I have now only to add, that when you have so far overcome the agitation of mind to which you so frequently refer, as to be able to look at this question with the eyes and mind of a philosopher, I shall be happy to communicate with you. But no possible good can arise from a continuance of this correspondence. Hence, as far as I am concerned, it is for the present at an end.
J. Tyndall, ‘On the History of Calorescence’, Phil. Mag., 29 (1865), pp. 218–31, on p. 229
[7 November 1864]: this letter is incomplete. In his essay ‘On the History of Calorescense’, Tyndall noted that this letter preceded a reply from Akin, ‘dated from Harley Street, November 9, 1864’, which was, Tyndall noted, Akin’s fifth letter to him (p. 229). Tyndall noted that it was three weeks before he heard from Akin again, receiving two letters in close succession, one twenty-four hours prior to, and the other on the same day that Akin’s ‘Note on Ray-transmutation’ appeared in the December number of the Phil. Mag. All Tyndall said of these letters, which have not been found, is ‘he wrote to me commencing his letter with “Dear Sir,” and ending it with “Believe me yours very faithfully”’. Tyndall quoted this extract in his recounting of his dispute with Akin in ‘On the History of Calorescence,’ Phil. Mag., 4, 29 (1865), pp. 218–31, on p. 229. For further discussion of the priority dispute between Tyndall and Akin, see letters 1925, 2075, 2076, 2079, 2114, 2162, 2167, 2168, 2173, 2182, 2183, 2190, 2197, 2198, 2201, 2204, 2208, 2214, the introductory essay for this volume and letters in the forthcoming ninth volume of The Correspondence of John Tyndall.
Please cite as “Tyndall2170,” in Ɛpsilon: The John Tyndall Collection accessed on