initial commit of ebook 12017HEADmain

1 files changed, 1278 insertions, 0 deletions

diff --git a/12017-0.txt b/12017-0.txt
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..d8b91d2
--- /dev/null
+++ b/12017-0.txt
@@ -0,0 +1,1278 @@
+*** START OF THE PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK 12017 ***
+
+[Illustration: PORTRAIT of the late SIR HUMPHRY DAVY, Bart.]
+
+       *       *       *       *       *
+
+THE MIRROR OF LITERATURE, AMUSEMENT, AND INSTRUCTION:
+
+CONTAINING
+
+ORIGINAL ESSAYS; HISTORICAL NARRATIVES; BIOGRAPHICAL MEMOIRS;
+SKETCHES OF SOCIETY; TOPOGRAPHICAL DESCRIPTIONS;
+NOVELS AND TALES; ANECDOTES;
+
+
+SELECT EXTRACTS
+
+FROM
+
+NEW AND EXPENSIVE WORKS;
+_POETRY, ORIGINAL AND SELECTED:_
+THE SPIRIT OF THE PUBLIC JOURNALS;
+DISCOVERIES IN THE ARTS AND SCIENCES;
+_USEFUL DOMESTIC HINTS;_
+
+&c. &c. &c.
+
+
+       *       *       *       *       *
+
+VOL. XIII.
+
+       *       *       *       *       *
+
+
+LONDON
+PRINTED AND PUBLISHED BY J. LIMBIRD, 143, STRAND.
+_(Near Somerset House.)_
+
+1829
+
+
+       *       *       *       *       *
+
+PREFACE.
+
+       *       *       *       *       *
+
+We begin to think that a long Preface in this season of _ennui_ would be
+almost as tiresome as tragedy in warm weather, and much more so than the
+trite three-line Prologue in Hamlet. Our materials are collected from all
+quarters, with but little of our own; so that we might praise all the
+authors without the charge of uncommon vanity; but panegyric savours much
+of the poppy, and we must use it accordingly.
+
+Our thanks are first due to such Subscribers as have, by personal
+observation and research, enabled us to throw a light on certain obsolete
+customs or portions of our domestic history; for these contributions form
+a prominent feature of the Correspondence of THE MIRROR; it being our
+object, in this department, to gather facts rather than to draw only upon
+the invention of our friends. In support of this system we could select
+many specimens from the Correspondence of the present volume, the
+interest of which is, we hope, be equal to any of its predecessors.
+
+The _Selector_ will be found to contain many valuable extracts from New
+and Costly Works, in almost every class of literature; and the piquancy
+of the _Notes of a Reader_ may be turned to as a convenient little
+treasury, into which readers of all tastes may dip with pleasure and
+advantage.
+
+The _Sketch Book_ contains rather an unusual number of Narratives, some
+of them of extraordinary interest, and written in the best style of the
+best authors.
+
+The _Spirit of Discovery_ will be considered characteristic of our times,
+by illustrating the real economy of science in its application to the
+conveniences of every-day life. As a collateral branch of this division
+is _The Naturalist,_ under which head we have endeavoured to identify THE
+MIRROR with Zoology, as one of the most popular studies of the day.
+
+The _Spirit of the Public Journals_ breathes not a few of the sweetest
+and most recent poetical compositions from the pens of celebrated authors,
+some of whose names are passports to high excellence.
+
+The _Engravings_ have, probably, been criticised upon first impression;
+so that we can only hope they have merited the applause of our
+Subscribers. We may be permitted to remark that some of the illustrations
+relate to scenes and subjects of no ordinary attraction in Antiquarian
+Remains, and Architectural Improvements of yesterday; a few of these have
+been executed at a considerable cost to the Proprietor; for which extra
+exertion he has been more than requited by the increased demand.
+
+Several current _Novelties_ will be found described at length in this
+volume--as the circumstantial and accurate accounts of the Colosseum--and
+the New Swan River Settlement, the last of which is illustrated with an
+Engraved Chart.
+
+Strenuous as have been our exertions for past patronage, we shall not
+relax in the ensuing volume. An entirely new Type has been prepared for
+this purpose, and we feel confident that we shall be enabled to keep pace
+with the increased typographical beauty of the MIRROR, as well as with
+the improved spirit of its Engravings.
+
+June 27, 1829.
+
+
+
+
+        *        *        *        *        *
+
+
+LIST OF ENGRAVINGS.
+
+
+VOL. XIII.
+
+
+_PORTRAIT of the late SIR HUMPHRY DAVY, Bart._
+
+
+Bruce Castle, Tottenham.
+
+Old Elephant, Fenchurch Street.
+
+Macclesfield Bridge, Regent's Park.
+
+Rupert's Palace, Barbican.
+
+Hanover Lodge, Regent's Park.
+
+Grove House, ditto.
+
+Colosseum, Exterior, ditto.
+
+Marquess of Hertford's Villa, ditto.
+
+Doric Villa, ditto.
+
+Colosseum, Interior, ditto.
+
+Kirkstall Abbey.
+
+Warwick Castle.
+
+Old Covent Garden Market.
+
+York Terrace, Regent's Park.
+
+Snow Flakes, Magnified.
+
+Rugby School.
+
+Miners of Derbyshire.
+
+Fortune Playhouse, Barbican.
+
+Epsom New Race Stand.
+
+Old Charing Cross.
+
+Exeter 'Change, Strand.
+
+Hyde Park Grand Entrance.
+
+Talipot Tree.
+
+Glowworm.
+
+Deathwatch, Magnified.
+
+Chester Terrace, Regent's Park.
+
+Guy's Cliff.
+
+Roman Altar.
+
+Gower's Tomb.
+
+Hirlas Horn.
+
+Old Somerset House.
+
+Harrow School.
+
+Sussex Place, Regent's Park.
+
+Clarendon House, Piccadilly.
+
+Relic of John Buryan.
+
+Cornwall Terrace, Regent's Park.
+
+Chart of the Swan River Settlement.
+
+Laleham Park, the Residence of the Young Queen of Portugal.
+
+Holland House, Kensington.
+
+Cumberland Terrace, Regent's Park.
+
+Residence of T. Campbell, Esq.
+
+Labyrinth at Versailles.
+
+
+
+       *       *       *       *       *
+
+
+MEMOIR OF SIR HUMPHRY DAVY, BART.
