4 o 4 APPENDICES 



Dalton received scientific honours from all parts of the 

 world. The French Academy made him an Associate, the 

 highest dignity which is awarded to foreigners. The Royal 

 Society presented him with a Royal Medal. He was 

 presented to the King, William IV., and his description of the 

 interview showed his uncompromising habit of mind and his 

 sturdy outspokenness. 



" Well, Doctor, what said the King ? " he was asked, on his 

 return home. 



" Why," said Dalton, " he asked me how we were getting 

 on in Manchester, ' All quiet, I suppose ? ' " (alluding to the 

 recent Peterloo riots). " To which I replied, ' Well, I don't 

 know, just middlin', I think.' " 



" Why, Doctor," said his companion, " thou hardly showed 

 Court manners in addressing the King in such common 

 parlance." 



Speaking in his broadest Cumbrian, Dalton replied : 

 " Mebby sae, but what can yan say to sic like fowk ? " 



I am reminded of a singular occurrence which took place, 

 in 1876, in connection with this great man. An important 

 exhibition of scientific apparatus was inaugurated that year 

 at South Kensington ; among the exhibits was one which I 

 had arranged, consisting of the barometers, thermometers, and 

 other apparatus made and used by Dalton in his researches, 

 and now the property of the Literary and Philosophical 

 Society of Manchester. The Queen, one day, expressed a 

 wish to visit this Exhibition, and all those in charge of 

 apparatus were requested to be present, and the designation 

 of each exhibit was written up legibly, among others mine, 

 viz., " Dr. Dalton's Apparatus." As the Queen approached, 

 one of her equerries preceded her in order to inform himself 

 of what was exhibited, and, as Her Majesty passed by, he 

 did me the honour to introduce me as Dr. Dalton ! 



I would only say a word, in conclusion, as regards the 

 moral which we must draw from John Dalton's life and 

 labours. What lessons do they teach ? Surely this that in 

 order to flourish and produce fruit such as we have been 

 studying, science must be free free to experiment and to 

 observe without let or hindrance ; free to draw the conclusions 

 which may flow from such experiments or observation ; free, 

 above all, to speculate and theorise into regions removed far 

 beyond the reach of our senses. 



