[Queenwood]2
My Dear Francis,
The thought occurred to me last night that in such cases as that of Dr Woods3 it would be well to write to him, stating an objection or two to which his views appeared liable. He might be thus induced to reconsider his subject, or if the objections arose from a misapprehension of his meaning he would have an opportunity of setting us right. In this way you would retain his good will, and if any thing were in him might bring it out, at the same time preventing the magazine from being the vehicle of inconsiderate theories. If you fall in with this idea send me his paper again and I will select one or two points which appear to be vulnerable, make a few remarks upon them, send the remarks to you and you could enclose them with a short note from yourself.
Many thanks for Kane’s letter4 n’importe.5 in späteren Jahren werden wir hoffentlich doch ein Glass Bier und eine Cigarre zusammen haben.
Leb’wohl | Dein Treuer Tyndall6
I shall have Riess’s paper7 ready by the time you mention.
About a year ago Regnault made an investigation8 on the thermo-currents of Bismuth and Antimony – it appeared I think in the Comptes Rendus, or perhaps in [the Annales]. If you could find it I should be very glad if you would send me the ‘heft’9 containing it when you send me Magnus’s paper.10 Another paper from Svanberg11 appeared in the Comptes Rendus – this I should also like to have if possible.
StBPL T&F, Authors’ letters
[20–31 October 1851]: The sequence of letters from Taylor to Kane (copied by Francis to Tyndall in letter 0551 of 15 October), and then Kane to Taylor, which was passed from Taylor to Francis and finally forwarded from Francis to Tyndall (as acknowledged here) suggests that this letter is after 20 October. Tyndall copied Kane’s reply into his Journal on 30 October (n. 4), setting that as the latest possible date for this letter. Similarly, the reference to Regnault’s paper implies that this letter predates letter 0558 (3 November) by at least a few days (see n. 8 below). Thus this letter was written between 20 and 31 October.
[Queenwood]: Queenwood embossing on the paper.
Dr Woods: Francis had asked Tyndall to read through two papers by Woods and Tyndall had already sent Francis a list of objections to the first of those papers (letters 0550 and 0551). The plan Tyndall suggested here was adopted as he reported receiving answers from Woods in letter 0563.
Kane’s letter: Robert Kane to Taylor, which Francis forwarded to Tyndall (no covering letter found). Kane explained that the professorship at Cork was not vacant because the incumbent had changed his mind and was no longer resigning. Tyndall copied Kane’s letter into his Journal (30 October, JT/2/13b/550). Kane’s letter was a response to Taylor’s letter (copied in letter 0551).
n’importe: never mind (French).
in späteren ... Treuer Tyndall: In later years, we shall hopefully have a glass of beer and a cigar together. Live well | Yours faithfully Tyndall (German).
Riess’s paper: cited letter 0514, n. 4. In letter 0545 Tyndall informed Francis that he was ready to translate it whenever required. This letter implies that Francis had replied (letter missing), giving a deadline.
Regnault made an investigation: Tyndall misremembered. He had seen a translated article in the Phil. Mag., not an article in a French journal (see letter 0558, n. 7).
heft: German for number (of a periodical).
Magnus’s paper: Heinrich Gustav Magnus, ‘Ueber thermoelektrische Ströme’, Poggend. Annal., 83:8 (1851), pp. 469–504. This was translated and condensed as ‘On Thermo-electric Currents’ and included alongside discussions of three other papers in Tyndall’s February 1852 ‘Reports on the Progress of the Physical Sciences’ (see letter 0581, n. 20).
paper from Svanberg: Lars Fredrik Svanberg, ‘Expériences sur le pouvoir thermo-électrique du bismuth et de l’antimonie cristallisés’, Comptes Rendus, 31 (1850), pp. 250–2. Tyndall included an extract alongside the paper by Magnus (see n. 10).
Please cite as “Tyndall0556,” in Ɛpsilon: The John Tyndall Collection accessed on 6 May 2024, https://epsilon.ac.uk/view/tyndall/letters/Tyndall0556