Royal Institution Friday | June 10th. 1854
My dear Tom,
I have gone to Newman’s1 and have been assured that the tube has been sent away.2
I found it good to put a little grease round the rim of the disk so as to ensure good contact with the tube – not sufficient however to permit any of the grease to protrude itself at the bottom of the tube
I. Stop the orifice with a little peg of wood – fill your tube – let it rest a little and then withdraw the peg.
II. Let the water fall upon an inclined board or two so as to extinguish the noise of the fall. If you allow it to fall into a vessel of water the bubbling interferes greatly with the sounds and almost masks it.
III. Let the jet issue into water. Place a beaker of water underneath the tube end – so that the latter just dips beneath the surface of the water in the beaker. The sound – slightly lowered in pitch is heard as before.
Your note3 has rather unsettled me and therefore I give these practical hints just to save your time for it is just possible that I may not be present.4 With the idea of going I had connected a number of other circumstances. These your note informs me are to be changed and I am inert and find the sudden transition difficult.5
I am very much obliged to both Mr and Mrs Wright.6
Your affectionate | John
RI MS JT/1/HTYP/344
LT Typescript Only
Newman’s: see letter 0717, n. 3.
assured that the tube has been sent away: Tyndall had arranged for a Savart tube to be sent to Hirst to use in his experiments; he must not have received it yet (see letter 0935, n. 3).
your note: letter missing.
may not be present: on 6 June, Tyndall stated that he would visit Hirst at Queenwood in time for a concert on 12 June (see letter 0935, n. 4).
transition difficult: below this line appear 12–15 illegible words handwritten by LT that have been crossed out.
Mr and Mrs Wright: Tyndall would stay with the Wrights during his stay at Queenwood College (see letter 0939, n. 1).
Please cite as “Tyndall0937,” in Ɛpsilon: The John Tyndall Collection accessed on