John Davy (chemist)

John Davy ( born May 24, 1790 in Penzance, England; † January 24, 1868 in Ambleside ) was an English physician and zoologist.

Life and work

John Davy was the younger brother of Sir Humphry Davy. In 1814 he earned his MD in Edinburgh. In 1812 he had discovered phosgene and later silicon tetrafluoride. In 1815 he was medical officer of the British Army and traveled to India, Ceylon and Barbados. February 17, 1814 he became a member of the Royal Society. In 1863, he discovered that eggshells have about 8,000 pores large enough to allow oxygen in and carbon dioxide to flow out.

Publications (selection)

• An account of the interior of Ceylon, and of its Inhabitants: With travels in Iceland did. In 1821. ( Online)
• Memoirs of the Life of Sir Humphry Davy. , 1836.