established by the severest ordeals, the general gratitude of
the country began more publicly to display itself, and a very
strong feeling prevailed, that some tribute of respect should be
paid to its inventor; in accordance with which, a deputation of
the Coal-owners of the rivers Tyne and Wear, and of the ports of
Hartley and Blyth, requested the honour of an interview with Sir
H. Davy; upon which occasion they presented him with the following
letter, containing an expression of the thanks of the Coal-owners.
TO SIR HUMPHRY DAVY, LL.D. &c.
Newcastle, March 25, 1816.
SIR,
As chairman of the general meeting of proprietors of coal-mines
upon the rivers Tyne and Wear, held in the Assembly-rooms at
Newcastle, on the 18th instant, I was requested to express
to you their united thanks and approbation for the great and
important discovery of your Safety-lamp for exploring mines
charged with inflammable gas, which they consider admirably
calculated to obviate those dreadful calamities, and the
lamentable sacrifice of human life, which of late years have so
frequently occurred in the mines of this country.
They are most powerfully impressed with admiration and
gratitude towards the splendid talents and brilliant
acquirements that have achieved so momentous and important
a discovery, unparalleled in the history of mining, and not
surpassed by any discovery of the present age; and they hope
that, whilst the tribute of applause and glory is showered
down upon those who invent the weapons of destruction, this
great and unrivalled discovery for preserving the lives of our
fellow-creatures, will be rewarded by some mark of national
distinction and honour. I am, Sir,
Your most obedient humble Servant,
GEORGE WALDIE, Chairman.
A plan, however, was under consideration for recording the
admiration and gratitude of the Coal-owners, by a more permanent
and solid memorial. The nature of this proposition will be best
disclosed by inserting the following letter from Mr. Buddle.
TO THE REV. DR. GRAY.
Wall's-End Colliery, August 27, 1816.
SIR,
As I know that you feel much interest in all matters relating
to Sir H. Davy's Safety-lamp, I trust you will excuse the
liberty I take in informing you, that the Committee of the
Tyne, approving highly of the suggestion, that some mark of
acknowledgment and respect should be presented to Sir Humphry
by the Coal-trade of this country, for the happy invention
of his lamp, have convened a general meeting of Coal-owners,
to be holden at my office in Newcastle, on Saturday next the
31st instant, at twelve o'clock, to take the subject into
consideration.
I should have sooner informed you of this proposed meeting,
had I not been detained in Cumberland until yesterday; but I
shall have the pleasure of transmitting to you a copy of its
resolutions.
I am sure that you will be gratified to learn that the lamps
continue to go on as well as possible. We now have twelve dozen
of them in daily use at this place. I have the pleasure to
remain, with the greatest respect, Sir,
Your most obedient humble Servant,
JOHN BUDDLE.
TO THE SAME.
Newcastle, September 7, 1816.
SIR,
I now have the pleasure of sending you a copy of the
Resolutions of the general meeting of Coal-owners on the 31st
instant, and shall take the liberty of informing you of the
future progress of this affair.
Sir Humphry did me the honour yesterday to accompany me
through the workings of a coal-pit at Wall's-End, when I had
an opportunity of witnessing several interesting experiments
on his Safety-lamp; and I have the satisfaction to add, that
I believe he has now advanced it to the highest degree of
perfection.
I am, respectfully, Sir,
Your humble Servant,
JOHN BUDDLE.
The satisfactory result of this visit Sir Humphry communicated to
Mr. Lambton, now Lord Durham; and I shall take this opportunity to
state, that for this as well as for several other letters I shall
hereafter have occasion to introduce, I am indebted to that noble
Lord, through the kind application of my friend Sir Cuthbert Sharp.
TO J. G. LAMBTON, ESQ. M.P.
Newcastle, September 9, 1816.
MY DEAR SIR,
Since I last had the pleasure of seeing you, I have examined
the workings in the Wall's-End collieries by the lamps, and
have tried them in various explosive mixtures.
On Sunday, I went with Mr. Buddle to your _blower_, with the
single lamps furnished with small tin reflectors. This simple
modification rendered them perfectly safe, even in the furious
_blow-pipe_, and at the same time increased their light.
Nothing could be more satisfactory than all the trials.
I have left a paper in the hands of the Rev. J. Hodgson, which
will be printed in a day or two; and I have desired him to send
you ten copies, or as many more as you may like to have.
I trust I have now left nothing undone as to the perfect
security of the lamps, under every possible circumstance.
I feel highly gratified that it was at your mines I effected
the only object that remained to be accomplished--that of
guarding against _blowers_ meeting fresh currents of air.
I thank you very sincerely for the interest you have taken in
the lamps, connected with my efforts to render them applicable
in all cases. I remain, &c.
H. DAVY.
On the 19th of October 1816, a letter appeared in the Durham County
Advertiser, dated "Gosforth, August 22nd, 1816," in the name of
Mr. W. Brandling, in which, alluding to the Resolutions of the
Coal-owners of the 31st of August, he expresses a wish that a
strict examination should take place previous to the adoption of
a measure which might convey a decided opinion to the public, as
to the person to whom the invaluable discovery of the Safety-lamp
is actually due. "The conviction," says he, "upon my mind is, that
Mr. George Stephenson, of Killingworth Colliery, is the person who
first discovered and applied the principle upon which safe lamps
may be constructed; for, whether the hydrogen gas is admitted
through capillary tubes, or through the apertures of wire-gauze,
which may be considered as merely the orifices of capillary tubes,
does not, as I conceive, in the least affect the principle.
"In the communications I have seen from Sir H. Davy, no dates
are mentioned; and it is by a reference to them only that the
question can be fairly decided. For the information of the Meeting,
therefore, I shall take the liberty of enclosing some which I
received from Mr. Stephenson, to the correctness of which, as
far as I am concerned, I can bear testimony; at the same time
I beg leave to add, that the principle of admitting hydrogen
gas in such small detached portions that it would be consumed
by combustion,[41] was, I understand, stated by him to several
gentlemen, as the idea he had embraced two months before his lamp
was originally constructed."
[41] Granted:--but what connexion has that with the principle of
Davy's lamp, or with any _Safety_ lamp?
Mr. Brandling then proceeds to state, that the Killingworth lamp,
with a tube to admit the air, and a slide at the bottom of such
tube to regulate the quantity to be admitted, was first tried in
the Killingworth pits on Saturday October the 21st, 1815; but not
being found to burn well, another was ordered the same day with
three capillary tubes to admit the air; and on being tried in the
mine on the 4th of November following, was found to burn better
and to be perfectly _safe_.[42] On the 17th of November, it was
_tried_[43] at Killingworth office with inflammable air before
Richard Lambert, Esq.; and on the 24th of the same month, before C.
J. Brandling, Esq. and Mr. Murray.
[42] It could not have been safe.
[43] "Tried"--but how was it tried?--by forcing in _pure_
fire-damp, which will extinguish any lamp, instead of exposing
the flame to an explosive mixture, which could alone furnish any
test of its security.
"On the 30th of November," he says, "a lamp was tried in the mine,
in which the air was admitted by means of a double row of small
perforations, and found to be perfectly safe, and to burn extremely
well."[44]
[44] Very likely: but the reader will please to recollect,
that Sir H. Davy had, before this, published an account of his
principle of safety by systems of tubes or canals.
At an adjourned Meeting of the Coal-owners, held on the 11th of
October 1816, J. G. Lambton, Esq. M.P. in the chair; Mr. William
Brandling moved--"That the meeting do adjourn, until, by a
comparison of dates, it shall be ascertained whether the merit
of the Safety-lamp belongs to Sir Humphry Davy or to Mr. George
Stephenson."
On the question being put thereon, THE SAME PASSED IN THE NEGATIVE.
A great number of the Coal-owners, instead of pursuing the idea
which had at first been suggested, of a general contribution on
the vend, immediately commenced a subscription of individual
proprietors of coal-mines; a measure which, it was thought, would
express more distinctly and unequivocally the opinion of the trade
as to the merit of the invention. The plan is developed in the
following letter.
