Royal Institution frozen, he was not allowed to practise as a doctor, and Humphry Davy was appointed as his assistant, so he resigned. Humphry Davy was an even greater success, as was his assistant and successor Michael Faraday. Davy's immediate successor was William Thomas Brande. Thus the Institution has had an instrumental role in the advancement of science since its founding. Notable scientists who have worked there include Sir Humphry Davy (who discovered sodium and potassium), Michael Faraday, James Dewar, Sir William Henry Bragg and Sir William Lawrence Bragg (who jointly won the Nobel prize for their work on x-ray diffraction), Max
Pneumatic Institution effects. Davy was to describe his work at the Institution in his "Researches, chemical and philosophical, chiefly concerning nitrous oxide, or dephlogisticated nitrous air, and its respiration" (London, Murray, 1800). This and other gases were administered, without charge, to willing subjects, particularly those with diseases considered to be incurable at the time. Although the initial aim had been to treat patients with tuberculosis, most of the patients treated suffered from some form of paralysis. James Watt supported the "Institution" because conventional methods had failed to help against his son's pulmonary tuberculosis (known as "consumption" at the time), which had previously