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VOL. XXI.
SMITHSONIAN
Cais a
MISCELLANEOUS COLLECTIONS,
VOL. XXI.
“EVERY MAN IS A VALUABLE MEMBER OF SOCIETY WHO BY HIS OBSERVATIONS, RESEARCHES,
AND EXPERIMENTS PROCURES KNOWLEDGE FOR MEN.”—SMITHSON.
WASHINGTON:
PUBLISHED BY THE SMITHSONIAN INSTITUTION.
1881.
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CONTENTS.
Advertisement.
Articte I. (330.) James SmirHson AND His Bequest. By
Wiu1aM J. Roees. 1880. Pp. 68.
ArticLe IL. (327.) Tue Screnriric Wririncs oF JAMES
SMITHSON.
A Memorr on THE ScIrENTIFIC CHARACTER
AND RESEARCHES OF JAMES SmITHSON, Esq.,
F.R.S. By Water R. Jonnson.
On THE WorKS AND CHARACTER OF JAMES
Smiruson. By J. R. McD. Insy.
1879. Pp. 166.
ArticLE III. (No. 356.) A Memoriat or Josepn Henry.
1880. Pp. 582.
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ADVERTISEMENT, |
The present series, entitled “Smithsonian Miscellaneous Collcc-
tions,” is intended to embrace all the publications issued directly
by the Smithsonian Institution in octavo form; those in quarto
constituting the “Smithsonian Contributions to Knowledge.” The
quarto series includes memoirs embracing the records of extended
original investigations and researches resulting in what are believed
to be new truths, and constituting. positive additions to the sum of
human knowledge. The octavo series is designed to contain reports
on the present state of our knowledge of particular branches of
science ; instructions for collecting and digesting facts and materials
for research ; lists and synopses of species of the organic and in-
organic world; museum catalogues; reports of explorations; aids
to bibliographical investigations, etc., generally prepared at the
express request of the Institution, and at its expense.
The position of a work in one or the other of the two series will
sometimes depend upon whether the required illustrations can be
presented more conveniently in the quarto or the octavo form.
In the Smithsonian Contributions to Knowledge, as well as in the
present series, each article is separately paged and indexed, and the
actual date of its publication is that given on its special title page,
and not that of the volume in which it is placed. In many eases,
works have been published, and largely distributed, years before
their combination into volumes.
While due care is taken on the part of the Smithsonian Institu-
tion to insure a proper standard of excellence in its publications, it
will be readily understood that it cannot hold itself responsible for
the facts and conclusions of the authors, as it is impossible in most
cases to verify their statements.
Spencer I". Barr,
Secretary Smithsonian Institution.
VII
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SMITHSONIAN MISCELLANEOUS COLLECTIONS.
330
JAMES SMITHSON
AND HIS BEQUEST.
BY
WILLIAM J. RHEES.
WASHINGTON:
PUBLISHED BY THE SMITHSONIAN INSTITUTION.
1880.
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ADVERTISEMENT.
The materials for a biography of James Smithson are exceedingly scanty,
and no life of him has ever been published. Efforts have several times
been made by the Smithsonian Institution to procure facts and incidents
relative to its founder, and during the present year unusual exertions were
put forth for this purpose.
Nothing new has been elicited however from these recent inquiries, and
Mr. Rhees has collected all the information likely to be obtained and
presents it, for the first time, as an authentic account of the distinguished
man who was no less noted for his own scientific attainments than for his .
remarkable bequest.
The following pages include a sketch of his life, list of his writings,
notices of his death, and tributes to his memory.
It also gives a concise account of the manner in which the legacy was
obtained by the United States, of the legislation of Congress in relation to
its acceptance and disposition, and of the final passage of the “ Act to
establish the Smithsonian Institution.”
SPENCER F. BAIRD,
Secretary of the Smithsonian Institution.
WASHINGTON, October, 1880.
880—iii
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CONTENTS.
Page.
Birth and: Parentage of James Smithsones 2-2 ses a. Seee a oa ;
Sir Hugh Smithson, First Duke of Northumberland___--.-_---._----.------
fiady eros ia eee see ee as hee es os ee eld ei eee ceies
Colonel) Henry Louise Dickinsonaiee = 222 Sse ee eed oa ses eke
Smithson’s feeling in regard to posthumous fame__---_-__--.----------------
John Quincy Adams in reference to Smithson’s fame____-- -----------.------
Prof. Walter R. Johnson’s remarks on Smithson’s fame__---.---------------
Education of Smithson at. Oxford University’... 222.25 2-3 2t 2-2 2st
Graduation at Pembroke College, Oxford. 22-65 so2cSs 23) asso ee See
Smithson's earnest pursuit of science. = 223-2 Soe a oe aaa
Smithson's scientific ambitionso2255 2. -o5 -t ss oe eee eet cess
Aropo's estimate of the Royal Sociefy:. ~~. 42-2 5- =: S2csn os sect cae
Smithson’s name at first, James Lowis Macio.----------.-_..------------- =,
Recommendation of Smithson’s application to Royal Society ....------_------
Smithson elected a member of the Royal Society of London-._----------------
Smithson’ stours and explorations sso. =.22 22-2342 eS ee cas 4,
Hiaportable laboratory =+—=..--2-.2285 2082522252 see eee Se encase n-e
Onbinet of minprals'-2 2-52 22a a ee ee
Minute: researches2- +5 52253 satin Senco ees baa se eee te ences
Privations encotmtered.on explorations. 25.22... --2 524 Se. eet
xtracts from: his: journal.o-- 23 2553524267325 oe
Priendship of eminent Savane. 2-2 foc b oe ose ee ee ee
Presentation of books to Smithson by distinguished authors___.-.------------
Sir Davies Gilbert’s estimate of Smithson as a chemist______----------~------
Prof. W. R. Johnson’s opinion of Smithson’s works-_-_-_..----.------------
Labors in mineralopy and crystallocraphy 22222522202: -3 92s ne
Mottovon| Smithsonian) publicationss==sssssee aes ee ee
‘‘Smithsonite,’’ a new mineral species named in honor of Smithson _-__--_-_--
Analysis of veeetable colors, 25.2245 23) 222 ss a ete et
Practical value.of -his researches 9-23 poc est cn mees at endo co ete at ewes
Wotes and scraps found among his: effeets:.i-. 2... -.- 95.24.22. 6. nasehenekon
ibist.of Smithson’s writings..<=.>..2-e 02 states Jo ee ec bee eee 9, 10
Allusions made by Smithson to other writers_____-_----_-------.------------ 11
Death, of Hmithson..- 322-2 oe ot te ee ee oes bet be Zap ll!
Description of his monument in Genoa .__.. 2-2. a tn Se ones w ey) 11
Sir Davies Gilbert’s tribute to his memory ..2. 42-2. se
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Smithson’sianalysis of a: tear =--2 22-2 oes 2 ee 11
Remarks of Dr. Johnson and George Wilson on lack of details of private life
Of .scientifie Mon... 22-22. ee nie ae ee 13
No autobiography or life of Smithson extant...__..--- ..-.-..--------- ------ 13
Inventory of his personal effects, at death =... .2.- 222 cose esa... , 18
Personal effects transferred to Mr. Rush--._-_--_---_- -------- A ot ae es 15
The same transferred to the National Institute .... ..-..- _.-__. _-.----. -_---- 15
830—v
VI CONTENTS.
Pa
Mr. F. Markoe’s account of Smithson’s mineral cabinet --------------------- 16
Moties of various portraits of Smithson------ === eee 16
Personal effects exhibited in Patent)Omice:-22 > 2-2. 16
The same transferred to the Smithsonian Institution -_-.--------_----_------- » 16
Mheseiettects destroyed Dy Gira: ir) Veto ee 16
Wall of Smithson, deliberately mudess—= 2-6 (222. oe eee eee ee 17
Account of book on wills found in Smithson’s library.-__-.----------------. 17
Motives inducing the bequest to the United States .___.--.------------------- 18
Scientitic Activity Of the periodate. an ee ee ee ere ee 18
Organization of leading scientific societies._._-..-—.. .~---~-<. «.-=.=--22s2—-5- 19
Remarkable advances in science noticed by Arago__--_.-----.--------------- 19
Cuvier’sizetrospect Of the, same oe a ee ee ee 20
Hdwestionsl progress of the period toss s- esas eee aa an ee 20
Lord Brougham’s efforts in behalf of diffusion of knowledge-----.---------- 20
Society for the Diffusion of Useful Knowledge organized-_------------------ 21
Purpose of Smithson to leave fortune to Royal Society _------ ---- poate tee 21
Cosmopolitan spirit of Royal Society --.--.----__ --------_.-_--------------- 22
Estate received from Colonel Henry Louis Dickinson______------------------ 22
Wall-of- Smithson proved in-court:2-222 5" ea ea eee 23
Detailsieb the-willia.22— ee ee ee ee eee eae ee eee 23
Smithson’s estate devised to Henry James Hungerford ___------------------- 24
Claim of Mrs. de la Batut, mother of the nephew of Smithson___-__---------- 24
Decree of court of chancery relative to annuity to Mrs. de la Batut---------- 24
First announcement of bequest to United States__-.--_--------- .----------- 25
President Jackson’s message to Congress asking for action on bequest-_------- 25
Proceedings in United States Senate relative to acceptance of bequest--_------ 25
Proceedings in the House of Representutives relative to the same_------..----- 26
Hon. Richard Rush appointed agent to obtain the bequest___--_-------------- 27
Character of Mirs Rush,and yaluejof his services===22=-—-— 2 >See ee enon 27, 29
Suit of United States to procure bequeat-~-—---_-=----22-- ==" --_ a eee 28
Delays incident to chancery suits__-------------------------- -------------- 28
Bequest obtuined by Mr. Rush, and nature of the funds___~----------------- 30
Transfer of bequest fund to the United States--..-.-.----------------------- 30
Legislation of Congress in relation to the disposition of the bequest_--------~- 31
President Van Buren’s request for plans for organizing the Smithsonian Insti-
PUtON meee ee cee ee oe Bee ee eer eee eee ees 81
Plans proposed by literary and scientific men--~~~- ~--- --------------------- 81
Investment of Smithson funds in State stocks by order of Congress--_--------- 34
President Tyler’s appeal to Congress for action in relation to bequest---.---~~- 86
Discussion of bills relative to bequest... -----.---.-------------- 35, 38, 39, 42
Speech of Mr. Choate advocating library scheme---~-~- ~~-------------------- 36
Speeches of Mr. Tappan, and others proposing plans-_---------. ------------ 38
Speech of Mr. Owen advocating plan, and reply to Mr. Choate_--- ----------- 40
Speech of Mr. Marsh on plan of organization ~-----.--------- -------------- 43
Action of House of Representatives on Mr. Owen’s bill-------~..------------ 48
Substitute bill by Mr. Hough for that of Mr. Owen, adopted .___ .-----.-.---- 49
Action of the United States Senate on bill for organizing Smithsonian Institution 49
Organization of Smithsonian Institution----~---------------- --------------- 49
jor aye silty Ibyeyryyel wre Ia Nite oe Ree See So ree es ones sees cescee 49
CONTENTS. . VII
Page
Obiiuary notice of Smithson, March, 1880.02. =.=... 2c ses 61
Account of the First Duke of Northumberland, by L. Dutens --_-_-__--_____ 51
Notice of the First Duke, in The Gentleman's Magazine, 1786___---_-_____- 52
Coiin-plateinseription of Buch Smithson2-—=---- ~~ + enn conan ees 54
Account of Earl Perey, Second Duke of Northumberland ._-.-.---_.-__-_--- 54
Notice of Smithson’s paper on tabasheer, from the Monthly Review, 1791-2_._ 56
Notice of Smithson’s paper on calamines, by Sir Humphrey Davy------_- ._-- 57
Illustrations of presentation of books to Smithson by scientific authors______- 58
Noties of Smithson's*researches, by Perzelius. 2.0.2.2 32i2. 3 222 Lusk 59
Extracts from Smithson’s scientific writings._-.-__------------------ eae 60
Cstalocue/ot ‘the library of Smithseas-.6225 25-0 2225 22S Soe 62
Notice of the city of Washington in Harriott’s Travels___.._.--_--._-.------ 67
Notice of the city of Washington in Isaac Weld’s Travels___--_--------. .. -- 68
LIST OF ILLUSTRATIONS.
Facing Page
PorTRAIT oF JAMES SMITHSON. From an oil painting by Johns. Aix la
Chapelle, 1816. By the Heliotype Printing Co., Boston._-.----
PortTRAIT OF JAMES SMITHSON. In the costume of an Oxford student,
1786. From an oil painting; artist unknown. By the Helio-
type Printing 'Co., Boston == ..-2.- 25.25.2202 2 ee
PorrraiT or JAMxS SMITHSON. From a medallion. Engraved on steel
by: Chas. Burt, of Brooklyn, N.Y ..-= 2-32. ee nee
Toma or Smiruson, at Genoa, Italy. From a photograph taken in 1880_-
Fac-SIMILE OF SMITHSON’S VISITING CARD, used in Paris __----_-----_-
Fac-SImILk OF SMITHSON’s DINNER INVITATION CARD__--------------
SiLHovETTE PorTRAIT OF HENRY JAMES HUNGERFORD, nephew of James
SEE] 0) ees a ee Oe es ees
WAC SIMILN OF LAR VILL (OF SMITHSON: =. -2--5.- = 22 eo eee
Portrait? oF Str Huau Smiruson, First Duke of Northumberland, father
of James Smithson. From an engraving belonging to James
Smithson 2. 2s2osat oo oo ee ee ee ee ee eee eee
Nortu VIEW oF SMITHSONIAN INSTITUTION BUILDING, Washington -_--
880—viil
24
61
68
JAMES SMITHSON,
FROM \ PAINTING BY JOINS. rSsi6,
HMeliotype Printing Co., Boston
JAMES SMITHSON AND HIS BEQUEST.
By WILLIAM J. RHEES.
\
JAMES SMITHSON was born in England about the year 1754, the pre-
cise date and place of his nativity being unknown.* He was a natural
son of Hugh Smithson, first Duke of Northumberland, his mother being
a Mrs. Elizabeth Macie, of an old family in Wiltshire of the name of
Hungerford. Nothing has been learned of her history.
Hugh Smithson, his father, was distinguished as a member of one of
the most illustrious houses of Great Britain, and also because of his
alliance with the renowned family of Percy.
The Smithson baronetcy arose with an earlier Hugh Smithson, the
second son of Anthony Smithson, esq., of Newscome or Newsham, in the
parish of Kirby-on-the-Mount, Yorkshire, who was thus rewarded by
Charles IL in 1660, for his services in the royalist cause during the civil
wars. Ilis grandson, Sir Hugh Smithson, married Elizabeth, daughter
of the second Lord Langdale, and had two sons. Hugh, the eldest, died
unmarried, before his father; Langdale, the second son, married Miss
Revely, by whom he left one son, Hugh. This son succeeded his grand-
father as Sir Hugh Smithson, of Stanwick, in 1750, and was the father
of the subject of the present sketch. He married Lady Percy on the 16th
July, 1740. Her father inherited the Dukedom of Somerset in 1741,
and. was created Earl of Northumberland in 1749. On his death, in
1750, Sir Hugh Smithson succeeded to these honors and on the 22d of
October, 1766, was created first Duke of Northumberlandt and Earl
Percy, with succession to his heirs male; and finally in 1784 the barony
of Lovaine of Alnwick was added to his accumulated dignities.
The Duchess died in 1776. The Duke survived till 1786,{ and was
succeeded by his son Hugh (half brother of James Smithson), as the
second Duke of Northumberland.§
Hugh Smithson, the first Duke of Northumberland, had (besides James
Smithson) another natural son, who was known as Henry Louis Dickin-
son. He received a good education, entered the military service, was
commissioned lieutenant-colonel on the 1st of January, 1800, and on the
4th of August, 1808, took command of the EKighty-fourth Regiment of
Foot. He saw active service on the Continent and in Asia and Africa.
His estate was left to the care of his half-brother, Mr. James Smithson,
in trust for the benefit of his son, and this was probably the source of a
large part of the fund which eventually came to the United States.
*See Appendix. Note 3.
t There was a previous Duke of Northumberland who died without issue in 1716,
and the title became extinct. tSee Appendix. Note 2.
§ See Appendix. Note 3. e
2 JAMES SMITHSON AND HIS BEQUEST.
The possession by the first Duke of Northumberland of titles and dig-
nities only inferior to those of royalty was of little consequence to his
son James Smithson. Deprived by the bar sinister on his escutcheon
from claiming the family name and honors, he nevertheless aspired to win
a fame more universal and lasting than these could have bestowed upon
him. He devoted himself to original research in the field of science, and
sought to be known and honored by his fellow-men as a discoverer of
new truths. Moreover, he resolved to attach his name to an institution
unique in its character, noble in its object, and universal in its benefi-
cence, of which John Quincy Adams has well said, “Of all the founda-
tions of establishments for pious or charitable uses which ever signalized
the spirit of the age or the comprehensive beneficence of the founder,
none can be named more deserving of the approbation of mankind.”
Smithson’s feeling in regard to posthumous fame was strikingly ex-
pressed in the following sentence found in one of his manuscripts.
‘““The best blood of England flows in my veins; on my father’s side I
am a Northumberland, on my mother’s I am related to kings, but this
avails me not. My nameshall live in the memory of man when the titles
of the Northumberlands and the Percys are extinct and forgotten.”
As Prof. W. R. Johnson has well observed in speaking of Smithson:
“The man of science is willing to rest on the basis of his own labors
alone for his credit with mankind, and his fame with future generations.
In the view of such a man, the accidents of birth, of fortune, of local
uabitation, and conventional rank in the artificial organization of society,
all sink into insignificance by the side of a single truth of nature. If
he have contributed his mite to the increase of knowledge; if he have
diffused that knowledge for the benefit of man, and above all, if he have
applied it to the useful, or even to the ornamental purposes of life, he
has laid not his family, not his country, but the world of mankind under
a lasting obligation.”
The eloquent words of John Quincy Adams in reference to the fame
to be conferred on Smithson by the successful accomplishment of the
great design he had in view by his bequest are appropriate in this con-
nection.
“The father of the testator upon forming his alliance with the heiress
of the family of the Percys, assumed, by an act of the British Parliament,
that name, and, under it,’ became Duke of Northumberland. But re-
nowned as is the name of Percy in the historical annals of England ;
resounding as it does from the summit of the Cheviot Hills to the ears
of our children in the ballad of Chevy Chace, with the classical com-
mentary of Addison; freshened and renovated in our memory as it bas
recently been from the purest fountain of poetical inspiration in the loft-
ier strain of Alnwick Castle, tuned by a bard from our own native land
(Fitz Greene Halleck); doubly immortalized as it is in the deathless
dramas of Shakspeare ; ‘confident against the world in arms,’ as it may
have been in ages long past and may still be in the virtues of its present
20 | Soke
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te ee
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ONFORL thot |
JAMES SMITHSON AND HIS BEQUEST. - 8
possessors by inheritance, let the trust of James Smithson to the United
States of America be faithfully executed by their representatives in Con-
gress, let the result accomplish his object, ‘the increase and diffusion of
knowledge among men,’ and a wreath of more unfading verdure shall
entwine itself in the lapse of future ages around the name of SMITHSON,
than the united hands of tradition, history, and poetry have braided
around the name of Percy through the long perspective in ages past of
a thousand years.”
The Duke of Northumberland provided a liberal education for his son
James, who pursued his studies at Oxford University, where he became
attached to Pembroke College, distinguished for having among its
fellows the learned Blackstone, the eloquent Whitfield, and the cele-
brated Dr. Samuel Johnson. Here the young student was noted for
diligence, application, and good scholarship, and attracted marked at-
tention by his proficiency in chemistry. His vacations were passed in
excursions to collect minerals and ores which it was his favorite occu- |
pation to analyze. At Oxford he received the impulse for scientific
research which characterized all his future life, and the ardent desire not
only to advance knowledge himself but to devote in after years his whole
fortune to provide means by which others could prosecute this high and
noble pursuit.
He was graduated at Pembroke College on the 26th of May, 1786, as
JAMES Lewis Mactiz,* by which name he seems at that time to have
been known, and which he retained for about fourteen years, when he
adopted that of JAMES SMITHSON.t
Smithson never married, and as a man of wealth had ample op-
portunity for leisure or the indulgence of mere personal gratification.
But idleness and pleasure were not compatible with the spirit and ardor
of the young student of chemistry. He diligently pursued his investi-
gations, and his ambition to become associated with the votaries of
science induced him to seek membership in the Royal Society of London.
“The Royal Society of London,” says Arago, “ enjoys throughout the
whole kingdom a vast and deserved consideration. The philosophical
transactions which it publishes have been for more than a century and
a half the glorious archives in which British genius holds it an honor to
deposit its titles to the recognition of posterity. The wish to see his
name inscribed in the list of fellow-laborers in this truly national col-
lection beside the names of Newton, Bradley, Priestley, and Cavendish,
has always been among the students of the celebrated universities of
Cambridge, Oxford, Edinburgh, and Dublin, the most anxious as well
as legitimate object of emulation. Here is always the highest point of
ambition of the man of science.”
*So given in the Oxford Catalogue. In the Philosophical Transactions and the
Gentleman’s Magazine the name is given as James Louis Macie.
t His second paper in the Philosophical Transactions, 1602, is by James Smithson.
Sir Davies Gilbert, in his eulogy of him in 1830, calls him James Lewis Smithson.
4 JAMES SMITHSON AND HIS BEQUEST,
The following is the official recommendation of his application to the
society, bearing the signatures of some of its most illustrious members:
“James Lewis Macie, Esq., M. A., late of Pembroke College, Oxford,
and now of John Street, Golden Bonireele gentleman well versed in
various branches of Maeuel Philosophy, and particularly in Chymistry
and Mineralogy, being desirous of becoming a Fellow of the Royal So-
ciety, we whose names are hereto subscribed do, from our personal
knowledge of his merit, judge him highly worthy of that honour and
likely to become a very useful and valuable Member.”
RicHARD KIRWAN.
C. F. GREVILLE.
C. BLAGDEN.
H. CAVENDISH.
DAVID PITCAIRN.
He was admitted a fellow on the 26th of April, 1787, in less than one
year after leaving the university.*
Smithson’s lodgings for some time were in Bentinck street, a locality
famous as the place where Gibbon wrote much of his “ Decline and Fall
of the Roman Empire.” Here, with authors, artists, and savans, Smith-
son found congenial fellowship. His mind was filled with a craving for
intellectual development, and for the advancement of human knowl-
edge. To enlarge the domain of thought, to discover new truths, and
to make practical application of these for the promotion of civilization,
were the great ends he had constantly in view.
For purposes of scientific inquiry he engaged in extensive tours in
various parts of Europe; making minute observations wherever he went
on the climate, the physical features and geological structure of the
locality visited, the characteristics of its minerals, the methods employed
in mining or chee ores, and in all kinds of manufactures.
These numerous journeys and sojourns abroad gave him a cosmopoli-
tan character, and illustrated one of his own sayings: “the man of
science is of no country, the world is his country, all mankind his coun-
* Extract from Journal Book of the Royal Society.
Ordinary meeting, Jan. 18, 1787.— Certificates were read recommending for election
Louis Pinto de Sousa Coutinho, Knight of the Orders of Malta and Christ, and Envoy
Extraordinary and Minister Plenipotentiary from the Queen of Portugal to the Court
of Great Britain. Also Sir Thomas Gery Cullum, Bart., of Bury Saint Edmunds, in
Suffolk, and James Lewis Macig, Esq., M. A., late of Pembroke College, Oxford, and
now of John Street, Golden Square.
April 19, 1787.— Louis Pinto de Sousa Coutinho, Portuguese Minister at the Court of
Great Britain, Sir Thos. Gery Cullum, Bart., and JamMEs Lewis MAcig, Esq., Certificates
in whose favour had hung the usual time in the Meeting Room were put to the ballot
and chosen into the Society,
April 26, 1787.—James Lewis Mactn, Esq., and Sir Thos. Gery Cullum, Bart., elected
at a former meeting attended. They paid their admission fees, compounded ‘for An-
nual Contributions, and having signed the obligation in the Charter book were ad-
mitted fellows of the Society.
JAMES SMITHSON AND HIS BEQUEST. a
trymen.” ‘This fact is exemplified by the life of Smithson—born in Eng-
land, spending most of his time in I'rance and Germany, buried in Italy,
and leaving his name and fortune to the United States of America.
Desiring to bring to the practical test of actual experiment every
thing that came to his notice, he fitted up and carried with him a porta-
ble laboratory. He collected also a cabinet of minerals composed of
thousands of minute specimens, including all the rarest gems, so that
immediate comparison could be made of a novel or undetermined speci-
men, with an accurately arranged and labeled collection. With minute
balances, his weights scarcely exceeding a gram, and with articles so
delicate as to be scarcely visible, he made the most accurate and satis-
factory determinations. With a few pieces, not exceedirg half a cubic
inch in size, of tabasheer, a substance found in the hollow of bamboo
canes, he made over two hundred and fifty different experiments. *
The value which Smithson placed on such minute researches is inci-
dentally shown by a remark in his paper on “fluorine.” He says,
“there may be persons who, measuring the importance of the subject
by the magnitude of the object, will cast a supercilious look on this dis-
cussion; but the particle and the planet are subject to the same laws, and
what is learned of the one will be known of the other.”
Smithson’s ardor for knowledge and his zeal as a collector of new and
rare minerals exposed him sometimes to hardship and privation. An
interesting account of one of his journeysis given in his private journal.
In 1784, in company with Mr. Thornton, Mons. Faujas de St. Fond,
the celebrated geologist of France, the Italian Count Andrioni, and
others, he made a tour through New Castle, Edinburgh, Glasgow, Duin-
barton, Tarbet, Inverary, Oban, Arran, and the island of Staffa.
As stated in Mr. Smithson’s journal, the party had arrived at a house
on the coast of Mull, opposite the island, and the journal continues:
“Mr. Turtusk got me a separate boat; set off about half-past eleven
o'clock in the morning, on Friday, the 24th of September, for Staffa.
Some wind, the sea a little rough; wind increased, sea ran very high ;
rowed round some part of the island, but found it impossible to go be-
fore Fingal’s cave; was obliged to return; landed on Staffa with diffi-
culty; sailors press to go off again immediately ; am unwilling to de-
part without having thoroughly examined the island. Resolve to stay
all night. Mr. Maclaire stays with me; the other party which was
there had already come to the very same determination; all crammed
into one bad hut, though nine of ourselves besides the family ; supped
upon eggs, potatoes, and milk; lay upon hay, in a kind of barn.” (‘The
party, be it remembered, embraced two English gentlemen, one French
savant, one Italian count.)
“25th. Got up early, sea ran very high, wind extremely strong—no
boat could put off. Breakfasted on boiled potatoes and milk; dined
upon the same; only got a few very bad fish; supped on potatoes and
*Seo Appendix. Note 4.
6 JAMES SMITHSON AND HIS BEQUEST.
milk; lay in the barn, firmly expecting to stay there for a week, without
even bread.”
“Sunday the 26th.—The man of the island came at five or six o’clock
in the morning to tell us that the wind was dropped, and that it was a
good day. Set off in the small boat, which took water so fast that my
servant was obliged to bail constantly—the sail, an old plaid—the ropes,
old garters.”
On the 29th, the tourists are at Oban, where a little circumstance is
noted, which significantly marks the zeal and activity of the collector
of minerals and fossils, and the light in which devotion to geology is
sometimes viewed.
“ September 29.—This day packed up my fossils in a barrel, and paid 2s.
6d. for their going by water to Edinburgh. Mr. Stevenson charged half
@ crown a night for my rooms, because I had brought ‘stones and dirt,’
as he said into it.”
A month later he visited Northwich.
“October 28.—Went to visit one of the salt mines, in which they told
me there were two kinds of salt. They let me down in a bucket, in which
I only put one foot, and I had a miner with me. I think the first shaft
was about thirty yards, at the bottom of which was a pool of water, but
on one side there was a horizontal opening, from which sunk a second
shaft, which went to the bottom of the pit, and the man let us down in
a bucket smaller than the first.” *
These incidents indicate the character of Smithson as a scientific en-
thusiast, not easily deterred by the fear of personal inconvenience from
the pursuit of his favorite object.
Much of his life was passed on the Continent, in Berlin, Paris, Rome,
Florence, and Geneva, enjoying everywhere the friendship and respect
of the leading men of science,t and always devoting himself to the study
of physical phenomena, Distinguished authors, as Gay-Lussac, Marcet,
Haiiy, Berzelius, and Cordier, presented him with their scientific papers}
as soon as published, and he enjoyed intimate association and corre-
spondence with Davy, Gilbert, Arago, Biot, Klaproth, Black, and
others. §
As a chemist, Sir Davies Gilbert, President of the Royal Society, pro-
nounced Smithson to be the rival of Wollaston, of whom Magendie said,
“his hearing was so fine he might have been thought to be blind, and his.
sight so piercing he might have been supposed to be deaf.” It is related
of him that he made a galvanic battery in a thimble, and a platinum wire-
much finer than any hair.
* Smithsonian Miscell. Coll., No. 327, p. 140. .
tGalton, in speaking of Erasmus Darwin, remarks: “ He was held in very high:
esteem by his scientific friends, including such celebrities as Priestley and James Watt,.
and it is by a man’s position among his contemporaries and competitors that his work
may most justly be appraised.” Francis Galton, English Men of Science.
tSee Appendix.—Note 5.
§See Appendix.—Note 6.
JAMES SMITHSON AND HIS BEQUEST. 7
Prof. Walter R. Johnson has made the following remarks respecting
Smithson :
“It appears from his published works that his was not the character of
a mere amateur of science. He was an active and industrious laborer
in the most interesting and important branch of research—mineral
chemistry. A contemporary of Davy and of Wollaston, and a corre-
spondent of Black, Banks, Thomson, and a host of other names re-
nowned in the annals of science, it is evident that his labors had to un-
dergo the scrutiny of those who could easily have detected errors, had
any of a serious character been committed. His was a capacity by no
means contemptible for the operations and expedients of the laboratory.
He felt the importance of every help afforded by a simplification of meth-
ods and means of research, and the use of minute quantities and accu-
rate determinations in conducting his inquiries.”
Smithson says in one of his papers, ‘‘chemistry is yet so new a science,”
what we know of it bears so small a proportion to what we are igno-
rant of; our knowledge in every department of it is so incomplete, con-
sisting so entirely of isolated points, thinly scattered, like lurid specks on
a vast field of darkness, that no researches can be undertaken without
producing some facts leading to consequences which extend beyond the
boundaries of their immediate object.” *
Many of these “lurid specks ” in the vast field of darkness of which
Smithson spoke so feelingly, have, Prof. Johnson observes, “since his
days of activity expanded into broad sheets of light. Chemistry has
assumed its rank among the exact sciences. Methods and instruments
of analysis unknown to the age of Smithson have come into familiar
use amon chemists. 'Lhese may have rendered less available for the
present purposes of science than they otherwise might have been, a por-
tion of the analysis and other researches of our author. The same may,
however, be sail of nearly every other writer of his day.”
Although his principal labors were in analytical chemistry, he distin-
guished himself by his researches in mineralogy and crystallography, in
all his work exhibiting the most careful and minute attention to accu-
racy.t In his second published paper, he observes: “ It may be proper
to say that the experiments have been stated precisely as they turned
out, and have not been in the least degree bent to the system.”
That he pursued his investigations in a philosophic spirit, and with
proper methods, is evident from the favor with which his contributions
to the scientific socicties and transactions of the day were received by
his contemporaries, and the fact that the results he reached are still
accepted as scientific truths.t
*A chemical analysis of some calamines. Smithsonian Miscell. Coll., No. 327, p. 26.
t He carefully noted on the margins of his books mistakes in grammar or orthography,
and frequently corrected erroneous statements or improper references in the indexes.
¢ An account of some of Smithson’s experiments and copies of his notes on minerals
and rocks are given in a paper on the works and character of James Smithson, by Dr.
J. R. McD. Irby. Smithsonian Miscell. Collections, No. 327, 1879, p. 143.
8 JAMES SMITHSON AND HIS BEQUEST.
In one of his essays, he divides the sources of knowledge into, 1st,
observation; 2d, reasoning; 3d, information; 4th, conjecture. In all
his researches he began the process of acquisition by observing.
One of his sentiments has been adopted as the motto on the publica-
tions of the Smithsonian Institution; viz: “ Hvery man is a. valuable
member of society, who, by his observations, researches, and experiments,
procures knowledge for men.”
In a critical notice of Davy’s Klements of Chemical Philosophy in the
Quarterly Review for 1812, the writer speaking of recent advances in
chemistry, and especially in the establishment and extension of the law
of definite proportions, remarks: ‘ For these facts the science is princi-
pally indebted, after Mr. Higgins, to Dalton, Gay-Lussac, Smithson, and
Wollaston.”*
The mineral species “Smithsonite,” « carbonate of zinc, was discovered
and analyzed by him, among some ores from Somersetshire and Der-
byshire, England. The name, Smithsonite, appears to have been con-
ferred on it by the great French mineralogist. Beudant.
It is interesting to notice the number and variety of specimens from
the vegetable kingdom that Smithson subjected to analysis. They in-
clude the violet, red rose, red clover, daisy, blue hyacinth, hollyhock,
lavender, artichoke, scarlet geranium, red cabbage, radish, poppy, plum,
pomegranate, mulberry, cherry, currant, buckthorn berries, elder and
privet berries. He also examined the coloring matter of animal greens.
It is perhaps worthy of note that his first paper related to an article
of importance in the materia medica, and his last to a matter of prac-
tical value to artists. He by no means confined his attention to abstract
science, but contributed knowledge of improved methods of constructing
lamps, and of making tea and coffee. That such practical questions
might be considered of little importance by men of science he seems to
acknowledge by the remarks he makes in one of his papers.
“It is to be regretted,” he observes, “that those who cultivate
science frequently withhold improvements in their apparatus and pro-
cesses, from which they themselves derive advantage, owing to their not
deeming them of sufficient magnitude for publication. When the sole
view is to further a pursuit of whose importance to mankind a convic-
tion exists, all that can should be imparted, however small may appear
the merit which attaches to it.” t
A sécretary of the French Academy deemed it his duty to offer an
excuse for having given a detailed account of certain researches of
Leibnitz, which had not required great efforts of the intellect. “We
ought,” says he, ‘to be very much obliged to a man such as he is, when
he condescends, for the public good, to do something which does not
partake of genius.”. Arago remarked in his eulogy on Fourier, “ I can-
not conceive the ground of such scruples; in the present day the sciences
* Quarterly Review, 1812, vol. viii, p. 77.
+Some improvements of lamps. Smithsonian Miscell. Coll. No. 327, p. 73.
JAMES SMITHSON AND HIS BEQUEST. 9
are regarded from too high a point of view to allow us to hesitate in
placing in the first rank of the labors with which they are adorned
those which diffuse comfort, health, and happiness amidst the working
population.”
. In another of his papers Smithson says, referring to practical inves-
tigations :
‘In all cases means of economy tend to augment and diffuse comfort
and happiness. ‘They bring within the reach of the many what waste-
ful proceeding confines to the few. ' By diminishing expenditure on one
article they allow of some other enjoyment which was before unattaina-
ble. A reduction in quantity permits an indulgence in superior quality.
In the present instance the importance of economy is particularly great
since it is applied to matters of high price, which constitute one of the
daily meals of a large portion of the population of the earth.”
“That in cookery also the power of subjecting for an indefinite dura-
tion to a boiling heat, without the slightest dependiture of volatile mat-
ter, will admit of a beneficial application, is unquestionable.” *
In the books of his library are found numerous marginal notes, indi-
cating his special attention to subjects relating to the health, comfort,
resources, and happiness of the people.
Among his effects were several hundred manuscripts and a great
number of notes or scraps on a variety of subjects, including history, the
arts, language, rural pursuits, &c. On the subject of “ habitations”
were articles classified under the several heads of situation, exposure,
exterior and interior arrangements, building materials, contents and
adornment of rooms, furniture, pictures, statuary, &c. It is not im-
probable that he contemplated the preparation of a cyclopedia or phil-
osophical dictionary.
Smithson’s contributions to scientific literature consist of twenty-seven
papers, eight published in the Philosophical Transactions of the Royal
Society, in the years 1791, 1802, 1806, 1808, 1811, 1812, 1813, and 1817, and
nineteen in Thomson’s Annals of Philosophy, a journal of the highest
scientific character, in 1819, 1820, 1821, 1822, 1823, 1824, and 1825. These
papers have recently been collected and reprinted by the Smithsonian
Institution.t Several of them were previously republished in foreign
scientific journals translated by himself.
It is highly probable that Smithson contributed articles to scientific
and literary journals other than those mentioned, but they have not
yet been discovered.
* An improved method of making coffee. Smithsonian Miscell. Coll., No. 327, p. 88.
tSmithsonian Miscell. Coll., No. 327, 1879, 8 vo., 166 pp.
10
JAMES SMITHSON AND HIS BEQUEST,
The following is a list of his scientific writings :
1791.
1802.
1806.
1807.
1808.
1811.
1813.
1813.
1817.
[In the Philosophical Transactions of the Royal Society of London. ]
An account of some chemical experiments on agar eed vol.
Ixxxi, pt. II, p. 368.
A chemical analysis of some Calamines, vol. xciii, p. 12.
Account of a discovery of native minium, vol. xcvi, pt. I, p. 267.
On quadruple and binary compounds, particularly sulphurets,.
[Philosophical Magazine, vol. xxix, p. 275.]
On the composition of the compound sulphuret from Huel Boys,
and an account of its crystals, vol. xeviii, p. 55.
On the composition of zeolite, vol. ci, p. 171.
On a substance from the elm tree, called ulmin, vol. ciii, p. 64.
On a saline substance from Mount Vesuvius, vol. ciii, p. 256.
A few facts relative to the coloring matter of some vegetables,
vol. cviii., p. 110.
[In Thomson’s Annals of Philosophy. ]
. Ona native compound of sulphuret of lead and arsenic, vol. xiv,
p. 96.
. On native hydrous aluminate of lead, or plomb gomme, vol. xiv,
p. 31.
. Ona fibrous metallic copper, vol. xvi, p. 46.
20. An account of a native combination of sulphate of barium and.
fluoride of calcium, vol. xvi, p. 48.
. On some capilary metallic tin, vol. xvii. New series, vol. I, p. 271.
22. On the detection of very minute quantities of arsenic and mercury,.
vol. xx. New series, vol. iv, p. 127.
. Some improvements of lamps, vol. xx. New series, vol. iv, p. 363..
3. On the crystalline form of ice, vol. xxi. New series, vol. v, p. 340..
. A means of discrimination between the sulphates of barium and.
strontium, vol. xxi. New series, vol. v, p. 359.
. On the discovery of acids in mineral substances, vol. xxi. New
series, vol. v, p. 384.
23. An improved method of making coffee, vol. xxii. New series, vol.
vi, p. 30.
. A discovery of chloride of potassium in the earth, vol. xxii. New
series, vol. vi, p. 258.
. A method of fixing particles on the sappare, vol. xxii. New se-
ries, vol. vi, p. 412.
. On some compounds of fluorine, vol. xxiii. New series, vol. vii,,
p. 100.
. An examination of some Egyptian colors, vol. xxiii. New series,
vol. vii, p. 115.
. Some observations on Mr. Penn’s theory concerning the formation
of the Kirkdale Cave, vol. xxiv. New series, vol. viii, p. 50.
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14
JAMES SMITHSON AND HIS BEQUEST. 11
1825. Note to a letter from Dr. Black, describing a very sensible balance,
vol. xxvi. New series, vol. x, p. 52.
1825. A method of fixing crayon colors, vol. xxvi. New series, vol. x,
p. 236.
Smithson’s writings all exhibit clearness of perception, terseness of
language and accuracy of expression.*
A trait of Smithson’s character is exhibited in the allusions he makes
in his writings to other scientific men. His expressions are always
kind or complimentary, evidently not for the sake of flattery, but from
a sense of justice and truthful recognition of merit. He speaks of Mr.
Tennant as one “whose many and highly important discoveries have
so greatly contributed to the progress of chemical science.” Abbe Haiiy
he refers to as one “so justly celebrated for his great knowledge in
crystallography, mineralogy,” &c. “The analysis we possess of na-
trolite by the illustrious chemist of Berlin,” &e.
Of Baron Cronstedt he says, “ the greatest mineralogist who has yet
appeared.”
“A query from the celebrated Mr. Vauquelin.”
“The celebrated Mr. Klaproth, to whom nearly every department of
chemistry is under numerous and great obligations.”
“M. Berzelius’ elegant method of detecting phosphoric acid,” &c..
““M. Werner, its principal and most distinguished professor,” &c.
Smithson died on the 27th of J une, 1829, at Genoa, Italy. He was
buried in the Protestant cemetery, about a milo west of Genoa, on the
high elevation which forms the west side of the harbor and overlooks
the town of Sampierdarena. His grave is marked by a handsome monu-
ment. The base is of pale gray marble, 6 feet and a half long, 3 feet
wide, and 33 feet high. On the top of this is a white marble urn suit-
ably proportioned to the base. The lot is inclosed by an iron fence, with
gray marble corner posts. On one side of the monument the inscription
is as follows: .
“Sacred to the memory of James Smithson, esq., Fellow of the Royal
Society, London, who died at Genoa the 26th J une, 1829, aged 75 years.”
On the other side is the following:
“This monument is erected, and the ground on which it stands pur:
chased in perpetuity, by Henry Hun gerford, esq., the deceased’s nephew,
in token of gratitude to a generous benefactor and as a tribute to de-
parted worth.”
The announcement of his departure called forth expressions of regret
from prominent men of science, and as he had been an honored Fellow of
the Royal Society, its president, Sir Davies Gilbert, alluded to it on two
occasions. At the meeting of the Royal Society November 30, 1829, he
remarked, “In no previous interval of twelve months has the society
*A fow extracts from his published writings are given in the Appendix, Noto 7.
12 JAMES SMITHSON AND HIS BEQUEST.
collectively, or have its individnal members, experienced losses so
severe, or so much in every respect to be deplored.” Among the names
then referred to were those of Dr. W. H. Wollaston, Dr. Thomas Young,
and Sir Humphrey Davy. To these illustrious savans he adds that of
James Smithson, who, he says, “has added eight communications to our
Transactions. He was distinguished by the intimate friendship of Mr.
Cavendish, and rivalled our most expert chemists in elegant analyses.”*
At the following anniversary meeting of the Royal Society, November
30, 1830, the president, Sir Davies Gilbert, delivered an address in
which, after speaking of the death of Major Kennele and Mr. Chevenix,
he says:
* * * The only remaining individual who has taken a direct and
active part in our labours, by contributing to the Transactions, is Mr.
James Lewis Smithson, and of this gentleman I must be allowed to
speak with affection. We were at Oxford together, of the same college,
and our acquaintance continued to the time of his decease.
‘‘Mr. Smithson, then called Macie, and an undergraduate, had the
reputation of excelling all other resident members of the University in
the knowledge of chemistry. He was early honored by an intimate
acquaintance with Mr. Cavendish; he was admitted into the Royal
Society, and soon after presented a paper on the very curious concretion
frequently found in the hollow of bambi canes, named Tabasheer. This
he found to consist almost entirely of silex, existing in a manner similar
to what Davy long afterwards discovered in the epidermis of reeds and
grasses. . ;
“Mr. Smithson enriched our Transactions with seven other communi-
cations: A chemical analysis of some calamines. Account of a discov-
ery of native minium. On the composition and crystallization of certain
sulphurets from Huel Boys in Cornwall. On the composition of zeolite.
On a substance procured from the elm tree, called Ulmin. On a saline
substance from Mount Vesuvius. TI acts relative to the colouring matter
of vegetables. |
‘“‘ He was the friend of Dr. Wollaston, and at the same time his rival
in the manipulation and analysis of small quantities. Ayal, & epic
70e Bpotocsr. Mr. Smithson frequently repeated an occurrence with
much pleasure and exultation, as exceeding anything that could be
brought into competition with it; and this must apologize for my in-
troducing what might otherwise be deemed an anecdote too light and
trifling on such an occasion as the present.
‘““Mr. Smithson declared that happening to observe a tear gliding
down a lady’s cheek, he endeavored to catch it on a crystal vessel; that
one-half of the drop escaped, but having preserved the other half he
submitted it to reagents, and detected what was then called microcosmic
salt, with muriate of soda, and, I think, three or four more saline sub-
stances, held in solution.
"Philosophical Magazine, 1830, vol. vii, p. 42.
JAMES SMITHSON AND. HIS BEQUEST. 13
“For many years past Mr. Smithson has resided abroad, principally,
I believe, on account of his health; but he carried with him the esteem
and regard of various private friends, and of a still larger number of
persons who appreciated and admired his acquirements.” *
This tribute to his memory and worth shows the high standing Smith-
son had attained in the estimation of his compeers, and that he secured
the fidelity and affection of his dependants is evinced by the care with
which, in his will, he provides a reward for their attachment and services.
“It has been the lot of the greatest part of those who have excelled in
science,” says Dr. Johnson, “to be known only by their own writings, and
to have left behind them no remembrance of their domestic life or pri-
vate transactions, or only such memorials of particular passages as are
on certain occasions necessarily recorded in public registers.”
To the same effect, Wilson, in his life of Cavendish (the warm friend of
Smithson), remarks: ‘So careless has his own country been of his mem-
ory that although he was for some fifty years a well-known and very dis-
tinguished Iellow of the Royal Society, a member for a lengthened period
of the French Institute, and an object of European interest to men of
science, yet scarcely anything can be learned concerning his early history.
This, no doubt, is owing in great part to his own dislike of publicity, and
to the reserve and love of retirement which strongly characterized him.
Long before his death however, he was so conspicuous a person in the
scientific circles of London that the incidents of his early life might
readily have been ascertained. They were not, it should seem, inquired
into by any biographer.”t
This is eminently true of Smithson. We are unfortunately debarred
from acquiring an intimate knowledge of his personal traits and peculi-
arities by the absence of an autobiography, or even of any sketch of his
life by his friends. For this reason we are more ready to avail ourselves
of every fact in regard to him that can be ascertained, however trivial or
insignificant any one of these might otherwise be considered. Even an
inventory of his wardrobe and a schedule of his personal property pos-
sesses an interest and serves at least to gratify a natural curiosity. Such
a list has recently been found as certified by the English consul at Genoa,
after the death of Smithson, with a valuation of the different articles:
Francs.
A. Carnage, Complete? 20.6). 2va mene a abe Ae eee tee ee 2, 500 00
Twenty-six silver forks, one salad fork, eight desert spoons,
eighteen spoons, four sauce-ladles, one soup ladle, four salt
spoons, three sugar ladles, one tea shell, three silver-head
corks, two silver vessels, one toasting fork, weighing in all
1934 ounces of silver, valued by Mr. A. ee agoldsmith 1,050 00
An Hnglish’ sold fepeater -<2ssc sos) eee Sey ee 200 00
* The Philosophical Magazine, January-June, 1831, vol. ix, p. 41.
tGeorge Wilson. Life of Henry Cavendish. London, 1851.
14 JAMES SMITHSON AND HIS BEQUEST.
A Geneva fold Waieh =} an eas o nee aad ete - 2 eerieretetes
Two gold snuff-boxes, one toothpick case, and two shirt but-
One pin with sixteen small diamonds bate not ae IAS pes Se
One ring with composition set in diamonds ......-...-.-...
Onering of apate - 7.2.6 Sete ee wel re wa ee tae Sees as
One ring, cameo, head of a Moor.......--...--------+--+:-
Two small boxes, one of tortoise shell, the other of amber.. -
One poll ring 26 20H. e ee. Aid Saiki eci Me al Bas nls © perab ste
One small silver pick case......,-.....--. ++ Seles nda 5 eet
A. clasp of gold with hairs. .0)22. 2. aceite ee
Avclasp with diamonds: - 224050 2) Sas Yo nls GStRees
A pin with hair and diamonds..................-. tone 2
AACAMIOON Le aI hatte Wee OPT UN,
Acrine with diamonds*: fists > tos Se 8s 2. at
Sixteen shirts, nineteen cravats, forty- four pocket handker-
chiefs, thirteen pairs of stockings, three nightcaps, two
pair of drawers, two pair of sheets, three pillow-cases, seven
waistcoats, two flannel waistcoats, six pair pantaloons, two
cloth pantaloons, three coats, one nightgown, one dressing
coat, two pair braces, four pair gloves
Huectelescope fers LOST a Sh GI ee
Man yismallariteles: < S27 ioe: sao. Ore eS ease Re eee e ees ee
Two pasteboard boxes containing odaly coins, stones, &c.
One parcel containing papers relative to the Grand Canal*
Several parcels of papers and five books
112 Napoleons in gold and 34 franes 60 centimes, in the vans
of MessrssGibbsig Cor 2 See OA ae
Cash in hands of Messrs. Gibbs & Co .......-.........---
One parcel, thirteen certificates Spanish stock,
Paris, 4th September, 1822, 350 piastres rente
@Espagne, par value, franes 24, 097 50, valued at.....-..-
Promissory note for 295 franes, dated 1st June, 1824, due by
mi lepia SilOnne: slo 2se TL eee Poe eee ee
Bond for 20,000 francs, dated 8th July, 1828, due ite Sailly
& Soeur, of PAIS. 2355284. 6.5. Boees Ph Tees. SET ae
Bill for 2,000 francs, dated 8th October, 1822, drawn by Mr.
Sailly, accepted by MraSmithsons so. ue coe en ae. 52%
Bank-note for £100, No. 14419, 19th December, 1827, in the
hands:of Messts; Gibbs @ Oe iss. 16t.25) 4.2 eee
Parcel containing accounts and letters from Messrs. Drum-
mond & Co.
Se a
Francs.
60 00
417 00
33 34
66 73
3 40
50 00
6 30
13 00
6 00
16 67
203 34
45 67
50 00
92 00
eet ees ee we
3,780 00
295 00
20, 000 00
2,000 00
2,500 00
*The Grand Canal is 90 miles in length, uniting the rivers Trent and Mersey, with
branches to the Severn, to Oxford, &c. It was proposed by Mr. Wedgwood, and was
the second one made in England.
JAMES SMITHSON AND HIS BEQUEST. 15
Very few of these articles were transferred to Mr. Rush, the agent of
the United States Government, who received the bequest. His enumer-
ation of the personal effects of Smithson is as follows:
“A large trunk; a box containing sundry specimens of minerals; a
brass instrument; a box of minerals; a box of chemical glasses; a packet
of minerals; a glass vinegar-cruet; a stone mortar; a pair of silver-plated
candlesticks and branches; a pair of silver-plated candlesticks without
branches; a hone, in a mahogany case; a plated-wire flower-basket ; a
plated coffee-pot; a small plated coffee-pot; a pair of wine-coolers; a
pair of small candlesticks; two pair salt-cellars ; a bread-basket; two
pair vegetable dishes and covers; a large round waiter; a large oval
waiter; two small oval waiters; two plate-warmers; a reading shade ;
@ gun; a mahogany cabinet; two portraits in oval frames; a china tea-
service, consisting of twelve cups and saucers; six coffee-cups ; a tea-
pot; .a slop-basin; a sugar-basin and lid; two plates; a milk-jug; a tea-
canister; two dishes; a landscape in a gilt frame; a Derby-spar vase;
a China tub; a piece of fluor-spar; a pairof glass candlesticks ; a marble
bust; sundry books and pamphlets; two large boxes filled with speci-
mens of minerals and manuscript treatises, apparently in the testator’s
handwriting, on various philosophical subjects, particularly chemistry
and mineralogy. Eight cases and one trunk filled with the like.”
