Papers on chemistry

Henry Cavendish was well-known in his lifetime for his chemical work. He published seven papers in "Philosophical Transactions" in the period 1766-1788, including his three papers on factitious air that earned him the Copley Medal (published in 1766).

According to Thorpe, these papers show that Henry Cavendish "anticipated Scheele in the discovery of arsenic acid" and that "they also appear to indicate that if he did not actually anticipate Scheele in the isolation of tartaric acid, he was an independent discoverer of the true nature of "tartar" and of the relation of cream of tartar to "soluble tartar" or normal potassium tartrate. He seems to have been familiar with certain of the general principles underlying the phenomena of gaseous diffusion and to have experimentally verified them. He was perhaps the first to attempt to investigate quantitatively the phenomena of gaseous explosions (Thorpe, Sir Edward, "The Scientific Papers of Henry Cavendish: Chemical and Dynamical (1921; Cambridge, Cambridge University Press), Vol II, pvi). The papers cover Cavendish's work with the composition of water and his work with hot air balloons.

HY/2/1-12 were arranged prior to 2024. These cover Cavendish's experiments with arsenic, tartar and gases. Of these, HY/2/1-6 are partially published in Thorpe 1921 Vol II. Some of the description for this grouping is therefore taken from Thorpe.

In 2024, HY/2/13-23 were arranged and catalogued from various folders to this grouping on the basis of subject matter (see Arrangement field). These new items cover Cavendish's work of various "airs" and investigations in mines, along with his experiments on various minerals.

HY/2/1-12 were catalogued prior to 2024. In 2024, HY/2/13-15 were added from a folder marked "Misc (unclassified)"; HY/2/16-19 and HY/2/23 were added from their respective individual folders; HY/2/20-22 were added from a folder marked "Cavendish Miscellaneous Papers 119/4"; HY/2/24 was added from a folder marked "Misc (Chemical)". This re-arrangement was made on the basis of subject matter.