Jacob Herbert to Faraday   10 May 1852

Trinity House, | 10 May 1852.

My dear Sir,

Herewith I send you a sample of Oil taken from the Iron Tank, from which the Light Houses &c belonging to the Corporation are supplied, in which Tank it has stood for some months,- and having recently been burnt at this House, has not been found to burn so well as heretofore; it appearing also, in some degree, clouded, And I am thereupon instructed to request you will favor the Elder Brethren, by stating your opinion, whether vegetable Oil, of this description, deposited in an Iron Tank, would probably possess such chemical affinity for the metal as to take up a sufficient portion of it, so as to injure it’s qualities of combustion¹.

I remain | My dear Sir, | Your very faithful Servant | J. Herbert

M. Faraday Esq. D.C.L. | &c &c &c