The Royal Institution: Its Founder And First Professors

THE ROYAL INSTITUTION.

LONDON: PRINTED BY SPOTTISWOODE AND CO., NEW-STREET SQUARE AND PARLIAMENT STREET THE ROYAL INSTITUTION: ITS FOUNDER and ITS FIRST PROFESSORS. BY DR. BENCE JONES, HONORARY SECRETARY. LONDON: LONGMANS, GREEN, AND CO. 1871. [Pg iv] [Pg v]...

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PREFACE.

I begin the history of the Royal Institution, and its professors to the time of Faraday, with the life of its founder, Count Rumford, because his career and character determined its original form. I have written short accounts of the earliest professors because the spirit that has shown itself in them has up to this time been the life of the Institution. Dr. Garnett and Dr. Thomas Young had comparatively little influence there, because the founder took the most active part in the establishment o

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THE ROYAL INSTITUTION. CHAPTER I. LIFE OF RUMFORD BEFORE THE FOUNDATION OF THE INSTITUTION. 1753 to 1799.

At Charlestown, Massachusetts, in the year 1630, James Thompson was among Winthrop’s company. He settled about ten miles inland, and the place was called Woburn. In 1752 Benjamin Thompson was there with his father, Captain Ebenezer Thompson, and he married Ruth Simonds, of that place. Their child, the future Count Rumford, was born in his grandfathers farmhouse, on March 26, 1753. The house is still to be seen near the meeting-house in North Woburn. When the child was a year old his father died,

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CHAPTER II. LIFE OF RUMFORD AFTER THE FOUNDATION OF THE INSTITUTION. 1799 to 1814.

The history of the life of Count Rumford in 1799, 1800, 1801 to May 1802 is chiefly the history of the Royal Institution. The foundation of it forms an episode which must be separated from the rest of his career. But some of the letters and events of these years which are more closely related to his future life will be recorded here. Before he began the Institution he had almost determined to go to America, and before the building was finished he wrote to his daughter regarding the time ‘when I

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Of the Funds of the Institution.

It is proposed to raise the money necessary for defraying the expense of forming this Institution, and also for the future expense of keeping it up, in the following manner: 1st. By the sums subscribed by the original founders and sole proprietors of the Institution, at fifty guineas each person , to be but once paid. 2dly. By the sums contributed by those who shall subscribe for life , at ten guineas each person, to be but once paid. 3dly. By the sums contributed by the annual subscribers at tw

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Privileges of the Original Subscribers or Proprietors of the Institution.

1mo. These subscribers, who will never be called upon for any further contributions after the sum subscribed (fifty guineas) shall have been once paid, will be effectually secured against all future legal claims and demands upon them on account of any debts the managers of the Institution may contract, as a charter for the Institution will be applied for and obtained, for the express purpose of providing for that security, before any other step shall be taken for carrying this plan into executio

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Privileges of the Subscribers for Life.

Each subscriber of this class will receive one ticket for life, but not transferable, of free admission into the Institution, and into every part of it, together with one other ticket for life, but not transferable, of free admission to all public philosophical lectures and experiments....

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Privileges of Annual Subscribers.

Each annual subscriber will receive one ticket for one year, but not transferable, of admission into the Institution, and into every part of it; as also one ticket for one year, but not transferable, of admission to all the public philosophical lectures and experiments. Subscribers of this class will, moreover, have a right of becoming subscribers for life, on paying at any time within the year for which they subscribe an additional sum of eight guineas....

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Privileges that are common to Subscribers of all Denominations.

1mo. Subscribers for life and annual subscribers, as well as the proprietors of the Institution, will be entitled to have copies or drawings (made at their own expense, however) of any of the models in the repository, and this even when such copies are designed for the use of their friends, as well as when they are wanted for their own private use; and for their better and more speedy accommodation workshops will be prepared, and workmen pro vided under the direction of the managers, for executi

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Of the Government and Management of the Institution.

