TYNDALL, JOHN. 



TSfl 



by Faraday. \\i* results were siil>.eoui-ntly in- 

 corporated in a volume entitled "RMMTOhM 

 mi DiamagnetiBin and Magne-Cry.slallic Action" 

 t is;n>. In 1851) ho tiegan that series of brilliant 

 researches on ra.iiant heat wl.vh extended o\er 

 Ini years, resulting iu the publication, in 1H?2, of 

 "Contributions to Molecular l'h\>ics in the Do- 

 main of Radiant I leal. " which, however, was pre- 

 ceded by Hi at as a Mode of Motion " (1803), in 

 which he developed the modern view of the nature 

 of heat which involves a molecular conception 

 of the bodies displaying it. In 1865 he delivered 

 the Rede lecture on " Radiation." He devoted 

 also much attention to the subjects of sound and 

 light, lecturing on both of these topics. His 

 1 1 cat as a Mode of Motion" was promptly ac- 

 cepted as a classic, and is one of the best popu- 

 lar works ever written on a scientific subject. He 

 followed it with the volume on "Sound, a 

 Course of Eight Lectures," in 1865, and " Notes 

 of a Course of Nine Lectures on Light" in 1870. 

 Concerning these works, it has been well said 

 that "they bring out with magnificent power 

 not only the methods of science, but the grand- 

 eur and impressiveness of what may be called 

 its imaginative aspects." 



Meanwhile, in 1866 he was called upon to re- 

 lieve Faraday in his duties in the Trinity House, 

 serving as scientific adviser to the authorities 

 there, especially in connection with inquiries 

 made into the causes which effect the acoustic 

 transparency of the atmosphere. He also held 

 advisory relations to the London Board of Trade, 

 but resigned these appointments in 1883, owing 

 to a disagreement with Joseph Chamberlain, 

 then president of that board. 



In 1846 he spent some time among the West- 

 moreland hills, and three years later made his 

 first visit to the Alps. He was then in need of rest 

 and recreation, but in the presence of the grand 

 physical phenomena displayed there he became in- 

 terested in the scientific questions which they 

 aroused in his mind. A second visit was made in 

 1856 in company with Huxley, who writes : " The 

 love for alpine scenery and alpine climbing, which 

 remained with Tyndall to the last, began, or at any 

 rate became intensified into a passion, with this 

 journey, and at the same time ne laid the foun- 

 dations of his well-known and highly important 

 work on glaciers and glacier movement." No 

 year from that time forward passed without a 

 summer visit to his chalet at Bel Alp, overlook- 

 ing the Aletsch Glacier. His investigations of 

 his trip in 1856 were presented to the Royal So- 

 ciety as a joint contribution from the two friends. 

 In 1859 he reached Montanvert and determined 

 the winter motion of the Mer de Glace. In con- 

 junction with Frankland he planted several 

 thermometric stations on the slopes and summit 

 of Mont Blanc and made numerous observa- 

 tions relating to combustion at great altitudes. 

 He scaled the hitherto inaccessible peak of the 

 Weisshorn in 1861, and in 1868 he reached the 

 summit of the Matterhorn, crossing it from 

 Brcuil to Zermatt. His writings on these moun- 

 tains, together with results of his researches, are 

 included in "The Glaciers of the Alps" (1860), 

 which was his first popular book on science; 

 Mountains-ring in ISfil" (IH(i'J) : "I lour- of 

 Kxereise in the Alps" (1871); and "The Forms 

 of Water in Clouds and Rivers, Ice and Glacier- " 



(1H7'2), which formed the initial volume of tho 

 International Scientific Bi 



A~ previously stated. Tvndall had almost de- 

 cided to settle in the United States in 1844, 

 when an opportune engagement called hii; 

 where, and in 1852 he was an uiiMiccc.-sful candi- 

 date for the chair of Physics in the t'ni. 

 of Toronto, in Canada, but it was not until twenty 

 year later that he accepted an invitation to de- 

 liver a course in the Lowell Lectures in Boston. 

 He arrived in New York in October, 1872, and 

 after lecturing in Boston delivered courses in 

 Philadelphia, Baltimore, Washington, New York, 

 Brooklyn, and New Haven. From these lec- 

 tures, after deducting his expenses, there re- 

 mained the net sum of $ 13,038, which amount he 

 placed in the hands of three trustees with in- 

 structions to use the interest "for the support 

 of two American pupils who may evince decided 

 talents in physics, and who may express a de- 

 termination to devote their lives to this work. 

 My desire would be that each pupil should 

 spend four years at a German university, three 

 of those to be devoted to the acquisition of 

 knowledge, and the fourth to original investi- 

 gation." This failed to yield the desired re- 

 sults, and in 1885, the original fund having in- 

 creased to $32,400, it was decided to divide this 

 sum into three equal amounts, to be given, one 

 to Columbia College, one to Harvard University, 

 and one to the University of Pennsylvania, for 

 the founding of three permanent fellowships in 

 physical science. Tyndall decided on this action 

 before coming to the United States. He wrote, 

 in June, 1871 : " I don't want vour money, nor 

 will I bring away one dollar of it. I will help 

 your scientific institutions with it; but it shall 

 not be said that I went to America to line my 

 pockets." 



It was also during 1872 that in an issue of 

 the "Contemporary Review" he published a let- 

 ter addressed to himself in which the writer pro- 

 posed to have set aside in a hospital a ward for 

 patients who should be prayed for. In the other 

 wards were to be placed patients who were not 

 prayed for. All were to receive the same treat- 

 ment, and the result was to be noted and ac- 

 cepted as a test of the efficacy of prayer in cur- 

 ing diseases or ailments. Tne proposition was 

 declined, but not until considerable acrimonious 

 controversy had taken place over what was called 

 " Tyndall's prayer-test. 



In August, 1874, the British Association met 

 in Belfast with Tyndall as its president. His in- 

 augural address was a most masterly effort, and 

 was written in a style of remarkable grace and 

 vigor. It traced the sources of natural phenom- 

 ena from the atom upward, culminating in 

 " the confession that I feel bound to make be- 

 fore you is that I prolong the vision backward 

 across the boundary of the experimental evi- 

 dence and discern in that matter, which \ve in 

 our ignorance, and notwithstanding our pro- 

 fessed reverence for the Creator, have hitherto 

 covered with opprobrium, the promise and 

 potency of every form and quality of life." The 

 address closed with the sentiment ; " Here, how- 

 ever. 1 must quit a theme too great for me to 

 handle, but which will be handled by the loftiest 

 minds ages after you and 1, like streaks of morn- 

 ing cloud, shall have melted into the infinite azure 



