the chloride and iodine of nitrogen are examples of first-class work; but they are as nothing to the isolation of the metals of the alkalis and alkaline earths. The era of Davy has been called the "golden age of chemistry in this country"; certainly it was most brilliant, and one never to be forgotten in the history of science.
Sir Humphry Davy said: "The foundations of chemical knowledge are observation, experiment, and analogy. By observation facts are distinctly and minutely impressed on the mind; by analogy similar facts are connected; by experiment new facts are discovered; and in the progress of knowledge, observation, guided by analogy, leads to experiment; and analogy, confirmed by experiment, becomes scientific truth."
Sir Humphry Davy "was a somewhat vain and irritable man, whom early success had made haughty to his inferiors. Indeed, in the recollections of Faraday, who as a young man attended upon him in his travels, we have a rather disagreeable picture of the savant who had forgotten the 'pit out of which he was digged.'"
Later on, however, he appreciated the talents of Faraday, although he strongly opposed the latter's nomination for the fellowship of the Royal Society. Was he jealous of Faraday's successes? Davy was never popular with assistants and colleagues. He was far too
