[Royal Institution of Great Britain] | Saturday 29th Oct
My dear Stokes
I think you will be interested to learn that I have succeeded in raising platinum to vivid redness by black heat.
The same black heat sets paper instantly ablaze.
Dr. Akin2 has seen some of the experiments.3
Yours very truly | John Tyndall
I hope in one of the meetings of the R.S. to be able to show you platinum raised to whiteness by black heat.
RI MS JT/1/T/1427
RI MS JT/1/TYP/4/1479
[1864]: the year is given based on mention of C. K. Akin and the experiments Tyndall was working on. Also, in 1864, 29 October indeed fell on a Saturday.
Dr. Akin: C. K. Akin. Previously Tyndall and Akin had become embroiled in a priority dispute; see letters 1925, 2075, 2076, 2077, 2079, and 2114. Also see letters 2165, 2167, 2168, 2170, and 2173, 2182, 2183, 2190, 2197, 2198, 2201, 2204, 2208 2214, as well as the introductory essays for this volume and the forthcoming ninth volume of The Correspondence of John Tyndall.
the experiments: on this line of experiments, see: J. Tyndall, ‘On Calorescence’, Phil. Trans., 156 (1866), pp. 1–24 (received 20 October 1865; read 23 November 1865); and J. Tyndall, ‘Sixth Memoir on Radiation and Absorption.—Influence of Colour and Mechanical Condition on Radiant Heat’, Phil. Trans., 155 (1866), pp. 83–96 (received 21 December 1865; read 18 January 1866).
Please cite as “Tyndall2162,” in Ɛpsilon: The John Tyndall Collection accessed on