Royal Institution of Great Britain
Dear Mr. Faraday,
Sir Roderick Murchison1 I am informed has kindly expressed his readiness to grant us specimens from the Museum of Practical Geology2 provided an official application be made to him on the part of the managers. Fortunately a meeting occurs today, and I should feel obliged if you would bring the subject forward and obtain for me the application which Sir Roderick considers necessary.3
Believe me | most truly yours | John Tyndall
2nd June
for certain geological specimens illustrative of slaty cleavage4
RI MS AD/03/D/04/03
Faraday Correspondence 5:3154
Sir Roderick Murchison: the geologist; see letter 1170, n. 10.
Museum of Practical Geology: The Museum of Practical Geology (originally Economic Geology) opened in Craig’s Court, Whitehall, in 1835, the brain-child of the Director of the Geological Survey, Henry De la Beche (1796–1855). It moved to a purpose-built building in Jermyn Street in May 1851 under the direction of Sir Roderick Murchison. Besides the Museum, it was the headquarters of the Geological Survey, the Mining Records Office, and the School of Mines.
considers necessary: Tyndall required the specimens for his Friday Evening Discourse of 6 June 1856, ‘Comparative View of the Cleavage of Crystals and Slate Rocks’, Roy. Inst. Proc., 2 (1854–8), pp. 295‒308.
for certain… slaty cleavage: endorsement in Faraday’s hand.
Please cite as “Tyndall1234,” in Ɛpsilon: The John Tyndall Collection accessed on