I regret that the space at my command has not allowed me to go into greater detail into the question of George Stephenson’s relations to the invention of the safety lamp. I have had ample material placed at my disposal for a discussion of the question, and I am specially indebted to Mr. John Pattinson and the Council of the Literary and Philosophical Society of Newcastle-upon-Tyne for their kindness in lending me a rare, if not unique, collection of pamphlets and reprints of newspaper articles which made their appearance when the idea of offering Davy some proof of the value which the coal owners entertained of his invention was first promulgated. George Stephenson’s claims are not to be dismissed summarily as pretensions. Indeed, his behaviour throughout the whole of the controversy increases one’s respect for him as a man of integrity and rectitude, conscious of what he thought due to himself, and showing only a proper assurance in his own vindication. I venture to think, however, that the conclusion to which I have arrived, and which, from the exigencies of space, is, I fear, somewhat baldly stated, as to the apportionment of the merit of this memorable invention, is just and can be well established. Stephenson _might_ possibly have hit upon a safety lamp if he had been allowed to work out his own ideas independently and by the purely empirical methods he adopted, and it is conceivable that his lamp _might_ have assumed its present form without the intervention of Davy; but it is difficult to imagine that an unlettered man, absolutely without knowledge of physical science, could have discovered the philosophical principle upon which the security of the lamp depends. T. E. T. _May, 1896._ CONTENTS CHAPTER PAGE I.--PENZANCE: 1778-1798 9 II.--THE PNEUMATIC INSTITUTION, BRISTOL: 1798-1801 26 III.--THE PNEUMATIC INSTITUTION, BRISTOL: 1798-1801 (_continued_) 54 IV.--THE ROYAL INSTITUTION 66 V.--THE CHEMICAL LABORATORY OF THE ROYAL INSTITUTION 90 VI.--THE ISOLATION OF THE METALS OF THE ALKALIS 110 VII.--CHLORINE 134 VIII.--MARRIAGE--KNIGHTHOOD--“ELEMENTS OF CHEMICAL PHILOSOPHY”--NITROGEN TRICHLORIDE--FLUORINE 155 IX.--DAVY AND FARADAY--IODINE 173 X.--THE SAFETY LAMP 192 XI.--DAVY AND THE ROYAL SOCIETY--HIS LAST DAYS 213 HUMPHRY DAVY, POET AND PHILOSOPHER. CHAPTER I. PENZANCE: 1778-1798.