42 JAMES CLERK MAXWELL 



"I am reading Electricity and working at Fluid Motion, 

 and have got out the condition of a fluid being able to flow 

 the same way for a length of time and not wriggle about." 



The British Association met, at Glasgow in Sep- 

 tember, 1S55, ami Maxwell was present, and showed 

 his colour-top at Professor Ramsay's house to some ot 

 those interested. Letters* to his lather about this 

 time describe some of the events of the meeting and 

 his own plans for the term. 



"We had a paper from P>re\vster on 'The theory of three 

 colours in the spectrum/ in which he treated Whewell with 

 philosophic pity, commending him to the care of Prof. Wart- 

 man of Geneva, who was considered the greatest authority in 

 cases of his kind cases, in fact, of colour-blindness. Whewi-11 

 was in the room, but went out and avoided the quarrel ; and 

 Stokes made a few remarks, stating the case not only clearly 

 but courteously. However, Brewster did not seem to sec that 

 Stokes admitted his experiments to be correct, and the news- 

 pajiers represented Stokes as calling in- question the accuracy 

 of the experiments. 



" I am getting my electrical mathematics into shape, and I 

 see through some parts which were rather hazy before ; but I 

 do not find very much time for it at present, because I am 

 reading about heat and fluids, so as not to tell lies in my 

 lectures. I got a note from the Society of Arts about the 

 platometer, awarding thanks and offering to defray the ex- 

 penses to the extent of lo, on the machine being produced in 

 working order. When I have arranged it in my head, I intend 

 to write to James ttryson about it. 



"I got a long letter from Thomson about colours and 

 electricity. He is beginning to believe in my theory about all 

 colours being capable of reference to three standard ones, and 

 he is very glad that I should poach on his electrical preserves. 



** . . . It is difficult to keep up one's interest in Intel- 



* " Life of J. C. Maxwell,' 1 p. '21G. 



