- See Eyles V.A. The Evolution of a Chemist Ann. Sci. 1963 19 153 82 (published 1965), For an account of Hall's experiments to test the validity of James Hutton's theory of the origin of igneous rocks, see V. A. Eyles, ‘Sir James Hall, Bt. (1761–1832)’, Endeavour, 1961, 20, 210–6.
- NLS MS. 6329, folios 82–3. It is likely that during the previous winter or early spring Hall had met the son of a nephew of Terray, who was completing his education at Edinburgh University—see letter of introduction from Lavoisier to Black, Report of the Forty-First Meeting of the British Association for the Advancement of Science London 1872 190 190
- See Smeaton W.A. Lavoisier's Membership of the Société Royale d'Agriculture and the Comité d'Agriculture Ann. Sci. 1956 12 267 77 (published 1957)
- Nicolas Fortin (1750–1831), a well-known maker of scientific instruments, whose workshop at this time was located in the Place de la Sorbonne. An account of Fortin's work for Lavoisier and other French scientists has been given in two works by Maurice Daumas Les Instruments Scientifiques aux XVII e et XVIII e Siècles Paris 1953 365 8 and Lavoisier Théoricien et Expérimentateur, Paris, 1955, pp. 123–4, 134–41 and 150–3.
- Handley , James E. 1953 . Scottish Farming in the Eighteenth Century 219 – 219 . London
- See Eyles V.A. Ann. Sci. 1963 19 177 177 (published 1965),
- According to the chronology of Daumas, Lavoisier presented his second Mémoire sur la respiration des animaux on 4 May 1791. Daumas records that the occasion is noted in the Register of the Minutes of the French Academy of Sciences, 1791, folio 333; he also states that this memoir was published in part in the Annales de chimie, 1814, 91, 318–34, and that the date for the meeting is there given as 9 August 1791—in fact the date quoted is 9 April 1791. See Daumas, Maurice Lavoisier Théoricien et Expérimentateur Paris 1955 64 64
- The apparatus for the burning of oils was made by Fortin in 1788; it is now in the collections of the Conservatoire National des Arts et Métiers, Paris (inventory no. 7,549). See Daumas Maurice Lavoisier Théoricien et Expérimentateur Paris 1955 152 152 and pl. IV, fig 8.
- The air pump may also have been made by Fortin in which case it is probably item no. 19,904 in the inventory of the Conservatoire National des Arts et Métiers Daumas Maurice Lavoisier Théoricien et Expérimentateur Paris 1955 123 4
- Jars , Gabriel . 1780 . Voyages Métallurgiques Vol. 2 , 155 – 158 . Paris 585–6 and pl. 13, no. 23.
- See Hist. Acad. R. Sci. 1760 160 161 (published 1766)
- See foot-note 30. Jars Gabriel Voyages Métallurgiques Paris 1780 2 155 158 585–6 and pl. 13, no. 23.
- Nicholson , William . 1801 . On the Hydraulic Machine erected at the Mines of Schemnitz in Hungary . J. Nat. Phil. , 4 : 18 – 21 .
- Rochon . 1791 . Aperçu présenté au Comité des Monnoies de l'Assemblée Nationale, Des avantages qui peuvent résulter de la conversion du métal de cloches en Monnoie moulée, pour faciliter l'échange des petits assignats Paris We know from another publication by Rochon that the above memoir was published in May 1791—see Compte Rendu des Expériences qui ont été faites sur la Monnoie coulée et moulée en Métal de Cloches, Paris, 1791, p. 1.
- See Handley James E. The Agricultural Revolution in Scotland Glasgow 1963 122 122 and 125
- See foot-note 37 Handley James E. The Agricultural Revolution in Scotland Glasgow 1963 68 68
- Lavoisier . 1893 . Instruction sur la Culture du Trèfle . Oeuvres , vi : 230 – 235 .
- See Erith Adela Gwendolyn White Clover London 1924 138 138
- The electrical machine used by van Troostwyk had two plates, each thirty-one pouces (approximately 33 inches) in diameter, and was similar in design to another made by John Cuthbertson, of Amsterdam, and described by van Marum Martinus Verhandelingen, uitgegeeven door Teyler's Tweede Genootschap 1785 3 2 28 in The odd-numbered pages carry the description in Dutch, under the title ‘Beschryving eener ongemeen groote Electrizeer-Machine, geplaatst in Teyler's Museum te Haarlem en van de Proefneemingen met dezelve in 't werk gesteld’; on the facing even-numbered pages is a translation into French, entitled ‘Description d'une très grande Machine Électrique, Placée dans le Muséum de Teyler a Haarlem et des Expériments faits par le moyen de cette Machine’. Charles's apparatus for repeating van Troostwyk's experiment is now preserved at the Conservatoire National des Arts et Métiers, Paris (inventory no. 1,692).
