ABSTRACT
Ticknor called yet again on June 21st on Sir Humphry from whom he said he received much courtesy and kindness. As he was going on continental tour Sir Humphry gave him letters of introduction to various people, among them Canova, De la Rive, and Madame de Stael. As pleasurable a two years as could possibly be imagined, one would have thought, and the peoples know from Consolations in Travel how vividly Davy enjoyed them. The idea, so often expressed, that he would have been better employed following his old beaten track in Albemarle Street seems perverse. The principal object of journey was to visit Naples and try new chemical methods of unrolling papyri found in the ruins of Her-culaneum. But in order to reach their destination Davys made a wide detour. They visited first coal-mines in Flanders, where accidents from fire-damp had been so frequent and so severe that gratitude for the benefits of the safety lamp was proportionately strong.
