TALBOT8710

Trin Coll. ¹
Friday. May 15

My dear Father.

I am very glad indeed to hear such good accounts of Tilly & the Bab. ² I have received a lot of letters from you lately. If a man having taken his BA were not allowed to go in for a Tripos ³ then it would follow that a person who has taken his degree in the Mathematical Tripos would not be allowed to go out in the Classical Tripos, which is of course done continually, and they take their degrees between the two. The taking a poll degree I understand, or the not taking it. (I understand) makes no difference at all in the right to try for honours. I understand that it has been done often. I believe a man called Deverell in the last y last year, or the year before (I am not sure which) passed the poll having been very nearly plucked, and then beat 7 men in the Mathematical Tripos. Moncrieff took a BA in the poll and afterwards a BL in the Law Tripos. and My Friends say there is no doubt about it, & M^r Mathison ⁴ and my coach Godfray, both understood that that was what I meant to do; Godfray even suggesting it, which which of course they wouldnt have done if there had been any doubt about it, for they must know. Here is an extract from the University Calendar which is official & printed at the University Press.

By a Grace of the senate passed October 28. 1858 it was ordained that an undergraduate or Bachelor Designate in Arts may be a candidate for honours in the Mathematical Tripos or in the Classical Tripos of any year if at the end of the examination for such Tripos he shall have entered upon his ninth term at least having previously kept eight Terms provided that not more than ten terms shall have passed after the first of the said eight terms; and that excepting candidates for degrees jure natalium ⁵ no student of a different standing be allowed to be a candidate for such Honours. unless he shall have obtained permission from the Syndicate appointed to consider the cases of persons who have degraded.

I think that settles the question if any further proof was wanted. So whether I take my Poll degree or not I shall be able to go in for any Tripos. I have not got any Natural science Tripos papers but I will see if I can get them. I wish to go out in Mathematics and Then in the Natural science Tripos of the succeeding year. In the Regulations for the Natural Science Tripos adopted by the Senate. (In the Calendar) are the following

3. That any Undergraduate or Bachelor designate in Arts or Law may be admitted to the examination in any year if at the time of each Examination he shall have entered upon his eighth term at least, having previously kept seven terms provided that not more than nine terms shall have passed after the 1^st of the said seven terms – and excepting candidates for degrees jure natalium no student of a different standing be admitted to the examination unless he shall have obtained permission from the Syndicate appointed to consider the cases of persons who have degraded.

(That is the common rule)

Now note this especially.

5. That a student who has obtained honours in the Mathematical or Classical Tripos of any year may be admitted to the examination in the following Michaelmas Term.

That is what I want to do so that I h get a de nearly a year to read Natural Science in, with nothing else to do. thank you for the College Bill Your letter got here yesterday Thursday about 3 ¹ half past three oclock. I heard a mental cal calculator called Winckler calculate yesterday and it certainly was wonderfull [sic] only it he looked t as if it caused him considerable pain to go do it. he calculated in one of the Trinity lecture rooms I think he must be a German. He is almost blind which is I daresay the effect of that kind of work. he walks up and down whilst calculating and shakes his fingers in the most extraordinary way. first he did a multiplication sum of 2 rows of 6 figures I think – the figures being told him. the result was right all but one figure, and he found out the mistake.

The He then did a cube root and found the 9^th power of 9. Then he did a cubic equation. one figure in the result was wrong which he corrected afterwards. then he computed the seconds in the life of one of the men – being told the hour of his birth up to the present time. Then 136 figures being read him parcelled out in 6’s sixes with four at the beginning being read him. he repeated them making one or 2 mistakes but always correcting them right when told they were wrong and then he repeated them backwards – told what the 32 from the end was and those on each side, and what the 32 from the beginning and 4 or 5 following. he said that he could find the cube root of the 136 figures but it would take rather more than 4 hours with the assistance of paper, and longer without paper.

Your affect son
Charles.

He said the cubic equation was very difficult to do and that few mental calculators could do Algebraical questions, the difficulty lying in the signs. He only gave one root of the cubic equation.

[envelope:]
H. fox Talbot Esq
Millburn Tower
nr. Edinburgh