- 1789 . Lettre de MM. Paets van Troostwyk et Deiman a M. de la Métherie, Sur une manière de décomposer l'Eau en Air inflammable & en Air vital . Obs. sur la Phys. (Rozier) , 35 : 369 – 378 . Further details are given in a letter from Schurrer to Berthollet, an extract from which appears in Ann. Chim., 1800, new series, 5, 276–80.
- See Watson William Several Papers concerning a new Semi-Metal, called Platina Phil. Trans. 1750 46 584 596 (published 1752)
- See Hist. Acad. R. Sci. 1758 51 57 (published 1763) ‘Sur un nouveau Métal Connu sous le nom d'Or blanc ou de Platine’, Mém. Acad. R. Sci., 1758 (published 1763), 119–33.
- Ingenhousz , John . 1776 . Easy Methods of measuring the Diminution of Bulk, taking place upon the Mixture of common Air and nitrous Air; together with Experiments on Platina . Phil. Trans. , 66 : 257 – 267 .
- Lavoisier . 1868 . Sur la Fusion de Platine . Oeuvres , iv : 237 – 237 .
- Evidence has recently come to light which suggests that the person named by Lavoisier was Nicolas Anne de l'Isle (1723–1780)—see McDonald D. The Identity of M de l'Isle Platinum Metals Review 1967 11 106 108
- Priestley , Joseph . 1775 . Experiments and Observations on Different Kinds of Air Vol. ii , 100 – 101 . London The friend was John Michell (1724–1793), who assisted Priestley in writing The History and Present State of Discoveries relating to Vision, Light, and Colours, London, 1772. For an account of Michell's contributions to geology, physics and astronomy, see Sir Archibald Geikie, Memoir of John Michell, Cambridge, 1918, pp. 24–105; see also Clyde L. Hardin, ‘The Scientific Work of the Reverend John Michell’, Ann. Sci., 1966, 22, 27–47, for a more detailed discussion of Michell's contributions to astronomy, and for biographical material not reported by Geikie.
- See Sur un Moyen d'augmenter considérablement l'action du Feu & de la Chaleur, dans les Opérations chimiques Mém. Acad. R. Sci. 1782 457 465 (published 1785)
- 1·9 gram. Numerical relations between the old and the new (or republican) measures are given in Dumesnils Maurice Danloux Étude critique du Système métrique Paris 1962 370 372
- Lavoisier . 1892 . Sur le Platine . Oeuvres , 5 : 340 – 345 .
- See Lavoisier Traité Élémentaire de Chimie Paris 1789 ii 552 558 the extracts quoted are taken from the translation by Robert Kerr, Elements of Chemistry, Edinburgh, 2nd edition, 1793, pp. 555–6.
- See Lavoisier Traité Élémentaire de Chimie Paris 1789 ii 423 428
- See Pelletier B. Obs. sur la Phys. (Rozier) 1789 34 197 197 (foot-note 1).
- See Berthollet Pelletier Rapport Fait au Bureau de Consultation, sur les moyens proposés par M. Jeanety pour travailler le Platine Ann. Chim. 1792 14 20 33
- See Daumas Maurice Lavoisier Théoricien et Expérimentateur Paris 1955 47 47 Le President de Saron was Jean-Baptiste-Gaspard Bochart de Saron (1730–1794).
- See Wedgwood Josiah Phil. Trans. 1782 72 305 326 1784, 74, 358–84; 1786, 76, 390–408. An account of Wedgwood's contributions to pyrometry is in preparation.
- In 1785 James Hutton had read a paper before the Royal Society of Edinburgh entitled ‘Theory of the Earth; or an Investigation of the Laws observable in the Composition, Dissolution, and Restoration of Land upon the Globe’; see Trans. R. Soc. Edin. 1788 1 209 304 Physical Class, The theory was not widely appreciated until John Playfair expounded it in his Illustrations of the Huttonian Theory of the Earth, Edinburgh, 1802, after which it was keenly contested.
- See Buffon Natural History, General and Particular , 3rd edition London 1791 English translation by William Smellie, vol. 1 is subtitled ‘The History and Theory of the Earth’.
- See Playfair John Remarks on the Astronomy of the Brahmins Trans. R. Soc. Edin. 1790 2 135 192 Physical Class,
- See Bailly Jean-Sylvain Traité de l'Astronomie indienne et orientale Paris 1787
- See De la Place Théorie de Jupiter et de Saturne Mém. Acad. R. Sci. 1785 33 160 (published 1788)
- Scottish Record Office Dunglass Muniments, Sect. II no. 315/16, folios 11–9; also Basil Hall, ‘Notice of a Machine for regulating high temperatures, invented by the late James Hall Proc. Geol. Soc. London 1834 1 478 9 Bart. F.G.S.
