Kissam's (or is it Mr. Quizzem's?)
pretensions to the discovery, in so serious a tone.
But to return to the 'Diary' of Sir Humphrey Davy. This pamphlet was
not designed for the public eye, even upon the decease of the
writer, as any person at all conversant with authorship may satisfy
himself at once by the slightest inspection of the style. At page
13, for example, near the middle, we read, in reference to his
researches about the protoxide of azote: 'In less than half a minute
the respiration being continued, diminished gradually and were
succeeded by analogous to gentle pressure on all the muscles.' That
the respiration was not 'diminished,' is not only clear by the
subsequent context, but by the use of the plural, 'were.' The
sentence, no doubt, was thus intended: 'In less than half a minute,
the respiration [being continued, these feelings] diminished
gradually, and were succeeded by [a sensation] analogous to gentle
pressure on all the muscles.' A hundred similar instances go to show
that the MS. so inconsiderately published, was merely a rough
note-book, meant only for the writer's own eye, but an inspection of
the pamphlet will convince almost any thinking person of the truth
of my suggestion.
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