CHAPTER XV. 



VARIOUS AFFAIRS. 

 1872-1878. Age 51-57. 



In the autumn of 1872 Mr. Youmans did what he 

 could to make Prof. Tyndall's visit to America pleas- 

 ant and successful. It will be remembered that the 

 great physicist had said that he would not carry away 

 from this country a penny earned by his lectures here. 

 His net profit of $13,000 he very generously placed in 

 the hands of trustees, of whom Youmans was one, the 

 annual income to be devoted to aiding young xAmeri- 

 cans desirous of prosecuting original research in the 

 laboratories of Europe. In the course of a few years 

 it became advisable to change the application of the 

 income of the trust, which is now divided between 

 Harvard University, Columbia College, and the Uni- 

 versity of Pennsylvania. 



Among the letters received from Prof. Tyndall 

 during the autumn of 1872 was the following: 



Boston, October 8, 1872. 

 My dear Youmans : Thanks many for both your let- 

 ters, which interested and amused me greatly. This open- 

 ing of the International Series is very gratifying. I think 

 in founding it you have entered upon a most important 

 enterprise. 



I have received a letter from Mr. Winthrop, of Boston, 

 which interests me greatly. He is descended from John 



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