In estimating the early genius of Davy, and his character as a philosopher, the style and matter of his "Researches" will afford us much assistance. The close philosophical reasoning,—the patient and penetrating industry,—the candid submission to every intimation of experiment, and the accuracy of manipulation, so remarkably displayed throughout this work, have been rarely equalled, and perhaps never surpassed.

There is scarcely to be found a more striking illustration of chemical genius, than that afforded by his chapter on the "Absorption of Nitrous Gas by solutions of green Sulphate of Iron."

The address with which he gradually disentangles the subject of its difficulties, and catches at every opening to truth, affords a study which may be safely recommended to the attention of every young experimentalist, as being no less instructive than it is beautiful.

The phenomena attending the absorption of nitrous gas by solutions of sulphate of iron had been examined by Vauquelin and by Berthollet, but the conclusions of these chemical philosophers were fatally infected by errors, arising from the neglected action of the atmosphere. Davy, by conducting his experiments over mercury, proved that, in the absence of air, the absorption was simply owing to a combination between the gas and the fluid; but that, on admitting air, the nitrous gas became nitrous acid, a portion of which, together with a part of the water, subsequently underwent decomposition, and gave origin to ammonia, and ultimately to nitrate of ammonia, while the iron passed into the state of a peroxide.

We have also to admire in this work an ardour for investigation, which even the most imminent personal danger could not repress. He may truly be said to have sought the bubble reputation in the very jaws of Death. What shall we say of that spirit which led him to inspire nitrous gas, at the hazard of filling his lungs with the vapour of aqua fortis! or what, of that intrepid coolness which enabled him to breathe a deadly gas, and to watch the advances of its chilling power in the ebbing pulsations at the wrist!

These experiments, however, are far too interesting and important to be related in any other than the author's own words; but it is first necessary that his trials with the nitrous oxide should be considered.

He found that this gas might be most conveniently, as well as most economically, prepared by the decomposition of a salt known by the name of nitrate of ammonia, by the application of a regulated heat; but, as the researches by which he arrived at this conclusion are recorded at length in his work, and as the most important of them are now embodied in every elementary system of chemistry, it would not only be tedious but useless, to enter into a detail of them upon this occasion.

"In April," he says, "I obtained nitrous oxide in a state of purity, and ascertained many of its chemical properties. Reflections upon these properties, and upon former trials, made me resolve to inspire it in its pure form, for I saw no other way in which its respirability, or powers, could be determined.

"I was aware of the danger of the experiment. It certainly would never have been made, if the hypothesis of Dr. Mitchell had in the least influenced my mind. I thought that the effects might, possibly, be depressing and painful; but there were many reasons which induced me to believe, that a single inspiration of a gas, apparently possessing no immediate action on the irritable fibre, could neither destroy, nor materially injure, the powers of life.

"On April 11th, I made the first inspiration of pure nitrous oxide. It passed through the bronchiæ without stimulating the glottis, and produced no uneasy sensations in the lungs.

"The result of this experiment proved that the gas was respirable, and induced me to believe that a farther trial of its effects might be made without danger.

"On April 16th, Dr. Kinglake being accidentally present, I breathed three quarts of nitrous oxide from and into a silk bag, for more than half a minute, without previously closing my nose, or exhausting my lungs. The first inspirations occasioned a slight degree of giddiness, which was succeeded by an uncommon sense of fulness in the head, accompanied with loss of distinct sensation and voluntary power,—a feeling analogous to that produced in the first stage of intoxication; but unattended by pleasurable sensation. Dr. Kinglake, who felt my pulse, informed me that it was rendered quicker and fuller.

"This trial did not satisfy me with regard to its powers: comparing it with the former ones, I was unable to determine whether the operation was stimulant or depressing.

"I communicated the result to Dr. Beddoes, and on April the 17th, he was present when the following experiment was made.

