WILLIAM

See also:

• HENRY
• HENRY (1129-1195)
• HENRY (Fr. Henri; Span. Enrique; Ger. Heinrich; Mid. H. Ger. Heinrich and Heimrich; O.H.G. Haimi- or Heimirih, i.e. " prince, or chief of the house," from O.H.G. heim, the Eng. home, and rih, Goth. reiks; compare Lat. rex " king "—" rich," therefore " mig
• HENRY (c. 1108-1139)
• HENRY (c. 1174–1216)
• HENRY, EDWARD LAMSON (1841– )
• HENRY, JAMES (1798-1876)
• HENRY, JOSEPH (1797-1878)
• HENRY, MATTHEW (1662-1714)
• HENRY, PATRICK (1736–1799)
• HENRY, PRINCE OF BATTENBERG (1858-1896)
• HENRY, ROBERT (1718-1790)
• HENRY, VICTOR (1850– )
• WILLIAM HENRY (1795-1836)

HENRY (1795-1836)  , English chemist, son of Thomas Henry (1734—1816), an apothecary and writer on chemistry, was born at Manchester on the 12th of December 1775 . He began to study medicine at Edinburgh in 1795, taking his doctor's degree in 1807, but ill-health interrupted his practice as a physician, and he devoted his time mainly to chemical research, especially in regard to gases . One. of his best-known papers (Phil . Trans., 1803) describes experiments on the quantity of gases absorbed by water at different temperatures and under different pressures, the conclusion he reached (" Henry's law ") being that " water takes up of gas condensed by one, two or more additional atmospheres, a quantity which, ordinarily compressed, would be equal to twice, thrice, &c. the volume absorbed under the common pressure of the atmosphere." Others of his papers deal with gas-analysis, fire-damp, illuminating gas, the composition of hydrochloric acid and of ammonia, urinary and other morbid concretions, and the disinfecting powers of heat . His Elements of Experimental Chemistry (1799) enjoyed considerable vogue in its day, going through 11 editions in 30 years . He died at Pendlebury, near Manchester, on the and of September 1836 .