+
+
+The present may be regarded as a chemical age; for so extensive, rapid,
+and important have been the late acquisitions in the science of chemistry,
+that we may almost claim it as the exclusive discovery of our own times.
+The popularity and high estimation in which it is held may be ascribed to
+three causes: 1. The satisfaction which is afforded by its results.
+2. Its utility in all the arts of life. 3. The little previous
+preparation which an entrance on its study requires. To these may be
+added, the new interest conferred upon the science by the discoveries of
+Black, Priestly, and Lavoisier, which had already introduced into
+chemical science the long-neglected requisites of close investigation and
+logical deduction; but it was reserved for Sir HUMPHRY DAVY to
+demonstrate the vast superiority of modern principles, by the most
+brilliant career of discovery, which, since the days of Newton, have
+graced the annals of science.
+
+Sir Humphry Davy was born December 17, 1779, at Penzance, in Cornwall.
+His family was ancient, and above the middle class; his paternal great
+grandfather had considerable landed property in the parish of Budgwin,
+and his father possessed a small paternal estate opposite St. Michael's
+Mount, called Farfal, on which he died in 1795, after having injured his
+fortune by expending considerable sums in attempting agricultural
+improvements. Sir Humphry received the first rudiments of his education
+at the grammar-schools of Penzance and Truro: at the former place, he
+resided with Mr. John Tomkin, surgeon, a benevolent and intelligent man,
+who had been intimately connected with his maternal grandfather, and
+treated him with a degree of kindness little less than paternal. His
+genius was originally inclined to poetry; and there are many natives of
+Penzance who remember his poems and verses, written at the early age of
+nine years. He cultivated this bias till his fifteenth year, when he
+became the pupil of Mr. (since Dr.) Borlase, of Penzance, an ingenious
+surgeon, intending to prepare himself for graduating as a physician at
+Edinburgh. As a proof of his uncommon mind, at this early age, it is
+worthy of mention, that Mr. Davy laid down for himself a plan of
+education, which embraced the circle of the sciences. By his eighteenth
+year he had acquired the rudiments of botany, anatomy, and physiology,
+the simpler mathematics, metaphysics, natural philosophy, and chemistry.
+But chemistry soon arrested his whole attention. Having made some
+experiments on the air disengaged by sea-weeds from the water of the
+ocean, which convinced him that these vegetables performed the same part
+in purifying the air dissolved in water which land-vegetables act in the
+atmosphere; he communicated them to Dr. Beddoes, who had at that time
+circulated proposals for publishing a journal of philosophical
+contributions from the West of England. This produced a correspondence
+between Dr. Beddoes and Mr. Davy, in which the Doctor proposed, that
+Mr. Davy, who was at this time only nineteen years of age, should suspend
+his plan of going to Edinburgh, and take a part in experiments which were
+then about to be instituted at Bristol, for investigating the medical
+powers of factitious airs; to this proposal Mr. Davy consented, on
+condition that he should have the uncontrolled superintendence of the
+expements. About this time he became acquainted with Davies Gilbert, Esq.
+M.P. a gentleman of high scientific attainments, (now President of the
+Royal Society), with whom he formed a friendship which has always
+continued; and to Mr. Gilbert's judicious advice may be attributed
+Mr. Davy's adoption of and perseverance in the study of chemistry. With
+Dr. Beddoes, Mr. Davy resided for a considerable time, and was constantly
+occupied in new chemical investigations. Here, he discovered the
+respirability of nitrous oxide, and made a number of laborious
+experiments on gaseous bodies, which he afterwards published in
+"Researches Chemical and Philosophical," a work that was universally well
+received by the chemical world, and created a high reputation for its
+author, at that time only twenty-one years of age. This led to his
+introduction to Count Rumford, and to his being elected Professor of
+Chemistry to the Royal Institution in Albemarle-street. On obtaining this
+appointment Mr. Davy gave up all his views of the medical profession, and
+devoted himself entirely to chemistry.
+
+Mr. Davy's first experiments as Professor of Chemistry in the Royal
+Institution, were made on the substance employed in the process of
+tanning, with others to which similar properties were ascribed, in
+consequence of the discovery made by M. Seguier, of Paris, of the
+peculiar vegetable matter, now called tannin. He was, during the same
+period, frequently occupied in experiments on galvanism.
+
+To the agriculturist, chemistry is of the first consideration. The
+dependence of agriculture upon chemical causes had been previously
+noticed, but it was first completely demonstrated in a course of lectures
+before the Board of Agriculture, which Mr. Davy commenced in the year
+1802, and continued for ten years. This series of lectures contained much
+popular and practical information, and belongs to the most useful of Mr.
+Davy's scientific labours; for the application of chemistry to
+agriculture is one of its most important results; and so rapid were the
+discoveries of the author, that in preparing these discourses for
+publication, a few years afterwards, he was under the necessity of making
+several alterations, to adapt them to the improved state of chemical
+knowledge, which his own labours had, in that short time, produced.
+
+In 1803, he was chosen a fellow of the Royal Society, and in 1805, a
+member of the Royal Irish Academy. He now enjoyed the friendship of most
+of the distinguished literary men and philosophers of the metropolis, and
+enumerated among his intimate friends, Sir Joseph Banks, Cavendish,
+Hatchett, Wollaston, Children, Tennant, and other eminent men. At the
+same time he corresponded with the principal chemists of every part of
+Europe. In 1806, he was appointed to deliver, before the Royal Society,
+the Bakerian lecture, in which he displayed some very interesting new
+agencies of electricity, by means of the celebrated galvanic apparatus.[1]
+Soon afterwards, he made one of the most brilliant discoveries of modern
+times, in the decomposition of two fixed alkalies, which, in direct
+refutation of the hypothesis previously adopted, were found to consist of
+a peculiar metallic base united with a large quantity of oxygen. These
+alkalies were potash and soda, and the metals thus discovered were called
+potassium and sodium, Mr. Davy was equally successful in the application
+of galvanism to the decomposition of the earths. About this time he
+became Secretary of the Royal Society. In 1808, Mr. Davy received a prize
+from the French Institute. During the greater part of 1810, he was
+employed on the combinations of oxymuriatic gas and oxygen; and towards
+the close of the same year, he delivered a course of lectures before the
+Dublin Society, and received from Trinity College, Dublin, the honorary
+degree of LL. D.
