Sir William Bragg 45 



The first lecturer was the famous Sir Humphry Davy, 

 who was also made Director of the Laboratory. He had 

 a room in the house and a salary of a hundred guineas a 

 year. 



The Institution fell on hard times; the v subscriptions 

 that had totalled eleven thousand pounds in 1800 dropped 

 to three thousand pounds in 1802. It seemed that the 

 whole establishment was going to pieces, but Davy came 

 to the rescue. He gave a lecture in which he stated the 

 reasons for the existence of the Institution, and stated 

 them so brilliantly that every one began to talk of 

 the Institution and its work. His lectures were printed 

 and read everywhere, subscriptions poured in, and the 

 Institution was saved. But von Rumford was offended ; 

 he left London and never returned. After that the indus- 

 trial element declined and the Institution became more 

 and more the home of Science. Professors carried out their 

 researches in the laboratories, and lectures were given on 

 Art as well as on Science. 



Davy worked very hard. He would come at ten or 

 eleven in the morning and sometimes stay till four the 

 next morning. His lectures always attracted crowds, and 

 it is a proof of his popularity that when he fell ill in 1808 

 receipts fell from four thousand to fifteen hundred 

 pounds. It was Davy who gave Michael Faraday his 

 start. Faraday was a young bookseller who listened to 

 Davy's lectures and made notes. He sent the notes to 

 Sir Humphry, who wrote him a courteous reply and after 

 interviewing him gave him a post as assistant in the 

 laboratory. In 1825 Faraday first lectured on those 

 electro-magnetic experiments which have made him 

 famous; in 1835 ne was given a Civil List pension of 

 three hundred pounds, and in 1864 he was offered, but 

 declined, the Presidency of the Royal Institution. 



Another great lecturer in Albemarle Street was John 

 Tyndall, who became Superintendent after the death of 



