CONTENTS. Page Extracts from the late Mr. Watt's Correspondence re- No. I.—Thoughts on the constituent parts of water and of dephlogisticated air; with an account of some experiments on that subject. In a letter from Mr. James Watt, Engineer, to Mr. De Luc, F.R.S. No. II.-Sequel to the Thoughts on the constituent parts of water and of dephlogisticated air, in a sub- sequent letter from Mr. James Watt, Engineer, to No. IV. Mémoire ou l'on prouve par la décomposition de l'eau, que ce fluide n'est point une substance simple, et qu'il y a plusieurs moyens d'obtenir en grand l'air inflammable qui y entre comme principe constituant. Par MM. Meusnier et Lavoisier, No. V.-Mémoire dans lequel on a pour objet de prouver que l'eau n'est point une substance simple, un élé- ment proprement dit, mais qu'elle est susceptible de No. VI.-Mémoire sur le resultat de l'inflammation du No. VII.-Extract from the Translation of M. Arago's LETTER FROM JAMES WATT, ESQ. TO THE EDITOR. ASTON HALL, February 5, 1846. MY DEAR SIR, You have satisfied me that the time has now arrived for the publication of the documents in my possession, relative to my Father's discovery of the Theory of the Composition of Water. After the testimony borne by M. Arago in his Eloge, and by Lord Brougham in his Historical Note appended to it, I deemed such publication not necessary, and certainly not urgent. My opinion was in no degree affected by the weak declamation of the Rev. W. Vernon Harcourt, at the meeting of the British Association at Birmingham in 1839, which, shortly afterwards, met with just exposure and rebuke in the Notes to your Translation of the Eloge,* (page 114), and was treated as it deserved by MM. Arago and Dumas, in the Memoirs of the Institute of France. The Diary of Mr. Cavendish, subsequently * London. John Murray, 1839. α printed by the same Reverend gentleman, appeared to me too obviously inconclusive to call for any comment; although it has since received one from a far abler pen than mine.* It had, however, always been my intention, when retirement from business and active pursuits should permit the requisite leisure, that such a publication should form an amusement and occupation of my later years; perhaps accompanied by another volume, containing the Specifications of my Father's various Mechanical Patents, which so materially contributed to the development of our national industry and resources; and also a volume of his Reports on subjects of Civil Engineering, which, though now obsolete, would add to the history of that important art, and mark the accuracy and talent of a young self-taught engineer, then fully estimated by his great precursor, Smeaton. Some of the infirmities of age have, however, come upon me more suddenly than I had taken into my account; and now render it difficult for me to peruse written or printed documents. I therefore, willingly and gratefully, resign to your friendly care the editing of my father's correspondence, the originals of which you have minutely examined. As a question of evidence, this falls peculiarly within the sphere of your pursuits, and I am satisfied it could not be placed in better hands. * See Lord Brougham's Lives of Men of Letters and Science, vol. 1. p. 400. |