COUNT RUMFORD. 169 



conscious that this tedium appears. He wishes to ex- 

 cite his reader's interest, and sometimes adopts means 

 to this end which defeat themselves. Such is the case 

 when he dwells with reiteration on the refined and ex- 

 quisite pleasure which he derives from being of service 

 to humanity. Some also would deem him tedious, 

 though I deem him courageous, when he deals with the 

 details of his schemes. He leaves no stone unturned in 

 his effort to render himself clear. He is in many cases 

 simply writing out a specification, to be followed in all 

 particulars. He gives directions as to the manner in 

 which a slice of hasty pudding is to be eaten. A small 

 pit is to be dug in the centre of the cake, a piece of 

 butter placed in the pit, while the removed bit is to be 

 placed on the butter to aid in melting it. You then 

 begin at the circumference of your pudding, and eat all 

 round, dipping each piece in the butter before convey- 

 ing it to the mouth. Such details were sure to provoke 

 sarcasm, and they did provoke it. But amid the verbosity 

 we have incessant flashes of practical wisdom and ex- 

 amples of intellectual force. When he ceases to think 

 of the exquisite delight of his philanthropic labours 

 ceases to think of himself and permits his own per- 

 sonality to be effaced by his subject, we see Rumford at 

 his best ; and his best was excellent. Suggestion fol- 

 lows suggestion, experiment succeeds experiment, until 

 he has finally exhausted his subject, or is pulled up by 

 inability to proceed further. 



He tested quantitatively the relative intensities of 

 various lights, constructing, while doing so, his well- 

 known photometer. Placing two lights in front of a 

 white screen, and at the same distance from it, and 

 fixing an opaque rod between the lights and the screen, 

 he obtained two shadows corresponding to the two 

 8 



