Hampton Court Green, 8 July 1859.
Sir,
In reply to the Chief Commissioner’s2 further inquiry3, I beg to say that I do not wish to give an opinion, as only between the processes of two persons, Mr. Ransome and M. Szerelmey, both of which are founded upon the process of M. Fuchs4, and the use of substances alike in their nature and principle with the water glass and silicates; and whilst thinking over and comparing the results at the Houses of Parliament, I took into consideration other experimental results regarding silicates, which had on former occasions come under my view.
The consequence is that if I were responsible in the present state of the evidence for the selection of one process only for application to the Houses of Parliament, I should select that of Mr. Szerelmey; but that if I could set apart a fair portion of the building (fair I mean as to exposure and future comparison) for the application of the silicate process (which might be Ransome’s) I would do it; and according to the weight of the evidence upon my own mind at present, I would try to make this proportion about a third or fourth part of the whole.
I am, &c. | (signed) M. Faraday
A. Bonham-Carter, Esq.
FUCHS, Johann Nepomuk (1859): On the Manufacture, Properties, and Application of Water-Glass (Soluble Alkaline Silicate), including a Process of Stereochromic Painting, London.
Please cite as “Faraday3614,” in Ɛpsilon: The Michael Faraday Collection accessed on 27 April 2024, https://epsilon.ac.uk/view/faraday/letters/Faraday3614