With reference to a gun, pieces of china, and articles of a miscella-
neous nature belonging to Smithson, Mr. Rush was informed by bis at-
- torneys that they were taken in possession by his nephew, Henry James
Hungerford.
Mr. Rush, in one of his dispatches to the State Department (July 14,
1838), says: “The boxes and trunk are to go on shipboard to-day. Be-
fore knowing anything of their contents, I thought proper to have them
opened and examined in the presence of our consul and two other per-
sons. |
s
.
a
.
. 6
+
.
vd a]
JAMES SMITHSON AND HIS BEQUEST. 23
It has been shown with what zeal and pleasure Smithson himself en.
gaged in the advancement of knowledge, and what general interest had
been awakened in England in the cause of scientific organization and
popular education at the very time he wrote his will, and it is not unrea-
sonable, therefore, to believe that he EOS ee this contingency as
@ very probable event.
The will of Smithson, dated October 23, 1826, was proved in the Pre-
rogative Court of Canterbury by his executor, Mr. Charles Drummond,
a London banker, on the 4th of November, 1829. The value of the effects
was sworn to be under £120,000.*
In 1878, a copy of a will also in Smithson’s handwriting was procured
by the Institution from Mr. de la Batut, almost identical with the one
recorded in the courts of London.
It appears from this that the word heretofore printed Audley in copies
of the will should be “Studley,” and that the name of the former servant
who kept the Hungerford Hotel at Paris should be Sailly, and not Jailly.
In the record of the will at London, the word Smithsonian as the name
of the Institution to be established is “ Smithsonean,” but as it is very
plainly written “ian” in what we must consider his original draft, the
misspelling referred to is undoubtedly due to an error of the transcriber.
In all the proceedings in the court of chancery, and all the negotiations
of Mr. Rush, the name “Smithsonian ” has uniformly been used.
The first article of the will refers to an old and trusted servant, John
Fitall, to whom, in consideration of his attachment and fidelity, Smith-
son bequeaths an annuity of a hundred pounds sterling. This Fitall
died in June, 1834, having enjoyed the benefit of his legacy for five
years.
Mr. Smithson next directs that various sums of money he had lent to
another of his servants, Henri Honori Sailly, should be allowed to re-
main uncalled for at five per cent. interest for five years.
He then mentions the fact that all the money in the French five per
cents. (livres de rentes) then standing in his own name and in that of
- Colonel Dickinson was the property of his nephew, being what he in-
herited from the colonel, who died on the 22d May, 1820, with what he
had added himself to it from savings made out of the income. To this
nephew, Henry James Hungerford, who was also known as Henry James
Dickinson, and still later as Baron Eunice de la Batut, he leaves the
rest of the income arising from his property during his life. The whole
of his fortune is by the next clause of the will left absolutely and for-
ever to any child. or children, legitimate or illegitimate, of the said
nephew Hungerford. But in case of the death of his nephew without
leaving a child or children, or of the death of the child or children he
may have had under the age of twenty-one years or intestate, he then
gays:
* Gentleman’s Magazine, 1830, vol. o., p. 275.
24 JAMES SMITHSON AND HIS BEQUEST.
“T bequeath the whole of my property to the United States of America,
to found at Washington, wnder the name of the Smithsonian Institution, an
establishment for the increase and diffusion of knowledge among men.”
The nephew, Mr. Hungerford (alias H. J. Dickinson), to whom was
bequeathed a life interest in Smithson’s estate, brought an amicable suit
in chancery against the executors for the purpose of having the assets
administered under the direction of the lord chancellor, and these were
ascertained to be about £100,000 sterling. The income from this prop-
erty, which consisted mainly of stock in the public funds of England,
was promptly paid to young Hungerford, who led a roving life in Europe,
without settled habits or occupation, and died under the name of Baron
Eunice de la Batut, at the Royal Hotel in Pisa, Italy, on the 5th of June,
1835, under thirty years of age, never having married, and leaving no
heirs who could, even under the broad provisions of his uncle’s will, make
a claim to his bounty. |
The mother of Hungerford, a Mrs. Mary Ann Coates, had married a
Frenchman named Theodore de la Batut, and was still living at Port
Louis in France. She now made a claim for part of the estate, on the
ground that her son had given her an ample allowance while he lived, and
that under the will of his father, Col. Henry Louis Dickinson, made in
Paris in July 1819, by which he left all his property to his brother, James
Smithson, half the income was to be for her benefit during her life. It
was shown that young Hungerford lived up to his income, and had left
nothing even to pay debts or funeral expenses. It was also urged
that if Smithson’s will had come into operation then, instead of seven
years before, Hungerford would, in consequence of an alteration of the
law, have been entitled to a portion of the accruing half-year’s income
up to his death; and that, in consequence of the change in the law, he
could not be said to have enjoyed the income of the property during his
whole life. It was also urged as a “moral claim,” that as the Smith-
son bequest was to be applied “to increase and diffuse knowledge
among men,” the children of Mrs. de la Batut were entitled to an
allowance from it until the age of twenty-two for their education.
The claim made was for an annuity of £240; but after long nego-
tiation the decree was made by the court of chancery to allow Mrs. de
la Batut £150 9s. during her life, with a payment of £526 11s. 6d. for
arrears from the 22d September, 1834, to the 22d March, 1838. To se-
cure this annuity, the sum of £5,015 in three per cent. consols was re-
tained in trust by the court, the interest to be paid on the 22d September
and 22d March annually. By the law of France, the life income is ap-
portionable and payable up to the time of death; and Colonel Dickin-
son having been domiciled in France, this rule applied in his case.
Mrs. de la Batut lived to the year 1861, and the amount retained in
England as the principal of the annuity was paid over to the Institu-
tion on the 11th June, 1864. This is known as the “ residuary legacy”
“GS oa pica
Oy PELE GY TLT" “fg
SGP io .
atts ~ap
JAMES SMITHSON AND HIS BEQUEST. 25
of Smithson, and the sum realized from it by the Institution, by the
premium on gold, &c., was $54,165.38.
The first announcement made to the American Government of the
fact that the United States had become entitled to the bequest of Smithson
was a dispatch, dated 28th July, 1835, from Hon. Aaron Vail, chargé
daffaires of the United States at London, to Iton John Forsyth, Secre.
tary of State, transmitting a letter from Messrs. Clarke, Fynmore and
Fladgate, attorneys in that city. This communicated the intelligence
that the nephew of Smithson had died, and that the United States was
entitled to the estate, valued at £100,000.
These facts were laid before Congress by President Jackson on-the
17th December, 1835, who stated in his message that he had no author-
ity to take any steps toward accepting the trust.
‘In the Senate of the United States the message of the President was
referred to the Committee on the Judiciary, which, by its chairman, Mr.
Benj. Watkins Leigh, of Virginia, reported, on ine 5th of January, 1836,
that they considered the bequest of Mr. Bouncer a valid one, and ite
believed “that the United States would be entertained in the court of
chancery of England to assert their claim to the fund as trustees for
the purpose of founding the charitable institution at Washington to
which it is destined by the donor.” The question whether it was within
the competency of the Government to appropriate any part of the gen-
eral revenue from the nation at large to the foundation of a literary or
any other institution in the District of Columbia was suewpted by Mr.
Leigh by stating that—
‘‘The fund given by Mr. Smithson’s will is nowise, and never can be-
come, part of the revenue of the United States; they cannot claim or
take it for their own benefit; they can only take a as trustee.”
“The United States were 45 be regarded as the parens patria of the
District of Columbia, and in that character they had a right and were
in duty bound to assert a claim to any property given to them for the
purpose of founding an ‘institution within the District, and to provide
‘for the due application and administration of such a fund when they
obtained possession of it.”
Resolutions were reported by the committee providing for the prose-
cution of the claim. The report was considered in the Senate on the
30th April, 1836, and it was urged by Mr. W. C. Preston, of South Car-
-olina, that the Government of the United States had no power to receive
the money. He thought the donation had been made partly with a view
to immortalize the donor, and it was ‘too cheap a way of conferring im-
mortality.” He had.no idea of the District of Columbia being used as
a fulcrum to raise foreigners to immortality by getting Congress as the
‘parens patric to accept.donations from them. He expressed the opinion
that Smithson’s intention was to found a university.
Mr. Leigh, in reply, maintained that the legacy was not for the benefit
26 JAMES SMITHSON AND HIS BEQUEST.
of the United States, but only for one of the cities of the District of
Columbia, and with this belief he had no difficulty in voting for the bill.
Mr. John M. Clayton, of Delaware, also thought a university was in-
tended by Smithson.
Mr. John C. Calhoun, of South Carolina, was of opinion that the dank:
tion was made expressly to the United States, and that “it was beneath
their dignity to receive presents of this kind from any one.”
Mr. Samuel L. Southard, of New Jersey, advocated the measure, as
he thought Congress had the unquestionable right to establish a national
university.
Mr. James Buchanan, of Pennsylvania, believed that Congress had
the power to receive and apply this money to the purposes intended by
the testator, without involving the question whether it was for a univer-
sity or not. —
Mr. Robert J. Walker, of Mississippi, advocated the bill as a measure
of justice to the city of Washington.
Mr. John Davis, of Massachusetts, argued that the Senators were mis-
taken who assumed that Smithson intended his bequest to establish a
university. This word was not to be found in the will, and there were
other means for diffusing knowledge besides the one referred to. He
deemed the establishment of institutions for the promotion of knowl-
edge a vital principle of republican government.
After a somewhat protracted debate the resolutions were finally passed
on the 2d of May, 1836, by a vote of 31 to 7, and on the 25th of June
they were again passed in the shape of a bill as it had come from the
House of Representatives.
The message of the President was referred in the House, on the 21st of
December, 1835, to a special committee, consisting of Mr. John Quincy
Adams, of Massachusetts, Mr. Francis Thomas, of Maryland, Mr. James
Garland, of Virginia, Mr. D. J. Pearce, of Rhode Island, Mr. Jesse
Speight, of North Carolina, Mr. Thomas M. T. McKennan, of Pennsyl-
vania, Mr, i, A. Hannegan, of Indiana, Mr. Rice Garland, of Louisiana,
and Mr. G. H. Chapin, of New York. In this committee great opposi-
tion was manifested at first to the acceptance of the bequest, but this
yielded to the arguments and persuasion of the distinguished chairman,
Mr. John Q. Adams. A bill was accordingly reported, directing the Pres-
ident to appoint an agent to assert and prosecute for and in behalf of
the United States in the court of chancery, England, the legacy be-
queathed by James Smithson. The agent was to give bonds in $500,000
for the faithful performance of the duties imposed upon him. The Treas-
urer of the United States was to take charge of and keep safely all the
money received on account of the bequest, and “the faith of the United
States was solemnly pledged that the fund should be applied for the
purpose of founding and endowing at Washington, under the name of
the Smithsonian Institution, an establishment for the increase and diffu-
JAMES SMITHSON AND HIS BEQUEST. 27
sion of knowledge among men.” For the cost of prosecuting the claim
an appropriation of $10,000 was made.
On the 19th of January, 1836, Mr. Adams made an elaborate foots
containing all the facts he had been able to collect relative to Smithson,
and expressing in the most glowing and refined language his apprecia-
tion of the value of the gift to America and its importance to mankind.
Mr. Leigh had convinced the Senate that it was the duty of Congress.
to accept the bequest, and Mr. Adams brought before the House an ac-
count of the life of the testator, the nature of the trust, the character of
the trustees, the practical influence of our political institutions upon
Europe, and the vast benefits to the world which might grow out of the
legacy. The report was unanimously agreed to in the committee, but
Mr. Adams had great misgivings whether anything would ever be real-
ized from the bequest. The delays of the English court of chancery
were well known, and the opinion had even been expressed that the
whole affair was an imposture. Mr. Adams never wavered, however,
in his faith in the power of the government to procure the money and
its ability to administer it properly. He refers in his diary to it as the
favorite and almost absorbing subject of his thoughts, and for many
years he devoted untiring activity and personal efforts to its successful
accomplishment.
No action was taken by the House on Mr. Adams’s report until the
Senate had passed Mr. Leigh’s resolution; when that was taken up,
changed in form to that of a bill, passed on the 25th of June, 1836, and
was approved by the President on the Ist of July, 1836.
In accordance with this act the President appointed, on the 11th of
‘July, Hon. Richard Rush, of Pennsylvania, as the agent to assert and
prosecute the claim of the United States to the legacy. His salary was.
fixed at $3,000 per annum, and $2,000 were allowed for contingencies,
not including legal expenses. Mr. Rush gave the necessary bond for
$500,000, Messrs. J. Mason, jr., and Benjamin C. Howard being his sure-
ties, who were accepted by Mr. Woodbury, Secretary of the Treasury.
This appointment was one eminently fit to be made, and its wisdom was
proved by the successful accomplishment of the mission. Mr. Rush had
been Comptroller of the United States Treasury at a time when the fiscal
affairs of the government were in disorder; he was next Attorney-Gen-
eral; then minister to England for a period of eight years; Secretary
of the Treasury; and minister to France. ‘To these great and varied
employments,” Hon. J. A. Pearce has remarked, “he brought integrity, |
ability, intelligence, firmness, courtesy, and a directness of purpose
which scorned all finesse and which served his country to the full extent
of all that could have been demanded or hoped.”
Mr. Rush immediately proceeded to London, placed himself in com-
munication with the attorneys of the executor of Smithson, and entered
with vigor into the measures necessary to assert the claim of the United
28 JAMES SMITHSON AND HIS BEQUEST.
States. It was soon ascertained, on consultation with eminent counsel,
Messrs. 'CThomas Pemberton and Edward Jacob, then at the head of the
chancery bar, that it was necessary that a suit should be brought in
the name of the President of the United States against the testator’s
executors, and that the Attorney-General must be made a party to the
proceedings in order that he might represent before the court any claim
which the Crown might have to the bequest on account of its extension
to illegitimate children, or by reason of any part of the property con-
sisting of interests in land. Mr. Rush, in addition to Messrs. Pember-
ton and Jacob, enrployed Messrs. Clarke, Fynmore, and Fladgate as his
legal advisers, and a suit was commenced in the court of chancery in
November, 1836. The first hearing, however, did not take place until the
1st of February, 1837, before Lord Langdale, master of the rolls, this
court and that of the vice-chancellor being the two branches of the
English chancery system before which suits are brought in the first
instance.
The case was fully opened on behalf of the United States by Mr. Pem-
berton. The King’s counsel abandoned at once all opposition on the
part of the Crown, and no question was raised under the doctrine of es-
cheats or any other by the representatives of the British Government.
The court then decreed that the case be referred to one of the masters
in chancery, Mr. Nassau William, Sen., to make the requisite inquiries as
to the facts on the happening of which the United States became enti-
tled to the fund left by Mr. Smithson, and also as to the claim of Madame
De la Batut.
The United States had never before sued in an English court, but
there were precedents of other nations having done so by their execu-
tive heads, as, for example, the King of France and the King of Den-
mark. The United States were therefore allowed to enter the courts in
the name of the President.
Advertisements were immediately inserted in the London Times, Her-
ald, and Standard, and in French and Italian newspapers in Paris and
Port Louis, in France, and Leghorn, in Italy, asking for information re-
specting Henry James Hungerford; whether he married, whether he
left any child, &e.
Mr. Rush, in August, 1837, wrote to the Secretary of State that there
were more than eight hundred cases in arrears in the court of chancery,
and he felt much discouraged as to a speedy termination of the suit.
While the population of England had increased in a definite period six-
fold and her wealth twentyfold, the judicial establishment had remained
nearly the same, There were only eleven masters in chancery, while
double the number would not be sufficient. The subject of a reform in
this court, Mr. Rush stated, had been specially recommended by the
Throne to Parliament. It had been said, with truth, that “a chancery
suit was a thing that might begin with a man’s life and its termination
JAMES SMITHSON AND HIS BEQUEST. 29
be his epitaph.” Still later it will be remembered that Mr. Dickens
stated in 1853 that there was then ‘a suit before the court of chancery
which had been commenced twenty years before in which from thirty to
forty counsel had been known to appear at one time, in which costs had
been incurred to the amount of £70,000, which was a friendly suit, and
which was no nearer its termination than when it was begun.”
Mr. Rush refers in terms of high compliment to the solicitors he had
employed on behalf of the United States. He says:
“That more attention, diligence, discretion, and integrity could not
have been exerted by any persons than they have shown throughout the
whole suit from first to last. Could they ever have forgotten what was
due to the United States and to themselves, in the desire to eke out a
job, nothing is plainer to me, from what has been passing under my
observation of the entanglements and delays.natural to a heavy suit in
the English court of chancery, than that they might have found oppor-
tunities in abundance of making the suit last for years yet to come.”
It is therefore to be regarded as one of the most remarkable events
in the history of the bequest that the suit of the United States, com-
menced in November, 1836, should have been brought to a successful
issue, in less than two years, on the 12th of May, 1838, which, it may be
interesting to note, was the firstyear of the reign of Her Majesty Queen
Victoria.
Mr. Rush was therefore placed in possession of the legacy with the
exception.of the part reserved as the principal of an annuity to Madame
De la Batut. Mr. Rush thus expresses his satisfaction at the result:
“A suit of higher interest and dignity has rarely perhaps been before
the tribunals of a nation. If the trust created by the testator’s will be
successfully carried into effect by the enlightened legislation of Con-
gress benefits may flow to the United States and to the human family
not easy to be estimated, because operating silently and radually
throughout time, yet operating not the less effectually.”
Scarcely had the decision of the court been made and the amount of
the award published in the newspapers, when two claimants for the
estate of Smithson appeared, neither having any connection with the
other; and they desired, rather importunately, to know if the case could
not be reopened. They were much chagrined to find that they were a
little too late in their application, and nothing more was heard of them.
The American minister to England, Mr. Stevenson, and our consul at
London, Mr. Aspinwall, united in testifying to the great tact and abil-
ity of Mr. Rush, and in affirming—
“That no litigant ever displayed a more ardent zeal or a more saga-
cious, devoted, and unremitting diligence in the prosecution of his pri-
vate suit than he did in urging on this public one to a prompt and suc-
cessful conclusion. The dispatch with which in consequence this purpose
was finally accomplished is almost without example in the annals of
chancery. His solicitors will long remember his adroit and unsparing
4
30 JAMES SMITHSON AND HIS BEQUEST.
application of the spur. Had he not urged them to the top of their
speed, he would have had a lighter weight of gold to carry home with
him.”
The estate of Smithson which was transferred to Mr. Richard Rush
consisted of the following securities:
£64,535 18s. 9d. in consolidated three per cent. annuities, called con-
sols, sold at an average of 953 per cent., yielded £56,175,
£12,000 in reduced three per cent. annuities, sold at 94 per cent.,
yielded £11,280.
£16,100 in Bank of England stock, sold at about 205 per cent., yield-
ing £32,996 10s.
Good-fortune again attended Mr. Rush, for the day when he sold the
consols their value was higher than at any previous time for many years
or than at any later period. The bank stock also commanded the ©
remarkably high premium of about 205 per cent.
The estate, therefore, independent of the accumulations of interest and
notwithstanding the delays in the court of chancery, was worth more
than in the summer of 1835, when the right of the United States first
attached to it by the death of Henry James Hungerford, and the entire
amount of sales yielded an aggregate of more than one fended and six
thousand pounds sterling.
Mr. Rush’s next concern was how to transfer these funds to the United
States, and he decided to convert the whole into gold coin and send it
in this form. This was not only the most judicious course, but it secured
an increase of the fund to upwards of a thousand pounds sterling on
account of saving the cost of exchange. This sum was enough to cover
commissions, insurance, freight, and other charges on the transfer of the
gold.
The costs of the suit and expenses connected with the shipment of
the proceeds of the bequest were as follows:
Costs of the chancery suit, £490 4s. 10d.; selling the stock, commission
to Thomas Aspinwall, £797 15s. Gd.; charges for shipping, £6 19s. 4d.;
premium of insurance, £605 3s. 10d.; brokerage, stamps, &c., £120 4s. 6d.;
freight from London to New York, £393 12s.; primage, £19 13s. 8d.
The proceeds of the sales of the stocks, &c., were converted into gold
sovereigns, and these were packed at the Bank of England in bags con-
taining £1,000 each and shipped in eleven boxes by the packet Mediator,
of New York, on the 17th July, 1838. Three other boxes sent at the
same time contained the personal effects of Smithson.
The ship Mediator arrived in New York on the 29th of August, 1838,
and the gold, amounting to £104,960 8s. 6d., was deposited in the Bank
of America until the 1st of September, when it was delivered to the
Treasurer. of the United States Mint in Philadelphia, and immediately
recoined into American money, producing $508,318.46 as the bequest of
Smithson.
JAMES SMITHSON AND HIS BEQUEST. 31
LEGISLATION OF CONGRESS
IN RELATION TO
THE DISPOSITION OF THE BEQUEST.
On the 6th of December, 1838, President Van Buren had the satis-
faction of announcing to Congress that the claim of the United States
to the legacy bequeathed to them by James Smithson had been fully
established, and that the fund had been received by the government.
He now urged the prompt adoption of a plan by which the intentions
of the testator might be fully realized. For the purpose of obtaining
information which might facilitate the attainment of this object, he
applied, through the Secretary of State, to a number of persons “ versed
in science and familiar with the subject of public education, for their
views as to the mode of disposing of the fund best calculated to meet
the intentions of Smithson, and be most beneficial to mankind.”
He communicated to Congress the replies received, of which the fol-
lowing is a brief abstract.
President Francis Wayland, of Brown University, proposed a univer-
sity of high grade to teach Latin, Greek, Hebrew, Oriental languages,
and a long list of other branches, including rhetoric, poetry, intellect-
ual philosophy, the law of nations, &c.
Dr. Thomas Cooper, of South Carolina, also proposed a university, to
be opened only to graduates of other colleges, where the higher branches
of mathematics, astronomy, chemistry, &c., should be taught, but Latin
and Greek, literature, medicine, and Jaw excluded.
Mr. Richard Rush proposed a building, with grounds attached, suffi-
cient to reproduce seeds and plants for distribution; a press to print
lectures, &c.; courses of lectures on the leading branches of physical
- and moral science, and on government and public law; the salaries to be
ample enough to command the best men, and admit of the exclusive
-devotion of their time to the studies and investigations of their posts;
the lectures, when delivered, to be the property of the institution for
publication. Mr. Rush also made the excellent suggestion that consuls
and other United States officers might greatly aid the institution by col-
lecting and sending home useful information and valuable specimens
from abroad.
Hon. John Quincy Adams expressed, in his reply, the opinion that no
part of the fund should be devoted “to the endowment of any school,
college, university, or ecclesiastical establishment”; and he proposed
to employ seven years’ income of the fund in the establishment of an
astronomical observatory, with instruments and a small library.
The subject of the Smithson bequest was referred in the House of
Representatives on the 10th December, 1838, to a special committee of
32 JAMES SMITHSON AND HIS BEQUEST.
nine members, of which Hon. John Quincy Adams was chairman. Be-
sides the letters transmitted to Congress by President Van Buren, other
plans were brought before the committee.
A memorial from Prof. Walter R. Johnson suggested the establish-
ment of an institution for experiment and research in physical science
especially pertaining to the useful arts, and the discovery, description,.
application, and improvement of the natural resources of our country.
Another scheme was presented by Mr. Charles I. Fleischman for the
establishment of an agricultural school and farm, and he entered into
the most minute detail as to the buildings and estimates for all the parts
of the plan. There were also propositions to use the fund “for the in-
struction of females,” for the establishment of “ professorships,” for
“courses of lectures,” for “improved methods of rearing sheep, horses,
and silkworms,” for founding a great library, &c.
Mr. Adams very earnestly opposed the appropriation of any part of
the fund to educational purposes, believing that it was the duty of the
country itself to provide the means for this important object. His own
favorite scheme was the establishment of an astronomical observatory,
and this he advocated in the most ardent, able, and persistent manner.
The chairman of the Senate committee, Hon. Asher Robbins, of Rhode
Island, proposed the creation of “an institution of which there is no
model either in this country or in Europe, to provide such a course of
education and discipline as would give to the faculties of the human
mind an improvement far beyond what they obtain by the ordinary
systems of education and far beyond what they afterwards attain in any
of the professional pursuits.” His speech in the Senate on the 10th of
January, 1839, in presenting his views on this subject is remarkable for
its beauty of diction, elevation of sentiment, and classical erudition.
Mr. Robbins’s resolutions provided for a scientific and literary in-
stitution, and stated that to apply the fund to the erection and support
of an observatory ‘‘ would not be to fulfil bona fide the intention of the
testator, nor would it comport with the dignity of the United States to
owe such an establishment to foreign eleemosynary means.”
The plan of Mr. Robbins was not received with sufficient favor in the
Senate to secure its passage, and it was laid on the table by a vote of
20 to 15, on the 25th of February, 1839. Among those who favored the
bill were Senators Clay, Davis, Prentiss, Preston, Rives, and Walker,
and among those opposed to it were Senators Allen, Bayard, Benton, and
Calhoun. |
Mr. Adams remarks in his diary, October 26, 1839, that his mind was.
“filled with anxiety and apprehension lest the fund should be squan-
dered upon cormorants or wasted in electioneering bribery.” He adds:
“Tt is hard to toil through life for a great purpose with a conviction
that it will bein vain, but possibly seed now sown may bring forth some
good fruit hereafter. If I cannot prevent the disgrace of the country by
the failure of the testator’s intention, I can leave a record of what I
JAMES SMITHSON AND HIS BEQUEST. 33
have done and what I would have done to accomplish the great design
if executed - well.”
At the beginning of the Twenty-sixth Congress, December, 1839, Mr.
Adams again brought up the subject of the Smithson bequest and had
it referred to 1 committee of nine, consisting of Messrs. Adams, Ogle,
Shepard, Garland of Virginia, Lewis, Albert Smith, Barnard, Corwin,
and Campbell of South Carolia.
A memorial was presented to Congress from the Corporation of the
city of Washington, expressing great anxiety “tu see the instructions of
Smithson carried into effect, believing it impossible to calculate the
good which an institution properly founded is susceptible of promoting
in the improvement of the intellect, taste, and morals of the country.”
It was deemed presumptuous, however, to express an opinion as to what
should be the character of the institution.
Mr. Hassler, then in charge of the Coast Survey, urged on Mr. Adams
the establishment of an astronomical school.
On the 5th of March, 1840, Mr. Adams presented an elaborate and
extended report to the House of Representatives, reviewing all that had
been done relative to the bequest, and presenting the establishment of
an astronomical observatory as the best means of carrying out the pur-
poses of Smithson. He gave in detail the arguments in favor of this
plan, with estimates for carrying it into effect, and an interesting letter
from Mr. Airy, the Astronomer Royal of England, relative to the origin,
history, uses, and expenses of the famous Greenwich Observatory. Mr.
Adams also gave a masterly summary of the progress of astronomical
discovery, painted in the most brilliant colors the achievements of men
of science, and portrayed in glowing language the future glory and
renown of our country to be derived from the application of the Smith-
son fund in the manner he proposed. |
The impropriety of devoting any portion of the fund to establish a
‘school or college was- strongly urged, and he said, ‘““We should in no
case avail ourselves of a stranger’s munificence to rear our children.”
It is not clear how the learned and distinguished gentleman reconciled
his apparent inconsistency in advocating the use of the fund for the
establishment of ‘‘a national observatory to be superior to any other
devoted to the same science in any part of the world,” and which would
‘“‘make an impression upon the reputation of the United States through-
out the learned and scientific world.” The desire of increasing the
brightness of our name in the eyes of other nations, and of effacing a
‘stain he detected upon the national escutcheon on account of our lack
of ‘an observatory, rendered him insensible or indifferent to the merits
of any other plan for the increase and diffusion of knowledge. He
seems to have been wedded to his favorite scheme, and his whole course
in Congress in relation to the bequest was governed by it. After
provision had been made for astronomical observations by the general
government he still advocated no other plan, and even, went so far as to
3
34 JAMES SMITHSON AND HIS BEQUEST.
declare that he would rather see the money of Smithson thrown into the
Potomac than to have it devoted to the advance of education.
It appears that, without debate or explanation, a section was added
to the regular appropriation bill, passed 7th July, 1838, for the support
of the United States Military Academy at West Point, by which it was
enacted that all the money arising from the bequest of Smithson should
be invested, when received, by the Secretary of the Treasury, with the
approbation of the President of the United States, in stocks of States
bearing not less than five per cent. interest, and that the annual income
accruing on the stock should also be reinvested in the same way for the
increase of the fund.
In accordance with this law, Mr. Levi Woodbury, Secretary of the
Treasury, inserted an advertisement in the Washington Globe of August
6, 1838, asking for proposals from those having State stocks to dispose
of. A large number of offers were received. Five per cents. of Indiana
were offered at par, 98, and 99; of Louisiana, at 98; New York, 102;
Maine, 983 and par; Massachusetts, 104; Kentucky, par; of five and a
quarter per cents., Tennessee, at 994; of five and a half per cents., Mis-
souri, at 102 and par; and of six per cents., Michigan, at par; Virginia,
par; Illinois, 104, und Arkansas, 99,4. Mr. Woodbury accepted the
offer of Mr. W. W. Corcoran, of the Arkansas bonds, and purchased
$500,000 of them for the sum of $499,500. Subsequently he procured
$38,000 more bonds of Arkansas, $8,000 Michigan, $56,000 Illinois, and
$18,000 Ohio bonds:
The two bills of Mr. Robbins and Mr. Adams, representing the univer-
sity and the observatory plans, were reported together to Congress. The
former was laid on the table, but the latter not acted on, on account of
the pressure of other business at the close of the session.
In 1841, Mr. Lewis F. Linn, of Missouri, introduced a bill in the Senate
to appoint trustees for the investment of the Smithson fund, and for the
organization of an institution with a superintendent and six professors,
to be nominated by the “ National Institute,” a society which had been
formed in Washington for the promotion of science, and many of whose
members were anxious to obtain control of the bequest. Mr. Linn pro-.
posed that all the collections of art and of natural history owned by the
United States should be given to the Smithsonian Institution, but all
the buildings, collections, &¢., should be under the supervision of the
National Institute. This bill was referred to the Library Committee,
and a substitute was reported by Mr. Preston on the 17th February, 1841,
providing for the incorporation of the National Institute, and the estab-
lishment of a Smithsonian Institution, with a superintendent and six pro-
fessors, to be elected by the board of managers of the former, the offi-
cers of the institute and the superintendent of the Smithsonian Institu-
tion to constitute a board of management of the Smithson fund, to plan
JAMES SMITHSON AND HIS BEQUEST. 35
and erect buildings, procure books, apparatus, collections, &c. It was
provided that all works of art, and all books relating thereto, and all col-
lectiors and curiosities belonging to the United States were to be trans-
ferred to the Smithsonian Institution. The ground known as the Mall
was appropriated for the buildings and use of the establishment. Noth-
ing resulted however from this proposition. .
Through the efforts of Mr. Adams, the act of 7th July, 1838, requir-
ing the investment of the Smithson fund in State stocks, was repealed,
and by an act of September 11, 1841, the Secretary of the Treasury was
directed to invest the accruing interest thereafter only in United States
stock.
President Tyler, in his message at the opening of the Twenty-seventh
Congress, urged the propriety of making a specific application of the
funds derived from the will of Smithson, and said he felt confident that
“no abatement of the principal would be made should it turn out that
~ the stocks in which the fund had been invested had undergone depre-
ciation.”
The Senate referred the message to the Library Cominittee, Mr. Pres- '
ton, chairman, and the House to a select committee of nine, of which
Mr. Adams was again chairman. Mr. Preston soon after reported the
bill he had offered at the previous session for combining the National
Institute and the Smithsonian Institution, but this was laid upon the table
on the 18th July, 1842. Mr. Adams presented a report and bill in the
House on the 12th April, 1842, providing for the incorporation of the
Smithsonian Institution; that all the money received from the bequest
should be placed to the credit of a fund to be denominated the Smith-
sonian fund, to be preserved undiminished and unimpaired, and to bear
interest at 6 per cent. per annum. The interest of this fund was to be
appropriated for the erection and establishment of an astronomical ob-
servatory, the publication of the observations, and of a nautical almanac.
About this period memorials were presented to Congress in favor of
appropriating the fund for the purpose of awarding annual prizes for
the best original essays on the various subjects of the physical sciences,
for the establishment of an agricultural school and farm, for organizing
a system of simultaneous meteorological observations throughout the
Union under the direction of Professor Espy, &c.
No definite action was had on any of these propositions, and President
Tyler again called the attention of Congress in his message of December 5,
1843, to their neglect of an important duty. The subject was referred to
the Joint Library Committee, of which Hon. Rufus Choate was chairman.
' Mr. Tappan, from this committee, reported a bill on the 6th June, 1844,
providing that the original amount received as the bequest of Smithson,
$508,318.46, be considered as a permanent loan to the United States, at 6
per cent. interest, from the 3d December, 1838, when the same was
received into the Treasury; that the interest which accrued to the 1st
36 JAMES SMITHSON AND HIS BEQUEST.
July, 1844, viz, $178,604, be appropriated to the erection of buildings and
inclosure of grounds for the Smithsonian Institution ; that the business
of the institution should be conducted by a board of twelve managers from
different States or Territories ; that a plain and substantial building be
erected, with rooms for a museum, library, chemical laboratory, lectures,
arboretum; all the objects of natural history belonging to the United
States to be transferred to said institution, exchanges of duplicate speci-
mens to be made, a superintendent to be appointed to be professor also
of agriculture and horticulture, additional professors of natural history,
chemistry, astronomy, and‘such other branches as the wants of science
may require, “excluding law, physic, or divinity,” experiments to be
made to determine the utility of new fruits, plants, and vegetables, and
finally students to be admitted to the institution gratuitously.
Mr. Adams in February, 1844, succeeded in having a select committee
of nine appointed to consider the proper disposition of the fund, and in
behalf of this committee made a third elaborate and comprehensive re-
port, together with a bill providing for the appropriation of $800,000 as.
the Smithson fund, to be permanently invested instock of the United
States at 6 per cent. interest, and the income to be devoted, as he had
before recommended, for an observatory and nautical almanac.
On the 12th December, 1844, Mr. Tappan introduced a bill in the Sen-
ate of a similar character to the one he had offered before, but in addi-
tion specified that the books to be purchased for a library should con-
sist of works on science and the arts, especially such as relate to the
ordinary business of life and to various mechanical and other improve-
ments and discoveries. In prescribing the duties of professors and lec-
turers, special reference was to be had to the productive and liberal arts,
improvements. in agriculture, horticulture, and rural economy. Seeds.
and plants were to be distributed throughout the country, soils were to be
analyzed ; the professor of natural history was to refer in hislectures to the
history and habits of useful and injurious animals; the professor of geol-
ogy was to give practical instruction in the exploration and working of
mines; the professor of architecture was to give instruction as to the
best materials and plans for building; the professor of astronomy was
to give a course of lectures on navigation and the use of nautical in-
struments. It was also provided that works in popular form on the
sciences and the aid they bring to labor should be published and dis-
tributed.
In the discussion to which this bill gave rise in the Senate on the 8th
of January, 1845, Mr. Choate made the brilliant speech which is referred
to in the North American Review as “a splendid offering on the shrine
of literature by one of her most gifted votaries, and one which, in fu-
ture times, will render more memorable the day on which it was deliv-
ered than that gallant military achievement of which it is the anniver-
sary. No prouder monument than this would be needed for his fame.” *
* North American Review, vol. 79, p. 459.
JAMES SMITHSON AND HIS BEQUEST. 37
In this famous speech, Mr. Choate remarked that “our sense of duty
to the dead, the living, and the unborn who shall live; our justice, our
patriotism, our policy, common honesty, common decorum, urge us, are
enough to urge us, to go on without the delay of an hour, to appropri-
_ate the bounty according to the form of the gift.” He opposed any-
thing like the school or college proposed by Mr. Tappan on the ground
of its narrow utilitarianism, as being wholly unnecessary and in a great
degree useless. It would injure the universities already in existence;
it would be exceedingly difficult to secure students; the expense of pro-
fessors, books, apparatus, and buildings would secure a pretty energetic
diffusing of the fund but not much diffusion of knowledge. He ap-
proved of the suggestion that lectures should be delivered, especially
during the sessions of Congress, not by professors permanently fixed on
annual salaries, but by gentlemen eminent in science and literature, to
be invited to Washington under the stimulus and with the ambition of
a special and conspicuous retainer. He preferred however that the one
simple object of the Institution should be to accumulate a grand and
noble public library, one which for variety, extent, and wealth should
be equal to any in the world. He claimed that this scheme was the
only one that “would prevent the waste of money in jobs, salaries, sine-
cures and quackeries, and would embody Smithson’s idea in some tangi-
ble form, some exponent of civilization, permanent, palpable, conspicu-
ous, useful, and than which nothing was safer, surer, or more unexcep-
tionable.”
Mr. Choate presented many interesting facts in regard to the public
libraries of the world, and argued in his peculiarly forcible and eloquent
manner that such a plan as he proposed was within the terms and spirit
of the trust.
“That directs us to ‘increase and diffuse knowledge among men.
And do not the judgments of all the wise; does not the experience of
all enlightened states ; does not the whole history of civilization concur
to declare that a various and ample library is one of the surest, most
constant, most permanent and most economical instrumentalities to in-
crease and diffuse knowledge? There it would be, durable as liberty,
durable as the Union; a vast storehouse, a vast treasury of all the facts
which make up the history of man and of nature, so far as that history
has been written; of all the truths which the inquiries and experiences
of all the races and ages have found out; of all the opinions that have
been promulgated; of all the emotions, images, sentiments, examples,
of all the richest and most instructive literatures; the whole past spealk-
ing to the present and the future—a silent, yet wise and eloquent
teacher.\:*) * >
“Tf the terms of the trust then authorize this expenditure, why not
make it? Not among the principal, nor yet the least of reasons for
doing so, is, that all the while that you are laying out your money, and
when you have laid it out, you have the money’s worth, the value re-
38 JAMES SMITHSON AND HIS BEQUEST.
ceived, the property purchased on hand to show for itself and to speak
for itself. Suppose the professors provided for in the bill should gather
a little circle of pupils, each of whom should carry off with him some
small quotient of navigation, or horticulture, or rural economy, and the
fund should thus glide away and evaporate in such insensible, inappre-
ciable appropriations, how little there would be to testify of it! Whereas
here all the while are the books; here is the value; here is the visible
property ; here is the oil and here is the light. There is something to
point to, if you should be asked to account for it unexpectedly, and
something to point to if a traveler should taunt you with the collections
which he has seen abroad, and which gild and recommend the absolut-
isms of Vienna or St. Petersburgh. * * *
“But the decisive argument is, after all, that it is an application the
most exactly adapted to the actual literary and scientific wants of the
States and the country. I have said that another college is not needed
here because there are enough now, and another might do harm as much
as good. But that which is wanted for every college, for the whole
country, for every studious person, is a well-chosen library, somewhere
among us, of three or four hundred thousand books.”
Mr. Tappan, in reply, urged that Smithson’s own habits and pursuits
should be considered; that it must be remembered that he was an emi-
nently practical philosopher, intimately acquainted with chemistry, min-
eralogy, geology, and natural history, to the minute study of which he
devoted his life. His favorable resort had been the Jardin des Plantes,
at Paris, and there could be but little doubt that in making his bequest
he had in view the establishment of a similar institution. He depre-
cated the outlay of a large amount in the purchase of books, and as-
serted that they not only did not promote knowledge, but that one-half
of those then in the Library of Congress were to be considered as trash.
Mr. Levi Woodbury, of New Hampshire, favored the employment of
lecturers, and the purchase of a moderate-sized library, but preferred
that the management of the bequest should be intrusted to the National
Institute, a society already in active operation, created by Congress, and
the objects of which were appropriate to the trust.
Mr. John J. Orittenden, of Kentucky, thought the purchase of books
should be confined to works on science and the arts. Mr. James A.
Pearce, of Maryland, concurred in the views of Mr. Choate. Mr. Wm.
C. Rives, of Virginia, believed that by knowledge was not merely meant
the natural sciences, astronomy, mathematics, &c.; he considered the
most important of all the branches of human knowledge that which re-
lated to the moral and political relations of man. The field of moral
science also embraced a much larger portion of knowledge than the
physical sciences. He suggested the ‘ Faculty of letters and sciences”
under the auspices of the University of France, as a much better model
for the Smithsonian than the Jardin des Plantes. He remarked that it
was his ‘firm and solemn conviction that we now have it in our power
!
JAMES SMITHSON AND HIS BEQUEST. 39
to do more good to this nation in our day and generation, by a judicious
and wise application of this $500,000 which has been put into our hands,
than by the application of the twenty-five or thirty millions we are in the
habit of annually appropriating.”
Mr. Choate’s amendments were adopted by the Senate and the bill
recommitted to be more fully matured. It was again reported to the
Senate on the 2d of January, including Mr. Choate’s plan of a great
library. Mr. Woodbury endeavored again to place the Institution under
the management of the National Institute, but was opposed by Senators
Buchanan, Choate, and Tappan, on the ground that it was anti-republi- :
can and anti-democratic to surrender all control by the people’s repre-
sentatives in respect to a trust committed to their custody for the people’s
benefit, and to place it in the hands of a close body wholly irresponsible
to either Congress or the people.
Mr. Woodbury replied with warmth that his plan, instead of being
antagonistic to Congress, made it more in subordination to it, and placed
stronger safeguards against any possible departure from its commands
or wishes. He also believed that it would be placing a burden on the
Institute rather than conferring a favor upon it.
Mr. Buchanan “could imagine no other mode of using the fund” to
advantage, than “the purchase of a great library,” and strongly op-
posed any connection with the National Institute.
Mr. William Allen, of Ohio, expressed his opposition to “any plan
whatever for connecting anything called an institution with the public
treasury.” He had never known a single instance of a fund of money,
charitable or otherwise, being intrusted to the care of an incorporated
body of men “that was not squandered and made to fall short of the
object of the donor.” He wished to see no institution established in the
capital of the United States to teach the American people how to think,
and read, and speak, and he therefore opposed the whole project.
Mr. Robert J. Walker, of Mississippi, defended the National Institute
against the attacks made upon it; showed that it was worthy of and
had received the greatest encouragement and most general favor, and
claimed that an institution bearing the name of a foreigner never could
concentrate in the same degree the affections and confidence of the
American people.
After some further debate the bill was laid over for several days, but
was taken up and passed on the 23d of January, 1845. When it reached
the House, a substitute was offered for it by Mr. Robert Dale Owen, of
Indiana; but in the hurry of a short session of Congress the whole
matter was left undisposed of. ,
On the opening of the Twenty-ninth Congress, Mr. Owen again
offered his bill to establish the Smithsonian Institution, and it was
referred to a select committee of seven members, viz, Messrs. Owen, of
Indiana, John Q. Adams, of Massachusetts, Timothy Jenkins, of New
40 JAMES SMITHSON AND HIS BEQUEST.
York, George P. Marsh, of Vermont, Alexander D. Sims, of South Car-
olina, Jefferson Davis, of Mississippi, ahd David Wilmot, of Pennsyl-
vania. .
On the 28th of February, 1846, Mr. Owen, from this select committee,
reported an elaborate bill embracing the principal features of Mr. Tap-
pan’s bill of the last session, but adding a section providing for a normal
branch to give such a thorough scientific and liberal course of instruc-
tion as may be adapted to qualify young persons as teachers of our
common schools and to qualify students as teachers or professors of the
‘more important branches of natural science. she
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t
AN ACCOUNT OF SOME CHEMICAL EXPERI-
MENTS ON TABASHEER.
From the Philosophical Transactions of the Royal Society of London,
Vol. LXXXI, for the year 1791, Part 2, p. 868.—Read July 7, 1791.
The Tabasheer employed in these experiments was that
which Dr. Russet laid before the Society, as specimens of
this substance, the evening his Paper upon the subject was
read.*
There were seven parcels. ,
No. 1 consisted of Tabasheer extracted from the bamboo
by Dr. Russrxt himself.
No. 2 had been partly taken from the reed in Dr. Rus-
SEL’s presence, and partly brought to him at different times
by a person who worked in bamboos.
No. 3 was the Tabasheer from Hydrabad ; the finest kind
of this substance to be bought.
Nos. 4, 5, and 6 all came from Masulapatam, where they
are sold at a very low price. These three kinds have been
thought to be artificial compositions in imitation of the true
Tabasheer, and to be made of calcined bones.
No. 7 had no account affixed to it.
The Tabasheer from Hydrabad being in the greatest quan-
tity, and appearing the most homogeneous and pure, the
_ experiments were begun, and principally made, with it.
Hydrabad Tabasheer. (No. 3.)
§ I. (A) This, in its general appearance, very much re-
sembled fragments of that variety of calcedony which is
known to mineralogists by the name of Cacholong. Some
pieces were quite opaque, and absolutely white; but others
* See Phil. Trans. Vol. LKXX, p. 283.
2 WRITINGS OF JAMES SMITHSON.
possessed a small degree of transparency, and had a bluish
cast. The latter, held before a lighted candle, appeared very
pellucid, and of a flame colour.
The pieces were of various sizes; the largest of them did
not exceed two or three-tenths of an inch cubic. Their
shape was quite irregular; some of them bore impressions
of the inner part of the bamboo against which they were
formed.
(B) This Tabasheer could not be broken by pressure be-
tween the fingers; but by the teeth it was easily reduced to
powder. On first chewing it felt gritty, but soon ground to
impalpable particles.
(C) Applied to the tongue, it adhered to it by capillary
attraction. :
(D) It had a disagreeable earthy taste, something like
that of magnesia.
- (IZ) No light was produced either by cutting it with a
knife, or by rubbing two pieces of it together, in the dark;
but a bit of this substance, being laid on a hot iron, soon
appeared surrounded with a feeble luminous auréole. By
being made red hot, it was deprived of this property of
shining when gently heated; but recovered it again, on
being kept for two months.
(Ff) Examined with the microscope, it did not appear dif-
ferent from what it does to the naked eye.
(G) A quantity of this Tabasheer which weighed 75.7 gr.
in air, weighed only 41.1 gr. in distilled water whose tem-
perature was 52.5 I’. which makes its specific gravity to be
very nearly = 2.188.
Mr. Cavenpisu, having tried this same parcel when be-
come again quite dry, found its specific gravity to be = 2.169.
Treated with water.
§ II. (A) This Tabasheer, put into water, emitted a num-
ber of bubbles of air; the white opaque bits became trans-
parent in a small degree only, but the bluish ones nearly as .
much so as glass. In this state the different colour pro-
WRITINGS OF JAMES SMITHSON. 3
duced by reflected and by transmitted light was very sensi-
ble.
(B) Four bits of this substance, weighing Scr while
dry and opaque, 4.1 gr., were put into distilled water, and
let become transparent; being then taken out, and the un-
absorbed water hastily wiped from their surface, they were
again weighed, and were found to equal 8.2 gr.
In the experiment § I. (GQ), 75.7 gr. of this substance ab-
sorbed 69.5 gr. of distilled water.
(C) Four bits of Tabasheer, weighing together 3.2 gr.
were boiled for 80’ in half an ounce of distilled water in a
Florence flask, which had been previously rinced with some
of the same fluid. This water, when become cold, did not
shew any change on the admixture of vitriolic acid, of acid
of sugar, nor of solutions of nitre of silver, or of crystals
of soda; yet, on its evaporation, it left a white film on the
glass, which could not be got off by washing in cold water,
nor by hot marine acid; but which was discharged by warm
caustic vegetable alkali, and by long ebullition in water.
Upon these bits of Tabasheer, another half ounce of dis-
tilled water was poured, and again boiled for about half an
hour. This water also on evaporation left a white film on
the glass vessel similar to the above. The pieces of Taba-
sheer having been dried, by exposure to the air for some
days in a warm room, were found to have lost one-tenth of’
a grain of their weight.
To ascertain whether the whole of a piece of Tabasheer
could be dissolved by boiling in water, a little bit of this
substance, weighing three-tenths of a grain, was boiled in
36 ounces of soft water for near five hours consecutively ;
but being afterwards dried and weighed, it was not dimin-
ished in quantity, nor was it deprived of its taste.
With vegetable colours.
§ III. Some Tabasheer, reduced to fine powder, was boiled
for a considerable time in infusions of turnsole, of logwood,
S WRITINGS OF JAMES SMITHSON.
and of dried red cabbage, but produced not the least change
in any one of them.
At the fire.
§ IV. (A) A piece of this Tabasheer, thrown into a red
hot crucible, did not burn or grow black. Kept red hot for
some time, it underwent no visible change; but when cold,
it was harder, and had entirely lost its taste. Putinto water
it grew transparent, just as it would have done, had it not
been ignited.
(B) 6.4 gr. of this substance, made red hot in a crucible,
were found, upon being weighed as soon as cold, to have
lost two-tenths of a grain. This loss appears to have arisen
merely from the expulsion of interposed moisture; for these
heated pieces, on being exposed to the air for some days,
recovered exactly their former weight.
(C) A bit of this substance was put into an earthen cru-
cible, surrounded with sand, and kept red hot for some time;
when cold, it was still white both exteriorly and interiorly.
(D) Thrown into some melted red hot nitre, this substance
did not produce any deflagration, or seem to suffer any alter-
ation.
_ (E) A bit exposed on charcoal to the flame of the blow-
pipe did not decrepitate or change colour; when first heated
it diffused a pleasant smell; then contracted very consider-
ably in bulk, and became transparent; but on continuing
the heat it again grew white and opaque, but seemed not to
shew any inclination to melt per se. Possibly, however, it.
may suffer such a semi-fusion, or softening of the whole
mass, as takes place in clay when exposed to an intense
heat; for when the bit used happened to have cracks, it.
separated during its contraction, at these cracks, and the
parts receded from each other without falling asunder.
If, while the bit of Tabasheer was exposed to the flame,
any of the ashes of the coal fell upon it, it instantly melted,
and small very fluid bubbles were produced. That the
opacity which this substance acquires on continuing to heat
WRITINGS OF JAMES SMITHSON. 5
it after it is become transparent, is not owing to the fusion
of its surface by means of some of the ashes of the charcoal
settling upon it unobserved, appeared by its undergoing the
same change when fixed to the end of a glass tube, in the
method of M. pz Saussurz.*
With acids.
