TYNDALL AND HIS AMERICAN VISIT. 513 



express a determination to devote their lives to this work. " My 

 desire would be that each pupil should spend four years at a Ger- 

 man university, three of those to be devoted to the acquisition of 

 knowledge, and the fourth to original investigation/' The plan 

 for carrying out this purpose was fully set forth in the deed of 

 trust, but it did not work well in practice. Several students 

 were aided, with satisfactory results, but. the selection of young 

 men with suitable qualifications was found to be more of a 

 task than had been anticipated. The trustees were scattered, 

 were busy men with little time for correspondence, and the 

 employment of a paid secretary was deemed impracticable. As 

 a consequence the income accrued faster than it was expended, 

 the fund having been so well invested that in thirteen years it 

 amounted to $32,400. Prof. Tyndall then decided to divide this 

 sum into three equal amounts, to be given, one to Columbia Col- 

 lege, one to Harvard University, and one to the University of 

 Pennsylvania, for the founding of three permanent fellowships 

 in physical science. These fellowships were designed for the 

 benefit of students desiring to prepare themselves for the work 

 of original research, and the incumbents might study at home 

 or abroad, as the authorities of the respective institutions should 

 decide. 



There was a widespread feeling that in giving his genius, time, 

 and labor to advance the cause of science in this country, Prof. 

 Tyndall had earned the gratitude of all the friends of science and 

 education in the country; and when it became known that he 

 would also devote his money to the same end, this feeling was 

 deepened and it was thought by many that there should be some 

 form of acknowledgment of the great value of these gifts to the 

 American public. So a meeting was called, and it was there re- 

 solved to honor Prof. Tyndall with a public banquet to give ex- 

 pression to the general feeling and bid him farewell. This took 

 place the evening before his departure. About two hundred 

 guests were present, and numerous letters were received from 

 persons unable to attend, the list embracing the leading men of 

 science, the professions, and public life in the country. 



The following letters, written after Prof. TyndalFs return to 

 England, and containing some interesting allusions to his Ameri- 

 can experience, may fitly close this account of his visit : 



ROYAL INSTITUTION, LONDON, March 11, 1873. 



Many thanks to you, my dear Youmans, and many thanks to the Tribune for 

 the cordial expression of good will contained in the number which you have just 

 sent me. 



Two hundred thousand copies! It is certainly a most extraordinary phenome- 

 non, and one which the English public will probably take to heart. Nothing 

 could be more gratifying. 



