1802.] THE ROYAL INSTITUTION. 195 



been wanned by steam and satisfactorily. When the boiler 

 was worn out (as things will in time) the whole steam 

 apparatus was taken away by the ironmonger then em- 

 ployed, and something of his own was put up, which for 

 years was an annoyance to Mr. Faraday, who did not even 

 know that steam had ever been employed till I informed 

 him. In short, it might seem as if the then managers had 

 resolved that the Institution should not be for the applica- 

 tion of science to the common purposes of life. 



On April 26 Mr. Webster was allowed leave of 



absence for the benefit of his health until December 1, 



; and he was given 501. on account of his salary. This 



was his retirement from the Institution. In 1826 he 



was appointed house secretary of the Geological 



j Society, and Curator of the Museum. He died in 



: 1844, Professor of Geology in the (then) London 



University. 



At the meeting of managers and visitors on the same 

 1 day Count Rumford made a report on the present 

 [ state of the Institution. This was the last meeting of 

 I the managers that he ever attended. 



He said : ' I shall briefly state what has been ac- 

 complished since my last report on May 25, 1801, and 

 > what still remains to be done to complete this great 

 , and interesting establishment in all its details.' 



He spoke of the new lecture room as holding nine 

 hundred persons ; i a whisper may be distinctly heard 

 from one extremity to the other, and no echo is ever 

 ' perceived in it on any occasion.' 



This theatre is warmed in cold weather by steam, which, 



coming in covered and concealed tubes from the lower part 



' of the house, circulates in a large semicircular copper tube 



o 2 





