George Back to Faraday   7 May 18451

U.S. Club / May 7th 1845

My dear Sir,

I fear the Esquimeaux knife I now send you, is not what you require2, but I may state that it was found to the East of the Coppermine River, and it is possible that the iron might have been obtained from the Esquimeaux still further East and who trade with the Hudsons Bay Company Posts, or from the Western tribes who barter with the Russian traders[.]

Very Sincerely Yours | Geo Back

1
George Back (1796-1878, DNB). Captain in the Royal Navy and Arctic explorer.
2
This was for Faraday's fifth lecture, given on 10 May 1845, on "Iron - strength, magnetism" of his "Course of Eight Lectures on Certain Metals and Metallic Properties". For his notes for this course see RI MS F4 J5. This lecture was reported in Lond.Med.Gaz., 1845, 1: 1363-8. His mention of the knife is on p.1363.

Please cite as “Faraday1726,” in Ɛpsilon: The Michael Faraday Collection accessed on 28 April 2024, https://epsilon.ac.uk/view/faraday/letters/Faraday1726