+
+In the year 1812, Mr. Davy married his amiable lady, then Mrs. Apreece,
+widow of Shuckburgh Ashby Apreece, Esq. and daughter and heiress of the
+late Charles Kerr, of Kelso, Esq. By his union with this lady, Mr. Davy
+acquired not only a considerable fortune, but the inestimable treasure of
+an affectionate and exemplary wife, and a congenial friend and companion,
+capable of appreciating his character and attainments. A few days
+previously to his marriage, he received the honour of knighthood from his
+Majesty, then Prince Regent, being the first person on whom he conferred
+that dignity.
+
+We now arrive at the most important result of Sir Humphry Davy's labours,
+viz. the invention of the SAFETY-LAMP for coal mines, which has been
+generally and successfully adopted throughout Europe. This invention has
+been the means of preserving many valuable lives, and preventing horrible
+mutilations, more terrible even than death; and were this Sir Humphry
+Davy's only invention, it would secure him an immortality in the annals
+of civilization and science. The general principle of this discovery may
+be described as follows:
+
+"The frequency of accidents, arising from the explosion of the fire-damp,
+or inflammable gas of the coal mines, mixed with atmospherical air,
+occasioned the formation of a committee at Sunderland, for the purpose of
+investigating the causes of these calamities, and of endeavouring to
+discover and apply a preventive. Sir Humphry received an invitation, in
+1815, from Dr. Gray, one of the members of the committee; in consequence
+of which he went to the North of England, and visiting some of the
+principal collieries in the neighbourhood of Newcastle, soon convinced
+himself that no improvement could be made in the mode of ventilation, but
+that the desired preventive must be sought in a new method of lighting
+the mines, free from danger, and which, by indicating the state of the
+air in the part of the mine where inflammable air was disengaged, so as
+to render the atmosphere explosive, should oblige the miners to retire
+till the workings were properly cleared. The common means then employed
+for lighting the dangerous part of the mines consisted of a steel wheel
+revolving in contact with flint, and affording a succession of sparks:
+but this apparatus always required a person to work it, and was not
+entirely free from danger. The fire-damp was known to be light
+carburetted hydrogen gas; but its relations to combustion had not been
+examined. It is chiefly produced from what are called blowers or fissures
+in the broken strata, near dykes. Sir Humphry made various experiments on
+its combustibility and explosive nature; and discovered, that the
+fire-damp requires a very strong heat for its inflammation; that azote and
+carbonic acid, even in very small proportions, diminished the velocity of
+the inflammation; that mixtures of the gas would not explode in metallic
+canals or troughs, where their diameter was less than one-seventh of an
+inch, and their depth considerable in proportion to their diameter; and
+that explosions could not be made to pass through such canals, or through
+very fine wire sieves, or wire gauze. The consideration of these facts
+led Sir Humphry to adopt a lamp, in which the flame, by being supplied
+with only a limited quantity of air should produce such a quantity of
+azote and carbonic acid as to prevent the explosion of the fire-damp, and
+which, by the nature of its apertures for giving admittance and egress to
+the air, should be rendered incapable of communicating any explosion to
+the external air. These requisites were found to be afforded by air-tight
+lanterns, of various constructions, supplied with air from tubes or
+canals of small diameter, or from apertures covered with wire-gauze,
+placed below the flame, through which explosions cannot be communicated;
+and having a chimney at the upper part, for carrying off the foul air.
+Sir Humphry soon afterwards found that a constant flame might be kept up
+from the explosive mixture issuing from the apertures of a wire-gauze
+sieve. He introduced a very small lamp in a cylinder, made of wire-gauze,
+having six thousand four hundred apertures in the square inch. He closed
+all apertures except those of the gauze, and introduced the lamp, burning
+brightly within the cylinder, into a large jar, containing several quarts
+of the most explosive mixture of gas from the distillation of coal and
+air; the flame of the wick immediately disappeared, or rather was lost,
+for the whole of the interior of the cylinder became filled with a feeble
+but steady flame of a green colour, which burnt for some minutes, till it
+had entirely destroyed the explosive power of the atmosphere. This
+discovery led to a most important improvement in the lamp, divested the
+fire-damp of all its terrors, and applied its powers, formerly so
+destructive, to the production of a useful light. Some minor
+improvements, originating in Sir Humphry's researches into the nature of
+flame, were afterwards effected. Experiments of the most satisfactory
+nature were speedily made, and the invention was soon generally adopted.
+Some attempts were made to dispute the honour of this discovery with its
+author, but his claims were confirmed by the investigations of the first
+philosophers of the age."[2]--The coal owners of the Tyne and Wear
+evinced their sense of the benefits resulting from this invention, by
+presenting Sir Humphry with a handsome service of plate worth nearly two
+thousand pounds, at a public dinner at Newcastle, October 11, 1817.
+
+In 1813, Sir Humphry was elected a corresponding member of the Institute
+of France, and vice-president of the Royal Institution; in 1817, one of
+the eight associates of the Royal Academy; in 1818 created a baronet, and
+during the last ten years he has been elected a member of most of the
+learned bodies of Europe.
+
+We could occupy many pages with the interesting details of Sir Humphry
+Davy's travels in different parts of Europe for scientific purposes,
+particularly to investigate the causes of volcanic phenomena, to instruct
+the miners of the coal districts in the application of his safety-lamp,
+and to examine the state of the Herculaneum manuscripts and to illustrate
+the remains of the chemical arts of the ancients. He analyzed the colours
+used in painting by the ancient Greek and Roman artists. His experiments
+were chiefly made on the paintings in the baths of Titus, the ruins
+called the baths of Livia, in the remains of other palaces and baths of
+ancient Rome, and in the ruins of Pompeii. By the kindness of his friend
+Canova, who was charged with the care of the works connected with ancient
+art in Rome, he was enabled to select with his own hands specimens of the
+different pigments, that had been formed in vases discovered in the
+excavations, which had been lately made beneath the ruins of the palace
+of Titus, and to compare them with the colours fixed on the walls, or
+detached in fragments of stucco. The results of all these researches were
+published in the Transactions of the Royal Society for 1815, and are
+extremely interesting. The concluding observations, in which he impresses
+on artists the superior importance of permanency to brilliancy in the
+colours used in painting, are especially worthy the attention of artists.
