honour, and happily closed her eyes before her maternal fears could have been awakened by those signs of premature decay, which long since excited in his friends, and in the friends of science, an alarm which the recent deplorable event has fatally justified.

Sir Humphry Davy was born at Penzance, in Cornwall, on the 17th of December, 1778. Having received the rudiments of a classical education under Dr. Cardew of Truro, he was placed with a respectable professional gentleman of the name of Tonkin, at Penzance, in order that he might acquire a knowledge of the profession of a surgeon and apothecary. His master, however, soon became dissatisfied with his new pupil instead of attending to the duties of the surgery, Humphry was rambling along the sea-shore, and often, like Demosthenes, declaiming against the wind and waves, in order to overcome a defect in his voice, which, although only slightly perceptible in his maturer age, was, when a boy extremely discordant; instead of preparing the medicines for the doctor's patients, he was experimenting in the garret, and upon one occasion he produced an explosion that put the doctor and all his phials in jeopardy. At length, a negotiation between the parents and the master commenced, with a view of releasing the parties from their engagement; and we believe that Humphry returned home. It is, however, but fair to state, that he always entertained the highest respect for Mr. Tonkin, and never spoke of him but in terms of affectionate regard.

We shall here pause in our narrative, for the purpose of introducing a few anecdotes, which will serve not only to illustrate the early character of Davy, but to exhibit in their origin and growth several of those prominent peculiarities which distinguished him in after-life. That he was a boy of decision and courage, may be inferred from the fact of his having, upon receiving a bite from a dog, taken his pocket knife, and, without the least hesitation, cut out the part on the spot. The gentleman who related this anecdote observed, that he had frequently heard him declare his disbelief in the

they, at least, by turning up and pulverising the soil, rendered it fertile.

Such were the circumstances that first extricated Davy from the obscurity of his native town, and paved the way to an eminence which but very few philosophers in this or any other country have been able to attain. Davy was now constantly engaged in the prosecution of new experiments; in the conception of which, as he himself candidly'informs us, he was greatly aided by the conversation and advice of his friend Dr. Beddoes. He was also occasionally assisted by Mr. W. Clayfield, a gentleman ardently attached to chemical pursuits, and whose name is not unknown in the annals of science; indeed it appears that to him Davy was indebted for the invention of a mercurial air-holder, by which he was enabled to collect and measure the various gases submitted to examination. In the course of these investigations, the respirability and singularly intoxicating effects of nitrous oxide were first discovered; which led to a new train of research concerning its preparation, composition, properties, combinations, and physiological action on living beings; enquiries which were extended to the different substances connected with nitrous oxide, such as nitrous gas, nitrous acid, and ammonia; when, by multiplying experiments, and comparing the facts they disclosed, Davy ultimately succeeded in reconciling apparent anomalies; and, by removing the greater number of those difficulties which had obscured this branch of science, was enabled to present a clear and satisfactory history of the combinations of OXYGEN and NITROGEN.

These interesting results were published in a separate volume, entitled "Researches, Chemical and Philosophical, chiefly concerning Nitrous Oxide and its Respiration; by Humphry Davy, Superintendant of the Medical Pneumatic Institution." Of the value of this production, the best criterion is to be found in the admiration which it excited: its author was barely twenty-one years old, and yet, although a mere boy, he was hailed as the Hercules in science, who had cleared an Augean stable of its impurities. In a majority of

cases, precocious merit enjoys but 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 in Davy's life appeared as if it were created and directed for his welfare by a presiding genius, whose activity in throwing circumstances in his way was rivalled only by the energy and address with which he converted them to his purpose. The experiments to which we have alluded, favourably as they were received, would probably have shared the fate of many other discoveries, whose practical applications were not obvious; but before the impression produced on the scientific world had lost its glow, Count Rumford was seeking for some rising philosopher, who might fill the chemical chair of the recently-established Institution of Great Britain:could there be any doubt as to whom he should apply? Davy was proposed, and immediately elected.