§ V. (A) A piece of Tabasheer, weighing 1.2 gr. was
first let satiate itself with distilled water; its surface being
then wiped dry, it was put into a matrass with some pure
white marine acid, whose specific gravity was 1.13. No ef-
fervesence arose on its immersion into the acid; nor did
this menstruum, even by ebullition, seem to have any action
npon it, or itself receive any colour. The acid being evap-
orated left only some darl coloured spots on the glass.
These spots were dissolved by distilled water. No precipi-
tation was produced in this water by vitriolic acid, or by a
solution of crystals of soda. The bit of Tabasheer washed
with water, and made red hot, had not sustained any loss of
weight.
The pores of the mass of Tabasheer were filled with
water before it was put into the acid, to expel the common
air contained in them, and which would have made it im-
possible to ascertain with accuracy whether any effervescence
was produced on its first contact with the menstruum.
(B) Another portion of Tabasheer, weighing 10.2 gr. was
boiled in some of the same marine acid. Not the least pre-
cipitate was produced on saturating this acid with solution
of mild soda. This Tabasheer also, after having been boiled
in water, and dried by exposure for some days to the air,
was still of its former weight.
§ VI. This substance seemed in like manner to resist the
action of pure white nitrous acid boiled upon it.
§ VII. (A) A bit of Tabasheer weighing 0.6 gr. was di-
gested in some strong white vitriolic acid, which had been
* Journal de Physique, Tom. XXVI, p. 409.
6 WRITINGS OF JAMES SMITHSON.
sidad perfectly pure by distillation. It did not seem by this
treatment to suffer any change, and after having been freed
from all adhering vitriolic acid by boiling in water, it had
not undergone any alteration either in its weight or proper-
ties. The vitriolic acid afforded no precipitate on being
' saturated with soda.
(B) Two grains of Tabasheer reduced to fine powder were
made into a paste with some of this same vitriolic acid, and
this mixture was heated till nearly dry; it was then digested
in distilled water. This water, being filtered, tasted slightly
acid, did not produce the least turbidness with solution of
soda, and some of it, evaporated, left only a faint black
stain on the glass, produced doubtless by the action of the
vitriolic acid on a little vegetable matter, which it had re-
ceived either from the Tabasheer, or from the paper. The
undissolved matter collected, washed, and dried, weighed
1.9 er.
§ VIII. 2 gr. of Tabasheer, reduced to fine powder, were
long digested in a considerable quantity of liquid acid of
sugar. The taste of the liquor was not altered; and being
saturated with a solution of crystals of soda in distilled
water, it did not afford any precipitate. The Tabasheer hav-
ing been freed from all adhering acid, by very careful ablu-
tion with distilled water, and let dry in the air, was totally
unchanged in its appearance, and weighed 1.98 gr. This
Tabasheer being gradually heated till red hot, did not
become in the least black, or lose much of its weight, a
proof that no acid of sugar had fixed in it.
With liquid alkalies.
§ IX. (A) Some liquid caustic vegetable alkali being
heated in a phial, Tabasheer was added to it, which dis-
solved very readily, and in considerable quantity. When
the alkali would not take up any more, it was set by to cool,
but was not found next morning to have crystallized, or un-
dergone any change, though it had become very concen-
WRITINGS OF JAMES SMITHSON, 7
trated, during the boiling, by the evaporation of much of
the water.
(B) This solution had an alkaline taste, but seemingly
with little, if any, causticity.
(C) A drop of it changed to green a watery tincture of
dried red cabbage. .
(D) Some of this solution was exposed in a shallow glass
to spontaneous evaporation ina warm room. At the end
of a day or two it was converted into a firm, milky jelly.
After a few days more, this jelly was become whiter, more
opaque, and had dried and cracked into several pieces, and
finally it became quite dry, and curled up and separated
from the glass.
The same change took place when the solution had been
diluted with several times its bulk of distilled water, only
the jelly was much thinner, and dried into a white powder.
Some of this solution, kept for many weeks in a bottle
closely stopped, did not become a jelly, or undergo any
change.
(EZ) A small quantity of this solution was let fall into a
proportionably large quantity of spirit of wine, whose spe-
cific gravity was .8388. The mixture immediately became
turbid, and, on standing, a dense fluid settled to the bottom,
and which, when the bottle was hastily inverted, fell through
the spirit of wine in round drops, like a ponderous oil.
The supernatant spirit of wine being carefully decanted
off, some distilled water was added to this thick fluid, by
which it was wholly dissolved. This solution, exposed to
the air, shewed phenomena exactly similar to those of the
undiluted solution (D).
The decanted spirit being also left exposed to the air in a
shallow glass vessel, did not, after many days, either deposit
a sensible quantity of precipitate, or become gelatinous;
but having evaporated nearly away, left a few drops of a
liquor which made infusion of red cabbage green; and, on
the addition of some pure marine acid, effervesced violently.
No precipitate fell during this saturation with the acid; nor
8 WRITINGS OF JAMES SMITHSON.
did the mixture on standing become a jelly; and on the
total evaporation of the fluid part, a small quantity of mu-
riate of tartar only remained. The spirit of wine seems,
therefore, to have dissolved merely a portion of superabun-
dant alkali present in the mixture, but none of that united
with Tabasheer.
(F) To different portions of this solution were added
some pure marine acid, some pure white vitriolic acid, and
some distilled vinegar, each in excess. These acids at first
produced neither heat, effervescence, any precipitate, or the
least sensible effect, except the vitriolic acid, which threw
down a very small quantity of a white matter; but, after
standing some days, these mixtures changed into jellies so
firm, that the glasses containing them were inverted without
their falling out.
This change into jelly equally took place whether the
mixtures were kept in open or closed vessels, were exposed
to the light or secluded from it; nor did it seem to be much
promoted by boiling the mixtures.
(G) Some solution of mild volatile alkali in distilled
water, being added to some of this solution, seemed at the
first instant of mixture to have no effect upon it; but in the
space of a second or two it occasioned a copious white pre-
cipitate. i
(H) The flakes remaining on the glasses at (D) and (I)
put into marine acid raised a slight effervescence, but did
not dissolve. These flakes when taken out of the acid, and
well washed, were found, like the original Tabasheer, to be
white and opaque when dry; but to become transparent
when moistened, and then to shew the blue and flame
colour, § II. (A).
(I) The jellies (F), diluted with water, and collected on a
filter, appeared to be the Tabasheer unchanged.
§ X. A bit of Tabasheer, weighing two-tenths of a grain,
was boiled in 127 gr. of strong caustic volatile alkali for a
considerable time ; but after being made red hot, it had not
sustained the least diminution of weight.
WRITINGS OF JAMES SMITHSON. 9
§ XI. (A) 27 gr. of Tabasheer reduced to fine powder,
were put into an open tin vessel with 100 gr. of crystals of
soda, and some distilled water, and this mixture was made
boil for three hours. The clear liquor was then poured off,
and the Tabasheer was digested in some pure marine acid;
after some time this acid was decanted, and the Tabasheer
washed with distilled water, which was then added to the
acid. :
(B) This Tabasheer was put back into the alkaline solu-
tion, which seemed not impaired by the foregoing process,
and again boiled for a considerable time. The liquor was
then poured from it while hot, and the Tabasheer edulco-
rated with some cold distilled water, which was afterwards
mixed with this hot solution, in which it instantly caused a
precipitation. On heating the mixture it became clear
again; but as it cooled it changed wholly into a thin jelly;
but in the course of a few days, it separated into two por-
tions, the jelly settling in a denser state to the bottom of
the vessel, leaving a limpid liquor over it.
(C) The Tabasheer remaining (B) was boiled in pure ma-
rine acid; the acid was then poured off, and the T'abasheer
edulcorated with some distilled water, which was afterwards
mixed with the acid.
(D) The remaining Tabasheer collected, washed, and
dried, weighed 24 gr. and seemed not to be altered.
(E) The acid liquors (A and C) were mixed together, and
saturated with soda, but afforded no precipitate.
(Ff) The alkaline mixture (B) was poured upon a filter,
the clear liquor came through, leaving the jelly on the paper.
Some of this clear liquor, exposed to the air in a saucer,
at the end of some days deposited a small quantity of a gelt
atinous matter; after some days more, the whole fluid part
exhaled, and the saucer became covered with regular crys-
tals of soda, which afforded no precipitate during their solu-
tion in vitriolic acid. What had appeared like a jelly while
moist, assumed, on drying, the form of a white powder.
10 WRITINGS OF JAMES SMITHSON.
This powder was insoluble in vitriolic acid, and seemed still
to be Tabasheer.
Some of this clear liquor, mixed with marine acid, effer-
vesced; did not afford any precipitate; but, on standing
some days, the mixture became slightly gelatinous.
(G) Some of the thick jelly remaining on the filter, being
boiled in water and in marine acid, appeared insoluble in
both, and seemed to agree entirely with the above powder
(F).
With dry alkalies.
§ XII. (A) Tabasheer melted on the charcoal at the blow-
pipe with soda, with considerable effervescence. When the
proportion of alkali was large, the Tabasheer quickly dis-
solved, and the whole spread on the coal, soaked into it, and
vanished; but, by adding the alkali to the bit of Tabasheer
in exceedingly small quantities at a time, this substance was
converted into a pearl of clear colourless glass.
(B) 5 gr. of Tabasheer, reduced to fine powder, were
melted in a platina crucible with 100 gr. of crystals of soda.
The mass obtained was white and opaque, and weighed 40.2
gr. Put into an ounce of distilled water, it wholly dissolved.
An excess of marine acid let fall into this solution produced
an effervescence, and changed it into a jelly. This mixture
was stirred about, and then thrown uponafilter. The jelly
left on the paper did not dissolve in marine acid by ebulli-
tion; collected, washed with distilled water, and dried, it
weighed 4.5 gr. and seemed to be the Tabasheer unaltered.
The liquor which had come through being saturated with
mineral alkali yielded only a very small quantity of a red
precipitate, which was the colouring matter of the pink
blotting paper through which it had been passed.
(C) 10 gr. of Tabasheer, reduced to powder, were mixed
with an equal weight of soda, deprived of its water of crys-
tallization by heat. This mixture was put into a platina
crucible, and exposed to a strong fire for 15’. It was then
found converted into a transparent glass of a slight yellow
WRITINGS OF JAMES SMITHSON. - ft
colour. This glass was broken into pieces, and boiled in
marine acid. No effervescence appeared; but the glass was
dissolved into a jelly. This jelly, collected on a filter, well
washed and dried, weighed 7.7 gr.
The acid liquor which came through, on saturation with
soda, afforded not the least precipitate; but, after standing
a day or two, it changed into a thin jelly. This collected
on a filter was washed with distilled water, and then boiled
in marine acid, but did not dissolve. Being again edulco-
rated, and made red hot, it weighed 1.6 gr. The filtered
liquor (B) would in all probability have changed similarly to
a jelly, had it been kept. These precipitates were analo-
gous to those § IX. (I).
(D) An equal weight of vegetable alkali and Tabasheer
were melted together in the platina crucible. The glass
produced was transparent; but it had a fiery taste, and soon
attracted the moisture of the air, and dissolved into a thick
liquor. But two parts of vegetable alkali, with three of
Tabasheer, yielded a transparent glass, which was perma-
nent.
Treated with other fluxes. \
§ XIII. (A) A fragment of Tabasheer put into glass of
borax, and urged at the blow-pipe, contracted very. consid-
erably in size, the same as when heated per se; after which
it continued turning about in the flux, dissolving with great
difficulty and very slowly. When the solution was effected,
the saline pearl remained perfectly clear and colourless.
(B) With phosphoric ammoniac (made by saturating the
acid obtained by the slow combustion of phosphorus with
caustic volatile alkali) the Tabasheer very readily melted
on the charcoal at the pee ee with effervescence, into a
white frothy bead.
(C) Fused, by the same means, on a plate of platina, with
the vitriols of tartar and soda, it canoes entirely to resist
their action; the little particles employed continuing to re-
volve in the fluid globules without sustaining any sensible
12: ° WRITINGS OF JAMES SMITHSON.
diminution of size, and the saline beads on cooling assumed
their usual opacity. |
(D) A bit of Tabasheer was laid on a plate of silver, and
a little litharge was put over it, and then melted with the
blow-pipe. It immediately acted on the Tabasheer, and
covered it with a white glassy glazing. By the addition of
more litharge the mass was brought to around bead; though
with considerable difficulty. This bead bore melting on the
charcoal, without any reduction of the lead, but could not
be obtained transparent.
(E) The ease with which this substance had melted with
vegetable ashes, led to the trial of it with pure calcareous
earth. A fragment of Tabasheer, fixed to the end of a bit
of glass, was rubbed over with some powdered whiting. As
soon as exposed to the flame of the blow-pipe, it melted
with considerable effervescence; but could not, even on the
charcoal, and with the addition of more whiting, be brought
to a transparent state, or reduced into a round bead.
Equal weights of Tabasheer and pure calcareous spar,
both reduced to fine powder, were irregularly mixed, and
exposed in the platina crucible to a strong fire in a forge for
20’; but did not even concrete together.
(F) When magnesia was used, no fusion took place at the
blow-pipe.
(G) Equal parts of Tabasheer, whiting, and earth of
alum precipitated by mild volatile alkali, were mixed in a
state of powder, and submitted in the platina crucible to a
. strong fire for 20’, but were afterwards found unmelted.
Examination of the other specimens.
No.1.
This parcel contained particles of three kinds; some
white, of a smooth texture, much resembling the foregoing
sort; others of the same appearance, but yellowish; and
others greatly similar to bits of dried mould.
The white and yellowish pieces were so soft as to be very
WRITINGS OF JAMES SMITHSON. 13
easily rubbed to powder between the fingers. They had a
disagreeable taste, something like that of rhubarb. Put
into water, the white bits scarcely grew at all transparent ;
but the yellow ones became so to a considerable degree.
The brown earth-like pieces were harder than the above,
had little taste, floated upon water, and remained opaque.
Exposed to the blow-pipe, they all charred and grew
black; the last variety even burned with a flame. When
the vegetable matter was consumed, the pieces remained
white, and then had exactly the appearance, and possessed
all the properties, of the foregoing Tabasheer from Hydra-
bad, and like it melted with soda into a transparent glass.
No. II.
Also consisted of bits of three sorts.
(a) Some white, nearly opaque.
(6) A few small very transparent particles, shewing, in an
eminent degree, the blue and yellow colour, by the different
direction of light.
(c) Coarse, brownish pieces of a grained texture.
These all had exactly the same taste, hardness, &c., and
shewed the same effects at the blow-pipe, as No. I.
27 gr. of this Tabasheer thrown into a red-hot crucible,
burned with a yellowish white flame, lost 2.9 gr. in weight,
and became so similar to the Hydrabad kind as not to be
distinguished from it.
Some of this Tabasheer put into a crucible, not made very
hot emitted a smell something like tobacco ashes, but not
the kind of perfume discovered in that from Hydrabad,
§ IV. (E).
No. IV.
All the pieces of this parcel were of one appearance, and
a good deal resembled, in their texture, the third variety of
No. Il. Their colour was white; their hardness such as
very difficultly to be broken by pressure between the fingers.
14 WRITINGS OF JAMES SMITHSON.
In the mouth they immediately fell to a pulpy powder, and
had no taste. :
A bit exposed on the charcoal to the blow-pipe became
black, melted like some vegetable matters, caught flame,
and burnt to a botryoid inflated coal, which soon entirely
consumed away, and vanished.
A piece put into water fell to a powder. The mixture
being boiled, this powder dissolved, and turned the whole
to a jelly. )
These properties are exactly those of common starch.
No... ¥;
Agreed entirely with No. IV. in appearance, properties,
and nature.
No. VI.
The pieces of this parcel were white, quite opaque, and
considerably hard. Their taste and effects at the blow-pipe,
were perfectly similar to those of the Hydrabad kind.
Noy Vi.
Much resembled No. VI. only was rather softer, and
seemed to blacken a little when first heated. With fluxes
at the blow-pipe it shewed the same effects as all the above.
Conclusion.
1. It appears from these experiments, that all the parcels,
except No. IV. and V. consisted of genuine Tabasheer; but
that those kinds, immediately taken from the plant, con-
tained a certain portion of a vegetable matter, which was
wanting in the specimens procured from the shops, and
which had probably been deprived of this admixture by
calcination, of which operation a partial blackness, observ-
able on some of the pieces of No. III. and VI. are doubtless
the traces. This accounts also for the superior hardness
and diminished tastes of these sorts.
WRITINGS OF JAMES SMITHSON. 15
2. The nature of this substance is very different from
what might have been expected in the product of a vegeta-
ble. Its indestructibility by fire; its total resistance to
acids; its uniting by fusion with alkalies in certain propor-
tions into a white opaque mass, in others into a transparent
permanent glass; and its being again separable from these
compounds, entirely unchanged by acids, &c., seem to afford
the strongest reasons to consider it as perfectly identical
with common siliceous earth.
Yet from pure quartz it may be thought to differ in some
material particulars; such as in its fusing with calcareous
earth, in some of its effects with liquid alkalies, in its taste,
and its specific gravity.
But its taste may arise merely from its divided state, for
chalk and powdery magnesia both have tastes, and tastes
which are very similar to that of pure Tabasheer; but when
these earths are taken in the denser state of crystals, they
are found to be quite insipid; so Tabasheer, when made
more solid by exposure to a pretty strong heat, is no longer
perceived, when chewed, to act upon the palate, § IV. (A).
And, on accurate comparison, its effects with liquid alka-
‘lies have not appeared peculiar; for though it was found on
trial, that the powder of common flints, when boiled in some
of the same liquid caustic alkali employed at § IX. (A) was
scarcely at all acted upon; and that the very little which
was dissolved, was soon precipitated again, in the form of
minute flocculi, on exposing the solution to the air, and was
immediately thrown down on the admixture of an acid; yet
the precipitate obtained from liquor silicum by marine acid
was discovered, even when dry to dissolve readily in this
alkali, but while still moist to do so very copiously, even
without the assistance of heat; and some of this solution,
thus saturated with siliceous matter by ebullition, being ex-
posed to the air in a shallow glass, became a jelly by the
next day, and the day after dried, and cracked, &c., exactly
like the mixtures § IX. (D and E). And another portion of
this solution mixed with marine acid afforded no precipi-
16 WRITINGS OF JAMES SMITHSON.
tate, and remained perfectly unaffected for two days; but on
the third it was converted into a firm jelly like that § TX.
(F). :
As gypsum is found to melt per seat the blow-pipe, though
refractory to the strongest heat that can be made in a fur-
nace, it was thought that possibly siliceous and calcareous
earths might flux together by this means, though they resist
the utmost power of common fires; but experiment showed
that in this respect quartz did not agree with Tabasheer.
But this difference seems much too likely to depend on the
admixture of a little foreign matter in the latter body, to
admit of its being made the grounds for considering it as a
new substance, in opposition to so many more material
points in which it agrees with silex.
Nor can much weight be laid on the inferior specific grav-
ity of a body so very porous. The infusibility of the mix-
ture § XIII. (G) depended also, probably, either on an
inaccuracy in the proportions of the earths to each other, or
on a deficiency of heat.
8. Of the three bamboos which were not split before the
Royal Society, I have opened two. The Tabasheer found
in them agreed entirely in its properties with that of No. I.
and IT.
It was observed that all the Tabasheer in the same joint
was exactly of the same appearance. In one joint it was all
similar to the yellowish sort No. I. In another joint of the
same bamboo, it resembled the variety (c) of No. II. Prob-
ably, therefore, the parcels from Dr. RussELu, containing
each several varieties of this substance, arose from the pro-
duce of many joints having been mixed together.
4, The ashes, obtained by burning the bamboo, boiled in
marine acid, left a very large quantity of a whitish insolu-
ble powder, which, fused at the blow-pipe with soda, effer-
vesced and formed a transparent glass. Only the middle
part of the joints was burned, the knots were sawed off,
lest being porous, Tabasheer might be mechanically lodged
in them. However, the great quantity of this remaining
WRITINGS OF JAMES SMITHSON. - 17
substance shews it to be an essential, constituent part of
the wood. |
The ashes of common charcoal, digested in marine acid,
left in the same manner an insoluble residuum which fused
with soda with effervescence, aud formed glass; but the
proportion of this matter to the ashes was greatly less than
in the foregoing case.
5. Since the above experiments were made, a singular
circumstance has presented itself. A green bamboo, cut in
the hot-house of Dr. Pircarrn, at Islington, was judged to
contain Tabasheer in one of its joints, from a rattling noise
discoverable on shaking it; but being split by Sir Josrmpu
Banks, it was found to contain, not ordinary Tabasheer, but
a solid pebble, about the size of half a pea.
Externally this pebble was of an irregular rounded form,
of a dark-brown or black colour. Internally it was reddish
brown, of a close dull texture, much like some martial sili-
ceous stones. In one corner there were shining particles,
which appeared to be crystals, but too minute to be distin-
guished even with the microscope.
This substance was so hard as to cut glass!
A fragment of it exposed to the blow-pipe on the char-
coal did not grow white, contract in size, melt, or undergo
any change. Put into borax it did not dissolve, but lost its
colour, and tinged the flux green. With soda it effervesced,
and formed a round bead of opaque black glass.
These two beads, digested in some perfectly pure and
white marine acid, only partially dissolved, and tinged this
menstruum of a greenish yellow colour; and from this so-
lution Prussite of tartar, so pure as not, under many hours,
to produce a blue colour with the above pure marine acid,
instantly threw down a very copious Prussian blue.
P. 8.—In ascertaining the specific gravity of the Hydra-
bad Tabasheer, § I. (G), great care was taken in both the
experiments that every bit was thoroughly penetrated with
the water, and transparent to its very centre, before its
weight in the water was determined.
18 WRITINGS OF JAMES SMITHSON.
A CHEMICAL ANALYSIS OF SOME CALAMINES.
From the Philosophical Transactions of the Royal Society of London,
Vol. XCIII, page 12.—Read November, 18, 1802.
Notwithstanding the experiments of Bereman and others,
on those ores of zine which are called calamine, much uncer-
tainty still subsisted on the subject of them. Their consti-
tution was far from decided, nor was it even determined
whether all calamines were of the same species, or whether
there were several kinds of them.
The Abbé Haty, so justly celebrated for his great knowl-
edge in crystallography and mineralogy, has adhered, in
his late work,* to the opinions he had before advanced,f
that calamines were all of one species, and contained no
carbonic acid, being a simple calx of zinc, attributing the
effervescence which he found some of them to produce with
acids, to an accidental admixture of carbonate of lime.
The following experiments were made to obtain a more
certain knowledge of these ores; and their results will
show the necessity there was for their farther investigation,
and how wide from the truth have been the opinions
adopted concerning them.
Calamine from Bleyberg.
a. The specimen which furnished the subject of this
article, was said by the German of whom it was purchased,
to have come from the mines of Bleyberg in Carinthia.
It was in the form of a sheet stalactite, spread over small
fragments of limestone. It was not however at all crys-
talline, but of the dull earthy appearance of chalk, though,
on comparison, of a finer grain and closer texture.
It was quite white, perfectly opaque, and adhered to the
* Traité de Mineralogie, Tome IV. ; ¢ Journal des Minés.
WRITINGS OF JAMES SMITHSON. 19
tongue; 68.0 grs. of it, in small bits, immersed in distilled
water, absorbed 19.8 grs. of it, = 0.29.
It admitted of being scraped by the nail though with
some difficulty: scraped with a knife, it afforded no light.
68.1 grs. of it, broken into small pieces, expelled 19.0 grs.
of. distilled water from a stopple bottle. Hence its density
= 3.584. In another trial, 18.96 grs. at a heat of 65°
FAHRENHEIT, displaced 5.27 grs. of distilled water; hence
the density = 3.598. The bits, in both cases, were entirely
penetrated with water.
b. Subjected to the action of the blowpipe on the coal, it
became yellow the moment it was heated, but recovered its
pristine: whiteness on being let cool. This quality, of tem-
porarily changing their colour by heat, is common to most,
if not all, metallic oxides; the white growing yellow, the
yellow red, the red black. |
Urged with the blue flame, it became extremely friable ;
spread yellow flowers on the coal; and, on continuing the
fire no very long time, entirely exhaled. If the flame was
directed against the flowers, which had settled on the coal,
they shone with a vivid light. A bit fixed to the end of a
slip of glass, wasted nearly as quickly as on the coal.
It dissolved in borax and microcosmic salt, with a slight
effervescence, and yielded clear colourless glasses; but
which became opaque on cooling, if over saturated. Car-
bonate of soda had not any action on it.
c. 68.0 grs. of this calamine dissolved in dilute vitriolic
acid with a brisk effervescence, and emitted 9.2 grs. of car-
bonic acid. The solution was white and turbid, and on
standing deposited a white powder, which, collected on a
small filter of gauze paper, and well edulcorated and let
dry, weighed only 0.86 gr. This sediment, tried at the
blowpipe, melted first into an opaque white matter, and then
partially reduced into lead. It was therefore, probably, a
mixture of vitriol of lead and vitriol of lime.
The filtered solution, gently exhaled to dryness, and kept
over @ spirit-lamp till the water of crystallization of the °
20 WRITINGS OF JAMES SMITHSON.
salt and all superfluous vitriolic acid were driven off, af-
forded 96.7 grs. of perfectly dry, or arid,* white salt. On
re-solution in water, and crystallization, this saline matter
proved to be wholly vitriol of zinc, excepting an inappre-
tiable quantity of vitriol of lime in capillary crystals, due,
without doubt, to a slight and accidental admixture of some
portion of the calcareous fragments on which this calamine
had been deposited. Pure martial prussiate of tartar,
threw down a white precipitate from the solution of this.
salt.
In another experiment, 20.0 grs. of this calamine afforded
28.7 grs. of arid vitriol of zinc.
d. 10 grs. of this calamine were dissolved in pure marine
acid, with heat. On cooling, small capillary crystals of
muriate of lead formed in the solution. This solution was
precipitated by carbonate of soda, and the filtered liquor let
exhale slowly in the air; but it furnished only crystals of
muriate of soda.
e. 10 grs. dissolved in acetous acid without leaving any
residuum. By gentle evaporation, 20.3 grs. = 2.03, of ace-
tite of zinc, in the usual hexagonal plates, were obtained.
These crystals were permanent in the air, and no other
kind of salt could be perceived amongst them.
Neither solution of vitriolated tartar, nor vitriolic acid,
occasioned the slightest turbidness in the solution of these
crystals, either immediately or on standing; a proof that.
the quantity of lime and lead in this solution, if any, was
excessively minute.
f. A bit of this calamine, weighing 20.6 grs. being made
red hot in a covered tobacco-pipe, became very brittle, di-
viding on the slightest touch into prisms, like those of
starch, and lost 5.9 grs. of its weight = 0.286. After this,
it dissolved slowly and difficultly in vitriolic acid, without
any effervescence.
* Dry, as opposed to wet or damp, which are only degrees of each other,
_ merely implies free from mechanically admixed water. Arid, may be ap-
propriated to express the state of being devoid of combined water.
WRITINGS OF JAMES SMITHSON. 21
According to these experiments, this calamine consists of
Calx of zine = 2 - 0.714
Carbonic acid = = - 0.135
Water = “ = - 0.151
1.000.
The carbonates of lime and lead in it are mere accidental
admixtures, and in too small quantity to deserve notice.
Calamine from Somersetshire.
a. This calamine came from Mendip Hills in Somerset-
shire.
It had o Die rtaillniod form; was of a donso crystalline
texture; semitransparent at its edges, and in its small frag-
ments; and upon the whole very similar, in its general
appearance, to calcedony.
It was tinged, exteriorly, brown; but its interior colour
was a greenish yellow.
It had considerable hardness; it admitted however of
being scraped by a knife to a white powder.
56.8 grs. of it displaced 18.1 grs. of water, at a tempera-
ture of 65° Faurenueit. Hence its density = 4.336.
b. Exposed to the blowpipe, it became opaque, more
yellow, and friable; spread flowers on the coal, and con-
sequently volatilized, but not with the rapidity of the
foregoing kind from Bleyberg.
It dissolved in borax and microcosmic salt, with efferves-
cence, yielding colourless plane Carbonate of soda had
no action on it.
ec. It dissolved in vitriolic acid with a brisk effervescence;
and 67.9 grs. of it emitted 24.5 grs. = 0.860, of carbonic
acid. This solution was colourless; and no residuum was
left. By evaporation, it afforded only vitriol of zinc, in
pure limpid crystals.
d. 23.0 grs. in small bits, made red hot in a covered
tobacco-pipe, lost 8.1 grs. = 0.352. It then dissolved slowly
22 WRITINGS OF JAMES SMITHSON.
and difficultly in vitriolic acid, without any emission of car-
bonic acid; and, on gently exhaling the solution, and heat-
ing the salt obtained, till the expulsion of all superabundant
vitriolic acid and all water, 29.8 grs. of arid vitriol of zinc
were obtained. This dry salt was wholly soluble again in
water; and solution of pure martial prussiate of soda oc-
casioned a white precipitate in it.
This calamine hence consists of
Carbonic acid : = = 0.852
Calx of zine - = - 0.648
1.000.
Calamine from Derbyshire.
a. This calamine consisted of a number of small crystals,
about the size of tobacco-seeds, of a pale yellow colour,
which appeared, from the shape of the mass of them, to
have been deposited on the surface of crystals of carbonate
of lime, of the form of Fig. 28, Plate IV. of the Cristallo-
graphie of Romé pr L’Iste.
The smallness of these calamine crystals, and a want of
sharpness, rendered it impossible to determine their form
with certainty; they were evidently, however, rhomboids,
whose faces were very. nearly, if not quite, rectangular, and
which were incomplete along their six intermediate edges,
. apparently like Fig. 78, Plate IV. of Romé pr L’Isue.
22.1 grs. of these crystals, at a heat of 57° Faurenueit,
displaced 5.1 grs. of water, which gives their density =
4.333.
Heat did not excite any electricity in these crystals.
b. Before the blowpipe, they grew more yellow and
opaque, and spread flowers on the coal. They dissolved
wholly in borax and microcosmic salt, with effervescence. _
c. 22.0 grs. during their solution in vitriolic acid, effer-
vesced, and lost 7.8 grs. of carbonic acid = 0.854. This
solution was colourless, and afforded 26.8 grs. of arid vitriol
of zine, which, redissolved in water, shot wholly into clear
colourless prisms of this salt.
WRITINGS OF JAMES SMITHSON. 23
d. 9.2 grs. of these crystals, ignited in a covered tobacco-
pipe, lost 3.2 grs. = 0.38478 ; hence, these crystals consist of
Carbonic acid ~ = me 0.848
Calx of zinc = = -- 0.652
1.000.
Electrical Calamine.
The Abbe Haty has considered this kind as differing
from the other calamines only in the circumstance of being
in distinct crystals; but it has already appeared, in the
instance of the Derbyshire calamine, that all crystals of
calamine are not electric by heat, and hence, that it is not
merely to being in this state that this species owes the above
quality. And the following experiments, on some crystals
of electric calamine from Regbania in Hungary, can leave
no doubt of its being a combination of calx of zine with
quartz; since the quantity of quartz obtained, and the per-
fect regularity and transparency of these crystals, make it
impossible to suppose it a foreign admixture in them.
a. 23.45 grs. of these Regbania crystals, displaced 6.8 grs.
of distilled water, from a stopple-bottle, at the temperature
of 64° Faurenugit; their specific gravity is therefore =
8.434.
The form of these crystals is represented in the annexed
Figure.
ace ot".
@eé—= 150°:
eo — a
d= ile".
94 WRITINGS OF JAMES SMITHSON.
They were not scratched by a pin; a knife marked them.
b. One of these crystals, exposed to the flame of the blow-
pipe, decrepitated and became opaque, and shone with a
green light, but seemed totally iufusible.
Borax and microcosmice salt dissolved these crystals, with-
out any effervescence, producing clear colourless glasses.
Carbonate of soda had little if any action on them.
c. According to Mr. PELLETIER’s experiments* on the
calamine of Fribourg in Brisgaw, which is undoubtedly of
this species, its composition is,
Quartz - - - 0.50
Calx of zine - - - 0.38
Water - - - 0.12
¥ 1.00.
The experiments on the Regbania crystals have had
different results; but, though made on much smaller quan-
tities, they will perhaps not be found, on repetition, less in
conformity with nature.
23.45 grs. heated red hot in a covered crucible, decrepi-
tated a little, and became opaque, and lost 1.05 gr. but did
not fall to powder or grow friable. It was found that this
matter was not in the least deprived of its electrical quality
by being ignited; and hence, while hot, the fragments of
these decrepitated crystals clung together, and to the cruci-
ble.
d, 22.2 grs. of these decrepitated crystals, = 23.24 grs. of
the original crystals, in a state of impalpable powder, being
digested over a spirit-lamp with diluted vitriolic acid, showed
no effervescence; and after some time, the mixture became
a jelly. Exhaled to dryness, and ignited slightly, to expel
the superfluous vitriolic acid, the mass weighed 87.5 grs.
On extraction of the saline part by distilled water, a fine
powder remained, which, after ignition, weighed 5.8 grs.
and was quartz.
* Journal de Physique, Tome XX. p 424.
WRITINGS OF JAMES SMITHSON. 25
The saline solution afforded on crystallization, only vitriol
of zine. ;
These crystals therefore consist of
Quartz - - - - 0.250
Calx of zine - - - 0.683
Water - < - - 0.044
0.977
Loss - - : - 0.023 .
1.000.
The water is most probably not an essential element of
this calamine, or in it in the state of, what is improperly
called, water of crystallization, but rather exists in the crys-
tals in fluid drops interposed between their plates, as it often
is in crystals of nitre, of quartz, &c. Its small quantity,
and the crystals not falling to powder on its expulsion, but
retaining almost perfectly their original solidity, and spath-
ose appearance in the places of fracture, and, above all,
preserving their electrical quality wholly unimpaired, which
would hardly be the case after the loss of a real element of
their constitution, seem to warrant this opinion.
If the water is only accidental in this calamine, its com-
position, from the above experiments, will be
Quartz - - : - 0.261
Calx of zine - - - 0.739
1.000.
I have found this species of calamine amongst the pro-
ductions of Derbyshire, in small brown crystals, deposited,
together with the foregoing small crystals of carbonate of
zinc, on crystals of carbonate of lime. Their form seems,
as far as their minuteness and compression together would
allow of judging, nearly or quite the same as that of those
from Regbania; and the least atom of them immediately
evinces its nature, on being heated, by the strong electricity
it acquires. On their solution in acids, they leave quartz.
26 WRITINGS OF JAMES SMITHSON.
OBSERVATIONS.
Chemistry is yet so new a science, what we know of it
bears so small a proportion to what we are ignorant of, our
knowledge in every department of it is so incomplete, so
broken, consisting so entirely of isolated points thinly scat-
tered like Inrid specks on a vast field of darkness, that no
researches can be undertaken without producing some facts,
leading to some consequences, which extend beyond the
boundaries of their immediate object.
1. The foregoing experiments throw light on the propor-
tions in which its elements exist in vitriol of zinc, 23.0
grs. of the Mendip Hill calamine, produced 29.8 grs. of arid
vitriol of zinc. These 28.0 grs. of calamine contained 14.9
ers. of calx of zinc; hence, this metallic salt, in an arid
state, consists of exactly equal parts of calx of zine and vitri-
olic acid.
This inference is corroborated by the results of the other
experiments: 68.0 grs. of the Bleyberg calamine, contain-
ing 48.6 grs. of calx of zinc, yielded 96.7 grs. of arid vitriol
of zinc; and, in another trial, 20.0 grs. of this ore, contain-
ing 14.2 grs. of calx of zine, produced 28.7 grs. of arid
vitriol of zinc. The mean of these two cases, is 62.7 grs.
of arid vitriol of zinc, from 81.4 grs. of calx of zinc, |
In the experiment with the crystals of carbonate of zine
from Derbyshire, 14.85 grs. of calx of zine furnished indeed
only 26.8 grs. of arid vitriol of zinc; a deficiency of about
zip, occasioned probably by some small inaccuracy of ma-
nipulation.
2. When the simplicity found in all those parts of nature
which are sufficiently known to discover it is considered, it
appears improbable that the proximate constituent parts of
bodies should be united in them, in the very remote rela-
tions to each other in which analyses generally indicate
them; and, an attention to the subject has led me to the
opinion that such is in fact not the case, but that, on the
contrary, they are universally, as appears here with respect
WRITINGS OF JAMES SMITHSON. a7
to arid vitriol of zinc, fractions of the compound of very
low denominators. Possibly in few cases exceeding five.
The success which has appeared to attend some attempts
to apply this theory, and amongst others, to the composi-
tions of some of the substances above analysed, and espe-
cially to the calamine from Bleyberg, induces me to venture
to dwell here a little on this subject, and state the composi-
tion of this calamine which results from the system, as,
besides contributing perhaps to throw some light on the
true nature of this ore, it may be the means likewise of
presenting the theory under circumstances of agreement
with experiment, which from the surprising degree of near-
ness, and the trying complexity of the case, may seem to
entitle it to some attention.
From this calamine, containing, according to the results
of the experiments on the Mendip Hill kind, too small a
quantity of carbonic acid to saturate the whole of the calx
of zine in it, and from its containing much too large a por-
tion of water to- be in it in the state of mere moisture or
dampness, it seems to consist of two matters; carbonate of
zinc, and a peculiar compound of zine and water, which
may be named hydrate of zine.
By the results of the analysis of the Mendip Hill cala-
mine, corrected by the theory, carbonate of zinc appears to
consist of
Carbonic acid - - ~ 4
Calx of zine = = <
Deducting from the calx of zine in the Bleyberg cala-
mine, that portion which corresponds, on these principles,
to its yield of carbonic acid, the remaining quantity of calx
of zinc and water are in such proportions as to lead, from
the theory, to consider hydrate of zine as composed of
Calx of zine - - = Z
Water, or rather ice - -
And, from these results, corrected by the theory, I consider
Bleyberg calamine as consisting of
Carbonate of zine s - Er
Hydrate of zine - . i
ole exfeo
28 WRITINGS OF JAMES SMITHSON.
The test of this hypothesis, is in the quantities of the re-
mote elements which analysis would obtain from a calamine
thus composed.
The following table will show how very insignificantly the
calamine compounded by the theory, would differ in this
respect from the calamine of nature.
1000 parts of the compound salt of carbonate and hydrate
of zinc consist of
Carbonic 400
== - = = — 188}
Carbonate of zinc 400 = 38
Calx of 400 x2
zing == ——"' = 2663
y = - - —716}
Calx of
zinc = SOOKE == 450
Hydrate of zinc = 600 4 P
600
Ice - - =a . - - 150
1000.
Great as is the agreement between the quantities of the
last column and those obtained by the analysis of the
Bleyberg calamine, it would be yet more perfect, probably,
had there been, in this instance, no sources of fallacy but
those attached to chemical operations, such as errors of
weighing, waste, &c., but the differences which exist are
owing, in some measure at least, to the admixture of car-
bonate of lime and carbonate of lead, in the calamine
analysed, and also to some portion of water, which is un-
doubtedly contained, in the state of moisture, in so porous
and bibulous a body.
It has also appeared, in the experiments on the Mendip
Hill calamine, that acids indicate a greater quantity of car-
bonic acid than fire does, by 7235. If we make this deduc-
tion for dissolved water, it reduces the quantity of carbonic
acid in the Bleyberg calamine, to 0.1821.
If we assume this quantity of carbonic acid as the datum
to calculate, on this system, the composition of the calamine
from Bleyberg, we shall obtain the following results :
WRITINGS OF JAMES SMITHSON. _ 29
Compound salt, of carbonate of zine and hydrate
of zine : “ = - - 990.3
Water in the state of moisture 3 - 2.5
Carbonate of lime and carbonate of lead = i
1000.0
It may be thought some corroboration of the system here
offered, that, if we admit the proportions which it indicates,
the remote elements of this ore, while they are regular parts
of their immediate products, by whose subsequent union
this ore is engendered, are also regular fractions of the ore
itself: thus,
The carbonic acid = < = 5
The water = ss 2 — a;
The calx of zine - z mes fs
60 :
’ Hereby displaying that sort of regularity, in every point
of view of the object, which so wonderfully characterises
the works of nature, when beheld in their true light.
If this calamine does consist of carbonate of zine and
hydrate of zinc, in the regular proportions above supposed,
little doubt can exist of its being a true chemical combina-
tion of these two matters, and not merely a mechanical
mixture of them in a pulveruleht state; and, if so, we may
indulge the hope of some day meeting with this ore in
regular crystals.
If the theory here advanced has any foundation in truth
the discovery will introduce a degree of rigorous accuracy
and certainty into chemistry, of which this science was
thought to be ever incapable, by enabling the chemist, like:
the geometrician, to rectify by calculation the unavoidable
errors of his manual operations, and by authorising him to
eliminate from the essential elements of a compound, those
products of its analysis whose quantity cannot be reduced
to any admissible proportion.
A certain knowledge of the exact proportions of the
constituent principles of bodies, may likewise open to our
view harmonious analogies between the constitutions of
30 WRITINGS OF JAMES SMITHSON.
relgted objects, general laws, &c., which at present totally
escape us. In short, if it is founded in truth, its enabling
the application of mathematics to chemistry, cannot but be
productive of material results.*
3. By the application of the foregoing theory to the
experiments on the electrical calamine, its elements will
appear to be,
Quartz - - - - a
Calx of zinc - - - 3
A small quantity of the calamine having escaped the action
of the vitriolic acid, and remained undecomposed, will
account for the slight excess in the weight of the quartz.
4, The exhalation of these calamines at the blowpipe, and
the flowers which they diffuse round them on the coal, are
probably not to be attributed to a direct volatilization of
them. It is more probable that they are the consequences of
the disoxidation of the zine calx, by the coal and the
inflammable matter of the flame, its sublimation ina metal-
lic state, and instantaneous recalcination. And this alter-
nate reduction and combustion, may explain the peculiar
phosphoric appearance exhibited by calces of zine at the
blowpipe.
The apparent sublimation of the common flowers of zine
at the instant of their production, though totally unsublim-
able afterwards, is certainly likewise but a deceptious
appearance. The reguline zinc, vaporized by the heat, rises
from the crucible as a metallic gas, and is, while in this
state, converted to a calx. The flame which attends the
process is a proof of it; for flame is a mass of vapour,
ignited by the production of fire within itself. The fibrous
form of the flowers of zinc, is owing to a crystallization of
the calx while in mechanical suspension in the air, like that
which takes place with camphor, when, after having been
sometime inflamed, it is blown out.
A moment’s reflection must evince, how injudicious is the
* It may be proper to say, that the experiments have been stated precisely
as they turned out, and have not been in the least degree bent to the system.
WRITINGS OF JAMES SMITHSON. 31
common opinion, of crystallization requiring a state of solu-
tion in the matter; since it must be evident, that while
solution subsists, as long as a quantity of fluid admitting of
it is present, no crystallization can take place. The only
requisite for this operation, is a freedom of motion in the
masses which tend to unite, which allows them to yield to
the impulse which propels them together, and to obey that
sort of polarity which occasions them to present to each
other the parts adapted to mutual union. No state so com-
pletely affords these conditions as that of mechanical
suspension in a fluid whose density is so great, relatively to
their size, as to oppose such resistance to their descent in it
as to occasion their mutual attraction to become a power
superior to their force of gravitation. It is in these circum-
stances that the atoms of matters find themselves, when, on
the separation from them of the portion of fluid by which
they were dissolved, they are abandoned in a disengaged
state in the bosom of a solution; and hence it is in satu-
rated solutions sustaining evaporation, or equivalent cooling,
and free from any perturbing motion, that regular crystalli-
zation is usually effected. |
But those who are familiar with chemical operations, know
the sort of agglutination which happens between the parti-
cles of subsided very fine precipitates; occasioning them,
on a second diffusion through the fluid, to settle again much
more quickly than before, and which is certainly a crystal-
lization, but under circumstances very unfavourable to its
. perfect performance.
5. No calamine has yet occurred to me which was a real,
uncombined, calx of zinc. If such, as a native product,
should ever be met with in any of the still unexplored parts
of the earth, or exist amongst the unscrutinized possessions
of any cabinet, it will easily be known, by producing a
quantity of arid vitriol of zine exactly double its own
weight; while the hydrate of zinc, should it be found single,
or uncombined with the carbonate, will yield, it is evident,
1.5 its weight of this arid salt.
82 WRITINGS OF JAMES SMITHSON.
“ACCOUNT OF A DISCOVERY OF NATIVE
MINIUM.
From the Philosophical Transactions of the Royal Society of London,
Vol. XOVI, Part I, 1806, p. 267.—Read April 24, 1806.
IN A LETTER TO THE RIGHT HON. SIR JOSEPH BANKS,
K. B. P. R. S.
My Dear Sir: I beg leave to acquaint you with a dis-
covery which I have lately made, as it adds a new, and
perhaps it may be thought an interesting, species to the
ores of lead. I have found minium native in the earth.
It is disseminated in small quantity, in the substance of a
compact carbonate of zinc.
Its appearance in general is that of a matter in a nalgene
lent state, but in places it shows to a lens a flaky and crys-
talline texture.
Tts colour is like that of factitious minium, a vivid red
with a cast of yellow.
Gently heated at the blowpipe it assumes a darker colour,
but on cooling it returns to its original red. At a strongor
heat it melts to litharge. Onthe charcoal it reduces to
lead.
In dilute white acid of nitre, it becomes of a coffee
colour. On the addition of a little sugar, this brown calx
dissolves, and produces a colourless solution.
By putting it into marine acid with a little leaf gold, the
gold is soon intirely dissolved.
When it is inclosed in a small bottle with marine acid,
and a little bit of paper tinged by turnsol is fixed to the
cork, the paper in a short time entirely loses its blue colour,
and becomes white. A strip of common blue paper, whose
colouring matter is indigo, placed in the same situation
undergoes the same change. ©
WRITINGS OF JAMES SMITHSON. 33
The very small quantity which I possess of this ore, and
‘the manner in which it is scattered amongst another sub-
stance, and blended with it, have not allowed of more
qualities being determined, but I apprehend these to be
sufficient to establish its nature. °
This native minium seems to be produced by the decay
of a galena, which I suspect to be itself a secondary pro-
duction from the metallization of white carbonate of lead
by hepatic gas. This is particularly evident in a specimen
of this ore which I mean to send to Mr. GREVILLE, as soon
as I can find an opportunity. In one part of it there is a
cluster of large crystals. Having broken one of these, it
proved to be converted into minium to a considerable thick-
ness, while its centre is still galena.
Ian, &e.,
JAMES SMITHSON.
OassELL In HeEssxz, March 2d, 1806.
From the Philosophical Magazine, Vol. XXXVIII, 1811, p. 34,
After I had communicated to the president the account
of the discovery of native minium, printed in the Philo-
sophical Transactions for 1806, I learned that this ore came
from the lead mines of Breylau in Westphalia.
84 WRITINGS OF JAMES SMITHSON.
ON QUADRUPLE AND BINARY COMPO UNDS,
PARTICULARLY SULPHURETS.
From the Philosophical Magazine, London, Vol. XXIX, 1807, p. 275.
Read December 24, 1807.
A paper, by Mr. Smithson, on quadruple and binary com-
pounds, particularly the sulphurets, was read. The author
seemed to doubt the propriety of the distinction, or rather
the existence, of quadruple compounds, believed that only
two substances could enter as elements in the composition
of one body, and contended that in cases of quadruple com-
pounds, a new and very different substance was formed,
which had very little relation to the radical or elementary
principles of which it was believed to be composed. This
opinion he supported by reference to the sulphurets of lead
(galena) and of antimony, and to the facts developed by
crystallography. In the latter science he took occasion to
correct and confirm some remarks of his in the Transac-
tions for 1804, on different crystals, which he acknowledged
have not hitherto been found in nature.
ON TIE COMPOSITION OF THE COMPOUND SUL-
PHURET FROM IIUEL BOYS, AND AN AC-
COUNT OF ITS CRYSTALS.
From the Philosophical Transactions of the Royal Society of London,
Vol. XCVIII, Part I, 1808, p. 55.—Read January 28, 1808.
It is but very lately that I have seen the Philosophical
Transactions for 1804, and become acquainted with the two
papers on the compound sulphuret of lead, antimony, and
copper contained in the first part of it, which circumstance
WRITINGS OF JAMES SMITHSON. 85
has prevented my offering sooner a few observations on Mr.
Hatouztr’s experiments, which I deem essential towards
this substance being rightly considered, and indeed the
principles of which extend to other chemical compounds;
and also giving an account of the form of this compound
sulphuret, as that which has been laid before the Society is
very materially inaccurate and imperfect.
We have no real knowledge of the nature of a compound
substance till we are acquainted with its proximate ele-
ments, or those matters by whose direct or immediate union
it is produced ; for these only are its true elements. Thus,
though we know that vegetable acids consist of oxygene,
hydrogene, and carbon, we are not really acquainted with
their composition, because these are not their. proximate,
that is, are not their elements, but are the elements of their
elements, or the elements of these. It is evident what
would be our acquaintance with sulphate of iron; for ex-
ample, did we only know that a crystal of ‘it consisted of
iron, sulphur, oxygene, and hydrogene; or of carbonate of
lime, if only that it was a compound of lime, carbon or
diamond, and oxygene. In fact, totally dissimilar sub-
stances may have the same ultimate elements, and even pro-
bably in precisely the same proportions; nitrate of ammo-
nia, and hydrate of ammonia, or crystals of caustic volatile
alkali,* both ultimately consist of oxygene, hydrogene, and
azote. ?
It is not probable that the present ore is a direct quad-
ruple combination of the three metals and sulphur, that
these, in their simple states, are its immediate component
parts; it is much more credible that it is a combination of
the three sulphurets of these metals.
On this presumption I have made experiments to deter-
mine the respective proportions of these sulphurets in it.
I have found 10 grains of galena, or sulphuret of lead, to
produce 12.5 grains of sulphate of lead. Ilence the 60.1
SaaS eneermemmee
* Fourcroy, Syst. des Con. Chem. t. I. p. 88.
86 WRITINGS OF JAMES SMITHSON.
grains of sulphate lead, which Mr. Harcuert obtained, cor-
respond to 48.08 grains of sulphuret of lead. °
T have found 10 grains of sulphuret of antimony to afford
11.0 grains of precipitate from muriatic acid by water.
Hence 81.5 grains of this precipitate are equal to 28.64
grains of sulphuret of antimony.
The want of sulphuret of copper has prevented my de-
termining the relation between it and black oxide of copper,
but this omission is, it is evident, immaterial, as the quan-
tity of this sulphuret in the ore must be the complement of
the sum of the two others.
But as the iron is a foreign adventitious substance in this
ore, it follows that the foregoing quantities are the products
of only 96.65 grains of it. 100 parts of the ore are there-
fore composed of
Sulphuret of lead - . 49.7
Sulphuret of antimony - - 29.6
Sulphuret of copper - - 20.7
| 100.0
It is impossible not to be struck with the trifling altera-
tion which these quantities require to reduce them to very
simple proportions, or to think it a very great violation of
probability to suppose that experiments, effected with no
errors, would have given them thus:
Sulphuret of lead - - - 50.
