Faraday to Macedonio Melloni   31 March 1835

London 31 March | 1835

Sir

I have at last an opportunity by Mr [George] Barnard, my Brother in law of completing my commission and sending you by him the gold & Silver medals awarded to you by the Royal Society of London upon the foundation of Count Rumford1 and it gives me great pleasure to think that I have assisted in the performance of this act of justice towards your scientific discoveries which important as they are will I trust be only the precursors of others still more important[.]

I send also by him the polarizing eye piece of Mr Nicol2[.] It has been examined by Mr. Talbot and declared good[.] I hope you will receive it in good condition: it cost me fifteen shillings3.

I was also in the hopes of sending you by Mr Barnard a copy of my last series of researches in Electricity (the ninth series4) which was read some time ago at the Royal Society5; but the printer is not quite ready. It relates to some extraordinary cases of the Induction of Electric currents[.]

When Dr. Lardner came home from Paris he told me briefly of some of M Biots results respecting circular polarization6 but I have been so laboriously occupied that as yet I have not had time to consider them. Indeed I have read scarcely any thing lately or communicated with any body & this must be my excuse to M. Biot for not knowing more of his important subject. I intend to remain but a short time longer in this ignorant state[.]

I am even now so pressed by daily duties as to have little time for writing and must conclude as always

Your obliged & faithful servant | M. Faraday

M Macedione Melloni | &c &c &c


Address: M. Macedione Melloni | &c &c &c | Rue Boucherat | (au marais) | à Paris

1
See note 3, letter 750.
2
William Nicol (1768-1851, DSB). Inventor of a polarising prism. See Nicol (1828-9), Talbot (1834b).
3
See letter 759.
4
Faraday (1835a), ERE9.
5
On 23 January 1835.
6
Biot (1832, 1834). See also letters 754, 759 and 767.

Bibliography

FARADAY, Michael (1835a): “Experimental Researches in Electricity. - Ninth Series. On the influence by induction of an Electric Current on itself:- and on the inductive action of Electric Currents generally”, Phil. Trans., 125: 41-56.

NICOL, William (1828-9): “On a Method of so far increasing the Divergency of the two Rays in Calcareous-spar, that only one Image may be seen at a time”, Edinb. New Phil. J., 20: 83-4.

TALBOT, William Henry Fox (1834b): “Facts relating to Optical Science. No. II”, Phil. Mag., 4: 289-90.

Please cite as “Faraday0773,” in Ɛpsilon: The Michael Faraday Collection accessed on 28 April 2024, https://epsilon.ac.uk/view/faraday/letters/Faraday0773