iv "BUNSENIANA" 83 



about a pound of a mixture of metallic rhodium and 

 iridium by reduction with zinc according to a method which 

 I have described, and dried it on a water-bath to 100 C. On 

 lightly touching the finely divided metals, not yet quite cold, 

 with my finger, the whole mass exploded as rammed-in 

 powder does ; and this is all the more puzzling, as I have 

 often rubbed the same sort of powder violently in a mortar 

 in similar quantities from other platinum residues entirely 

 without danger, and heated similar preparations of this kind 

 red-hot in vacuo without any gas being given out, and certainly 

 no hydrogen gas. My left hand, with the first finger of 

 which I touched the mass, saved my eyes, as my face and 

 eyes were only superficially burned by the flames which 

 penetrated through my fingers. My eyes are now unhurt, 

 with the exception of singed eyebrows and eyelashes, and so 

 the whole explosion will leave no serious results behind. I 

 have begun my lectures again. 



I have not read anything for a long time with so much 

 pleasure and satisfaction as your interesting lectures, and I 

 am looking forward very much to the continuation and to the 

 whole, which you are going to send to me and KirchhofT who, 

 by the way, sends kind remembrances. I am convinced that 

 the Vieweg translation will shortly be out of print. Kirchhoff 

 was very much pleased with the new and astonishing sun 

 observations. When you come in the summer and we are 

 delighted at the idea of seeing you you must give us 

 more detailed information verbally about these interesting 

 discoveries. 



Heartily yours, 



R. W. BUNSEN. 



HEIDELBERG, 



June -$rd, 1874. 

 MY DEAR ROSCOE, 



You have good cause to be very angry with me, i.e. for only 

 answering your friendly and sympathetic letter ; but I have 

 lately not dared to think of anything which would remind 

 me of the loss of my burnt researches, and was under the 

 impression that I had written to you and thanked you for 

 your sympathy, when in fact your friendly letter lay still 

 unanswered underneath my papers. 



I was about to collate experiments on which I had been 

 working for nearly three years, before despatching the fair 

 copy to Poggendorf for publication. On my return after a 



G 2 



