b. September 23, 1791 and d. August 25, 1867

English chemist, electrician and philosopher. His first notable discovery was the production of the continuous rotation of magnets and of wires conducting the electric current round each other. In 1831 he discovered induction, the key to the modern development of electricity and the fundamental principle of the future dynamo electric machine. In 1834 he discovered that the decomposition effected by the voltaic current indicate the quantity in weight by which the elements combine, or the weights of the atoms of the atomic theory. He invented his famous conception of the lines of magnetic force and his well-known theory of the dielectric. He discovered benzine in 1825.

Around the magnet, Faraday
Was sure that Volta’s lightnings play;
But how to draw them from the wire?
He drew a lesson from the heart:
‘Tis when we meet, ’tis when we part,
Breaks forth the electric fire.

—Herbert Mayo

Of all men of the nineteenth century Faraday had the greatest power of drawing ideas straight out of his experiments and making his physical apparatus do his thinking, so that experimentation and influence were not two proceedings, but one.

1885, February—Telephonic communication was established between Brussels and Paris by means of Dr. Cornelius Herz’s micro-telephone.

b. September 25, 1798 and d. September 22, 1874

French geologist. He co-operated in a great geological map of France. In 1832 he became professor of geology in the College of France; in 1833 chief engineer of mines. Some of his works are a “Glance at Mines” (1824), “Researches in Some of the Revolutions of the Surface of the Globe” (1829) and “Lectures on Geology” (1845).

Geology, in the magnitude and sublimity of the
objects of which it treats, undoubtedly ranks next
to astronomy in the scale of the sciences.

—Sir J. E. W. Herschel

Earth so huge and yet so bounded-pools of salt and plots of
land-
Shallow skin of green azure-chains of mountains, grains of
sand!

—Tennyson

Hence sable Coal his massy couch extends,
And stars of gold his sparkling Pyrite blends;
Hence dull-eyed Naphtha pours his pitchy streams,
And Jet uncolour’d drinks the solar beams;
Bright Amber shines on his electric throne,
And adds ethereal lustres to his own.

—Botanic Garden: Dr. Darwin

1787, September 5-1852, December 10—Francois Sulpice Beudant lived. In 1818 he studied the minerals of Hungary. He published “Researches on the Causes which Determine Variations of Crystalline Forms of the same Mineral Substance” (1818) and an “ELementary Treatise on Mineralogy” (2d ed. 1831).

b. September 22, 1715 and d. January 7, 1786

French naturalist. Student of Reaumur. He first ascertained the volcanic nature of the mountains of Auvergne and determined the true character of organic remains. He wrote, “Memoirs on Some Mountains of France formerly Volcanoes” (1752) and a treatise “On the Granites of France Compared with Those of Egypt” (1755).

Nature has reserved mountains as the machinery
for putting forth her sublimest spectacles. Her
most imposing mysteries are accomplished among
the snows and storms that envelop their summits,
while the central fires that burn beneath their roots
have been contemplated in all time as the most
terrific manifestations of his power. As we mount
these ancient piles, majestic solitudes, a purer air,
fresher vegetation, flowers of more brilliant hues,
the enlargement of the horizon, the expansion of
mind and thoughts more serene and meditative
seem to whisper us that, in climbing the domes of
the temple of nature, we are approaching the throne
of the Eternal Being who fills nature with his
presence.

—Volcanoes: Flint

227 B. C. (about)—An earthquake occurred at Rhodes. The colossus was thrown down.

1774—Nevil Maskelyne measured the earth’s density by the Schiehallion experiments.

1785—Sir James Hall experimented on melted rocks.

1893, March 9—Earthquake shock felt distinctly at New York at 12:30 A. M.