TO THE REVEREND DR. GRAY.
Wall's-End Colliery, October 27, 1816.
SIR,
It is the anxious wish of almost every individual in the trade
to compliment Sir Humphry Davy, in that way which may be most
grateful to his feelings.
It has been suggested that the object will be best attained by
substituting an individual (colliery) subscription, instead of
the proposed contribution on the vend; and it will at the same
time show more distinctly the real opinion of the trade as to
the merit of the invention.
This idea was not suggested till yesterday afternoon, and of
course there has been but little time to communicate it to
the several Coal-owners; but _all_ who have heard of the plan
approve of it.
To facilitate the business, the committee have formed the
annexed scale of contribution.[45]
* * * * *
I trust, Sir, you will excuse the trouble which I have given
you on this subject; but I am aware that you must feel
interested in it; and I hope, Sir, you will allow me to add,
that I am fully sensible of the obligation which the Coal trade
is under to yourself, for having drawn Sir H. Davy's attention
to that particular line of investigation, which has led to the
important discovery of the Safety-lamp. I am, Sir, with the
greatest respect, your most obedient humble servant,
JOHN BUDDLE.
[45] I have not thought it necessary to enumerate the various
sums which the different mines were called upon to contribute.
Some slight alterations were afterwards made in this scheme, in
consequence of a wish having been expressed that the Bishop of
Durham and the Duke of Northumberland should take the lead in a
subscription. The following letter conveys some farther information
upon this subject.
TO THE REVEREND DR. GRAY.
Newcastle, January 11, 1817.
SIR,
I have to acknowledge the receipt of your letter of the 9th
instant, communicating the intention of the Reverend the Dean
and Chapter of Durham, to subscribe fifty guineas towards the
plate to be presented to Sir H. Davy, which, together with two
hundred guineas from the Coal-owners of the Wear, makes the
subscription amount to nearly £1500, and I shall expect some
farther subscriptions.
I am sure it will afford you satisfaction to learn that the
lamps still continue to give the most gratifying proofs of
the advantages resulting from their invention, and that not a
single inch of human skin has been lost by fire, wherever they
have been used.
Sir Humphry has just made another important improvement in the
lamp, by constructing the cylinder of _twisted_ wire-gauze.
Lamps thus constructed, possess the singular property of not
becoming red-hot, under any circumstances of exposure to
explosive mixtures, whether urged by a blast, or in a state of
rest. I am with great respect, Sir, your most obedient humble
servant,
JOHN BUDDLE.
It may be collected from the following letter, that the Committee,
in announcing to Sir H. Davy the intended present of plate,
delicately sounded him as to the form in which it would be most
agreeable to him.
TO N. CLAYTON, ESQ.
Grosvenor Street, March 23, 1817.
SIR,
On my return to town, after an absence of some days, I found
the letter of March the 13th, with which you honoured me, at
the Royal Institution. I shall not lose a moment in replying
to it, and in expressing my grateful feelings for the very
flattering communication it contains.
The gentlemen interested in the coal-mines of the two rivers
Tyne and Wear, cannot offer me any testimony of their kindness,
which I shall not receive with infinite pleasure.
I hardly know how to explain myself on the particular subject
of your letter; but as the Committee express themselves
satisfied as to the utility of the Safety-lamp, I can only
desire that their present, as it is highly honourable to me,
should be likewise useful to my friends, and a small social
circle, which it would be as a dinner-service for ten or twelve
persons.
I wish that even the plate from which I eat should awaken my
remembrance of their liberality, and put me in mind of an event
which marks one of the happiest periods of my life.
I cannot find any language sufficiently strong to express my
thanks to the gentlemen for the manner in which they have
distinguished my exertions in their cause, and in the cause of
humanity. I have the honour to remain, &c.
H. DAVY.
To revert once again to the faction--for such I must denominate
it--which, in opposition to the most unequivocal evidence,
continued to support the unjust claims of Mr. Stephenson; it would
appear from various letters in my possession, that the feelings of
Davy were greatly exasperated by this ungenerous conduct.
I shall introduce one of these letters, playful in the midst of its
wrath, addressed to Mr. Lambton, the friend[46] of his youth, and
the manly and kind supporter of his scientific character, in the
hour of persecution.
[46] It will be remembered that they resided together in the
house of Dr. Beddoes. See page 59, vol. i. of these memoirs.
In the library at Lambton, there is a goodportrait of
Sir Humphry.
TO J. G. LAMBTON, ESQ. M.P.
Queen Square, Bath, Oct. 29, 1816.
MY DEAR SIR,
The severe indisposition of my wife has altered my plans. Your
letter slowly followed me here.
Mr. ---- is one of the persons who, after I had advanced a
principle of security for a lamp, came upon the ground to
endeavour to jockey me. I was not looking to a prize, I merely
came forward to show an animal, the breed of which might be
useful, when Mr.----, Dr.----, &c. brought their sorry jades,
which had never before been seen or heard of, to kick at my
blood mare.
I never heard a word of George Stephenson and his lamps till
six weeks after my principle of security had been published;
and the general impression of the scientific men in London,
which is confirmed by what I heard at Newcastle, is, that
Stephenson had some loose idea floating in his mind, which he
had unsuccessfully attempted to put in practice till after my
labours were made known;--then, he made something like a safe
lamp, except that it is not _safe_, for the apertures below are
four times, and those above, twenty times too large; but, even
if Stephenson's plans had not been posterior to my principles,
still there is no analogy between his glass exploding machine,
and my metallic tissue, permeable to light and air, and
impermeable to flame.
I am very glad that you attended the meeting; your conduct
at no very distant period will be contrasted with that of
some great coal-proprietors, who find reasons for their
indifference, as to a benefit conferred upon them, in
insinuations respecting the claims of Dr. Clanny, Mr.
Stephenson, and others.
Where men resolve to be ungrateful, it is natural that they
should be illiberal; and illiberality often hardens into
malignity.
I shall receive any present of plate under your auspices, and
those of the Committee over which you preside, with peculiar
satisfaction. It will prove to me that my labours have not been
disregarded by men of whose good opinion I am proud.
I hope you will not blame me for not taking any notice of the
attacks of my enemies in the North. I have no desire to go out
of my way to crush gnats that buzz at a distance, and do not
bite me, or to quarrel with persons who shoot arrows at the
moon, and believe, because they have for an instant intercepted
a portion of her light, that they have hit their mark. I am
sensible to the circumstances under which you attended the
meeting.
I offer you my sincere congratulations, and ardent wishes that
you may enjoy all possible happiness.
Believe me, &c.
H. Davy.
On the 13th of September 1817, Sir Humphry Davy being expected to
pass through Newcastle on his return from Scotland, preparations
were made, and notice given of a dinner which it was proposed
should take place on the 25th instant, for the purpose of
presenting to the illustrious philosopher the service of plate
which had been prepared for his acceptance.
Upon this gratifying occasion, a very large party assembled at the
Queen's Head, consisting of a numerous and respectable body of
Coal-owners, and such other gentlemen as had interested themselves
during the progress of the investigation, or taken an active part
in promoting the introduction of the lamp into the mines.
After the dinner had concluded, and certain toasts of form had been
drunk, Mr. Lambton, who filled the chair on the occasion, rose,
and on presenting the service of plate to the illustrious guest,
addressed him, in a tone of great animation and feeling, in nearly
the following terms:
"SIR HUMPHRY,--It now becomes my duty to fulfill the object of
the meeting, in presenting to you this service of plate, from the
Coal-owners of the Tyne and Wear, as a testimony of their gratitude
for the services you have rendered to them and to humanity.
"Your brilliant genius, which has been so long employed in an
unparalleled manner, in extending the boundaries of chemical
knowledge, never accomplished a higher object, nor obtained a
nobler triumph.