"Having previously closed my nostrils, and exhausted my lungs, I breathed four quarts of the gas from and into a silk bag. The first feelings were similar to those produced in the last experiment; but in less than half a minute, the respiration being continued, they diminished gradually, and were succeeded by a sensation analogous to gentle pressure on all the muscles, attended by an highly pleasurable thrilling, particularly in the chest and in the extremities. The objects around me became dazzling, and my hearing more acute. Towards the last inspirations, the thrilling increased, the sense of muscular power became greater, and, at last, an irresistible propensity to action was indulged in: I recollect but indistinctly what followed; I know that my motions were various and violent.

"These effects very soon ceased after the respiration of the gas. In ten minutes I had recovered my natural state of mind. The thrilling in the extremities continued longer than the other sensations.

"This experiment was made in the morning; no languor or exhaustion was consequent; my feelings throughout the day were as usual, and I passed the night in undisturbed repose.

"The next morning the recollection of the effects of the gas was very indistinct; and had not remarks written immediately after the experiment recalled them to my mind, I should even have questioned their reality."

Our philosopher very naturally doubted whether some of these strong emotions might not, after all, be attributed to the enthusiasm necessarily connected with the perception of agreeable feelings, when he was prepared to expect painful sensations; but he says, that subsequent experiments convinced him that the effects were solely owing to the specific operation of the gas. He found that he could breathe nine quarts of nitrous oxide for three minutes, and twelve quarts for rather more than four; but that he could never breathe it, in any quantity, so long as five minutes. Whenever its operation was carried to the highest extent, the pleasurable thrilling, at its height about the middle of the experiment, gradually diminished, the sense of pressure on the muscles was lost, impressions ceased to be perceived, vivid ideas passed rapidly through the mind, and voluntary power was altogether destroyed, so that the mouthpiece generally dropped from his unclosed lips. When he breathed from six to seven quarts, muscular motions were produced to a great extent: sometimes he manifested his pleasure by stamping, or laughing only; at other times, by dancing round the room, and vociferating.

During the progress of these experiments, it occurred to him that, supposing nitrous oxide to be analogous in its operation to common stimulants, the debility occasioned by intoxication from fermented liquors ought to be increased after excitement from this gas, in the same manner as the debility produced by two bottles of wine is increased by a third. To ascertain whether this was the case, he drank a bottle of wine, in large draughts, in less than eight minutes. His usual drink, he tells us, was water; he had been little accustomed to take spirits or wine, and had never been intoxicated but once before in the course of his life. Under such circumstances, we may readily account for the powerful effects produced by this quantity of wine, and which he describes in the following manner:—

"Whilst I was drinking, I perceived a sense of fulness in the head, and throbbing of the arteries, not unlike that produced in the first stage of nitrous oxide excitement: after I had finished the bottle, this fulness increased, the objects around me became dazzling, the power of distinct articulation was lost, and I was unable to stand steadily. At this moment, the sensations were rather pleasurable than otherwise; the sense of fulness in the head, however, soon increased, so as to become painful, and in less than an hour I sunk into a state of insensibility. In this situation I must have remained for two hours, or two hours and a half. I was awakened by head-ache and painful nausea. My bodily and mental debility were excessive, and the pulse feeble and quick.

"In this state, I breathed for near a minute and a half five quarts of gas, which was brought to me by the operator for nitrous oxide; but as it produced no sensations whatever, and apparently rather increased my debility, I am almost convinced that it was, from some accident, either common air, or very impure nitrous oxide.

"Immediately after this trial, I respired twelve quarts of oxygen for nearly four minutes. It produced no alteration in my sensations at the time, but immediately afterwards I imagined that I was a little exhilarated.

"The head-ache and debility still, however, continuing with violence, I examined some nitrous oxide which had been prepared in the morning, and finding it very pure, I respired seven quarts of it for two minutes and a half. I was unconscious of head-ache after the third inspiration; the usual pleasurable thrilling was produced, voluntary power was destroyed, and vivid ideas rapidly passed through my mind; I made strides across the room, and continued for some minutes much exhilarated; but languor and depression, not very different in degree from those existing before the experiment, succeeded; they however gradually went off before bed-time.

"This experiment proved, that debility from intoxication was not increased by excitement from nitrous oxide. The head-ache and depression would probably have continued longer, had it not been administered."

