Part 8

Dr. William Henry, the distinguished chemical philosopher, was born at Manchester. His father, Mr. Thomas Henry, was a zealous cultivator of chemical science. The earliest impressions of Henry's childhood were, therefore, such as to inspire interest and reverence for the pursuits of science; and he is said, when very young, to have sought amusement in attempting to imitate, with such means as were at his disposal, the chemical experiments which his father had been performing. A severe accident which occurred in early life, by disqualifying him for the active sports of boyhood, also contributed to determine his taste for books and sedentary occupations. This injury, occasioned by the fall of a heavy beam upon his right side, was of a very serious nature, and materially checked his growth; it left as its consequence acute neuralgic pains, which recurred from time to time, with more or less severity, during the remainder of his life.

Dr. Henry's earliest instructor was the Rev. Ralph Harrison, who possessed considerable repute as a teacher of the ancient languages, and was considered at that period to be one of the best instructors of youth in the North of England. Immediately on leaving Mr. Harrison's academy at Manchester, Henry had the good fortune to become the private secretary of Dr. Percival, a physician of great general accomplishments and refined taste, whose example and judicious counsels were most instrumental in guiding the tastes of his young companion, and in establishing habits of vigilant and appropriate expression. In this improving residence Dr. Henry remained for the space of five years; he was then removed, in the winter of 1795-6, to the University of Edinburgh, after having acquired some preliminary medical knowledge at the Infirmary at Manchester. Prudential considerations compelled him to leave the University at the end of a year, and commence general medical practice in company with his father. A few years' experience, however, showed the inadequacy of his delicate frame to bear up against the fatigues of this branch of the medical profession, and he was permitted, in the year 1805, to return to the University, at that time adorned by the learning of Playfair and Stewart. So powerful was the stimulus given to his mental powers during his residence at the University, that he often declared that the rest of his life, active as it was, appeared a state of inglorious repose when contrasted with this season of unremitted effort. The period intervening between Dr. Henry's two academic residences, although passed in the engrossing occupations of his profession, to which was added the superintendence of a chemical business previously established by his father, was yet marked by several important contributions to science. In 1797 he communicated to the Royal Society an experimental memoir (the first of a long series with which he enriched the 'Transactions' of that body), the design of which was to re-establish the title of carbon to be ranked among elementary bodies, which had been denied by Austin, Beddoes, and other eminent chemists. In this paper he subsequently discovered a fallacy in his own reasoning, which he exposed before it had been detected by any other chemist. In 1800 he published in the 'Philosophical Transactions' his experiments on muriatic acid gas, and in 1803 made known to the Royal Society his elaborate experiments on the quantity of gases absorbed by water at different temperature and under different pressures, the result of which was the establishment of the law that "water takes up of gas, condensed by one, two or more additional atmospheres, a quantity which would be equal to twice, thrice, &c. the volume absorbed under the ordinary pressure of the atmosphere." In 1808 Henry was elected a Fellow of the Royal Society, and in the same year described in their 'Transactions' a form of apparatus adapted to the combustion of larger quantities of gases than could be fired in eudiometric tubes. This apparatus, though now superseded, gave more accurate results than had ever before been attained. In the following year (1809) the Copley gold medal was awarded to him for his valuable contributions to the 'Transactions' of the Royal Society. For the next fifteen years Dr. Henry continued his experiments on gases, making known to the Society the results from time to time. In his last communication, in 1824, he claimed the merit of having conquered the only difficulty that remained in a series of experiments on the analysis of the gaseous substances issuing from the destructive distillation of coal and oil--viz., the ascertaining by chemical means the exact proportions which the gases, left after the action of chlorine on oil and coal gas, bear to each other. This he accomplished by skilfully availing himself of the property (recently discovered by Döbereiner), in finely divided platinum, of causing gaseous combinations, and he was thus enabled to prove the exact composition of the fire-damp of mines. All the experiments of Dr. Henry which have been previously alluded to bore upon äeriform bodies; but although these were his favourite studies, his acquaintance with general chemistry is proved by his 'Elements of Experimental Chemistry,' to have been both sound and extensive. This work was one of the first on chemical science published in this country, which combined great literary elegance with the highest standard of scientific accuracy. His comparative analysis of many varieties of British and foreign salts were models of accurate analysis, and were important in dispelling the prejudices then popular in favour of the latter for economical purposes. His 'Memoir on the Theories of Galvanic Decomposition' earned the cordial approval of Berzelius, as being among the first maintaining that view which he himself so earnestly supported.

It is greatly to be regretted that Dr. Henry did not contribute more to the literature of science, as he appears to have been eminently fitted, both by natural tastes and by after culture, to excel in this particular respect; especially is it to be regretted that he did not live to carry out the great literary project for which he had collected materials--a history of chemical discovery from the middle of the last century. He could have made it one of the most popular books in our tongue.