"You had to contend with an element of destruction which seemed
uncontrollable by human power; which not only rendered the property
of the coal-owner insecure, but kept him in perpetual alarm for the
safety of the intrepid miner in his service, and often exhibited to
him the most appalling scenes of death, and heart-sickening misery.
"You have increased the value of an important branch of productive
industry; and, what is of infinitely greater importance, you
have contributed to the lives and persons of multitudes of your
fellow-creatures.
"It is now nearly two years that your Safety-lamp has been used by
hundreds of miners in the most dangerous recesses of the earth,
and under the most trying circumstances. Not a single failure
has occurred--its absolute security is demonstrated. I have,
indeed, deeply to lament more than one catastrophe, produced by
fool-hardiness and ignorance, in neglecting to use the safeguard
you have supplied; but these dreadful accidents even, if possible,
exalt its importance.
"If your fame had needed any thing to make it immortal, this
discovery alone would have carried it down to future ages, and
connected it with benefits and blessings.
"Receive, Sir Humphry, this permanent memorial of our profound
respect and high admiration--a testimony, we trust, equally
honourable to you and to us. We hope you will have as much pleasure
in receiving, as we feel in offering it. Long may you live to use
it--long may you live to pursue your splendid career of scientific
discovery, and to give new claims to the gratitude and praise of
the world!" Sir Humphry having received the plate, replied as
follows:
"GENTLEMEN,--I feel it impossible to reply, in an appropriate
manner, to the very eloquent and flattering address of your
distinguished Chairman. Eloquence, or even accuracy of language,
is incompatible with strong feeling; and on an occasion like the
present, you will give me credit for no small degree of emotion.
"I have been informed that my labours have been useful to an
important branch of human industry connected with our arts, our
manufactures, commerce, and national wealth. To learn this from
such practical authority is the highest gratification to a person
whose ardent desire has always been to apply science to purposes of
utility.
"It has been also stated, that the invention which you are this
day so highly honouring, has been subservient to the preservation
of the lives and persons of a most useful and laborious class
of men: this, coming from your own knowledge, founded upon such
ample experience, affords me a pleasure still more exalted--for
the highest ambition of my life has been to deserve the name of a
friend to humanity.
"To crown all, you have, as it were, embodied these sentiments in a
permanent and magnificent memorial of your good opinion. I can make
only imperfect and inadequate efforts to thank you.
"Under all circumstances of my future life, the recollection of
this day will warm my heart; and this noble expression of your
kindness will awaken my gratitude to the latest moment of my
existence."
Sir Humphry having sat down, and the cheering of the company
subsided, the Chairman proposed the health of the illustrious
Chemist, in three times three.
"Gentlemen," said Sir Humphry, "I am overpowered by these
reiterated proofs of your approbation. You have overrated my
merits. My success in your cause must be attributed to my having
followed the path of experiment and induction discovered by
philosophers who have preceded me: willingly would I divide your
plaudits with other men of science, and claim much for the general
glory of scientific discovery in a long course of ages.
"Gentlemen, I might dwell at some length upon the great increase
of wealth and power to the country, within the last half century,
by scientific invention, which never could have existed without
coal-mines:--I shall refer only to the improvement in the
potteries, to the steam-engine, and to the discovery of the gas
lights.
"What an immense impulse has the steam-engine given to the arts
and manufactures! How much has it diminished labour, and increased
the real strength of the country, far beyond a mere increase of
population! By giving facilities to a number of other inventions,
it has produced even a moral effect in rendering capital necessary
for the perfection of labour, credit essential to capital, and
ingenuity and mental energy a secure and dignified species of
property.
"Science, Gentlemen, is of infinitely more importance to a state
than may at first sight appear possible; for no source of wealth
and power can be entirely independent of it; and no class of men
are so well able to appreciate its advantages as that to which I am
now addressing myself. You have not only derived from it the means
of raising your subterraneous wealth, but those also of rendering
it available to the public.
"Science alone has made pit-coal such an instrument in the hands
of the chemist and mechanic; it has made the elements of fire and
water perform operations which formerly demanded human labour, and
it has converted the productions of the earth into a thousand new
forms of use and beauty.
"Gentlemen, allow me to observe, in conclusion, that it was
in pursuing those methods of analogy and experiment, by which
mystery had become science, that I was fortunately led to the
invention of the Safety-lamp. The whole progress of my researches
has been registered in the Transactions of the Royal Society, in
papers which that illustrious body has honoured by their biennial
medal;[47] in which I can conscientiously assert, that I have
gratefully acknowledged even the slightest hints or offers of
assistance which I have received during their composition.
[47] The Rumford Medal, to be hereafter noticed.
"I state this, Gentlemen, not from vain-glory, but on account of
certain calumnious insinuations which have arisen--not in the
scientific world, for to that the whole progress of my researches
is well known, but in a colliery. I must ever treat these
insinuations with contempt; and after the honest indignation which
has been expressed against them by the Coal-owners in general, I
cannot feel any anxiety on the subject, nor should I have referred
to it at all, did I not believe that the very persons amongst whom
these insinuations originated, were extensively benefited by, and
were constantly using the invention they would seek to disparage.
I could never have expected that such persons would have engaged
their respectable connexions in mean attempts to impeach the
originality of a discovery, given to them in the most disinterested
manner, and for which no return was required but an honest
acknowledgment of the benefit, founded upon truth and justice.
"I do not envy them their feelings, particularly at the present
moment: I do not wish to enquire into their motives: I do hope,
however, that their conduct has been prompted by ignorance rather
than by malevolence, by misapprehension rather than by ingratitude.
"It was a new circumstance to me, that attempts to preserve human
life, and to prevent human misery, should create hostile feelings
in persons who professed to have similar objects in view.
"Gentlemen, I have had some opposition, much labour, and more
anxiety, during the course of these researches; but had the
opposition, the labour, and the anxiety been a thousand times
as great, the events of this day would have been more than a
compensation."
Sir Humphry, after drinking the health and happiness of the
company, proposed as a sentiment--"Prosperity to the Coal-trade."
The healths of the Duke of Northumberland, the Bishop of Durham,
and the Reverend Dr. Gray, were drunk in succession.
At ten o'clock, Sir Humphry, accompanied by the chairman, retired
amidst the enthusiastic plaudits of a meeting, the object of
which being one of convivial benevolence, the effect was that of
unclouded hilarity.
The party which had supported the claims of Mr. Stephenson had
also their meeting; and it was held on the 1st of November. At
this meeting it was resolved, "That it was the opinion of the
persons present, that Mr. G. Stephenson having discovered the fact,
that explosions of hydrogen gas will not pass through tubes and
apertures of small dimensions, and having been the first to apply
the principle to the construction of a Safety-lamp, is entitled to
some reward."
A committee was accordingly formed to carry this resolution into
effect, at the head of which was placed the name of the Earl of
Strathmore.
The respectable body of Coal-owners, under whose auspices the
invention of Sir Humphry Davy had been introduced and rewarded,
felt that they owed it to their own characters to repel assertions
which amounted to a charge against themselves of ingratitude and
injustice: a general meeting was accordingly summoned, at the
Assembly-rooms in Newcastle, on the 26th of November 1817, J. G.
Lambton, Esq. M.P. in the chair--when it was resolved,
"That the Resolutions passed at the Meeting of the friends of Mr.
G. Stephenson on the 5th instant, impugn the justice and propriety
of the proceedings of a meeting of the Coal-trade on the 31st of
August 1816:
"That the present meeting, therefore, feel themselves called
upon, as an act of justice to the character of their great and
disinterested benefactor, Sir Humphry Davy, and as a proof that the
Coal-trade of the North in no way sanctions the resolutions of Mr.
Stephenson's friends, to state their decided conviction, that the
merit of having discovered the fact, that explosions of fire-damp
will not pass through tubes and apertures of small dimensions,
and of having applied that principle to the construction of a
Safety-lamp, _belongs to Sir Humphry Davy alone_.
