11th. Nov. 1853.
My dear Huxley,
I have just gasped up the ascent of Baker Street1 having walked all the way from the Institution; and here I find your note,2 like a glass of Johannisberger,3 to cheer and to refresh me. I quite agree with your philosophy of the medal.4 As long as man is man and lives in a world where he is anxious to bear his head erect such things I suppose will have a value for him, for they are the recognition of his manhood in the sphere into which circumstances have cast him. It is exceedingly curious to me what strokes and upliftings you and I have had in common, this time last year you were in my present position,5 and I learned to day that there is some similarity in the circumstances under which both got the medals. I trust that we may weave a prediction from these omens, and that providence still intends to build us a Toronto6 at home. That we shall be in closer proximity to each other I sincerely hope and firmly believe.
I was not aware that a speech was expected at the dinner.7 I hope I shall be half drunk if called upon, for otherwise my courage will fail. I often wish that I could stultify the motor nerves on such occasions – They tickle my muscles into most unpleasant quiverings.
I shall look with joy upon your countenance whenever you enter my door, and were you a smoker I would offer you my best cigar. I have a most confused idea of the geography of the outskirts of London. Were I to be hanged for my ignorance I could affix no precise locality to the term St. John’s Wood.8 I have contented myself ever with the fact that Huxley lived there, and this is the whole significance which the place has ever had for me. By degrees however I trust I shall encompass the question and track you out.
Staite’s9 contrivance is to keep the coal points a certain distance apart and thus give fixity to the electric light. Several contrivances of the kind have been made, the best I think by Duboscq Rue de l’Odéon Paris.10 I heard Staite lecture once11 in Manchester,12 the light was good but my impression at the time was that Mr Staite was a superlative ass. They formed a Committee upon the subject in Manchester but it came to nothing. Joule was on the Committee.13 I saw him a year or so afterwards and on mentioning the subject I know he gave utterance to something that was quite in harmony with the impression which I have permitted myself the pleasure of expressing above. If you wanted information on the subject it would be best to write to Manchester. I believe the thing exploded there. And now my dear fellow-cub, goodbye
ever Yours most truly | John Tyndall
I reciprocate your congratulations. Next year you will be a power in the state yourself and contribute to deciding as to the medals.
IC HP 8:13
RI MS JT/1/TYP/9/2863
Typescript Only
Baker Street: a street in London, England within the Marylebone district, located to the north of the Thames River. Presumably Tyndall had to walk along Baker Street to get to his house
your note: letter missing; Tyndall did not note receipt of Huxley’s letter in his journal.
a glass of Johannisberger: a type of white wine produced at Castle Johannisberg, located on the Rhine River (OED).
the medal: the Royal Medal (see letter 0815, n. 3).
you were in my present position: about the same time in 1852, Huxley learned that he received the Royal Medal for his Rattlesnake papers. See in particular Huxley’s letter to Miss Heathorn, 13 November 1852, in Life and Letters of Thomas Henry Huxley, ed. Leonard Huxley, 2 vols. (New York: D. Appleton, 1991), vol. 1, pp. 109–11.
Toronto: both Huxley and Tyndall had been recently rejected for positions at the University of Toronto (A. B. Macallum, ‘Huxley and Tyndall and the University of Toronto’, The University of Toronto Monthly 2:3 [December 1901], pp. 68–76). (See also letters 0728, n. 2; 0748, n. 16; and Volume 3.)
the dinner: the dinner Tyndall was asked to attend on 30 November to receive the Royal Medal (see letter 0822).
St. John’s Wood: a district in the City of Westminster, London, located near Regent’s Park. Huxley lived at 4 Upper York Place, St John’s Wood.
Staite’s: William Edwards Staite (1809–54), an English inventor notable for his work on the arc lamp.
Duboscq Rue de l’Odéon Paris: Jules Duboscq (1817–86), a French photographer and maker of scientific instruments whose workshop was located at 35 Rue de L’Odéon in Paris (P. Brenni, ‘19th-Century French Scientific Instrument Makers XIII: Soleil, Duboscq, and Their Successors’, Bulletin of the Scientific Instrument Society, 51 [1996], pp. 7–16).
I heard Staite lecture once: see letter 0424, n. 10.
Manchester: the University of Manchester.
the Committee: not identified.
Please cite as “Tyndall0826,” in Ɛpsilon: The John Tyndall Collection accessed on