I certainly tool: up the subject of chlorine with the view of pursuing it ss I could find spare time, and at the moments which remained to me after attending to the directions of my superiors. It however passed in the manner described into the hands of Sir Humphry Davy, and a comparison of the dates will readily show that I at least had no time of my own to pursue it. My original paper was published on the 1st of April, 1823, that being the first Number of the 'Quarterly Journal' which could appear after the experiments had been made: but in the short time between the first experiment and the publication, much that 1 have referred to had occurred; for not only had I communicated my results to Sir Humphry Davy, and received from him the hint, but my paper on fluid chlorine had been read (13th of March), and his note also, of the same date, attached to it; and the Editor of the 'Quarterly Journal,' Mr. Brande, had time, prior to the printing of my original paper, to attach a note to it stating the condensation of chlorine and muriatic acid, and expressing an expectation that several other gases would be liquefied by the same means[1].On the 10th of April my paper on the condensation of several gases into liquids was read, on the 17th of April Sir Humphry Davy's on the application of condensed gases as mechanical agents, and on the 1st of May his Appendix to it on the changes of volume produced by heat.
I have never remarked upon or denied Sir Humphry Davy's right to his share of the condensation of chlorine or the other gases; on the contrary, I think that I long ago did him full justice " in the papers themselves. How could it be otherwise? He saw and revised the manuscripts; through his hands they went to the Royal Society, of which he was President at the time; and he saw and revised the printer's proofs. Although he did not tell me of his expectations when he suggested the heating the crystals in a closed tube, yet I have no doubt that he had them [2]; and though, perhaps, I regretted
- ↑ Quarterly Journal, xv. P—74-or page 84.
- ↑ I perceive in a letter to Professor Edmund Davy, published by Dr. Davy in the 'Life,' vol. ii. p. 166, of the date of September 1, 1823, that Sir Humphry Davy said, "The experiments on the condensation of the gases were made under my direction, and I had anticipated, theoretically, all the results." It is evident that he considered the subject his own; but I am glad that here, as