"That this meeting is also decidedly of opinion, from the evidence
produced in various publications by Mr. George Stephenson and his
friends, subsequently to the meeting of the Coal-trade which was
held on the 18th of March 1816, as well as from the documents
which have been read at this meeting, that Mr. Stephenson _did
not_ discover the fact, that explosions of fire-damp will not pass
through tubes and apertures of small dimensions; and that he _did
not_ apply that principle to the construction of a Safety-lamp; and
that the latest lamps made by Mr. Stephenson are evident imitations
of those of Sir Humphry Davy, and that, even with that advantage,
they are so imperfectly constructed as to be actually unsafe.
"That the above resolutions be published thrice in the Newcastle
papers, and in the Courier, Morning Chronicle, and Edinburgh
Courant; and that printed copies thereof be sent to the Lords
Lieutenants of the two counties, to the Lord Bishop of Durham, and
to the principal owners and lessors of collieries upon the Tyne and
Wear."
The following letter from Sir Humphry Davy announces the farther
measures which he also had thought proper to pursue, in order to
counteract the impression which the meeting of Mr. Stephenson's
friends might have produced on the less informed part of the public.
TO J. G. LAMBTON, ESQ. M.P.
November 21, 1817.
MY DEAR SIR,
I shall send off by this post a copy of the resolutions, which
will appear to-morrow in the Chronicle and Courier.
The men of science who have signed these resolutions are the
first chemists and natural philosophers of the country, with
the President of the Royal Society, the most illustrious body
in Europe, at their head.
It is disagreeable to be thus obliged to use artillery for
the destruction of bats and owls; but it was necessary that
something should be done.
The Messrs. ---- have for a long time been endeavouring to
destroy my peace of mind; my offence being that of conferring a
benefit.
The only persons I knew in Newcastle, before I gave the
Safety-lamp to the Coal-owners, were Dr. Headlam and Mr. Bigge,
so that friends I had none; and the few persons with whom I
had a slight acquaintance, and who were civil to me before I
discovered the Safety-lamp, became my enemies. It requires a
deep metaphysician to explain this--Can it be that I did not
make them the medium of communication to the colliers?--But I
quit a subject to which I have no desire to return, and shall
only recollect that day when your eloquence touched my feelings
more than it flattered my self-love.
Believe me, &c. &c.
H. Davy.
The following are the Resolutions of a Meeting adverted to in the
preceding letter, and which was held "for considering the Facts
relating to the Discovery of the Lamp of Safety."
Soho Square, Nov. 20, 1817.
"An advertisement having been inserted in the Newcastle
Courant, of Saturday, November 7, 1817, purporting to contain
the Resolutions of 'A Meeting held for the purpose of
remunerating Mr. George Stephenson, for the valuable service he
has rendered mankind by the invention of his Safety-lamp, which
is calculated for the preservation of human life in situations
of the greatest danger,'
"We have considered the evidence produced in various
publications by Mr. Stephenson and his friends, in support of
his claims; and having examined his lamps, and enquired into
their effects in explosive mixtures, are clearly of opinion--
"First,--That Mr. George Stephenson _is not_ the author of the
discovery of the fact, that an explosion of inflammable gas
will not pass through tubes and apertures of small dimensions.
"Secondly,--That Mr. George Stephenson _was not_ the first to
apply that principle to the construction of a Safety-lamp,
none of the lamps which he made in the year 1815 having been
safe, and there being no evidence even of their having been
made upon that principle.
"Thirdly,--That Sir Humphry Davy not only discovered,
independently of all others, and without any knowledge of the
unpublished experiments of the late Mr. Tennant on Flame, the
principle of the non-communication of explosions through small
apertures, but that he has also the sole merit of having first
applied it to the very important purpose of a Safety-lamp,
which has evidently been imitated in the latest lamps of Mr.
George Stephenson.
(Signed) "JOSEPH BANKS, P.R.S.
"WILLIAM THOMAS BRANDE,
"CHARLES HATCHETT,
"WILLIAM HYDE WOLLASTON."
Thus terminated a controversy, the discussion of which, I am well
aware, many of my readers will consider as having been protracted
to a tedious, and perhaps to an unnecessary extent; but the
biographer had no alternative. In passing it by without a notice,
he would have violated his faith to the public, have given a tacit
acknowledgment of the claims of Stephenson, and, in his judgment,
have committed an act of gross injustice to the illustrious subject
of his history; while by giving only an abridged statement, he
would have furnished a pretext for doubt, and an opportunity for
malevolence.
It is due also to Sir Humphry Davy to observe, that had he
practised more reserve in the communication of his results, the
spirit of rivalry would have expired without a struggle,--for it
derived its only support and power from the generosity of its
victim. Had he secured for himself the advantages of his invention
by patent, he might have realized wealth to almost any extent; but
to barter the products of his intellectual exertions for pecuniary
profit, was a course wholly at variance with every feeling of
Davy's mind; and we therefore find him, in the advancement, as at
the commencement of his fleeting career, spurning the golden apples
from his feet, and hastening to the goal for that prize which could
alone reward all his labours--the meed of immortal fame.
From a letter dated Newcastle, August 1830, which I had the
pleasure to receive from Mr. Buddle, I extract the following
interesting passage:--
"In the autumn of 1815, Sir Humphry Davy accompanied me into some
of our fiery mines, to _prove_ the efficacy of his lamp. Nothing
could be more gratifying than the result of those experiments, as
they inspired every body with perfect confidence in the security
which his invention had afforded.
"Sir Humphry was delighted, and I was overpowered with feelings of
gratitude to that great genius which had produced it.
"I felt, however, that he did not contemplate any pecuniary reward;
and, in a private conversation, I remonstrated with him on the
subject. I said, 'You might as well have secured this invention
by a patent, and received your five or ten thousand a-year from
it.' The reply of this great and noble-minded man was,--'No, my
good friend, I never thought of such a thing; my sole object was
to serve the cause of humanity; and, if I have succeeded, I am
amply rewarded in the gratifying reflection of having done so.' I
expostulated, saying, that his ideas were much too philosophic and
refined for the occasion. He replied, 'I have enough for all my
views and purposes; more wealth might be troublesome, and distract
my attention from those pursuits in which I delight;--more wealth,'
he added, 'could not increase either my fame or my happiness. It
might, undoubtedly, enable me to put four horses to my carriage;
but what would it avail me to have it said that Sir Humphry drives
his carriage-and-four?'"
The present Bishop of Bristol, to whom the world is so greatly
indebted for having first called the attention of Sir Humphry Davy
to the subject of explosions from fire-damp, and who has kindly
interested himself in my arduous and anxious undertaking, was
desirous to obtain for me the latest accounts with respect to the
Safety-lamp, as to the constancy of its use, and the extent of its
security; and his Lordship informs me, that having applied to Mr.
Buddle and Mr. Fenwick for information upon these points, their
answers have been most satisfactory; at the same time, his Lordship
transmitted me much valuable information, which was accompanied by
the following letter from Mr. Buddle.
TO THE RIGHT REVEREND THE LORD BISHOP OF BRISTOL.
Wall's-End, August 11, 1830.
MY LORD,
I have the honour to acknowledge the receipt of your Lordship's
letter of yesterday's date. I am glad your Lordship has
interested yourself in Doctor Paris's work, and I hope that
he will be enabled, through the assistance of Sir Humphry's
friends, to do ample justice to the genius and worth of that
excellent man.
I should be very happy if any letters of mine could assist
Dr. Paris in doing justice to his merits in the invention of
the Safety-lamp; and I shall with pleasure submit to your
Lordship's better judgment and discretion the selection of such
of them as may seem to be conducive to that object.
I do not find that any improvement whatever has been made,
either in the principle or construction of the _original lamp_,
as presented to us by Sir Humphry. His transcendent genius
seems to have anticipated every thing belonging to the subject,
and has left nothing more to be done.
I have the honour to be,
My Lord, with great respect,
Your Lordship's most obedient, humble servant,
JOHN BUDDLE.
