Davy’s note-books are most interesting reading and show the philosophic trend of his thoughts. At one time he said, “Whoever wishes to enjoy peace, and is gifted with great talents, must labor for posterity. In doing this he enjoys all the pleasures of intellectual labor, and all the desire arising from protracted hope. He feels no envy nor jealousy; his mark is too far distant to be seen by short-sighted malevolence, and therefore it is never aimed at.... To raise a chestnut on the mountain, or a palm in the plain, which may afford shade, shelter, and fruit for generations yet unborn, and which, if they have once fixed their roots, require no culture, is better than to raise annual flowers in a garden, which must be watered daily, and in which a cold wind may chill or too ardent a sunshine may dry.... The best faculties of man are employed for futurity: speaking is better than acting, writing is better than speaking.” He was fond of travel, and after he had seen the successful use of his lamp he went abroad again. When he returned he was made president of the Royal Society, a position which had been made illustrious by Sir Isaac Newton. The British navy asked him to discover what could be done to prevent the corrosion of copper sheathing on vessels, caused by salt water. He made experiments, and at last succeeded in rendering the copper negatively electrical by the use of small pieces of tin, zinc, or iron nails. But shells and seaweed would adhere to the non-corroded surface, and hence the process was not entirely successful. This principle of galvanic protection, however, was found to be applicable to many other purposes. These and other experiments in chemistry and electricity, travel, and his duties as president of the Royal Society filled his days. In 1826 he was attacked by paralysis, and from then he spent much of his time on the continent, seeking health and strength. He wrote on fishing and on travel, and all his writings, on whatever theme he touched, are filled with the love of nature and of beauty, and permeated with that philosophic balance that had been characteristic of his whole career. He died in Geneva, May 29, 1829. Davy was not the born inventor, drawn irresistibly to construct something new. He was the born chemist, and it was only when he was asked to investigate the nature of the fire-damp that he fell to studying whether some adequate protection could not be afforded the miners. Yet he himself said that he was more proud of his safety-lamp than of all his other discoveries, and although the scientists and chemists may think of Humphrey Davy as a great experimenter, great lecturer, and great writer on chemistry and electricity, the world at large knows him best for his safety-lamp and for the great change for the better he was able to bring about in the mines of England. IX STEPHENSON AND THE LOCOMOTIVE 1781-1848