42 POPULAR SCIENCE MONTHLY 



infant when he left America, now a young lady, joined him in London 

 and lived with him for many years. 



He was now forty-two years of age, and the main purpose of his 

 return to England was to publish his essays. Several editions were 

 subsequently brought out in both Europe and America, and they have 

 been translated into German, French and Italian. While on this visit 

 he presented a fund of one thousand pounds to the Eoyal Society, the 

 interest of which was to be awarded every second year to the author of 

 the most important discovery in light and heat. The society decided 

 that the awards should be made in the form of medals, one of gold and 

 one of silver, which together should contain an intrinsic value equal 

 to the interest. 



Rumford, at the same time, gave $5,000 to the American Academy 

 of Arts and Sciences, of Boston, to be used in the same way. In 1837 

 this fund had increased to $20,000. It has now grown to $59,000 and 

 the annual income is $2,550. Up to 1905, the Rumford premium had 

 been awarded but twenty times. The academy has, however, made a 

 great number of grants of money from the fund to assist those who are 

 making researches in the phenomena of heat and light, and by a deci- 

 sion of the Supreme Court of Massachusetts, a portion of the income 

 from the fund has been diverted to Harvard University. The Rum- 

 ford professorship of Harvard will be referred to later. 



After remaining a year in England, Rumford, accompanied by his 

 daughter Sarah, returned to Munich. Here they occupied a palace 

 supplied with every elegance, convenience and luxury. They were also 

 permitted to use the princely summer residence of the elector, with 

 its extensive park and mountain scenery. His daughter was made 

 countess of the empire and allowed a pension of 2,000 florins for life. 



When Napoleon repulsed the Austrians at Friedburg they retreated 

 towards Munich, followed by the French. The elector, delegating 

 Rumford with full authority, left the city, taking refuge in Saxony. 

 Count Rumford at once employed his military talents to meet the 

 emergency. He took chief command of the Bavarian forces, deter- 

 mined to prevent both the Austrians and French from entering the 

 city. The gates were ordered closed and the Austrian forces occupied 

 the opposite side of the river, where they planted their batteries. By a 

 show of force, firmness and presence of mind, he was successful in pre- 

 venting the occupation of the city by a foreign force. 



In 1798 he was appointed Bavarian minister to the court of St. 

 James's. It was a thing quite unprecedented to receive at the English 

 court a subject of Great Britain as a representative of a foreign country, 

 and it was one of the great disappointments of his life when informed 

 that, being a British subject, he could not be received in a diplomatic 

 capacity. He did not receive information of his ineligibility until 

 he had arrived in London in company with his daughter. 



