One of the best practical results of his chemical studies was the suggestion which he made to the Duke of Richmond, at that time Master of the Ordnance, respecting the preparation of charcoal for gunpowder, by burning the wood in close vessels, a process very materially improving the quality of the powder, and which is now generally adopted.--_Anecdotes of the Life of Richard Watson, Bishop of Llandaff, written by himself._ London, 1817.--_Memoir by Dr. Thomas Young, Encyclopædia Britannica._--_English Cyclopædia._ JAMES WATT, LL.D., F.R.S. L. and E., &c. MEMBER OF THE FRENCH INSTITUTE. Born at Greenock on the Clyde, 1736. Died August 25, 1819. To James Watt, philosopher, mechanician, and civil engineer, whose genius perfected the control of one of the greatest revealed powers yet given to man, may well be applied the saying of Wellington, "That which makes a great general makes a great artist, the power and the determination to overcome difficulties." Born with a sickly temperament, and prevented thereby from attending school, or indulging in the usual healthy play of children, Watt, unassisted by others, devoted his time to study, and in retirement and reflection laid the foundation of knowledge destined to bear such ample fruit. In addition to mere book knowledge, he early exhibited a partiality for mechanical contrivances and operations, and this determined him to commence his career as a mathematical instrument maker. For this purpose he set out for Glasgow in 1754, but owing to the limited resources of the town at that period, he finally decided on going to London, where, after great difficulty, he was apprenticed for a twelvemonth to an instrument maker in Finch Lane. At the end of his apprenticeship Watt, having become enfeebled from over attention to work, repaired to Greenock to recruit his health, and ultimately returned to Glasgow, where he was established by the authorities, within the precincts of the college as mathematical instrument maker to the University. In process of time Watt's shop became a favourite resort for professors as well as students, and he counted among his visitors Professor Simson, Drs. Black, Dick, and Moor;[47] but his most intimate friend, and the one most closely connected with his after life, was John Robison, a student at Glasgow, afterwards Professor of Natural Philosophy at Edinburgh University, to whom the honour is due of having first directed Watt's attention to the steam-engine. The event which actually led to the commencement of his invaluable discoveries on this subject, was the entrusting to him the repair of a small model of Newcomen's engine, which the college possessed. In his endeavours to put this engine into working order, Watt was led to investigate thoroughly the properties of steam upon which its action depended; and ultimately in the spring of 1765, after many trials and untiring perseverance, he arrived at the great and simple idea of a separate condenser, into which the