Royal Institution | 4th April 1861
My dear Sir
Before I sent my memoir to the Royal Society1 the thought occurred to me of sending you a full copy of it, accompanied by a drawing of the apparatus employed. But on second consideration I imagined that the perusal of a long English memoir would be too much even for your good nature towards me. Hence the determination to wait until the memoir should be printed.
This I regret to say has not yet taken place, but the moment the first proofs reach my hand I will send you a copy. At present I send you a scanty abstract merely,2 which will give you some general idea of the character of the enquiry.
M. Despretz3 omitted a portion of the manuscript which I sent to him; probably because he thought it too speculative4—I have however throughout endeavoured to limit myself to the strict mechanical conditions of the problem; and though may modify detail, I am inclined to hope that the theory of the connexion of absorption, radiation and conduction which I have sketched out will be found substantially correct.
I thank you much for the interesting paper on glaciers,5 which you were kind enough to send to me some time ago.
Faraday is very well—he is spending his Easter vacation at Hampton Court. I hope you are well likewise.
Believe me | most truly yours | John Tyndall
RI MS JT/1/T/1498
RI MS JT/1/TYP/1/362
my memoir to the Royal Society: Tyndall (1861).
I send you a scanty abstract merely: abstract missing. Presumably ‘Note on the Transmission of Radiant Heat through Gaseous Bodies’, Roy. Soc. Proc., 10 (1859), pp. 37–9.
M. Despretz: César-Mansuète Despretz (1791–1863), who is listed as one of those responsible for Section V, Physique Générale, of the Comptes Rendus. A summary of Tyndall’s paper was published as ‘De l’absorption et du rayonnement de la chaleur par des gaz et des vapeurs, et sur la connexion physique du rayonnement, de l’absorption et de la conduction; par M. John Tyndall’, Comptes Rendus, 52 (1861), pp. 364–7. The summary omits Tyndall’s comments on the connection between radiation, absorption, and conduction.
too speculative: see letter 1780, n. 6.
the interesting paper on glaciers: not identified.
Please cite as “Tyndall1776,” in Ɛpsilon: The John Tyndall Collection accessed on