1mo. All the affairs of the Institution will be directed and governed by nine managers, chosen by and from among the proprietors of the Institution. 2do. For the greater convenience of the proprietors, and to spare them the trouble of a general meeting, all the elections of managers, after the first, will be made by ballot, by means of sealed lists of names sent in by the proprietors individually to the Institution, which lists will be opened, and the result of the election ascertained and publi

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Of the Committee of Visitors.

1mo. The Committee of Visitors will be composed of nine persons, the first set to be elected three months after the opening of the Institution. 2do. Three persons of the nine of which this Committee will consist will be chosen for three years , three of them to serve two years , and three of them to serve one year , reckoned from the 25th of March, 1799. 3tio. Any three or more of the members of this Committee being present at any meeting of the Committee, the others having been duly summoned, t

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Miscellaneous Articles.

1mo. The managers will take care to procure, and to exhibit in the repository as early as possible, models of all such new and useful mechanical inventions and improvements as shall, from time to time, be made in this or in any other country. 2do. All presents to the Institution, and all new purchases and acquisitions of every kind, will be and remain the joint property of the proprietors of the Institution and of their heirs and assigns, and all the surplus of the income of the Institution, ove

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For one year.

Jos. Banks , Chairman. Sir Joseph Banks having quitted the chair, Resolved,—That the thanks of the meeting be given to him for his conduct in the chair. After this meeting of the proprietors a meeting of the managers was held, and the following resolutions taken: At the first meeting of the Managers of the Institution, held at the house of the Right Honourable Sir Joseph Banks, in Soho Square, Saturday, March 9, 1799, On a motion made by Count Rumford— I.—Resolved, That Sir Joseph Banks be reque

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Plan and Regulations of the Royal Institution of Great Britain, Albemarle Street, written by Dr. Thomas Young.

The professed object of the Royal Institution is the diffusion of useful knowledge, derived from science, and applicable to the purposes of life. The means proposed for attaining this end are, first, an annual delivery of lectures on the various branches of natural philosophy and chemistry, familiar enough to be intelligible to moderate capacities, and extensive enough to comprehend the most important applications of theory to practice; secondly, the furnishing of a spacious repository with mode

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CHAPTER V. THE PROGRESS OF THE INSTITUTION TO THE TIME OF FARADAY. 1804 to 1814.

In 1804 the change in the original management and objects of the Royal Institution was completed. The place which Rumford, with the help of Sir Joseph Banks, had held was taken by Mr. Bernard, who was supported by Sir John Hippesley. He knew nothing of science but much of the world, and his aim for the Institution can be given in his own words. ‘The object has been great and important, not less than that of giving fashion to science.’ In the spring the report of the visitors reflected the pictur

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NEW DISCOVERY IN CHEMISTRY.

January 18, 1808. For the satisfaction of those proprietors who were not present at the opening of the Rev. Mr. Dibden’s introductory lecture on Wednesday last the managers have obtained and printed the following note of it: ‘Before I solicit your attention to the opening of those lectures which I shall have the honour of delivering in the course of the season, permit me to trespass upon it for a few minutes by stating the peculiar circumstances under which this Institution is now again opened,

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Proposed Establishment of a Corps of Light Troops to be raised for his Majesty’s Service, to be commanded by Lieutenant-Colonel Thompson, Commandant of the King’s American Dragoons.

Key to table columns: ‘Distribution of the six quarter-masters, two to remain with the six troops of dragoons, one to act as adjutant and one as quarter-master to the four companies of light infantry, two to serve with the company of artillery. ‘The four pieces of cannon to be on the flank of the battalion, two on the right and two on the left, and the company of artillery to be formed in two divisions. Each division to be under the command of a quarter-master. ‘The privates of the company of ar

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DR. YOUNG TO COUNT RUMFORD.