The same work contains an account of many other trials; but sufficient has been extracted to show the zeal and intrepidity with which he conducted his researches. To withhold, however, the testimony which several other scientific persons have given, with respect to the intoxicating influence of this gas, would be to deprive the reader of some very amusing descriptions.

First appears Mr. W. Tobin, who tells us that he soon found his nervous system agitated by the highest sensations of pleasure, but which were difficult of description. When the bags were exhausted and taken from him, he suddenly started from his chair, and vociferating with pleasure, made towards those that were present, as he wished they should participate in his feelings. He struck gently at Davy, and a stranger entering the room at the same moment, he made towards him, and gave him several blows, but he adds, it was more in the spirit of good-humour, than in that of anger. He then ran through different rooms in the house, and at last returned to the laboratory, somewhat more composed, although his spirits continued much elevated for some hours after the experiment; he felt, however, no consequent depression, either in the evening or day following. Upon another occasion, he states that his sensations were superior to any thing he ever before experienced; his step was firm, and all his muscular power increased. His nerves were more alive to every surrounding impression; he threw himself into several theatrical attitudes, and traversed the laboratory with a quick step, while his mind was elevated to a most sublime height: he says that "it is giving but a faint idea of his feelings to say, that they resembled those produced by a representation of an heroic scene on the stage, or by reading a sublime passage in poetry, when circumstances contribute to awaken the finest sympathies of the soul." The influence, however, of this inspiring agent appears to have been as transitory as its effects were vivid; for he afterwards observes, "I have seldom lately experienced vivid sensations. The pleasure produced by the gas is slight and tranquil, and I rarely feel sublime emotions, or increased muscular power."

The first time that Mr. Clayfield breathed the gas, it produced feelings analogous to those of intoxication. He was for some time unconscious of existence, but at no period of the experiment were his sensations agreeable; a momentary nausea followed, but unconnected with languor or head-ache.

In a subsequent trial, it would appear that he did experience certain thrillings which were highly pleasurable.

The account given by Dr. Kinglake agrees pretty much with those already cited. He adds, however, that the inspiration of the gas had the further effect of reviving rheumatic irritations in the shoulder and knee-joints, which had not been previously felt for many months.

Next appears Mr. Southey, the Laureate. The reader will no doubt be prepared to hear that the nitrous oxide transported him, at least, to the summit of Parnassus;—by no means: he laughed when the bag was removed from his mouth, but it may be fairly questioned whether this might not have been an expression of joy at the terrors he had escaped; for he freely confesses that he could not distinguish between the first feelings it occasioned, and an apprehension of which he was unable to divest himself.

The first time Mr. Coleridge inspired the nitrous oxide, he felt a highly pleasurable sensation of warmth over his whole frame: he adds, that the only motion which he felt inclined to make, was that of laughing at those who were looking at him: a symptom as equivocal, perhaps, as that exhibited by the Laureate.

A number of other accounts are given, but those already related are perhaps sufficient to establish the fact, that the gas in question possesses an intoxicating quality, to which the enthusiasm of persons submitting to its operation has imparted a character of extravagance wholly inconsistent with truth.

It will be admitted that there must have been something singularly ludicrous in the whole exhibition. Imagine a party of grave philosophers, with bags of silk tied to their mouths, stamping, roaring, and laughing about the apartment; it is scarcely possible to conceive a richer subject for the pencil of a Bunbury. We cannot then be surprised at any terms of ridicule in which a stranger, witnessing such an operation, might describe it. M. T. Fievée[29] appears to have considered the practice as a national vice, and whimsically introduces it amongst the catalogue of follies to which he considers the English nation to be addicted.

Taking leave of these laughing philosophers, we must now proceed to a much more serious branch of the subject of Pneumatic Medicine. "Having observed," says Davy, "that no painful effects were produced by the application of nitrous gas to the bare muscular fibre, I began to imagine that this gas might also be breathed with impunity, provided it were possible in any way to free the lungs of common air before inspiration, so as to prevent the formation of nitrous acid.

