248 JOHN TYNDALL 
occupied by Sir Humphry Davy and then by Fara- 
day. It was always an inspiration to go there. In 
those days Tyndall kept bachelor’s hall, and it was his 
regular habit, year after year, to dine with Spencer 
and Hirst at the Athenzeum Club. But at length, in 
the course of his Alpine scrambles, he met the charm- 
ing and accomplished lady who, in 1875, became his 
wife. She must have been twenty years younger than 
himself. She was daughter of Lord Claud Hamil- 
ton, member of a well-known Scottish family, and 
thereby hung a little incident which used to make us 
alllaugh. The association between Tyndall and Hux- 
ley long ago became in some people’s minds so close 
as to identify the one with the other. So when Huxley 
and his wife, who had been married nearly thirty years 
and had seven children, came to America in 1876, one 
of the New York papers gravely heralded the arrival of 
Huxley with his titled bride!* And this sort of blun- 
der is not peculiar to America. In a recent letter, 
Huxley tells me that since Tyndall’s death he has 
read in a religious paper an obituary notice in which 
he [Huxley] figures instead of his friend, and is 
roundly vituperated for his flagrant heresies. 
The last time I ever saw Tyndall was when I was 
last in England, in 1883. He was then living with 
his wife in those same old rooms at the Royal Insti- 
tution, and there I dined with them and spent several 
evenings. 
1 This incident is mentioned in “ Reminiscences of Huxley,” p. 200. 