In consequence of some late reports of accidents in the mines, I
requested my friend Sir Cuthbert Sharp to make certain enquiries in
the mining districts; and for this purpose, I sent him a string of
queries, to which I begged him to obtain answers. These questions
were submitted to Mr. Buddle, and they produced the following
letter.
TO SIR CUTHBERT SHARP.
Newcastle, August 28, 1830.
MY DEAR SIR CUTHBERT,
I return Dr. Paris's letter, and shall briefly answer his
enquiries.
If the Davy lamp was exclusively used, and due care taken in
its management, it is certain that few accidents would occur
in our coal mines; but the exclusive use of the "_Davy_" is
not compatible with the working of many of our mines, in
consequence of their not being workable without the aid of
gunpowder.
In such mines, where every collier must necessarily fire, on
the average, two _shots_ a-day, we are exposed to the risk of
explosion from the ignition of the gunpowder, even if no naked
lights were used in carrying on the ordinary operations of the
mine.
This was the case in Jarrow Colliery, at the time the late
accident happened. As the use of gunpowder was indispensable,
naked lights were generally used, and the accident was
occasioned by a '_bag_' of inflammable air forcing out a large
block of coal, in the face of a drift, from a fissure in which
it had been pent up, perhaps from the Creation, and firing at
the first naked light with which it came in contact, after
having been diluted down to the combustible point by a due
admixture of atmospheric air.
As to the number of old collieries and old workings which
have been renovated, and as to the quantity of coal which has
been, and will be saved to the public by the invention of the
"_Davy_," it is scarcely possible to give an account, or to
form an estimate.
In this part of the country, 'Walker's Colliery,' after having
been completely worked out, according to the former system,
with candles and steel-mills, and after having been abandoned
in 1811, was reopened in 1818 by the aid of the "_Davy_" and
has been worked on an extensive scale ever since, and may
continue to be worked for an almost indefinite period.
Great part of the formerly relinquished workings of Wall's-end,
Willington, Percy-main, Hebburn, Jarrow, Elswick, Benwell,
&c. &c., as well as several collieries on the Wear, have been
recovered, and are continued in work by the invention of the
"_Davy_."
If I had only what you know perfectly well I have not--TIME, I
could write a volume on this subject.
I shall shortly, through the medium of a friend, get an
important paper on the subject of the "_Davy_," put into Dr.
Paris's hands.
Believe me, my dear Sir Cuthbert,
To remain yours very faithfully,
JOHN BUDDLE.
The Bishop of Bristol has placed at my disposal a communication
from Mr. Fenwick, a gentleman of much practical ability, which
affords additional evidence of the utility of the lamp; from which
the following is an extract.
"Sir H. Davy's safety-lamp has afforded much security in the
general working of mines, particularly by enabling the coal-owner
to work, in several situations, the pillars of coal formerly left
therein, which, under the system of working by candles, or open
flame, was deemed hazardous and impracticable; and, in consequence,
one-sixth part more of coal may be estimated as obtainable from
those mines which are subject to hydrogen gas. Also in the working
of the pillars of coal, (commonly called the second working,) great
advantages and securities, as well as saving of expenses, have
resulted from the use of this lamp, not only to the lessees of
collieries, inasmuch as more coal is obtained from a given space
than before, (particularly in collieries subject to fire-damp,) but
also to the lessor of such mines, by their being more productive,
and of course more durable than heretofore.
"Another advantage results from the use of this Safety-lamp, and in
the working of the pillars in particular. It is found now, through
experience, that the changeable state of the atmosphere, which
our barometers daily indicate, has a most powerful effect on the
noxious air in mines; as, from a sudden change in the atmosphere,
indicated by the rapid fall of the mercury in the barometrical
tube, a rapid discharge of noxious gas into the workings and
excavations of the mine is the consequence, caused by the want of
the atmospheric equilibrium:[48] in which case the mine becomes
suddenly surcharged with hydrogen, and if worked by the light of
_open flame_, an explosion may take place before the possibility
of such a circumstance can even be suspected; but if worked by the
Safety-lamp, it is only shown by the gas in the lamp becoming a
pillar of harmless flame. This circumstance frequently takes place
when any atmospheric change causes the mercury in the barometer to
sink to twenty-eight inches and a half or thereabouts."
[48] This is a very interesting fact, and gives much support to
the theory advanced at page 62 of this volume.
In the year 1825, Sir Humphry Davy had the honour to receive
from the Emperor Alexander of Russia, a superb silver gilt vase,
standing in a circular tray enriched with medallions. On the cover
was a figure, of about sixteen or eighteen inches in height,
representing the God of Fire, weeping over his extinguished torch.
The circumstances under which this vase was presented have been
communicated to me by Mr. Smirnove, Secretary to the Embassy.
TO J. A. PARIS, M.D.
Wigmore Street, May 29, 1830.
DEAR SIR,
It was in the month of April, or May, 1815, that the late Sir
Humphry Davy expressed to Prince, then Count, Lieven, his wish
to offer to the Emperor of Russia a model of his Safety-lamp,
which he had recently improved, accompanied by an explanatory
pamphlet on the subject.
Prince Lieven of course complied with this request; and
the Emperor having been pleased to accept it, ordered the
Ambassador, in November of the same year, to thank Sir Humphry
for it in his Majesty's name, and to assure him how much his
Majesty appreciated the merit of an invention, the double
effect of which was to favour the progress of more than one
branch of industry, and to ensure the safety of persons
employed in the coal-mines, against those fatal accidents
which had hitherto so frequently occurred. The Ambassador,
at the same time, delivered to Sir Humphry a silver-gilt
Vase,[49] in the name of the Emperor, in testimony of the high
satisfaction with which that sovereign had been pleased to
accept the object in question. I beg you to believe me, with
regard and esteem,
Your faithful servant,
JOHN SMIRNOVE.
[49] Of the value of about one hundred and eighty guineas.
It is well known to the friends of Davy, that in his conversation
as well as in his correspondence, he always dwelt with peculiar
satisfaction and delight upon the invention of his Safety-lamp.
Mr. Poole, in a letter lately addressed to me, observes--"How often
have I heard him express the satisfaction which this discovery
had given him. 'I value it,' said he, 'more than any thing I
ever did. It was the result of a great deal of investigation
and labour; but, if my directions be only attended to, it will
save the lives of thousands of poor labourers. I was never more
affected,' he added, 'than by a written address which I received
from the working colliers, when I was in the North, thanking me,
in behalf of themselves and their families, for the preservation
of their lives.' I remember how delighted he was when he showed me
the service of plate presented to him by those very men and their
employers, as a testimony of their gratitude."
The following letter evinces a similar feeling.
TO THOMAS POOLE, ESQ.
Queen's Square, Bath, Oct. 29, 1816.
MY DEAR POOLE,
It is very long since any letters have passed between us. The
affections and recollections of friendly intercourse are of a
very adhesive nature; and I think you will not be displeased at
being put in mind that there is an old friend not very far from
you, who will be very glad to see you.
Bath does not suit me much, nor should I remain here, but
my wife has been indisposed, and the waters seem to benefit
her, and promise to render her permanent service, and if that
happens, I shall be pleased even with this uninteresting city.
I have seen many countries and nations since we met.
* * * * *
I have just come from the North of England, where it has
pleased Providence to make me an instrument for preserving the
lives of some of my fellow-creatures. You, I know, are of that
complexion of mind that the civic crown will please you more
than even the victor's laurel wreath.
I have a bed, though a small one, at your service; if you can
come here for two or three days, I assure you we shall be most
happy to see you. We shall remain in Bath about three weeks.
I shall be absent for a few days in the beginning of next
week, and after that I shall be stationary till the middle of
November. Give me a few lines, and say when we may expect you.
I am, my dear Poole, very sincerely yours,
H. DAVY.
TO THE SAME.
Grosvenor Street, Dec. 3, 1817.
MY DEAR POOLE,
The late melancholy event[50] has thrown a gloom over London,
and indeed over England. The public feeling is highly
creditable to the moral tone of the people.
