Ɛpsilon

From Auguste Balmat   le 20 Juillet 18601

Chamonix le 20 Juillet 1860

Monsieur le Professeur

Vous me pardonnez le retard que j’ai mis à vous accuser reception mais pour contre je me trouve bien aise de pouvoir vous annoncer aujourd’hui qu’une ascension au Mont Blanc vient d’avoir lieu et qu’on à vue les trois thermomêtres tout à fait intact sur le sommet mais on a rien aperçu au corridor au Grand Plateau ni aux Grands Mulets.

Je joins ici les observations que j’ai faites depuis votre depart j’y ajoute celles faites par Mr L’Abbé Veillet

En attendant le plaisir de vous revoir vueillez me croire | votre tout devoué | seviteur | Auguste Balmat

Chamonix 20 July 1860

Dear Professor,

You will forgive me the delay of confirming reception but for which I am glad to be able to inform you today that an ascent of Mont Blanc has just been made and that the three thermometers were seen intact on the summit but none on the Grand Plateau nor at the Grands Mulets.2

I enclose here the observations I have made since your departures and add those made by Mr L’Abbé Veuillet.3

In expectation of the pleasure of seeing you again believe me | your devoted | servant | Auguste Balmat

<table immediately under the letter>

1859

xbre Deg Centigrade janvier Deg

31 0 5 0
1860 janvier Deg 6 0
1er 1 7 3 ¼
2 3 8 12
3 3 ½ 9 7
4 0 10 3

<table continues separately on a second page>

janvier Deg Fevrier Deg Mars Deg
11 2 8 11 1 2
12 3 9 7 2 7 ½
13 6 10 6 3 5
14 6 ½ 11 17 4 10
15 4 12 15 ½ 5 4
16 6 13 12 ¾ 6
17 4 ½ 14 17 7 14 ¾
18 1 15 16 8 5
19 1 [illeg] zéro 16 17 9 15
20 0 17 11 ¼ 10 19
21 3 18 13 ¾ 11 18
22 3 ¼ 19 14 ¾ 12 15
23 5 20 13 ¼ 13 14 ¾
24 11 21 12 14 3
25 4 ½ 22 16 ½ 15 3 ½
26 4 ½ 23 15 ½ 16 8 ¾
27 4 24 15 17 12
28 1 ½ 25 7 ½ 18 9
29 9 26 9 19 6
30 1 ½ 27 2 20 4 ½
31 2 28 3 ½ 21 5
Fevrier Deg 29 1 ½ 22 4
1er 5 23 8 ¾
2 12 24 7
3 17 ½ 25 6 ½
4 16 ½ 26 4 ½
5 15 ½ 27 5
6 15 28 7 ¾
7 9 ¾ 29 2 ½
30 3
31 4

RI MS JT/1/V/6

1

This letter is written on the same piece of paper as letter 1723.

2

Balmat acted as guide, accompanying James Forbes, Alfred Wills and Tyndall on various expeditions. In 1858, having had the idea of burying a thermometer on the summit of Mont Blanc to register the winter temperature, Tyndall secured £15 from the Royal Society and went with Balmat, Wills, and several porters to place the instrument. It was sought in August 1859 but not found. See: Glaciers of the Alps, pp. 189–91; ‘Particulars of an Ascent of Mont Blanc’, Report of the Twenty-Eighth Meeting (1858), Brit. Assoc. Rep., 28 (London: John Murray, 1859), pp. 39–40. In 1859, Tyndall arranged a more substantial expedition to establish thermometers at 6 stations, including the summit of Mont Blanc (see ref. in letter 1723, n. 1), in a party including Edward Frankland. They slept overnight on the summit, the first time it had been done. In bad weather in 1860, Tyndall was not able to access the thermometers, and those in the lower stations were destroyed. By 1861 the thermometers on the summit were also broken. The locations of the thermometers for these winter readings by Balmat and Veuillet is not clear.

3

add those made by Mr L’Abbé Veuillet: see letter 1723.

Please cite as “Tyndall1722,” in Ɛpsilon: The John Tyndall Collection accessed on 5 June 2025, https://epsilon.ac.uk/view/tyndall/letters/Tyndall1722