In the general intercourse of society Dr. Henry was distinguished by a polished courtesy, by an intuitive propriety, and by a considerate forethought and respect for the feelings and opinions of others; qualities issuing out of the same high-toned sensibility, that guided his taste in letters, and that softened and elevated his whole moral frame and bearing. His comprehensive range of thought and knowledge, his proneness to general speculation in contradistinction to detail, his ready command of the refinements of language, and the liveliness of his feelings and imagination, rendered him a most instructive and engaging companion. To the young, and more especially to such as gave evidence of a taste for liberal studies, his manner was peculiarly kind and encouraging. In measuring the amount and importance of his contributions to chemical knowledge, it must be borne in mind, that in his season of greatest mental activity, he never enjoyed that uncontrolled command of time and that serene concentration of thought which are essential to the completion of great scientific designs. In more advanced life, when relieved from the duties of an extensive medical practice and other equally pressing avocations, growing infirmities and failing bodily power restrained him to studies not demanding personal exertion, and even abridged his season of purely mental labour. That amid circumstances so unfriendly to original and sustained achievements in science, he should have accomplished so much, bears testimony to that energy of resolve, that unsubdued ardour of spirit which ever glowed within him, urging him steadily onwards in the career of honourable ambition, and prompting exertions more than commensurate with the decaying forces of a frame that had never been vigorous. At intervals during his whole life, Dr. Henry suffered severely from the effect of the accident already mentioned. The paroxysms of intense neuralgic agony which attacked him, at length caused the whole nervous system to be so irritated as to deprive him of sleep, and cause his death in September, 1836, at the age of sixty-one.--_Biographical Account of the late Dr. Henry, by his son, William Charles Henry, M.D., F.R.S., &c._--_Encyclopædia Britannica_, Eighth Edition.

SIR WILLIAM HERSCHEL, D.C.L., F.R.S., &c.

Born November 15, 1738. Died August 23, 1822.

Authentic particulars respecting both the early and private life of this great astronomer are sadly deficient; his scientific works are, however, of a world-wide reputation, and it is with these that we are chiefly concerned. William Herschel was born at Hanover, and was one of a numerous family, who supported themselves chiefly by their musical talents. At the age of fourteen William was placed, it is said, in the band of the Hanoverian regiment of Guards, which he accompanied to England at a period variously stated from 1757 to 1759. On his arrival he remained for some time at Durham, and was subsequently, for several years, organist at Halifax, where he was also employed in teaching music and studying languages. At length, about the year 1766, he found himself in comparatively easy circumstances, as organist of the Octagon Chapel at Bath. Here Herschel began to study earnestly the science of astronomy; and feeling the necessity of obtaining a good telescope, the purchase of which would be beyond his means, he determined to make one himself. After many trials, he succeeded in 1774 in executing with his own hands a reflecting telescope, and soon acquired so much dexterity, as to construct instruments of ten and twenty feet in focal length.

In the year 1780 he contributed his first paper, 'On the Variable Star in Cetus,' to the Royal Society; and on the 13th of March, 1781, announced to the world his discovery of a supposed comet, which, on further examination, proved to be a planet exterior to Saturn, now named Uranus.[20] This fortunate success was the first addition to the number of primary planets since a period of an immemorial antiquity, and it speedily made the name of Herschel famous.

George III. took the new astronomer under his protection, and attached him to his court, bestowing on him the title of astronomer to the king, with a salary of 400_l._ a year. It is difficult to estimate the amount of benefit thus conferred on astronomy by the award of this pension; for nothing short of the entire devotion of a lifetime, could have produced such results as we owe to Herschel. His contributions to the 'Philosophical Transactions' alone amount to sixty-nine in number, and may give some idea of the unwearied activity of the author; they range over a period of thirty-five years, commencing in 1780 and terminating in 1815. The numerous bodies which he added to the solar system, make that number half as large again as he found it. Including Halley's comet, and the four satellites of Jupiter and five of Saturn, the number previously known was eighteen, to which Herschel added nine--namely Uranus and six satellites, and two satellites of Saturn. His discovery of the rotation of Saturn's ring, his measurements of the rotation of Saturn and Venus, his observations of the belts of the former, and his conjectural theory--derived from observation--of the rotation of Jupiter's satellites, with a large number of minor observations, prove that no one individual ever added so much to the facts on which our knowledge of the solar system is founded. His leading discoveries in siderial astronomy include--the discovery of binary systems of stars, and the orbits of several revolving stars; the discovery and classification of a prodigious multitude of nebulæ; the law of grouping of the entire firmament, and its connection with the great nebula of the Milky Way; and lastly, the determination of the motion of our sun and system in space, and the direction of that motion.