‘Sulphuret of antimony - - 80.
Sulphuret of copper - - - 20.
However, I doubt the existence of triple, quadruple, &c.
compounds; I believe, that all combination is binary ; that no-
substance whatever ee more than two proximate or true
elements; and hence I should be inclined to consider the
present compound as a combination of galena and fahl-
ertz; and if so, it will be accurately represented, as far as
WRITINGS OF JAMES SMITHSON. | 87
chemical analysis has yet been able to go, by the following
figure:
$ galena — i sulphur
Compound sulphuret § lead
of lead, antimony, =
dnd coaner (© $ sulphuret of __ {7 sulphur.
PP } fablertz = antimony antimony.
fe: muiphatey of __ i sulphur.
\ copper copper.
Its ultimate elements are therefore, -
Sulphur - - 20... =H?
Lead - - - 412. — 25
Antimony - an 25 = 15
Copper a = 134 t..4 = es
and it is not a little remarkable, that here, as was the case
with the calamine,* they are sexagesimal fractions of it.
When in a former paper I offered a system on the pro-
portions of the elements of compounds, I supported it by
the results of my own experiments, which might be sup-
posed influenced, even unconsciously to myself, by a favour-
ite hypothesis, and I made the application of it principally
to a substance whose nature was not very clear. But the
present case is not liable to these objections: here no fond-
ness to the theory can be suspected of having led astray,
nor did even the experiments as they came from their
author’s hands, bear an appearance in the least favourable
to it, and yet when properly considered, they are found to
accord no less remarkably with its principles.
It is evident that there must be a precise quantity in
which the elements of compounds are united together in
them, otherwise a matter, which was not a simple one,
would be liable, in its several masses, to vary from itself,
according as one or other of its ingredients chanced to pre-
dominate; but chemical experiments are unavoidably at-
tended with too many sources of fallacy for this precise
quantity to be discovered by them; it is therefore to theory
* Phil. Trans. 1803, p. 12.
38 WRITINGS OF JAMES SMITHSON.
that we must owe the knowledge of it. For this purpese
an hypothesis must be made, and its justness tried by a
slrict comparison with facts. If they are found at variance,
the assumed hypothesis must be relinquished with candour
as erroneous, but should it, on the contrary prove, on a
multitude of trials, invariably to accord with the results of
observation, as nearly as our means of determination au-
thorise us to expect, we are warranted in believing that the
principle of nature is obtained, as we then have all the
proofs of its being so, which men can have of the justness
of their theories: a constant and perfect agreement with
the phenomena, as far as can be discovered.
The great criterion in the present case is, whether on the
conversion of a substance into its several compounds, and
of these into one another, the simple ratios always obtain
which the principles of the theory require. Amongst the
multitude of instances which I could adduce, in support of
such being the fact, I will, for the sale of brevity, confine
myself to a few in the substances which have come under
consideration above, as they will likewise give the grounds
on which some of the proportions in the table have been
assigned, and every chemist, by a careful repetition of the
experiments, may easily determine for himself to what at-
tention the present theory is entitled.
Lead - - = 4 of sulphate of lead
, = $ of sulphuret of lead
Sulphuret of lead - = § of lead
= § of sulphate of lead
Sulphate of lead - = 2 of lead
= 4 of sulphuret of lead
Antimony - - = 4 of powder of algoroth
= 4 of sulphuret of antimony
Sulphuret of antimony - = 19 of powder of algoroth.
In the experiments by which these relations were ascer-
tained, the portion of powder of algoroth and sulphate of
lead dissolved in the precipitating and washing waters, was
scrupulously collected.
WRITINGS OF JAMES SMITHSON. 39
The importance of a knowledge of the true quantity in
which matters combine, is too evident to require to be dwelt
upon; but this importance will be greatly augmented, if it
should prove that this quantity is, as has been suggested,
expressive of the forces with which they attract each other.
It is perhaps in the form of matters that we shall find the
cause of the proportions in which they unite, and a proof,
a priori, of the system here maintained.
I have examined some of the grey ores of copper in
tetraedral crystals; but the notes of my experiments are in
England. I can, however, say, that they do contain anti-
mony, and that they do not contain iron in any material
quantity. With respect to the proportions of the constitu-
ent parts, I cannot now speak with any certainty; but, I
think, that at least some species of fahlertz contain a smaller
portion of sulphuret of antimony, than the fahlertz does
which exists as an element in the foregoing compound one.
Of the Form of this Substance.
. Of the seventeen figures which have been given, as of the
erystals of. this compound sulphuret, in Part II. of the
volume of the Transactions for 1804, great part are ac-
knowledged to have no existence, nor are indeed any of
them consistent with nature.
This substance seems to have yet offered but one form,
and which is represented in the annexed Plate under its
two principal appearances; that is, having the primitive
faces, the predominant ones of the prism; and having the
secondary ones such, and which will be fully sufficient to
make it known. In the first infancy of the study of crys-
tals, it might be necessary to attend to every, the most
trifling, variation of them, to trace each of their changes,
step by step, to, as it were, spell the subject; but in the
state to which the science has now attained, to continue to
do so would be not only superfluous, but most truly puerile.
40 WRITINGS OF JAMES SMITHSON.
I have a very small, but very regular, crystal of the form
of Fig. 1.
Fig. 1
mp = 90°
mt = 90°
am = 135°
mb == 185°
ob. == 125". 1b! ae
gb = 144° 44 8"
d'm = 116° 33’ 64?’
Fm =—=153° (26° 6%;
By mensuration the faces a and m appear to form together
an angle of about 135°, and the faces ¢ and 6 an angle of
about 125°.
It is said in the account above quoted, that the primitive
form of this matter is a rectangular tetraedral prism, but
no proofs of this have been offered; nor have the dimen-
sions of this prism been given, a circumstance of the first
WRITINGS OF JAMES SMITHSON. 41
moment to the determination of true or primitive form, nor
have any quantities been assigned to the decrements sup-
posed. I will, therefore, supply these very important omis-
sions.
That the atom of this substance is a rectangular tetrae-
dral prism, is inferable, not from the striz on the crystals,
for strie are by no means invariably indicative of a decre-
ment in the direction of them; but from the angles which
the faces a and ¢ make with the faces m and b, and these
angles also prove, that the height of this prism is equal to
the side of its base, that is, that it is a cube.
Hence the face a is produced by a decrease of one row of
atoms along the edge of the cube, and the angle it forms
with the face m is really of 185°.
The face ¢ is produced by a decrease of two rows of atoms
at the corners of the cube, and the angle it forms with the
face 6 is = 125° 15’ 52”.
The face 6 being produced like the face a, forms the same
angle with the face m.
No crystal I possess, has enabled me to measure the in-
clinations of the faces g,d, or f; should the face g, as is
presumable, result from a decrease of one row of atoms at
the corners of the cube, it will form with the face 6, an
angle of 144° 44’ 8’’, and if the faces d and f are, as is also
probable, produced by a decrease of two rows of atoms
along the edges of the cube, the first will form an angle of
116° 33’ 54’, and the latter one of 158° 26/ 6’, with the
face m. ,
The angles assigned here differ considerably from those
given in the former account of these crystals; but the
angles there given have not only appeared to me to be con-
tradicted by observation, but, crystallographically consid-
ered, are inconsistent with each other, as the tetraedral
prism of dimensions to produce an angle of 135° by a
decrement along its edge, would not afford angles of 140°
and 120° by decrements at its corners.
The sum of the faces of these crystals is 50. .
42 WRITINGS OF JAMES SMITHSON.
ON THE COMPOSITION OF ZEOLITE.
From the Philosophical Transactions of the Royal Society of London,
Vol. OI, p. 171.—Read February 7, 1811.
MrneERAL bodies being, in fact, native chemical preparations,
perfectly analogous to those of the laboratory of art, it is
only by chemical means, that their species can be ascer-
tained with any degree of certainty, especially under all the
variations of mechanical state and intimate admixture with
each other, to which they are subject.
Aud accordingly, we see those methods which profess to
supersede the necessity of chemistry in mineralogy, and to
decide upon the species of it by other means than her’s,
yet bringing an unavoidable tribute of homage to her supe-
rior powers, by turning to her for a solution of the difficul-
ties which continually arise to them, and to obtain firm
grounds to relinquish or adopt the conclusions to which the
principles they employ, lead them.
Zeolite and natrolite have been universally admitted to
be species distinct from each other, from Mr. KLaproru
having discovered a considerable quantity of soda and no
lime, in the composition of the latter, while Mr. VauquEeLIN
had not found any portion of either of the fixed alkalies,
but a considerable one of lime, in his analysis of zeolite.*
The natrolite has been lately met with under a regular
crystalline form, and this form appears to be perfectly simi-
lar to that of zeolite, but Mr. Haty has not judged himself
warranted by this circumstance, to consider these two bodies
as of the same species, because zeolite, he says, ‘* does not
contain an atom of soda.’’t
I had many years ago found soda in what I considered to
* Journal des Mines, No. XLIV.
+ Journal des Mines, No, OL. Juin 1810, p. 468.
WRITINGS OF JAMES SMITHSON. 43
be zeolites, which I had collected in the island of Staffa,
having formed GuavuBer’s salt by treating them with sul-
phuric acid; and I have since repeatedly ascertained the
presence of the same principle in similar stones from various
other places; and Dr. Hutton and Dr. Krennepy, had like-
wise detected soda in bodies, to which they gave the name
of zeolite.
There was, however, no certainty that the subjects of any
of these experiments were of the same nature as what Mr.
VAUQUELIN had examined, were of that species which Mr.
Haiy calls mesotype.
Mr. Haty was so obliging as to send me lately, some
specimens of minerals. There happened to be amongst
them a cluster of zeolite in rectangular tetrahedral prisms,
terminated by obtuse tetrahedral pyramids whose faces coin-
cided with those of the prism. These crystals were of a
considerable size, and perfectly homogeneous, and labelled
by himself “‘ Mesotype pyramidée du depart. de Puy de Déme.”
I availed myself of this very favourable opportunity, to as-
certain whether the mesotype of Mr. Haty and natrolite,
did or did not differ in their composition, and the results of
the experiments have been entirely unfavourable to their
separation, as the following account of them will show.
10 grains of this zeolite being kept red hot for five min-
utes lost 0.75 grains, and became opaque and friable. Ina
second experiment, 10 grains being exposed for 10 minutes
to a stronger fire, lost 0.95 grains, and consolidated into a
hard transparent state.
10 grains of this zeolite, which had not been heated,
were reduced to a fine powder, and diluted muriatic acid
poured upon it. On standing some hours, without any ap-
plication of heat, the zeolite entirely dissolved, and some ~
hours after, the solution became a jelly: this jelly was evap-
orated to a dry state, and then made red hot.
Water was repeatedly poured on to this ignited matter
till nothing more could be extracted from it. This solution
was gently evaporated to a dry state, and this residuum
44 WRITINGS OF JAMES SMITHSON.
made slightly red hot. It then weighed 3.15 grains. It
was muriate of soda.
The solution of this muriate of soda being tried with
solutions of carbonate of ammonia and oxalic acid, did not
afford the least precipitate, which would have happened
- had the zeolite contained any lime, as the muriate of lime*
would not have been decomposed by the ignition.
The remaining matter, from which this muriate of soda
had been extracted, was repeatedly digested with marine
acid, till all that was soluble was dissolved. What remained
was silica, and, after being made red hot, weighed 4.9 grains.
The muriatic solution, which had been decanted off from
the silica, was exhaled to a dry state, and the matter left
made red hot. It was alumina.
To discover whether any magnesia was contained amongst
this alumina, it was dissolved in sulphuric acid, the solution
evaporated to a dry state, and ignited. Water did extract
some saline matter from this ignited alumina, but it had not
at all the appearance of sulphate of magnesia, and proved
to be some sulphate of alumina which had escaped decom-
position, for on an addition of sulphate of ammonia to it, it
produced crystals of compound sulphate of alumina and
ammonia, in regular octahedrons.
This alum and alumina were again mixed and digested in
ammonia, and the whole dried and made red hot. The
alumina left, weighed 8.1 grains.
Being suspected to contain still some sulphuric acid, this
alumina was dissolved in nitric acid, and an excess of ace-
tate of barytesadded. A precipitate of sulphate of barytes
fell, which after being edulcorated and made red hot, weighed
1.2 grains. If we admit } of sulphate of barytes to be sul-
phuric acid, the quantity of the alumina will be = 3.1 —
0.4 = 2.7 grains.
* These names are retained for the present, as being familiar, though,
since Mr. Davy’s important discovery of the nature of what was called
oxymuriatic acid, the substances to which they are applied, are known not
to bo salts, but metallic compounds analogous to oxides.
WRITINGS OF JAMES SMITHSON. 45
From tho experiments of Dr. Marcet,* it appears that
8.15 grains of muriate of soda, afford 1.7 grains of soda.
Hence, according to the foregoing experiments, the 10
grains of zeolite analysed, consisted of
Silica : - = - 4,90
Alumina -: = - - 2.70
Soda SET im - = 1.70
Ice - - - - “ 0.95
10.25
As these experiments had been undertaken more for the
purpose of ascertaining the nature of the component parts
of this zeolite than their proportions, the object of them
was considered as accomplished, although perfect accuracy
in the latter respect, had not been attained, and which, in-
deed, the analysis we possess of natrolite by the illustrious
chemist of Berlin, renders unnecessary.
I am induced to prefer the name of zeolite for this species
of stone, to any other name, from an unwillingness to oblite-
rate entirely from the nomenclature of mineralogy, while
arbitrary names are retained in it, all trace of one of the
discoveries of the greatest mineralogist who has yet ap-
peared, and which, at the time it was made, was considered
as, and was, a very considerable one, being ‘the first addi-
tion of an earthy species, made by scientific means, to those
established immemorially by miners and lapidaries, and
hence having, with tungstein and nickel, led the way to the
-great and brilliant extension which mineralogy has since
received. And, of the several substances, which, from the
state of science in his time, certain common qualities in-
duced Baron Cronstept to associate together under the
name of zeolite; it is this which has been most imme- .
diately understood as such, and whose qualities have been
assumed as the characteristic ones of the species.
Indeed, I think that the name imposed on a substance by
* Phil. Trans. 1807.
46 WRITINGS OF JAMES SMITHSON.
the discoverer of it, ought to be held in some degree sacred, .
and not altered without the most urgent necessity for doing
it. It is but a fecble and just retribution of respect for the
service which he has rendered to science.
Professor Struve, of Lausanne, whose skill in miner-
alogy is well known, having mentioned to me, in one of his
letters, that from some experiments of his own, he was led
to suspect the existence of phosphoric acid in several stones,
and particularly in the zeolite of Auvergne, I have directed
my enquiries to this point, but have not found the phos-
phoric, or any other acknowledged mineral acid, in this
zeolite.
Many persons, from experiencing much difficulty in com-
prehending the combination together of the earths, have
been led to suppose the existence of undiscovered acids in
stony crystals. If quartz be itself considered as an acid, to
which order of bodies its qualities much moro nearly assim-
ilate it, than to the earths, their composition becomes readily
intelligible. They will then be neutral salts, silicates, either
simple or compound. Zeolite will be a compound salt, a
hydrated silicate of alumina and soda, and hence a com-
pound of alumina not very dissimilar to alum. And topaz,
whose singular ingredients, discovered by Mr, KtLaprotu,
have called forth a query from the celebrated Mr. VauquE-
LIN, with regard to the mode of their existence together,*
will be likewise a compound salt, consisting of silicate of
alumina, and fluate of alumina.
Our acquaintance with the composition of the several
mineral substances, is yet far too inaccurate to render it
possible to point out with any degree of certainty, the one
of which zeolite is an hydrate, however the agreement of
the two substances in the nature of their constituent parts,
and in their being both electrical by heat, directs conjecture
towards tourmaline.
St. James’s Place, Jan, 22, 1811.
* Annales du Museum d’Hist. Nat. tome 6, p. 24.
WRITINGS OF JAMES SMITHSON. 47
ON A SUBSTANCE FROM THE ELM TREE,
CALLED ULMIN.
From the Philosophical Transactions of the Royal Society of London,
Vol. CIII, Part I, 1818, p. 64.—Read December 10, 1812.
1. Tho substance now denominated Ulmin was first made
known by the celebrated Mr. Kiaproru, to whom nearly
every department of chemistry is under numerous and great
obligations.*
Ulmin has been ranked by Dr. Tyomson, in his System of
Chemistry, as a distinct vegetable principle, on the ground
of its possessing qualities totally peculiar and extraordinary.
It is said, that though in its original state easily soluble in
water and wholly insoluble in alcohol and ether, it changes,
when nitric, or oxymuriatic acid is poured into its solution,
into a resinous substance no longer soluble in water, but
soluble in alcohol, and this singular alteration is attributed
to the union to it of a small portion of oxygen which it has
acquired from these acids.* Being possessed of some of
this substance which had been sent to me some years ago
from Palermo, by the same person from whom Mr, Kuap-
roTH had received it, I became induced, by the foregoing
account, to pay attention to it, and have observed facts
which appear to warrant a different etiology of its phe-
nomena, and opinion of its nature, from what has been
given of them.
The ulmin made use of in the following experiments, had
been freed from the fragments of bark by solution in water
and filtration, and recovered in a dry state by the evapora-
tion of the solution on a water bath. |
2. In lumps, ulmin appears black, but in thin pieces it is
seen to be transparent, and of a deep red colour.
* Dr. THomson’s Syst. of Chem. Vol. IV, p. 696. Fourth edition.
48 WRITINGS OF JAMES SMITHSON.
In a dilute state, solution of ulmin is yellow ; in a con-
centrated one, dark red, and not unlike blood.
When solution of ulmin dries, either spontaneously or by
being heated, the ulmin divides into long narrow strips dis-
posed in rays to the centre, which curl up and detach them-
selves from the vessel, and the fluid part seems to draw
together, and becomes remarkably protuberant. Solution
of ulmin slowly and feebly restores the colour of turnsol
paper reddened by an acid.
8. Dilute nitric acid being poured into a solution of
ulmin, a copious precipitate immediately formed. The
mixture was thrown on a filter. The matter which has
been considered as a resin remained on the paper, and a
clear yellow liquor came through. This yellow solution, on
evaporation, produced a number of prismatic crystals look-
ing like nitrate of potash. They were tinged yellow by
some of the resin. This mixture, heated in a gold dish,
deflagrated with violence, and a large quantity of fixed
alkali remained.
Dilute muriatic acid caused an exactly similar precipita-
tion in solution of ulmin to nitric acid, and the precipitate
was the same resin-like substance. The filtered liquor
afforded a quantity of saline matter, which, after being
freed by ignition from a portion of dissolved resin, shot
into pure white cubes of muriate of potash, as appeared by
decomposing them by nitric acid.
Sulphuric, phosphoric, oxalic, tartaric, and citric acids,
occasioned a similar precipitation in solution of ulmin.
Distilled vinegar produced no turbidness in it; and the
mixture being exhaled to dryness, at a gentle heat, was
found to ke again wholly soluble in water. But when the
mixture was made to boil, some decomposition took place.
On adding muriatic acid to 'a mixture of solution of ulmin
and distilled vinegar, a precipitate was produced, as in a
mere solution in water.
The nitric and muriatic acids received a small quantity of
lime and iron from the ulmin, and I believe also a little,
WRITINGS OF JAMES SMITHSON. 49
magnesia; but these can be considered only as foreign ad-
mixtures.
4, To acquire an idea of the quantity of potash in ulmin,
4 grains of ulmin were decomposed by nitric acid. They
afforded 2.4 grains of resin-like matter. The nitrate of
potash obtained was heated to deflagration, in small quanti-
ties at a time, in a platina crucible to free it from resin.
The alkali produced was supersaturated with nitric acid,
dried, and slightly fused. It then weighed 1.2 grains.. If
we admit 4 of nitrate of potash to be allcali, this will denote
_ if; of potash in ulmin.
5 grains of ulmin were decomposed by muriatic acid.
The resinous matter weighed 8.8 grains, and the muriate of
potash, after being ignited, dissolved away from the char-
coal, dried, and again made red hot, weighed 1.4 grains.
If we suppose 3 of muriate of ascscit to be alkali, this will
indicate 1% of potash in ulmin.
2 grains of ulmin were made red hot in a gold crucible.
It then weighed only 1.05 grain. The form of the flakes
was in no degree altered, but they had acquired the blue
and yellow colours of heated steel, of which they had like-
wise the metallic aspect and lustre, and could diflicultly, if
at all, have been distinguished by the eye from heated stcel-
filings, or fragments of slender watch-springs. Water im-
mediately destroyed their metallic appearance.
Muriatic acid, poured on, caused a strong effervescence,
and formed muriate of potash, which, freed from all char-
coal, and made red hot, weighed 0.6 grain, corresponding
to ;°5 of potash in ulmin.
These experiments assign about } for the quantity of
potash in ulmin, but as it is impossible to operate, on 80
small a scale, on such substances without loss, it is proba-
ble that it even exceeds this proportion.
5. The substance separated from ae by acids has the
following qualities :
It is ney glossy, and has a resinous appearance.
50 WRITINGS OF JAMES SMITHSON.
In lumps it appears black, but in minute fragments it is
found to be transparent, and of a garnet-red colour.
It burns with flame, and is reduced to white ashes.
Alcohol dissolves it, but only in very small quantity.
Water likewise dissolves it, but also only in very small
quantity. Acids cause a precipitate in this solution, though
this resin-like matter appears neither to contain any alkali,
nor to retain any of the acid by means of which it was
obtained..
. Its solution in water seems to redden turnsol paper.
Neither ammonia, nor carbonate of soda, promote its
solution in cold water.
On adding a small quantity of potash to water in which
it lies, it dissolves immediately and abundantly. This solu-
tion has all the qualities of a solution of ulmin, and, on
exhalation, leaves a matter precisely like it, which cracks
and separates from the glass, and docs not grow moist in the
air, &c. i,
IIence it appears that ulmin is not a simple vegetable
principle of anomalous qualities, but a combination with
potash of a red, or more properly a high yellow matter,
which, if not of a peculiar genus, seems rather more related
to the extractives than to the resins.
English Ulmin.
I collected, from an elm tree in Kensington gardens, a
small quantity of a black shining substance which looked
like ulmin. i
It was readily soluble in water, and the solution was in
colour and appearance exactly similar to a solution of
ulmin.
This solution, exhaled to a dry state on a water-bath,
jeft a matter exactly like ulmin, and which cracked and
divided as ulmin does, when dried in the same manner. It
did not, however, rise up from the watch-glass in long
strips, like the Sicilian kind, but this may have been owing
WRITINGS OF JAMES SMITHSON. 51
partly to its small quantity, which occasioned it to be spread
very thin on the watch-glass, and partly to its containing a
considerable excess of alkali, for it differed also from the
Palermo ulmin by becoming soft in the air, and its solution
strongly restored the blue colour of reddened turnsol paper.
Nitric acid, added to a filtered solution of this ulmin, im-
mediately caused a precipitate in it, and the filtered solu-
tion, on evaporation, afforded numerous crystals of nitrate
of potash. | :
This English ulmin made a considerable effervescence
with acetous acid, which the Palermo ulmin had not been
observed to do. This acetous solution, in which the acid
was in excess, was exhaled dry, and repeatedly washed with
spirit of wine. No part of the brown matter dissolved.
Water dissolved this brown residuum readily and entirely.
This solution did not sensibly restore the blue colour of
reddened turnsol paper. Exhaled to a dry state, the mat-
ter left did not separate from the watch-glass quite as freely
as Palermo ulmin, which had been treated with acetous
acid; but it seemed no longer to grow moist in the air.
Redissolved in water, and nitric acid added, the mixture
became thick from a copious precipitate.
The spirit of wine contained a quantity of acetate of
potash. .
The excess of alkali, in this English ulmin, may be owing
to the tree from which it was collected having been affected
with the disease, which produces the alkaline ulcer to which
the elm is subject.
Sap of the Him Tree.
Thinking that the production of ulmin by the plant
might not be the consequence of disease, and that it might
exist in the healthy sap, a bit of elm twig, gathered in the
beginning of last July, was cut into thin slices and boiled
in water. It afforded a brown solution, like a solution of
ulmin. Exhaled to dryness, this solution left a dark brown
52 WRITINGS OF JAMES SMITHSON.
substance, in appearance similar to ulmin, but on adding
water to this dry mass, a large quantity of brown glutinous
matter remained insoluble. The mixture being thrown on
a filter, a clear yellow liquor passed, which may have con-
tained ulmin, but the quantity was too small to admit of
satisfactory conclusions.
Perhaps older wood, the juice of which was more per-
fected, would afford other results, since ulmin appears to
be the product of old trees; but the inquiry, being merely
collateral to the object 1 had originally in view, was not.
persevered in,
ON A SALINE SUBSTANCE FROM MOUNT
VESUVIUS.
From the Philosophical Transactions of the Royal Society of London,
Vol. CIII, Part I, 1818, p. 266.—Read July 8, 1813.
It has very long appeared to me, that when the earth is
considered with attention, innumerable circumstances are
perceived, which cannot but lead to the belief, that it has
once been in a state of general conflagration, The exist-
ence in the skies of planetary bodies, which seem to be
actually burning, and the appearances of original fire dis-
cernible on our globe, I have conceived to be mutually cor-
roborative of each other; and at the time when no answers
could be given to the most essential objections to the
hypothesis, the mass of facts in favour of it fully justified,
I thought, the inference that our habitation is an extinct
comet or sun.
The mighty difficulties which formerly assailed this
opinion, great modern discoveries have dissipated. Ac-
quainted now, that the bases of alkalies and earths are
metals, eminently oxydable, we are no longer embarrassed
WRITINGS OF JAMES SMITHSON. 53
either for the pabulum of the inflammation, or to account
for the products of it.
In the primitive strata, we behold the result of the com-
bustion. In them we see the oxyd collected on the surface
of the calcining mass, first melted by the heat, then by its
increase arresting farther combination, and extinguishing
the fires which had generated it, and in fine become solid
and crystallized over the metallic ball.
Every thing tells that a large body of combustible matter
still remains enclosed within this stony envelope, and of
which volcanic eruptions are partial and small accensions.
Under this point of view, an high interest attaches itself
to volcanoes, and their ejections. They cease to be local
phenomena; they become principal elements in the history
of our globe; they connect its present with its former con-
dition; and we have good grounds for supposing, that in
their flames are to be read its future destinies.
In support of the igneous origin, here attributed to the
primitive strata, I will observe, that not only no erystal im-
bedded in them, such as quartz, garnet, tourmaline, &c. has
ever beeri seen enclosing drops of water; but that none of
the materials of these strata contain water in any state.
a. The present saline substance was sent to me from
Naples to Florence, where I was, in May 1794, with a re-
quest to ascertain its nature. The general examination
which I then made of it, shewed it to be principally what
was at that time called vitriolated tartar, and it was in con-
sequence mentioned as such in an Italian publication soon
after. But as this denomination, surprising at that period,
was not supported by the relation of any experiments, or
_ the citation of any authority, no attention was paid to it;
and the existence of this species of salt, native in the earth,
has not been admitted by mineralogists, no mention being
made of it, I believe, in any mineralogical work published
since.
6. I was informed by letter, that it had “ flowed out liquid
54 WRITINGS OF JAMES SMITHSON.
from a small aperture in the cone of Vesuvius,” and which
I apprehend to have happened in 1792 or 1798.
c. The masses of this salt are perfectly irregular, their
texture compact, their colour a clouded mixture of white,
of the green of copper, and of a rusty yellow, and in some
places are specks and streaks of black.
d. A fragment melted on the charcoal at the blow-pipe
formed hepar sulphuris.
e. A piece weighing 9.5 grains was so strongly heated in
a platina crucible, that it melted and flowed level over the
bottom of it, but did not lose the least weight.
f. Not the slightest fume could be perceived on holding
a glass tube wetted with marine acid over some of this salt,
while triturating in a mortar with liquid potash ; but a sim-
ilar mixture being made in a bottle, and which was imme-
diately closed with a cork, to which was fixed a bit of red-
dened litmus paper, the blue colour of the paper was
restored.
g. Being dissolved in water, there was a small sandy
residue, which consisted of green particles of a cupreous
nature, of a yellow ochraceous powder, and of minute crys-
tals of a metallic aspect of red oxyd of iron, by which the
black spots in the mass had been occasioned.* Mr, Kuap-
notH found a similar admixture in muriate of soda from
Vesuvius. t
h. The solution had a feeble green tint. It did not alter
blue or reddened turnsol paper.
i. Prussiate of soda-and-iron threw down a small quantity
of red prussiate of copper from it. . Liver of sulphur and
tincture of galls likewise caused very small precipitations,
j. Carbonate of soda, and oxalate of potash, and solutions _
* What mineralogists denominate speculary iron ore, Fer oligiste of Mr.
Havwy, appears to be merely red oxyd of iron in crystals; red hematite the
same substance in the state of stalactite; and red ochres the same in a pul-
verulent form, The homatites which afford a yellow powder are hydrates
of iron.
¢ Essays, Vol. II. p. 67, Eng. Trans.
WRITINGS OF JAMES SMITHSON. 55
of magnesia, clay, copper, iron, and zinc, either had no
effects, | or extremely slight ones.
k. Solution of sulphate of silver produced a white curd.
like precipitate. 9.85 grains of this salt (the weight of the
insoluble matter being deducted) afforded 1.05 grains of
slightly melted muriate, or chloride, of silver. This pre-
cipitate was equally produced after the salt had been made
strongly red hot, so that it was not owing to a portion of
sal ammoniac.
l, Tartaric acid, and muriate of platinum, occasioned the
precipitates in its solution which indicate potash.
m. Nitrate of lime did not form any immediate precipi-
tate in a dilute solution of it; butin a short time, numerous
minute prismatic crystals of hydrate of sulphate of lime
were generated.
n. Nitrate of barytes poured into a solution containing
9.8 grains of this salt afforded a precipitate, which after be- ~
ing. ignited weighed 12.3 grains. The filtered solution
crystallized entirely into nitrate of potash mixed with a
few rhomboides of nitrate of soda.
0. Some of this salt finely pulverized was treated with
alcohol. This alcohol on exhaling left a number of minute
cubic crystals, which proved, by the test of nitric acid, to
be muriate of soda. Prussiate of soda-and-iron caused a
red precipitate of prussiate of copper-in this alcoholic solu-
tion.
p. The solution of this salt afforded, by crystallization,
sulphate of potash in its usual forms, and some prismatic
erystals of hydrate of sulphate of soda.
_ g. To discover what had occasioned the precipitate with
galls, (7) since copper has not this quality, a portion of this
salt, which had been recovered by evaporation from a fil-
tered solution of it, was made red hot in a platina crucible.
On extraction of the saline part by water, a very small
quantity of a black powder was obtained. Ammonia dis-
solved only part of it, which was copper. The rest being
56 WRITINGS OF JAMES SMITHSON.
digested with muriatic acid, and prussiate of soda-and-iron,
added, a fine Prussian blue was formed.
r. From several of the foregoing experiments, it appeared
that no sensible quantity of any of the mineral acids, be-
sides the sulphuric and muriatic, existed in combination
with alkali in this volcanic salt. But Mr. Tennant, whose
many and highly important discoveries have so greatly con-
tributed to the progress of chemical science, having detected
disengaged boracic acid amongst the volcanic productions
of the Lipari islands, and suggested that it might be a more
general product of volcanoes than had been suspected,* it
became important to ascertain whether the presence of any
in this salt proved Vesuvius likewise to be a source of this
acid. Alcohol heated on a portion of it in fine powder,
and then burned on it, did not however shew the least green
hue in its flame.
s. To ascertain the proportions of the ingredients of this
saline substance, the following experiments were made:.
10 grains of sulphate of potash of the shops were dis-
solved in 200 grains of water, and an excess of muriate of
platina added. The precipitate edulcorated with 100 grains
of water, and dried on a water bath, weighed 21.1 grains.
10 grains of the saline part of the native salt, treated pre-
cisely in every respect in the same way, afforded 17.2 grains
of precipitated muriate of platina-and-potash.
If 24.1 grains of this precipitate correspond to 10 grains
of sulphate of potash, 17.2 grains of it correspond to 7.14
grains of this salt.
Tt has been seen (n) that 10 grains of the saline part of
this volcanic salt would have afforded 12.55 grains of sul-
phate of barytes.
But 7.14 grains of sulphate of potash form only 9.42
grains of sulphate of barytes,t and therefore the remaining
8.18 grains of sulphate of barytes would be produced by the
* Trans. of the Geolog. Soc.
+ Dr. Manoer on Dropsical Fluids,
WRITINGS OF JAMES SMITHSON. 57
sulphate of soda, and correspond to 1.86 grains of it in an
arid state, or uncombined with ice.*
10 grains of the saline part of this native salt would have
produced 1.12 grains of ignited muriate of silver (x). By
accurate experiments 241 grains of ignited muriate of silver
have been found to correspond to 100 grains of ignited mu-
riate of soda.t
Consequently the soluble portion of the present Vesuvian
salt consists of
Sulphate of potash - - 7.14
Sulphate of soda - - 1.86
Muriate of soda - - 0.46
Muriate of ammonia
Muriate of copper \ - - 0.54
Muriate of iron
10.00
t. The insoluble sandy residue (9) having been thoroughly
edulcorated, dilute nitric acid was put to it. A green solu-
tion formed without any effervescence. Acetate of barytes
scarcely rendered this solution turbid; but nitrate of silver
produced a copious curd-like precipitate, and iron abund-
antly threw down copper from it. The green grains enclosed
in this native sulphate of potash, appear, therefore, to be a
submuriate of copper, of the same species as that of the
green sands of Peru and Chili.
Muriatic acid dissolved the yellow ochraceous powder,
and prussiate of soda-and-iron produced Prussian blue. I
am inclined to believe this yellow powder to be a submu-
riate of iron, but its small quantity, and the admixture of
the submuriate of copper, were impediments to entirely
satisfactory results. Such a submuriate of iron, though, if
I mistake not, overlooked by chemists, exists, for the pre-
cipitate which oxygen occasions in solution of green muriate
of iron, contains marine acid.
ed ae ee ey
* Prof. KLaproru’s Essays, Vol. 1; p. 282.
{ Dr. Henry, Phil. Trans. 1810.
58 WRITINGS OF JAMES SMITHSON.
Possibly this yellow powder, and the crystals of speculary
iron which exist in this Vesuvian salt, have been produced
by a natural sublimation of muriate of iron, similar to that
of the experiment of the Duke d’AyeEn, recorded by Mac-
QUER,* and which was known long before to Mr. Borie and
Dr. Lewis.t
This Vesuvian salt, considered in its totality, has pre-
sented no less than nine distinct species of matters, and a
more rigorous investigation, than I was willing to bestow on
it, would probably add to their number.
July 8, 1813.
A FEW FACTS RELATIVE TO THE COLOURING.
MATTERS OF SOME VEGETABLES.
From the Philosophical Transactions of the Royal Society of London,
Vol. CVIII, p. 110.—Read December 18, 1817.
I BEGAN, a great many years ago, some researches on the
colouring matters of vegetables. From the enquiry being
to be prosecuted only at a particular season of the year, the
great delicacy of the experiments, and the great care
required in them, and consequently the trouble with which
they were attended, very little was done. I have now no
idea of pursuing the subject.
In destroying lately the memorandums of the experi-
ments which had been made, a few scattered facts were met
with which seemed deserving of being preserved, They
are here offered, in hopes that they will induce some other
person to give extension to an investigation interesting to
chemistry and to the art of dying.
* Dict. de Chimie, Art. Fer. ‘
+ A course of practical chemistry by Wituta Lewis, 1746, p. 63, note f.
WRITINGS OF JAMES SMITHSON. : 59
Turnsol.
M. Fourcroy has advanced, somewhere, that turnsol is
essentially of a red colour; and that it is made blue by an
addition of carbonate of soda to it; and he says that he has
extracted this salt from the turnsol of the shops.
If turnsol contained carbonate of soda, its infusions should
precipitate earths and metals from acids.
I did not find an infusion of turnsol in water to have the
least effect on solutions of muriate of lime, nitrate of lead,
muriate of platina, or oxalate of potash.
Its tinctures, or infusions, consequently, contain neither
any alkali, nor any lime; nor probably any acid, either
loose or combined. This is unfavourable to the opinion of
urine being employed in the preparation of turnsol.
I put a little sulphuric acid into a tincture of turnsol, then
added chalk, and heated; and the blue colour was restored.
It appears, therefore, that the natural colour of turnsol is
not red, but blue, since it is such when neither disengaged
acid or alkali is present.
No addition of chalk brought the cold liquor back to a
blue colour; the carbonic acid absorbed by it, during the
effervescence of the carbonate of lime, being suflicient to
keep it red.
Some turnsol was put into distilled vinegar. An effer-
vercence arose; and after some time the acid was become
neutralized. On examining the mixture with a glass, there
were seen, at the bottom of the vessel, a multitude of grains
like sand. It was found on trial that these grains were car-
bonate of lime; probably of slightly calcined Carrara
marble.
When turnsol is treated with water till this no longer
acquires any color whatever, the remaining insoluble matter —
is nearly as blue as at first.
Acids made this blue insoluble matter red, but did not
extract any red tincture.
Carbonate of soda did not affect it.
60 WRITINGS OF JAMES SMITHSON.
If the vegetable part of this blue residuum is burned
away, or it is washed off with water, a portion of smalt is
obtained.
On exhaling, on a water bath, a tincture of turnsol, the
colouring matter is left in a dry state.
This matter heated in a platina spoon over a candle, tume-
fied considerably, as much as starch does, became black and
smoked, but did not readily inflame, nor did it burn away
till the blow pipe was applied. It then burned pretty
readily, leaving a large quantity of white saline matter.
This saline matter saturated by nitric acid afforded crystals
of nitrate of potash, and some minute crystals like hydrous
sulphate of lime.
Is this potash merely that portion of this matter which
exists in all vegetable substances? or is the colouring matter
of turnsol a compound, analogous to ulmin, of a vegetable
principle and potash? Its low combustibility gives some
sanction to this idea.
Of the colouring matter of the violet.
The violet is well known to be coloured by a blue matter
which acids change to red; and alkalies and their carbon-
ates first to green and then to yellow.
This same matter is the tinging principle of many other
vegetables: of some, in its blue state; of others, made red
by an acid.
If the petals of the red rose are triturated with a little
water and carbonate of lime, a blue liquor is obtained. Al-
kalis, and soluble carbonates of alkalis, render this blue
liquor green; and acids restore its red colour.
The colouring matter of the violet exists in the petals of
red clover, the red tips of those of the common daisy of the
fields, of the blue hyacinth, the holly hock, lavender, in
the inner leaves of the artichoke, and in numerous other
flowers. It likewise, made red by an acid, colours the skin
of several plumbs, and, I think, of the scarlet geranium,
and of the pomegranate tree,
WRITINGS OF JAMES SMITHSON. 61
The red cabbage, and the rind of the long radish are also
coloured by this principle. It is remarkable that these, on
being merely bruised, become blue; and give a blue infu-
sion with water. It is probable that the reddening acid in
these cases is the carbonic; and which, on the rupture of
the vessels which enclose it, escapes into the atmosphere.
Of sugar-loaf paper.
This paper has been employed by Berean as a chemical
instrument. Iam ignorant of what it is coloured with.
Sulphuric, muriatic, nitric, phosphoric, and oxalic acids
make it red. Tartaric and citric acids, made rather yellow
spots than red ones. Distilled vinegar, and acid of amber,
had no affect on it.
Carbonate of soda and caustic potash did not alter the
blue colour of this paper.
Water boiled on this paper acquired a vinous red colour;
carbonate of lime put into this red Jiquor, did not affect its
colour: nor did carbonate of soda or caustic potash change
it to blue or green.
Cold dilute sulphuric acid extracted a strong yellow tinc-
‘ture from this boiled paper: carbonate of lime put to this
yellow tincture made it blue; but on filtering, the liquor
which passed was of a dirty greenish colour; and sulphuric
acid did not make it red: a blue matter was left on the
filter, which was not made red by.acetous acid; but was so
by sulphuric.
After this treatment the paper remained brown; seem-
ingly such as it was before being dyed blue.
It should seem that there are at least two colouring mat-
ters in this paper; one red, which is extricable from it by
water; the other blue, which requires the agency of an acid
to extract it.
Its insolubility in water, and low degree of sensibility to
acids, distinguish the blue matter from turnsol; to which its
not being affected by alkalis otherwise much approximate
it. Its easy solubility in dilute suphuric acid, and being
62 WRITINGS OF JAMES SMITHSON.
reddened by it and several other acids, show it not to be
indigo.
Of the black mulberry.
The expressed juice of this fruit is of a fine red colour.
Caustic potash made it green, which gradually became
yellow.
Carbonate of soda did not make it green, but only blue.
Carbonate of ammonia changed it to a vinous red, rather
than to blue; and this redness increased on stand
Caustic ammonia made it bluer than its carbonate; but,
on standing, the mixture became of the same vinous red.
The mulberry juice mixed with carbonate of lime became
purple. On filtering, a red liquor passed; and the carbon-
ate of lime left on the filter was blue. An addition of
whitening to the red filtered liquor did not alter its colour;
nor did this second portion of whitening become blue.
Heating did not affect the red colour of this liquor; so that
it was not owing to carbonic acid, disengaged from the car-
bonate of lime. Caustic potash instantly made this red
liquor a fine green, and gradually yellow.
Sulphuric acid rendered all the above mixtures florid red:
It is remarkable that the mixtures with ammonia, and car-
bonate of ammonia, which were become quite vinous red by
standing, were made a perfect blue by the sulphuric acid
‘before they were reddened by it. It would hence seem that
the red colour, caused by these alkalis, was owing to an
excess of them; and that in a less quantity they would have
produced a bia
The filter, into which the mixture of mulberry j juice and
chalk had been thrown, was become tinged blue. Water
did not remove this colour. Sulphuric acid made this paper
florid red. Caustic potash did not alter its blue colour; but
put on the places made red by sulphuric acid, it restored the
blue colour, but did not produce green.
Future experiments must decide whether this blue matter
WRITINGS OF JAMES SMITHSON. 63
is the same as that of turnsol; or as the blue matter which
the experiments above have indicated in sugar-luaf paper.
The juices of many other fruits, as black cherries, red
currants, the skin of the berries of the buckthorn, elder
berries, privet berries, &c., seemed to be made only blue by
mild fixed alkalis, but green by caustic. Puzzling anoma-
lies, however, occasionally present themselves, which seem
to show a near relation between the several blue colouring
matters of vegetables, and their easy transition into one
another. arent. :
The corn poppy.
The petals of the common red poppy of the fields rubbed
on paper stain it of a reddish purple colour.
Solution of carbonate of soda put to this stain occasioned
but little change in it.
Caustic potash made it green.
Caustic ammonia seemed not to have more effect on it
than carbonate of soda.
Some poppy petals being bruised in a mixture of water
and marine acid, formed a florid red solution: asuperabun-
dance of chalk added to this red liquor, did not make it
blue; but turned it toa dark red colour exactly like port
wine.
Some poppy petals bruised in a weak solution of carbon-
ate of soda, and the mixture filtered, the liquor which came
through was not at all blue, but of a dark red colour like
port wine. Caustic potash made this red liquor green,
which finally became yellow. i
Some dried poppy petals of the shops, gave a strong
obscure vinous tincture to cold water. This red tincture
heated with whitening, did not alter to blue, but preserved
its red colour.
These very imperfect experiments may perhaps suggest
the idea, that the colouring matter of this flower is the same
as the red colouring matter of the mulberry.
64 WRITINGS OF JAMES SMITHSON.
Of sap green.
The inspissated juice of the ripe, or semi-ripe, berries of
the buckthorn, constitute the pigment called sap green; by
the French, vert de vessie. This species of green matter is
entirely different from the common green matter of vege-
tables.
It is soluble in water. ;
Carbonate of soda and caustic potash changed the solu-
tion of sap green to yellow. Paper tinged by sap green is
a sensible test ot alkalis.
Sulphuric, nitric, and marine acid, made it red. Carbon-
ate of lime added to a reddened solution, restored the green
colour, which therefore appears to be the proper colour of
the substance.
The green colour, which the last infusions of galls present,
appears to be different, both from the usual green of vege-
tables, and from sap green.
Some animal greens.
A green puceron, or aphis, being crushed on white paper,
emitted a green juice, which was immediately made yellow
by carbonate of potash (wrongly called sub-carbonate.)
There are small gnats of a green colour: crushed on
paper, they make a green stain, which is permanent.
Neither muriatic acid nor carbonate of soda altered this
green colour. It is consequently of a different nature from
the foregoing.
. WRITINGS OF JAMES SMITHSON. , 65
ON A NATIVE COMPOUND OF SULPHURET OF
LEAD AND ARSENIC.
From Thomson’s Annals of Philosophy, Vol. XIV., 1819, p. 96.
Paris, May 19, 1819.
This mineral is found in Upper Valais, in Switzerland.
It is lodged in a white, granose, compound carbonate of
lime and magnesia. It is accompanied in this rock by reg-
ular crystals of yellow sulphuret of iron; by red sulphuret
of arsenic; and by some other substances.
This compound sulphuret has a metallic aspect. It is of
a grey colour; it is exceedingly brittle and soft; its fracture
in some directions is perfectly vitreous; but in at least one
direction, it is evidently tabular; but the size of the frag-
ments I had, not exceeding coarse sand, precluded research
with respect to crystalline construction. By trituration,
this ore afforded a red powder.
At the blow-pipe, this ore: melted instantly on the con-
tact of the point of tho flame. It smoked considerably ;
and a small flame was visible on the surface of the melted
button... On cooling, this button forced. out a quantity of
fluid matter from its interior. During the fusion, the bead
occasionally swelled up, and puffs of dense smoke issued
from it; due evidently to a volatile matter, which the fire
expelled from another less volatile. Finally, a button of a
more fixed, less fusible, white metallic matter, extensible
under the hammer, was left, and which proved to be lead.
Some bits of this compound sulphuret heated in a tube
over a candle, melted, and a red sublimate rose, which be-
came yellow on cooling, and looked like orpiment.
Some of this ore, being fused with nitre, deflagrated, and
‘became a white oxide. The solution of this nitre afforded
a white precipitate with muriate of barytes; and with
é 5
66 WRITINGS OF JAMES SMITHSON.
nitrate of silver, a brick-red precipitate of arseniate of
silver. |
The white precipitate by muriate of barytes’ was only
partially soluble in nitric acid. The insoluble part of this
precipitate, of which the quantity was so minute that no
balanee’ would have been sensible to it, was carefully col-
lected on to a very small bit of charcoal fixed to a pin. It
was then strongly heated at the blow-pipe. This bit of
charcoal now put into a drop of water, placed on a silver
coin, immediately made a black stain of sulphuret of silver
on the coin. This is the nicest test I am acquainted with
of the presence of sulphur, or sulphuric acid, in bodies.
The quantity I possessed of this mineral for experiment
was very small. The above trials were made with particles
little more than visible ; however, the results, I think, sufti-
ciently establish the nature of the constituent parts. Their
respective proportions must remain for inquiries on another
scale. | t
From Thomson’s Annals of Philosophy, Vol. XVI, 1820, p. 100.
Compound of Sulphuret of Lead and Arsenic.—This is a new mineral
species discovered by Mr. Smithson, and described by him in the Annals of
Philosophy, xiv. 96. It was found in a magnesian lime rock in the Upper
Valais. It has a metallic aspect, a grey colour, and a fracture in some
directions vitreous, in others foliated. When triturated, yields a red pow-
‘der. Mr. Smithson, by a set of very minute but satisfactory experiments,
demonstrated that its constituents were sulphur, arsenic, and lead.
WRITINGS OF JAMES SMITHSON, 67
ON NATIVE HYDROUS ALUMINATE OF LEAD,
OR PLOMB GOMME. 3
From Thomson’s Annals of Philozophy, Vol. XIV, 1819, p. 81.
Paris, May 22, 1819.
I see in the Annals of Philosophy for this month, which I
have very lately received, an analysis by M. Berzelius of
the mineral which was formerly known here under the
name of “ plomb gomme.”’
The first discovery of the composition of this singular
substance belongs, however, to my illustrious and unfortu-
nate friend, and indeed distant relative, the late Smithson
Tennant. He ascertained when last at Paris, on pieces fur-
nished him by M. Gillet de Laumont, that it was a combi-
nation of oxide of lead, alumina, and water.
At that time I received a small specimen of this rare ore
from M. de Laumont, accompanied with a label, of which
the following is a copy :
“ Hydrate d’alumine et de plomb reconnu par Mr. Ten-
nant, du Iuelgoat, prés Poullaouen, en Bretange (Finisterre)
qui paroit etre la méme substance decrite par Romé de I’Isle,
tom. iii. de la Cristallographie, p. 399, comme plomb rouge
en stalactite.
“ J’en ai dit quelques mots en Mai, 1786, dans le Journal
de Physique, p. 885, I’. 16.”
This ore is of a yellow colour; it otherwise bears so great
a resemblance to the siliceous substance found near Frank-
fort on the Mein, called Miillen glass, that it might be mis-
taken for it.
Suddenly heated, it decrepitated violently; but heated
slowly, it became white and opaque. The utmost fire did
not appear to fuse it, or produce any further alteration in it.
It dissolved readily in borax into a colourless transparent
glass, but no reduction of lead took place. Not having any
68 WRITINGS OF JAMES SMITHSON.
carbonate of soda at hand, [added a particle of nitre, whose
deflagration producing petaaly, lead was revived.
A “bit, which had been made white by ignition, being
wetted with nitrate of cobalt and again ignited, became
blue.
Heated in a glass tube over a candle, it decrepitated, be-
came opaque and white, and water sublimed.
Mr. Tennant mentioned to me a sort of explosion occa-
sioned by the sudden expulsion of the water, and character-
istic of this ore, which took place when it was heated at the
blow-pipe. With the very minute particles I have tried, no
effect of this sort was perceived.
The above characters will prove sufficient, I apprehend,
to make this substance known when met with.
From Thomson’s Annals of Philosophy, Vol. X V1, 1820, p. 100.
Plomb Gomme.—Mr. Smithson has given us some interesting details
respecting the history and properties of this mineral, which is a hydrous
aluminate of lead. It has a yellow colour, and is oxceedingly similar in
appearance to Mullen glass. When heated, it decrepitates violently ; and
if it be heated by tho blow-pipe, in contact with an alkali, lead is reduced.
Its nature was first ascertained by Mr. Tennant, Berzelius has lately anal-
yzed it. Tho result of his analysis will bo found in the Annals of Philoso-
phy, xiii, 881. (Seo Annals of Philosophy, xiv. 81.)
ON A FIBROUS METALLIC COPPER.
From Thomson’s Annals of Philosophy, Vol. XVI, 1820, p. 46.
i Paris, March 17, 1820.