"On this supposition, during a fit of enthusiasm produced by the respiration of nitrous oxide, I resolved to endeavour to breathe nitrous gas: one hundred and fourteen cubic inches of it were accordingly introduced into the large mercurial air-holder; two small silk bags of the capacity of seven quarts were filled with nitrous oxide.

"After a forced exhaustion of my lungs, my nose being accurately closed, I made three inspirations and expirations of nitrous oxide in one of the bags, in order to free my lungs, as much as possible, from atmospheric oxygen; then, after a full expiration of the nitrous oxide, I transferred my lips from the mouthpiece of the bag to that of the air-holder, and, turning the stop-cock, attempted to inspire the nitrous gas. In passing through my mouth and fauces, it tasted astringent and highly disagreeable; it occasioned a sense of burning in the throat, and produced a spasm of the epiglottis, so painful as to oblige me to desist immediately from attempts to inspire it. After removing my lips from the mouthpiece, when I opened them to inspire common air, nitrous acid was immediately formed in my mouth, which burnt the tongue and palate, injured the teeth, and produced an inflammation of the mucous membrane, which lasted for some hours.

"As, after the respiration of nitrous oxide, a small portion of the residual atmospheric air always remained in the lungs mingled with the gas, so is it probable that, in the experiment just related, a minute portion of nitrous acid was formed; and, if so, I perhaps owe the preservation of my life to the circumstance; for, supposing that I had succeeded in taking a full inspiration of nitrous gas, and even that it had not produced any positive effects, it is not likely that I should, by breathing nitrous oxide, have so completely freed my lungs from it, as to have prevented the formation of nitrous acid, when I again inspired common air. I never design again to attempt so rash an experiment."

His attempt to breathe carburetted hydrogen gas was scarcely less terrific and appalling.

"Mr. Watt's observations on the respiration of diluted hydro-carbonate by man, and the experiments of Dr. Beddoes on the destruction of animals by the same gas, proved that its effects were highly deleterious.

"As it destroyed life, apparently by rendering the muscular fibre inirritable, without producing any previous excitement, I was anxious to compare its sensible effects with those of nitrous oxide, which at this time I believed to destroy life by producing the highest possible excitement.

"In the first experiment, I breathed for nearly a minute three quarts of hydro-carbonate, mingled with nearly two quarts of atmospheric air.[30] It produced a slight giddiness, pain in the head, and a momentary loss of voluntary power; my pulse was rendered much quicker and more feeble. These effects, however, went off in five minutes, and I had no return of giddiness.

"Emboldened by this trial, I introduced into a silk bag four quarts of gas nearly pure, which was carefully produced from the decomposition of water by charcoal an hour before, and which had a very strong and disagreeable smell.

"My friend Mr. James Tobin, junior, being present, after a forced exhaustion of my lungs, the nose being accurately closed, I made three inspirations and expirations of the hydro-carbonate. The first inspiration produced a sort of numbness and loss of feeling in the chest, and about the pectoral muscles. After the second, I lost all power of perceiving external things, and had no distinct sensation, except that of a terrible oppression on the chest. During the third expiration, this feeling subsided, I seemed sinking into annihilation, and had just power enough to cast off the mouthpiece from my unclosed lips.

"A short interval must have passed, during which I respired common air, before the objects around me were distinguishable. On recollecting myself, I faintly articulated, 'I do not think I shall die.' Placing my finger on the wrist, I found my pulse thread-like, and beating with excessive quickness. In less than a minute, I was able to walk, and the painful oppression on the chest directed me to the open air.

"After making a few steps, which carried me to the garden, my head became giddy, my knees trembled, and I had just sufficient voluntary power to throw myself on the grass. Here the painful feelings of the chest increased with such violence as to threaten suffocation. At this moment I asked for some nitrous oxide. Mr. Dwyer brought me a mixture of that gas with oxygen, and I breathed it for a minute, and believed myself recovered.

"In five minutes the painful feelings began gradually to diminish; in an hour they had nearly disappeared, and I felt only excessive weakness, and a slight swimming of the head. My voice was very feeble and indistinct.