+On his examination of the Herculaneum manuscripts, at Naples, in 1818-19,
+he was of opinion they had not been acted upon by fire, so as to be
+completely carbonized, but that their leaves were cemented together by a
+substance formed during the fermentation and chemical change of ages. He
+invented a composition for the solution of this substance, but he could
+not discover more than 100 out of 1,265 manuscripts, which presented any
+probability of success.
+
+Sir Humphry returned to England in 1820, and in the same year his
+respected friend, Sir Joseph Banks, President of the Royal Society, died.
+Several discussions took place respecting a proper successor, when
+individuals of high and even very exalted rank were named as candidates.
+But science, very properly in this case, superseded rank. Amongst the
+philosophers whose labours had enriched the Transactions of the Royal
+Society, two were most generally adverted to, Sir Humphry Davy and Dr.
+Wollaston; but Dr. Wollaston very modestly declined being a candidate
+after his friend had been nominated, and received from the council of the
+Society the unanimous compliment of being placed in the chair of the
+Royal Society, till the election by the body in November.[3] A trifling
+opposition was made to Sir Humphry Davy's election, by some unknown
+persons, who proposed Lord Colchester, but Sir Humphry was placed in the
+chair by a majority of 200 to 13. For this honour no one could be more
+completely qualified. Sir Humphry retained his seat as President till the
+year 1827, when, in consequence of procrastinated ill health, in great
+measure brought on by injuries occasioned to his constitution by
+scientific experiments, he was induced, by medical advice, to retire to
+the continent. He accordingly resigned his seat as President of the Royal
+Society, the chair being filled, _pro tem_, by Davies Gilbert, Esq. who,
+at the Anniversary Meeting, Nov. 30, 1827, was unanimously elected
+President.
+
+Since his retirement, Sir Humphry Davy resided principally at Rome, where
+a short time ago he had an alarming attack of a paralytic nature, but
+from which he was apparently, though slowly, recovering. Lady Davy, who
+had been detained in England by her own ill health, joined Sir Humphry,
+at Rome, on hearing of his alarming state. Thence he travelled by easy
+stages to Geneva, without feeling any particular inconvenience, and
+without any circumstances which denoted the approach of dissolution: but
+on Friday, May 29, 1829, the illustrious philosopher closed his mortal
+career, in the fifty-first year of his age, having only reached Geneva on
+the day previous. Lady Davy had the gratification of contributing, by
+her soothing care, to the comfort of his last days during their stay in
+Italy, and on their journey to Geneva, where they intended to pass the
+summer, and hoped to have derived benefit from the eminent practitioners
+of that city. Sir Humphry had also been joined by his brother, Dr. John
+Davy, physician to the forces in Malta, whence he came on receiving the
+intelligence of his brother's danger. But all human art and skill were
+of no avail. The last and fatal attack took place at half-past two on
+Friday morning, and the pulse ceased to beat shortly after. The event was
+no sooner known, than the afflicted widow received the condolence and
+affectionate offer of services from the most distinguished individuals of
+Geneva; amongst whom we must mention M. A. de Condolle, the eminent
+botanist, and M. Sismondi, the historian, both equally beloved for their
+amiable character, as illustrious throughout Europe for their works. M.
+de Condolle obligingly took charge of all the details of the interment of
+his illustrious colleague; and the governor of the Canton, the Academy of
+Geneva, the Consistory of the Geneva Church, the Society of Arts and of
+Natural Philosophy and History, together with nearly all the English
+resident there, accompanied the remains to the burial-ground, where the
+English service was performed by the Rev. Mr. John Magers of Queen's
+College, and the Rev. Mr. Burgess. The members of the Academy, in the
+absence of any relation of the deceased, took their place in the funeral
+procession; and the invitations to the syndicate, and to the learned
+bodies who accompanied it, were made by that body in the same character.
+The whole was conducted with much appropriate order and decency, and
+whilst every attention and respect were paid to the memory of the
+deceased, nothing was attempted beyond the unostentatious simplicity
+which the deceased had frequently declared to be his wish, whenever his
+mortal remains should be consigned to their last home; and which in
+accordance to that wish, had been expressly enjoined to her kind friends
+by the afflicted widow. In the procession, which followed the corporate
+bodies and the countrymen of the deceased, were many of the most eminent
+manufacturers of Geneva, and a large body of mechanics, who were anxious
+to pay this tribute of regard and gratitude to one whom they deservedly
+looked upon as a great benefactor to the arts, and promoter of sciences,
+by the application of which they earn their livelihood.[4]
+
+During his retirement on the Continent, Sir Humphry continued to
+communicate the splendid results of his labours to the Royal Society,
+and at the anniversary meeting of the year 1827, the royal medal was
+awarded to him for a series of brilliant discoveries developing the
+relation between electricity and chemistry.[5] Upon this interesting
+occasion, Mr. Davies Gilbert spoke at some length, commencing as
+follows: "It is with feelings most gratifying to myself that I now
+approach to the award of a royal medal to Sir Humphry Davy; and I esteem
+it a most fortunate occurrence, that this award should have taken place
+during the short period of my having to discharge the duties attached to
+the office of president; having witnessed the whole progress of Sir
+Humphry Davy's advancement in science and in reputation, from his first
+attempts in his native town to vary some of Dr. Priestly's experiments
+on the extraction of oxygen from marine vegetables to the point of
+eminence which we all know him to have reached. It is not necessary for
+me more than to advert to his discovery of nitrous oxyde; to his
+investigation of the action of light on gases; on the nature of heat; to
+his successful discrimination of proximate vegetable elements; nor to
+his most scientific, ingenious, and useful invention, the
+safety-lamp,--an invention reasoned out from its principles, with all
+the accuracy and precision of mathematical deduction."
+
+The course of Sir Humphry Davy to the highest rank as a chemical
+philosopher, was, after his appointment at the Royal Institution, rapid
+and brilliant; and if he was previously aided by as few of the advantages
+of fortune as any man living, he had then at his disposal whatever his
+industry and talents chose to command. We have given but a hasty outline
+of his labours; but it is possible that he may have left behind him much,
+not yet made public, for which, science will be still further indebted to
+him. His works, papers, and letters are numerous, and the greatest
+portion of them are contained in the Transactions of the Royal Society.