Herschel's magnificent speculations on the Milky Way, the constitution of nebulæ, &c., first opened the road to the conception, that what was called the universe was, in all probability, but a detached and minute portion of that fathomless series of similar formations which ought to bear the name. Imagination roves with ease upon such subjects; but before Herschel's observations, even that daring faculty would have rejected ideas which afterwards proved to be but sober philosophy. These great and arduous enquiries occupied Herschel during nearly the whole of his scientific career, extending to almost half a century, and, excepting the continuation of his labours by his illustrious son, Sir John, little has been added to our knowledge of 'the constitution of the heavens' since his death.

As an optician, Herschel deserves equal notice for the wonderful improvements which he effected in the dimensions and magnifying power of telescopes, and by the skill with which he applied them to celestial observations. The reflecting telescope was the one to the improvement of which he so successfully devoted himself; and the real secret of his success in this, was his astonishing perseverance; his determination being to obtain telescopes of twenty feet focal length or more, and of a perfection equal or superior to the small ones then in use. He himself relates, that whilst at Bath he had constructed 200 specula of seven feet focus, 150 of ten feet, and about 80 of twenty feet; a proof of extraordinary resolution in a man of limited means, and at that time engaged in a laborious profession.

Herschel at last succeeded in constructing his enormous telescope of forty feet focal length, which he erected in the grounds of his house at Slough. This instrument was begun in 1785, and finally completed on August 28th, 1789, on which day Herschel discovered with it the sixth satellite of Saturn; the diameter of the tube was 4 feet 10 inches, the speculum having a useful area of 4 feet: the total cost was 4000_l._, which was entirely defrayed by the liberality of George the Third.

After the award of the king's pension, Sir William Herschel fixed his residence at Slough, near Windsor, his family consisting at first of one of his brothers, and his sister, Miss Caroline Herschel, who was his coadjutor and assistant in his computations and reductions, and was also actively employed in astronomical observation, being the discoverer of more than one comet. Herschel married a widow lady, Mrs. Mary Pitt, and left one son, the present Sir John, whose name has long been known to the public as one of the most active and successful adherents of science that our day has produced.

Dr. J. D. Forbes thus sums up the philosophical character of Sir William Herschel:--

"He united, in a remarkable degree, the resolute industry which distinguishes the Germans, with the ardour and constancy which has been thought characteristic of the Anglo-Saxon. From his native country he brought with him the boldness of speculation which has long distinguished it, and it is probable that he had also a vigorous and even poetical imagination. Yet he was ever impatient until he had brought his conjectures to the test of experiment, and observation of the most uncompromising kind. He delighted to give his data a numerical character, and where this was (by their nature) impossible, he confirmed his descriptions by reiterated observation, in different states of weather, with different telescopes, apertures, and magnifying powers; and with praiseworthy fidelity he enabled his readers to form their own judgment of the character of his results, by copious and literal transcripts from his journals."

Herschel died peacefully at Slough, at the advanced age of eighty-three, on the 23rd of August, 1822, only one year after the publication of his latest memoir in the 'Transactions' of the then recently formed Astronomical Society, of which he was the first president.--_Sixth Dissertation, by James David Forbes, D.C.L., F.R.S., &c., Encyclopædia Britt._, eighth edition.--_English Cyclopædia._ London, 1856.--_Weld's Hist. of Roy. Society._

EDWARD CHARLES HOWARD, F.R.S.

Born May 28, 1774. Died September 28, 1816.

Mr. Howard was born at Darnell, in the parish of Sheffield, and was the third brother of the twelfth Duke of Norfolk. His name has become intimately connected with the manufacture of sugar, from the many improvements which he introduced into the old processes for the refinement of this most important article of commerce, and especially by his invention of the vacuum-pan.

It is related, on the authority of the late Mr. C. Few, that Mr. Howard's attention was drawn towards this subject by Mr. Charles Ellis, who, on the occasion of an immense quantity of West India sugar being in bond, and for which the revenue could find no market, recommended Howard, whose talents as a practical chemist Mr. Ellis was well acquainted with, to try and see if he could not relieve the Government warehouses, by converting the raw sugar into some kind of manure, and thus avoid the duty and render the article saleable. While experimenting for this purpose, Mr. Howard accidentally discovered his process of purifying sugar, for which, in conjunction with certain sugar refiners, he took out patents, and ultimately realized a considerable fortune.

Howard's vacuum-pan was patented in 1812; it depends for its action on the principle that liquids boil at temperatures dependent on the pressures they have to sustain. Thus water, under the ordinary pressure of the atmosphere (30 inches barometer), boils at 212° F., whereas in vacuo it will boil at about 80°; consequently a comparatively low temperature will effect the boiling of sugar-syrup in vacuo, evaporation will proceed far more safely than in the old process of heating the syrup in open pans, and the percentage of waste will be greatly reduced, rendering the manufacture highly profitable in a commercial point of view.

