Ɛpsilon

From J. B. Hannay   28 May 1881

Private Laboratory, | Sword Street, | Glasgow.

28th May 1881

Dear Sir

I am afraid I made a mis-statement in my letter yesterday1 I should have said that the greater the number of atoms going to form a molecule the greater the contraction on combination so that the density of a gas formed of complex molecules would approach that of its liquid and were the complexity infinite the liquid and gaseous states would be merged into one.2 In protein matter we have almost these conditions. I do not remember how I put it in my letter yesterday but I became convinced when on board the steamer on my way home that I had reversed what I wanted to say.3 I am very sorry to give you the trouble of reading this correction as I know you must have plenty of letters to trouble you

I am very Faithfully Yours | J B Hannay

CD annotations

Foot of letter: ‘J. B. Hannay’ pencil
1
The letter has not been found.
2
Hannay was working to give an accurate definition of liquid and gaseous states of matter. His most recent paper on the topic, ‘On the limit of the liquid state’ (Hannay 1881), was read at the Royal Society of London on 10 March 1881.
3
Hannay lived in Helensburgh on the Firth of Clyde about thirty miles north-east of Glasgow (Census returns of Scotland 1881 (The National Archives of Scotland: Row 8/5)) and was evidently commuting by steamer. For more information on steamers and the development of trade, travel, and tourism in Helensburgh, see Ashworth 2001, pp. 104–5 and Durie 2012, pp. 7–8.

Please cite as “DCP-LETT-13180,” in Ɛpsilon: The Charles Darwin Collection accessed on 5 June 2025, https://epsilon.ac.uk/view/dcp-data/letters/DCP-LETT-13180