Courier Democrat. (Langdon, N.D.) 1891-1920, 1906-02-08
THE MODERN NEWTON
HENRY CAvENDlsH, THE SCIENTIST,
AND HIS ACHIEVEMENTS.
Man Who Weighed the World
Was One of the Shicst Of MOrtnls,
Had m Intense Ilntred For Women
and a Contempt For Wealth.

and a Contempt Eor Wealth.
Henry Cavendish, the great English
scientist, was one OF the shiest of
men. So far as we have any record,
he was only i'll once in his life, and that
illness killed him at the respectable
age Of s~evcnty-nine.
He told his physician that ANY pro.
.lorgation Of life would only prolong
his miseries," and he died, rs he had
lived, alone. For the ordinary human
relations Of life he seemed to care moth
ing; he was absorbed in his expert.
ments and loved his books and his lab
oratory more than anything else on
earth. Henry Cavendish, who has been
called 1.-The modern Newton" was born
in 1871, only four years after Newton's
death. He was educated at a private
school at Hackney, from which he pass
ed to Peterhouse, Cambridge, which he
left three years later without a degree.
Thereafter he was a man of science,
devoting his whole life to experimental
philosophy.
II A4uA WIN WS46ASu AN WI w,
wrote Henry Cavendish's cousin, the
late Duke Of Devonshire, "buried his
science and his wealth in solitude at
Chaplain" His science, however, he
did not bury, for he published to the
world certain facts which placed him
in the first rank Of experimental philos-
ophers. 1t was he who converted Ky
gen and hydrogen into water and prov
ed that it consists of these gases; it was
be who first stated the difference be-
tween animal and common electricity,
and it was he who, by a course of in
genious experiments, weighed the
world.
Cavendish had no vanity. He cared
for no ones praise, avoided society
and was, as n must suppose, an I'LL
happy man. For money he cared
little. Up to his fortieth year he was
comparatively poor, probably having
an annual income Of no more than $500,
but in 1918 an uncle died who left him
an enormous fortune. OF that he spent
very little. He was n Of those rare
A4CA VIII AdRC ho 1uSa VI lhC oAu VI
money. His personal needs were very
simple, and the fact that he was rich
never seems to have struck him as a
matter of interest.
Cavendish had two houses, one on
Chaplain common and another near the
British museum, at the corner of Cow
er street and Montague place. He had
few visitors, but his library was at
the service Of any n who cared to
use it, yet, so anxious was he to be
undisturbed, that he hired a house in
Dean street in which to accommodate
his books and paid a librarian to look
after them. When he wanted to refer
to his books, he went around as though
to a circulating library and left a re-
ceipt for whatever he took away, an
admirable idea, which should be en-
couraged nowadays.
His house at Chaplain was pructi-
cally a workshop. The upper rooms
were converted into an observatory,
the drawing room-Cavendish had no
use for drawing rooms-was a labora-
July, LIN LII I'LL dIlCl JILL 1C III LAC
up a forge. On the lawn he erected
a stage, which enabled him to reach
the top of a large tree, on which Sc.
cure and isolated perch he could be alb
solutely alone with his thoughts.
AS a host one gathers that this
strange being was hardly a success
The very few people who were admit
ted to his table were always given the
same fare-a leg Of mutton. On one
occasion four scientific men were tt
dine with him. When his h~ousekeepel
consulted him as to what she was tt
give them to eat, he said a leg Of NUT
ton. Sir" said the good soul, that
will not be enough for FIVE" well
then, get two" he replied. And this
man, who was content to eat mutton
everlastingly, had no sense Of beauty
He cared for nothing beyond his owl
work. His biographer, Dr.. George Will
son, said of him:
"There was nothing earnest enthusi.
astic, heroic or chivalrous in the nature
Of ~Cavendish, and as little was there
anything mean, %groveling or ignoble,
He was almost p~assionless. All that
needed for it's apprehension more than
pure intellect or required the exercise
of fancy, imagination, affection OF
faith was distasteful to Cavendish. An
intellectual head thinking, a pair OF
wonderful, acute eyes observing and q
pair Of very skillful hands expert
menting or recording are all that I re-
alize in reading his memorials"
He simply left his income to accumu'
late. One day his bankers, finding that
they had a balance Of 100000 to his
credit, sent up a messenger to consult
him about 1t. Cavendish was extreme
Iy perturbed, but he consented to see
the messenger. What do you come
here for" he asked. What do you
want with me?"
"Sir, I thought it proper to wait up
on YOU. as we have a very large bal
ance in hand Of yours, and we wish
your orders respecting it,"
IF it is any trouble to you l will
take it out Of your hands. Do not
come here to plague me"
mot the least trouble to US. sir; not
the least, but we thought you might