It would not be difficult to cite some personal anecdotes in order to show what an alteration was suddenly effected in the habits and manners of Davy by his elevation. But where is the man of twenty-two years of age to be found, unless the temperature of his blood be below zero, who could remain uninfluenced by such a change? Look at Davy in the laboratory at Bristol, pursuing with eager industry various abstract points of research; mixing only with a few philosophers, sanguine like himself in the investigation of chemical phenomena, but whose worldly knowledge was bounded by the walls of the institution in which they were engaged. Shift the scene could the spells of an enchanter effect a more magical transformation? Behold him in the theatre of the Royal Institution! surrounded by an aristocracy of intellect, as well as of rank, by the flowers of genius, the élite of fashion, and the beauty of England,-whose very respirations were suspended in their eagerness to catch his novel and satisfactory elucidations of the mysteries of nature! We admit that his vanity was excited by such extraordinary demonstrations of devotion; that he lost that simplicity which constituted the

charm of his character, and assumed the garb and airs of a man of fashion;-is it wonderful if, under such circumstances, the robe should not have always fallen in graceful draperies? But the charms of the ball-room did not allure him from the pursuits of the laboratory. He had a capacity for both, and his devotions to Terpsichore did not interfere with the rites of Minerva. So popular did he become, under the auspices of the Duchess of Gordon, and other leaders of fashion, that their soirées were considered incomplete without his presence; and yet the crowds that repaired to the Institution in the morning were, day after day, gratified by newly-devised and instructive experiments, performed with the utmost address, and explained in language at once the most intelligible and the most eloquent. He brought down Science from those heights which were before accessible only to a few, and placed it within the reach of all. He divested the goddess of all her severity of aspect, and represented her as attired by the Graces. It may be said, and indeed it has been said by some modern Zoilus, who has sought only to discover the defects of Davy, that his style was too florid and imaginative for communicating the plain lessons of truth. But let us consider the class of persons to whom Davy addressed himself: were they students, prepared to toil with systematic precision in order to obtain knowledge, as a matter of necessity? No, they were composed of the gay and the idle, who could be tempted to admit instruction only by the prospect of receiving pleasure. It has been well observed, that necessity alone can urge the traveller over barren tracks and snow-topt mountains, while he treads with rapture along the fertile vales of those happier climes where every breeze is perfume, and every scene a picture. But in speaking of Davy's lectures, as mere specimens of happy oratory, we do injustice to the philosopher: had he merely added the festoon and the Corinthian foliage to a temple built by other hands, he might not have merited any other eulogium; but the edifice was his own-he brought the stone from the quarry, formed it into a regular pile, and then

with his masterly chisel added to its strength beauty, and to its utility grace.

On obtaining the appointment of Professor at the Royal Institution, Mr. Davy gave up all his views of the medical profession, and devoted himself entirely to chemistry.

In 1802, Mr. Davy, having been elected Professor of Chemistry to the Board of Agriculture, commenced a series of lectures before its members; which he continued to deliver every successive session for ten years, modifying and extending their views, from time to time, in such a manner as the progress of chemical discovery required. These discourses were published in the year 1813, at the request of the President and members of the Board; and they form the only complete work we possess on the subject of Agricultural Chemistry. When it is considered how many opportunities the author enjoyed of acquiring practical information from the intelligent members of the Board, and of putting to the test of experience the truth of those various theories which his science had suggested, it can scarcely be expected that another author should arise in the present times who will be able to produce a superior work. He has treated the interesting subject of manures with singular success; showing the manner in which they become the nourishment of the plant, the changes produced in them by the processes of fermentation and putrefaction, and the utility of mixing and combining them with each other. He has also pointed out the chemical principles upon which depends the improvement of lands by burning and fallowing; he has elucidated the theory of convertible husbandry, founded on regular rotations of different crops; and, in short, has brought his knowledge to bear on various other agricultural questions connected with chemistry, which the limits of our memoir will not allow us to detail. We must not, however, omit to mention the important information he has afforded on the subject of the composition of different soils, and the methods to be adopted for their analysis. The processes in use for such an examination, previous to his time, were always complicated, and frequently