- See The Gentleman's Magazine 1833 103 i 546 546
- See Proc. Geol. Soc. London 1838 2 49 49
- The showroom was opened in June 1774—see The Selected Letters of Josiah Wedgwood Finer Ann Savage George London 1965 15 15
- For the text of this letter see McKie D. Antoine Laurent Lavoisier F.R.S. 1743–1794 Notes and Records of the Royal Society 1949 7 14 5 The original is preserved in the Archives de France (MS. F17 A 1326 dossier 18, item 367); a xerographic copy is in the Science Museum Library.
- According to Wedgwood's thermometric scale a temperature of 140 degrees Wedgwood is somewhat in excess of that required to melt cast iron—see Josiah Wedgwood Phil. Trans. 1784 74 370 370
- See foot-note 130 Josiah Wedgwood Phil. Trans. 1786 76 404 404
- Macquer , P.J. 1758 . Sur les Argiles, & sur la fusibilité de cette espèce de terre, avec les terres calcaires . Mém. Acad. R. Sci. , : 155 – 76 . (published 1763)
- Archives de France MS. F17 A 1326, dossier 18, item 368; a translation of this letter into French, in the hand of Madame Lavoisier, is preserved in the Archives de France (ibid., item 369). The texts of both documents appear in a paper by McKie D. Notes and Records of the Royal Society 1949 7 15 8 but it should be noted that the English version of Wedgwood's letter, as there reproduced, contains a number of minor errors. Xerographic copies of the original documents can be seen in the Library of the Science Museum.
- This is a reference to the Birmingham riots of July 1791, when Priestley's house, library and laboratory were destroyed by the rioters. A letter of sympathy addressed to Priestley from the chemists of Paris is preserved in the Burndy Library, Norwalk, Connecticut ; it appears in English translation in A Scientific Autobiography of Joseph Priestley (1733–1804) Schofield Robert E. Cambridge, Massachusetts 1967 257 8
- A Wedgwood thermometer appears in the list of Priestley's instruments destroyed by the rioters in July 1791—see Birmingham Central Reference Library MS. 174683, folio 48. This list is reproduced in the Birmingham Weekly Post issue for March 22, 1890, but contains some errors ; a more reliable listing is given by Priestley's Laboratory and Library and Other of his Effects Notes and Records of the Royal Society 1956 12 114 36 in his paper
- The Reynolds family were closely associated with the Darby ironworks at Coalbrookdale and with the Ketley and Horshay Iron and Coal Works. See Raistrick Arthur Quakers in Science and Industry London 1950 128 30
- William Russell (1740–1818), a Birmingham merchant and reformer, and friend and supporter of Priestley. Russell was mainly responsible for promoting the unfortunate dinner party, held in Birmingham on 14 July 1791, to mark the first anniversary of the French Revolution ; two days later his own house was burned down by the rioters—see An Authentic Account of the late Riots in the Town of Birmingham, and its Environs Birmingham 1791 17 17
- Keele University Library Wedgwood MS. 4091-5. Another version of this letter, reproduced from a draft in the John Rylands Library, Manchester, appears in A Scientific Autobiography of Joseph Priestley (1733–1804) Schofield Robert E. Massachusetts Cambridge 1967 259 61 It should be noted that the John Rylands draft is itself a copy, and that the version given in Schofield's work shows several differences from the original draft as reproduced above, both in capitalization of initial letters and in punctuation.
- The Morning Chronicle LondonSeptember 1791 6 No. 6041, front page. The friend's letter to the Editor of the newspaper is signed ‘A.B.’. The text of a letter written on behalf of the Academy of Sciences at Paris by the Secretary, Condorcet, and dated 30 July 1791, appears in English translation in Priestley's An Appeal to the Public on the Subject of The Riots in Birmingham, Birmingham, 1st edition, 1791, pp. 150–2 ; it is followed on pp. 152–3 by the text of Priestley's reply to Condorcet. A copy, in French, of the original letter from Condorcet to Priestley is in the Bodleian Library, Oxford—see MS. Eng. lett. c.140, folios 27–8.
- This is a reference to Wedgwood thermometric clay pieces which, in use, were normally protected by a case made of crucible clay ; this procedure was particularly necessary whenever there was danger that a piece might otherwise come into contact with vitrifiable matter which at high temperature might stick to the surface of the thermometric piece and so alter its dimensions—see Wedgwood Josiah Description and Use of a Thermometer for Measuring the higher Degrees of Heat London 1784 10 1
- See Crawford Adair Experiments and Observations on Animal Heat , 2nd edition London 1788 464 74 where Crawford reported his own experimental results relating to the quantity of heat produced when water and oil of vitriol were mixed.