The loss of a Princess, known only by good qualities, living
in a pure and happy state of domestic peace, is in itself
affecting; but when it is recollected that two generations of
sovereigns of the first people in the world have been lost at
the same moment, the event becomes almost an awful one.
I go on always labouring in my vocation. I am now at work on a
subject almost as interesting as the last which I undertook.
It is too much to hope for the same success; at least I will
deserve it.
When you come to town in the spring, which I trust you will do,
I shall show you my service of plate. I do not think you will
like it the less for the cause of the gift.
I am not sure whether I shall not take a run down to Nether
Stowey and the west for a few days, if you encourage me with
any hopes of the estate[51] and of woodcocks. You will fix my
plans.
I shall be disengaged between the 15th and Christmas, and shall
like to revisit Lymouth, and above all to shake you by the
hand.
Lady D. is in better health than I have ever known her to
possess. She begs her kind remembrances.
I am, my dear Poole, most affectionately yours,
H. DAVY.
[50] The death of the Princess Charlotte.
[51] He here alludes to an estate in the neighbourhood of Nether
Stowey, which he wished to purchase, and about which he had
requested Mr. Poole to make enquiries.
In a strictly scientific point of view, the most interesting
results which have arisen out of the investigation for constructing
a Safety-lamp, are perhaps those which have made us better
acquainted with the true nature of flame, and the circumstances by
which it is modified; and which have led to some practical views
connected with the useful arts.
It is, I think, impossible to enter into the details of those
curious investigations[52] which, under the title of "Some
Researches on Flame," were communicated to the Royal Society, and
read before that body on the 16th of January 1817, without being
forcibly struck with the address by which Davy, in the first
instance, brought abstract science to promote and extend practical
knowledge; and then, as it were by a species of multiplied
reflection, applied the new facts thus elicited for the farther
extension of speculative truth; which in its wider range became
again instrumental in disclosing a fresh store of useful facts.
It may be said to have been the power of dexterously combining
such methods which constituted the felicity of his genius; for, in
general, each of them requires for its successful application a
mind of quite a distinct order and construction. Mr. Babbage has
very justly observed, that those intellectual qualifications which
give birth to new principles or to new methods, are of quite a
different order from those which are necessary for their practical
application. Davy furnished the exception that was necessary to
make good the rule.
[52] A short notice of them first appeared in the third number
of the "Journal of Science and the Arts," edited at the Royal
Institution.
He detects, in the first instance, the general principle of
inflammable gas, in a state of combustion, being arrested in its
progress by capillary tubes; he next applies it to the construction
of a Safety-lamp, and then, by observing the phenomena which this
lamp exhibits, is led to novel views respecting the nature and
properties of flame.--I shall endeavour to offer a popular view
of the curious and interesting truths disclosed by this latter
research.
He had observed that, when the coal gas burnt in the iron cage, its
colour was pale, and its light feeble; whereas the fact is rendered
familiar to us all by the flame of the gas lights, that in the
open air carburetted hydrogen burns with great brilliancy. Upon
reflecting on the circumstances of the two species of combustion,
he was led to believe that the cause of the superiority of the
light in the latter case might be owing to a _decomposition_ of a
part of the gas towards the interior of the flame, where the air
was in the smallest quantity; and that the consequent deposition
of charcoal might first by its _ignition_, and afterwards by its
_combustion_, contribute to this increase of light. A conjecture
which he immediately verified by experiment.[53]
[53] This theory of Davy is well illustrated by the change
produced in the flame of gas-light, when acted upon by the
wind, as may be seen during an illumination. The loss of light
under these circumstances evidently arises from the more rapid
combustion of the gas, by its more complete admixture with air;
in consequence of which the decomposition above described does
not take place.
The intensity therefore of the light of flames depends principally
upon the production and ignition of _solid_ matter in combustion,
so that heat and light are in this process independent phenomena.
These facts, Davy observes, appear to admit of many applications;
in explaining, for instance, the appearance of different flames--in
suggesting the means of increasing or diminishing their light, and
in deducing from their characters a knowledge of the composition of
their constituent parts.
The point of the inner blue flame of a candle or lamp urged by
the blow-pipe, where the heat is the greatest and the light the
least, is the point where the whole of the charcoal is burnt in
its gaseous combinations, without previous ignition. The flames
of phosphorus and of zinc in oxygen, and that of potassium in
chlorine, afford examples of intensity of light depending upon
the production of _fixed_ solid matter in combustion; while on
the contrary, the feebleness of the light of those flames, in
which gaseous and volatile matter is alone produced, is well
illustrated by those of hydrogen and sulphur in oxygen, or by that
of phosphorus in chlorine.
From such facts, he is inclined to think that the luminous
appearance of shooting stars and meteors cannot be owing to any
inflammation of gas, but must depend upon the ignition of solid
matter. Dr. Halley calculated the height of a meteor at ninety
miles, and the great American meteor, which threw down showers of
stones, was estimated at only seventeen miles high. The velocity
of the motion of such bodies must in all cases be immensely great,
and the heat thus produced by the compression of the most rarefied
air, Davy thinks, must be sufficient to ignite the mass; and that
all the phenomena may be explained by assuming that _falling stars_
are small solid bodies moving round the earth in very eccentric
orbits, which become ignited only when they pass with immense
velocity through the upper regions of the atmosphere, and which,
when they contain either combustible or elastic matter, throw out
stones with explosion.
By the application of such a principle did he also infer the
composition of a body from the character of its flame: thus, says
he, Ether, during its combustion, would appear to indicate the
presence of _olefiant gas_. Alcohol burns with a flame similar to
that of a mixture of carbonic oxide and hydrogen; so that the first
is probably a binary compound of olefiant gas and water, and the
second of carbonic oxide and hydrogen.
When the proto-chloride of copper is introduced into the flame of
a candle or lamp, it affords a peculiar dense and brilliant red
light, tinged with green and blue towards the edges, which seems to
depend upon the separation of the chlorine from the copper by the
hydrogen, and the ignition and combustion of the solid copper and
charcoal.
The acknowledged fact of the brightest flames yielding the least
heat is easily reconciled, when we learn that the light depends
upon fixed matter which carries off the heat. It is equally
obvious, that by art we may, for practical purposes, easily modify
these phenomena.
In the next place, having observed that wire-gauze cooled down
flame beyond its combustible point, he was led to enquire into
the nature of pure flame; and he readily demonstrated it to be
_gaseous matter heated so highly as to be luminous_; and that the
temperature necessary for such an effect was much greater than had
been imagined, varying, however, in different cases. The flame of a
common lamp he proved, by a very simple experiment, to exceed even
the white heat of solid bodies, and which is easily shown by the
simple fact of heating a piece of platinum wire over the chimney of
an Argand lamp fed with spirit of wine; when it will be seen that
air, which is not of sufficient temperature to appear luminous,
is still sufficiently hot to impart a white heat to a solid body
immersed in it.
The fact of different gaseous bodies requiring different degrees
of heat to raise them into flame, was an inference immediately
deducible from the phenomena of his _safety gauze_. A tissue of one
hundred apertures to the square inch, made of wire of one-sixtieth,
will, at common temperatures, intercept the flame of a spirit-lamp,
but not that of hydrogen; and, when strongly heated, it will no
longer arrest the flame of the spirit-lamp. A tissue which, when
red-hot, will not interrupt the flame of hydrogen, will still
intercept that of olefiant gas; and a heated tissue, which would
communicate explosion from a mixture of olefiant gas and air, will
stop an explosion of fire-damp. Fortunately for the success of the
Safety-lamp, carburetted hydrogen requires so high a temperature to
carry on its combustion, that even metal, when white-hot, is far
below it; and hence red-hot gauze, in sufficient quantity, and of
the proper degree of fineness, will abstract heat enough from the
flame to extinguish it.