+One of the most popular and interesting of his recent papers is that on
+the _Phenomena of Volcanoes_. This contains a series of investigations of
+Vesuvius, made by the author during a residence at Naples in 1819-20, and
+bearing upon a previous hypothesis, "that metals of the alkalies and
+earth might exist in the interior of the globe, and on being exposed to
+the action of air and water, give rise to volcanic fires, and to the
+production of lavas, by the slow cooling of which basaltic and other
+crystalline rocks might subsequently be formed." We have not space for
+the details of these investigations, interesting as they would prove to
+an unscientific reader; but we give an abstract of the result of Sir
+Humphry's observations:
+
+"The phenomena observed by the author afforded a sufficient refutation of
+all the ancient hypotheses, in which volcanic fires were ascribed to such
+chemical causes as the combustion of mineral coal, or the action of
+sulphur upon iron; and are perfectly consistent with the supposition of
+their depending upon the oxidation of the metals of the earths upon an
+extensive scale, in immense subterranean cavities, to which water or
+atmospheric air may occasionally have access. The subterranean thunder
+heard at great distances under Vesuvius, prior to an eruption, indicates
+the vast extent of these cavities; and the existence of a subterranean
+communication between the Solfattara and Vesuvius, is established by the
+fact that whenever the latter is in an active state, the former is
+comparatively tranquil. In confirmation of these views, the author
+remarks, that almost all the volcanoes of considerable magnitude in the
+old world, are in the vicinity of the sea; and in those where the sea is
+more distant, as in the volcanoes of South America, the water may be
+supplied from great subterranean lakes; for Humboldt states that some of
+them throw up quantities of fish. The author acknowledges, however, that
+the hypothesis of the nucleus of the globe being composed of matter
+liquefied by heat, offers a still more simple solution of the phenomena
+of volcanic fires."[6]
+
+We have hitherto spoken of Sir Humphry Davy as a philosopher. He was,
+however, in every respect, an accomplished scholar, and was well
+acquainted with foreign languages. He always retained a strong taste for
+literary pleasures; and when his continued illness retarded his
+scientific pursuits, he made literature his recreation. In this manner he
+wrote _Salmonia: or Days of Fly-fishing_, in a series of conversations,
+we gather from the Preface:--"These pages formed the occupation of the
+Author during several months of severe and dangerous illness, when he was
+wholly incapable of attending to more useful studies, or of following
+more serious pursuits. They formed his amusement in many hours, which
+otherwise would have been unoccupied and tedious." "The conversational
+and discursive style were chosen as best suited to the state of the
+health of the author, who was incapable of considerable efforts and long
+continued exertion." The volume is dedicated to Dr. Babington, "in
+remembrance of some delightful days passed in his society, and in
+gratitude for an uninterrupted friendship of quarter of a century:" and
+the likeness of one of the characters in the conversations to that
+estimable physician abovenamed, has been considered well drawn, and
+easily recognisable by those who enjoy his acquaintance.
+
+The philosophical works of Sir Humphry Davy are written in a clear and
+perspicuous style, by which means he has contributed more to the
+diffusion of scientific knowledge than any other writer of his time. His
+three principal works, "Chemical and Philosophical Researches," "Elements
+of Chemical Philosophy," and "Elements of Agricultural Chemistry," are in
+a popular and familiar style, and the two last are excellently adapted
+for elementary study. His numerous pamphlets and contributions to the
+Transactions of the Royal Society have the same rare merit of conveying
+experimental knowledge in the most attractive form, and thus reducing
+abstract theory to the practice and purposes of life and society. The
+results of his investigations and experiments were not therefore pent up
+in the laboratory or lecture-room where they were made, but by this
+valuable mode of communication, they have realized what ought to be the
+highest aim of science,--the improvement of the condition and comforts of
+every class of his fellow-creatures. Thus, beautiful theories were
+illustrated by inventions of immediate utility, as in the safety-lamp for
+mitigating the dangers to which miners are exposed in their labours, and
+the application of a newly-discovered principle in preserving the life of
+the adventurous mariner. Yet splendid as were Sir Humphry's talents, and
+important as have been their application, he received the honours and
+homage of the scientific world with that becoming modesty which
+universally characterizes great genius.
+
+Apart from the scientific value of Sir Humphry's labours and researches,
+they are pervaded by a tone and temper, and an enthusiastic love of
+nature which are as admirably expressed as their influence is excellent.
+In proof of this feeling we could almost from memory, quote many
+passages from his works. Thus, speaking of the divine _Study of Nature_,
+he has the following reflective truths:--"If we look with wonder upon
+the great remains of human works, such as the columns of Palmyra, broken
+in the midst of the desert, the temples of Paestum, beautiful in the
+decay of twenty centuries, or the mutilated fragments of Greek sculpture
+in the Acropolis of Athens, or in our own Museum, as proofs of the
+genius of artists, and power and riches of nations now past away; with
+how much deeper feeling of admiration must we consider those grand
+monuments of Nature, which mark the revolutions of the globe; continents
+broken into islands; one land produced, another destroyed; the bottom of
+the ocean become a fertile soil; whole races of animals extinct; and the
+bones and exuviae of one class, covered with the remains of another, and
+upon the graves of past generations--the marble or rocky tomb, as it
+were, of a former animated world--new generations rising, and order and
+harmony established, and a system of life and beauty produced, as it
+were out of chaos and death; proving the infinite power, wisdom, and
+goodness, of the GREAT CAUSE OF ALL BEING!" Here we cannot trace any
+co-mixture of science and scepticism, and in vain shall we look for the
+spawn of infidel doctrine. The same excellent feeling breathes
+throughout _Salmonia_, one of the most delightful labours of leisure we
+have ever seen. Not a few of the most beautiful phenomena of Nature are
+here lucidly explained, yet the pages have none of the varnish of
+philosophical unbelief or finite reasoning. "In my opinion," says one of
+the characters in the Dialogue, (to be identified as the author,)
+"profound minds are the most likely to think lightly of the resources of
+human reason; and it is the pert superficial thinker who is generally
+strongest in every kind of unbelief. The deep philosopher sees changes
+of causes and effects, so wonderfully and strangely linked together,
+that he is usually the last person to decide upon the impossibility of
+any two series of events being independent of each other; and in
+science, so many natural miracles, as it were, have been brought to
+light,--such as the fall of stones from meteors in the atmosphere, the
+disarming a thundercloud by a metallic point, the production of fire
+from ice by a metal white as silver, and referring certain laws of
+motions of the sea to the moon,--that the physical inquirer is seldom
+disposed to assert, confidently, on any abstruse subjects belonging to
+the order of natural things, and still less so on those relating to the
+more mysterious relations of moral events and intellectual natures."[7]
+
+Many other passages in _Salmonia_ gush forth with great force and beauty,
+and sometimes soar into sublime truths. Thus says the eloquent author:
+
+"A full and clear river is, in my opinion, the most poetical object in
+nature. Pliny has, as well as I recollect, compared a river to human life.