Mr. Howard died at the early age of forty-two, and was buried at St. Pancras, Middlesex. He left one son, and a daughter, Julia, who was married in the year 1829 to the Hon. Henry Stafford Jerningham, afterwards Lord Stafford.

CAPTAIN J. HUDDART, F.R.S.

Born Jan. 11, 1740. Died August 19, 1816.

Joseph Huddart was born at Allonby in Cumberland. His Father, who was a shoemaker and farmer, desiring to give his son the best education in his power, sent him to a day-school kept by Mr. Wilson, the clergyman of the village. Here young Huddart acquired a knowledge of the elements of mathematics, including astronomy, sciences in which he attained great proficiency in after life. When quite a boy, Huddart gave indications of an original mind, combined with great industry and unwearied patience. Having fallen in with a treatise by Mungo Murray on ship building, he was so pleased with its clear directions, that he set to work and succeeded, after immense labour and ingenuity, in making a model of a seventy-four gun-ship, with ribs, planks, and bolts complete. When engaged in herding his father's cows, he used to carry out into the country a desk of his own manufacture, employing his time in reading, and mathematical drawing and calculations.

As Huddart grew up he evinced a strong bias for a sea-faring life, and an event occurred in 1756 which decided his future career. In that year large shoals of herrings came into the Solway Firth, and the elder Huddart took advantage of the circumstance to trade in conjunction with a Herring Fishery Company, while his son took his place with others in the boats, and soon displayed so much skill and ability in their management that he became noted among his fellows for superiority of knowledge in nautical matters. Young Huddart continued more or less in this new employment until his father's death, in 1762, when he succeeded to a share in the fishery, and at once took the command of a sloop employed in carrying the salted herrings to Cork and other parts of Ireland, for the supply of the West India markets.

These voyages gave him a thorough knowledge of St. George's Channel, convinced him of the insufficiency of the charts then in use, and ultimately led to his making a complete survey of that sea, and to the subsequent publication of his own most valuable chart. In 1768 Huddart, with the assistance of his uncle, designed and built a vessel for himself, and named it the Patience, every timber in it having been moulded with his own hand. In this vessel he made his first voyage to North America, and continued to sail in her until the year 1771, when he was induced by Sir Richard Hotham, with whom he had become acquainted, to enter the East India Mercantile Marine, in which service he continued for many years, and realized a considerable independency.

Captain Huddart's scientific knowledge and high character introduced him into the Trinity House as an Elder Brother, and also into the Committee of the Ramsgate Harbour Trust, and into the London and East India Dock Directions. At the Trinity House all inquiries relating to lights, lighthouses and charts were chiefly referred to him, while the lighthouses on Hurst Point were built under his superintendence and immediate direction.

On retirement from the East India Company's service, Huddart engaged again in his favourite pursuit of ship building, making many practical experiments to determine the lines, which consistent with stability and capacity for stowage would give to vessels the greatest velocity through the water. But that which constitutes Captain Huddart's chief claim on the gratitude of posterity are his great improvements and inventions in the manufacture of Cordage; before his time nothing worthy of the name of machinery had been applied to rope-making, and to him was reserved the honour of bringing the wonderful power of Watt's steam engine to bear upon this most important article of manufacture.

Captain Huddart's attention was first drawn towards the subject during a voyage from India to China through the Straits of Sunda, where the ship he commanded was frequently compelled to anchor. When the anchor was weighed, the outer yarns of the cable were often found to be broken, and on opening a piece of cable to find out the cause, Huddart's attention was forcibly drawn to the fact that rope as then manufactured, bore almost the entire strain on the outer yarns of the strands, from the yarns being originally of the same length, and the strand in the process of twisting becoming shortened. He determined to remedy this, and ultimately constructed a machine which, by means of what he called a register plate, gave to every yarn the same strain, and its proper position in the strand which was compressed through a tube into the desired form.

Government refusing to take up this valuable invention, a company was formed by Huddart's friends for the manufacture of rope upon his new principle. These gentlemen built a factory at Limehouse, which was established under the name of Huddart & Co.

Captain Huddart now devoted himself to the further development of his valuable invention; he contrived a registering machine whereby the yarns were formed as they came out of the tar-kettle, the tar being kept at the temperature (212-220° Fah.) he found by experiment to be sufficient for the required purpose, without injuring by too great heat the fibres of the rope.

He also constructed a laying machine, which gave the same length and twist to every strand, and an uniform angle and pressure to the rope or cable. These improvements involved the manufacture of much beautiful machinery, which was made after Huddart's design and under his own personal superintendance.[21]