"I afterwards walked slowly for half an hour with Mr. Tobin, and on my return was so much stronger and better as to believe that the effects of the gas had entirely passed off; though my pulse was 120, and very feeble. I continued without pain for nearly three quarters of an hour, when the giddiness returned with such violence as to oblige me to lie on the bed; it was accompanied with nausea, loss of memory, and deficient sensation.

"In about an hour and a half, the giddiness went off, and was succeeded by an excruciating pain in the forehead, and between the eyes, with transient pains in the chest and extremities.

"Towards night these affections gradually diminished; and at ten no disagreeable feeling, except weakness, remained. I slept sound, and awoke in the morning very feeble and very hungry. No recurrence of the symptoms took place, and I had nearly recovered my strength by the evening.

"I have been minute in the account of this experiment, because it proves, that hydro-carbonate acts as a sedative; that is, it produces diminution of vital action, and consequent debility, without previously exciting. There is every reason to believe that, had I taken four or five inspirations, instead of three, they would have destroyed life immediately, without producing any painful sensation."

The scientific and medical world are alike indebted to Davy for this daring experiment; and, if the precautions it suggests be properly attended to, it may become the means of preserving human life. The experiment is also valuable as affording support to physiological views, with which its author was probably not acquainted.

In the first place, it may be necessary to apprize some of my readers, that the "hydro-carbonate" here spoken of, differs very little from the gas now so generally used to illuminate our streets and houses. We have just seen how deadly are its qualities, and that even in a state of extreme dilution it will affect our sensations. The question then necessarily suggests itself, how far this gas can be safely introduced into the interior of our apartments? Did we not possess any direct evidence upon the subject, the answer would be sufficiently obvious, since it is impossible so to conduct its combustion, that a portion shall not escape unburnt. Such is the theory; but what is our experience upon the subject?—that pains in the head, nausea, and distressing languor, have been repeatedly experienced in our theatres and saloons, by persons inhaling the unburnt gas; that the atmosphere of a room, although spacious and empty, will, if lighted with gas, convey a sense of oppression to our organs of respiration, as if we were inhaling an air contaminated with the breath of a hundred persons.

In the next place, Davy's experiment is important, inasmuch as it proves that, in cases of asphyxia, or suspended animation, there exists a period of danger after the respiration has been restored, and the circulation re-established, at which death may take place, when we are the least prepared to expect it.

Bichat has shown that, when dark-coloured blood is injected into the vessels of the brain by means of a syringe connected with the carotid artery, the functions of the brain become immediately disturbed, and in a short time entirely cease: the effect is precisely similar, whether the dark-coloured blood be transmitted to the brain by the syringe of the experimentalist, or by the heart itself. Thus in cases of asphyxia, the dark-coloured blood which has been propelled through the vessels during the suspension or imperfect performance of respiration, acts like a narcotic poison upon the brain; and no sooner, therefore, does it extend its malign influence to that organ, than deleterious effects are produced, and the animal, after apparent recovery, falls into a state of stupor, the pupils of the eyes become dilated, the respiration laborious, the muscles of the body convulsed, and it speedily dies, poisoned by its own blood.

We are much indebted to Mr. Brodie for a series of experiments in confirmation of these views; and a very interesting case occurred some time since, in the neighbourhood of Windsor, which is well calculated for their illustration. A corporal in the Guards, whose name, if I am not mistaken, was Schofield, was seized with cramp as he was bathing in the Thames, and remained for several minutes under water. By judicious assistance, however, he was recovered, and appeared to those about him to be free from any danger, when he was attacked by convulsions and expired. Had the respiration been artificially supported at this period, so as to have maintained the action of the heart until the black blood had returned from the brain, the life of the soldier might possibly have been saved.

In the experiment which has given origin to these reflections, Davy distinctly states, that after having recovered from the primary effects of the carburetted hydrogen gas, and taken a walk with his friend Mr. Tobin, he was again seized with violent giddiness, attended with nausea and loss of sensation. The imperfectly oxygenized or dark-coloured blood had evidently affected the brain, and his life, at this period, was probably in greater jeopardy than in any other stage of the experiment.

