land by James Watt, after his visit to Paris towards the close of the year 1786. He constructed all

entertain the highest opinion of his merits as an experimentalist and philosopher, this can never blind us to the facts, so clearly detailed, and established on such conclusive evidence, by M. Arago and Lord Brougham. And we beg leave to inform Mr. H., that the later and more matured opinion of Sir Humphry Davy on this question, differed little from that of every other competent judge who has examined it.

We can lay no stress on what is said of the diffidence of Mr. Cavendish. For, although we were aware of his personal shyness and retired habits, we never heard of his betraying any distrust of his scientific attainments, or any unconsciousness of their value ; which alone could have any bearing on a question like the present; and when we sce a deduction attempted to be forced from his alleged want of ambition and indifference to fame, we are called upon to observe, that it would have been but justice to have stated, how much more eminently these qualities appeared in the man, from whose merits Mr. H. is here labouring to detract. The unassuming modesty of Mr. Watt's character was conspicuous in every action of his life; it has been recognised by the most eminent men of this age; and was never more signally displayed, than in his conduct throughout this very affair, as most correctly stated by M. Arago.

The difficulty which Mr. H. professes to feel in supposing, that Mr. Watt, by phlogiston, meant inflammable air or hydrogen gas, would have been removed if he had attended to Mr. Watt's own note, (given both in the Phil. Tran. and in Lord Brougham's Historical Note,) which is to this effect:-" Previous to Dr. Priestley's making these experiments, Mr. Kirwan had proved, by very ingenious deductions from other facts, that inflammable air was, in all probability, the real phlogiston in an aerial form. These arguments were perfectly convincing to me."

We look in vain for any other argument by which Mr. Harcourt attempts to support his rash hypothesis. No evidence whatever is produced to disprove any fact brought forward by M. Arago; and, not daring to grapple with the priority of publication, placed upon record by Mr. Watt's note in the Philosophical Transactions, which was never contradicted or called in question by Mr. Cavendish or his friends, he expends himself in tedious sophistical declamation on the merits of the respective explanations of their theories, given

the necessary apparatus, gave directions for its erection, superintended the first trials of it, and then left his father-in-law, Mr. Macgregor, to follow out the newly-discovered art. Notwithstanding all the solicitations of the illustrious engineer, our celebrated countryman persevered in refusing* to become a partner, in an enterprise which promised nothing but success, and of which it appeared that the profits must be very great.†

Scarcely had the numerous gaseous substances, which now play so conspicuous a part in the explanation of chemical phenomena, been discovered, in the latter half of the last century, than attempts were made to use them as a means of curing disease. Dr. Beddoes prosecuted this idea with sagacity and perseverance. He was enabled, by private subscriptions, to form at Clifton, near Bristol, under the designation of the Pneumatic

by the three great candidates for the discovery. We shall for the present leave him to the possession of his opinion—“ alone,” we believe," in his glory!" But, since his TASTE led him to select, for the scene of his diatribe, a town justly proud of Mr. Watt's long residence near and connection with it, he can hardly be surprised at our informing him that, there at least, his ill-advised oration has left no impression so strong, as that of general DISGUST. -TR.

* These words are quite correct, however fabulous it may appear in the age in which we live.-M. ARAGO.

+ This, no doubt, is the point of view in which it would strike abstract men of science, such as Berthollet and Arago. But in this manufacturing country, we well know that the novelty and ingenuity of a process are not of themselves sufficient to ensure a beneficial result; and, indeed, in the case of the very process in question, it happened that the first manufacturers who attempted to carry it into effect, on a large scale, were ruined by it.-Tr.

