Memoirs of the Distinguished Men of Science of Great Britain Living in the Years 1807-8

Part 1

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MEMOIRS

OF THE

DISTINGUISHED MEN OF SCIENCE

OF GREAT BRITAIN

LIVING IN THE YEARS 1807-8.

AND APPENDIX.

WITH AN INTRODUCTION BY

ROBERT HUNT, F.R.S., &c.

COMPILED AND ARRANGED BY

WILLIAM WALKER, JUNIOR.

Second Edition.

"The evil, that men do, lives after them; The good is oft interred with their bones." SHAKSPEARE.

LONDON: E. & F. N. SPON, 16, BUCKLERSBURY.

1864.

LONDON: W. DAVY AND SON, PRINTERS, GILBERT STREET, OXFORD STREET, W.

CONTENTS.

PAGE

ALLEN, WILLIAM 1

BAILY, FRANCIS 2

BANKS, SIR JOSEPH 4

BENTHAM, BRIGADIER-GENERAL SIR SAMUEL 7

BOULTON, MATTHEW 13

BRAMAH, JOSEPH 15

BROWN, ROBERT 18

BRUNEL, SIR MARK ISAMBARD 21

CARTWRIGHT, REV. DR. EDMUND 24

CAVENDISH, HON. HENRY 27

Part 2

CHAPMAN, WILLIAM 30

CONGREVE, SIR WILLIAM 34

CROMPTON, SAMUEL 35

DALTON, JOHN 41

DAVY, SIR HUMPHRY 44

DOLLOND, PETER 49

DONKIN, BRYAN 51

FRODSHAM, WILLIAM JAMES 53

GILBERT, DAVIES GIDDY 53

HATCHETT, CHARLES 56

HENRY, DR. WILLIAM 58

HERSCHEL, SIR WILLIAM 61

HOWARD, EDWARD CHARLES 63

HUDDART, CAPTAIN JOSEPH 64

JENNER, DR. EDWARD 67

JESSOP, WILLIAM 72

KATER, CAPTAIN HENRY 75

LESLIE, SIR JOHN 77

MASKELYNE, DR. NEVIL 81

MAUDSLAY, HENRY 83

MILLER, PATRICK 86

MURDOCK, WILLIAM 87

MYLNE, ROBERT 90

NAYSMITH, ALEXANDER 91

PLAYFAIR, JOHN 92

RENNIE, JOHN 96

RONALDS, FRANCIS 99

RUMFORD, COUNT 102

Part 3

RUTHERFORD, DR. DANIEL 107

SMITH, WILLIAM 107

STANHOPE, CHARLES, EARL 112

SYMINGTON, WILLIAM 114

TELFORD, THOMAS 117

TENNANT, CHARLES 122

THOMSON, DR. THOMAS 124

TREVITHICK, RICHARD 126

TROUGHTON, EDWARD 132

WATSON, RICHARD, BISHOP OF LLANDAFF 134

WATT, JAMES 137

WOLLASTON, DR. WILLIAM H. 142

YOUNG, DR. THOMAS 145

APPENDIX.

BLACK, DR. JOSEPH 150

CORT, HENRY 152

IVORY, JAMES 155

PRIESTLY, JOSEPH 157

PREFACE TO SECOND EDITION.

THE following brief memoirs were originally compiled for the purpose of accompanying the Engraving of "The Distinguished Men of Science of Great Britain living in 1807-8, assembled at the Royal Institution." As, however, "The Memoirs" were found to have a considerable sale, independent of the Engraving, it has been found necessary to produce a second edition. All the lives have been carefully revised, and considerable additions made, while, in order to render the present book a more complete compendium of the great men of that period, an Appendix has been added, containing the Memoirs of Black, Cort, Ivory, and Priestly, who unfortunately were, from different reasons, unable to be included in the group in the Engraving.

With the exception of the notices of Trevithick, Tennant, Maudslay, Francis Ronalds, and one or two more, these memoirs necessarily contain little information which has not been previously published in some shape or other. The authorities from which the present particulars have been taken are given at the end of each memoir; and the writer claims no further merit than that of having compiled and arranged the works of others, whose language, in most cases, it would indeed be presumption in him to alter, further than was necessary to present to the public in a clear, brief, and (it is hoped) readable form, the doings of men who must ever be held in the grateful remembrance of their country.

INTRODUCTION.

THE influences of human thought on the physical forces which regulate the great phenomena of the universe,--and the operation of the powers of mind, on the material constituents of the planet, which is man's abiding place, form subjects for studies which have a most exalting tendency. Thought has made the subtile element of the thunderstorm man's most obedient messenger. Thought has solicited the sunbeam to betray its secrets; and an invisible agent, controlled by light, delineates external nature at man's request. Thought has subdued the wild impulses of fire, and heat is made the willing power to propel our trains of carriages with a bird-like speed, and to urge--in proud independence of winds or tides--our noble ships from shore to shore. Thought has penetrated the arcana of nature, and, by learning her laws, has imitated her works. Thus, Chemistry takes a crude mass,--rejected as unworthy and offensive,--it recombines its constituent parts, and gives us, the grateful odours of the sweetest flowers, and tinctures which rival nature in the intensity and the beauty of its dyes.

