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to proper names. In short, this vase (see p. 255) is in all respects so remarkable as to merit a dissertation.

In pp. 220, 221, we have the Boustrophedon, or letters read backwards and forwards. If we had engravings of these vases, we think that they would illustrate, to an important extent, the arts in a very remote state; and we should have much preferred engravings of even a few of them, to the fac-similes given of all the inscriptions.

ART. XV. A Reply to Mr. Tytler's "Historical Remarks on the Death of Richard the Second." By Thos. Amyot, Esq.

Coroners' inquests upon the violent exits of deposed Sovereigns were left by the succeeding Kings to be held by posterity. The contemporary object was to extinguish all evidence whatever, though they could not always effect it. Edward the Second is stated to have been smothered under a feather-bed, and yet to have so screamed as to have been heard five miles off, as if a man in a state of suffocation could have uttered an audible sound. Clarence was drowned in a butt of Malmsey, as if any more could be meant than he had been toppled head-foremost into a cask which had once held that wine. Of Richard the Second, a doubt is entertained, whether he was killed by assault or famine. There is always a foundation of some kind or other for a tradition; and the probability is, that he did undergo some acts of personal violence, but owed his decease to famine. If murder be the determination, the modes are subordinate considerations, provided concealment and obscurity be secured. Gower, however, a contemporary writer, who dedicated his books to him, says, that he starved himself to death when he heard of the failure of the conspiracy at Cirencester.*

XVI. Letter of John Gage, Esq. and Drawings of the Remains of the Prior of Lewes's Hostelry. The subject of this paper has been fully ncticed in our last volume, part i. pp. 66, 297. The plates here gven are elaborate, and the dissertation and historical documents satisfactory.

XVII. Account of a fresco Painting discovered at Preston, Sussex. By the

[June,

Rev. Charles Townsend. A very excellent illustration of the figures of certain saints; among them that of St. Michael weighing souls. The origin is well deduced, but the office of weighing souls is also ascribed to St. Paul, who stood on one side a pair of scales, and the Devil on the other, and the inclination of the souls in the scale towards the Apostle or Devil, respectively, determined whether they were to go into purgatory or hellt. From the same legend it may be inferred that the souls weighed by Michael are those of good people exclusively. The Devil had the others merely for his trouble of taking them.

XVIII. Observations upon a pair of Candlesticks, and a Pix, both of the Twelfth Century, preserved at Goodrich Court in Herefordshire. By Sam. Rush Meyrick, LL.D. &c.

We know of no ancient relicks, of which there were greater diversities of pattern, than candlesticks of mediæral æra. Inventories, remains, and peculiar denominations, in Du Cange, give us forms of boats, parts of castles, trees, &c. &c., while we have also in Strutt's Illuminations the classical column. We have ourselves seen upon a communion-table candlesticks with spikes, apparently the work of the 16th century, of which the pattern is exactly copied from a candelabrum in Montfaucon. In the specimens before us kite-shaped shield, a fashion which we are a figure in a Norman tunic and a have heard from Dr. Meyrick has been seen upon fictile vases, while there are other parts which resemble the scroll and fantastic figure work noticeable in a sarcophagus of the 16th century, engraved by Boissard,§ and subsequently retained in borders of illuminated pictures, wood-cuts, &c. all which fashions are to be found in

Egyptian antiquities.

XIX. Account of the Mausoleum of Theodoric at Ravenna. By Sidney Smirke, Esq.

The remarkable feature of this building is a dome, consisting of a single excavated stone, nearly 36 feet in diameter. When the seat of empire was removed to Constantinople, an intermixture ensued of Asiatic and European art; and we are inclined to think, that to the circumstance mentioned

See M. Paris, 182.

§ Antiq. Roman. Pars iv. frontisp.

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original and powerful mind, gifted with talents of the first order, proceeding with giant strides from an apothecary's shop in an obscure country town to the Pneumatic Establishment in Bristol, to the chemical lectureship and professorship of the Royal Institution, till he became the Secretary and finally the President of the Royal Society. Such was the triumphant career of this extraordinary genius, reflecting honour on the man, and on the age which he adorned.

As regards Davy's philosophical investigations, his important discoveries, his mastery of the arcana of science, and the phenomena of nature,-these are noticed and abridged with great judgment. What Blackstone did for Law, Dr. Paris does for Science; he removes from it all needless technicalities, and clothes it in a garb the most simple and inviting. The language he applies to Davy is no less appropriate to himself, he brings down Science from her heights, and places her within the reach of all, he divests the goddess of the severity of her aspect, and represents her as attired by the Graces.'

With this general view of the merits of Dr. Paris's volumes, we proceed to give some extracts from the work itself. We may just briefly notice, however, that Sir Humphry Davy was

born at Penzance. After an education such as the best grammar schools could afford, he was apprenticed to a surgeon in his native town; but the bias of his mind towards chemistry and philosophical inquiries and pursuits, was early indicated. He here became acquainted with Mr. Davies Gilbert, the founder of his future fortunes, and at a very early age was appointed Professor of Chemistry to the Royal Institution.