Nothing daunted by the dangers to which the preceding experiments had exposed him, Davy did not allow more than a week to elapse before he attempted to respire fixed air, or carbonic acid gas; but it was in vain that he made voluntary efforts to draw it into the windpipe; for, the moment the epiglottis was raised a little, such a painful irritation was induced as instantly to close it spasmodically on the glottis; and thus, in repeated trials, was he prevented from taking a single particle of carbonic acid into the lungs. When, however, the gas was diluted with a little more than double its volume of common air, he was enabled to breathe it for nearly a minute, when it produced a slight degree of giddiness, and an inclination to sleep.[31]

It may perhaps appear extraordinary to the reader of the "Researches," that although they were published not more than eighteen months after the appearance of his "Essays on Heat and Light," no allusion is made in them either to his theory or to his new nomenclature. In relating his experiments upon Respiration, he employs the conventional language of the schools, and the word "phos-oxygen" does not once occur in the volume. This is fully explained in a communication made by him to Mr. Nicholson, and which was printed in his Journal a short time after the publication of his Essays in the West Country Contributions; in which he says,—"As facts have occurred to me with regard to the decomposition of bodies, which I had supposed to contain light, without any luminous appearance, I beg to be considered as a sceptic with respect to my own particular theory of the combinations of light, until I shall have satisfactorily explained those anomalies by fresh experiments. On account of this scepticism, and for other reasons, I shall in future use the common nomenclature; excepting that, as my discoveries concerning the gaseous oxide would render it highly improper to call a principle, which in one of its combinations is capable of being absorbed by venous blood, and of increasing the powers of life, azote,—I shall name it, with Dr. Pearson, Chaptal, and others, NITROGENE; and the gaseous oxide of azote I shall call NITROUS OXIDE."

The same feeling is expressed at the conclusion of his Third Research.—"It would be easy to form theories referring the action of blood impregnated with nitrous oxide, to its power of supplying the nervous and muscular fibre with such proportions of condensed nitrogen, oxygen, light, or ethereal fluid, as enabled them more rapidly to pass through those changes which constitute their life; but we are unacquainted with the composition of dead organized matter; and new instruments of experiment, and new modes of research, must be found, before we can ascertain even our capabilities of discovering the laws of life."

There is one circumstance connected with the views entertained in this work which must not be passed over without notice. In several passages he advocates the theory of the atmosphere being a chemical compound of oxygen and nitrogen; whereas, in later years, he was amongst the first to insist upon its being simply a mechanical mixture of these gases.

In consequence of the highly deleterious experiments which have been already described, and of the constant labours of the laboratory, and the repeated inhalation of acid and other vapours, his health began visibly to decline, and he retired into Cornwall, where he informs us that "the associations of ideas and feelings, common exercise, a pure atmosphere, luxurious diet, and a moderate indulgence in wine, in the course of a month, restored him to health and vigour."

I find an allusion to this visit in a letter from his sister. "He had," she says, "written to his mother of his intention to visit her, but before the post had quitted Bristol, he was already on his way to Penzance, and would have reached it before his letter, had not his aunt, on whom he called in the neighbouring town of Marazion, struck with his appearance of ill health, insisted on his remaining there till the next day, lest his mother should be doubly alarmed at his unexpected visit and altered looks." Miss Davy adds, "This one fact will serve, at the same time, to illustrate his attachment to home, and the impetuosity of his mind, which never rested till the object he proposed was accomplished."

The following letter is inserted in this place, for the purpose of fixing the period at which he first ascertained those new facts in Voltaic electricity, which formed the basis of a future communication to the Royal Society, and which may be said to have paved the way to his grand discoveries in that branch of science;—the dawning of that glorious day, which we shall presently view in all its splendour and glory.

There is, moreover, something extremely interesting in receiving from himself a simple and unadorned statement of results, as they successively presented themselves to his observation—"Truths plucked as they are growing, and delivered to you before their dew is brushed off."