No truth was ever developed to man, in answer to his laborious toils, which did not sooner or later benefit the race. Every such development has been the result of the continuous efforts of an individual mind; therefore it is that we desire to possess some memorial of the men to whom we are indebted.

We have advanced to our present position in the scale of nations by the efforts of a few chosen minds. Every branch of human industry has been benefited by the discoveries of science. The discoverers are therefore deserving of that hero-worship which, sooner or later, they receive from all.

The following pages are intended to convey to the general reader a brief but correct account of the illustrious dead, whose names are for ever associated with one of the most brilliant eras in British science. It will be remembered that, in the earliest years of the present century, the world witnessed the control and application of steam by Watt, Symington and Trevithick; the great discoveries in physics and chemistry by Dalton, Cavendish, Wollaston and Davy,--in astronomy by Herschel, Maskelyne and Baily; the inventions of the spinning-mule and power-loom by Crompton and Cartwright; the introduction of machinery into the manufacture of paper, by Bryan Donkin and others; the improvements in the printing-press, and invention of stereotype printing, by Charles Earl Stanhope; the discovery of vaccination by Jenner; the introduction of gas into general use by Murdock; and the construction (in a great measure) of the present system of canal communication by Jessop, Chapman, Telford and Rennie. During the same period of time were likewise living Count Rumford; Robert Brown, the botanist; William Smith, "The Father of English Geology;" Thomas Young, the natural philosopher; Brunei; Bentham; Maudslay; and Francis Ronalds, who, by securing perfect insulation, was the first to demonstrate the practicability of passing an electric message through a lengthened space; together with many others, the fruits of whose labours we are now reaping.

The following pages briefly record the births, deaths, and more striking incidents in the lives of those benefactors to mankind.

"Lives of great men all remind us we may make our lives sublime."--The truth of this is strongly enforced in the brief memoirs which are included in this volume. They teach us that mental power, used judiciously and applied with industry, is capable of producing vast changes in the crude productions of Nature. Beyond this, they instruct us that men, who fulfil the commands of the Creator and employ their minds, in unwearying efforts to subdue the Earth, are rarely unrewarded. They aid in the march of civilization, and they ameliorate the conditions of humanity. They win a place amongst the great names which we reverence, and each one

Part 4

"becomes like a star "From the abodes where the Eternals are."

ROBERT HUNT.

WILLIAM ALLEN, F.R.S.

Born August 29, 1770. Died December 30, 1843.

William Allen, the eminent chemist, was born in London. His father was a silk manufacturer in Spitalfields, and a member of the Society of Friends. Having at an early period shown a predilection for chemical and other pursuits connected with medicine, William was placed in the establishment of Mr. Joseph Gurney Bevan in Plough Court, Lombard Street, where he acquired a practical knowledge of chemistry. He eventually succeeded to the business, which he carried on in connection with Mr. Luke Howard, and obtained great reputation as a pharmaceutical chemist. About the year 1804, Mr. Allen was appointed lecturer on chemistry and experimental philosophy at Guy's Hospital, at which institution he continued to be engaged more or less until the year 1827. He was also connected with the Royal Institution of Great Britain, and was concerned in some of the most exact experiments of the day, together with Davy, Babington, Marcet, Luke Howard, and Dalton. In conjunction with his friend Mr. Pepys, Allen entered upon his well known chemical investigations, which established the proportion of Carbon in Carbonic Acid, and proved the identity of the diamond with charcoal; these discoveries are recorded in the 'Philosophical Transactions' of the Royal Society, of which he became a member in 1807. The 'Transactions' for 1829 also contain a paper by him, based on elaborate experiments and calculations, concerning the changes produced by respiration on atmospheric air and other gases. Mr. Allen was mainly instrumental in establishing the Pharmaceutical Society, of which he was president at the time of his death. Besides his public labours as a practical chemist, he pursued with much delight, in his hours of relaxation, the study of astronomy, and was one of the original members of the Royal Astronomical Society. In connection with this science, he published, in 1815, a small work entitled 'A Companion to the Transit Instrument.'

Many years before his death Mr. Allen withdrew from business, and purchased an estate near Lindfield, Sussex. Here while still engaged in public schemes of usefulness and benevolence, he also carried out various philanthropic plans for the improvement of his immediate dependants, and poorer neighbours. He erected commodious cottages on his property, with an ample allotment of land to each cottage, and established Schools at Lindfield for boys, girls, and infants, with workshops, outhouses, and play-grounds. About three acres of land were cultivated on the most approved system by the boarders, who also took a part in household work. The subjects taught were land-surveying, mapping, the elements of Botany, the use of the barometer, rain-gauge, &c., and there was a good library with various scientific and useful apparatus.

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