Institution, an establishment, in which the therapeutic properties of all kinds of gas were carefully investigated. The Pneumatic Institution had the advantage of having for some time at its head, Humphry Davy, then a young man, just entering on his scientific career. It could also boast of numbering James Watt among its founders. The great engineer went further than this; he planned, he designed, and executed in the work-shops at Soho, the apparatus which was used for making the gases, and for administering them to patients. I find several editions of his papers on these subjects, dated in 1794, 1795, and 1796.*

The thoughts of our fellow-member were directed to this subject, in consequence of the melancholy death of several of his relations and friends, who were prematurely carried off by diseases of the chest. Injuries of the organs of respiration, in particular, appeared to Watt to admit of treatment by the specific properties of the new gases. He looked, also, for a beneficial effect from the iron or zinc, which hydrogen, when prepared in a particular way, carries along with it, in impalpable particles. In conclusion, I would add, that, among the many notices by physicians which were published by Dr. Beddoes, and among results varying in their degree of success, there is one, signed John Carmichael, of

* "Considerations on the medicinal use of factitious airs, and on the manner of obtaining them in large quantities. In two Parts, Part I. by Thomas Beddoes, M.D.; Part II. by James Watt, Esq. Bristol." 8vo. The Preface to this work is dated 1794, and it was followed, in 1795, and 1796, by "Considerations on the medicinal powers, and the production of factitious airs," by the same gentlemen.-TR.

the complete cure of Richard Newberry, a servant, whom Mr. Watt himself caused to inhale a mixture of steam and carbonic acid gas. The disease was spitting of blood. Though I readily acknowledge my total incompetence to judge of a matter of this kind, I yet may be permitted to express my regret, that a system which numbered among its adherents, a Watt and a Jenner, should now be altogether abandoned; while yet no series of experiments can be mentioned, which directly contradict those of the Pneumatic Institution of Clifton.*

WATT IN PRIVATE LIFE; PARTICULARS OF HIS LIFE AND CHARACTER; HIS DEATH; THE NUMEROUS STATUES ERECTED TO HIS MEMORY; RE

FLECTIONS.

Watt had married, in 1764, his cousin, Miss Miller. She was an accomplished person, whose superior intellect, invariable mildness, and cheerfulness of disposition, very soon rescued the great engineer from that indolence, despondency, and misanthropy, which a nervous illness, and the injustice of men, threatened to render fatal. But for Miss Miller, Watt might never have made public his fine inventions. Of this marriage, there were born four children, two sons and two daugh

* At so early a period as twenty years before the Pneumatic Institution of Bristol came into existence, Watt had applied his knowledge of chemistry and mineralogy to the improvement of a pottery, which, in concert with some friends, he had established at Glasgow, and of which he continued a partner till the close of his life.-M. ARAGO.

ters.* Mrs. Watt died† in child-bed of a third son, still-born. Her husband was at that time engaged in the north of Scotland, with the plan of the Caledonian Canal. Would that I might here transcribe, in all their simple beauty, some lines of the journal in which he daily recorded his inmost thoughts, his fears, his hopes! Would that you could see him, after this heavy affliction, pausing on the threshold of that home, where "HIS KIND WELCOMER" awaited him no more; unable to summon courage to enter those rooms, where he was never more to meet "THE COMFORT OF HIS LIFE!" Possibly, so faithful a picture of a very deep sorrow might at last put to silence those obstinate theorists, who, without being struck by the thousands of instances to the contrary, do yet refuse qualities of the heart to every man whose intellect has been fostered by the fertile, sublime, and imperishable truths of the exact sciences!

After continuing for some years a widower, Watt was once more so fortunate as to find, in Miss Macgregor, one whose various talent, soundness of judgment, and strength of mind, rendered her a companion worthy of himself. ‡

On the expiration of the patent which Parliament had granted him, Watt, in the beginning of the year 1800, retired altogether from business. His

* Two of these died in infancy; a daughter married Mr. Miller of Glasgow, and has left issue. The present Mr. James Watt is the gentleman mentioned by M. Arago in various parts of this Eloge.—TR. + 24th September, 1773.—TR.

Mrs. Watt (Miss Macgregor) died in 1832, at a very advanced age. She had the misfortune to be preceded by the two children, the issue of her marriage with Mr. Watt.-M. ARAGO.