Faraday to an unidentified correspondent   31 May 1853

Royal Institution | 31 May 1853.

Dear Sir

I cannot find a copy of the notes of which I spoke to you[.] I will therefore say in brief that when I examined the books at the Athenaeum it was my opinion that they suffered from the Sulphurous & Sulphuric acid produced by the burning gas and that as it appeared to be impossible so to purify coal gas as to remove every source of these substances from it, so it would be wise to ventilate the gas lamps. This was done according to my suggestion & I understand has perfectly removed the evil¹[.]

I am | My dear Sir | Very Truly Yours | M. Faraday

I may add that I have found no reason to change my opinion of the cause of the evil and I doubt not that the remedy would be as efficient in Lord Spencer’s² Library as at the Athenaeum[.] | MF