Sm: There occur, in mineral collections, pieces of a cop-
per slag, having fibres of metallic copper in its cavities. I
have seen this fibrous copper erroneously placed among
native coppers. ’
I possess samples of this kind. from a foundery in the
Hartz. The metallic copper in the cavities, or air-holes, is
so delicately slender as to be a metallic wool.
i
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SMITHSONIAN
WRITINGS OF JAMES SMITHSON. 69
From several considerations, it appeared to me to be be-
yond all doubt that the opinion of these fibres having been
produced by crystallization was perfectly inadmissible; and
I was for a very long time totally unable to come to any
conjecture with respect to Pe mode in, which reoey, had
originated. 1
. Looking on one of these specimens this morning, an idea
struck me which is, [ am convinced, the solution of this
knotty problem.
It occurred to me that these fibres had been generated at
the instant of consolidation of the fused slag. That by its
shrinking at that moment, it had compressed drops of cop-
per, still in a fluid state, dispersed in its substance, and
squeezed a portion of it through the minute spaces between
its particles, under this fibrous ene into its ee or air-
holes. nl
. For this operation to take plies tha’ concurrence ‘of sev-
eri conditions is required. The slag must be so thick and
pasty as to retain metallic copper scattered through it. It
must have developed bubbles of some gas which have occa-
sioned vacuities in it.. It must be less fusible than the cop-
per, but in so very small a degree that ne copper. consoli-
dates as the fibres of it are formed. }
It is evident that on this saopoccnon these fibres of copper
are produced by a process entirely the same as that employed
for the manufactory of macaroni and vermicelli; and which
are made by forcing paste through small apertures by the
pressure of a syringe. It is wire-drawing performed in-
versely—by propulsion instead of traction.
As soon as this hypothesis had presented itself to me, I
became anxious to ascertain whether I could give birth to
this fibrous copper at the blow-pipe. I melted a small
fragment of the slag; and, on breaking it, I had the grati- ©
fication of finding its little cavities lined with minute fibres
of metallic copper as those of its greater prototype.
I wished now to form the slag itself which was to afford
the copper fibres. As I had ascertained the slag of the
70 WRITINGS OF JAMES SMITHSON.
Hartz to consist of sulphur, copper, and iron, I had recourse
to the yellow sulphuret of copper and iron. To produce
the required portion of metallic copper, I calcined some
small fragments of this yellow ore at the tip of the exterior
flame. Finding that I had exceeded the proper point, and
- rendered them too infusible, I added a little of the raw ore;
and after encountering a few difficulties succeeded in pro-
ducing a little mass of slag, whose internal cavities pre-
sented me, on breaking it, with the fibres of copper which
were the object of my toil.
A repetition of these experiments in a furnace, on a larger
scale, would undoubtedly have yet more successful results.
It deserves to be noticed that the curved form which these
fibres of copper generally have is entirely favourable to the
foregoing theory of their formation, and equally contrary to
the supposition of their being produced by crystallization.
The power to which has been ascribed the phenomenon
which forms the subject of these pages has hitherto been
ovérlooked. It has not been considered what the effects
might be of the contraction of a melted mass at the moment
of its congelation. Itis, however, a means of effects which
may have acted on many occasions in the earth. Two mat-
ters of unequal fusibility, and of no attraction to each other,
are not unlikely to have occurred blended in a state of fusion ;
and then the most fusible to have become pressed out from
between the particles of the other when it solidified. If
some evolved vapour had opened cavities in the mass, or
rents had formed in it, the fluid matter will have escaped
from the pressure into these voids, as has happened ‘with
the copper. If these receptacles for it have been wanting,
it must have flowed to the external surfaces, and may have
formed a crust there. The matter which lines or fills the
cavities of some lavas has, perhaps, been so introduced into
them.
A knowledge of the productions of art, and of its opera-
tions, is indispensable to the geologist. Bold is the man
who undertakes to assign effects to agents with which he
WRITINGS OF JAMES SMITHSON. 71
has no acquaintance ; which he never has beheld in action ;
to whose indisputable results he is an utter stranger; who
engages in the fabrication of a world alike unskilled in the
forces and the materials which he employs.
AN ACCOUNT OF A NATIVE COMBINATION OF
SULPHATE OF BARIUM AND FLUORIDE OF
CALCIUM.
From Thomson’s Annals of Philosophy, Vol. XVI, 1820, p. 48.
Paris, March 24, 1820.
Srr: I acquired this substance in Derbyshire. It is many
years since I ascertained its constitution. I have examined ~
several minerals which in appearance bore a resemblance to
it, but have not found any of them to be of the same nature.
This species would hence appear to be of rare occurrence
in the earth.
This substance formed a vein about an inch wide in a
coarse shell limestone. Next to this substance was a layer
of crystals of sulphuret of lead; and between these and
the limestone rock a layer of crystals of carbonate of cal-
cium. .
I infer that these matters filled a alti fines in the
limestone stratum; and from-the ideas I entertain of the
mode by which such fissures have generally become occu-
pied by their contents, I believe them to have been succes-
sively deposited in it by sublimation, either through the
intense vehemence of subterranean fire, or by the agency of
the vapour of water, or of some other gas.
This compound matter bears in its general appearance so
strong a resemblance to fine compact grey limestone that
the eye can probably not distinguish betaveen them.
Forty-two grains of it lost 11.2 grs. in rain water at the
72 WRITINGS OF JAMES SMITHSON.
temperature of 61° Fahr.; consequently its density is 3.750,
These 42 gra. of this stone by laying in the water did not
absorb into their substance a quantity of it oe to one-
tenth of a grain. . |
Tt does not mark glass, and is sani pardned to a powder
by aknife. It marked sulphate of barium. Its hardness
and that of fluoride of calcium appeared to be the same.
It showed no electricity by heat. By friction it readily
became electrified...
In the fire it lost no weight.
At the blow-pipe, it readily melted. The little bead while
in fusion was transparent. On evolving, it became opaque.
The transparency of the bead in a melted state is best seen
with a very minute one. On fusing this matter long, it
spreads on the coal, and becomes a refractory mass,
With borax, it dissolved with great effervescence into a
brown glass. If much stone was used, the glass appeared
quite black, but drawn out to a thread with the tongs, it
was found to be of a fine hyacinth colour. These colours
depend on the formation of sulphur.
With microcosmic salt it fused with effervescence to a
clear colourless glass, which became opaque, and white on
adding more of it.
A particle of this stone which had been fused on the
charcoal being laid in a drop of water on a plate of silver,
immediately made a black spot of sulphuret of silver on it.
This bit of melted stone, transferred to a drop of marine
acid, on a piece of glass, partially dissolved with efferves-
cence. The solution let exhale spontaneously, afforded
crystals of chloride of barium.
Some of this stone in fine powder, being heated in a drop
of sulphuric acid on a bit of glass, the pole of the glass
was destroyed.
Water in which this stone in fine powder had been boiled
was not affected by solution of nitrate of lead.
A bit of this stone, being heated in dilute marine acid,
emitted a few bubbles of carbonic acid, but was not other-
WRITINGS OF JAMES SMITHSON. 73
wise affected: 5.4 grs. of this mineral in very fine powder
were let remain in an excess of marine acid till all action
on them had ceased. The undissolved portion washed and
gently ignited weighed 5.15 grs. The acid had acquired
lime; so that this mineral contains a mechanical admixture
4.6 °
of jooo Of carbonate of calcium.
_ This fine powder, which had been treated with the marine
acid, had sulphuric acid evaporated to dryness on it in a
platinum crucible. It was then digested in dilute marine.
‘acid. On evaporating this solution, a large quantity of
sulphate of calcium in crystals was obtained.
From these results, sulphuric acid, fluorine, barytes, and
lime, appear to be the elements of this mineral. It is con-
sequently inferable that its proximate principles are sulphate
of barium and fluoride of calcium.
The following experiments were made to obtain some
idea of the proportions in which these two compound com-
ponents of this mineral exist in it:
5.6 gre. of this stone in powder were heated in a platinum
crucible in so large a quantity of sulphuric acid as to be en-
tirely dissolved. Tho mixture was then exhaled dry, and
ignited. The ic was now 7.85 oe The increase had,
therefore, been as 74%.
This augmentation of weight could arise only from the
change of the fluoride of calcium into sulphate of calcium.
To know to what, quantity of fluoride of calcium it cor-
responded, two grs. of pure fluoride of calcium in subtile -
powder were treated with sulphuric acid till the augmenta-
tion of weight ceased.. The two grains had then become
8.65 grs.;3 accordingly the augmentation of weight was =
pA; 65 = iss:
This Derbyshire mineral, therefore, consists of
Sulphate of barium - 61.5
Fluoride of calcium Died Patrice pan ten 48.5
100.0
74 WRITINGS OF JAMES SMITHSON.
Some error is created by the admixed carbonate of lime ;
and which had not been removed.
This mineral presents us with a remarkable case of com-
bination; that of a neutral salt with a body which is not a
salt, but belongs to an order which is analogous to metallic
oxides. I have met with another instance of the same
kind. I have examined transparent crystals which were
composed of anhydrous sulphate of calcium and chloride
of sodium.
These combinations of their compounds may, however,
perhaps, appear to some persons to cast doubts on the
opinion that chlorine and fluorine are not acids.
These compounds will still be deserving of particular
attention from consisting of four matters.
ON SOME CAPILLARY METALLIC TIN.
From Thomson’s Annals of Philosophy, Vol. XVII—New Series,
Vol. I—1821, p. 271.
Paris, February 17, 1821.
Sir: M. Ampére, a few days ago, accidentally in conver-
sation, mentioned a fact to me which much excited my
attention, as it appeared to me completely to confirm the
explanation I had ventured to offer of the mode of forma-
tion of the capillary copper in the slag of the Hartz, printed
in the Annals of Philosophy for July, 1820.
For some purpose of the arts, Mr. Clement formed a
cylinder of copper, and, to give it strength, introduced into
it a hollow cylinder, or tube, of cast-iron. To complete
the union of these two cylinders some melted tin was run
between them. With the exact particulars of this construc-
tion, I am not acquainted, but the material circumstance is,
that during the cooling of this heated mass, a portion of
the melted tin was forced by the alteration of volume of
WRITINGS OF JAMES SMITHSON. 75
the cylinders through the substance of the cast-iron cylinder,
and issued over its internal surface in the state of fibres,
which were curled and twisted in various directions. This
form in the fibres of copper I had considered as very favour-
able to my hypothesis. Such was the tenuity of these fibres
of tin that little tufts of them applied to the flame of a
candle took fire, and burned like cotton.
This passage of melted tin through cast-iron has a perfect
agreement with the passage of water by pressure through
gold, and tends to elucidate and confirm the account of the
celebrated Florentine experiment. Had the water on that
occasion issued solid, it would have been‘in fibres.
This penetration of solid matters by fluids, by means of
great mechanical force, will, perhaps, come to be thought
deserving of more attention than has been yet paid to it;
besides any scientific results to which the consideration of
it may lead, it may be found to afford compound substances,
not otherwise obtainable, and of value to the arts.
Iam, sir, your most obedient servant,
JAMES SMITHSON.
ON THE DETECTION OF VERY MINUTE QUAN-
TITIES OF ARSENIC AND MERCURY.
From Thomson’s Annals of Philosophy, Vol. XX; New Series, Vol. IV,
1822, p. 127.
Sir: To be able to discover exceedingly small quantities
of arsenic and mercury must, on many occasions, prove
conducive to the purposes of the chemist and the mineralo-
gist, more especially now that a very diminished scale of
experiment, highly to the advantage of these sciences, is
becoming daily more generally adopted.
But the occasion above all others in which the power of
76 WRITINGS OF JAMES SMITHSON.
doing this is important, are those of poisonings. In these
it is often of the first moment to be able to pronounce with
certainty, from portions of matter of extreme minuteness,
on the existence and the nature of the poison.
Of Arsenie:
I have already communicated the method here proposed
for the discovery of arsenic by employing it in the analysis
of the compound sulphuret of lead and arsenic from Upper
Valais, printed in the Annals of Philosophy for August,
1819, but not having mentioned the generality of its appli-
cation, or the great accuracy of it, it seems not superfluous,
from the importance of the subject, to resume it.
If arsenic, or any of its compounds, is fused with nitrate
of potash, arseniate of potash is produced, of which the
solution affords a brick-red precipitate with nitrate of silver.
In cases where any sensible portion of the potash of the
nitre has become set free, it must be saturated with acetous
acid, and the saline mixture dried and redissolved in water.
So small is the quantity of arsenic required for this mode
of trial, that a drop of a solution of oxide of arsenic in
water, which, at a heat of 54.5° Fahr. contains not above
1-80th of oxide of arsenic,* put to nitrate of potash in the
platina spoon and fused, affords a considerable quantity of
arseniate of silver. lence when no solid particle of oxide
of arsenic can be obtained, the presence of it may be estab-
lished by infusing in water the matters which contain it.
The degree in which this test is sensible is readily deter-
mined,
With 5.2 grains of silver, I obtained 6.4 grains of arse-
niate of silver; but 0.65 grain of silver was recovered from
the liquors, so that the arseniate had been furnished by 4.55
grs. of silver.
In a second trial 7.7 grains of silver, but of which only
6.8 grains precipitated, yielded 9.5 grs. of arseniate.
* Chimie de Thenard, ii, p. 167.
WRITINGS OF JAMES SMITHSON. (i
The mean is 140.17 from 100 of silver.
If we suppose 100 of silver to form 107.5 of oxide, we
shall have
Oxide of silver = - 107.50
Acid of arsenic ~ - 32.0%
Consequently 1 of acid of arsenic will produce 4.29 of
arseniate of silver; 1 of white oxide of arsenic, 4.97; and
1 of arsenic, 6.56.
Of Mercury.
All the oxides and saline compounds of mercury laid in
a drop of marine acid on gold with a bit of tin, quickly
amalgamate the gold.
A particle of corrosive sublimate, or a drop of a solution
of it, may be thus tried. The addition of marine acid is
not required in this case.
Quantities of mercury may be rendered evident in this
way which could not be so by any other means.
This method will exhibit the mercury iu cinnabar. It
must be previously boiled with sulphuric acid in the platina
spoon to convert it into sulphate.
Cinnabar heated in solution of potash on gold amalga-
mates it.
A most minute quantity of metallic mercury may be dis-
covered in a powder by placing it in nitric acid on gold,
drying, and adding muriatic acid and tin.
A trial I made to discover mercury in common.salt by
the present method was not successful, owing, perhaps, to
the smallness of the quantity, which I employed.
_ Lam, sir, yours &e.,9 0: ;
7 JAMES SMITHSON.
738 WRITINGS OF JAMES SMITHSON.
SOME IMPROVEMENTS OF LAMPS.
From Thomson’s Annals of Philosophy, Vol. XX; New Series, Vol. IV,
1822, p. 363.
Sir: It is, I think, to be regretted, that those who culti-
vate science frequently withhold improvements in their
apparatus and processes, from which they themselves derive
advantage, owing to their not deeming them of sufficient
magnitude for publication.
When the sole view is to further a pursuit of whose im-
portance to mankind a conviction exists, all that can do so
should be imparted, however small may appear the merit
which attaches to it.
Of the Wicks of Lamps.—The great length of wick com-
monly put to lamps for the purpose of supplying the part
which combustion destroys, is, on several accounts, ex-
tremely inconvenient. It occupies much space in the vessel,
and requires an enlargement of its capacity ; it is frequently
the occasion of much dirt, &e. This great length of wick
is totally unnecessary.
Fig. 1. Fig. 2. Fig. 8. Fig. 4.
It is advantageously supplied by a tube containing a bit of
cotton wick about its own length, or some cotton wool, fig.
1, and at the end of which is placed a stout bit of wick or
cotton wool, fig. 2. i
This loose end receives a supply of oil from the cotton
under it with which it is put into contact, and when it be-’
comes burned, it is easily renewed.
WRITINGS OF JAMES SMITHSON. 79
A loose ring of wick may in like manner be applied to
the argand lamp. This removes the necessity of the long
tube into which the wicks, now used, descend, and thus
greatly contracts this lamp in height. |
| Of Wax Lamps.—Oil is a disagreeable combustible for
small experimental purposes, and more especially when
lamps are to be carried in travelling. I have, therefore,
substituted wax for it. I experienced, however, at first,
some difficulty in accomplishing my object.
The wicks of my lamps are a single cotton thread, waxed
by drawing through melted wax. This wick is placed in a
burner made of a bit of tinned iron sheet, cut like fig. 3,
and the two parts a a raised into fig. 4.
This burner is placed in a china cup, about 1.65 inches in
diameter, and 0.6 in. deep. Fragments of wax are pressed
into this cup. But great care must be taken that each time
the lamp is lighted, bits of wax are heaped up in contact
with the wick, so that the flame shall immediately obtain
_ a supply of ele wax. This is the great secret on which
the burning of wax lamps depends.
When the wick is consumed, the wax must be pierced
with a large pin down to the burner, and a fresh bit of
waxed cotton introduced. :
I employ a wax lamp for the erie This has, of
course, a much larger wick, and this wick has a detached
end to it, as above desehibad.
Bactinguishing Lamps.—The best way of doing Ane is to
extinguish the ignited part of the wick by putting sound
wax on to it, and then blowing the flame out. This pre-
serves the wick entire for future lighting again.
This mode applied to candles is much preferable to the
use of an extinguisher, or douters, to which there are many
objections.
80 WRITINGS OF JAMES SMITHSON.
ON THE CRYSTALLINE FORM OF ICE.
From Thomson’s Annals of Philosophy, Vol. XXI; New Series, Vol-
V, 1823, page 840.
March 4, 1823.
Sir: I have just seen a memoir in the Annales de Chi-
mie et de Physique for Oct. 1822, but published about a
month ago, on the crystalline form of ice.
Mr. Hericart de Thury is said to have observed ice in
hexagonal and triangular prisms; and Dr. Clarke, of Cam-
bridge, in rhomboides of 120° and 60°.
M. Haiiy supposed the form to be octahedral, and so did
Romé de l’Isle; and, if I mistake not much, there is in an
ancient volume of the Journal de Physique by Rozier, an
account of ice in acute octahedrals.
Are these accounts and opinions accurate ?
Hail is always crystals of ice more or less regular. When
they are sufficiently so to allow their form to be ascertained,
and which is generally the case, it is constantly, as far as I
have observed, that of two hexagonal pyramids joined base
to base, similar to that of the crystals of oxide of silicium
or quartz, and of sulphate of potassium. One of the pyra-
mids is truncated, which leads to the idea that ice becomes
electrified on a variation of its temperature, like tourma-
line, silicate of zinc, &c.
Ido not think that I have measured the linia of
the fuces more than once. The two pyramids appeared to
form by their junction an angle of about 80 degrees.
Snow presents in fact the same form as hail, but imper-
fect. Its flakes are skeletons of the crystals, having the
greatest analogy to certain crystals of alum, white sulphuret
of iron, &c., whose faces are wanting, and which consist of
edges only.
In spring and autumn; that is, between the season of
oe:
WRITINGS OF JAMES SMITHSON. 81
snow and that of hail, the hail which falls partakes of the
nature of both, is partly the one and the other; its crystals,
though regular, are opaque, of little solidity, and consist,
like snow, of an imperfect union of grains, or smaller
crystals. .
e
A MEANS OF DISCRIMINATION BETWEEN THE
SULPHATES OF BARIUM AND STRONTIUM.
From Thomson’s Annals of Philosophy, Vol. XXI; New Series, Vol.
V, 1823, page 359. .
April 2, 1828.
Sir: To distinguish barytes and strontian from one an-
other, it is directed in No. 19 of the Journal of the Royal
Institution to dissolve in an acid which forms'a soluble salt
with them, to decompose by sulphate of soda, and to add
subcarbonate of potash to the filtered liquor. If the earth
tried is strontian, a precipitate falls; if barytes, not.
When these matters are in a state to be soluble in an acid,
a more certain, I apprehend, and undoubtedly a much easier
proceeding, is to put a particle into a drop of marine acid
on a plate of glass, and to let this solution crystallize spon-
taneously. The crystals of chloride of barium in rectangu-
lar eight-sided plates are immediately distinguishable from
the fibrous crystals of chloride of strontium: ©
I have not repeated the process above quoted; but if sul-
phate of strontium did possess the solubility in water there
implied, this quality presented a ready method by which
mineralogists would be enabled to distinguish it from sul-
phate of barium. . On trial I did not find water, or solution
of sulphate of soda, in which sulphate of strontian had long
lain, produce the least cloud on the addition of what is
called pibcarbounte of soda.
82 ' WRITINGS OF JAMES SMITHSON.
The means I have long employed to distinguish the two
sulphates apart was to fuse with carbonate of soda, wash,
dissolve in marine acid, &c.; but this process requires more
time and trouble than is always willingly bestowed, and
may even present difficulties to a person not familiarized
with manipulations on very small quantities.
A few months ago a method occurred to me divested of
these objections. The mineral in fine powder is blended
with chloride of barium, and the mixture fused. The mass
is put into spirit of wine, whose flame is coloured red if
the mineral was sulphate of strontium. The red colour of
the flame is more apparent when the spirit is made to boil
_ while burning, by holding the platina spoon containing it
over the lamp.
ON THE DISCOVERY OF ACIDS IN MINERAL
SUBSTANCES,
From Thomson’s Annals of Philosophy, Vol. XXI; New Series, Vol.
V, 1828, pago 384.
April 12, 1823.
Sir: Acids, it is well known, have been repeatedly over-
looked in mineral substances, and hence dubiousness still
hovers over the constitution of many, although they have -
formed the subjects of analysis to some of the greatest
modern chemists.
To be able to dissipate all doubts—to ascertain with cer-
tainty whether an acid does or does not exist, and, if one is
present, its species, and this with such facility that the trial
may be indefinitely renewed at pleasure, and made by all,
so that none need believe but on the testimony of his own
experiments, is the degree of analytical power which it
would be desirable to possess,
So far as I have gone in these respects, I here impart.
WRITINGS OF JAMES SMITHSON. 83
As the carbonates of soda and of potash precipitate all the
solutions of earths and metals in acids, so do they decom-
pose all their salts by fusion with them. Fusion with car-
bonate of soda or potash affords there a general method of
separating acids from all other matters.
Lead forms an insoluble compound with all the mineral
acids except the nitric. It may consequently be imme-
diately known whether a mineral does or does not contain
an acid element by the carbonate of soda or potash, with
which it has been fused after saturation by acetous acid,
forming or not forming a precipitate with a solution of lead.
If the production of a precipitate proves the presence of
an acid, the determination of its species will present no great
difficulty.
1. Sulphurie Acid.—If the alkali which has received it
from the mineral is fused on charcoal, and then laid in a
drop of water placed on silver, a spot of sulphuret of silver
will be produced, as I have stated on a former occasion.*
Bright copper will likewise serve for this purpose.
Fusion in the blue flame will often be sufficient to deoxi-
date the sulphur.
It is needless td observe that the alkali used in this trial
must itself be perfectly free from sulphuric acid. When
such is not possessed, its place may be supplied by Rochelle
salt, or by cream of tartar.
2. Muriatic Acid.—I have likewise discovered a test of
chlorine, and consequently of muriatic acid, of delicacy
equal to the foregoing. If any matter containing chlorine
or muriatic acid is laid on silver in a drop of solution of
yellow sulphate of iron, or of common sulphate of copper,
a spot of a black chloride of silver, whose colour is inde-
pendent of light, and which has not been attended to by
chemists, is produced. The chlorine in a tear, in saliva,
even in milk, may bo thus made evident.. When the quan-
tity of chlorine in a liquor is very small, a bit of sulphate
a a
‘ * Annals of Philosophy for July, 1820.
\
84 WRITINGS OF JAMES SMITHSON.
of copper placed in it on the silver is preferable to a solu-
tion. To find chlorine in milk, I put some sulphate of
copper to it, and placed a small piece of bright silver in the
mixture.
8. Phosphoric Acid.—The alkali containing it, after satu-
ration by acetous acid, gives a sulphur-yellow precipitate
with nitrate of silver, which no other acid does. The pre-
cipitate obtained with lead crystallizes on the blow-pipe.
M. Berzelius’s elegant method of detecting phosphoric acid
is universally known.
4, Boracie Acid.—Its presence in carbonate of magnesia,
and in some other of its compounds, is indicated by the
green colour they give, during their fusion, to the flame of
the lamp.
M. Gay-Lussac has observed that a solution of boracic
acid in an acid changes the colour of turmeric paper to red,
like an alkali.* Borax, to which sulphuric acid has been
put, does so, and the same is of course the case with a bead
of soda containing boracic acid. :
The most certain test of boracic acid in a soda bead, &c.,
is to add sulphuric acid to it and then spirit of wine, whose
flame is coloured green, if boracic acid is present.
5. Arsenical Acid.—Alkali containing it produces a brick-
red precipitate with nitrate of silver.ft
6. Chromic Acid.—Chromate of soda and its solution are
yellow, and so is the precipitate with lead. That with silver
is red.
Chromate of soda or potash fused on a plate of clay leaves
green oxide of chromium.
Chromate of lead fused on a plate of clay produces a very
dark-green mass, which is probably.chromate of lead; with
an addition of lead, it forms a fine red, or orange glass.
Lead added to the green oxide left by chromate of soda
* Annales de Ohimie et de Physique, tome xvi. p. 75.
f Annals of Philosophy, N. 8. vol. iv. p. 127.
WRITINGS OF JAMES SMITHSON. 85
on the clay plate, dissolves it, and forms an orange-coloured -
glass.
The green oxide of chromium sometimes acts the part of
an acid. I have seen a combination of it with oxide of lead
found in Siberia, in regular hexagonal prisms, having the
six edges of the terminal face truncated (Haiiy, pl. Ixviii.
fig. 63); melted with lead on the clay plate this would un-
doubtedly produce the orange glass; and fused with nitrate
of potash it would form chromate of potash.
7. Molybdie Acid.—If molybdate of soda or potash, or, I
apprehend, any other molybdate, is heated in a drop of sul-
phuric acid, the mixture becomes of a most beautiful blue
colour, either immediately, or on cooling.
The solution of molybdate of soda in sulphuric acid
affords with martial prussiate of potash, a precipitate of the
same colour that copper does. Tincture of galls gives with
this acid solution a green precipitate; but with an alkaline
solution of molybdic acid galls produce a fine orange pre-
cipitate. If an alkali is put to the green precipitate, it
becomes orange; and if an acid to the orange precipitate,
it becomes green.
8. Tungstic Acid.—If tungstate of soda is heated with
sulphuric acid, the granules of precipitated tungstic acid
become blue, but not the solution; and the phenomena can-
not be confounded with those presented by molybdate of
soda. Martial prussiate of potash has no effect on this acid
liquor.
Tincture of galls put to the solution of tungstate of soda
in water does not affect it. On the addition of an acid to
this mixture, a brown precipitate forms.
If tungstate of soda is heated to dryness with a drop of
muriatic acid, a yellow mass is left. On extracting the saline
‘matter by water, yellow acid of tungsten remains. It is
readily soluble in carbonate of soda. If taken wet on the
blade of a knife, it soon becomes blue. This is made very
evident by wiping the blade of the knife with a bit of white ~
86 WRITINGS OF JAMES SMITHSON.
yaper. Possibly a small remainder of muriatic or sulphurig
acid among it is required for this effect.
9, Nitric Acid.—Nitrate of ammonia produces no defla-
gration when filtering paper, wetted with a solution of it and
dried, is burned; the salt volatilizing before ignition, most,
or all, the other nitrates deflagrate.
Lf ele copper is put into the solution of a nitrate,
sulphuric acid added, and heat applied, the copper dissolves
with effervescence.
10. Carbonic Acid.—It is to be discovered in the mineral
itself. The application of heat is, in some cases, required
to render the effervescence sensible. It has been sometimes
overlooked in bodies from want of attention to this circum-
stance.
11. Silica. —A simple and sufficient test of it is the form-
ation of a jelly, when its combination with soda is put into
an acid.
It has evidently not been intended to enumerate all the
means by which the presence of each acid in the soda bead
could be perceived or established. Little has been said be-
yond what appeared required and sufficient.
Mention has been made above of small plates of clay.
They are formed by extending a white refractory clay by
blows with the hammer, between the fold of a piece of
paper, like gold between skins. The clay and paper, are
then cut together with scissars into pieces about 4-10ths of
an inch long, and 24-10ths of an inch wide, and hardened
in the fire in a tobacco-pipe.
They are very useful additions to the blowpipe apparatus. .
They admit the use of a new test, oxide of lead. They
show to great advantage the colours of matters melted with ©
borax, &. Quantities of matter too minute to be tried on
the coal, or on the platina foil, or wire, may be examined
‘on them alone, or with fluxes. Copper may be instantly
WRITINGS OF JAMES SMITHSON. 87
found in gold or silver by fusing the slightest scrapings of
them with a little lead, &c., &c.
Cut into very small, very acute triangles, clay affords a
substitute for Saussure’s sappare.
AN IMPROVED METHOD OF MAKING COFFEE.
From Thomson’s Annals of Philosophy, Vol. XXII; New Series, Vol.
VI, 1828, page 30.
June 4, 1828.
Sir: From the highly fugacious nature of that part of
coffee on which its fine flavour depends, a practice has become
very generally adopted of late years of preparing the liquor
by mere percolation.
This method has not only the great defect of being ex-
cessively wasteful, but the coffee is likewise apt to be cold.
Coction and the preservation of the fragrant matter are,
however, not inconsistent. The union of these advantages
is attainable by performing the operation in a close vessel.
To obviate the production of vapour, by which the vessel
would be ruptured, the boiling temperature must be obtained
in a water-bath.
In my experiments I made use of a glass phial closed
with a cork, at first left loose to allow the exit of the air.
Cold water was put to the coffee. |
This process is equally applicable to tea.
Perhaps it may also be employed advantageously in the
boiling of hops, during which, I understand, that a material
portion of their aroma is dissipated; as likewise possibly
for making certain medical decoctions.
This way of preparing coffee and tea presents various ad-
vantages. It is productive of avery considerable economy,
since by allowing of any continuance of the coction without
the least injury to the goodness, all the soluble matter may
88 WRITINGS OF JAMES SMITHSON.
be extracted, and consequently a proportionate less quantity
of them becomes required. By allowing the coffee to cool
in the closed vessel, it may be filtered through paper, then
returned into the closed vessel, and heated again, and thus
had of the most perfect clearness without any foreign addi-
tion to it, by which coffee is impaired. The liquors may be
kept for any length of time at a boiling heat, in private
families, coffee houses, &c., so as to be ready at the very in-
stant called for.
It will likewise prove of no small conveniency to travel-
lers who have neither kettle, nor coffee-pot, nor tea-pot, in
places where these articles are not to be procured, as a bot-
tle will supply them.
In all cases means of economy tend to augment and dif-
fuse comforts and happiness. They bring within the reach
of the many what wasteful proceedings confine to the few.
By diminishing expenditure on one article, they allow of
some other enjoyment which was before unattainable. A
reduction on quantity permits indulgence in superior qual-
ity. In the present instance, the importance of economy is
particularly great, since it is applied to matters of high
price, which constitute one of the daily meals of a large
portion of the population of the earth.
That in cookery also, the power of subjecting for an
indefinite duration toa boiling heat, without the slightest
dependition of volatile matter, will admit of beneficial
application, is unquestionable.
“WRITINGS OF JAMES SMITHSON. 89
A DISCOVERY OF CHLORIDE OF POTASSIUM IN
THE EARTH.
From Thomson’s Annals of Philosophy, Vol. XXII; New Series, Vol.
VI, 1828, page 258.
Sir: A RED ferruginous mass, containing veins of a white
crystalline matter, part of a block which was said to have
been thrown out of Vesuvius during a late eruption, was
brought to me, with a request that I would tell what it was.
This red ferruginous rock was a spongy lava, in the sub-
stance of which was here and there lodged a crystal of
augite or pyroxene of Haiiy, or of hornblende.
The white matter filled most of the larger cavities, and
was more or less disseminated through nearly the whole of
the mass.
It had a saline appearance; a tabular fracture could be
geen in it with a lens, and in some few tag regular cubi-
cal crystals were discernible.
il supposed it to be chloride of sodium, or muriate of am-
monia.
Heated in a matrass, it decrepitated slightly, and melted,
but little or nothing sublimed.
This white matter dissolved entirely in water. Laid on
silver with sulphate of copper it produced an intense black
stain.
Chloride of barium added * the solution caused only a
very slight turbidness, due probably to some sulphate of
lime which is present.
Tartaric acid occasioned an abundant formation of crys-
tals of tartar. Chloride of platinum immediately threw
down a precipitate, and distinct octahedral crystals of the
game nature afterwards appeared.
On decomposition by nitric acid, only prismatic crystals
of nitrate of potash could be perceived. On a second crys-
90 WRITINGS OF JAMES SMITHSON.
tallization, a few rhombic crystals were discovered; but
nitrate of potash sometimes presents this form,
It appears from these experiments, that this white saline
matter is pure, or nearly pure, chloride of potassium.
T am inclined to attribute its introduction into the lava to
sublimation.
As chloride of potassium is a new species in mineralogy,
T shall send the specimen to the British Museum.
A METHOD OF FIXING PARTICLES ON THE
SAPPARE.
From Thomson’s Annals of Philosophy, Vol. XXII; New Series, Vol.
VI, 1828, page 412.
October 24, 1823.
Sir: When the species of minerals are ascertained by
their physical qualities, they mostly undergo no injury, or
but a very slight one; as that attending the determination
of their hardness, the colour of their powder, their taste,
&e. This is certainly a material advantage, and would
highly recommend this method, was it constantly adequate
to its purpose. That it is not so, however, we have a proof
in the great errors into which have fallen those best skilled
in it. Mr. Werner, its principal and most distinguished
professor, was unable by its means to discover the identity
of the jargon and the hyacinth; of the corundum and the
sapphire; of his apatite and his spargelstein ; and while he
thus parted beings, as it were, from themselves, he forced
others together which had nothing in common.
The chemical method justly boasts its certainty; but it
carries destruction with it, and often bestows the knowledge
of an object only at the expense of its existence. The sole
remedy which can be opposed to this defect is to reduce the
WRITINGS OF JAMES SMITHSON. 91
scale of operating; and thus render the sacrifice which must
be made as small as it is possible.
M. de Saussure’s* ingenious. contrivance for subjecting
the most minute portions of matters to fire, by fixing them
on a splinter of sappare, appeared to fulfil the conditions of
this problem, and to have accomplished all that could be
desired. It has, however, been scarcely at all employed,
owing to the excessive difficulty in general of making the
particles adhere; and in consequence the almost unpossessed
degree of patience required for, and time consumed by,
nearly interminable failures.
That such should be the case could not but be a subject
of much regret, for besides economy of matter, of time, of
labour, and the great beauty of deriving knowledge from so
diminutive a source, and attaining important results with
such feeble agents; reduction of volume became, in this in-
stance, productive of increase of power, and thence, of an
extension of the series of qualities by which substances are
characterised.
A slight alteration which I have made in M.. de Saus-
gure’s process has removed the objection to it. To water,
saliva, gum water, which he employed, the last of which is
not sensibly superior to the former, I have’ substituted a
mixture of water and refractory clay.
Small triangles, or slender strips, of baked clay may be
used in lieu of sappare, which is not at all times to be pro-
cured; or a little of the moist clay may be taken up on the
end of a platina, or other wire, and the object to be tried
touched with it. This way may be applied to pieces of the
ordinary size, and supersede the use of the platina tongs.
But a proceeding which I have only recently adopted ap-
pears to deserve the preference. Almost the least quantity
of clay and water is put on the very end of a platina wire,
filed flat there. With this, the particle of mineral lying on
the table can be toucbed in any part chosen; for a moment
* Journal de Physique, par Rozier, tome 45.
92 WRITINGS OF JAMES SMITHSON.
or two it is dry, and may be taken up, and put into the
flame, without the clay exploding, as not unoften happens
when more of it is used. Particles of the least visible mi-
nuteness may be thus submitted to trial with the utmost
facility. The contact of the particle with the wire may, in
general, be so managed as to be extremely slight, as the
slenderest point is sufficient to support it. ITowever, when
the utmost heat possible is desired, a fragment of a less
conducting matter may, if deemed necessary, be interposed.
There may be cases in which the presence of the clay is
objectionable. I conceived that some of the body itself to
be tried, would on these occasions, supply its place. Flint
was the least promising of any in this respect. It was se-
lected for the experiment. With a paste of its powder and
water, pieces of flint were successfully cemented to flint,
and some of this paste taken on the end of a wire, served,
if not quite as well as clay, yet very sufficiently. After sev-
eral times igniting and quenching in cold water, the reduc-
tion of very hard matters to subtile powder is attended with
no difficulty.
Earth of alum would perhaps be preferable to pipe-clay
for making the triangles on strips, and for agglutinating
objects to them. It would even have the advantage over
sappare of being a simple substance. Some from the Paris
shops acquired only little solidity in the fire; but I after-
wards learned that it had been obtained from alum by fire.
Since I have been in possession of this means of so effec-
tually confining the subjects of examination as to be able to
continue during pleasure to act on them, I have directed -
but little attention. to the fusibility of matters. Quartz,
whose fusion has been called in question by M. Berzelius,*
has seemed to be quite refractory. On some few occasions
when it has proved otherwise, the phenomena have neither
corresponded with M. de Saussure’s account, nor been
always the same, which certainly admits of the fusion being
attributed to an accidental cause.
* De l’emploi du Chalumeau, p. 108.
WRITINGS OF JAMES SMITHSON. 93
But I have found with much surprise that flint can be
melted without difficulty; and even of a considerable bulk.
Where the heat is most intense, a degree of frothing takes
place; where it is less, there is a swelling of parts of the
surface. The effects were the same with French and Eng-
lish flint, with black and with horn-coloured. Docs flint,
like pitchstone, contain bitumen, which, at a certain heat,
tends to tumefy it? This might explain the smell from its
collision, and the oil which Neumann obtained by its distil-
lation, and to which no credit has been ever given. No
doubt can, I conceive, be entertained of flint being a vol-
canic production. On this point I may speak again at a
future opportunity. ;
In using mere water, diamond, anthracite, plumbago,
were particularly difficult of trial, as any adhesion they had
contracted with the sappare was quickly destroyed by the
combustion of their surface, while, as the intention in their
case is not to subject to great heat, they may be so secured
in the’ clay as at least very much to retard their escape.
Here acting on very minute particles is essential, as when
large pieces are employed, the effect is too slow to be per-
ceptible,
A pleasing way of demonstrating the combustion of
plumbago, and of even exhibiting the iron in it, is to ruba
little from the wetted point of a pencil on one of the clay
plates mentioned in a former paper.*
In trying diamond it was imagined that its glow contin-
ued an unusual time after removal from the fire.’ The pres-
ent method afforded the means of making a comparison.
A fragment of diamond, and another of quartz, chosen pur-
posely of rather a larger size, were fixed near each other in
the clay; and it was observed that the diamond was most
luminous while under the action of the flame, and longer
80 after removal from it. Its being a very slow conductor
of heat may occasion in part the latter quality.
acest Sit Lae Es REGINA
* Annals for May.
94 WRITINGS OF JAMES SMITHSON.
Tn the same way the unequal fusibility of two substances
may probably, on some occasions, be ascertained; and serve
from deficiency of a better, as a means of distinction be-
tween then. |
Tam, sir, yours, &c.
J. SMITHSON.
ON SOME COMPOUNDS OF FLUORINE.
From Thomson’s Annals of Philosophy, Vol. XXIII; New Series, Vol.
VII, 1824, p. 100.
. January 2, 1824,
Sir: When numberless persons are seen, in every direc-
tion, pursuing a subject with the utmost ardour, it is natu-
ral to conclude that their labors have accomplished all that
was within their reach to perform.
It must, therefore, in mineralogy be supposed, that those
substances whose abundance has placed them in every hand,
have been fully scrutinized, and are thoroughly understood ;
and that if now to extend the boundaries of the science it
is not indispensable to explore new regions of the earth, ~
and procure matters hitherto unpossessed, it is yet only to
objects the most rare, the most difficult of acquisition, that
inquiry can be applied with any hope of new results,
A want of due conviction that the materials of the globe
and the products of the laboratory are the same, that what
nature affords spontaneously to men, and what the art of
the chemist prepares, differ no ways but in the sources from
whence they are derived, has given to the industry of the
collector of mineral bodies an erroneous direction.
What is essential to a knowledge of chemical beings has
been left in neglect; accidents of small import, often of
none, have fixed attention—have engrossed it; and a fertile |
WRITINGS OF JAMES SMITHSON. 95
field of discovery has thus remained where otherwise it
would have been exhausted.
Fluor spar has decorated mineral cabinets from probably
the earliest period of their existence; every tint with which
chance can paint it; each casual diversity of form and
appearance under which it may present itself have been long
familiar, and its true nature continues a problem; and its
decomposition by fire was yet to be learned.
Fluor Spar.
If a very minute fragment of fluor spar is fastened by
means of clay* to the end of a platina wire nearly as fine as
a hair, which is the size I now employ even with fluxes, it
will be perceived on the first contact of the fire to melt with
great facility. As the fusion is prolonged, the fusibility will
decrease; protuberances will rise over the surface of the
ball; it will put on what is designated by the term of the
cauliflower form; and finally become entirely refractory.
On detaching it from the wire, it will prove hollow. This
little capsula being taken up again by its side, and its edge
presented to the flame, thin- and porous as this edge is, it
will withstand its utmost violence.
Such an alteration of qualities proclaims an equal one of
nature. I had no doubt that the calcium had absorbed oxy-
gen, and parted with fluorine; that the mass had ceased to
be fluor spar, and was become quicklime. On placing it in
a drop of water my conjecture was confirmed; a solution
took place by which test papers were altered ; a cremor calcis
soon appeared; and on allowing the mixture to become
spontaneously dry, a white powder remained, which acids
dissolved with effervescence.
That the fluoric element was gone admitted not of doubt.
To pursue it in its escape; to coerce it, and render it palpa- —
ble to the senses, could not be required to establish the fact.
It may, however, be done.
* Annals for December.
96 WRITINGS OF JAMES SMITHSON,
The open tube described by M. Berzelius in his valuable
work on the blowpipe, is adapted to the purpose by an addi
tion to it. A small plate of platina foil, or a curved plate
of baked clay, is introduced a little way into one of its ends;
and secured by bringing with the point of the flame the glass
“hast Liew oem erp eat fea
into contact with it. The body to be tried is fixed to this
plate by means of moist clay; and may then be subjected
for any time to any degree of heat.
Thus tried, fluor spar quickly obscured the glass by a thick
crust of siliceous matter; and coloured yellowa bit of paper
tinged with logwood.
M. Berzelius assigns fernambuc wood for the test of flu-
oric acid. Bergman says that this wood affords a red infu-
sion which alkalies turn blue.* None such could be
procured, but it was found that logwood might be substi-
tuted for it. The paper tinged with this, like that mentioned
by M. Berzelius, is made yellow by fluoric acid and oxalic
acid; but it did not seem to be so by sulphuric or muriatic
acids, nor by phosphoric acid,
Topaz.
In extremely minute particles, topaz subjected to the fire
at the end of a very slender wire soon becomes opaque and
white; but I perceived no marks of fusion.
This change is undoubtedly occasioned by the loss of its
fluoric part. One of the times I was at Berlin, M. Klaproth
gave me, as his reason for not publishing the analysis of
topaz, that in the porcelain furnace it sustained a great loss
of weight, the cause of which he had not then been able to
ascertain.
Topaz ground to impalpable powder, and blended with
‘carbonate of lime, melted with ease. Some of this mixture
* Analysis of Mineral Waters.
WRITINGS OF JAMES SMITHSON. o7
fused on the platina plate at the mouth of the tube, made
an abundant deposit of silica over its interior surface; and
the bit of logwood paper at the end of it had its blue colour
altered to yellow.
In the trial in this way of substances of difficult fusion,
an apparatus of the following construction is more favoura-
ble than the one above described.
a. A bottle cork.
b. A slice of the same fixed with ev a
ec. A wire.
d. A cylinder of platina foil atte teed into the mouth of -
the glass tube, to prevent its being softened and closed by
the flame.
e. A platina wire, at the end ue which is cemented with
clay the subject of trial.
I formerly suggested that topaz might be a compound of
silicate of alumina, and of fluate of alumina.* ‘I am now
convinced that no oxygen exists in it; but that it is a com-
bination of the fluorides of silicium ond aluminum.
This system produces a considerable alteration i in the pro-
portions of its elements.
ee ee a ee ee
* Philosophical Transactions for 1811.
98 WRITINGS OF JAMES SMITHSON.
The mean of the six analyses quoted by M. Haiiy, in the
second edition of his Mineralogy, is
Silica - - - 36.0
Alumina - . - 52.3
Fluoric acid - - 9.7
98.0
Deducting the oxygen from the metals, we have
Silicium - - - 13.0 ~
Aluminium - - - 27.7
Fluorine “ape - - 52.3
98.0
Kryolite.
It has been observed to diminish in fusibility during
fusion,* and it was in every respect probable, from what had
been seen with the foregoing bodies, that it would be de-
composed in the fire. After being kept some time melted,
it afforded an alkaline solution, which, by exposure to the
air, became carbonate of soda, effloresced, effervesced with
nitric acid, and produced crystals of nitrate of soda.
Fused on the platina plate at the mouth of the tube; a
copious deposit of silex collected in the tube; and the bit
of logwood paper became very yellow.
Kr volite heated in sulphuric acid on glass anova its
polish.
1. These experiments render it highly probable that flu-
orino will be expelled from every compound of it by the
agency of fire; and consequently that we are now in pos-
session of a general method of discovering its presence in
bodies. In cases where a matter is infusible, and parts with
it with great difficulty, as in that of topaz, it may be required
to reduce it to fine powder, or to act upon it by some ad-
* Haty’s Mineralogy.
WRITINGS OF JAMES SMITHSON. 99
mixture with which it melts, for the sake of promoting
division and multiplying aay
Hereby is supplied what may have seemed to be an omis-
sion in the paper on acids.* Although it was not such, since
fluorine is not an acid; and fluoric acid may never occur
in a mineral substance; as it can probably exist in combina-
tion only with ammonia; all its other supposed compounds
being doubtless fluorides.
_ 2 The theory of these decompositions may be acquired
by experiment; and light obtained on the nature of the
compounds.
If fluor spar, for instance, is a combination of oxide of
calcium and fluoric acid, and this is expelled from the oxide
merely by the force of' fire, the decomposition of it will take
place in closed vessels without the presence of oxygen or of
water; fluoric acid will be obtained; and the weight of this
acid and the lime will be equal together to that of the orig-
inal spar.
If the spar is metallic calcium and fluorine, and when
heated in oxygen absorbs this, and parts with ae it is
fluorine which will be collected in the vessels, and its pei
and that of the lime will together exceed that of the spar
by the oxygen of the lime.
If it is water which is the agent of decomposition, fluoric
acid will be collected; but bes the excess of weight will
not only equal the oxygen absorbed by the lime, but also
the hydrogen which has acidified the fluorine; and this in-
ereased weight of the fluoric acid will prove that hydrogen
is an element of it.
It appears to have been fluoric acid which in the above
related experiments passed into the tubes; but the inflam-
mable matter of the flame would probably have rendered
emitted fluorine such. It becomes of high importance to
ascertain whether ignited fluor spar is decomposed by pass-
ing water over it, and if so what are the products. It is
* Annals for May.
100 WRITINGS OF JAMES SMITHSON.
not convenient to myself at present to make the experiment ;
I therefore resign it to others.
How far the difficulty which the action of fluorine on the
vessels in which it is contained, as opposed to its examina-
tion, would be obviated by employing vessels of its com-
pounds, as of fluor spar, or of chloride of silver; or whether
it'acts on all oxides as it does on silica, experiments‘ have
not informed me, .
8. The vegetation of matters before the blow-pipe is
attributed by a great chemist to a “new state of equilib-
rium induced by heat between the constituent parts of
bodies,”’* but the phenomena do not accord with the expla-
nation.
Was such the cause of the acquired infusibility, it would
manifest itself through the whole mass as soon as fusion had
enabled the new arrangement. It is, on the contrary con-
fined to the surface; the interior portion continues fluid;
but wherever any of this bursts the shell, and issues forth,
it is instantly fixed in immovable solidity; and when the
process has attained its final state, a hollow globule remains.
Why is the change of quality limited to the surface; how
has been produced the central cavity; what has forced away
the matter which occupied it? A new clement has been
received from without, one which existed in the matter has
been parted with in a state of vapour. This double action
may probably be inferred wherever a matter presents this
species of vegetation.
Some metallic bodies, as tin, lead, sulphuretted tin, arsen-
icated nickel, &c., present another species of vegetation,
caused by the absorption of oxygen, and the production
over their surface of a matter more bulky than the metal
from which it is produced, and infusible at the heat to
which it is exposed. Here no internal void forms.
The mode of fusion of epidote had led me to suspect the
existence of fluorine in it; but on trial with the second ap-
* De l’Emploi du Chalumeau, p. 94.
WRITINGS OF JAMES SMITHSON. 101
paratus, represented above, I could not perceive a trace of
it. A more accurate observation of its fusion has shown
me that it does not, as generally supposed, form the cauli-
. flower. It appears to do so only where so large a mass is
exposed to the fire that but points of its surface are fused in
succession. If a very minute bit is employed, it is clearly
seen to puff up like borax, stilbite, &c.; and then, like them,
become less fusible; from the separation, doubtless, of a
vapourized element on which its greater fusibility had
depended. The smallest particle of fluor spar shows no
such inflation. 7
We see here three several cases of intumescence in the
fire: one where a gas is absorbed; one where a gas, or
vapour, is disengaged; one where the two effects are con-
comitant.
There may be persons who, measuring the importance of
the subject by the magnitude of the objects, will cast a
supercilious look on this discussion; but the particle and
the planet are subject to the same laws; and what is learned
upon the one will be known of the other.
AN EXAMINATION OF SOME EGYPTIAN
COLOURS.
From Thomson’s Annals of Philosophy, Vol. XXIII, New Series, Vol.
VII, 1824, p. 116.
January 2, 1824.
Sir: More than commonly incurious must he be who
would not find delight in stemming the stream of ages:
returning to times long past, and beholding the then state
of things and men.
In the arts of an ancient people much may be seen con-
cerning them: the progress they had made in knowledge of
various kinds; their habits; their ideas on many subjects.
102 WRITINGS OF JAMES SMITHSON.
And products of skill, may likewise occur, either wholly
unknown to us, or superior to those which now supply them.
I received from Mr. Curtin, who travelled in Egypt with
Mr. Belzoni, a small fragment of the tomb of King Psam-
mis. It was sculptured in basso relievo which were painted. -
The colours were white, red, black and blue.
have heard the white of Egyptian paintings extolled for
its brilliancy and preservation, I found the present to be
neither lead nor gypsum; but carbonate of lime. Chlo-
rides of barium caused no turbidness in its solution, An —
entire sarcophagus of arragonite proves that the ancient
Egyptians were in possession of an ‘abundant store of this
matter, remarkable often for its perfect whiteness, Was it
the material of their white paint ?