In speaking of a volume of Davy's entitled "Chemical Researches," Dr. Paris thus speaks of a portion of it:

"We have also to admire in this work an ardour for investigation, which even the most imminent personal danger could not repress. He may truly be said to have sought the bubble reputation in the very jaws of Death. What shall we say of that spirit which led him to inspire nitrous gas, at the hazard of filling his lungs with the vapour of aqua fortis! or what, of that intrepid coolness which enabled him to breathe a deadly gas, and to watch the advances of its chilling power in the ebbing pulsations at the wrist!

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"These experiments, however, are far too interesting and important to be related in any other than the author's own words; but it is first necessary that his trials with the nitrous oxide should be considered.

"He found that this gas might be most conveniently, as well as most economically, known by the name of nitrate of ammonia, prepared by the decomposition of a salt by the application of a regulated heat; but, as the researches by which he arrived at this conclusion are recorded at length in his work, and as the most important of them are now embodied in every elementary system of chemistry, it would not only be tedious but useless, to enter into a detail of them upon this occasion.

"In April,' he says, I obtained nitrous oxide in a state of purity, and ascertained many of its chemical properties. Reflections upon these properties, and upon former trials, made me resolve to inspire it in its pure form, for I saw no other way in which its respirability, or powers, could be determined.

"I was aware of the danger of the experiment. It certainly would never have been made, if the hypothesis of Dr. Mitchell had in the least influenced my mind. I thought that the effects might, possibly, be depressing and painful; but there were many reasons which induced me to believe, that a single inspiration of a gas, apparently possessing uo immediate action on the irritable fibre, could neither destroy, nor materially injure, the powers of life.

"On April 11th, I made the first inspiration of pure nitrous oxide. It passed through the bronchiæ without stimulating the glottis, and produced no uneasy sensations in the lungs.

"The result of this experiment proved that the gas was respirable, and induced me to believe that a farther trial of its effects might be made without danger.

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On April 16th, Dr. Kinglake being accidentally present, I breathed three quarts of nitrous oxide from and into a silk bag, for more than half a minute, without previously closing my nose, or exhausting my lungs. The first inspirations occasioned a slight degree of giddiness, which was succeeded by an uncommon sense of fulness in the head, accompanied with loss of distinct sensation and voluntary power, a feeling analogous to that produced in the first stage of intoxication; but unattended by pleasurable sensation. Dr. Kinglake, who felt my pulse, informed me that it was rendered quicker and fuller.

"This trial did not satisfy me with regard to its powers: comparing it with the former ones, I was unable to determine whether the operation was stimulant or depressing.

"I communicated the result to Dr. Beddoes, and on April the 17th, he was

1831.]

present when the following experiment was made.

Having previously closed my nostrils, and exhausted my lungs, I breathed four quarts of the gas from and into a silk bag. The first feelings were similar to those produced in the last experiment; but in less than half a minute, the respiration being continued, they diminished gradually, and were succeeded by a sensation analogous to gentle pressure on all the muscles, attended by an highly pleasurable thrilling, particularly in the chest and in the extremities. The objects around me became dazzling, and my hearing more acute. Towards the last inspirations, the thrilling increased, the sense of muscular power became greater, and, at last, an irresistible propensity to action was indulged in: I recollect but indistinctly what followed; I know that my motions were various and violent.

"These effects very soon ceased after the respiration of the gas. In ten minutes I had recovered my natural state of mind. The thrilling in the extremities continued longer than the other sensations.

"This experiment was made in the morning; no languor or exhaustion was consequent; my feelings throughout the day were as usual, and I passed the night in undisturbed repose.

"The next morning the recollection of the effects of the gas was very indistinct; and had not remarks written immediately after the experiment recalled them to my mind, I should even have questioned their reality.'"

In the following passage, the 'change which came over the life of Davy,' in consequence of the honours that were flowing upon him, is finely told:

"I should not redeem the pledge given to my readers, nor fulfil the duties of an impartial biographer, were I to omit acknowledging that the manners and habits of Davy very shortly underwent a considerable change. Let those who have vainly sought to disparage his excellence, enjoy the triumph of knowing that he was not perfect; but it may be asked in candour, where is the man of twenty-two years of age, unless the temperature of his blood were below zero, and his temperament as dull and passionless as the fabled god of the Brahmins, who could remain uninfluenced by such an elevation? Look at Davy in the laboratory at Bristol, pursuing with eager industry various abstract points of research; mixing only with a few philosophers, sanguine like himself in the investigation of chemical phenomena, but whose sphere of observation must have been confined to themselves, and whose worldly knowledge could scarcely have extended beyond the precincts of the Institution in which they were engaged. Shift the scene-behold him in the Theatre

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of the Royal Institution, surrounded by an aristocracy of intellect as well as of rank; by the flowers of genius, the elite of fashion, and the beauty of England, whose very respirations were suspended in eager expectation to catch his novel and satisfactory elucidations of the mysteries of Nature. Could the author of the Rambler have revisited us, he would certainly have rescinded the passage in which he says—' All appearance of science is hateful to women; and he who desires to be well received by them, must qualify himself by a total rejection of all that is rational and important; must consider learning as perpetually interdicted, and devote all his attention to trifle, and all his eloquence to compliment.'"

