"Braun confounded two phenomena. The one of these was the contraction which accompanies the cooling of liquid mercury; the other the further contraction which attends its solidification. The contraction due to both these causes [was] exaggerated by the peculiarities which attend the freezing of mercury in capillary tubes... To his conclusion the majority of the natural philosophers of Europe assented, but... Cavendish and Black... by independent researches, suggested the same way of ascertaining the true freezing point of mercury... This method... was put in practice by Governor Hutchins at Albany Fort, Hudson Bay... The result was, that the freezing point of mercury is not more than 39° or 40° below Fahrenheit's zero... Mr. Hutchins's observations were not made till 1782, but the directions by which he was guided had been laid down by Cavendish in 1764 and 1765."
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The Life of the Honble Henry Cavendish
The Life of the Honble Henry Cavendish Including Abstracts of His More Important Papers, and a Critical Inquiry into the Claims of all the Alleged Dicsoverers of the Composition of Water by George Wilson, M.D., F.R.D.E. Lecturer on Chemistry, Edinburgh, was published in 1851. It was written at the request of the Cavendish Society, and contains an authoritative biography of Henry Cavendish, a general sketch of his scientific researches and discoveries, as well as a discussion supporting Cavendish
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