Thered was oxide of iron. By heating, it became black,
and returned on cooling to its original hue, In a case
where so much foreign admixture was present, since the
layer of red was much too thin to allow of its being iso-
lated, I considered this as a better proof of red oxide of 4 iron
than obtaining prussian blue.
The black was pounded wood charcoal. After the car-
bonate of lime with which it was mixed had been removed
by an acid, the texture of the larger particles were perfectly
discernible with a strong lens; and in the fire it burned
entirely away.
The blue is what most deserves attention. It wasasmalt,
or glass powder, so like our own, though a little paler, as to
be mistaken for it by judges to whom I showed it; but its
tinging matter was not cobalt, but copper. Melted with
borax and tin, the red oxide of copper immediately ap-
peared.
Many years ago I examined the blue glass with which
was painted a small figure of Isis, brought to me from
Egypt by a relation of ane and found its ‘colouring matter
to be copper.
I am informed that a fine blue glass cannot at present be
WRITINGS OF JAMES SMITHSON. 103
obtained by means of copper. What its advantages would
be above that from cobalt, it is for artists to decide.
Intent upon the blue smalt, it unfortunately did not occur
to me to examine, till I had washed nearly the whole of it
away to waste, what was the glutinous matter which had
been so true to its office’for no less a period than 3,500
years; for the colours were as firm on the stone as they can
ever have been.
A small quantity of it recovered from the water did not
seem to form a jelly on concentrating its solution; or to
produce a precipitate with galls. I imagined its vegetable
nature ascertained by its ashes restoring the colour of red-
dened turnsol paper, till I found those of glue do the same.
The employment of powder of charcoal for a black would
seem to imply an unacquaintance with lamp-black, and, per-
haps, with bone black, and that of copper to colour glass
blue, a deficiency of cobalt. And if the glutinous matter
should prove, on a future examination, to be vegetable, our
glue being then possessed may, perhaps, be deemed ques-
tionable.
SOME OBSERVATIONS ON MR. PENN’S THEORY
CONCERNING THE FORMATION OF THE
KIRKDALE CAVE. |
From Thomson’s Annals of Philosophy, Vol. XXIV; New Series, Vol.
VIII, 1824, p. 60.
June 10, 1824.
Sir: No observer of the earth can doubt that it has
undergone very considerable changes. Its strata are every-
where broken and disordered; and in many of them are
enclosed the remains of innumerable beings which once
had life; and these beings appear to have been strangers to
the climates in which their remains now exist.
104 WRITINGS OF JAMES SMITHSON.
In a book held by a large portion of mankind to have
been written from divine inspiration, an universal deluge is
recorded. . It was natural for the believers in this deluge to
refer to its action, all, or many, of the phenomena in ques-
tion; and the more so as they seemed to find in them a
corroboration of the event.
Accordingly, this is what was done, as soon as any desire
to account for these appearances on the earth became felt.
The success, however, was not such as to obtain the general
assent of the learned; and the attempt fell into neglect and
oblivion,
Able hands have lately undertaken the revival of this
system; Mr. Penn has endeavoured to reconcile it with the
facts of the Kirkdale Cave, which appeared to be strongly
inimical to it.
Acquainted with Mr. Penn’s opinions only from the
“Analysis of the Supplement to the Comparative Estimate”
in the Journal of the Royal Institution for January, not
having seen this Supplement itself, the Comparative Esti-
mate, nor even a review of this in a former number of the
Journal, and knowing of Mr. Buckland’s Reliquie Diluvi-
ane, only the account of the Kirkdale Cave published in
the Philosophical Transactions for 1822, I have hesitated
long about communicating the present observations, which
presented themselves during the perusal of the above-men-
tioned slender abstract.
T have yielded to a sense of the importance of the subject
in more than one respect, and of the uncertainty when I
shall acquire ampler information at more voluminous
sources—to a conviction that it is in his knowledge that
man has found his greatness and his happiness, the high
superiority which he holds over the other animals who
inhabit the earth with him, and consequently that no igno-
rance is probably without loss to him, no error without evil,
and that it is therefore preferable to urge unwarranted
doubts, which can only occasion additional light to become
elicited, than to risk by silence letting a question settle to
WRITINGS OF JAMES SMITHSON. 105
rest, while any unsupported assumptions are involved in it.
If I rightly apprehend Mr. Penn’s ideas, they are these:
Secondary limestones were originally in a soft state.
The waters of the deluge while elevated above England,
deposited on it a layer, or bed, of ‘“‘a soft and plastic’”’ cal-
careous matter.
On their departure from the earth, by flowing away to-
wards the north, they floated over England the carcases of
a number of tropical animals, clustered together into great
masses,
These masses became buried in the calcareous mud.
On the sinking of the waters of the deluge below the
surface of England, the bed of calcareous mud began to dry,
and on doing so completely, ede der pe present Kirkdale
rock. Fy teh
The clustered animal ete gioata in the. eteateoue
paste, by putrifying, evolved a great quantity of gas, which
forced the limestone paste in all directions from them, and
thus generated the Cave in which Mr. Buckland found er
bones.
Soft State of Secondary Limestones.
That secondary limestones have been in a state to admit
foreign Bs into their Sipe their existence in it is
evidence. »
Every shell aa’ tone on ih henett tells by if railed
form the attrition to which it is subject at each flood and
ebb of the tide; and that a subtil powder is abraded from
‘it which is collected somewhere.
From the immense multitudes of marine bodies which
exist in some of these limestones, from others consisting in
fact entirely of them, from in general little or nothing.but
calcareous matter being present, it becomes highly probable
that it is to the calcareous part of marine animals, more or
less comminuted, that secondary limestones owe their ori-
gin. | + fren
106 WRITINGS OF JAMES SMITHSON.
ane of the ale ea
The waters of ihe deluge ad wat ay either a dura-
tion or power, to obtain the matter of this supposed layer
of mud.
No shores any longer existing, shells could not be pulver-
ized by the beat of the wave, for it is not deep under water
that such destruction is effected ; nor, was it so, would the |
short period of a year have been sufficient to produce the
material of all the secondary limestones of the earth ?
To have harrowed up this matter from the depths of the
ocean, would have required an agitation of the waters,
which nothing warrants us in giving to them, which every
thing denies their having had.
No hurricanes, no tempestuous winds, no swollen billows, .
are recorded. To: drown mankind they were superfluous.
A wind having arisen at the termination of the calamity
tells that none existed before; and this wind must have
been a most gentle one, a very zephyr. A vessel, bulky
beyond all the efforts of imagination to figure, so laden, so
manned, could not have lived in any agitated sea, least in
one which out-topped the Alps, and the Andes, all that could
* curb its fury, and mitigate its violence.
Had the ark not foundered, which is impossible, what yet
had become of the millions which its sides enclosed? Few
had survived to repair the effects of the divine wrath.
The waters must have been at rest when the ark continued
stationary for many months on the mountains of Ararat.
Nor, do the agitations of a sea extend far below its sur-
faco. What navigator has told of the storm in which the
sea became thick with its own sediments ?
But had such a deposit been made on our island, it would
not have continued on it. Standing like a little turret in
the bosom of the waters, each agitation of them would have
precipitated part of it down its sides. Their gigantic tides
must alone have washed it away, and on the rush of their
WRITINGS OF JAMES SMITHSON. 107
final departure, not a vestige of it could possibly have re-
mained behind.
If the waters of the deluge placed a bed of calcareous
matter on England and Germany, they must have done so
over the entire earth. It must have been an universal
stratum.
Yet so total was the deficiency of it at Botany Bay, that
the first settlers, for the very little lime which a few struc-
tures of immediate necessity required, were compelled,
though spare as were the hands, and much as they were
wanted for other purposes, laboriously and tediously, to col-
lect shells along the beach. Where a limestone nodule was
so anxiously sought and could not be found, great strata
could not be near.
But the sediment of the deluge waters would not be mere
calcareous matter. It must have consisted of everything
which they could receive, suspend, and deposit.
If over the earth were spread such a layer of mire, Noah
and the animals could not have landed‘ upon it. Or had
they not sunk into it and been smothered; where yet had
the weak found refuge from the voracious; where had the
herbivorous found food ?
What a time must have elapsed before Noah could culti-
vate the vine! Nor is it from such a soil that the wine
would have intoxicated the holy Patriarch. Had things so
been, Ilam never had offended, nor Canaan incurred the
fatal curse.
Sinking of the Bodies into the Mud.
Supposing, however, such a bed of “soft and plastic”
calcareous matter deposited by the waters on Ingland, the
immersion of the bodies into it is of no small difficulty.
Animal bodies bloated with gas from decay, which water
had “ floated on its surface,” are not easily conceived to
have displaced a stony powder of a specific gravity of 2.7,
and to have fallen below it.
“Turbulent vortices,” which are imagined to have lent
108 WRITINGS OF JAMES SMITHSON.
their aid on the occasion, would have disseminated the
clustered animals, and dispersed the powdery stratum, *
That the bodies should in every case have descended into
the calcareous pulp, in one unbroken group; that in none
a fragment, even a lock of hair, should have parted from
the putrid mass, and stopped by the way, cannot certainly
plead probability in its favour, Yet what cabinet shows
even the slenderest bone of a water-rat bedded in the solid
stone? What limestone stratum has astonished the learned,
by presenting them, in its substance, with an antediluvian
hyzena’s bristles, or lion’s mane ?
Formation of the Cave.
If the limestone pulp was too thin, the gas would pass
through it and escape, and the pulp fall back upon the
bodies; if too thick, the elastic force of the gas would be
insufficient to repel it fromthem. A precise point of indu-
ration, at which it would at once yield and resist, was indis-
pensable. This exact condition would but rarely occur;
would, at least, often not do it, and consequently bodies
buried in the solid rock must be frequent, if not most so.
It is incredible that in every case the gas should have
driven away from the bodies the whole of the mud in con-
tact with them. Some of the mud must have insinuated
itself between the several individuals of the cluster, some
have penetrated by the mouth, by lacerations, into the cavity
of the bodies, and isolated pieces of rock must now occur
among the bones, bearing the impression of the parts with
which they had been in contact; as at Pompeii, indurated
ashes presented the cast of a woman’s breasts,
As the parts receded from the bodies, it would carry with
it some adhering fragments of them—bones, teeth, hair,
feathers ; and which would now be fixed to the sides and
roofs of the caves.
Bodies which had been previously putrefying for twelve
months in a tropical temperature, would not probably have
WRITINGS OF JAMES SMITHSON. 109
still afforded, after their interment, sufficient gas fer the
supposed purpose. From some experiments, made a great
number of years ago, on the decay of animal muscle con-
fined over mercury, I am inclined to believe, that in no
case, when secluded from oxygen, is any great volume of
gas evolved by it. Subjected to the imagined pressure,
would the matters of the gases have been able to expand to
the elastic form ? Would they not rather have assumed
the fluid one? !
Under these circumstances, “talk ae muscular part of
the bodies have entirely sitemaps: Would not some
portion of it have altered to adipocire? In such a state
some of it must at least some times be met with.
That fish have, in some cases, been inclosed in strata, in-
vested with all their muscular part, seems indubitable, from
the presence of the scales; but they are scattered singly
through the stratum, and have blown up no caves round
themselves.
Indeed, the aad of the quadrupeds during their
voyage, appears to be by no means a certain event. If they
sunk below the surface, they would sink to different levels ;
borne on the surface, they might assemble together, but no
adherence would take place between them, and upon the
slightest impulse they would part again.
If the bodies were deposited with their integuments, the
bones must be nearly all of them entire. _How should they
have become broken, enveloped in a soft mass, rendered
additionally elastic by the gases of a putrefying state, and
floating on a sea which, high above all land, bore them out
of the reach of every means of concussion, especially be-
come shivered as are of those of the cave? The force
which could thus destroy the bones, had reduced the mus-
cular matter to pulp, and the waters had carried it off, and
the cave had had no efficient cause.
If the bodies were deposited entire, every bone of each
must be forth coming, and its complete skeleton admit of
being mounted.
110 WRITINGS OF JAMES SMITHSON.
Between “the animal remains discovered buried singly
in strata of gravel and clay, and those found in multitudi-
nous masses in the cavities of rocks,” there exist the im- —
portant differences of the former not being in caves, and of
the strata in which they occur being fresh-water ones. These
remains may consequently be supposed those of animals
washed from heights by inundations, and buried in the
earthy matter transported with them.
Nor can the bones of the cave be assimilated to the
‘shells kneaded into the limestone rock of Portland.”
For the comparison to hold, the bones must be “ kneaded
into the limestone rock” as the'shells are, and as are the
bones in the Stunsfield slate, which have been placed in it
by the sea.
If the stalactites tea been produced by the descent of
portions of the calcareous pulpy mass yielding to gravity,
they would, like the stalactites of lava, formed in this way,
have the texture of the rock. The stalactites of limestone
strata are clusters of crystals, which have generated from
solution in water.
Induration of the Calcareous Stratum.
The calcareous paste is supposed by Mr. Penn to have
petrified by simple drying; and on this supposition much:
of the hypothesis concerning the formation of the Cave
reposes.
Experiments will convince that a paste of calcareous
powder and water does not dry to marble, but to whitening.
An indurating faculty must not be attributed to time, it has
it not. Chall strata cannot be assigned a less age than the
rocks of Yorkshire, and they have not dried to stone, nor
seem hastening to become such.
Each particle of powder is a diminutive pebble, and an
intervening cement is required to connect it with the neigh- ~
bouring ones.
Carbonate of lime erie in water by means of an
WRITINGS OF JAMES SMITHSON. 111
excess of acid is the element of agglutination, which nature
has in these cases made use of. The acid solvent exhales
or becomes saturated, and the neutral salt, ceasing to be
soluble, crystallizes on the particles of the powder.
It is thus that the sands of the Calabrian shores are con-
solidated. The sea water loaded with the calcareous salt,
carries it into them. It cannot be by drying since they are
wetted by every wave; and sand wetted with ordinary sea
water and dried is not converted into millstone. The great
hardness is due to the silicious part.
I brought a mass of sand from the sea at Dumbarton, in-
closing a recent razor shell with its epidermis on it, and
fragments of coal, cemented to stone by carbonate of lime,
so that the calabrain process takes place on that coast.
In limestones consisting of considerable-sized fragments
of shells, the sparry cement which connects them is perfectly
evident. It is this cement which appears as regular crystals
where cavities occur in the mass too large to have been filled
by it.
Beds of sediment can by this means become rock at the
utmost depths of the ocean, and it is in all probability there
that most of them have done so. The workings of contig-
uous volcanos haye supplied the carbonic acid.
Oolites have been evidently formed in a sea much loaded
with dissolved carbonate of lime, and which on the escape:
of the dissolving acid has crystallized round floating parti-
cles. When the weight of the grains has become such as
to occasion their subsidence, they have been cemented to-
gether, every thing taking place in all respects as in the case
of the pisolites of Carlsbaden. The Kirkdale rock being
composed of oolites must have had this origin.
Such a formation cannot be assigned to the time of the
deluge. Besides the violence of bringing within the com-
pass of a few months, operations whose accomplishment
seems to have required centuries of centuries, the necessary
conditions must have been wanting. Had not all the vol-
canos become extinguished, they could not, and in such a
as |
\
112 WRITINGS OF JAMES SMITHSON.
time, have poured forth carbonic acid to saturate the im-
mensity of its waters; and it is also utterly impossible to
believe that the beings in the ark, already not a little incon-
venienced for respiration, could withstand the suffocating
effluvium.
Coming of the Animals by Sea.
Of the animals having been tropical ones no testimony is
offered. The elephant of Siberia being now ascertained to
have been a very hairy animal may be supposed to have
been a northern one, and if there were formerly northern
elephants, there may have been northern hyenas and north-
ern tigers.
If the bodies were brought by water, no reason appears
why they are, with the exception of a few birds, exclusively
those of quadrupeds. Reptiles, insects, trees, even fish, for
all of them must have perished from the mixture of salt
and fresh water, must have entangled in the clusters.
As the bodies must have been macerated for about a year
in the tropical seas, before the retreat of the waters trans-
ported them towards the north, those of the smaller animals,
as the water-rats, must have been so completely decayed as
to be reduced to the bones solely, which water would not
float.
The voyage from the tropics of the balls of album greecum
in an entire state, is what will not, under any circumstances,
be easy to admit; to suppose it amidst ‘‘ turbulent vortices,
by which the framework of the animals was shattered, dis-
located, fractured within the integuments,” reduced to splin-
ters, is utterly impossible. The entire state of the balls of
album grecum, and the extremely fractured one of the
bones, are totally incompatible on Mr. Penn’ssystem. And
such an ablution would not have left in these balls a trace
of the triple phosphate.
But quadrupeds are not the only animals of tropical
features found in northern latitudes. Every shell in the
strata, the nautili, the cornu ammones, the belemnites, the:
e
WRITINGS OF JAMES SMITHSON. 113
anomia, are now as foreign to the surrounding seas, as are
the others to the land. If one then came from afar, both
did. .
What must have been the mass and impetuosity of the
wave which could buoy a huge oyster, a massive brain stone,
from the equator‘to the British Islands, and at an elevation
to deposit it on Shotover Hill, or at Kingsweston? Such
waves had tumbled down the mountains of the earth, shiv-
ered its islands and its continents, and choked up the bed
of the ocean with their ruins. Surely it is a far less diffi-
culty to “ bring the climate to the exuviee, than the exuvie
to the climate.”
The existence together of the bones of many species does
not necessitate the conclusion of the animals having been
associates in the cave. If hyenas “do not always resort to
the same den,” neither is it probable do other wild beasts.
A succession of inhabitants is admissible.
Nor is it required to believe that any of the animals whose
bones were found in the cave died there. If hyzenas col-
lect bones round their dens, it must be allowed not very
improbable that they sometimes, often even, carry them a
little further. Alarmed by the roar of a more mighty de-
vourer, or even by that of one of equal strength, it seems
natural for them to retreat with their spoil to their last
refuge. Why, but to be able to do this, do they bring them
near their dens ?
The smallness of the cave’s mouth, admitting it to have
been always what it now is, would indeed oppose the idea
of elephants having walked into it, but no: entire skeleton
requires the admission of their having done this; and hyx-
nas who feed on putrid carcases, may have found no difli-
culty in parceling such; or they may have collected ‘the
Bushman’s harvest,” or the bones may have been carried
into the cave by animals more powerful than hyzenas.
If animals as ravenous of bones as hysenas are said to be
did not, in any hour of dearth, devour those of the water-
rats, an be because those became tenants of the cave
114 WRITINGS OF JAMES SMITHSON.
only when the water had expelled the hyznas. It is alike
improbable that animals of such contrary habits should
dwell together, and that hysenas should carry so diminutive
a prey as a water-rat, to their den to devour it.
The small quantity of the album grecum can afford no
argument against the animals who produeed it having lived
in the cave. So brittle a substance could not last long under
the trample of numerous animals of such bulk. The water
which subsequently entered the cave may have destroyed a
part. The existence of any is a strong circumstance in
favour of the supposition of their having lived in the cave,
and such as it would scarcely have dared to hope for, in its
support. | Dy woes i
If bones of quadrupeds are found inclosed in no rocks
but limestone ones, which it may, however, require more
extended observation to establish, the reason may be, that
in no other rocks are caverns, in which wild beasts can take
shelter, so common. These are likewise the only rocks in
which the formation of stalactite would close the openings,
and preserve the bones through a long course of ages, and
so as to have reached our times, from the decay and all the
accidents to which in an open cave they would be exposed.
Of the Deluge.
Should every argument which has been adduced to estab-
lish that the animals were not brought from remote regions
by water, that they lived and died in the countries in which
their remains now lie, have appeared insufficient for the
purpose, yet, that it is not to the Mosaical flood that their
existence, where they now are, is to be referred, two great
facts appear to place beyond controversy.
One is the total absence in the fossil world of all human
remains of every vestige of man himself and of his arts.
The magnitude of the chastisement, the order of nature
subverted to produce it, proclaim the multitudes of the
criminal. JIluman bodies by millions must then have cov-
WRITINGS OF JAMES SMITHSON. 115
ered the waters; they must have formed a material part, if
not the principal one, of every group, and human bones be
now consequently met with everywhere blended with those
of animals. .
Objects of human industry and skill must likewise con-
tinually occur among the bones. Of tlhe miserable victims
of the disaster numbers would be clothed, and have on their
persons articles of the most imperishable materials; and
the dog would retain his collar, the horse his bit and har-
ness, the ox his yoke. To men who wrought iron and
brouze, who manufactured harps and organs, these things
must have been familiar.
But more; embalmed within the substance of the dilu-
vian mud, entire cities, with their monuments, with a great
part of their inhabitants, with an infinity of things to their
use, would remain. Every limestone quarry should daily
present us with some of these most precious of all antiqui-
ties, before which those of Italy and Egypt would shrink to
nothing.
How greatly must we regret that this is not the case, that
we must relinquish the delightful hope of some day finding
in the body of a calcareous mountain, the city of Enoch
built by Cain, at the very origin of the world, with what
awful sentiments had not present generations contemplated
objects which once had been looked upon by eyes which
had seen the divinity !
The other great fact which forcibly militates against the
diluvian hypothesis is, that thé fossil animals are not those
which existed at the time of the deluge. The diluvian
species must have been the same as the present. The mul-
tifarious wonders of the ark had for sole object their pres-
ervation; while of the fossil kinds, not perhaps one, or
quadruped, or bird, or fish, or shell, or insect, or plant, is
now alive.
* Amazing proofs of inundations at high levels” are
appealed to. Had they being, of the deluge they could at
most speak but to their existence; on its influence in the
116 WRITINGS OF JAMES SMITHSON.
contested cases, they would be silent; but it appears that
this stupendous prodigy, :
‘¢ Like the baseless fabric of a vision,
Left not a wreck behind.”’
'
Of the occurrence of marine depositions at great altitudes,
the elevation of the stratum by volcanic efforts, furnishes a
far more easy solution than the elevation of the sea, as it.
refers the phenomenon to a natural cause, and does not
require the immediate interposition of the divine hand;
and the ruptured state and erect position of the strata on
all these occasions, testify strongly in favour of the simpler
supposition.
To collate the revered volume with the great book of
nature, and show in their agreement one author to both,
was an undertaking worthy of the union of picty and
science. If the result has not been what was anticipated ;
if we look in vain over the face of our globe for those
mighty impressions of an universal deluge, which reason
tells us that it must have produced and left behind itself, to
some cause as out of the natural course of things as was
that event, must this doubtless be attributed.
By his entering into a covenant with man and brute ani-
mals, and having for ever “ set his bow in the cloud,” asa
token that the direful scene should never be renewed, the
Creator appears to have repined at the severity of his
justice.
The spectacle of a desolated world,—of fertility laid
waste,—of the painful works of industry and genius over-
thrown,—of infantine innocence involved in indiscriminate
misery with the hardened offender,—of brute nature whose
want of reason precluded it from the possibility of all
offence, made share in the forfeit of human depravity, may
be supposed to have touched his heart.
Under the impression of these paternal feelings, to oblit-
erate every trace of the dreadful scourge, remove every
remnant of the frightful havoc, seem the natural effects of
his benevolence and power. As a lesson to the races which
WRITINGS OF JAMES SMITHSON. 117 .
were to issue from the loins of the few who had been
spared,—races which were to be wicked indeed as those
which had preceded them, but which were promised exemp-
tion from a like punishment, to have preserved any memento
of them would have been useless.
To a miracle then which swept away all that could recall
that day of death when “the windows of heaven were
opened” upon mankind, must wo refer what no natural
means are adequate to explain.
A LETTER FROM DR. BLACK DESCRIBING A
VERY SENSIBLE BALANCE.
From Thomson’s Annals of Philosophy, Vol. XXVI; New Series, Vol.
X, 1825, page 62.
Epinbureu, September 18, 1790.
Dear Sir: I had the pleasure to receive your letter of
the 9th. The apparatus I use for weighing small globules
of metals, or the like, is as follows:' A thin piece of fir
wood not thicker than a shilling, and a foot long, 8, of an
inch broad in the middle, and 4% at each end, is divided by
transverse lines into 20 parts; that is, 10 parts on each side
of the middle. These are the principal divisions, and each
of them is subdivided into halves and quarters. Across
the middle is fixed one of the smallest needles I could pro-
cure to serve as an axis, and it is fixed in its place by means
of a little sealing wax. The numeration of the divisions is
from the middle to each end of the beam. The fulcrum is
a bit of plate brass, the middle of which lies flat on my
table when I use the balance, and the two ends are bent up
to a right.angle sv as to stand upright. These two ends
are ground at the same time on a flat hone, that the extreme
118 WRITINGS OF JAMES SMITHSON.
surfaces of them may be in the same plane; and their dis-
tance is such that the needle when laid across them rests on
them at a small distance from the sides of the beam. They
rise above the surface of the table only one and a half or
two-tenths of an inch, so that the beam is very limited in
its play.
The weights I use are one globule of gold, which weighs
one grain; and two or three others which weigh one-tenth
of a grain each; and also a number of small rings of fine
brass wire made in the manner first mentioned by Mr.
Lewis, by appending a weight to the wire, and coiling it
with the tension of that weight round a thicker brass wire
in a close spiral, after which the extremity of the spiral
being tied hard with waxed thread, I put the covered wire
in a vice, and applying a sharp knife which is struck with
a hammer, I cut through a great number of the coils at one
stroke, and find them as exactly equal to one another as can
be desired. Those I use happen to be the 1-30th part of a
grain each, or 800 of them weigh 10 grains; but I have
others much lighter.
You will perceive that by means of these weights placed
on different parts of the beam, I can learn the weight of
any little mass from one grain or a little more to the yyp¢
of a grain. For if the thing to be weighed weighs one
grain, it will, when placed on one extremity of the beam,
counterpoise the large gold weight at the other extremity.
If it weighs half a grain, it will counterpoise the heavy gold
weight placed at 5. If it weigh 5%; of a grain, you must
place the heavy gold weight at 5, and one of the lighter
ones at the extremity to counterpoise it; and if it weighs
only 1, or 2, or 8, or 4-100ths of a grain, it will be counter-
poised by one of the small gold weights placed at the first,
or second, or third, or fourth division. If on the contrary
it weigh one grain and a fraction, it will be counterpoised
WRITINGS OF JAMES SMITHSON. 119
by the heavy gold weight at the extremity, and one or more
of the lighter ones placed in some other part of the beam.
This beam has served me hitherto for every purpose; but
had I occasion for a more delicate one, I could make it —
easily by taking a much thinner and lighter slip of wood,
and grinding the needle to give it an edge. It would also
be easy to make it carry small scales of paper for particular
purposes.
We have no chemical news. Iam employed in examin-
ing the Iceland waters, but have been often interrupted. I
never heard before of the quartz-like crystals of barytes
aérata, nor of the sand and new earth from New Holland.
Indistinct reports of new metals have reached us, but no
particulars. Some further account of these things from
you will, therefore, be very agreeable. Dr. Hutton joins
me in compliments, and wishing you all good things; and I
am, Dear Sir,
Your faithful humble servant,
- JosEPH Buack.
eet
Norr sy Mr..Smiruson.—The rings mentioned above have
the defect of their weight being entirely accidental; and
consequently most times very inconvenient fractions of the
grain. Ihave found that a preferable method is to ascertain
the weight of a certain length of wire, and then take the
length of it which corresponds to the weight wanted. If
fine wire is employed, a set of small weights may be thus
made with great accuracy and ease. Inconvenience from
the length of the wire in the higher weights is obviated by
rolling it round a cylindrical body to a ring, and twisting
this to a cord.
This little balance is a very valuable addition to the blow-
pipe apparatus, as it enables the determination of quantities
in the experiments with that instrument, which was an un-
hoped-for accession to its powers.
Dr. Black mentioned to me its having been used by an
120 WRITINGS OF JAMES SMITHSON.
assayer in Cornwall, to whom he had made it known; and I
have since heard, from another person, of an assayer in that
county, who, finding the assays he was employed to make,
~ cost him more in fuel than he was paid for them, had con-
trived means of making them at the blowpipe on one grain
of matter. I presume him to have been the same Dr. Black.
had spoken of.
Lonpon, May 12, 1825.
A METHOD OF FIXING CRAYON COLOURS.
From Thomson’s Annals of Philosophy, Vol. XXVI; New Series, Vol. X,
1825, page 236.
Lonpon, August 23, 1825. _
GENTLEMEN: Wishing to transport a crayon portrait to a
distance for the sake of the likeness, but without the frame
and glass, which were bulky and heavy, I applied to a man
from whom I expected information for a method of fixing
the colours. He had heard of milk being, spread with a
brush over them, but I really did not conceive this process
of sufficient promise to be disposed to make trial of it.
Thad myself read of fixing crayon colours by sprinkling
solution of isinglass from a brush upon fhem, but to this
too, I apprehended the objections of tediousness, of dirty
operation, and perhaps of incomplete result.
On thinking on the subject, the first idea which presented
itself to me was that of gum-water applied to the back of
the picture ; but as it was drawn on sized blue paper, pasted
on canvass, there seemed little prospect of this fluid pene-
trating. But an oil would do so, and a drying one would
accomplish my object. I applied drying oil diluted with
spirit of turpentine; after a day or two when this was grown
dry, I spread a coat of the mixture over the front of the
picture, and, my crayon drawing became an oil painting.
WRITINGS OF JAMES SMITHSON. 121
NOTES:
AND ADDENDA TO TITLES.
Page 29:
In acritical notice of Davy’s Elements of Ohemical Philosophy in the
Quarterly Review for 1812, the writer speaking of recent advances in
chemistry, and especially in the establishment and extension of the law of
definite proportions, remarks: ‘for these facts the science is principally
indebted after Mr. Higgins, to Dalton, Gay Lussac, Smithson, and Wollas-
ton.’”’ Quarterly Review, 1812, vol. viii, p. 77.
Page 84: On the composition of the compound sulphuret from Huel Boys,
and an account of its erystals—otherwise called Bournonite.
Page 42: On the Composition of Zeolite.
This article was translated by Smithson himself into French, and pub-
lished under the title ‘* Memoire sur la Composition de la Zéolite,’’ in the
Journal de Physique, de Chimie, et d’Hist. Nat., etc. Paris, 1814, vol.
Ixxix, pp. 144-149.
Page 47: On a substance from the Elm Tree, called Ulmin.
This article (translated by M. Vogel) was published under the title ‘‘ Ex-
périences sur 1’U]mine,”’ in the Journal de Physique, de Chimie et d’Histoire
Naturelle. Paris, 1814, vol. Ixxviii, pp. 811-8165.
Page 65: On a native compound of sulphuret of lead and arsenic.—Binnit
of Naumann.
Page 68: Thomson’s Annals lof Philosophy October, 1821, vol. ii, New
Series, pp. 291-292. Contains comments by Charles Kénig,
on Smithson’s article on ‘‘ Fibrous Metallic Copper.’’
Page 71: An account of a native combination of sulphate of barium and
fluoride of calcium.
Das von Smithson als Flussbaryt aufgefiihrte Mineral aus Derbyshire ist
wohl nur ein sehr inniges Gemenge von Fluorit und Baryt. (Naumann,
Min. 9th edit., p. 261, Ann. 8.)
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° _— lo
A MEMOIR ON THE SCIENTIFIC CHARACTER AND RE-
SEARCHES OF JAMES SMITHSON, ESQ., F.R.S.,
By WALTER R. JonNson,
Corresponding Secretary of the Academy of Natural Sciences of Phila-
dolphia, Member of the National Institute, &c.
Read before the National Institute, Washington, D. C., April 6, 1844.*
PRELIMINARY NOTE.
In the many notices of Mr. Smithson’s bequest, and plans for establish-
ing an institution on its basis, which have either officially or otherwise been
brought before the public, no succinct account has, so far as the writer’s
recollection serves, been offered of the scientific pursuits of Mr. Smithson
himself ,—a very material omission, it is conceived,—and one which could
not fail to encourage, or at least excuse, the multiplication of schemes, for
carrying out the provisions of his will. A knowledge of the habits, pur-
suits and feelings of the testator, on the contrary, may relieve us from un-
certainty in the interpretation of his language, and the application of his
bequest.
If the gratitude of posterity attaches to the memory of
successful warriors who enlarge the boundaries of a nation’s
physical domain, much more is it due to him who opens the
fields of knowledge, invites ardent votaries to their cultiva-
tion, and thus promotes that nation’s happiness, glory, and
prosperity.
Under whatever form of government, in whatever social
condition, the man of practical benevolence seeks to give
his benefactions the character of intellectual blessings ;
whether, like Bridgewater, he aspires with lofty aim to un-
ravel the designs of creation, explain the final causes of
physical Jaws, and impress by written treatises, the lessons
of eternal truth on the matured understandings of men ;
whether, with the acute, discriminating and practical Girard,
he content himself with the humbler but not less honorable
office, of rescuing from ignorance, vice and degradation, the
homeless and friendless orphan ; whether, with Franklin, he
found a library; with Maclure endow an academy for re-
searches in natural science; or, with Smithson, seek to
stimulate into activity the spirit of philosophical research ;
* Philadelphia, Barret & Jones, Printers, 83 Carter’s ulley, 1844,
123
124 MEMOIR ON THE SCIENTIFIC CHARACTER
to ‘‘ increase’? by deepening the sources, and “ diffuse” by
multiplying the channels of knowledge; in each and all of
these cases, the universal sentiment of mankind awards a
grateful recognition to the intellectual, moral, social bene-
factor.
But when, in addition to other circumstances of the bene-
faction, the author has selected for the exercise of his beney-
olent spirit, not a small circle of votaries of science in a
region where the avenues to knowledge are sedulously
guarded, but, a great nation, which has made equal rights
the basis of its social system, and virtue and intelligence the
supports of all its institutions, it is evident that a higher
meed of praise, and a deeper feeling of gratitude should
spring from the breast of every lover of liberty and of
truth.
Having made our country the recipient of his benefac-
tion; having given us the inheritance of his fame as well as
of his fortune, Smithson may justly claim from this side of
the Atlantic the tribute of a recognition of his merits, a due
appreciation of his own labors, in those paths to which he
has invited the scientific efforts of our citizens—efforts on
which he has, virtually, and it is to be hoped, not ineffectually,
invoked the fostering care of this nation’s government.
Let one instance in our country suffice—let not a second
be exhibited, of that shameful violation of trusts, solemnly
assumed, which seeks, in the indulgence of personal vanity,
in the execution of splendid schemes of architecture, utterly
incongruous to their purpose, or in the search after inappli-
cable, far-fetched plans of organization, to find a substitute
for the simple directions of a man of plain common sense.
On the basis of his labors alone, the true votary of science
is willing to rest his credit with mankind, and his fame with
future generations. He can look with indifference on the
artificial distinctions which fashion, and the greedy love of
nvtoriety, conspire to throw or to draw around pretension
and mediocrity. As he deals with the great truths of
nature, and not with the changeful humors of man; as he
investigates and promulgates laws, not subject to REPEAL ;
announces resulis, not of bargains and compromises, but of
the eternal fitness and congruity of parts in creation, he ex-
periences none of the feverish anxiety about adverse inter-
ests, that may one day undo his works, which often accom-
panies the labors of men in other walks of intellectual effort.
In the view of such a man, the accidents of birth, of for-
tune, of local habitation, and conventional rank»in the
artificial organization of society, all sink into insignificance
AND RESEARCHES OF JAMES SMITHSON. 125
by the side of a single truth of nature. If he have con-
tributed his mite to the “increase” of knowledge; if he
have diffused that knowledge for the benefit of man; and,
_ above all, if he have applied it to the useful, or even to the
ornamental purposes of life, he has laid not his family, not
his country, but the world of mankind under a lasting
obligation.
As with societies, so with individuals occupying them-
selves with scientific pursuits, the estimation in which they
must be held, will ever depend on the amount, but especially
upon the quality of new published truths which they dis-
seminate. Hence we look primarily to the published works
of a scientific man for the evidences of what he has done
for science.
They whose recollections of scientific works go back to
the first years of the present century, will have no difficulty
in judging how far the principle just stated will rank
James Smithson among the working scientific men of his
time. The transactions of the Royal Society of London,
and the scientific journals of the day, will, without reference
to other evidence, place us in a condition to solve this ques-
tion.
But we are fortunately not left to these alone. In his
written journals, scientific notes, and more elaborate manu-
script papers on a great variety of topics, connected with
his tours of observation, and with his studies in numerous
departments, we witness the workings of a mind ever
active in its endeavors to elicit from the volume of nature
truths worthy to fix the attention of all intelligent beings.
Let us first recur to his printed works.
1. In the Philosophical Transactions, vol. 93, is a paper
on the Chemical Analysis of some Calamines. Read November
18, 1802.
In this paper’ the author describes calamine—1, from
Bleyburg in Carinthia; 2, from Somersetshire; 8, from
Derbyshire; and 4, electrical calamine.
In this essay the author remarks that ‘‘ Chemistry is yet
80 new a science; what we know of it bears so small a pro-
portion to what we are ignorant of; our knowledge in every
department of it is so incomplete, consisting so entirely of
isolated points, thinly scattered, like lurid specks on a vast
field of darkness, that no researches can be undertaken
without producing some facts leading to consequences
which extend beyond the boundaries of their immediate
object.”
126 MEMOIR ON THE SCIENTIFIC CHARACTER
The Abbe Haiiy had advanced the opinion that calamines
were all of one species, and all mere oxides or “ calces”? Of
zinc, containing no carbonic acid, and that their effervescence
with acids was due to an accidental admixture of carbonate
of lime. Smithson’s analyses completely overthrew this
opinion, and established these minerals in the rank of true
carbonates.
His remarks on the action of the ores of zinc before the
blow-pipe, evince much discernment in relation to the
effects there observed.
‘‘The exhalation of these calamines at the blow-pipe, and the flowers
which they diffuse round them on the coal, are probably not to be attributed
to a direct volatilization of them. Itis more probable that they are the
consequence of the disoxidation of the zine calx, by the coal, and the in-
flammable matter of the flame, its sublimation in a metallic state, and
instantaneous recalcination. And this alternate reduction and combustion
may explain the peculiar phosphoric appearance by calces of zine at the
low-pipe.”?
‘The apparent sublimation of the common flowers of zinc at the instant
of their production, though totally unsublimable afterwards, is certainly,
likewise, but a deceptious appearance. The reguline zinc, vaporized by
the heat, rises from the crucible, as a metallic gas, and is, while in this state,
converted to calx (oxide.) The flame which attended the process is a proof
of it.
‘‘ The fibrous form of the flowers of zinc is owing to a crystallization of
the calx while in mechanical suspension in the air, like that which takes
place with camphor when, after having been sometime inflamed, it is blown
out.”?
As incidental to this inquiry on calamines, he introduces
a remark of great interest in connection with the subject of
crystallization—a subject, which, when applicd to a partic-
ular body of the highest interest to the arts, (I refer to
wrought iron,) has of late awakened great attention both
among practical and scientific inquirers; and which has
been invested with a deep tragic interest by a recent la-
mentable occurrence in our own community :
‘¢A moment’s reflection,’’ says Smithson, ‘* must evince how injudicious
is the common opinion of crystallization requiring a state of dissolution in
the matter, since it must be evident that while solution subsists, as long as
a quantity of fluid admitting of it is present, no crystallization can take
pluce. ‘I'he only requisite for this operation is a freedom of motion in the
masses which tend to unite, which allows them to yield to the impulse
which propels them together, and to obey that sort of polarity which oc- °
casions them to present to each other the parts adapted to mutual union.
‘“ No state so completely affords these conditions as that of mechanical
suspension in a fluid, whose density is relatively, to their size, such as to
oppose a resistance to their descent in it, and to occasion their mutual attrac-
tion to become a power superior to their force of gravitation.
‘Tt is in these circumstances that the atoms of matter find themselves,
whon, on the separation from them of the portion of fluid by which thoy
wero dissolved, they were abandoned in a disengaged stato in the bosom of
a solution, and hence it is in saturated solutions sustuining cvaporation, or
equivalent cooling, and free from any perturbing motion, that regular crys-
AND RESEARCHES OF JAMES SMITHSON. a ir
tallization is usually effected. But those who are familiar with chemical
operations, know the sort of agglutination which happens between the par-
ticles of subsided and very fine precipitates, occasioning them, on a second
diffusion through the fluid, to settle again much more quickly than before,
and which is certainly a crystallization, but under circumstances very un-
favorable to its perfect performance.”’
The recent discovery of the reduction of wrought-iron
from a fibrous to a granular state by a mechanical percus-
sion, especially at a certain elevated temperature, is a case
strongly illustrative of the views of Smithson on this ab-
struse and difficult subject.
In the same paper (on the calamines) he has attempted to
show a simple definite relation to exist between the constit-
uents of this material.
In attestation of the value of these observations by Smith-
son, we may cite Gregory Watt’s paper on the basalts pub-
lished in the following year, (1803 :)
‘It has been most justly remarked by Mr. Smithson, that solution, far
from being necessary to crystallization, effectually prevents its commence- .
ment; for, while solution subsists, crystallization cannot take place. It
may remain a question, whether previous solution be essential as a prepara-
tory means of obtaining by subsequent evaporation, the small parts of
bodies disengaged so that they may unite to form regular crystals. If by
solution be only meant that simple action of heat or water which merely
counteracts the force of aggregation, and relieves the molecules from their
bond of union with each other, it certainly is a requisite; but if by solution
be meant that action of affinities by which not only the force of aggrega-
tion is overcome, but the combinations which constitute the molecules are
destroyed, it obviously is not only unnecessary, but prejudicial to the crys-
tallization; as a new set of molecules must be formed, by a new combina-
tion of the elementary particles, before tho formation of regular bodies can
take place. The euspension of the molecules ready to crystallize may be
correctly said to be merely mechanical. Though the mechanical action of
trituration can never be expected to resolve even the most divisible body
into its molecules, because the fractures will be at least as frequently across
the natural joints as in their direction; yet, even by this rude method,
some perfect molecules may be disengaged ; for we find that water, passing
over large surfaces of silicious sand, finds some molecules of silex in the
state proper for aggregation, and even for crystallization. Mechanical sus-
pension in a fluid medium of such density that the crystalline polarity may
be enabled to counteract the power of gravity, is with justice considered by
Mr. Smithson the only requisite for the formation of crystals.
“The particles of bodies upparently solid must be capable of some inter-
nal motion enabling them to arrange themselves according to polarity,
while they are still solid and fixed as far as they have reference to the ordi-
nary characters of fluidity.”
The mode of examining calamines, adopted by Smithson,
was to subject them to Flea in order to expel water and
sarbonic acid, and then to dissolve the residue in sulphuric
acid, drying the white vitriol thus produced, and estimating
the weight of oxide by that of anhydrous sulphate. This
estimation of a metallic oxide in its state of a dry sulphate,
enables the chemist to avoid two or three operose and
128 MEMOIR ON THE SCIENTIFIC CHARACTER
troublesome processes, including filtration, washing and ig-
niting, which ordinarily consume much time, labor, and
minute attention.
As the result of his careful inquiry into the truth of the
position assumed, it appears, by Haiy, without a sufficient
examination, Smithson makes the following statement at the
conclusion of his paper:
‘No calamine has yet occurred to me which was a real uncombined calx
of zinc. If such, as a native product, should ever be met with in any of
the still unexplored parts of the earth, or exist among the unscrutinized
possessions of any cabinet, it will easily be known by producing a quantity
of arid vitriol (anhydrous sulphate) of zinc, exactly double of its own
weight; while the hydrate of zinc, should it be found single or uncombined
with carbonate, will yield 1.5 times the weight of this arid salt.”
2. In the Phil. Transactions, vol. 96, p. 267, 1806, is an
“ Account of a discovery of Native Minium,” in a letter from
James Smithson, Esq., F. R.8., to the Right Hon. Sir Joseph
Banks, K. B., P. R. 8. Read April 24, 1806.
This letter is dated at Cassel, in Hesse, March 2d, 1806.
Te states that he has found minium native in the earth—the
gangue, compact carbonate of zinc—with a flaky, crystalline
appearance, Ile gives, in the course of his remarks, the
chemical reactions and modes of testing employed to detect
its nature,
‘This native minium,’’ he remarks, ‘‘seems to be produced by the decay
of a galena, which I suspect to be itself a secondary production from the
metallization of the white carbonate of lead by hepatic gus. This is par-
ticularly evident in a specimen of this ore, in one part of which is a cluster
of large crystals. Huving broken one of these it proved to be converted
into minium to a considerable thickness, while its centre is still galena.”’
I may remark, in confirmation, that the mineral veins of
iron, copper, lead, and silver of the United States, afford
abundant evidences of the production of ‘secondary ”’
ores,—such as hydrated peroxides of iron, from the argilla-
ceous carbonates, the protoxide and peroxide, and carbonate
of copper, from the yellow sulphuret ; the carbonate of lead
with its protoxide and peroxide, from galena; this last be-
ing the reverse of the order of change conjectured by
Smithson. In the silver mines of North Carolina, now
worked with considerable activity, the metallic silver is at
the outcrop of the veins found mixed with carbonate of
lead and of copper, phosphate of lead, with other materials
much disintegrated, and offering great facilities for their
extraction, while at greater depths, below the reach of at-
mospheric and other surface influences, the body of ore
comes to be almost altogether a mass of galena intermixed
with metallic silver.
AND RESEARCHES OF JAMES SMITHSON. . 129
8. In the Phil. Trans. vol. xeviii., p. 55, (1808,) is a paper
by Mr. Smithson, “‘ On the composition of the compound sul-
phuret from Huel Boys and an account of its crystals,” p. 8, 1
plate. Read January 28, 1808. In this paper the com-
pound sulphuret of lead, antimony, and copper is described
with an account of its chemical properties, and theoretical
views of the manner in which proximate elements like these
co-exist. He states his bélief that all combination is binary,
that no substance whatever has more than two proximate or
true elements. He makes the mineral to consist of—
Sulphuret of lead 2 alesis WW 849.7
Sulphuret of antimony - — - 29.6
Sulphuret of copper - - 20.7
100.
Ilo gives a figure representing the forms of tho crystals
and the angles formed by the several faces with each other.
In Tilloch’s Magazine, vol. xxix., for 1808, in an account
of the proceedings of the Royal Society, we have the fol-
lowing remarks relative to this paper: ‘“ December 24,
1807. A paper by Mr. Smithson, on quadruple and binary
compounds, particularly the sulphurets was read. The
author seemed to doubt the propriety of the distinction, or
rather the existence of quadruple compounds; believed
that only two substances could enter as elements in the
composition of one body, and contended that. in cases of
quadruple compounds a new and very different substance
was formed, which had very little relation to the radical or
elementary principles, of which it was believed to be com-
posed. This opinion he supported by reference to the sul-
phurets of lead, galena, and of antimony, and to the facts
developed by crystallography. In the latter science, he
took occasion to”correct and confirm some remarks of his
in the Transactions for 1804, on different crystals, which he
acknowledged have not hitherto been found in nature.
4, In the Phil. Trans. vol. ci., p. 171, for 1811, is a paper
* On the composition of Zeolite,’ read Feb. 7. 1811.
In the commencement of this paper the author recognizes
the principle that mineral bodies are native chemical com-
pounds, and that it is only by chemical means that their
species can be ascertained with any degree of certainty.
He found the Zeolite to contain,
Silica - - - - 49.0
Alumina - - - 27.0
Soda - - - 17.0
“Tee” - ~ - 09.5
130 MEMOIR ON THE SOIENTIFIO CHARACTER
He calls it a “ hydrated silicate of alumina and soda.”
In relation to this paper on Zeolites, the following notice is
contained in Tilloch’s Philosophical Magazine, vol. xxxvil.,
from January to June, 1811, (p. 152,) under the head of the
“‘ Proceedings of the Royal Society :”
“February 7th, Mr. Smithson’s paper on Zeolite was read. This in-
genious mineralogist having received some specimens of this mineral from
Hauy himself, and labelled by his own hand, he deemed it a favorable
opportunity of ascertaining if there were any chemical difference between
the mesotype of the French crystallographer, and zeolith of Klaproth, as
he had previously discovered the existence of soda in all the specimens of
zeolite, which are found in these kingdoms, as well as those in Germany.
M. Vauquelin analyzed several specimens of zeolite, without discovering
any traces of soda, but Mr. Smithson discovered alkali even in the mezo-
type sent him by M. Hauy, and in every other specimen of zeolite in his
possession, From this circumstance he is inclined to prefer the original
name of zeolite as given to this mineral by its discoverer Cronsted, to that
of mezotype, as given it by Hiauy, and considers the distinction between
mezotype and natrolith as unsupported by chemical analysis.”
5. In the Phil. Trans. vol. ciii. (1818,) p. 256, to 262, is a
paper “ On a saline substance from Mount Vesuvius.” Read
July 8, 1818.
This paper gives a chemical quantitive analysis of a com-
pound sulphate of potash.
Sulphate of potash - - 71.4
Sulphate of soda - - 18.6
Muriate of soda - - 04.6
Muriate of ammonia
Muriate of copper - - 05.4
Muriate of iron.
100.0
In the commencement of the paper are some very interest-
ing genera) views relative to the connection of volcanoes
with the theory of geology. One remark is worthy of
citation :
‘In support of the igneous origin here attributed to the primitive strata,
I will observe that not only no crystal imbedded in them, such as quartz,
garnot, tourmaline, &c., has ever been seen enclosing drops of water, but
that none of the materials of these strata contain water in any state.’’ *
6. In the Phil. Transactions, vol. ciii. p. 64, (1813,) is a
paper ‘“‘ On a substance from the Klm Tree, called Ulmine.”
Read December 10, 1812.
This paper gives an account, Ist. Of ulmine received
from Sicily; 2d. Of English ulmine; and 8. Of the sap of
the elm tree.
* In confirmation of this statement see a late paper by Professor Lewis
C. Beck, entitled ‘‘ Views concerning igneous action,” in Silliman’s Jour-
nal, vol. xlvi., page 887, April, 1844.
AND RESEARCHES OF JAMES SMITHSON. 131
The experiments were made to determine the properties
and composition of the substance.
7. In the Transaction of the Royal Society, vol. eviii.,
for 1818, p. 110, are “‘ A few facts relative to the coloring mat-
ters of some vegeiables.”” Read December 18, 1817.
The vegetables particularly examined and described in
this paper are:
a Turnsol, (litmus,)
b eo violet.
e Sugarloaf paper.
d Black mulberry.
e The common poppy.
Jf Sap green, and
g Some animal greens.
The above paper is chiefly an account of experiments
made for the purpose of testing the chemical characters ot
the coloring materials of the different substances—an ex-
ceedingly interesting branch of inquiry in organic chemis-
try—scarcely much advanced at this day beyond the point
at which Mr. Smithson left it.
From the period of 1818, Mr. Smithson appears to have
ceased his contributions to the Transactions of the Royal
Society. After this time we find his name most frequently
occurring in the Annals of Philosophy, a work too well
known to require any remarks upon its scientific character.
