Hales
Collier's New Encyclopedia (1921)
STEPHEN, an English_philosopher; born in Beckesbourn, Kent, Cor- England, Sept. 7, 1677. He entered , in 1696 pus Christi College, Cambridge , was elected Fellow in 1702, and having , about taken holy orders was presented 1710, to the perpetual curacy of Teddington, in Middlesex. His first important publication was "Vegetable Staticks, or Vegetables" Experiments on the Sap of (1727), which may be regarded as the starting point of our true knowledge of "Hæmavegetable physiology. In taticks" (1733), a second part of this NATHAN HALE & ACAPTAIN IN THE RE ARNY UNITED STATES WHO CAVE HIS LIFE PORMS COUNTIL IN THE OF NEW YORK SEPT 220 LIHAT I HAVE BUT ONE LIFE NATHAN HALE work, treating of the circulation of the blood, Hales gives results obtained by experimental methods of investigation like those now in use in studying physiolindependent works, ogy. Besides other including "The Means of Dissolving the Stone in the Bladder," he contributed numerous memoirs to the "Philosophical Transactions" on ventilation, electricity, the analysis of air, etc. His ventilating machines were introduced into the London prisons. His improvements in the mode of collecting gases did much to facilitate the subsequent labors of Black, Priestley and Lavoisier. He also invented machines for distilling sea-water, HALÉVY preserving meat, etc. He died in Teddington, Middlesex, England, Jan. 4, 1761. HALÉVY, LUDOVIC, a French dramatist; son of Leon; born in Paris, France, Jan. 1, 1834. In 1861 he became secretary to the Corps Legislatif. He first made himself known as the writer of the librettos to Offenbach's burlesques (partly in collaboration with Meilhac); "Orpheus in Hades " (1861); "Beautiful Helen" (1865); "Parisian Life" (1866); "Grand Duchess of Gerolstein" (1867); and "The Brigands " (1870). He wrote besides a large number of vaudevilles and comedies, among them "Froufrou" (1869); "Tricoche and Cacolet" ( 1872) ; "The Debutante's Husband" (1878); and "The Little Mother" (1880 ); "Madame and Monsieur Cardinal" (1873), and "The Little Cardinals" (1880). His "The Invasion " (1872) are personal recollections of the war. In 1882 he published his by charming idyllic story "Abbé Constantin," which has been well followed by "Criquette" (1883) and "Deux Mariages" (1883). Halévy was admitted to the Academy in 1886. He died May 8 , 1908.
What Has Changed in the Last Century
Collier's account of 1721 vintage—published 1921—still reads accurately: "Vegetable Staticks" (1727) is indeed treated as a starting point of experimental plant physiology, and "Haemastaticks" (1733) as the first real measurement of blood pressure, made by inserting a glass tube into the artery of a living horse. What has moved is the explanation behind Hales's measurements: the cohesion-tension account of how water is pulled up a tall tree, proposed by Dixon and Joly in the 1890s, is now the textbook answer to the sap-ascent puzzle Hales opened. His pneumatic trough for collecting gases over water, which Collier's rightly says "facilitated the subsequent labors of Black, Priestley and Lavoisier," is still described that way in histories of chemistry. Less remembered in 1921 and better known now is that Hales was also an active trustee of the new colony of Georgia and a campaigner against spirit-drinking.
Written for this edition, 2026.