 158;
his last days, 162;
his Doctrine of Phlogiston Established, 162;
his death, 164.
Priestley, Timothy, 2, 7.
R
Respiration, and the use of the Blood, Priestley’s paper on, 203.
Robinson, Henry Crabb, his account of Mrs Barbauld, 46.
Russell, Martha, her account of the Birmingham Riots of 1791, 128.
Russell, William, 105, 126, 149.
S
Sal Ammoniac, Synthesis of, by Priestley, 186.
Scheele, an independent discoverer of Oxygen, 206;
discovers Chlorine, 211.
Schimmelpenninck’s, Mrs, account of Priestley, 96.
Seddon, John, 34, 42.
Shelburne, Lord (Marquis of Lansdowne), 82.
Silicon Fluoride, Priestley’s preparation of, 198;
its decomposition by water, 199.
Soda-water, invention of, 77.
Sound in Air, 211.
Sozzini, Fausto, 69, 108.
Stahl, author of the hypothesis of phlogiston, 222.
Sulphur dioxide (Vitriolic Acid Air), Priestley’s discovery of, 190.
Sulphurated inflammable air (sulphuretted hydrogen), Priestley’s isolation of, 218.
Sulphuretted hydrogen, Priestley’s isolation of, 218.
T
Taylor, Dr John, of Norwich, 36.
Theological Repository, the, 68, 105.
Turner, Matthew, teacher of chemistry at the Warrington Academy, 51, 76.
V
Vegetation, relation of to Air, Priestley’s discovery of, 178, 208.
Vitriolic Acid Air (sulphur dioxide), Priestley’s isolation of, 189.
W
Warrington Academy, the, 33 et seq.
Water Controversy, the, 97.
Watt, James, his connection with the Lunar Society, 94;
discovery of Composition of Water, 97.
Wedgwood, Josiah, his friendship for Priestley, 55, 83, 137.
Wilkes and Liberty, Priestley’s pamphlet on, 73, 152.
Wilkinson, John, 48, 138.
Wilkinson, Mary (Mrs Priestley), 49, 158;
Madame Belloc’s account of her, 49.
Withering, Dr, 94, 101, 148.
Wordsworth, William, his admiration of Mrs Barbauld’s literary work, 46.

Colston & Coy. Limited, Printers, Edinburgh.

Transcriber’s Notes

  • Retained publication information from the printed edition: this eBook is public-domain in the country of publication.
  • Created cover and spine images based on elements in the book.
  • Silently corrected a few palpable typos.
  • In the text versions only, text in italics is delimited by _underscores_.