8. In this periodical, vol. xiv., 1819, is a letter from Mr.
Smithson, dated Paris, May 22, 1819, relative to ‘ plombe
gomme,” in which he claims the discovery of the composi-
tion of that substance for his “ illustrious and unfortunate
friend, and indeed distant relative the late Smithson Ten-
nant,” who he asgerts had ascertained that it was a combi-
nation of oxide of lead, alumina and water.
He describes the ore, its reactions and modes of reduction.
The alumine was detected by the usual test of igniting, wet-
ting the whitened mass with nitrate of cobalt, and again
igniting producing a blue color.
It decrepitated when heated in a glass tube over a candle,
and deposited water in the upper part of the tube, thus
proving it to be a hydrate.
9. In the Annals, same vol., page 96, is another letter
dated Paris, May 19, 1819, (three days before the preced-
ing,) in which he describes a native sulphuret of lead and
arsenic, found in Upper Valais, in Switzerland, in a granose
compound of carbonate of lime and magnesia.
183 MEMOIR ON THE SCIENTIFIC CHARACTER
He gives the native characters of the ore, its reactions
before the blow-pipe and the action of reagents upon it,
particularly of a delicate test of the presence of sulphur,
which consisted in placing a minute portion of an insoluble
sulphate of baryta formed by treating its solution with
chloride of baryum on a very small bit of charcoal, heating
it strongly, then dipping it in a drop of water on polished
silver, giving to the latter a deep black stain.
Mr. Smithson conducted his researches on a minute scale.
The above trials were made with particles little more than
visible; the results, however, sufliciently established the
nature of the constituent parts. The proportions were nec-
essarily left for inquiries on another scale.
The two preceding subjects are honorably noticed in a
historical sketch of improvements in physical science dur-
ing the year 1819, contained in the 16th vol. of the Annals,
(1820,) p. 100.
10. In the same vol. (xvi.) of the Annals, are contained
two letters to Dr. Thomson, one dated Paris, March 17th,
the other March 24th, 1820.
The former contains a “‘ View of the probable causes which
produce fibrous metallic copper, found both in the ores of copper,
and in the slag of copper furnaces.” Mr, Smithson conceives
these fibres to be produced by squeezing metallic copper in
a state of fusion into or through pores of the glass, while
the latter is cooling and contracting.
11. The latter communication contains An account of a
native combination of sulphuret of barium and fluoride of cal-
cium. This substance was found in Derbyshire, in close
proximity with sulphuret of lead.
He describes with great minuteness the reaction of this
substance with tests, and infers that it consists of—
Sulp. of Barium, - - - 51.5
Fluoride of Calcium, - - - 48.5
12. In the Annals, vol. xvii., p. 271, is a letter from Mr.
Smithson, dated February 17, 1821, in which he describes
capillary metallic tin forced through the pores of cast tron.
18. In the Annals for August, 1822, vol. xx., p. 127, is an
article (Art. v.) On the detection of very minute quantities of ar-
senic and mercury.
In this publication he refers to his paper in the Annals
for August, 1819, relative to the compound sulphuret of
lead and arsenic.
AND RESEARCHES OF JAMES SMITHSON. 133
“If arsenic, or any of its compounds, is fused with tho nitrate of potash
.arseniate of potash is produced, of which the solution affords a brick red
precipitate, with nitrate of silver.
‘In cases where any sensible portion of the potash of the nitre has be-
come free, it must be saturated with acetous acid, and the saline mixture
dried and redissolved in water.
‘So small is the quantity of arsenic required for this mode of trial, that
4 drop of a solution of oxide of arsenic in water, which at a heat of 54.6
deg., Fahr., contains not above ,4 of oxide of arsenic, put to nitrate of
potash, in the platina spoon, and fused, affords a considerable quantity of
arseniate of silver. Hence, whence no solid particles of oxide of arsenic
can be obtained, the presence of it may be established by infusing in water
the matter which contains it.
‘« The degree in which this test is sensible is readily determined.
“With 5 2 grains of silver he obtained 6.4 grains of arseniate of silver;
but 0.65 grains of silver was recovered from the liquors, so that the arsen-
iate had been furnished by 4.65 grains of silver. In a second trial, 7.7
grains, of which only 6.8 grains precipitated, yielded 9.6 grains of arseniate.
The mean is 140.17 from 100 silver.”’
Before the invention of the method of subliming a rin
of arsenic in a glass tube, and that more recently employe
by Marsh, of converting it, by means of hydrogen, into ar-
seniuretted hydrogen, the method of Smithson was among
the most delicate in use, and, as a means of obtaining col-
lateral evidence ofthe presence of arsenic, it still continues
to be employed. ;
With respect to mercury, he remarks:
‘* All the oxides and saline compounds of mercury laid in a drop of ma-
rine acid, on gold, with a bit of tin, quickly amalgamate the gold.
‘A particle of the corrosive sublimato, or a drop of a solution of it may
be thus tried. The addition of marine acid is not required in this case.
Quantities of mercury may be rendered evident in this way which could
not be so by any other means.”’ -
This test for mercury, it may be remarked, still keeps its
place among the best evidences of the presence of that
metal.
‘This method will exhibit the mercury in cinnabar. It must be pre-
viously boiled with sulphuric acid, in the platina spoon, to convert it into
sulphate.”
‘Cinnabar heated in a solution of .potash, on gold, amalgamates it.’’
‘A most minute quantity of metallic mercury may be discovered, in a
powder, by placing it in nitric acid, on gold, drying, and adding muriatic
acid and tin.”
14. In the same volume (xx.) is, at page 368, a letter to
the editor of the Annals, On some improvements on lamps,
particularly referring to the form of the wicks, the employment
of wax as their fuel, and the mode of extinguishing them,
by putting sound wax to the wicks, and then blowing out
the flame.
‘Tt is to be regretted,’’ remarks the author, ‘‘ that those who cultivate
science, frequently withhold improvements in their apparatus and processes,
from which they themselves derive advantage, owing to their not deem-
134 MEMOIR ON THE SCIENTIFIC CHARACTER
ing them of sufficient magnitude for publication. When the sole view is
to further a pursuit of whose importance to mankind a conviction exists,
all that can be so, should be imparted, however small may appear the merit
which attaches to it.”’
On the fuel for chemical lamps, he remarks :
‘¢ Oil is a disagreeable combustible for small experimental purposes, and
more especially when lamps are to be carried in travelling. i have there-
fore substituted wax for it. I employ a wax lamp for the blow-pipe.”’
15. In the 21st volume of the Annals, p. 340, is a short
article, (Art. IT.) ‘On the crystalline form of ice,” dated March
14, 1823.
After referring to several contradictory statements, he
remarks :
‘‘ Hail is always crystals of ice, more or less regular. When they are
sufficiently so to allow their form to be ascertained, and which is generally
the case, it is constantly, as far as I have observed, that of two hexagonal
pyramids, joined base to base, similar to that of the crystals of oxide of
silicium, (or quartz,) and of sulphate of potassium. One of the pyramids
is truncated, which leads to the idea that 1ce becomes electrified on a varia-
tion of its temperature, like the tourmaline, silicate of zinc, &e.” —-
‘‘The two pyramids appeared to form, by theis junction, an angle of
about 80°.
‘¢ Snow presents, in fact, the same form as hail, but imperfect. Its flakes
are skeletons of crystals, having the greatest analogy to certain crystals of
alum, white sulphuret of iron, &c., whose faces are wanting, and which
consist of edges only.’’
16. In the same volume of the Annals, (xxi.) p. 359, is a
short paper on a Means of discriminating between the sulphates
of barium and strontium. It is dated April 2d, 1823.
Mr. S. states that when these earths are in a soluble state,
(in acids,) the easier process is to put a particle into a drop
of marine acid, on a plate of glass, and to let the solution
crystallize spontaneously.
The crystals of choride of barium, in rectangular eight-
sided plates, are immediately distinguishable from the
fibrous crystals of the chloride of strontium.
Another method is suggested, that of blending the min-
eral in fine powder, with chloride of barium, and fusing
the mixture, putting the mass into spirits of wine, and
inflaming it while heated, over a lamp, the flame is red if
any strontium is present.
17. In the same volume of the Annals, at p. 884, is a
paper On the discovery of acids in mineral ‘substances, dated
April 12, 1823. This paper gives specific directions in re-
gard to—1, Sulphuric; 2, Muriatic; 8, Phosphoric; 4, Bo-
racic; 5, Arsenic; 6, Chromic; 7, Molybdic; 8, Tungstic ;
9, Nitric; 10, Carbonic; 11, Silicic acids.
18. In the 22d volume, p. 258, of the Annals of Philoso-
AND RESEARCHES OF JAMES SMITHSON. 135
phy, is a short paper On the discovery of chloride of potassium
in the earth.
This discovery resulted from an examination of a red
feruginous mass, containing veins of white crystalline mat-
ter, part of a block said to have been thrown from Vesu-
vius.
It was a spongy lava, with sparse crystals of augite, pyr-
oxene, or ramblende, the white crystalline matter was
wholly soluble in water, and when laid on silver with
sulphate of copper, gave an intense black stain. :
The potash was detected by chloride of platinum and by
tartaric acid.
When decomposed by nitric acid, nitrate of potassa was
the solid obtained by crystallization.
19. At the 30th page of the same volume (xxii.) of the
Annals of Philosophy, is a short tract ‘On the improved
method of making coffee.”
The object is to preserve the aroma of the coffee during
the coction, which Mr. Smithson effected in a phial closed
with a cork, left loose at first, to allow the escape of air,
and afterwards closed tight, and kept immersed in boiling
water until the process was concluded. It may, when
cooled, be filtered, without losing the aroma, and then re-
turned to the close vessel to be re-heated.
‘¢ In all cases means of economy tend to augment and diffuse comfort and
happiness. They bring within the reach of the get what wasteful pro-
ceeding confines to the few. By diminishing expenditure on one article,
they allow of some other enjoyment which was before unattainable. A
reduction in quantity permits an indulgence in superior quality. In the
resent instance the importance of economy is particularly great, since it
is applied to matters of high price, which constitute one of the daily meals
of a large portion of the population of the earth.
‘That in cookery also, the power of subjecting for an indefinite dura-
tion, to a boiling heat, without the slightest dependiture of volatile matter
will admit of a beneficial application, is unquestionable.’’
20. In the same volume of the Annals, (xxii.,) p. 412, is
a paper, by Mr. Smithson, On a method of fixing particles upon
the sappare, (cyauite,) dated October 24, 1823.
He refers to the uncertainty of physical qualities to deter-
mine the species of minerals. Werner was unable, by this
means, to discover the identity of the jargon, (zircon,) and
the hyacinth; of the corundum and the sapphire; of his
apatite and his spargelstein, and ‘“ while he thus parted be-
ings from themselves, as it were, he forced others together,
which had nothing in common.”
Hence, Smithson infers the necessity of chemical analy-
sis; and, to avoid waste, the practice of analyzing on a
very small scale.
136 MEMOIR ON THE SCIENTIFIC CHARACTER
To fix the particles of minerals on a sappare, in order to
subject them to high temperature, Mr. Smithson employed’
water with gum, as used by Saussure, who invented the
method, but he added refractory clay. The particle of
mineral was then made to adhere to this clay, a small por-
tion of it being for this purpose taken upon the end of a
flattened platina wire.
21. In the 23d volume of the Annals, (p. 100,) we find a
paper, by Mr. Smithson, dated, January 2d, 1824, “ On some
compounds of fluorine.”
In this, he makes the apposite and just remark: that, ‘‘a want of due
conviction that the materials of the globe, and the products of the labora-
tory are the same, that what nature affords spontaneously to men, and
what the art of the chemist prepares, differ in no ways but in the sources
from whence they are derived, has given to the industry of the collector
of mineral bodies, an erroneous direction.”
‘‘ What is essential to a knowledge of chemical beings, has been left in
neglect ; accidents of small import, often of none, have fixed attention—
have engrossed it—and a fertile field of pene has thus remained wn-
explored, where, otherwise, it would have been exhausted.”
Tis method of illustrating the character of fluor spar,
was by fixing with clay a small piece, on a bit of platinum
foil, and holding the latter on a clay support, in the end of
a bit of glass tube, and thus subjecting it to the action of
the blow-pipe.
The topaz was also assayed, and gave out fluorine or
fluoric acid. Smithson expresses his conviction that topaz
is a compound of fluate of silicium and fluate of alumiua.*
He also examined kryolite, which had been observed to
diminish in fusibility during fusion.
The result of his experiments were: Ist. That fluorides
are in general decomposable by heat, and hence, that “‘ we
now have a method of discovering the presence of fluorine.”
2d. The theory of these decompositions may be obtained
by experiment.
Reterring to the minute blow-pipe experiments with
which his results had been obtained, he significantly re-
marks :
‘‘There may be persons, who, measuring the importance of the subject
by the magnitude of the object, will cast a supercilious look on this discus-
sion; but the particle and the planet are subject to the same laws, and what
is learned upon the one will be known of the other,”
22. In the same volume (xxiii.) of the Annals, p. 115, is
a short paper of the same date, (January 2, 1824,) containing
An account of an examination of some Egyptian colors.
* At this day he would probably have substituted the terms jluoride of silictum
and fluoride of aluminum.
AND RESEARCHES OF JAMES SMITHSON. 137
“‘ More than commonly incurious must he be, who would not find dolight
in stemming the stream of ages, returning to times long past, and behold-
ing tho then existing state of things and of men.
«In the arts of an ancient people, much may be seen concerning them,
the progress they had made in knowledge of various kinds, their habits
and their ideas on various subjects. Products of skill may likewise occur,
either wholly unknown to us, or superior to those which now supply them.’?
He received from Mr. Curtin, who traveled in Egypt,
with Belzoni, a small fragment of the tomb of King Psam-
mis.
It was sculptured in basso relievo and painted, the colors
being white, red, black and blue. The white was found to
be carbonate of lime; the red, oxide of iron ; the black,
pouneee wood charcoal, the texture of the larger particles
eing perfectly discernible with a lens, after dissolving out
the other coloring matters. The blue was a smalt of glass
powder, its tinging matter, however, was not cobalt, but
copper. Melted with borax and tin, the red oxide of copper
immediately appeared.
23. In the 24th volume of the Annals, p. 50, is a paper
of ten pages, bearing date June 10, 1824, and containing
Some observations on Mr. Penn’s theory concerning the formation
of the Kirkdale cave.
The writer whose work Smithson criticises, had attempted
to account for the bones by referring them to the period of .
“the Deluge.” This opinion Mr. Smithson very successfully
combats. A confutation is, however, hardly needed by
geologists in our day. It is not therefore deemed necessary
to follow the writer through the steps of his reasoning.
24. In the 25th volume of the Annals, is a letter from Dr.
Black, to Mr. Smithson, describing his delicate balance for
weighing minute quantities of metals, and other results of
analysis, consisting of .a thin bit of fir, with a fine cambric
needle for an axis, and an upturned bit of brass for a gup-
port. To this apparatus Mr. Smithson suggested some im-
provement in the formation of the weights. oa
There is much reason to suppose that the foregoing list of
twenty-four papers, does not embrace all the published
works of Mr. Smithson. The numerous lists of loci or
topics, evidently designed to form the heads of essays or
treatises, either found disconnected, or united with loose
notes, on each topic, or wrought out into formal essays, of
which several are found among his manuscripts, afford
ground for believing that he was a contributor to some of
the literary productions of the day; but as such pieces
_ generally appear anonymously, it is not easy to ascertain
138 MEMOIR ON THE SCIENTIFIC CHARACTER
the precise object for which these numerous tracts were
composed. .
It appears from all which has been cited, from the pub-
lished works of Smithson, that his was not the character of
a mere amateur of science. He was an active and industri-
ous laborer in the most interesting and important branch
of research—mineral chemistry.
A contemporary of Davy, and of Wollaston, and a cor-
respondent of Black, Banks, Thomson, and a host of other
names renowned in the annals of science, it is evident that
his labors had to undergo the scrutiny of those who could
easily have detected errors, had any of a serious character
been committed.
His was a capacity by no means contemptible, for the
operations and expedients of the laboratory. He felt the
importance of every help afforded by a simplification of
methods and means of research, and the use of minute
quantities, and accurate determinations in conducting his
inquiries. Many of those “lurid spots in the vast field of
darkness,” of which he spoke so feelingly, have, since his
days of activity, expanded into broad sheets of light.
Chemistry has assumed its rank among the exact sciences.
Methods and instruments of analysis, unknown to the age
of Smithson, have come into familiar use among chemists.
These may have rendered less available for the present pur-
poses of science, than they otherwise might have been, a
portion of the analysis and other researches of our author.
The same may, however, be said of nearly every other
writer of his day.
Having dwelt so long on the published papers of Mr.
Smithson, it will be practicable to give but a brief account
of his unpublished memoirs and other writings. These
are comprised in about two hundred manuscripts, besides
numberless scraps and miscellaneous notes of a cyclopedical
character. Many of these are connected with general sub-
jects of history—the arts—language—rural pursuits—gar-
dening—the construction of buildings, and kindred topics,
such as are likely to occupy the thoughts and to constitute
the reading of a gentleman of extensive acquirements and
liberal views, derived from a long and intimate acquaintance
with the world.
In a pretty copious mass of notes on the subject of habita-
tions, for example, the materials are discussed under the
several heads of situation, exposure, exterior, and interior
arrangements, materials for their construction; contents of
AND RESEARCHES OF JAMES SMITHSON. 1389
rooms, furniture, pictures, statuary, and other objects of
taste.
In a tract upon knowledge, he takes occasion to remark,
that men may consider themselves as having four sources
of knowledge: 1st. Observing. 2d. Reasoning. 3d. In-
formation. 4th. Conjecture. It is evident that in his own
acquirements in knowledge, he followed this order of pro-
ceding, and did not, as many have done, both before and
since his time, begin with conjecturing, proceed next, to ask
information as to the opinions of others, receiving, as sound,
all those which tally with the conjecture, and rejecting the
rest, and end with attempting to reason themselves into a
belief that this mass of crude fantasies constitutes philoso-
phy. Smithson began the process of acquisition by observ-
ing. For this purpose he made a number of tours or scien-
tific journeys, taking, as opportunity offered, careful obser-
vations of all interesting facts.
It was in 1784, (now sixty years since,) that, in company
with Mr. Thornton, Monsieur Faujas De St. Fond, the cele-
brated French philosopher, and the Count Andrioni, he
made one of these tours, through New Castle, Edinburg,
Glasgow, Dunbarton, Tarbet, Inverary, Oban, Arross, Tur-
tusk, and the island of Staffa. In all these places observa-
tions on the evidences of geological structure, on the min-
eral contents of rocks, on the superposition of beds, on the
methods of mining, smelting ores, and conducting manu-
facturing processes, were made with all the minuteness
which the arrangements of the journey could permit.
The period of two generations of men elapsed since the
journey to Fingal’s cave was undertaken, has seen a vast
accession of strength to that ruling passion which now
sends forth the votaries of geology of all countries, with
hammer and knapsack, to explore alike the desert and the
fertile field, to indulge in the luxury of toilsome wander-
ings, soiled apparel, hard lodgings, and scanty fare.
‘he hardships and privations of such expeditions were,
at that day, not so often encountered as at present, because
the expeditions themselves were seldom undertaken. Still,
it would, even in our own time, be thought a very respect-
able piece of hardihood and scientific self-denial, to en-
counter such risks and privations as are here and there
jotted down in Smithson’s journal, in relation to this visit
to the island of Staffa.
The party had arrived at a house on the coast of Mull,
opposite the island. The journal proceeds:
“
140 MEMOIR ON THE SCIENTIFIC OHARACTER
“Mr. Turtusk got me a separate boat,—set off about half-past eleven
o’clock in the morning, on Friday, the 24th of September, for Staffa.
Some wind, the sea a little rough,—wind increased, sea ran very high,=-
rowed round some part of the island, but found it impossible to go before
Fingal’s cave,—was obliged to return,—landed on Staffa with difficulty,—
sailors press to go off again immediately,—am unwilling to depart without
having thoroughly examined tho island, Resolve to stay wll night. Mr.
Maclaire stays with me; the other party which was there had already come
to the very same determination,—all crammed into one bad hut, though
nine of ourselves, besides the family ;—supped upon eggs, potatoes, and
milk,—lay upon hay, in a kind of barn.’’? (The party, be it remembered,
embraced two English gentlemen, one French savan, one Italian count.)
‘25th. Got up early, sea ran very high, wind extremely strong—no boat
could put off. Breakfasted on boiled potatoes and milk; dined upon the
same; only got a few very bad fish ; supped on potatoes and milk ;—lay in
the barn, firmly expecting to stay there for a week, without even bread.”
“Sunday, the 26th. The man of the island came at five or six o’clock in
the morning, to tell us that the wind was dropped, and that it was a good
day. Set off in the small boat, which took water so fast’ that my servant
was obliged to bail constantly—the sail, an old plaid—the ropes, old gar-
ters.”’
With this unpromising outfit, however, the party, at
length, once more, reach terra firma.
On the 29th, the tourists are at Oban, where a little cir-
cumstance is noted, which significantly marks the zeal and
activity of the collector of minerals and fossils, and the
light in which that devotion to geology is sometimes viewed
by the unscientific part of the community :
‘September 29, This day packed up my fossils in a barrel, and paid 2s.
6d. for their going by water to Edinburg. Mr. Stevenson charged half a
crown a night for my rooms, because I had brought ‘ stones and dirt,’ as he
said, into it.”
A month later we find him at Northwich:
‘‘ October 28. Went to visit one of the salt mines, in which they told me
there were two kinds of salt. They let me down in a bucket, in which I
only put one foot, and I had a miner with me. I think the first shaft was
about thirty yards, at the bottom of which was a pool of water, but on one
side there was a horizontal opening, from which sunk a second shaft, which
went to the bottom of the pit, and a man let us down in a bucket smaller
than the first.”’
Tn these trivial incidents we may note the character of an
enthusiast in pursuit of his favorite objects; a man not to
be turned aside by the fear of a little personal inconvenience
from the attainment of his ends. In his tours on the con-
tinent, of which, one was made from Geneva to Italy,
through Tyrol, in 1792; one through certain parts of Ger-
many, in 1805; another in 1808, and a third from Berlin to
Hamburg, in 1809, are found many interesting remarks on
the physical features, geology, and climate of the districts
of country through which he passed.
What has now been presented, may perhaps enable us to
judge of the animus which impelled Smithson to found an
AND RESEARCHES OF JAMES SMITHSON. 141
institution “for the increase and diffusion of knowledge
among men.”
It may at least enable us to- decide whether it was any
undue assumption on his part, to constitute himself a patron
of science. ‘Those who look at the matter in the humble
light of a mere pecuniary transaction, will, readily enough,
answer the question. ‘They will say ‘“ every man has a right
to do what he will with his own.”
But the inquiry is one of far higher import, it addresses
itself to men of science. Had Smithson the qualifications
which should authorize and require us to defer to his judgment,
were he now living, in regard to the specific objects of an institu-
tion, founded in the broad and comprehensive terms employed in
his will? To this, I think, there can be but one answer.
If anybody has a right to direct how institutions of science
should be founded and conducted, it is they, who have in-
ured their own hands to the work, who have taken the
laboring oar, and won, by its use, an honorable distinc-
tion. Such a man, we have seen, was JAMES SMITHSON.
A single question more.—What would have been the
purposes of an institution founded by Smithson in his life-
time ?
To this, his lifetime is a sufficient answer.
Researches to “increase” positive knowledge, and publi-
cations to “diffuse” and make that knowledge available
to mankind—such were the great objects of his own con-
stant, praiseworthy, and laborious efforts.*
*The Smithson fund in possession of the Government of the United
States, now amounts (April 10, 1844) to $700,000, of which the interest is
$42,000 per annum. Two years’ interest are said to be unpaid.(?)
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—— ;
ON THE WORKS AND CHARACTER OF JAMES
SMITHSON.
By J. R. McD. Irpy.*
It is the characteristic of modern biography that it seeks
to know the personalities of men. It has ceased altogether
to be amere chronology. It attempts to introduce to us its
subjects as we would have known them in actual life and to
make them the people of our inward world.
Who that has known the splendid benefits derived from
Smithson’s great foundation has not felt a desire to know
more nearly him from whom the gift proceeded? Who has
not been impressed with his persevering philanthropy, when,
failing to accomplish his object through the Royal Society
of Great Britain, he turned his face to the New World and
laid up his name in the new order of things and men?
Who has not discerned in this the spirit of a real benefactor
of mankind, and not that of a vain builder of his own monu-
ment. It is my pleasant task to show something of his
way, his work, and his thought.
Smithson’s actual additions to knowledge are not great,
but they are distinct. It was his misfortune to work at two
sciences, chemistry and mineralogy, which were yet in their
infancy, and at a third, geology, which, though pregnant to
the birth, was still unborn, in a true sense. In the dark
beginnings of things, when both ideas and methods are im-
perfect, it is seldom that the bewildered gropings of men
become valued heirlooms to posterity.
We could wish Smithson’s name to have been coupled
with some great discovery, or with the apprehension of
some far-reaching law that would have formed a worthy in-
scription for the portal of his institution. Though this be
not gratified, we shall find that he appreciated the great
Mle ae before him and attempted their solution; that he
nocked earnestly and worthily at the portal of great knowl-
edge, and that although it was denied him to be the first to
enter into the greater chambers, he was, nevertheless, no
unworthy seeker. When we have caught the utterances of
* Prepared at the request of the Institution, September, 1878.
1438
144 ON THE WORKS AND CHARACTER
his writings we shall learn that his mind was tuned to
great things. :
The greater part of Smithson’s work was in analytical
chemistry. He discovered several tests, the most important
of which is the blow-pipe test for sulphur by reducing its
compounds on charcoal with carbonate of sodium, and ob-
serving the stain on silver when the fused mass is laid upon
it in a drop of water (p. 66). In the paper “ On the Detec-
tion of very Minute Quantities of Arsenic and Mercury,”
(p. 75,) two very good tests for these elements are given,
especially that for the first :
“Tf arsenic, or any of its compounds, is fused with nitrate of potash,
arseniate of potash is produced, of which the solution affords a brick-red
precipitate with nitrate of silver.’’
The paper on page 82 gives a systematic coutse for distin-
guishing the mineral acids. On page 82 a flame-test is
given for strontium, which is perhaps .the earliest applica-
tion of colored flames in analytical chemistry. In the
paper, page 94, “On some Compounds of Fluorine,” the
method of detecting this element is described, and a very
neat form of apparatus given. The latter is peculiarly con-
venient in that the etching of glass and the change of color
of logwood paper may be simultaneously observed.
A glance through his papers will show how much of his
work was actual analysis. Owing to the great improve-
ments in analytical chemistry since his day, his quantitative
results are of little value to us. This is not true, though,
of the qualitative work. The composition of the so-called
Tabasheer (hydrous silica), of the Egyptian colors, the pres-
ence of some carbonate in certain calamines, as well as other
of his results, have a permanent value. We are apt to
overlook them because they are become so obvious and ele-
mentary.
Connected with and occasioned by certain of his analyses
are some considerations on the laws of the chemical compo-
sition of bodies. These, though erroneous, are the greatest
of his scientific attempts. They are found on page 27,
“Observations? appended to the paper on calamines. |
These were published in 1802. A further development of
his views is found in the paper, page 84, ‘On the Compo-
sition of a Compound Sulphuret from Huel Boys,” pub-
lished in 1808. His idea was that the weights of the prox-
imate constituents of any complex compound bore a simple
relation to one another. His experiments lead him to infer
that sulphate of zinc is composed of equal weights of ZnO
and 80%. This, though very nearly, is not accurately true; so
OF JAMES SMITHSON. 145
nearly that the analytical chemistry of that day was power-
less to detect the difference. His analyses of the Mendip
Hill calamine seemed to show (and did show as nearly as
they showed the truth) that it was composed of—
Garbonio’neid’s: 222.5 322 Sacks a8 pees A
Gals’ or ‘zing SoU ete Sos Rieu es eoees
He thought to have found further confirmation of his
views in the analysis of the compound sulphuret from Huel
‘Boys. It must be borne in mind that these attempts were
anterior to the publication of Dalton’s theory, (his Chemical
Philosophy, appeared in 1808.) The second of the above
mentioned papers was also in 1808, but in the very begin-
ning of the year. . He seems to have been absent from Eng-
land, for he mentions in the beginning of the paper that the
Philosophical Transactions for 1804, had just come into his
hands; and on page 39, paragraph 2, that certain of his
notes were in England. We may be sure he had no know-
ledge of Dalton’s theory. In the paper ‘On the Composition
of Zeolite,” published in 1811, he does not recur tothem. I
think these views are worthy of notice in the history of
chemical theory. They were as certainly established as was
possible with the analytical methods of that day.
Ilis very correct apprehension of the true problem of ana-
lytical chemistry probably confirmed him in his error. In
the second paper above referred to, on page 85, we find the
following passage :
‘t'We have no real knowledge of the nature of a compound substance
until we are acquainted with its proximate elements, or those matters by
whose direct or immediate union it is produced; for these only are its true
elements. Thus, though we know that vegetable acids consist of oxygene,
hydrogene, and carbon, we are not really acquainted with their composi-
tion, because these are not their proximate—that is, their true elements,
but are elements of their elements, or elements of these. It is evident
what would be our acquaintance with sulphate of iron, for example, did
wo only know that a crystul of it consisted of iron, sulphur, oxygene and
hydrogene; or of carbonate of lime, if only that it was a compound of
lime, carbon or diamond, and oxygene. In fact, totally dissimilar sub-
stances may have the same ultimate elements, and even probably in pre-
cisely the same proportions; nitrate of ammonia and hydrate of ammonia
or crystals of caustic volatile alkuli both ultimately consist of oxygene,
hydrogene, and azote,’’ Paes
This remarkably lucid passage could not be improved
upon now, three quarters of a century later. Without doubt
"his exceedingly clear conception of importance of proxi-
mate analysis led him to seek the laws relative to compounds
in their proximate constituents; and he thought to have
found them.
The following passage, page 87, relating to the same
10
° 146 ON THE WORKS AND CHARACTER
subject, shows his perfect understanding of the inductive
method, and the inherent indeterminateness of his analysis.
‘Tt is evident there must be a precise quantity in which the elements of
compounds are united together in them, otherwise a matter, which was not
a simple one, would be liable in its several masses, to vary from itself, accor-
ding as one or the other of its ingredients chanced to predominate; but
chemical experiments are unavoidably attended with too many sources of
fallacy for this precise quantity to be discovered by them; it is therefore to
theory that we must owe the knowledge of it. For this purpose an hypoth-
esis must be made, and its justness tried by a strict comparison with facts,
If they are found at variance, the assumed hypothesis must be relinquished
with candor as erroneous; but should it, on the contrary, prove, on a mul-
titude of trials, invariably to accord with the results of observation, as
nearly as our means of determination authorize us to expect, we are war-
ranted in believing that the principle of nature is obtained, as we then have
all the proofs of 'its being so, which men can have of the justness of their
theories: a constant and perfect agreement with the phenomena, as far as
can be discovered.’’
The following passage, page 29, shows how clearly the
object to be attained was set forth in his own mind:
‘‘ Tf the theory here advanced has any foundation in truth the discovery
will introduce a degree of rigorous accuracy and certainty into chemistry,
of which this science was thought to be ever incapable, by enabling the
chemist, like the geometrician, to rectify by calculation the unavoidable
errors of his manual operations, and by authorizing him to eliminate from
the essential elements of a compound those products of its analysis whose
quantity cannot be reduced to any admissible proportion.
‘© A certain knowledge of the exact proportions of the constituent prin-
ciples of bodies, may likewise open to our view harmonious analogies be-
tween the constitutions of related objects, general laws, &c., which at
present totally escupe us. In short, if it is founded in truth, its enabling
the application of mathematics to chemistry cannot but be productive of
material results.’’
At the time his paper on the ‘“‘ Compounds of Fluorine”
was published, the composition of fluor spar was still a mat-
ter of doubt. ‘The following is a sketch of a proposed
method for determining it:
“‘Tf fluor spar, for instance, is a combination of oxide of calcium and
fluoric acid, and this is expelled from the oxide merely by the force of fire,
the decomposition of it will take place in closed vessels without the pres-
ence of oxygen or of water; fluoric acid will bo obtained; and the weight
of this acid and the lime will be equal together to that of the original spar.
‘‘ Tf the spar is metallic calcium and fluorine, and when heated in oxygen
absorbs this, and parts with fluorine, it is fluorine which will be collected
in the vessels, and its weight and that of the lime will together exceed that
of the spar by the oxygen of the lime.”
Further on he suggests the employment of vessels of
fluor spar for the examination of fluorine. He then dis-
cusses the phenomenon of intumescence as observed in
fluor spar and similar substances, in order to correct an
erroneous explanation of its nature that it was a “ new state
OF JAMES SMITHSON. 147
of equilibrium induced by. heat between the constituent
parts of a body.”
“Why is the change of quality limited to the surface; how has been
produced the central cavity; what has forced away the matter which
occupied it? A new element has been received from without, one which
existed in the matter has been parted with in a state of vapor. This double
action may probably be inferred wherever a matter presents this species of
vegetation,” (p. 100.)
As the story of his analysis of a tear indicates, he was an
exceedingly nice manipulator. Ie was one of the very first
who commenced the cardinal practice of rnodern analytical
chemistry, the use of delicate methods and small quantities
of material. THis quantitative determinations were usually
made with about a gramme, and his qualitative determina-
tions often with almost invisible bits. In the examination of
the “ Native Compound of Sulphuret of Lead and Arsenic”
(binnite of Naumann) from Upper Valois, his “ trials were
made with particles little more than visible.” On page 95
he says: “A very minute fragment of fluor spar is fastened
by means of clay to the end of a platina wire nearly as fine
as a hair, which is the size I now employ even with fluxes.”
We have before noticed the neat and simple apparatus (p.
97) for the detection of fluorine. On page 86 a method of
making and using thin clay plates is given, which might,
at the present time, be advantageously employed in blow-
pipe work, especially if they were made from a pure kaoline.
Lhe paper on the “ Method of Fixing Particles on the Sap-
pare” (fibres of cyanite) contains repeated instances of his
delicacy and neatness.
Smithson’s contributions to mineralogy consists princi-
pally in the discovery of several new species. Native red
lead was first examined by him and its having been derived
from galena demonstrated. He also first observed chloride
of potassium, in a native state from Vesuvius, He attributed
its presence in lava to sublimation. The native compound
of sulphuret of lead and arsenic is the rhombic mineral
binnite (of Naumann), as is recognized by its locality, chem-
ical composition, hardness and cleavage. Ie also described
a native compound of sulphate of barium and fluoride of cal-
cium from Derbyshire. Naumann (Min., 9te Aufl., p. 261,
Anmerkung 8) thinks, as is correct, that this is only a mix-
ture and not a true species.
The crystallographical observations of Smithson are of
rather a rough character, owing perhaps to his instruments.
They refer to the forms of electric calamine, of bournonite
(the compound sulphuret from Huel Boys) and of ice. The
me
148 ON THE WORKS AND CHARACTER
rhombic character of bournonite escaped him, he having
taken it for quadratic. Snow he found to have the form of
a double six-sided pyramid, with a lateral angle of about
80° The various observations on its forms are so discrep-
ant, however, that it is impossible to state which are correct.
On page 81 he gives a crystallographical test to distinguish
between the chlorides of barium and of strontium. The
crystals of the one are rectangular, eight-sided plates; those
of the other fibrous.
At this point, a handful of Smithson’s manuscripts may
be mentioned, which escaped the fire at the institution in
1865. They consisted of notes on various specimens of
minerals and rocks belonging to his collection, and also
several fragments of catalogues, which seem to have been
begun in various years. The earliest bears the date 1796,
the latest 1822. ‘These are of little or no scientific value,
except in so far as they illustrate the way in which he
worked. The following are a few extracts from them:
No. 1.—Carbonate of lime containing manganese, from near
Aix la Chappelle.
Tt dissolved in nitric acid with effervesence like carbonate of lime. The
salt obtuined from this solution by drying over a candle is quite white, but
on heating more it becomes brown, and then on solution in water leaves a
small quantity of brown powder. Prussiate of soda and iron caused a
white precipitate in solution of this stone, and in it the least blue was per-
ceivable. Tincture of galls produced no black color with it.
Somo of the above nitrous salt melted on platinum with nitrate of pot-
ash gave the green color of manganese.
Copperas put into some of this nitrous solution caused a precipitate of
sulphate of lime.
This carbonate of lime and manganese becomes brown at tho blow-pipe.
This carbonate of lime and manganese colored borax red.
No. 19.—Reduced nickel free from arsenic.
It was made at the blow-pipe from oxide of nickel which had been fused
with saltpetre. It contains admixed borax. It is infusible. It probably
contuins cobalt.
No. 4.—Crust from the church bell of Torre del Greco,
formed by the lava in 1794.
There is a crystal in the little group which is the most regular. The two
larger faces of this crystal seem to form an angle of 140° with the prism,
and meet together at the summit in an angle of 80°. There is a broken
crystal in the same group which seems to show that the four larger faces of
tho prism form together angles of 90°. The form of these crystals is 8-
sided prisms and 4-sided pyramids and are similar to ITI. 55. d., having
the four edges of the prism slightly truncated. -
No. 7.—A small group of native gold in 24-sided crystals
from V6réspatak, in Transylvania.
The matrix is evidently a quartzose stone. Shows in many parts minute
OF JAMES SMITHSON. 149
crystals of quartz, and contains pyrites disseminated in it, which are
probably auriferous.
No. 25.—Arseniate of iron. Paris, September 25, 1820.
1. Nitric acid was put on tosome native arsenuret of cobalt to form nitrate
of cobalt, and this mutter formed as a sulphur colored powder in tho mix-
ture, It was washed and dried.
2. Heated in a tube some water and crystals of arsenious acid sublimed
and a dark mass remnained.
8. This dark mass heated on coal at the blow- ipe omitted fumes prob-
ably of arsenious acid and became like a scoria o iron, but the magnot did
not effect it.
4. The scoria-like mass dissolved in borax with effervesence and spread
much on the coal. This glass in the whole looked black, but where there
were air-bubbles it had the color of chrysoberyl.
5. This borax was heated in dilute muriatic acid ina tube. The acid
quickly became yellow.
Prussiate of soda and iron formed an abundant recipitate of prussian
blue; but nitrate of silver formed only a white cutie precipitate of chlo-
ride of silver, and no arseniate of silver.
It is probable, however, that the above yellow powder is arseniate or ar-
senite of iron. '
No. 955.—Paris, May, 1819.
1. In Mr. Stockhausen’s catalogue this is called mountain cork, and said
to be from Dauphenée.
Both the black fibrous part and the white art, when held in the flame
of a candle, tako fire and burn with a large flare,
When the white part was tried, a fluid matter like oil flowed from it and
ran along the lips of the pincers, and on cooling set with a crystalline tex-
ture. The color was greenish, and it was soft nnd brittle like spermacite,
No fetid animal smell was perceived during the combustion,
The matter is more like adiposcere than mountain cork,
No. 1166. Octahedral crystals from Clausthal.
1. These crystals are easily broken.
te Put into pure muriatic acid, the fragments of it did not suffer any
change. :
3. er se, at the blow-pipe they did not decrepitate, but readily reduced
to a white metal, which exhaled.
4. They dissolve in borax with effervescence, without coloring it. Balls
of a white metal were produced, but when the borax became fluid it soaked
into the charcoal like alkali, and the whole disappeared.
5. The form of the crystals is regular octahedral, with tho six points cut
off.
6. Their color is gray, and their aspect metallic.
7. Their fracture is perfectly tubular and parallel to the six corners of
the octahedron. Their true form is a cube, fissile, parallel to its six faces,
N. B.—These are, most probably, common sulphuret of lead.
No. 1564.—Native gold from the Edder, a river in Hessia,
in Germany.
T had it from Capt. Stockhausen’s cabinet,
N. B.—It is only mica.
»
150 ON THE WORKS AND CHARACTER
No. 1639.—A button, which is a white compound of cop-
per, ete.
1. Melted on a bit of slate with saltpetre—the solution of this salt gave
a yellow precipitate, with nitrate of silver,
2. Melted on the coal the metal spread ; no flowers of oxide. It was
very fusible; seemed white while melted ; the cooled button filed was yel-
low like brass; hence, perhaps, an alloy of copper and zinc or tin.
3. It dissolved wholly in nitric acid, forming a clear blue solution; ex-
haled dry, and pure water added, a small quantity of grey powder was left
insoluble.
This solution poured into much water became milky, and some of this
milky liquor put into a watch glass with ammonia, and then nitrate of sil-
ver added, yielded a yellow precipitate.
No. 1672.—Braunkohle mit Stockwerk vom Ahlberge bei
Mariendorf.
In the fire it emits a copious pungent smoke, which pains tho eyes greatly.
An incombustible residuum remains of the form and nearly size of the bit
of wood, which very slowly burned to a white ash. (Paris, March 2, 1820.)
With saltpetre this incombustible residuum burned like anthracite. While
tho saltpotre was fluid it looked like a dark green color, though not like
manganese, On fusing again this color vanished, but on sudden cooling in
water tho blue was restored. The solution in water was not green, and did
not become red.
No. 1766.—Fuller’s earth.
. Does not lose its black color in water.
. Decrepitates.
. Melts easily into a black glass, which seems opaque.
. This black glass is taken up by the magnet.
. Adheres to the tongue.
. Rubbed with a little water on a bit of unglazed china it gives a yellow
greenish color.
7. Found in a basalt quarry at Wilhelmshdhe, 1804.
anr Oh
No. 2012.—Green clay found by self near Frankfort, April
the —, 1805.
1, In a moist state it is very lubric.
2. Compressed in this state to a thin plate it is considerably hard.
8. In the fire hardens and melts to a black glass; is not very fusible,
and shows no inflation.
4, Seems to dissolve in borax without much difficulty, and colors it very
green, If a great quantity of the clay is put to the borax, a black bead is
obtained.
5. I found it adhering to (coating one side of) a mass of lava lately
extracted from the earth, 1t had probably formed in a fissure of the lava
stratum.
6. Strongly heated on coal it became black, and the edges melted toa
black glass. In this state it was not drawn on by the horse-shoe magnet ;.
but reduced to powder, on a brass plate, some of the powder was taken
up.
7. Sulphate of soda and iron did not dissolve it, but the bead became
slightly milky on cooling.
8. Put into water it falls into lumps like curds, but which pressed with
the fingers, reduce to a powder. ‘
OF JAMES SMITHSON. 151
No. 2952. Unknown plated metallic ore, said to come from
the Hartz, in my cabinet marked No. 2952.
. Its color is grey, like that of lead or sulphuret of zinc.
. It is brittle.
. Has the metallic gloss and opacity.
. Per se on the charcoal decrepitates greatly.
. With borax melts, effervesces, emits » white smoke, and exhales,
leaving a small ball of white metal, which appears to be lead, as it is en-
tirely fluid when not very hot.
6. Melted in the gold spoon with carbonate of soda produces a greyish
mass; water added formed a black powder, and tho solution stained silver
only very slightly. This solution being mixed with nitric acid produced
but a very slight smell of sulphide of soda, and the black powder continued
insoluble.
7. Reduced to powder and very strong nitric acid poured on it there was
no effect, but gradually a very gentle effervescence took place, the ore was
decomposed and sulphur became visible.
8. A small bit held at the end of a clay-slip in the flame of the lamp it
partially melts and glazes the clay-bit around itself. The flamo being
directed on it by the blow-pipe it melts to a metallic ball and spreads a
yellow gloss on the clay. The little metallic button, being separated from
the clay-bit and beat on the steel plate, extended to a thin and hot platg
which was flexible like lead.
9. The solution No. 7 afforded colorless octahedral crystals.
No. 3098—Black slate.
1. It feels very light.
2. The lens shows particles of mica in it.
8. Before the blow-pipe it takes fire and burns with a flame like coals,
but docs not melt, leaving a greyish mass of its former shape and volume,
This muss is as hard as the slate. The burned bit put into muriatic acid
produced a smell of liver of sulphur. ae
4, Another burned bit at a strong fire melted quickly at the angles to a
glossy black matter. It did not stain silver—was not drawn by the mug-
net. Put on to silver with a drop of muriatic acid it made some small
spots on it.
5. Put into pure muriatic acid it effervesced eo slowly as to_be scarcely
visible, and the smaller bits did not fall to powder or soften. Put in pow-
der into muriatic acid the effervescence was more sensible, but I could not
not find that the solution reddened sensibly the flame of a candle.
N. B.—This might prove a new test.
No. 3912.—Carbonate of lime. St. Andreasberg.
Qe oc = 90°
no = 127° 380’
com ooh
ne = 142° 30’
From the above figures it is probable that the faces » are those of the
rhombohedron, A, fig 7, Haiiy, though the angles differ by 8° 16’.
[(—¢R:0 = 127° 15". L]
152 ON THE WORKS AND CHARACTER
No. 8926.—Black lead pencil bought at Frankfort. May,
1805.
1. It cost thirty-six kreutzers, or about one shilling and two pence, Eng-
lish,
2. Held in the candle the point does not soften or seem affected,
8. A bit heated at the blow-pipe in the spoon emits a copious white smoke
witbout any sensible smell of sulphur, and the smoke settled as a white
powder on bodies. The bit of pencil falls into a coarse scaly powder. This
powder looked so like the scaly manganese or iron I suspected its being
such ; but melted with saltpetre it consumed and did not impart to it the
least bit of green.
A bit of the pencil heated with carbonate of soda did not form visible
liver of sulpkur, but the solution of the mass stained silver.
No. 8926.—Factitious pencil bought at Frankfort in 1805.
1. A bit exposed at the blow-pipe burns with a flame and emits a copious
white smoke. A matter remains which falls to powder under the touch
and seems to be plumbago.
No. 5763.—Perhaps Fluorspar, from a lead mine, Matlock
bath, in Derbyshire, 1799.
1. Powdered, and put into muriatic acid, there is a momentary efferves-
cence from some particles of carbonate of lime but no sensible diminution
of the powder.
2. Heated in sulphuric acid on a bit of glass it effervesced much, but the
rluss was not depolished.
3. Sulphate of soda formed hydrated sulphate of lime in the solution
No. 1.
4. It melted with carbonate of soda, with effervescence, and formed a
transparent glass, with opaque white quartz in it which morealkali did not
dissolve. .
6. This stone scratches glass,
6. The glass (4) was treated with muriatic acid; the whole did not dis-
solve,
7. This muriatic solution exhaled dry, left no crystals on adding water.
On drying again, and heating more, and adding a small quantity, a dark
matier, probably oxide of manganese, was left.
Sulphuric acid added to this solution formed no immediate precipitate,
but one of hydrated sulphate uf lime formed.
q
These minute experiments are recorded for a considerable
number of specimens. It may be that there were many
more of them than have been preserved. They show with
what careful and minute accuracy Smithson worked and
noted all he did. A large number of these notes were of
rocks and clays. This seems to have been the only way in
which he busied himself with geology.
A system of chemical nomenclature was made use of in
these jottings which, perhaps, deserves notice on account
of its curiousness. It is an extension of the astronomical
Hee as applied to certain of the metals. ‘They are as fol-
OWS:
OF JAMES SMITHSON.
Water.
Fire.
Platinum.
Tron.
Sulphur.
Copper.
Mercury.
Arsenicum.
Gold.
Nickel.
Zine.
Silver.
Oxygen.
Silica.
Carbonic Aeid.
Distilled Vinegar.
x Orystal.
“1S Precipitate.
@ Curdy.
—f \ Sublimate.
Cr Baryta.
Ore Boda.
Cur Potassa.
10 Lime.
+ Oo” Oxide of Iron.
OO Arsenic.
+0O-O Arsenious Acid. |
Lo _ Lime Water.
A
O Magnesia.
Tavasys Barium Chloride.
AP Fluor-Calcium.
Ag Carbonate of Lime.
158
154 ON THE WORKS AND CHARACTER
The following extracts illustrate his manner of thinking:
“
‘‘ Chemistry is yet so now a science, what woe know of it bears so small a
proportion to what we are ignorant of, our knowledge in every department
of it is so incomplete, so broken, consisting so entirely of isolated points
thinly scattered like lucid specks on a vast field of darkness, that no re-
searches can be undertaken without producing some facts, leading to some
consequences, which extend beyond the boundaries of their immediate
object,’’ (p. 26.)
“The only requisite for this operation (crystallization) is a freedom of
motion in the masses which tend to unite, which allows them to yield to
the impulse which propels them together, and to obey that sort of polarity
which occasions them to present to each other the parts adapted to mutual
union,’”’ (p. 31.)
‘‘T doubt the existence of triple, quadruple, &c., compounds; I believe
that all combination is binary; that no substance whatever has more than
two proximate or true elements,”’ (p. 36.)
‘‘ Many persons, from experiencing much difficulty in comprehending
the combination together of the earths, have been led to suppose the exis-
tence of undiscovered acids in stony crystals. If quartz itself be consid-
ered as an acid, to which order of bodies its qualities much more nearly
assimilate it, than to the earths, their composition becomes readily intelli-
gible. They will then be neutral salts, silicates, either simple or compound,’’
(p. 46.)
It would be interesting to know if this be the first men-
tion of the acid nature of silica; if so, it should be noticed.
This was written in January, 1811:
‘A knowledge of the productions of art, and of its operations, is indis-
pensable to the geologist. Bold is the man who undertakes to assign effects
to agents with which he has no acquaintance; which he never has beheld
in action; to whose indisputable results he is an utter stranger; who en-
gages in the fabrication of a world alike unskilled in the forces and the
materials which he employs,” (p. 70.) :
The following passages would not be lost on certain mod-
ern philosophers :
‘© A want of due conviction that the matcrials of the globe and the pro-
ducts of the laboratory are the same, that what nature affords spontaneously
to men, and what the art of the chemist prepares, differ no ways but in
the sources from whence they are derived, has given to the industry of the
collector of mineral bodies an erroneous direction,” (p. 94.)
‘‘ There may be persons who, measuring the importance of the subject by
the magnitude of the objects, will cast asupercilious look on this discussion
(on intumescence ); but the particle and the planet are subject to the same
laws; and what‘is learned upon the one will be known of the other,’’
(p. 101.)
‘Tn the arts of an ancient people much may be seen concerning them 3,
the progress they have made in knowledge of various kinds; their habits;
their ideas on many subjects,”’ (p. 101.)
‘Tt is in his knowledge that man has found his greatness and his happi-
ness, the high superiority which he holds over the other animals who in-
habit the earth with him, and consequently no ignorance is probably with-
avt loss to him no error without evil.”’ (p, 104.)
OF JAMES SMITHSON. 155
I have thus attempted to indicate the salient parts of
Smithson’s scientific achievement. More interesting than
the work, however, is the worker. He was eminently an
experimenter. All through his papers he is found dili-
gently collecting facts before he proceeds to theorize. This
is well shown in his very first paper, that on the so-called
Tabasheer. Perhaps the most finished of his papers is that
“ On a’Fibrous Metallic Copper,” combining, as it does, an
ingenious explanation of a singular phenomenon and sub-
sequent confirmatory experiments.