Welbeck Street, Thursday, July 9, 1801. Sir ,—I have received your obliging letter, and beg leave to return you and the managers thanks for the honour you do me. I am willing to undertake the various charges which you have the goodness to detail, and I flatter myself that you will have no reason to complain of any want of zeal on my part in the service of the Royal Institution. But I confess I think it would be in some measure degrading both to me and to the Institution that the salary, which ap

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DR. THOMAS YOUNG TO SIR JOSEPH BANKS.

Worthing, September 10, 1810. Dear Sir ,—Observing from the papers that you have been interesting yourself respecting the arrangement of a micrometer for the purpose of measuring the diameter of the fibres of different kinds of wool, I beg leave to trouble you with the description of a very simple instrument which I invented some time ago for a similar purpose, and which I propose to call an agricultural micrometer. I should imagine it to be sufficiently accurate for all practical purposes, and

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DR. THOMAS YOUNG TO SIR JOSEPH BANKS.

Worthing, October 6, 1810. My dear Sir ,—I shall be most happy in assisting you to form a judgment from your own observation of the utility of my little instrument; but I cannot forbear to trouble you with a few specimens of wool, which I imagine will exhibit the appearances so obviously as at least to convince you of the perfect practicability of the method. You will observe, by merely looking through them at a candle, that there is a manifest difference in the size of the rings, and if the col

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History, Politics, Historical Memoirs, &c.

The HISTORY of ENGLAND from the Fall of Wolsey to the Defeat of the Spanish Armada. By James Anthony Froude , M.A. late Fellow of Exeter College, Oxford. The HISTORY of ENGLAND from the Accession of James II. By Lord Macaulay . LORD MACAULAY’S WORKS. Complete and Uniform Library Edition. Edited by his Sister, Lady Trevelyan . 8 vols. 8vo. with Portrait, price £5 5 s. cloth, or £8 8 s. bound in tree-calf by Rivière. VARIETIES of VICE-REGAL LIFE. By Sir William Denison , K.C.B. late Governor-Gener

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Biographical Works.

A MEMOIR of DANIEL MACLISE, R.A. By W. Justin O’Driscoll , M.R.I.A. Barrister-at-Law. With Portrait and Woodcuts. Post 8vo. price 7 s. 6 d. MEMOIRS of the MARQUIS of POMBAL ; with Extracts from his Writings and from Despatches in the State Papers Office. By the Conde Da Carnota . New Edition. 8vo. price 7 s. REMINISCENCES of FIFTY YEARS. By Mark Boyd . Post 8vo. price 10 s. 6 d. The LIFE of ISAMBARD KINGDOM BRUNEL , Civil Engineer. By Isambard Brunel , B.C.L. of Lincoln’s Inn; Chancellor of the

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Criticism, Philosophy, Polity, &c.

The INSTITUTES of JUSTINIAN ; with English Introduction, Translation, and Notes. By T. C. Sandars , M.A. Barrister, late Fellow of Oriel Coll. Oxon. New Edition. 8vo. 15 s. SOCRATES and the SOCRATIC SCHOOLS. Translated from the German of Dr. E. Zeller , with the Author’s approval, by the Rev. Oswald J. Reichel , B.C.L. and M.A. Crown 8vo. 8 s. 6 d. The STOICS, EPICUREANS, and SCEPTICS. Translated from the German of Dr. E. Zeller , with the Author’s approval, by Oswald J. Reichel , B.C.L. and M.A

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Miscellaneous Works and Popular Metaphysics.

The ESSAYS and CONTRIBUTIONS of A. K. H. B. , Author of ‘The Recreations of a Country Parson.’ Uniform Editions:— Recreations of a Country Parson. By A. K. H. B. First and Second Series , crown 8vo. 3 s. 6 d. each. The COMMON-PLACE PHILOSOPHER in TOWN and COUNTRY. By A. K. H. B. Crown 8vo. price 3 s. 6 d. Leisure Hours in Town ; Essays Consolatory, Æsthetical, Moral, Social, and Domestic. By A. K. H. B. Crown 8vo. 3 s. 6 d. The Autumn Holidays of a Country Parson ; Essays contributed to Fraser’s

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Astronomy, Meteorology, Popular Geography, &c.

