17th June | 1859
My dear Clausius,
The books1 have reached me quite safely and I return both you and Professor Mousson my very best thanks for your kindness—As soon as I have made an abstract of Rendu’s paper2 I will return the volume.
Might not the precise lowering of temperature through the cause you mention3 be calculated from the dynamic theory?4
Ever yours | John Tyndall
There are two of my papers on the glaciers in the hands of the Royal Society5—this year I hope to finish a little book upon the subject6
RI MS JT/1/T/177
The books: see letter 1622, n. 3–5, and letter 1619, n. 10 and 11.
Rendu’s paper: see letter 1619, n. 13.
the cause you mention: Clausius suggested that the cooling can be explained according to the mechanical theory of heat, see also letter 1622.
the dynamic theory: relating to the science of energy, in particular the relationship between heat and mechanical energy. Both Clausius and Tyndall published on the subject, see also letter 1622.
two of my papers on the glaciers in the hands of the Royal Society: likely refers to Tyndall, ‘On the Physical Phenomena of Glaciers—Part I. Observations on the Mer de Glace’, Phil. Trans., 149 (1859), pp. 261–78, and Tyndall, ‘On the Veined Structure of Glaciers; with Observations upon White Ice-Seams, Air-Bubbles and Dirt-Bands, and Remarks upon Glacier Theories’, Phil. Trans., 149 (1859), pp. 279–307.
a little book upon the subject: refers to Tyndall’s book The Glaciers of the Alps, see also letter 1595, n. 4.
Please cite as “Tyndall1623,” in Ɛpsilon: The John Tyndall Collection accessed on