+I have never read the passage in his works, but I have been a hundred
+times struck with the analogy, particularly amidst mountain scenery. The
+river, small and clear in its origin, gushes forth from rocks, falls into
+deep glens, and wantons and meanders through a wild and picturesque
+country, nourishing only the uncultivated tree or flower by its dew or
+spray. In this, its state of infancy and youth, it may be compared to the
+human mind in which fancy and strength of imagination are predominant--it
+is more beautiful than useful. When the different rills or torrents join,
+and descend into the plain, it becomes slow and stately in its motions;
+it is applied to move machinery, to irrigate meadows, and to bear upon
+its bosom the stately barge;--in this mature state, it is deep, strong,
+and useful. As it flows on towards the sea, it loses its force and its
+motion, and at last, as it were, becomes lost and mingled with the mighty
+abyss of waters."
+
+"I envy no quality of the mind or intellect in others; not genius, power,
+wit, or fancy: but if I could choose what would be most delightful, and I
+believe most useful to me, I should prefer a firm religious belief to
+every other blessing; for it makes life a discipline of goodness--creates
+new hopes, when all earthly hopes vanish; and throws over the decay, the
+destruction of existence, the most gorgeous of all lights; awakens life
+even in death, and from corruption and decay calls up beauty and divinity:
+makes an instrument of torture and of shame the ladder of ascent to
+paradise; and, far above all combinations of earthly hopes, calls up the
+most delightful visions of palms and amaranths, the gardens of the blest,
+the security of everlasting joys, where the sensualist and the sceptic
+view only gloom, decay, annihilation, and despair!"
+
+Few of those whose fame and fortune are their own creation, enjoy, as did
+Sir Humphry Davy, in the meridian of life, the enviable consciousness of
+general esteem and respect, and the certainty of a distinguished place in
+history, among the illustrious names of their country. "A great light has
+gone out,"--short but brilliant has been his career; yet let us hope he
+has but exchanged his worldly fame for unearthly immortality, to shine
+amidst the never-dying lights of true glory.
+
+
+[1] This apparatus is of immense power, and consists of 200
+    separate parts, each part composed of ten double plates, and each
+    plate containing 32 square inches. The whole number of double plates
+    is 2,000, and the whole surface 126,000 square inches.
+
+[2] Memoir--New Monthly Magazine, Vol. I. Mr. Dillon has lately invented
+    an _Improved Safety Lamp_, an Engraving of which will be found at
+    page 137, Vol. XII. of the MIRROR.
+
+[3] It deserves notice, that two of the most illustrious philosophers of
+    our times, Sir H. Davy and Dr. Wollaston, have died within the
+    present year.
+
+[4] Extract of a Letter from Geneva, dated June 1, 1829--_Times_.
+
+[5] These experiments, the last which engaged Sir Humphry Davy's
+    attention to any extent, were on the application of electrical
+    combinations, for the purpose of preserving the copper sheathing of
+    ships' bottoms. To this subject Sir Humphry gave much of his time,
+    and personally inspected all the boats and vessels on which the
+    trials were made. Although the theory upon which they were conducted
+    proved eminently correct, no advantage could be ultimately taken of
+    the plans which it suggested. The saving of the copper was wholly
+    counterbalanced by an accumulation of shell-fish and sea-weed on the
+    sheathing, which became sufficient, in a short time, to prevent the
+    proper command of the ship at the helm.
+
+[6] Abridged in the Arcana of Science and Arts for 1829.
+
+[7] _Salmonia_, 1st. Edition, page 161. Several beautiful Extracts from
+    which, will be found in Vol. XII. of the MIRROR.
+
+       *       *       *       *       *
+
+
+
+INDEX TO VOL. XIII
+
+Abernetheyana
+Actor, The
+African Festivities
+  Nurse
+  Widow
+Agave Americana
+Air Balloon, Lines on
+Alderman, Antiquity of
+Alehouse Signs
+Algiers, Sketch of the battle of
+Alnwick Freemen
+Altitude of Public Buildings
+Alvise Sanuto, a story
+Ambition, Lines on
+American Comforts
+  Law
+  Sea Serpent
+  Song Birds
+Anecdotes of Canning and Moore
+Animal Food
+Anne Boleyne, Marriage of
+Anne of Geierstein, by Sir Walter Scott
+  Outline of the Story, &c.
+Anticipation, Lines on
+April Fools, Lines on
+Arab, Lay of the Wandering
+Arctic Adventures
+Auctioneer's Ode to Mercury
+Auctions, Antiquity of
+Aurora Borealis
+Austin Friars, Church of
+Avver Bread
+Bachelors, Advice to
+Bad Writing
+Ball, Lines on
+Balloon Ascent, Recent
+Bamborough Castle
+Banana Tree
+Banditti, South American
+Bannockburn, a ballad
+Baron's Trumpet
+Bazaar, Oxford-street
+Bears on the Ice
+Beauty, On
+Bees, Food of
+  Instinct of
+  Management of
+Beet Root Sugar
+Bird of the Tomb, a poem
+Birds, Crop of
+Birds' Nests
+Bishops, Magnificent
+Blackheath, Cave at
+Blind Girl, The
+Boarding, Custom of
+Bolivar, Memoir of
+Book-machinery
+Box-tree, The
+Boxes, The
+Brazilian Slave Trade
+British Artists' Society
+  Diorama
+Broiling Steaks, a Story
+Broken Heart, The
+Brandon, Charles, of Suffolk
+Bruce Castle, Description of
+Bubble and Squeak, To make
+Buckingham Palace described
+Bull Fights at Lima
+Bunyan's Syllabub Pot
+Byron, Lord, Anecdotes of
+Calenture, or Maladie de Pays
+Callender, N.B.