- A table of the principal differences of the weights and measures in use in France appears in a proposal made by Talleyrand to the National Assembly in 1790—see Miller John Riggs Speeches in the House of Commons upon the Equalization of the Weights and Measures of Great Britain, … together with two letters from the Bishop of Autun to the Author, upon the Uniformity of Weights and Measures ; That Prelate's Proposition, respecting the same, to the National Assembly, and the Decree of that Body, of the 8th of May, conformable to the Bishop's Proposition London 1790 62 4
- G. , Bigourdan . 1901 . Le Système Métrique des Poids et Mesures 425 – 425 . Paris
- See foot-note 147 Bigourdan G. Le Système Métrique des Poids et Mesures Paris 1901 9 10 The title of the memoir was ‘Sur la nécessité et les moyens de rendre uniformes dans le royaume toutes les mesures d'étendue et de pesanteur ; de les établir sur des bases fixes et invariables ; d'en régler tous les multiples et les subdivisions suivant l'ordre décuple’. See also Georges Bouchard, Prieur de la Côte-d'Or, Paris, 1946, pp. 64–6, 287–9.
- This proposal was printed and circulated to members of the National Assembly—see foot-note 146 Miller John Riggs Speeches in the House of Commons upon the Equalization of the Weights and Measures of Great Britain, … together with two letters from the Bishop of Autun to the Author, upon the Uniformity of Weights and Measures ; That Prelate's Proposition, respecting the same, to the National Assembly, and the Decree of that Body, of the 8th of May, conformable to the Bishop's Proposition London 1790 61 74 An English translation of the proposal appears on pp. 77–88 of the same work.
- Brisson . 1788 . Essai Sur l'uniformité des Mesures, tant linéaires que de capacité & de poids ; Et sur une nouvelle manière de construire les toises destinées à servir d'étalon . Mém. Acad. R. Sci. , : 722 – 7 . (published 1791)
- See foot-note 146 Miller John Riggs Speeches in the House of Commons upon the Equalization of the Weights and Measures of Great Britain, … together with two letters from the Bishop of Autun to the Author, upon the Uniformity of Weights and Measures ; That Prelate's Proposition, respecting the same, to the National Assembly, and the Decree of that Body, of the 8th of May, conformable to the Bishop's Proposition London 1790 xi xii
- See foot-note 146 Miller John Riggs Speeches in the House of Commons upon the Equalization of the Weights and Measures of Great Britain, … together with two letters from the Bishop of Autun to the Author, upon the Uniformity of Weights and Measures ; That Prelate's Proposition, respecting the same, to the National Assembly, and the Decree of that Body, of the 8th of May, conformable to the Bishop's Proposition London 1790 viii ix
- See foot-note 147 Bigourdan G. Le Système Métrique des Poids et Mesures Paris 1901 15 15
- See Hist. Acad. R. Sci. 1788 1 6 (published 1791)
- See Hist. Acad. R. Sci. 1788 7 16 (published 1791)
- See foot-note 147 Bigourdan G. Le Système Métrique des Poids et Mesures Paris 1901 21 21
- For details of the memberships of the five Commissions and their respective operations see Exposé des Travaux de l'Académie, Sur le projet de l'uniformité des Mesures & des Poids Hist. Acad. R. Sci. 1788 17 20 (published 1791)
- See Haüy Rapport sur les moyens employés pour mesurer le poids d'un pied cube d'eau Bulletin des Sciences, par la Société Philomathique de Paris 1791–9 1 39 41
- See Wolf C. Recherches Historiques sur les Étalons de l'Observatoire Ann. Chim. Phys. 1882 25 92 92 A fragment of the minutes of a meeting of the Commission of Weights and Measures held on 7 January 1792 records that Lavoisier had made an advance of 1,800 livres (1,778 republican francs) to Fortin for work undertaken by order of the Committee, for the construction of three copper cylinders and of a machine for measuring their dimensions ; see Lavoisier, Oeuvres, 1893, vol. vi, p. 679.
- Lavoisier . 1892 . Observations sur le Platine . Oeuvres , v : 351 – 3 . Ann. Chim. new series, 1800, 5, 137–41.
- Berthollet and Pelletier . 1792 . Rapport Fait au Bureau de Consultation, sur les moyens proposés par M. Jeanety pour travailler le Platine . Ann. Chim. , 14 : 20 – 33 .
- See Lavoisier Oeuvres 1893 vi 680 680 The sum of money involved is equivalent to 496 republican francs.
- See foot note 168 Lavoisier Oeuvres 1893 vi 679 679
Annals of Science
Volume 24, 1968 - Issue 1