25th Nov. 1855.1
Dear Sir Charles.
I am truly grateful to you for granting me the opportunity of instructing myself on a question in which I take so deep an interest as the cleavage and foliation of rocks.2 It will give me the greatest pleasure to join you at the Geological Club3 on Wednesday next.
If you should happen to be at the Royal Society tonight,4 or at the Royal Institution tomorrow night5 I might shew you an experiment or two on the influence of structure upon the magnetic force, which would probably interest you. Magnetism may possibly become a valuable aid in the investigation of this important question.
Most faithfully yours | John Tyndall
Sir Charles Lyell | &c. &c. &c.
RI MS JT/1/T/1050
25th Nov. 1855: This letter was incorrectly dated, apparently by Tyndall. However, the Geological Society meeting was held on Wednesday, 31 January 1855 and Tyndall’s Bakerian Lecture was delivered on Thursday, 25 January 1855.
the cleavage and foliation of rocks: see letter 1033, n. 1.
to join you at the Geological Club: see letter 1033. Tyndall subsequently gave Hirst an account of this meeting; see letter 1037, especially n. 7.
the Royal Society tonight: Tyndall delivered his Bakerian Lecture at the RS on 25 January; see letter 1031, n. 2.
the Royal Institution tomorrow night: Tyndall delivered a Friday evening discourse at the RI on 26 January; see letter 1031, n. 3.
Please cite as “Tyndall1034,” in Ɛpsilon: The John Tyndall Collection accessed on