The discovery of the high temperature which is necessary for the
maintenance of flame, suggested to the philosopher the reason of
its extinction under various circumstances. He considers, that
the common operation of blowing out a candle principally depends
upon the cooling power of the current of air projected into the
flame;[54] and he observes, that the hottest flames are those which
are least easily blown out. He farther illustrated this subject by
surrounding a very small flame with a ring of _metal_, which had
the effect of cooling it so far as to extinguish it; but a ring of
_glass_, of similar dimensions and diameter, being a less perfect
conductor of heat, produced no such effect.
[54] _Quere._ Is this theory correct? May not the effect be
mechanical, the appulse of the air separating the flame from
the wick.--Upon the principle suggested by Davy, how are we to
explain the fact of rekindling the flame by a blast?
It had been long known that flame ceased to burn in highly rarefied
air; but the degree of rarefaction necessary for this effect had
been very differently stated. The cause of the phenomenon was
generally supposed to depend upon a deficiency of oxygen.
In the commencement of his enquiry into this subject, Davy observed
that the flame of hydrogen gas, the degree of rarefaction and the
quantity of air being the same, burnt longer when it issued from a
larger than a smaller jet,--a fact the very reverse of that which
must have happened had the flame expired for want of oxygen; he
moreover observed, that when the larger jet was used, the point
of the glass tube became white-hot, and continued red-hot till
the flame was extinguished: he therefore concluded, that the
heat communicated to the gas by this tube was the cause of its
protracted combustion, and that _flame expired in rarefied air,
not for want of nourishment from oxygen, but for want of heat, and
that if its temperature could be preserved by some supplementary
aid, the flame might be kept burning_. The experiment by which he
confirmed this theory was as beautiful as it was satisfactory.
He burnt a piece of camphor in a _glass_ tube, under the receiver
of an air-pump, so as to make the upper part of the tube red-hot;
its inflammation was found to continue when the rarefaction was
nine times; but by repeating the experiment in a _metallic_ tube,
which could not be so considerably heated by it, it ceased after
the rarefaction exceeded six times.
It follows then that by artificially imparting heat,[55] bodies may
be made to burn in a rarefied air, when under other circumstances
they would be extinguished.
[55] "It is upon this principle that, in the Argand lamp, the
Liverpool lamp, and in the best fire-places, the increase of
effect does not merely depend upon the rapid current of air,
but likewise upon the heat preserved by the arrangement of
the materials of the chimney, and communicated to the matters
entering into inflammation." The art of making a good fire
depends also upon the same principle of economising the heat.
The following may be considered as an _experimentum crucis_, in
proof of the fact that combustibility is neither increased nor
diminished by rarefaction.
He introduced the flame of hydrogen, in which was inserted a
platinum wire, into a receiver of rarefied air, and he found
that, as long as the metal remained at a dull red-heat, the flame
continued to burn: now it so happens that the temperature, at which
platinum approaches a red-heat, is precisely that at which hydrogen
inflames under the ordinary pressure of the atmosphere; whence it
follows, that its combustibility is not altered by rarefaction.
The same law was found to apply to the flames of other bodies;
those requiring the least heat for their combustion always
sustaining the greater rarefaction without being extinguished.[56]
[56] From a calculation of the ratio in which the density of the
atmosphere decreases with its altitude, and from that of the
relative combustibility of different bodies, it follows that
the taper would be extinguished at a height of between nine and
ten miles--hydrogen, between twelve and thirteen--and sulphur,
between fifteen and sixteen.
Hitherto he had only considered the effects of rarefaction, when
produced by the diminution of pressure; he had next to investigate
the phenomena of rarefaction when occasioned by expansion from heat.
The experiments of M. de Grotthus had apparently shown that
rarefaction by heat destroys the combustibility of gaseous
mixtures; those of Davy, however, proved that it enables them to
explode at a lower temperature.
In the progress of this research, while passing mixtures of
hydrogen and oxygen through heated tubes, the heat being still
below redness, he observed that steam was formed without any
combustion.
Here was a slow combination without combustion, as long since
observed with respect to hydrogen and chlorine, and oxygen and
metals; and he believes that such a phenomenon will happen at
certain temperatures with most substances that unite by heat. On
trying charcoal, he found that at a temperature which appeared to
be a little above the boiling point of quicksilver, it converted
oxygen pretty rapidly into carbonic acid, without any luminous
appearance, and that, at a dull red-heat, the elements of olefiant
gas combined in a similar manner with oxygen, slowly and without
explosion.
It occurred to Davy, in the progress of these experiments, that,
during this species of slow combination, although the increase of
temperature might not be sufficient to render the gaseous matters
luminous, or to produce flame, it might still be adequate to ignite
solid matters exposed to them. It was while engaged in devising
experiments to ascertain this fact, that he was accidentally led
to the discovery of the continued ignition of platinum wire,
during the slow combination of coal gas with atmospheric air;
the circumstances of which have been already related, as well as
the curious invention to which the application of the fact gave
origin.[57]
[57] See page 100 of this volume.
For this and his preceding papers on the subjects of flame and
combustion, the President and Council of the Royal Society adjudged
to Sir Humphry Davy the gold and silver medals, on the donation of
Count Rumford;[58] and never, I will venture say, did a society in
awarding a prize more faithfully comply with the intentions of its
founder.
[58] At the Anniversary of the Royal Society, November 1796,
Count Rumford transferred one thousand pounds, Three per Cent.
Consols, to the use of the Society, on condition that a premium
should be biennially awarded to the author of the most important
discovery, or useful invention, made known in any part of Europe
during the preceding two years, on the subject of HEAT AND LIGHT.
In regard to the form in which this premium was to be conferred,
he requested that it might always be given in two medals, struck
in the same die, the one of gold, and the other of silver.
Should not any discovery or improvement be made during any terms
of years, he directed that the value of the medals should be
reserved, and being laid out in the purchase of additional stock,
go in augmentation of the capital of this premium.
Medals upon this foundation have been successively voted to
Professor Leslie, for his Experiments on Heat, published in
his work entitled "An Experimental Enquiry into the Nature
and Properties of Heat;"--To Mr. William Murdoch, for his
publication "On the Employment of Gas and Coal for the purpose of
Illumination;"--to M. Malus, for his discoveries of certain new
properties of reflected light;--to Dr. Wells, for his Essay on
Dew;--to Sir Humphry Davy, as above stated;--to Dr. Brewster, for
his Optical Investigations;--and, lastly, to Mr. Fresnel, for his
optical researches.
On the completion of these laborious enquiries, it was thought
expedient to give a wider circulation to their results than
the publication of them in the Philosophical Transactions was
calculated to afford; and Sir Humphry Davy was therefore induced to
reprint his principal memoirs, so as to form an octavo volume,[59]
which might be accessible to the practical parts of the community.
[59] "On the Safety-lamp for Coal Mines, with some Researches on
Flame.--London, 1818."
The enlightened friends of science very reasonably expected that
a service of such importance to society as the invention of the
Safety-lamp, would have commanded the gratitude of the State, and
obtained for its author a high parliamentary reward; nor were there
wanting zealous and disinterested persons to urge the claims of the
Philosopher: but a Government which had bestowed a splendid pension
upon the contriver of an engine[60] for the destruction of human
life, refused to listen to any proposition for the reward of one
who had invented a machine for its preservation. It is true that,
in consideration of various scientific services, they tardily and
inadequately acknowledged the claims of Davy, by bestowing upon
him the dignity of Baronetcy[61]--a reward, it must be confessed,
that neither displayed any regard to his condition, nor implied
the just estimate of his merits. The measure of value, however,
enables us to judge of the standard by which the State rates the
various services to society; and deeply is it to be lamented that
the disproportioned exaltation of military achievement, crowned
with the highest honours, depresses respect for science, and raises
a false and fruitless object of ambition.
[60] Sir William Congreve, in addition to other marks of favour,
received a pension of twelve hundred a-year, for the invention of
his Rocket; or, in the exact terms of the grant, "for inventions
calculated to destroy or annoy the enemy."
[61] He was created a Baronet on the 20th of October, 1818.