+Canadian Indians
+Capuchin Interment
+Carmarthen, Description of
+Cat and Fiddle, Origin of
+Cedar of Lebanon
+Charing Cross, Old
+Chart of Swan River Colony
+Chatterton, the Poet
+Chertsey Abbey, Stanzas on
+Chester Terrace, Regent's Park
+Chiltern Hundreds
+Chimneys
+Chinese Cities
+Chinese Novels
+Chosen One, The
+Chromate of Iron
+Church Spires
+Clapperton, Captain, Death of
+Clarendon House, Piccadilly
+Classical Corrections
+Cliffords of Craven, Legend of
+Clouds and Sunshine
+Coals, History of
+Cochineal Insect, The
+Coinage, Ancient British
+College Dreams
+Collop Monday
+Colosseum, Description of the
+Common Rights
+Companion to the Almanack
+  Theatres
+Content, Lines on
+Convict's Dream, The
+  in New South Wales
+Cook and the Cranes
+Cookery and Confectionery
+Cornwall Terrace, Regent's Park
+Cottage Gardens
+Cotton Spinning
+Covent Garden Market
+Country Character
+Cowes Regatta described
+Creating Wants
+Crime in Paris
+Crosses, Ancient, in England
+Crusades, Epitome of
+Crushing to Death, Legal
+Cuccu, The, Old Song
+Cumberland Landlord, The
+  Terrace, Regent's Park
+Curaçoa, To make
+Curious Extracts
+Currants, To Preserve
+Dancing, Old
+  Lines on
+Daubenton, Death of
+Dauphin of France
+Davy, Sir Humphry, Death of
+Days Departed, a Poem
+Dead, Tributes to the
+Deathwatch Magnified
+Denmark, Education in
+Derby and Nottingham
+Dinner and Tea Table
+Diorama, Regent's Park
+Discovery, Expeditions of
+Dorchester Church
+Douglas, Tragedy of
+Dreams, Lines on
+Drinking, Hints on
+Drunken Frolic
+Dutch Language
+  Tale
+Ear, The Human
+Eating, Hints on
+Eggs, To Preserve
+Egyptian MS. discovered
+El Borracho, a Spanish Sketch
+Electricity on Animals
+Elm, the Witch
+Elephant Hunt in India
+  Skeleton
+  Public-house, Fenchurch-st.
+Emigration to America
+  Swan River
+Encyclopaedias, German
+England and her Colonies
+Epicures, English and Foreign
+Epsom New Race Stand
+Erie, Lake, described
+Eskdale Anecdote
+European Manufactures consumed in South America
+Exeter 'Change, Old
+Falkirk described
+Falling Stones, Phenomena of
+Famine in England
+Farriery, Ancient, Lines on
+Fashions, English
+Fashion, Great World of
+Field of Forty Steps
+Fight in a Church
+Figs
+Fir Tree, Immense
+First and Last Appearance
+  Crime
+First Love, a Sketch
+Fitzmaurice, the Magician
+Five Nights of St. Albans
+Flowers on the Alps
+Flute-Playing, Lindsay on
+Fontainbleau, Royal Hunt at
+Foote, Miss, Lines on
+Forget-Me-Not, Lines on
+Fortune Playhouse described
+Fossil Fish
+  Remains, Gigantic
+Fountain, a Ballad
+France, Road-Book of
+Fraud, Lines on
+Freezing Mixture
+French Authors, Anecdotes of
+  Carpet
+  Country Life
+  English
+  Pigs
+  Theatres
+Frogs, To tell the Weather by
+Frosts, Hard in England
+Fruit, Ripening
+Fulminating Powder, To make
+Funeral Rites of the Greeks
+Gaming in S. America
+Gardens, Gleanings on
+Gay Widow, a Sketch
+Geneva, City of
+Genii, Light and Dark
+Gentlemen's Fashions
+Geological Changes
+Geology, Conversations on
+German Life
+  Schools
+  Students
+Gibeon, Battle of
+Gipsy's Malison
+Glancin E'e
+Glow-worm, The
+Gold Size, To make
+Good Deeds, Lines on
+Good and Evil Days
+Gower, the Poet, his Tomb
+Grammatical Learning
+Gravitation, Novel Theory of
+Great Seal of England
+Gresham College
+Grove House, Regent's Park
+Growth of Trees and Animals
+Gude News
+Guy's Cliff, Description of
+H., Lines on the Letter
+Halcyon, The
+Handel, Anecdote of
+Hanover Lodge, Regent's Park
+Haro, or Harol, Power of
+Harrow School, Description of
+Hatching Birds
+Heaven, Lines on
+Hebrew Melodies
+Hertford, (Marquess) his Villa
+Hillah on the Euphrates
+Himalaya Mountains
+Hirlas Horn, The
+Hogarth, Anecdotes of
+  's Paintings
+Holland House, Kensington
+Honest Prejudices
+Hood's New Songs
+Horsham, Description of
+Hudson and his Pigs
+Hugonots, The
+Humboldt's Journey to Siberia
+Hundred Pound Note
+Hunted Stag, a Sketch
+Hyde Park Entrance
+Hydrophobia
+Hieroglyphics
+Idiot Girl, The, a Sketch
+Idler, The
+I'll come to your Ball
+Image Boy, The
+Independence, Irish
+India, Voyage to
+Indian Claystone
+  Corn
+  Mills
+Indian Plaster
+Insects, Changes of
+Instantaneous Lights
+Invitations, Various
+Iona, Lines on visiting
+Irish Deed of Gift
+  Names made English
+Iron Trade, British
+Isabella Colour
+Italian Improvisatri
+Jack of both Sides
+Jerusalem, Lines on
+John Bullism, Maxims of
+John Dory, The
+John of Gaunt
+Johnson, Dr.
