TALBOT9408

Norwich
Sunday August 23^rd/68

My dear Father,

I received your letter yesterday. I did get Rosamonds ¹ letter when I was in Wales.

Grove ² does not appear to have been in Norwich till yesterday or the day before when I found him at the Reception room and gave him your letter of instruction. He said he was sorry you had not come, also particularly that you couldn’t be president next year. – He introduced me to Professor Tyndall. ³

D^r Hookers ⁴ discourse address seemed to me to be good, but it was very difficult to hear him and at times impossible as he spoke feebly and the hall was very large. – I have a printed copy of it. – On Friday evening I heard a discourse by Fergusson ⁵ on the circular Buddhist buildings of India, & in their connection or mixture with tre tree and serpent worship, (very interesting)

We had a soire on Thursday evening at St Andrews hall. The nave of the Old Blackfriars church, ⁶ (refreshments being in a bit of the cloisters. It was very crowded and rather hot) saw.

Saw spectrum of of a solution of a salt of magnesium potassium (I think). – Comp combustion of magnesium wire through a microscope. – Absorption of hydrogen by Palladium. –.

Some good examples of [illegible deletion] objects viewed by polarised light. – A good magneto electric medium and a lot of other things.

but Coats and umbrellas could not be found on departure and many must have lost them.

I doubt if – I shall go to the next soire, and if I do I shall not take coat or umbrella.

– Excuse bad writing, under difficulties. –.

I cant enumerate every thing. I think of running down to Yarmouth at two and returning in the evening if the day holds up. – I fancy that Sir George Young ⁷ was at Cambridge with me.

There is a very fine local museum ⁸ here, with good collection of fossils. – I heard a paper of Professor Willis’, ⁹ on the water supply of the monastery of Canterbury in the middle ages, made out from a 2 maps of or plans of the 12^th century and inspection and a plan of the existing buildings. – I also heard yesterday a paper by Siemens ¹⁰ on his gas P apparatus for puddling iron. –

I shall return to Lacock probably on Friday next. If not I shall arrive on Saturday. I shall write to John Wilkins ¹¹ to tell him to meet me…

Your affect son
Charles

[envelope:]
H Fox Talbot Esq
Lacock Abbey
Chippenham