The passion for arms is a relict of barbarity derived from the
feudal ages; the progress of civilization, and the cultivation of
the mind, should have led us to prefer intellectual to physical
superiority, and to recognise in the successes of science the
chief titles to honour. This reversal of the objects of importance
can never be redressed until the aristocracy shall be possessed
of a competent share of scientific knowledge, and instructed
to appreciate its value. To effect such a change, the system
of education so blindly and obstinately continued in our great
public schools, must be altered; for minds exclusively applied to
classical pursuits, and trained to recognise no other objects of
liberal study, are indisposed and indeed disqualified for enquiries
ministering to the arts of life, and arrogantly despised for their
very connexion with utility. It is in the early ignorance of the
rudiments of science that the after negligence of science has its
source.
The instances in proof of the extent of the ignorance and
indifference I have noted, and of their pernicious effects upon
the most important interests of society, especially legislation,
and the administration of justice, are abundant. In Parliament,
how is a question of science treated? In our courts of law, and
criminal investigation, it is lamentable to observe the frequent
defeat of justice, arising from erroneous conception, or from the
utter absence of the requisite knowledge. In the ordinary affairs
of life, we see conspicuous, amongst the dupes of quackery and
imposture, those whose stations should imply the best instruction,
and whose conduct, unfortunately, has the effect of example.
A contempt far-spreading, and proceeding from the well-springs
of truth, is rapidly rising against this exalted ignorance; the
industrious classes of society are daily becoming more imbued with
knowledge upon scientific subjects, and the nobility, if they would
preserve their superiority in social consideration, must descend to
the popular improvement.
* * * * *
Before concluding the present chapter, I must carry back my history
to the year 1815, for the purpose of recording a circumstance in
the life of Davy, which, while it exemplifies his general love of
science, evinces the local attachment he retained for the town of
his birth.
In the year 1813, the Geological Society of Cornwall was
established at Penzance. Its objects are to cultivate the sciences
of Mineralogy and Geology, in a district better calculated perhaps
for such pursuits than any other spot in Europe,--to register the
new facts which are continually presenting themselves in the mines,
and to place upon permanent record, the history of phenomena which
had hitherto been entrusted to oral tradition; but, above all,
its object was to bring science in alliance with art; to prevent
the accidents which had so frequently occurred from explosion in
the operation of blasting rocks; and, in short, to render all the
resources of speculative truth subservient to the ends of practical
improvement.
No sooner had the establishment of so useful an institution been
communicated to Davy, than he testified his zeal for its welfare
by a handsome donation to its funds; which was followed by a
present of a very extensive suite of specimens, illustrative of
the volcanic district of Naples, and which had been collected by
himself. He also afterwards communicated to the Society a memoir
on the Geology of Cornwall, which has been published in the first
volume of its Transactions.
In this paper, he discusses several of the more difficult questions
connected with the origin of veins.
He first observed the granitic veins, which have called forth so
much attention from geologists, about the year 1797; probably
before they had excited much scientific notice: he is disposed to
regard them as peculiar to the low metalliferous granite and mica
formations; he had seen several cases of granite veins near Dublin,
in the Isle of Arran, and in other parts of Scotland; he had also
observed several instances near Morlaix in Brittany, but he had in
vain searched for them in the points of junction of the schist and
granite, both in the Maritime, Savoy, Swiss, and Tyrolese Alps, and
likewise in the Oriental Pyrenees.
The _serpentine_ district of Cornwall, he thinks, has not yet met
with the attention it deserves. "I have seen no formation," says
he, "in which the nature of serpentine is so distinctly displayed.
The true constituent parts of this rock appear to be _resplendent
hornblende_ and _felspar_; it appears to differ from _sienite_ only
in the nature of the _hornblende_, and in the chemical composition
of its parts, and in being intersected by numerous veins of
_steatite_ and _calcareous spar_."
The nature and origin of the veins of _steatite_ in serpentine, he
considers as offering a very curious subject for enquiry. "Were
they originally crystallized," he asks, "and the result of chemical
deposition? or have they been, as for the most part they are now
found, mere mechanical deposits?" He is inclined to the latter
opinion. The felspar in serpentine, he observes, is very liable to
decomposition, probably from the action of carbonic acid and water
on its alkaline, calcareous, and magnesian elements; and its parts
washed down by water and deposited in the chasms of the rocks,
he thinks would necessarily gain that kind of loose aggregation
belonging to steatite.
He had some years before made a rude, comparative analysis of the
felspar in serpentine, and of the soap-rock, when he found the same
constituents in both of them, except that there was not any alkali
or calcareous earth in the latter substance. It is very difficult
to conceive, he says, that steatite was originally a crystallized
substance which has been since decomposed; for, in that case,
it ought to be found in its primitive state in veins which are
excluded from the action of air and water; whereas it is easy to
account for the hardness of some species of steatite on the former
hypothesis; for mere mechanical deposits, when very finely divided,
and very slowly made, adhere with a very considerable degree of
force. A remarkable instance of this kind occurred to him amongst
the chemical preparations of the late Mr. Cavendish, which, on the
decease of that illustrious philosopher, had been presented to him
by Lord George Cavendish: there was a bottle which had originally
contained a solution of silica by potash; the cork, during the
lapse of years, had become decayed, and the carbonic acid of the
atmosphere had gradually precipitated the earth, so that it was
found in a state of solid cohesion; the upper part was as soft as
the steatite, but the lower portion was extremely hard, was broken
with some difficulty, and presented an appearance similar to that
of chalcedony.
In speaking generally of the mineralogical interest of Cornwall,
he observes, that "it may be regarded, [Greek: kat' exochên], as
the country of veins; and that it is in veins that the most useful
as well as the most valuable minerals generally exist, that the
pure specimens are found which serve to determine the mineralogical
species, and that the appearances seem most interesting in their
connexion with geological theory. Thus veins, which now may be
considered in the light of the most valuable cabinets of nature,
were once her most active laboratories; and they are equally
important to the practical miner, and to the mineralogical
philosopher."
With regard to the general conformation of Cornwall, he states it
to be in the highest degree curious, and he considers that the
facts which it offers are illustrative of many important points of
geological theory. "It exhibits very extraordinary instances of
rocks broken in almost every direction, but principally from east
to west, and filled with veins again broken in, diversified by
cross lines, and filled with other veins, and exhibiting marks of
various successive phenomena of this kind.
"Respecting the agents that produced the chasms in the primary
strata, and the power by which they were filled with stony and
metallic matter, it would be easy to speculate, but very difficult
to reason by legitimate philosophical induction."
In the concluding passage, however, he very freely admits his
preference for the doctrine of fire.
"It is amongst extinct volcanoes, the surfaces of which have been
removed by the action of air and water, and in which the interior
parts of strata of lavas are exposed, that the most instructive
examples of the operation of slow cooling upon heated masses are to
be found. It is difficult to conceive that water could have been
the solvent of the different granitic and porphyritic formations;
for, in that case, some combinations of water with the pure earths
ought to be found in them. Quartz ought to exist in a state of
_hydrate_, and Wavellite, not Corundum, ought to be the state of
alumina in granite.
"To suppose the primary rocks, in general, to have been produced
by the slow cooling of a mass formed by the combustion of the
metallic bases of the earths, appears to me the most reasonable
hypothesis; yet aqueous agency must not be entirely excluded from
our geological views. In many cases of crystallization, even in
volcanic countries, this cause operates; thus in Ischia, siliceous
_tufas_ are formed from hot springs; and in the lake Albula, or
the lake of Solfaterra, near Tivoli, crystals of calcareous spar
and of sulphur separate from water impregnated with carbonic acid
and hepatic gas; and large strata of calcareous rocks, formed
evidently in late times by water impregnated with carbonic acid,
exist in various parts of Europe. The Travertine marble (_Marmor
Tiburtinum_) is a production of this kind; and it is of this
species of stone that the Colosseum at Rome, and the cathedral of
St. Peter, are built. It is likewise employed in the ancient temple
of Pæstum, and it rivals in durability, if not in beauty, the
primary marble of Paris and Carrara."