The life of George Stephenson, railway engineer - Lighthouse ...

CHAP. XI.] HIS IDEAS NOT BORROWED FROM DAVY. 115
idea I had embraced as the principle on which a safety lamp
might be constructed, and this I stated to several persons long
before Sir H. Davy came into this part of the country. The
plan of such a lamp was seen by several, and the lamp itself was
m the hands of the manufacturer during the time he was here
at which period it is not pretended he had formed any correct
idea upon which he intended to act That I pursued the
principle thus discovered and applied, and constructed a lamp
with three tubes, and one with small perforations, without know-
ing that Sir Humphry Davy had adopted the same idea, and
without receiving any hint of his experiments, is what I solemnly
assert."
Indeed it is perfectly clear, from the dates at which the results
of Sir Humphry Davy's experiments with fire-damp were published,
that it was simply impossible for Mr. Stephenson to have
borrowed any of his ideas or plans. The latter, it will be re-
membered, had prepared the plan of his first safety lamp as early
as August, 1816, at which time Sir Humphry Davy had not given
much consideration to the subject, nor formed any definite ideas
upon it. On the 29th of September following, Davy wrote to
the Rev. Mr. Hodgson, requesting a supply of fire-damp from a
blower, and informing him, at the same time, that "he had
thought a good deal on the prevention of explosions from fire-
damp, and entertained strong hopes of being able to effect some-
thing satisfactory on the subject." * It is obvious, then, that at
that date Sir Humphry, had not discovered the tube principle,
nor appUed it in the invention of a lamp. Sir H. Davy, shortly
after this time, is found in correspondence with the Rev. Mr.
Hodgson as to the principle afterwards enunciated by him, that
explosion would not pass down small tubes; and on the 19th of
October he wrote a private letter, communicating his views on
the subject ; but Mr. Hodgson regarded this letter as strictly
confidential, and did not in any way communicate it to the
public.
Mr. Stephenson, it will be remembered, placed the plan of his
lamp in the hands of the Newcastle tinman in the beginning of
* Letter published by the Eev. Mr., Hodgson in support of Sir H. Davy's
claims, in the Newcastle Courani of February 1st, 1817.
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