LOW-TEMPERATURE RESEARCHES 



ly the lecture-desk itself, unchanged within the cen- 

 tury. You may see the crude balance, clumsy indeed 

 to modern eyes, with which Davy performed his won- 

 ders. The names and the memories of three great 

 men Davy, Faraday, and Tyndall will be incessant- 

 ly before you, and the least impressionable person 

 could not well escape a certain sense of consecration 

 of his surroundings. The hush that is over every- 

 thing seems but fitting. 



All that is as it should be. But there are other 

 memories connected with these surroundings which 

 are not so tangibly presented to the senses. For where, 

 amid all these busts and portraits, is the image of that 

 other great man, the founder of the institution, the 

 sole originator of the enterprise which has made possi- 

 ble the aggregation of all these names and these memo- 

 ries ? Where are the remembrances of that extraordi- 

 nary man whom the original charter describes as " our 

 well-beloved Benjamin, Count of Rumford?" Well, 

 you will find a portrait of him, it is true, if you search 

 far enough, hung high above a doorway in a room 

 with other portraits. But one finds it hard to escape 

 the feeling that there has been just a trifling miscarriage 

 of justice in the disposal. Doubtless there was no 

 such intention, but the truth seems to be that the 

 glamour of the newer fame of Faraday has dazzled a 

 little the eyes of the rulers of the institution of the 

 present generation. But that, after all, is a small 

 matter about which to quibble. There is glory enough 

 for all in the Royal Institution, and the disposal of 

 busts and portraits is unworthy to be mentioned in 

 connection with the lasting fame of the great men 



37 



