Pontresina, Canton Graubünden1 18th July, 1864.
My dear Miss Roche
I quitted London on the 2nd, and hence was far away from Albemarle Street2 when your last letter3 reached it. It followed me to this place which is a pretty village—one of the highest in the beautiful Ober Engadin.4 I halted in Paris two days and was very cordially received by the savants there.5 I especially liked the kindness of the old men, for they are proud of their position in the Academy6 and in the world of science, and their recognition has therefore some significance. From Paris I proceeded to Bale,7 thence to Coire8 through Zurich. I had promised a friend of mine in Zurich9 to attend a meeting of the Swiss Naturalists10 to be held at Zurich next month, and this promise involved the bother of bringing a portmanteau instead of a simple knapsack which usually suffices for my summer expeditions. From Coire I sent on my luggage to Pontresina, and made a diversion to Tusis11 myself to visit the celebrated gorge of the Via Mala.12 It is very grand. The earth’s crust appears to have been split to form this profound and high walled chasm, which approached from Tusis forms a grand doorway into the mountains. The general opinion I believe is that it is really a great crack, produced by some convulsion, but the human imagination is too liable to fall back upon such hypotheses, and to neglect the action of ordinary causes. I think good evidence could be adduced to prove that this famous chasm was cut out by the stream which now rushes through it, and that all ordinary actions required to enable them to assume the most stupendous forms is sufficient time.13 From Tusis I crossed in the clear morning light along the beautiful valley of the Albula14 to Tiefenkasten,15 here I met the diligence, persuaded the conductor to let me occupy his seat for a consideration, and thus rode in the open air, and commanded from my perch the lovely scenery of the Ober Engadin. I halted a night at Samaden,16 and next morning made my way to Pontresina where I now dwell.
The village is somewhat more than 6000 feet above the sea, the air is cool and this to me is important, for I am preparing a second edition of my last book “on Heat,”17 and I brought a quantity of work with me which the coolness of the position will enable me to perform pleasantly. I am surrounded by noble mountains, and within reach of noble glaciers. From the window of my room I command a view of a group of magnificent snowpeaks, which feed the Roseg glacier.18 I brought some instruments with me to make observations on the glaciers and commenced the week’s operations energetically. Last Thursday however the weather was bad, and to shelter me from the rain I got beneath a roof of ice which I think must have chilled me in my damp clothes. So soon after my arrival I did not make sufficient allowance for my London constitution, and was consequently not able to do much for a day or two. The chill however is now past and I hope to be upon the glacier tomorrow executing my measurements.
In a week I purpose crossing into the Tyrol,19 to meet my friend Ball,20 who was I believe once member for Carlow.21 We shall stay about the Ortler Group22 for 10 or 12 days, after which he goes on to the Dolomite mountains,23 and I am not sure that I shall be able to accompany him.
I am extremely obliged to you for the information you have obtained for me24 regarding the tomb. I think a plain slab of granite on four pillars and bearing the words
John Tyndall25 father of | John Tyndall F.R.S. | born October 1792; died ++ 1847
or something to this effect would be what I should require. However I should be very glad to receive the suggestions of the sculptor.26 I should be willing to go as far as £25.—Perhaps however granite is not to be obtained on these terms.
I return to London at the end of next month and hope then to be able to arrange something definite regarding the tomb. This day’s post brought me a letter from Dr. Phillips.27 I fear we have little hope as to the recovery of my sister,28 the energy of her constitution is hardly sufficient to carry her over such an attack.
Believe me with many thanks | Yours most truly | John Tyndall
Might I ask you to let Dr Phillips have the enclosed note?29
RI MS JT/1/TYP/11/3850
LT Typescript Only
Pontresina, Canton Graubünden: Pontresina is a small town about 3 miles to the east of St. Moritz, in the Engadine, a long Alpine Valley in Swiss canton of Graubünden.
Albemarle Street: location of the RI.
your last letter: letter missing.
Ober Engadin: the Engadine, a long Alpine valley in southeastern Switzerland.
very cordially received by the savants there: Tyndall wrote in his journal: ‘I stayed three nights, and two full days at Paris. I wished to see some of the Savants, and called upon a good many of them on Sunday. I missed nearly all the younger ones, who were out for the day: but I met two fine old sages, who were very kind to me. The freemasonry of science has something extremely pleasant about it: I needed no introduction, and still I did not know the men personally—I simply sent in my card, and they shewed me everything that was to be seen, and explained to me the character of the work on which they were engaged. The Academy of Sciences meets on the Monday, and I went there. My reception was exceedingly cordial. The younger men made their appearance, and most of them protested against my quitting Paris so soon. My little book I am told “has been crowned with an immense success”. By the time of my return from Switzerland, it is probably that an edition of 2000 vols. will be sold’ (RI MS JT/2/13c/1259A).
Academy: the Académie des Sciences, founded in 1666.
Bale: see letter 1909, n. 4.
Coire: the French spelling of the Swiss town of Chur.
a friend of mine in Zurich: Rudolf Clausius.
meeting of the Swiss Naturalists: see letter 2108, n. 3.
Tusis: the French spelling of the Swiss town of Thusis.
Via Mala: Latin for ’bad path’, which refers to a notoriously treacherous path between Zillis-Reischen and Thusis. Tyndall wrote about this visit in ‘On the Conformation of the Alps’ upon his return (see letter 2100, n. 4).
I think good evidence… is sufficient time: in her own transcription of this letter LT noted ‘This sentence is bad, but correctly copied’.
Albula: the Abula and Albula River Valley is located in eastern Switzerland in the Central Eastern Alps.
Tiefenkasten: an early spelling of the Swiss town of Tiefencastel in eastern Switzerland.
Samaden: a small town in Swiss canton of Grisons.
second edition of my last book “on Heat”: the second edition of Heat as a Mode of Motion would be published in 1865.
Roseg glacier: a glacier in the Bernina range of mountains in Switzerland.
Tyrol: a region of the Alps in northern Italy and western Austria.
my friend Ball: John Ball.
Carlow: the country town in County Carlow, Ireland.
Ortler Group: see letter 2110, n. 7.
Dolomite mountains: see letter 2110, n. 8.
for the information you have obtained for me: see letter 2113 in which Tyndall had asked Roche to provide him with information regarding having a grave stone erected over his father’s grave.
John Tyndall: see letter 2113, n. 4.
sculptor: presumably a ‘Mr. Diegan’, as indicated in letters 2142 and 2171.
Dr. Phillips: letter missing; for Phillips, see letter 2101, n. 2.
my sister: Emma Tyndall.
enclosed note: letter missing.
Please cite as “Tyndall2121,” in Ɛpsilon: The John Tyndall Collection accessed on