OUTLINES of ASTRONOMY. By Sir J. F. W. Herschel , Bart. Eleventh Edition, with Plates and Woodcuts. Square crown 8vo. 12 s. The SUN; RULER, LIGHT, FIRE, and LIFE of the PLANETARY SYSTEM. By Richard A. Proctor , B.A. F.R.A.S. With 10 Plates (7 coloured) and 107 Figures on Wood. Crown 8vo. 14 s. OTHER WORLDS THAN OURS ; the Plurality of Worlds Studied under the Light of Recent Scientific Researches. By the same Author. Second Edition, with 14 Illustrations. Crown 8vo. 10 s. 6 d. SATURN and its SYS

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Natural History and Popular Science.

ELEMENTARY TREATISE on PHYSICS , Experimental and Applied. Translated and edited from Ganot’s Eléments de Physique (with the Author’s sanction) by E. Atkinson , Ph.D. F.C.S. New Edition, revised and enlarged; with a Coloured Plate and 620 Woodcuts. Post 8vo. 15 s. The ELEMENTS of PHYSICS or NATURAL PHILOSOPHY. By Neil Arnott , M.D. F.R.S. Physician Extraordinary to the Queen. Sixth Edition, rewritten and completed. Two Parts. 8vo. 21 s. SOUND : a Course of Eight Lectures delivered at the Royal I

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Chemistry, Medicine, Surgery, and the Allied Sciences.

A DICTIONARY of CHEMISTRY and the Allied Branches of other Sciences. By Henry Watts , F.R.S. assisted by eminent Contributors. Complete in 5 vols. medium 8vo. £7 3 s. ELEMENTS of CHEMISTRY , Theoretical and Practical. By W. Allen Miller , M.D. late Prof. of Chemistry, King’s Coll. London. Fourth Edition. 3 vols. 8vo. £3. Part I. Chemical Physics , 15 s. Part II. Inorganic Chemistry , 21 s. Part III. Organic Chemistry , 24 s. A MANUAL of CHEMISTRY , Descriptive and Theoretical. By William Odling

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The Fine Arts, and Illustrated Editions.

IN FAIRYLAND ; Pictures from the Elf-World. By Richard Doyle . With a Poem by W. Allingham . With Sixteen Plates, containing Thirty-six Designs printed in Colours. Folio, 31 s. 6 d. LIFE of JOHN GIBSON, R.A. SCULPTOR. Edited by Lady Eastlake . 8vo. 10 s. 6 d. MATERIALS for a HISTORY of OIL PAINTING. By Sir Charles Locke Eastlake , sometime President of the Royal Academy. 2 vols. 8vo. price 30 s. HALF-HOUR LECTURES on the HISTORY and PRACTICE of the Fine and Ornamental Arts. By William B. Scott .

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The Useful Arts, Manufactures, &c.

HISTORY of the GOTHIC REVIVAL ; an Attempt to shew how far the taste for Mediæval Architecture was retained in England during the last two centuries, and has been re-developed in the present. By Charles L. Eastlake , Architect. With many Illustrations. Imp. 8vo. price 31 s. 6 d. GWILT’S ENCYCLOPÆDIA of ARCHITECTURE , with above 1,600 Engravings on Wood. Fifth Edition, revised and enlarged by Wyatt Papworth . 8vo. 52 s. 6 d. A MANUAL of ARCHITECTURE : being a Concise History and Explanation of th

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Religious and Moral Works.

