"I am sorry to say, I think the system carried too far in England. God forbid, that any useful light should be extinguished! let the persons who wish for education receive it; but it appears to me that, in the great cities in England, it is, as it were, forced upon the population; and that sciences, which the lower classes can only very superficially acquire, are presented to them; in consequence of which they often become idle and conceited, and above their usual laborious occupations. The unripe fruit of the tree of knowledge is, I believe, always bitter or sour; and scepticism and discontentment--sicknesses of the mind--are often the result of devouring it." Methinks I hear the reader exclaim--"How little could Davy imagine that his prophetic words would have been so soon fulfilled!"--But I would seriously recommend to the President of the Mechanics' Institute, an anecdote which, if properly applied, cannot fail to be instructive.--When Diogenes, trampling with his dirty feet on the embroidered couch of Plato, cried out--"_Thus do I trample on the pride of Plato!_" the philosopher shook his head, and replied--"_Truly, but with more pride thou dost it, good Diogenes._" CHAPTER XV. Sir H. Davy's paper on the Phenomena of Volcanoes.--His experiments on Vesuvius.--Theory of Volcanic action.--His reception abroad.--Anecdotes.--His last letter to Mr. Poole from Rome.--His paper on the Electricity of the Torpedo.--Consolations in Travel, or the Last Days of a Philosopher.--Analysis of the work.--Reflections suggested by its style and composition.--Davy and Wollaston compared.--His last illness.--Arrival at Geneva.--HIS DEATH. A short time before Sir Humphry Davy quitted England, to which he was destined never to return, he communicated to the Royal Society a paper "On the Phenomena of Volcanoes;" which was read on the 20th of March 1828, and published in the Transactions of that year. The object of this memoir was to collect and record the various observations and experiments which he had made on Vesuvius, during his several visits to that volcano. The appearances which it presented in 1814 and 1815 have been already noticed; it was in December 1819, and during the two succeeding months, that the mountain offered a favourable opportunity for making those experiments which form the principal subject of the present communication.