That a work, of the character of the "Researches," replete with ingenious novelty, and rich in chemical discovery, proceeding from the pen of so young a man, should have excited very general admiration in the philosophic world, is a circumstance that cannot surprise us; but in a majority of cases, precocious merit enjoys only an ephemeral popularity; the sensations it excites are too vivid to be permanent, and the individual sinks into an obscurity rendered ten times more profound by the brilliancy of the flash which preceded it; but every event of Davy's life would appear as if created, and directed for his welfare, by some presiding genius, whose activity, in throwing opportunities in his way was rivalled only by the address with which he converted them to his advantage. Fortune and talent, then, were both equally engaged in accomplishing the elevation of Davy, and it is probable that eminent success generally requires a combination of these elements for its production, and that the maxim of Plautus is therefore as remote from truth as that of Theophrastus, the one assigning all to fortune, the other all to talent.

The experiments to which allusions have been frequently made during the present chapter, favourably as they were received, might have shared the fate of many other discoveries which did not admit of an immediate and obvious application to the purposes of common life; for statistical value is a necessary passport to popular favour. Fortunately, however, for Davy, before the vivid impression produced by his new work had lost the glow of novelty, Count Rumford was anxiously seeking for some rising philosopher, who might contribute his energies towards the support, and farther increase, of the chemical fame of the recently established "Institution of Great Britain."

It is not surprising that his attention should have been readily directed to one whose genius had been so lately displayed, and whose views regarding Caloric[33] were in such exact conformity with his own opinions.

As the philosophical public must feel a lively interest in every incident connected with a transaction so important to the interests of science, as that by which Davy was placed in the chemical chair of the Institution, I am fortunate in being able, through the kindness of his two friends, Mr. Thomson and Mr. Underwood, to present a clear and satisfactory statement of all its circumstances and details.

CHAPTER III.

Count Rumford negotiates with Mr. Underwood on the subject of Davy's appointment to the Royal Institution.—Terms of his engagement communicated in a letter to Mr. Gilbert.—Davy arrives, and takes possession of his apartments.—He receives various mortifications.—He is elected a member of the Tepidarian Society.—Is appointed Lecturer instead of assistant.—He makes a tour in Cornwall with Mr. Underwood.—Anecdotes.—His Poem on Spinosism.—His letter to Mr. Gilbert, communicating a galvanic discovery.—He commences his first grand course of lectures.—His brilliant success.—A letter from Mr. Purkis.—Davy's style criticised.—His extraordinary method of experimenting.—Davy and Wollaston compared as experimentalists.—The style of Davy as a lecturer and a writer contrasted.

It may be readily supposed that the prominent situation held by Davy at Bristol, as well as the merited celebrity of his writings, must have rendered his name familiar to all the leading philosophers of the day. It were vain, therefore, to enquire through what channel the echo of his fame first reached the ear of Count Rumford;[34] it is sufficient to state that Mr. Underwood, a gentleman ardently attached to science, and devoted to the interests of the Royal Institution, was amongst the first to urge the expediency of inviting him to London as a public lecturer. Mr. Underwood, in a letter lately addressed to me from Paris, says, "In consequence of several conversations with Count Rumford, on the subject of Davy's superior talents, and the advantages that would accrue to the Institution from engaging him as a lecturer, the Count called upon me on the 5th of January 1801, having received from the Managers of the Institution full powers to negotiate upon the subject. On this occasion, however, I thought it advisable to introduce the Count to Mr. James Thomson, as being the more eligible person to treat in behalf of Davy, not only on account of his greater intimacy with him, but because, not being a proprietor, he was unconnected with the interests of the Institution."

Mr. Thomson, who saw the prospect of honour and emolument thus opened for his friend, after a satisfactory interview with Count Rumford, immediately wrote to Davy, with an earnest recommendation that he should, without loss of time, come to town, and conclude an arrangement thus auspiciously commenced.

Davy, with his characteristic ardour, answered the letter in person. He was introduced to the Managers, and the preliminary arrangements were soon completed; the nature of which is disclosed by himself in the following letter to Mr. Gilbert.