512 THE POPULAR SCIENCE MONTHLY. 



daiit. Tlie concluding part of the last lecture of tlie course was 

 without experiments, and consisted of an estimate of the work of 

 science and. of the claims of original investigators. This was 

 listened to by the vast audience present with almost breathless 

 attention and made a profound impression. 



A remarkable test of the public enthusiasm occurred on the 

 evening of one of the lectures. During the preceding twenty- 

 four hours the city was the scene of a raging snowstorm, a 

 heavy body of snow falling, which was piled into drifts by the 

 violent wind. With all his Alpine experience Tyndall spoke of 

 this as " stupendous weather." Although it stopped snowing and 

 the wind went down at nightfall, the horse cars were blocked 

 and the streets were almost impassable. Tyndall, thinking there 

 would be no audience on such a night, questioned whether it 

 would be worth while to go to the hall, but finally decided to do 

 so. To his astonishment and that of everybody else, the crowd 

 was again on hand, not a seat remaining unoccupied. Prof. 

 Tyndall afterward alluded to " that heroic audience which paid 

 me the memorable compliment of coming to hear me on such an 

 inclement night." 



Tyndall had always said that it was not for him to exploit the 

 United States as a lecturer for money, and that he should not 

 take away a dollar of the profits that might accrue from his lec- 

 tures. This was not generally known, and when it was publicly 

 announced, the statement was received with a good deal of in- 

 credulity. A widely circulated weekly said " it was a pleasant 

 story, but not exactly true. . . . After paying all expenses he will 

 take home about fifteen thousand dollars, which on the whole is 

 what the printers call a ' fat take' for three months' work." But 

 the truth is that for nearly six months' labor * he did not take a 

 dollar of his earnings above actual expenses. 



The total receipts for his lectures were $23,100, made up as 

 follows : Boston (six lectures), $1,500 ; Philadelphia (six lectures), 

 $3,000 ; Baltimore (three lectures), $1,000 ; Washington (six lec- 

 tures), $2,000; New York (six lectures), $8,500; Brooklyn (six 

 lectures), $G,100; New Haven (two lectures), $1,000. After de- 

 ducting expenses, $13,033 remained, and before leaving the 

 country Prof. Tyndall placed this fund in the hands of a board 

 of trustees consisting of Prof. Joseph Henry, Dr. E. L. Youmans, 

 and General Hector Tyndale, with the recommendation, as ex- 

 pressed in his deed of trust, that they appropriate the interest of 

 the fund in supporting or assisting to support, at such European 

 universities as they may consider most desirable, two American 

 pupils who may evince decided talents in physics, and who may 



* This includes the time spent in preparation before leaving home. 



I 



