1803.] THE ROYAL INSTITUTION. 221 



formed had drawn several gentlemen of first-rate talents 

 together, and my eighteenth, on Heat and the Laws of 

 Expansion, &c., was received with the greatest applanse ; 

 with very few experiments. The one that followed was on 

 Mixed Elastic Fluids, in which I had an opportunity of deve- 

 loping my ideas, that have already been published on the 

 subject, more fully. The doctrine has, as I apprehended it 

 would, excited the attention of philosophers throughout 

 Europe. Two journals in the German language came into 

 the Royal Institution whilst I was there from Saxony, both 

 of which were about half filled with translations from the 

 papers I have written on this subject and comments upon 

 them. 



Dr. Ainslie was occasionally one of my audience, and his 

 sons constantly. He came up at the concluding lecture, 

 expressed his high satisfaction, and he believed it was 

 the same sentiment with all or most of the audience. 



I saw my successor, William Allen, fairly launched. He 

 gave his first lecture on Tuesday, preceding my conclusion. 

 I was an auditor in this case the first time and had an 

 opportunity of surveying the audience. Amongst others 

 of distinction the Bishop of Durham was present. In 

 lecturing on optics I got six ribbands blue, pink, lilac, 

 red, green, and brown which matched very well, and told 

 the various audience so. I do not know whether they 

 generally believed me to be serious, but one gentlemen 

 came up immediately after and told me he perfectly agreed 

 with me. He had not remarked the difference by candle 

 light. 



Throughout the year 1803 scarcely a trace of Count 

 Rumford's name can be found in the records of the 

 Institution. On January 24, when writing from Munich 

 to the clerk, Mr. Savage, about his house in Brompton 

 Row, he only begs his compliments to Dr. Young and to 

 Mr. Davy, and on November 11, the clerk having 