OLD TESTAMENT SYNONYMS, their BEARING on CHRISTIAN FAITH and PRACTICE. By the Rev. R. B. Girdlestone , M.A. 8vo. [ Nearly ready. An INTRODUCTION to the THEOLOGY of the CHURCH of ENGLAND , in an Exposition of the Thirty-nine Articles. By the Rev. T. P. Boultbee , M.A. Fcp. 8vo. price 6 s. FUNDAMENTALS ; or, Bases of Belief concerning MAN and GOD: a Handbook of Mental, Moral, and Religious Philosophy. By the Rev. T. Griffith , M.A. 8vo. price 10 s. 6 d. PRAYERS SELECTED from the COLLECTION of the

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Travels, Voyages, &c.

HOW to SEE NORWAY. By Captain J. R. Campbell . With Map and 5 Woodcuts. Fcp. 8vo. price 5 s. PAU and the PYRENEES. By Count Henry Russell , Member of the Alpine Club, &amp;c. With 2 Maps. Fcp. 8vo. price 5 s. SCENES in the SUNNY SOUTH ; including the Atlas Mountains and the Oases of the Sahara in Algeria. By Lieut.-Col. the Hon. C. S. Vereker , M.A. Commandant of the Limerick Artillery Militia. 2 vols. post 8vo. price 21 s. The PLAYGROUND of EUROPE. By Leslie Stephen , late President of the

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Works of Fiction.

NOVELS and TALES. By the Right Hon. B. Disraeli , M.P. Cabinet Edition, complete in Ten Volumes, crown 8vo. price 6 s. each, as follows:— The MODERN NOVELIST’S LIBRARY. Each Work, in crown 8vo. complete in a Single Volume:— IERNE ; a Tale. By W. Steuart Trench , Author of ‘Realities of Irish Life.’ Second Edition. 2 vols. post 8vo. price 21 s. The HOME at HEATHERBRAE ; a Tale. By the Author of ‘Everley.’ Fcp. 8vo. price 5 s. CABINET EDITION of STORIES and TALES by Miss Sewell :— STORIES and TALE

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Poetry and The Drama.

THOMAS MOORE’S POETICAL WORKS , the only Editions containing the Author’s last Copyright Additions.— MOORE’S IRISH MELODIES , Maclise’s Edition, with 161 Steel Plates from Original Drawings. Super-royal 8vo. 31 s. 6 d. Miniature Edition of Moore’s Irish Melodies with Maclise’s Designs (as above) reduced in Lithography. Imp. 16mo. 10 s. 6 d. MOORE’S LALLA ROOKH. Tenniel’s Edition, with 68 Wood Engravings from original Drawings and other Illustrations. Fcp. 4to. 21 s. SOUTHEY’S POETICAL WORKS , wi

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Rural Sports, &c.

ENCYCLOPÆDIA of RURAL SPORTS ; a complete Account, Historical, Practical, and Descriptive, of Hunting, Shooting, Fishing, Racing, and all other Rural and Athletic Sports and Pastimes. By D. P. Blaine . With above 600 Woodcuts (20 from Designs by John Leech ). 8vo. 21 s. The DEAD SHOT , or Sportsman’s Complete Guide; a Treatise on the Use of the Gun, Dog-breaking, Pigeon-shooting, &amp;c. By Marksman . Revised Edition. Fcp. 8vo. with Plates, 5 s. The FLY-FISHER’S ENTOMOLOGY. By Alfred Ronalds

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Works of Utility and General Information.

The THEORY and PRACTICE of BANKING. By H. D. Macleod , M.A. Barrister-at-Law. Second Edition, entirely remodelled. 2 vols. 8vo. 30 s. A DICTIONARY , Practical, Theoretical, and Historical, of Commerce and Commercial Navigation. By J. R. M‘Culloch . New and thoroughly revised Edition. 8vo. price 63 s. cloth, or 70 s. half-bd. in russia. The LAW of NATIONS Considered as Independent Political Communities. By Sir Travers Twiss , D.C.L. 2 vols. 8vo. 30 s. ; or separately, Part I. Peace , 12 s. Part I

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