LITTLE ^^&J^3' r Marburg, Tyndall was on good terms 

 OURNEYS (^^A@V?) with the S reat Bunsen, and used to act as 



his assistant in making practical chemical 

 experiments before his classes jfc These 

 amazing things done by chemists in pub- 

 lic are seldom of much value beyond giv- 

 ing a thrill to visitors who would otherwise drowse 

 it is like humor in an oration it opens up the mental 

 pores Jtf Jt> 



Alexander Humboldt once attended a Bunsen lecture 

 at Marburg and complimented Tyndall by saying, 

 "When I take up sleight-of-hand work, consider your- 

 self engaged as my first helper." Tyndall's way of 

 standing with his back to the audience, shutting off the 

 view of Bunsen's hands while he was getting ready to 

 make an artificial peal of thunder, made Humboldt 

 laugh heartily. 



Humboldt thought so well of the young man who spoke 

 German with an Irish accent, that he presented him 

 with an inscribed copy of one of his books. The vol- 

 ume was a most valuable one, for Humboldt only pub- 

 lished in de luxe limited editions, and Tyndall was so 

 overcome that all he could say was, "I'll do as much 

 for you some day." 



Not long after this, through loaning money to a fellow 

 student, he found himself in need of funds, and bor- 

 rowed two pounds on the book from an 'Ebrew Jew. 

 QThat night, he dreamed that Humboldt found the 

 volume in a second-hand store. In the morning, Tyn- 

 dall was waiting for the pawnbroker to open his shop 

 74 