+Journey from the Bank to Barnes
+Judy, Lines to
+Kenilworth, Romance of
+King's Evil, Curing the
+  Speech in
+  Stag, The
+Kirkstall Abbey
+Kiss, Lines on
+Kissing, Chapter on
+Kitchineriana
+Konigstein, Great Tun of
+La Perouse, Fate of
+Lady-Poets of England
+Laleham Park
+Lawyer, Epitaph on
+Lead Miners of Derby
+Ledyard to his Mistress
+Legal Pearl Divers
+Legends of the Lakes of Ireland
+Leicester, Derby, and Nottingham
+Lilly, the Astrologer
+Lime, Effects of
+Linlithgow
+Loch Katrine
+  Lomond
+London Birds
+  Improvements
+  Levels
+  Lines on Leaving
+  Lyrics
+  Old
+  Stone, Ode to
+    Reply of
+Long Stories
+Love, Course of
+Lover Student, The
+Lower Classes, Education of the
+Luxuries, Ancient and Modern
+Macclesfield Bridge, Regent's Park
+Mahogany Tree
+Mahomet's Standard
+Man, Lines on
+Man-Mountain, The
+Marcel, the dancer
+March, Story on a
+Marlborough, Duke of
+Marriage, Lines on
+Mars, Mlle. and Napoleon
+Matrimonial Advertisement
+May Day Custom
+Mekka, Description of
+Melting Subject
+Memento Mori
+Mercy and Justice, Lines on
+Mexico, or New Spain
+Microscopic Examination of the Blood
+Mines of Hayna, Discovery of
+  Mexico
+Mock Suns
+Moliere, Anecdotes of
+Monkey, Anecdotes of
+Moore, the poet
+Morning Star, Lines to
+Morse, or Sea-horse
+Mount Arafat and Mekka
+Mug-house Club, Long Acre
+Murder-Hole, a Legend
+Murderer's Last Night
+Mushrooms, Wholesomeness of
+Mutton cold, Eating
+Mutton Hams
+Mexican Navy
+Monumental Alteration
+Nancy Dawson
+Napoleon, Anecdotes of
+  young, Anecdotes of
+National Debt, Plans to pay
+Navarino, Battle of
+Neck, Tradition of the
+New South Wales, Population of
+New Year's Custom
+Newton, Sir Isaac
+Noses, Chapter of
+Nostalagia, or Calenture
+Oak, Beauty of the
+Ode from the Persian
+Ohio, Scenery of the
+Old Rose and burn the bellows
+Old Mansions
+Oratorios
+Oratory, British
+Ornithology, Mr. Jennings on
+O'Sullivan's Punch Bowl
+Ossian's Hall
+Othello, Performance of
+Otway's Plays
+Painting, Moral effects of
+Palermo, Party at
+Paper linen, Manufactory of
+Park, Mungo, Fate of
+Parliaments, Epitome of
+Parr, Dr., Anecdotes of
+Peg Tankards
+Pendrils, Family of
+Persia, Royal life in
+Persian Cavalier
+Petrifaction Manufactory
+Planting, Notes on
+Pocket Books, Useful
+Poesy, The dream of
+Poetical Will
+Polishing Stones
+Pompeii, Recent visit to
+Posture-masters, Ancient
+Potato Chestnuts
+  Growth of
+Practice of Cookery
+Pre-aux-clercs at Paris
+Public Improvements
+Punch, Anecdote of
+Puns and Conundrums
+Pyrometer, New
+Pyrothonide
+Quarterly Review, Notes from
+Quartre Bras, Battle of
+Queen of Portugal
+Rank and Talent, a novel
+Regal Tablet
+Residence, Choice of a
+Rest, Lines on
+Retentive Memory
+Riches, Lines on
+River Melodies
+Roads of England
+Robin Hood's Grave
+Robinson Crusoe's Island
+Roman Altar, Description of
+Rome, Effect of, on the traveller
+Rooks
+Roses, Culture of
+Rover, dog, Anecdotes of
+Roué's interpretation of death
+Royal Academy Exhibition
+Rugby School described
+Rupert's, Prince, Palace, Barbican
+Russian Botanical Garden
+Russian Navy, The
+Sabbath, The
+Sacred Poetry
+St. Christopher's, Island of
+St. Paul's Cathedral
+Sanctuaries, Ancient
+Sarcophagus, Lines on
+Sawston Hall described
+Schinderhannes, the German robber
+School and College
+Scotch Marriages
+Scottish Inns
+Scotland, Road-book of
+Scott, Sir Walter, Portrait of
+Screws and Screw Presses
+Seal's Wedding
+Sensitive Plant, The
+Shakspeare, a fragment
+Shaving in Churchyards
+Sherwood and Robin Hood
+Shrubs, Transplantation of
+Sight, Lines on
+Silk Trade
+Sleeping Girl, The
+Slugs, To destroy
+Sneezing among the Ancients
+Snow magnified
+Snow, a long one
+Snow-woman's Story
+Soliman the Great
+Solitariness, Lines on
+Somerset House, Old
+Song
+Songs for children
+Sorrows of Rosalie, a poem
+South American Manners
+Spiders, Gossamer threads of
+Spittlefields in former days
+Spots on the sun
+Spoons, Antiquity of
+Springs, Temperature of
+Stage, The modern
+Stanging custom
+Stealing a Sheet
+Stroll, near London
+Sugar made from Rags
+Superstition
+Sussex Place, Regent's Park
+Swan River Colony, Described
+Swearing by proxy
+Tailors, On
+Talipot Tree
+Tanning, New process of
+Tea-drinking
+Temperance, Lines on
+Theatres, ancient and modern
+  Fire in
+  Royal visits to
+Theatrical bill of 1511
+Thorwaldsen, The sculptor
+Throwing stones at the devil
+Tigers, To catch
+Timber Trees, Description of
+Tim Marcks and the Walking Scull
+Times Newspaper
+Travelling, Expeditious
+Travelling on the Continent
+Trial by Jury
+Truth, a fable
+Turkish Prophecy
+Twenty-eight & Twenty-nine, years
+University, in Yorkshire
+Valdemaro, Vision of
+Valentine's Day
+Van Diemen's Land, Aborigines of
+Vary weel while it lasts
+Vegetables, To make tender
+Vicar, the, Lines on
+Vidocq, the French policeman
+Village Funeral
+Villas in the Regent's Park
+Vine, The, from the German
+Violets, Complaint of
+Wanderer, Recollections of
+War, Miseries of
+Warwick Castle, Description of
+Waste lands, Cultivation of
+Watch, Mechanism of
+Watering-place arrivals
+Water bewitched
+Waterloo, Battle of described
+Waverley Novels
+Whigs and Tories
+Whitehall, Description of
+Whitsun Ale
+Windsor as it was
+Witnesses on trials
+Woman
+Wonders of Art
+Wreck, The, a sketch
+Yew-tree, The
+York Minster, Fire in
+York Terrace, Regent's Park
+Zoological Society, Report of
+
+
+
+
+
+End of the Project Gutenberg EBook of The Mirror of Literature, Amusement,
+and Instruction--Volume 13, by Various
+
+*** END OF THE PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK 12017 ***