William Cubitt to Faraday   2 August 18421

Down August 2 / 42

My dear Sir,

The bearer of this Mr. Thompson2 from North Britain is an Ingenious mechanist who has discovered a means of using electricity for firing gunpowder under circumstances which are normally unfavourable to electric or Galvanic action3[.]

I think favorably of the plan but have not had sufficient opportunity of testing it as to power & distance[.]

He is anxious to shew it to you - which I in fact encouraged as I know of no one so able to judge of its merits - as should it prove correct I should be most happy to give it any encouragement that my recommendation would afford.

I regret much not seeing you when passing thro Down but hope you will come again & give me the opportunity. I shall be in Town this week, & next week to be found in No 22 of this same Waterloo Crescent[.]

I am | My dear Sir | Sincerely Yours | W. Cubitt

M. Faraday Esq

1
William Cubitt (1785-1861, DNB). Civil engineer.
2
Unidentified.
3
Cubitt's interest in this stemmed from his need to blow up Round Down Cliff for the South Eastern Railway, between Folkestone and Dover, which he did on 26 January 1843. The charge was fired by electricity. See Athenaeum, 28 January 1843, p.92.

Please cite as “Faraday1415,” in Ɛpsilon: The Michael Faraday Collection accessed on 20 April 2024, https://epsilon.ac.uk/view/faraday/letters/Faraday1415