1883.] on Count Bumford, Originator of the Royal Institution. 435 



Institution, as Editor of its Journals, and as superintendent of the 

 house, at a salary of 300Z. per annum. Young accepted the appoint- 

 ment, and the Managers confirmed it by resolution on the 3rd of 

 August, 1801 : — " Besolved, that the managers approve of the measures 

 taken by Count Rumford ; and that the appointment of Dr. Young be 

 confirmed." 



Eumford's health fluctuated perpetually, and it was said at the 

 time that this was due in some measure to the fanciful notions he 

 entertained, and acted on, with regard to diet and exercise. But 

 Dr. Young affirms that his habits in these respects were guided by 

 his physicians. 



Many years ago, wishing to supplement my knowledge of the 

 Turkish bath, I referred to a paper of Eumford's which gave an 

 account of a visit to Harrogate and his experience there. According 

 to the rules of the place he had his bath in the evening, and went to 

 bed immediately afterwards. He found himself restless and feverish ; 

 the bath, indeed, seemed to do him more harm than good. An obser- 

 vant fellow-lodger of his had had, and had corrected, the same expe- 

 rience. Acting on his advice, Rumford took his bath two hours before 

 his dinner, engaging afterwards in his usual work, or going out to 

 have a blow on the common. So far from suffering from chill through 

 this exposure, he found himself invigorated by it. My own ex- 

 perience, I may say, corroborates all this. Rumford took the senses 

 of man as he found them, and tried to enhance the gratifications 

 thence derived: — "To increase the pleasure of a warm bath he 

 suggests the burning of sweet scented woods, and aromatic gums and 

 resins in small chafing dishes in the bathing rooms, by which the air 

 will be perfumed with the most j^leasant odours." He spiritedly 

 defends this counsel : — " Effeminacy is no doubt very despicable, 

 especially in a person who aspires to the character and virtues of a 

 man. But I see no cause for calling anything effeminate which has 

 no tendency to diminish either the strength of the body, the dignity 

 of the sentiments, or the energy of the mind. I see no good reason 

 for considering those grateful aromatic perfumes, which in all ages 

 have been held in such high estimation, as a less elegant or less 

 rational luxury than smoking tobacco or stuffing the nose with snuff." 



Rumford, for a year or so, occupied rooms in the Institution, but 

 his private residence was in Brompton Row, described by his friend 

 Pictet as being about a mile from London. Grass and trees grew in 

 front of the house. The windows had a double glazing, and outside 

 were placed vases of flowers and odorous shrubs. Pictet, who was 

 Rumford's guest in 1801, minutely describes the whole arrangement 

 of the house. Into Rumford's working room, which overlooked the 

 country, the light came through a set of windows arranged on the 

 arc of a circle. The window-sills were arranged with flowers and 

 shrubs, so that you might suppose yourself to be in the country, close 

 to a garden bordered by a park. Pictet goes on to describe the 

 various strokes of ingenuity shown in the management of fuel and 