In approaching the subject of Davy's galvanic discoveries, and reflecting on the important effects resulting from causes apparently trifling, Dr. Paris has with doubtless an undesigned coincidence, used almost the very words of Johnson, who in a paper in the Rambler, discusses the same topic; -the moral lesson derived from the consideration of this subject is the same in both,-" to entertain a kinder regard for the labours of one another."

The chapter on the history of Galvinism, and the account of Sir Humphry Davy's experiments and discoveries, is a masterly production; nor are the pages on agricultural chemistry less inviting. It may be truly said that upon this department, the light of Science has scarcely dawned, and that the most important of all pursuits, as relating to the sustenance of man, has been long abandoned to the most ignorant and the most prejudiced.

It may be truly said, observes Dr. Paris, that

"Under the hand of Davy, the coldest realities blossomed into poetry: the concluding passage of this lecture certainly sanctions such an opinion, and is highly characteristic of that peculiar genius to which I have before alluded. A subject less calculated than a heap of manure to call forth a glowing sentiment, can scarcely be imagined.

"The doctrine,' says he, of the proper application of manures from organized substances, offers an illustration of an important part of the economy of nature, and of the happy order in which it is arranged. The death and decay of animal substances tend to resolve organized forms into chemical constituents; and the pernicious effluvia disengaged in the process seem to point out the propriety of burying them in the soil, where they are fitted to become the food of vegetables. The fermentation

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and putrefaction of organized substances in the free atmosphere are noxious processes; beneath the surface of the ground they are salutary operations. In this case the food of plants is prepared where it can be used; and that which would offend the senses, and injure the health, if exposed, is converted by gradual processes into forms of beauty and of usefulness; the fetid gas is rendered a constituent of the aroma of the flower, and what might be poison, becomes nourishment to man and animals.''

Davy having been permitted by Napoleon (with a liberality that does him honour) to visit the Continent for scientific research, spent a few days in Paris. His visit to the Louvre is most amusingly described :

"On the 30th he was conducted by Mr. Underwood to the Louvre. The English philosopher walked with a rapid step along the gallery, and, to the great astonishment and mortification of his friend and cicerone, did not direct his attention to a single painting; the only exclamation of surprise that escaped him was What an extraordinary

collection of fine frames !'-On arriving opposite to Raphael's picture of the Transfiguration, Mr. Underwood could no longer suppress his surprise, and in a tone of enthusiasm he directed the attention of the philosopher to that most sublime production of art, and the chef d'oeuvre of the collection. Davy's reply was as laconic as it was chilling Indeed, I am glad I have seen it;' and then hurried forward, as if he

critical

were desirous of escaping from any remarks upon its excellencies.

"They afterwards descended to view the statues in the lower apartments: here he displayed the same frigid indifference towards the higher works of art. A spectator of the scene might have well imagined that some mighty spell was in operation, by which the order of nature had been reversed-while the marble glowed with more than human passion, the living man was colder than stone! The apathy, the total want of feeling he betrayed on having his attention directed to the Apollo Belvidere, the Laocoon, and the Venus de Medicis, was as inexplicable as it was provok ing; but an exclamation of the most vivid surprise escaped him at the sight of an Antinous, treated in the Egyptian style, and sculptured in alabaster.* Gracious powers,' said he, what a beautiful stalactite!'

"What a strange-what a discordant anomaly in the construction of the human mind do these anecdotes unfold! We have here presented to us a philosopher, who, with the glowing fancy of a poet, is insensi

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ble to the divine beauties of the sister arts! Let the metaphysician, if he can, unravel the mystery, the biographer has only to observe that the Muses could never have danced in chorus at his birth."

* "The celebrated Italian antiquary Visconti has so denominated it."

The conduct of Sir H. Davy to the men of science of France is justly condemned by Dr. Paris. But our limits remind us that we must compress our notice; nor is it necessary to do more than allude to Dr. Paris's lucid description of that most signal and splendid of Sir H. Davy's triumphs, the discovery of the Safety Lamp. The account is introduced by one of the most appalling narratives we ever read,— the explosion at Felling Colliery, on the 25th May, 1812, by which ninetytwo pitmen lost their lives.

In conclusion, we would observe that the general plan and arrangement of this work deserve the highest praise. We admire the taste and tact with which the author has interwoven

Davy's familiar letters with the thread

of his own narrative and observations; they vary the monotony of the scene, and while they preserve the interest, relieve and strengthen each other. There is much keeping in the whole picture, -the friend, the philosopher, and the philanthropist, are strikingly pourtrayed and identified Davy standing before us re-animated, and endowed as it were with an earthly immortality.

;

we

see

In short, the Life of Davy is a work destined to a place amongst our best volumes of Biography, and if we may be permitted to parody the language of Johnson, we would say, it may be studied by the philosopher for its science, by the scholar for its learning, and by the critic for its style and composition, and it will remain a durable monument to the memory of Sir H. Davy, and to the talents of Dr. Paris.