His style, so clear, so direct, and so exact, is a model for
scientific purposes. Of this the extracts above given are good
specimens. ‘The paper just referred to, on fibrous copper,
and that that on native minium are others.
Of his neatness as a manipulator and skill in devising ap-
paratus I have already spoken.
The papers on “Improvements of Lamps” and an ‘“ Im-
proved Method of Making-Coffee”’ show his practical turn.
It is in the Jast paper but one of the book relative to the
‘Formation of Kirkdale Cave,” that we, perhaps, best of all
discover the true fibre of Smithson’s mind. The paper was
a refutation of the idea of the Leliquie Diluviane, which
attempted to refer this cave and some bones found in it to
the flood of Genesis: Smithson discusses the subject with the
greatest cogency, showing the utter failure of the theory to
account for the facts. Ilis argument is of the greatest per-
spicuity and justness, so correctly does he apprehend every
point. This discussion has, of course, lost all its interest at
this day, but it had not then, when. geology was so imper-
fectly known. In the last section of this paper the subject
is the Deluge, and the effects which must have -followed.
With real eloquence he shows that, if the secondary lime-
stones were formed during the flood, “embalmed cities, with
their monuments” would be found in “every limestone
quarry.” Such antiquities as these being wholly unknown,
he concludes that the removal of the effects of the deluge,
like the deluge itself, was due to supernatural causes.
“To a miracle, then,” he says, “which swept away all
that could recall that day of death, when ‘the windows of
heaven were opened’ upon mankind, must we refer what'
no natural means are adequate to explain. Yor this stupen-
pendous prodigy, |
‘¢ Like the baseless fabric of a vision,
Left not a wreck behind.”
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INDEX.
— of chemical experiments on taba-
sheer, 1.
Account of discovery of native minium,
82.
Acids, discovery of, in mineral substances,
82, 134, 144.
Ampére on metallic tin, 74.
Anaigais of calamines, 18.
Analysis of tabasheer, 1.
Animal greens, 64.
Arid, distinction between dry and, 20. .
Ark, Noah’s, described in the Bible, perils
of, 106.
Arsenic, detection of minute quantities of,
5.
sulphuret of, 65, 132, 144, 147.
Arsenical acid, test of, 84.
Arts of ancient peoples, 101.
Balance, description of, by Dr, Black, 117.
notes on, by Smithson, 119, 137.
Bamboo, tabasheer from, 1.
Banks, Sir Jose h, letter to, 32.
Barium, sulphates of, 71, 81, 132, 134.
Basalts, Gregory Watts on, 127.
Beck, Lewis C., on igneous action, 130.
Belzoni, Mr., specimen from, 102.
Bonefactions to scionce, 124,
Borgman on calaminos, 18,
on fernambue wood, 06.
employed sugar loat paper, 61.
Berzelius on blow-pipe, 92, 96.
on plomb gomme, 67.
Binary compounds, 34.
Binnite, 65, 147.
Bleyberg, calamine from, 18,
Blow-pipe apparatus, 86.
Boracic acid, test of, 84.
Bournonite, 34. :
Boyle on muriate of iron, 68.
Buckland’s Reliqux Diluvians, 104.
Calamines, analyses of, 18, 125, 144, 145.
Calcium, fluoride of, 71.
Capillary metallic tin, 74.
Carbonic acid, test of, 86.
Cave, formation of the Kirkdale, 103.
Character of Smithson, W. R. Johnson, 123.
Chemical analysis of calamines, 18.
experiments on tabasheer, 1.
nomenclature of Smithson, 152.
Chemistry, Smithson on, 26, 125.
Chloride of potassium, discovery of, in the
earth, 89.
Chromic acid, test of, 84.
Clarke, Dr., on form of ice, 80.
Clay, method of formin plates of, 86.
Clement, experiments of, 74.
Coffee, improved method of making, 87,
135, 155.
Coloring matters of vegetables, 58, 131.
Colors, method of fixing, 120.
of Egyptian paintings, 101, 102, 136,
Combination, all binary, 36.
Compounds of fluorine, 94.
Compounds, quadruple and binary, 34.
composen of compound sulphuret from
uel Boys, 34.
Composition of zeolite, 42.
Conflagration of the earth, 52.
Cookery, improvements in, 88.
Copper, 68, 132.
Corn poppy, coloring matter of, 63.
Crayon colors, method of fixing, 120.
Cronstedt, Baron, on zeolite, 45.
Crystalline form of ice, 80.
Crystallization, Smithson on, 126.
Crystallography, Smithson’s papers on, 147.
Crystals, ores of copper in, 39.
Curtin, Mr. specimen from, 102.
Cranlte, notice of Smithson’s paper on, 135,
Dalton’s theory, 145.
Davy, Humphrey, discovery by, 44.
D’Ayen, Duke, on muriate of iron, 58.
De Laumont on plomb gomme, 67.
Deluge, views of a universal, 104, 139, 155.
Derbyshire, calamine from, 22.
De Saussure’s contrivances, 91.
De Thury, H., on forms of ice, 80.
Detection of very minuto quantities of
arsonic and morcury, 75.
Diamonds, experiments with, 93.
Discovery of acids in mineral substances,
of chloride of potassium in the earth, 89.
of native minium, 32.
Dry, distinction between arid and, 20.
Earth, changes observed in, 103.
discovery of chloride Et pe aeeiam in, 89.
Economy, importance and advantages of,
Egyptian colors, examination of, 101.
Elephant, hairy, of Siberia, 112.
Elm tree, ulmin from, 47.
Error always associated with evil, 104.
Examination of some Egyptian colors, 101.
Experiments on decay of animal muscle,
09
109.
Extinguishing lamps, 79.
Extracts from Smithson’s writings, 164.
Fibrous metallic copper, 68.
Fingal's cave, Smithson’s visit to, 139.
Fixing crayon colors, method of, 120.
Florentine experiment, 75.
Fluoride of calcium, 71.
Fluorine, compounds of, 94, 136, 144, 146.
Fluor spar, nature of, 95.
phe world, absence of human remains
n, 114,
Fourcroy, observations of, 35, 59.
Franklin, founding of a library by, 123,
Fuel for chemical lamps, 134.
Fusibility, experiments on, 93.
157
158
Gay Lussac, observations of, 84.
Girard, benevolence of, 123.
Habitations, Smithson on, 138.
Hail, form of crystals of, 80.
Hatchett’s experiments on sulphurets, 365.
Haiiy, Abbé, analyses quoted by, 98.
on calamines, 18, 126.
on form of ice, 80.
on specular iron ore, 54.
on zeolite, 42.
Henry on muriate of soda, 57.
Honorable notice of Smithson’s researches,
182.
Huel Boys, sulphuret from, 34. ‘ :
Human remains, total absence of, in fossil
world, 114.
Hutton, Dr., compliments of, to Smithson,
119.
on zeolite, 43.
Ice, crystalline form of, 80, 134, 147.
Igneous action, Lewis C. Beck on, 130.
Smithson on,-130.
Ignorance always attended with loss, 104.
Improved method of making coffee, 87.
Improvements in lamps, 78.
Increase of knowledge by Smithson, 124.
Inspiration of book recording a universal
deluge,104,
Irby, J. R. McD., on the works and char-
acter of Smithson, 143.
Iron, reduced from fibrous to granular
state, 127.
Isis, coloring matter of figure of, 102.
Johnson, Walter R., on scientific character
and researches of Smithson, 123.
Kennedy on zeolite, 43.
Kirkdale Cave, on formation of, 103, 137, 155.
Klaproth on barytes and soda, 66.
on topaz, 96.
on ulmin, 47.
on zeolite, 42, 46.
Knowledge, Smithson on, 164, 124, 139.
Kryolite, experiments with, 98.
Lamps, improvements in, 78, 133, 155.
Lead, aluminate of, 67.
sulphuret of, 65, 147.
Letter from Dr. Black describing a very
sensiblo balance, 117.
Letter of Smithson toSir Joseph Banks, 32.
Lewis, Wm., on muriate of iron, 58.
Maclure, endowment by, of an academy
for science, 123.
Magnitude of objects not a test of their
importance, 101.
Manuscripts of Smithson, 137, 148.
Marcet, experiments of, 45.
on dropsical fluids, 66.
Marsh, experiments on arsenic, 133.
Means of discrimination between sulphates
of barium and strontium, 81,
Memoir on scientific character and re-
searches of Smithson, by W. R. John-
son, 123.
Mendip Hill calamine, 21.
Mercury, detection of minute quantities
of, 75, 132, 144.
Mesotype, 43.
Metallic copper, fibrous, 68.
Metallic tin, 74.
Method of fixing crayon colors, 120.
Method of fixing particles on the sappare,
90
Mineralogy, Smithson’s papers on, 147.
Mineral substances, acids in, 82, 134.
INDEX.
Minium, account of discovery of, 32, 128.
Miracle to sweep away consequences 0
deluge, 117. °
Molybdie acid, test of, 85.
Mulberry, coloring matter of, 62.
Muriatic acid, test of, 83.
Mull, Smithson’s visit to, 139.
Native combination of sulphate of barium
and fluoride of calcium, 71.
Native compound of sulphuret of lead and
arsenic, 65.
Native hydrous aluminate of lead or plomb
gomme, 67.
Native minium, 32.
Natrolite, 42.
Naumann, 65.
Nitric acid, test of, 86.
Noah’s ark, 106, 107.
Northwitch, Smithson’s visit to, 140.
aictes on minerals and rocks by Smithson,
8.
Oban, Smithson’s visit to, 140.
Observations on Penn’s theory of the Kirk-
dale Cave, 103.
Particle and planet subject to same laws,
101,
Pellectier’s experiments on calamines, 24.
Penetration of solids by fluids, 75.
Penn’s theory of the formation of the Kirk-
dalo cave, 103.
Phosphoric acid, test of, 84.
Plomb gomme, 67, 131.
Potassium, chloride of, in the earth, 89, 135.
Proportion of elements, Smithson’s theory
of, 29, 37.
Peers King, specimen from tomb of,
Quadruple and binary compounds, 34.
Researches of Smithson, W. R. Johnson,
123.
Rozier, on sappare, 91.
Russell, Dr., on tabasheer, 1.
Saline substance from Mount Vesuvius, 52.
Sap green, coloring matter, 64.
Sap of the elm tree, 51.
Sappare, method of fixing particles on the,
90, 135, 147.
Saussure’s sappare, 87, 91.
Silica, acid nature of, 154,
test of, 86.
Silver mines of North Carolina, 128.
Smithson fund, April, 1844, 141. ;
Smithson, James, account of unpublished
writings of, 138.
manuscripts of, 137.
on the works and character of, J. R. Mc-
D. Irby, 143.
scientific character and researches of,
by W. R. Johnson, 123.
scientific journeys of, 139.
Snow, form of crystals, 80.
Somersetshire, calamine from, 21.
Staffa, Smithson’s visit to, 139.
Strontium, sulphates of, 81, 134, 144.
Struve on zeolite, 46,
Sugar-loaf paper, coloring matter of, 61.
Bolphates oF arlum and strontium, 71, 81,
114, 132.
Sulphur, blow-pipe test for, 144.
Sulphuret from Huel Boys, 34.
Sulphuret of lead and arsenic, 65.
Sulphurets, paper on, 34, 129, 131, 144,
Sulphuric acid, test of, 83.
f,
Symbols used by Smithson, 153.
INDEX.
Tabasheer, account of the chemical exper-
iments on, 1, 136, 144, 155.
Tea, improved method of making, 87.
Tear, analysis of a, 147.
Tennant, Smithson, discovery of plomb
gomme, 67.
experiments of, 56.
Theory of formation of Kirkdale Cave,
103.
Thomson on ulmin, 47.
Tin, capillary metallic, 74,
Tomb of King Psammis, specimen from,
102.
Topaz, experiments with, 96.
Tours of Smithson, 139, 140.
Tungstic acid, test of, 85,
Turnsol, coloring matter of, 59. >
159
Ulmin, substance from elm tree, 47, 130.
Vauquelin on zeolite, 42, 46.
Vegetables, coloring matter of, 58.
Vesuvius, analysis of matter from, 89.
saline substance from, 52, 130.
Violet, coloring matter of, 60.
Volcanoes, 53, 130.
Watt, Gregory, on basalts, 127.
Wax lamps, 79.
Werner on minerals, 90.
Wicks of a 78.
Works and character of Smithson, J. R.
McD. Irby, 143.
Zeolite, composition of, 42, 129, 145,
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356 ——_________
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INTRODUCTION.
; Page
Proceedings in Congress relative to a public commemoration---._--------------- >
PART I.
Obsequies of Joseph Henry. «
Announcement by Chancellor M. R. Waiter May 1d) 187822522825 soe =e ea 7
Proceedings of the Board of Regents, May 18, 1878-_-----------.-----------------.
The Muneral, May 16, 1878-..---- =. = 8 ee ne a so sn ence esesesescs ll
Prayer at the Funeral by Rev. Charles Hodge, D. D., May 16, 1878_------------- 13
Funeral Sermon by Rev. Samuel S. Mitchell, D. D., May 16, 1878_-----__------- 15
Proceedings of the Board of Regents, May 17, 1878, and January 17, 1879__----- nee
PART 1.
Memorial Exercises at the Capitol.
Announcement by Executive Committee of the Regents, January 6, 1879-_--- 37
Introductory Prayer by Rey. Dr. JAMES McCosH, January 16, 1879_----------- 39
Hon. HANNIBAL HAMULIN’s Address, (read by Vice-President WHEELER)---- 43
Address! by, Hon; ROBERT EN. WiEDHE RS so2scc. oe eas ee eae eee eee eee 49
Address: by Professor ASA \GRAW=—-o2 223222322282 oe a ee eee 53
Reading of Telegrams by Hon. HIESTER CLYMER-------------------------------- 75
Address by. Professor WiihTAMt By ROGERS os. 22 esse een ena oeeeee eee ea 77
Address) by) ‘Hons JAMES) A. GARRITY D 22222552 oe esas asa eee eee nee ae 9L
Address by Hon. SAMUEL S. Cox.---} Sa a a eee Bee ey ele a = 109
Address by, General WinuraMe (T. SHERMAN 22s. - seo =e ee eee nee aeneee 117
Concluding Prayer by Rey. Dr. Byron SUNDERLAND--------------------------- “120
PARS LEL
Memorial Proceedings of Societies.
Proceedings of the ‘Philosophical Society of Washington,” May 14, 1878_----- 125
Proceedings of the ‘“‘ Albany Institute,” May 14 and 28, 1878 --------------_---_- 128
Memorial Minute by Orlando Meads, LL. D. -------------------------------------- 180
Proceedings of the U.S. ‘‘Light-House Board,’ May 15, 1878_------------------- 135
1V CONTENTS.
)
Page.
Memorial Discourse by Rev. Samuel B. Dod, delivered in the College Chape¥
at: Princeton, .N. J.) May 19,1818. .2- 2225-3 o-oo ee neem ean nsec eeee 1389
Reminiscences by Prof. Henry C. Cameron, D. D. presented in the College ~
Chapel at Princeton, N. J. May 19 and June 2, 1878 -----_--__ --------------- 166
Memorial Address by Dr. J: ames C. Welling, before the ‘Philosophical Society
of Washington,” October?26. 1878222 es Sn ae ee ee eee 177
Memorial Address by William B. Taylor, before the ‘Philosophical Society
off Washington, October !26) 1818 sasss0 onsen eee ene eee eaeeeee 205
Obituary Memoir, by Prof. Joseph Lovering, Vice-President of the ‘‘American
Academy of Arts and Sciences.” Report of the Council of the Am. Acad-
pat a CO 22 A ee ree ere ee Ee Oe ee aera ea 427
Biographical Memoir, by Prof. Simon Newcomb, read before the “ National
Academy of Sciences)” ‘Aiprill! 21; 1880.22 2 = So ee 441
Memorial Address by Prof. Alfred M. Mayer, before the ‘American Association
for the Advancement of Science,” August 26, 1880 --_---_----_------------------- 475
APPENDIX.
Prococdings in Congress regarding the erection of a Monument to JosEru
TREN RY 5 oo ae on rn ee re ee ee es 511
5600) <->, Cees eee es ee ne ee oe ee ee ee ee ee ea 515
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INTRODUCTION.
On the death of JosEpH Henry, who for the third of a century
had administered the operations of the Smithsonian Institution, as
its first Secretary and executive officer,—with honor to himself and
credit and distinction to the Institution — the Board of Regents felt
that in grateful appreciation of one whose services in the advance-
ment of science, no less than in the promotion of the interests of the
General Government, had been so conspicuous and so valuable, some
formal and public memorial was pre-eminently fitting. Accord-
ingly, at a meeting of the Regents held on the day following the
furieral, the Executive Committee of the Board (consisting of Dr.
Parker, Dr. Maclean and General Sherman) were requested to make
arrangements for a public commemoration in honor of the late
Secretary, “of such a character and at such time as they may deter-
mine.” 7
In pursuance of this instruction, the said Committee, through
the Hon. Hiester Clymer, a Regent, and a Member of the House of
Representatives, presented the subject to the attention of Congress.
In tHe House or REPRESENTATIVES.
Monday, December 9, 1878.
Mr. CLyMER. (Member from Pennsylvania.) “TI ask unanimous
consent to submit for adoption at this time a concurrent resolution,
to which I think there will be no objection.”
The concurrent resolution was read, as follows:
“ Resolved by the House of Representatives, (the Senate concurring,)
That the Congress of the United States will take part in the services
to be observed on Thursday evening, January 16, 1879, in honor
of the memory of JosepH Henry, late Secretary of the Smith-
sonian Institution, under the auspices of the Regents thereof, and
for that purpose the Senators and Representatives will assemble on
that evening in the Hall of the House of Representatives, the Vice-
President, supported by the Speaker of the House, to preside on
that occasion.”
There being no objection, the resolution was adopted.
2 ’ INTRODUCTION.
IN THE SENATE.
Tuesday, December 10, 1878. .
Mr. Hamitn. (Senator from Maine.) “Mr. President, I ask
the indulgence of the Senate to take from the table the resolution of
the House making provision for the services in memory of the late
Professor Henry. I think it will occupy no time of the Senate,
and it is desirable that it shall be passed, so that it may be known
that the agreement is concluded.”
The Presrpinc Orricer. (Mr. Hoar, Senator from Massa-
chusetts, in the chair.) “The Chair will lay before the Senate the
concurrent resolution of the House of Representatives.”
The resolution was read by the Clerk: [as before given. ]
The resolution was agreed to.
In tHe House or REPRESENTATIVES.
Thursday, January 16, 1879.—Evening Session,
At five minutes before eight o’clock the Senate of the United
States, preceded by the Sergeant-at-Arms and the Chaplain, and
headed by the Vice-President of the United States, with the Sec-
retary, entered the Hall and were properly announced, and the
Vice-President took his seat on the right of the Speaker, and the
Senators took the seats assigned them.
At eight o’clock the Chief-Justice and the Associate Justices of
the Supreme Court and the President of the United States and the
members of the Cabinet entered the Hall, were properly announced,
and were conducted to the seats assigned them.
The SPEAKER of the House of Representatives (Hon. 8. J.
RANDALL) then called the assembly to order, and, after announcing
the occasion of the meeting, presented his official gavel to the VIcE-
PRESIDENT, who thereupon presided, supported by the SPEAKER.
The Vicre-Prestpent. (Hon. W. A. WHEELER.) “The Sen-
ators and Members of the Congress of the United States, in pursu-
ance of the resolutions of their respective bodies, have assembled
for the purpose of taking part in the services to be observed in
memory of JosEPH HENRY, late Secretary of the Smithsonian Insti-
tution, under the auspices of the Regents of that Institution.”
The Vice-PREsIDENT then announced that the exercises would
be commenced by prayer from Rey. Dr. McCosu, the president of
the College of New Jersey, at Princeton.
The Memorial Services were then proceeded with; the V1cE-
PRESIDENT announcing each of the speakers by name, in accordance
with the order of exercises arranged and adopted by the Executive
Committee of the Board of Regents.
INTRODUCTION. 3
The Vicr-PRESIDENT, after the concluding prayer by the Chap-
lain of the Senate, (at eleven o’clock p. M.) announced that the
exercises of the evening were closed ; whereupon the President of
the United States with his Cabinet, the Chief-Justice and Associate
Justices of the Supreme Court, and the Senate of the United States
with the Vice-President, retired from the Hall.
The Speaker then said: “The object of this evening’s session,
as provided for by the order of both Houses of Congress, having
been fittingly realized, the duty remains to me to declare this House
adjourned until to-morrow at twelve o’clock.”
In tHe House or REPRESENTATIVES.
Wednesday, January 22, 187°.
Mr. Srepuens. (Member from Georgia.) “TI submit a resolution
upon which I ask immediate action.”
The Clerk read as follows: __
“Resolved by the House of Representatives, (the Senate concurring,)
That the memorial exercises in honor of Professor Henry, held in
the Hall of the House of Representatives on the 16th of J anuary,
1879, be printed in the CONGRESSIONAL REcorD, and that fifteen
thousand extra copies of the same be printed in a MEMORIAL VoL-
UME, together with such articles as may be furnished by the Board
of Regents of the Smithsonian Institution ; seven thousand copies
of which shall be for the use of the House of Representatives, three
thousand copies for the use of the Senate, and five thousand copies
for the use of the Smithsonian Institution.”
The Speaker. “The Chair is not advised whether these fifteen
thousand extra copies to be published in book-form would cost
five hundred dollars. If they would, then under the requirement
of the law the resolution must be referred to the Committee on
Printing.
“The Chair is advised that the book would cost over five hun-
dred dollars, and therefore it had better go to the Committee on
Printing, under the law. The committee has a right to report at
any time.” ,
Mr. STEPHENS. “Let it take that reference.”
The resolution was accordingly referred to the Committee on
Printing.
Saturday, January 25, 1879.
Mr. Stneueron, (Member from Mississippi,) Chairman of the
Committee on Printing, reported back with a favorable recom-
mendation the following resolution of the House: [the resolution
to print, as above given.] The resolution was adopted.
4 . INTRODUCTION.
‘In THE SENATE.
Tuesday, January 28, 1879.
The VicE-PREsIDENT laid before the Senate the following con-
current resolution from the House of Representatives; which was
read and referred to the Committee on Printing: [the resolution to
print, as before given. |
Thursday, February 6, 1879.
Mr. ANTHONY. (Senator from Rhode Island.) “Tam instructed
by the Committee on Printing, to whom was referred a concurrent
resolution of the House of Representatives to print the Memorial
Exercises in honor of the late Professor Henry, to report it without
amendment, and to recommend its passage. I ask for its present
consideration.”
The resolution was considered by unanimous consent and agreed
to, as follows:
“ Resolved by the House of Representatives, (the Senate concurring,)
That the memorial exercises in honor of Professor Henry, held in
the Hall of the House of Representatives on the 16th of January,
1879, be printed in the ConGREssIonAL REcorD, and that fifteen
thousand extra copies of the same be printed in a MEMorIAL VOL-
UME, together with such articles as may be furnished by the Board
of Regents of the Smithsonian Institution ; seven thousand copies
of which shall be for the use of the House of Representatives, three
thousand copies for the use of the Senate, and five thousand copies
for the use of the Smithsonian Institution.”
In the Senate, April 7, 1879.— Mr. AnrHony, by unanimous
consent, introduced a joint resolution authorizing the engraving and
printing of a portrait of the late JosepH Henry, to accompany
the Memorial Volume heretofore ordered, and appropriating five
hundred dollars for that purpose.
The joint resolution was reported to the Senate April 9, 1879,
ordered to be engrossed for a third reading, read the third time, and
passed. .
In the House oF REPRESENTATIVES, April 11, 1879.— Mr.
CLYMER moved to take from the table the joint resolution received
from the Senate ; which was accordingly read three times and passed.
The joint resolution authorizing the engraving and printing of
the portrait for the Memorial Volume, as passed by Congress, was
approved by the PREsipENT April 18, 1879.
P Ake ook
OBSEQUIES OF JOSEPH HENRY.
(5)
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Sinithsonian Hestitution,
Washington, D. C., May 14, 1878.
On behalf of the Regents of the Smithsonian Institution,
it becomes my mournful duty to announce the death of the
Secretary and Director of the Institution,
JOSEPH HENRY, LL. D.,
which occurred in this city on Monday, May 13th, at 12.10
o’clock p.m.
Professor Henry was born in Albany, in the State of New
York, December 17th, 1799. He became Professor of Mathe-
matics in the Albany Academy in 1826; Professor of Nat-
ural Philosophy in the College of New Jersey, at Princeton,
in 18382; and was elected the first Secretary and Director of
the Smithsonian Institution in 1846.
He received the honorary degree of Doctor of Laws from
Union College in 1829; and from Harvard University in
L851.
(7)
He was President of the American Association for the
Advancement of Science in 1849; was chosen President of
the United States National Academy of Sciences in 1868;
President of the Philosophical Society of Washington in
1871; and Chairman of the Light- Howse Board of the United
States in the same year; the last three positions he continued
to fill until his death. |
Professor Henry made contributions to science in elec-
tricity, electro-magnetism, meteorology, capillarity, acows-
tics, and in other branches of physics ; he published valuable
memoirs in the transactions of various learned societies of
which he was a member; and devoted thirty-two years of
his life to.making the Smithsonian Institution what its
founder intended it to be, an efficient instrument for the
“increase and diffusion of knowledge among men.”
M. R. WaITE.
Chancellor of the Smithsonian Institution.
PROCEEDINGS
OF THE
BOARD OF REGENTS OF THE SMITHSONIAN INSTITUTION.
Wasuinaton, D. C., May 13, 1878.
A meeting of the Board of Regents of the Smithsonian Institu-
tion was held this day at the Institution, at eight o’clock P. M., under
the call of the Chancellor, for the purpose of making suitable ar-
rangements for the obsequies of Professor JosepH HENRY.
Present: The Chancellor, Chief Justice WAITE, Hon. HANNIBAL
Hamutn, Hon. AAron A. SARGENT, Hon. Ropert EK. WITHERS,
Hon. HresterR CLYMER, Hon. JAMES A. GARFIELD, Hon. PETER
PARKER, and General WILLIAM T. SHERMAN.
The Chancellor made the following remarks:
My BRETHREN OF THE BoArD oF REGENTS: I have asked
you to come together this evening not to take action upon the
great loss our Institution has sustained, but to consult as to what
may best be done to pay honor to all that is mortal of the great
and good man who, conceiving what SMirHsoN willed, has devoted
his life to making the bequest of our benefactor what he wished it
to be, an instrument “for the increase and diffusion of knowledge
among men.”
(9)
10 : PROCEEDINGS OF REGENTS.
The Chancellor stated that he understood that the family of
Professor Henry had expressed the wish that the Board of
Regents should make all the arrangements for the funeral.
The following resolutions were adopted :
Resolved, That the Chancellor be directed to notify the President
of the United States and his Cabinet, the Supreme Court of the
United States, the Supreme Court of the District of Columbia, the
two houses of Congress, the General of the Army, the Admiral
of the Navy, the Diplomatic Corps, the Light-House Board, the
National Academy of Sciences, the Washington Philosophical
Society, and other organizations with which he was connected, of
the death of Professor JosEPH HENRY, and to invite them to
attend his funeral.
Resolved, That the funeral take place on Thursday, the 16th of
May, at the New York Avenue Presbyterian Church, at half past
four o’clock P. M.
Resolved, That the Regents meet at the Institution on Thursday
next, at four o’clock P. M., to attend the funeral in a body.
Resolved, That a committee, consisting of General SHERMAN,
Hon. Perer PARKER, and Professor 8. F. Barrp, Assistant Sec-
retary of the Institution, be appointed to make arrangements for
the funeral ceremonies.
Resolved, That a meeting of the Board of Regents be held on
Friday next, 17th of May, at ten o’clock a. M., for the purpose
of transacting such business as may come before it.
The Board then adjourned.
THE OBSEQUIES. |
The funeral of Professor JoserH HEnry, late Secretary of the
Smithsonian Institution, took place at half-past four o’clock, Thurs-
day, May 16, 1878. The services were in the New York Avenue
Presbyterian Church. The interment was in Oak Hill Cemetery,
Georgetown. .
The arrangements for the funeral were made by General WixL-
LIAM 'T’. SHERMAN, Dr. PETER PARKER, and Professor SPENCER
F. Barr, a special committee appointed by the Regents of the
Smithsonian Institution. The supervision of the arrangements at
the church was intrusted to General ALEXANDER McCook, U. S.
Army. The pall-bearers were— .
Mr. Justice Srrone, of the Supreme Court of the United States.
Wiuii1AM W. Corcoran, of Washington.
Admiral Joun Ropeers, Superintendent National Observatory.
General ANDREW A. Humpnureys, Chief Engineer U. 8S. Army:
JOSEPH PATTERSON, of Philadelphia.
GrEoRGE W. CuILps, of Philadelphia.
General JosepH K. Barnes, Surgeon-General U.S. Army.
Captain CARLILE P. Parrerson, Sup’t of U.S. Coast Survey.
General ORLANDO M. Por, member of U.S. Light-House Board.
_ Professor Simon NEwcoms, Sup’t U.S. Nautical Almanac.
Professor ARNOLD Guyot, of the College of New Jersey.
Dr. JAMES C. WELLING, President of Columbian University.
A few intimate friends of the family, the Board of Regents and
the officers and attendants of the Smithsonian Institution met at
the residence, where brief services were held at four o’clock, con-
i (11)
12, ; . THE FUNERAL.
sisting of selections of Scripture, by the Rev. Dr. James*H.
CurnsBeRrt, of the First Baptist Church, and prayer by the Rev.
Dr. Byron SUNDERLAND, of the First Presbyterian Church.
The leading officials in every branch of the Government, men
~ eminent in science, in literature, in diplomacy, and in professional
and business life, assembled at the church. Among them were the
President of the United States; the Vice-President of the United
States; the Secretary of State; the Secretary of the Treasury; the
Secretary of War; the Secretary of the Navy; the Secretary of the
Interior; the Postmaster General; the Chief Justice and Associate
Justices of the Supreme Court of the United States; the General
of the Army; the Admiral of the Navy; the Senate and the House
of Representatives of the United States; the Regents of the Smith-
sonian Institution . Officers of the Army and Navy; the Clergy of
the District; the National Academy of Sciences represented by its
officers and others; the Philosophical Society of Washington; the
Alumni of the College of New Jersey; the Trustees of the Corcoran
Art Gallery; the Washington National Monument Society; the
Examining Corps of the Patent Office; the Superintendent and
Trustees of Public Schools; and the Telegraphic Operators’ Asso-
ciation of Washington.
Only a small portion of the vast concourse of citizens and strangers
could gain access to the church. ;
The services in the church were begun with Mendelssohn’s
anthem Beati Mortui, which was impressively sung by the choir of
St. John’s Episcopal Church.
The fifteenth chapter of first Corinthians was read by Rev. Dr.
SUNDERLAND; prayer was offered by the venerable CHARLES
Honae, D. D., of Princeton, N. J.; and the address was delivered
by the Rev: Samuet 8, MircHet, D. D., pastor of the church of
which Professor HENry became a member when he removed to
Washington, thirty. years ago...
4
Pb Ac yt
BY
REV. CHARLES HODGE, D. D.
ALMIGHTY Gop, we adore Thee as infinite in thy being and per-
fections, as the creator of heaven and earth, and as the Father of
the spirits of all men. We adore Thee as the rightful and absolute
sovereign of the universe, governing all thy creatures and all their
actions.
We confess our absolute dependence on Thee for our existence,
our faculties, for all we-have, all we hope. We acknowledge our
responsibility to Thee for our character and conduct—for all we
think, or do, or say. We humbly confess that we have sinned
against Thee, that we have broken thy holy law times and ways
without number, and have forfeited all claim to thy favor.
We call upon all that is within us to bless Thee, that Thou hast
not left our apostate race to perish in their state of sin and misery,
but didst give thy only begotten Son that whosoever believes on
Him should not perish but have everlasting life. We thank Thee,
O Lord, that Thou hast given us thy testimony concerning thy
Son Jesus Christ, that He is God manifest in the flesh, God in
fashion as a man—the wonderful—the central object of adoration
to the intelligent universe, to whom every knee of things in heaven,
things on earth, and things under the earth must bow. We thank
Thee that Thou hast made Him the light of the world, our infalli-
ble teacher as to the things unseen and eternal; that He is the
High Priest of our profession, who offered Himself unto God as
a sacrifice for the sins of the world; that He died the just for the
(13)
14 PRAYER BY REV. ©. HODGE.
unjust, and redeemed us from the curse of the law by being made
a curse for us. We thank Thee for the promise that whosoever,
renouncing every other dependence, trusts simply to what Christ
is and what Christ has done, and who devotes himself to his
service, shall share his kingdom and glory. We thank Thee for
the mission of the Holy Ghost to apply to men the redemption
purchased by Christ, without which all else had been in vain.
And now, O God, in this solemn hour, standing as we now do
around the remains of our illustrious friend, from our hearts we
bless Thee that this is the faith in which he was nurtured, the
faith which molded his character, controlled his life, and now
illumines his tomb, banishing the gloom of uncertainty and fear,
and making the grave to him the gate of heaven.
We thank Thee, O God, that JoseEpH HENRy was born; that
Thou didst endow him with such rare gifts— intellectual, moral,
and spiritual; that Thou didst spare him to a good old age, and
enable him to accomplish so much for the increase of human knowl-
edge and for the good of his fellow men ; and above all, that Thou
didst hold him up before this whole nation as such a conspicuous
illustration of the truth that “moral excellence is the highest dignity
of man.”
We would remember before Thee his widow and daughters.
He gave them to Thee. They are safe within thy arms, Thou
canst give the peace which passes all understanding. May their
father’s name illumine his children’s path through life, and their
father’s faith sustain their souls in death.
To the Father, Son, and Holy Ghost, be glory in the highest,
world without end. Amen.
FUNERAL ADDRESS
BY
REV. SAMUEL 8. MITCHELL, D. D.
“KNOW YE NOT THAT THERE IS A PRINCE AND A GREAT MAN FALLEN THIS DAY
IN ISRAEL?”
These words, coming down through the centuries from the mouth
of Israel’s King, I take up as the fittest ones with which to open my
mouth in the presence of all that is not already immortal of JosEPH
HENRY.
Know ye not that there is a prince and a great man fallen this
day? And yet why do I ask the question? ‘This day, this hour,
this assemblage, this pageant, so unusual and so illustrious even in
this world of death — these are my answer before that I utter a word
of the sublime interrogatory.
Yes! the nation’s capital knows that a prince and a great man
has fallen. So does our whole country; so does the civilized world.
That quick-footed servant which years ago was yoked to the car of
human progress by the hands which have now forgotten their cun-
ning, — the swift messenger which he himself lured from duty in the
skies unto the service of man, —this messenger, slower-winged, it
seems to me, than usual, as if loath to tell the story, has already run
earth’s circuits with the sad news; and at this hour, wherever
science is known, or learning respected, or goodness revered, there
are those who clasp hands with us in the consciousness of a great
loss and in the communion of a heartfelt sorrow.
You will not, therefore, blame me, I am sure, my hearers, if, in
a world where great men are ever scarce, and in a capital city
which better perhaps than any other illustrates the truth that even
(15)
16 FUNERAL ADDRESS BY
a nation’s production of this class of men, its noblest wealth, is ever
very small,— you will not blame me if, under these circumstances,.
I ask you, within this inner circle of family and church relation-
ships, to pause and meditate upon the thought that in the great man
who has fallen a pure and noble spirit has passed from the commu-
nion of the Christian Church on earth to the communion of the
church triumphant in the heavens.
While human learning and science are pressing forward to do
honor to one who-was known and loved as a leader, I come in the
name of the Christian Church, and in the name of my Saviour, to
place upon this casket a simple wreath of immortelles, forming,
weaving the words—JosEPH HENRY, THE CHRISTIAN.
He was such in his disposition, in the spirit and temper of his
mind, “Let this mind be in you, which was also in Christ Jesus,”
is the injunction of the apostle, in which he sets forth the essence of
Christianity and points the path to individual discipleship.
And Professor HENRY walked this path. He came unto the
possession of this essence. Look back, I pray you, through the
centuries, Scrutinize that Life which is the life of the world.
Analyze that Mind which molds the ages, which is world-regnant
through the sceptre of the Cross, which is the leayen working unto
the regeneration of earth and man. What is it? What were its
leading qualities? How is it differentiated? Purity, simplicity,
benevolence-s— these were its characteristics; these formed the Christ
mind; these were the forces by which it impressed itself upon the
world eighteen centuries ago, and through which it makes itself felt
upon the world of to-day.
Purity, simplicity, benevolence! A purity without a spot, a
simplicity which is transparency itself, a benevolence wide as the
sphere of human want and as limitless as the love of Heaven — this
is God taking shape in human life; this is the mind of Christ trans-
forming the mind of the world; this is the new creation, the redeemed
REV. 8. 8. MITCHELL. 17
life, the ideal man, unto which, through the mighty power of the
Cross, the whole creation moves. Upon whatever land the sun of
the Gospel rises, there these moral qualities spring up; and what-
ever and wherever the human heart which is touched by the love
of Christ, that heart becomes Heaven’s soil for the growth of this,
which is Heaven’s life.
Now, Professor Henry possessed these constituent qualities of
the Christian mind, and possessed them in a degree at once beautiful
and rare. You who knew him, and who knew him well, will bear
cheerful witness to my words. He was simpleas a child — without
folds, without dissimulation, without guile. He was not smart, as
some men count smartness. Neither was his Saviour. Neither
have been many of the great spirits of time. His mind was the
crystal depths of our Northern lakes, —not the noisy course of the
shallow and frothy river. .
And he was pure. Pure!—we lay him to rest to-day without a
spot. ‘The product of four-score years in this rough world, we lift
up his character to-day and say, “Behold it!—the freshness, the
purity, the stainlessness of childhood are yet upon it.” Grand, is
it not, and comforting, is it not, my hearers, that God now and then
builds up a man before us of whom we can say, “Look upon him;
walk round about him; you will find no ugly scar, — you will dis-
cover no running sore.” Grand, is it not, and comforting, is it not,
‘that now and then, in this world of smirched reputatidns and dis-
eased lives, God gives us a whole man—a man whom, without a
blush, we can lift up to the Great Maker, saying, “Take him again ;
he is unharmed, and he is worthy of Thee.”
But Professor HENRY was not only Christian in the spirit and
temper of his mind, but also in the unselfish aims and purposes of
his life. Christianity is not a quality simply. It is also a force, —
a force which, under the law of love, works unto external results,
unto a reproduction of itself in the world. Here again the Christ
2
18 FUNERAL ADDRESS BY
is perfection. “I came not to be served, but to serve.” So He
announced His life-philosophy. ‘Went about doing good.” So
history stereotyped that life itself. A manger here, and a cross
there; and between these two, and binding them together, a span
of service—this was the incarnation of the Divine principle in
human history ;—this was the Christ-life giving itself for the life
- of the world. : .
And here again was the life which we reverence, —the life of a
disciple. Never was more unselfish service rendered by man than
was given by Professor HENRY. ‘Through long years, and under
temptations which would have been too strong for the ordinary
man, he served his Institution on a half-salary, and the Government,
saving it tens of thousands, on no salary at all.. And the lack
here, he made up in no other way, Paying for not a half of it, the
Smithsonian and the Government had all his time, —all his service.
He used not his high position as a watch-tower for the discovery of |
personal opportunities. He grew not rich onasmall salary. And
having given all of himself to the service of his country in the
cause of science, he also, as freely and as unselfishly, gave all the
results of his labor. His was the greater part, the nobler work, to
discover principles. He lifted up this force of nature only to say
to the inventor: ‘Use this while I look for another.” And then
he went on searching.
So he lived; so he labored. He served others; himself he did °
not serve. With Aaassiz, he could have said: “T have not time
to make money,” Neither had he. God does not give time to
such men for such a purpose. The vision of the true life and the
endless glory breaking upon such minds forbids the debasement.
The eyes which are to look into the universe for the generations
must not have the death-weight of the dollar upon their lids,
But once more. Professor HENRY was a Christian, in that he
held as his pronounced creed the truth contained in the Scriptures
REV. S. 8S. MITCHELL. 19
of the Old and New Testaments, —in that he regarded these as a
revelation from God.
These moral qualities to which I have alluded were not in him
so much natural amiability, nor were they the product of so much
culture. They were the inspiration of a Christian faith. They
were moral ends aimed at, principles chosen for life’s guidance,
by one who believed in God, and in Jesus Christ whom He has
sent. “But Sunday last, with mind as clear as ever, his conversation
hindered only by his rapidly-shortening breath, he said to me: “T
have not given much attention to the minutiz of theology ; possibly
not so much as I ought; but as to the Christian scheme in its main
outlines—that there is one God, an infinite Spirit; that man is
made up of body and soul; that there is an immortal life for man
reaching out beyond the present world; that the power and love
of God are brought into relation with the weakness and sinfulness
of man in the Lord Jesus Christ—of these great truths, I have no
doubt. . I regard the system which teaches them as rational beyond
any of the opposing theories which have come under my view.
Upon Jesus Christ—[and here his eyes filled with tears and his
voice broke as he repeated the words]—upon Jesus Christ, as the
One who, for God, affiliates himself with man—upon Him I rest
my faith and my hope.” This was all the strength of the dying
man allowed him to utter; but that it was nota casual or spasmodic
‘utterance, but the drift of his life-long thought and the faith of his
calmest moments, is beautifully shown in the last formal letter he
ever wrote, and which is now, happily, given to the world.*
So our friend and brother lived and thought; so he reasoned
upon the mystery of the universe; and so he came to rest his hope
of a blessed immortality upon the heaven-sent One, who came to
seek and to save the lost of earth. And this faith, which was the
product of his ripest thought and calmest days, was his support
* See page 23.
20 FUNERAL. ADDRESS BY
and consolation in the supreme hour. It was a rock beneath him
when the cold waves of the dark river dashed upon his feet; it
was a pillow of rest beneath his head. when flesh and heart failed
him. Faith in Jesus Christ, as the revealer of God and Saviour
of man—this anchor he had cast within the veil, and his spirit held
firm and steady, while its earthly moorings were being sundered and
its fleshly tabernacle dissolved.
But once more. Professor HENRY was a Christian, in that he
lived and died in the communion of the Christian Church. He
emphasized no church-ism. It was impossible that he should.
Only narrow minds, only little souls, do this. But he found his
chosen spiritual home in the Presbyterian Church, and while he laid
no stress upon any one of her peculiarities, yet in all loyalty, and in
all comfort, he abode in her communion until the day of his death.
So, again, the great man witnessed to the world that he was a
follower of the Saviour. He heard the voice of the Christ calling
him unto confession; and.he obeyed. His heart listened to the
tender accents of the Crucified One, saying, “Do this in: remem-
brance of Me,” and in glad and grateful loyalty he reached forth
for the consecrated emblems of the broken body and the shed blood.
The Church was not too narrow for JosepH HENRY, as it has
not been too narrow for many of the profoundest minds and noblest
souls of the ages, And his example teaches, with emphasis, what
many of us knew before—that in the Church, as in the State, it is
not always the largest man who requires the most room. -
But I must not detain you. These—that he possessed the mind
of Christ; that in the aims and purposes of his life he was like
unto the Master; that his faith of immortality was the faith of the
Son of God, and that he lived and died in the communion of the
Christian Church — these are my reasons, and these my justification,
for pressing through the illustrious throng which surrounds it, to
place upon this casket this simple wreath—JosEpH HENRY, THE
REV. S. 8. MITCHELL. 21
CurisTIAN. And while I do this, I must believe that there is a
world wider, grander, crystalline above this one, in the eyes of
which my offering will not be counted the meanest or the smallest
of those which crowd and crown this bier to-day. Methinks, even
as human hands, after the funeral, select from all the floral offerings
some few choice ones which they may embalm and preserve, so will
angel hands, after that the world has paid its honors to-day, culling
over all the offerings which have been laid upon this princely bier,
select the simple token that I now place upon it, and hang high up
upon Heaven’s walls, this fragrant and imperishable symbol—
“Jos—EPpH HENRY, THE CHRISTIAN.” For, my hearers, whether
there be prophecies, they shall fail; and whether there be knowledge,
it shall vanish away; but Faith, Hope,-Charity,—these endure;
and character is the man forever and forever.
Two voices sound out from this occasion, as its highest inspiration
and noblest lesson. Jirst, a pure heart, a good life—a heart
touched by the love of Christ, and a life bowing in loyalty to
him, —these easily unite the profoundest thought and the simplest
faith, We hear much about the conflict between science and
religion, chiefly, we must believe, from those who are young in
science or ignorant of religion; but, in reality, there is no necessary
clashing. Obedience, character, —this is the amalgam which easily
and forever unites the two.
Secondly, how beautifully the truth and fact of human immor-
tality supplements and crowns the human life! The career of
earth, imperfect as it must always be, demands the hypothesis of a
future existence, and from this hypothesis receives completeness
and symmetry—
‘Even as the arches of the bridge
Are rounded in the stream,”
That great mind, clear, strong, vigorous on Sunday noon, is it at
an end now? Is it nothing, now? Is it dispersed through the
23, FUNERAL ADDRESS.
universal all, now? ‘Then are man’s works greater than »man
himself! Then are the Pyramids grander than their builders!
Then it were better to be a Yosemite pine than a JosepH HENRY!
But the truth of human immortality forbids this supposition of
debasement, and speaks the truth which our hearts crave, and
which our minds demand, as the necessary supplement of the
interrupted human career.
Yes! we shall see him again. In a land that is fairer than
day!—in the full possession and active exercise of those mental
powers which have been the admiration and gratitude of earth,
shall we see him;—see him as along the pathway of an unending
progress, and amid the ever-rising, ever-thickening glories of the
universe, he makes his way upward and unto the infinite goal,
“lost in wonder, love, and praise.” The sublime creation of God
which we have known as JoserH Henry is endowed with the
power of an endless life.
‘Eternal form shall still divide
The eternal soul from all beside;
And we shall know him when we meet.”
Till then, reverent philosopher, humble Christian, noble man, —
farewell and farewell!
LETTER OF
PROFESSOR HENRY,
REFERRED TO IN THE FOREGOING ADDRESS.
SMITHSONIAN InstrruTion, APRIL 12, 1878.
My Dear Mr. Parrerson: We have been expecting to see
you, from day to day, for two weeks past, thinking that you would
be called to Washington to give some information as to the future
of our finances and the possibility of resuming specie payment.
I commenced, on two occasions, to write to you, but found so
much difficulty in the use of my hand, in the way of holding a
pen, that I gave up the attempt.
The doctors say that I am gradually aie better. Dr.
MITCHELL gave me a visit on his going South and on his return.
His report was favorable, but I still suffer a good deal from oppres-
sion in breathing.
I have learned with pleasure that and yourself intend to
go to Europe this summer. ‘Travel is the most agreeable way of
obtaining cosmopolitan knowledge, and it is probable that events
of great importance will transpire in the East within a few months.
You will have subjects of interest to occupy your attention.
J have also learned that is to be married next month; and
we shall be happy to receive a visit from him and his bride, when
they go upon their wedding tour.
We live in a universe of change: nothing remains the same
from one moment to another, and each moment of recorded time
has its separate history. We are carried on by the ever-changing
events in the line of our destiny, and at the end of the year we are
always at a considerable distance from the point of its beginning.
How short the space between the two cardinal points of an earthly
career!—the point of birth and that of death; and yet what a
universe of wonders is presented to us in our rapid flight through
(23)
24 LETTER OF PROF. HENRY.
this space! How small the wisdom obtained by a single life in its
passage, and how small the known, when compared with the
unknown, by the accumulation of the millions of lives, through
the art of printing, in hundreds of years! How many questions
press themselves upon us in the contemplations whence come we,
whither are we going, what is our final destiny, the object of our
creation ?
What mysteries of unfathomable depths environ us on every
side! But, after all our speculations, and an attempt to grapple
with the problem of the universe, the simplest conception which
explains and connects the phenomena is that of the existence of one
Spiritual Being —infinite in wisdom, in power, and all divine per-
fections, which exists always and everywhere—which has created
us with intellectual faculties sufficient, in some degree, to compre-
hend His operations as they are developed in Nature by what is
called “Science.” ,
This Being is unchangeable, and, therefore, His operations are
always in accordance with the same laws, the conditions being the
same. Events that happened a thousand years ago will happen
‘again a thousand years to come, provided the condition of existence
is the same. Indeed, a universe not governed by law would bea
universe without the evidence of an intellectual director.
Tn the scientific explanation of physical phenomena, we assume
the existence of a principle having properties sufficient to produce
the effects which we observe; and when the principle so assumed
explains, by logical deductions from it, all the phenomena, we call
it a theory. Thus, we have the theory of light, the theory of elec-
tricity, &e. There is no proof, however, of the truth of these
theories, except the explanation of the phenomena which they are
invented to account for. !
This proof, however, is sufficient in any case in which every fact
is fully explained, and can be predicted when the conditions are
known. In accordance with this scientific view, on what evidence
does the existence of a creator rest?
First. It is one of the truths best established by experience in
my own mind, that I have a thinking, willing principle within me,
capable of intellectual activity and of moral feeling.
LETTER OF PROF. HENRY. 25
Second. It is equally clear to me that you havea similar spiritual
principle within yourself, since when I ask you an intelligent ques-
tion you give me an intellectual answer.
Third. When I examine the operations of Nature, I find every-
where through them, evidences of intellectual arrangements, of
contrivances to reach definite ends, precisely as I find in the opera-
tions of man; and. hence I infer that these two classes of operations
are results of similar intelligence.
Again, in my own mind, I find ideas of right and wrong, of
good and evil. These ideas, then, exist in the universe, and, there-
fore, form a basis of our ideas of a moral universe. Furthermore,
the conceptions of good which are found among our ideas associated
with evil, can be attributed only to a Being of infinite perfections,
like that which we denominate “God.” On the other hand, we are
conscious of having such evil thoughts and tendencies that we can-
not associate ourselves with a Divine Being, who is the Director and
the Governor of all, or even call upon Him for mercy, without the
intercession of One who may affiliate himself with us.
I find, my dear Mr. Parrerson, that I have drifted into a line
of theological speculation ; and without stopping to inquire whether
what I have written may be logical or orthodox, I have inflicted
it upon you.
Please excuse the intrusion, and believe me, as ever,
Truly yours,
JOSEPH HENRY.
Mr. JoserpH PaATTERsON,
Philadelphia,
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PROCEEDINGS
OF THE BOARD OF REGENTS.
SMITHSONIAN INSTITUTION,
Wasuinaton, D. C., May 17, 1878.
A meeting of the Board of Regents of the Smithsonian Institu-
tion was held this day at ten o’clock A. M.
Present: The Chancellor, Chief Justice Warrr, Hon. HANNIBAL
HAMutIn, Hon. AAron A. SArcent, Hon. Ropertr E. WiTHers,
Hon. Hrester CiyMmer, Hon. JAMES A. GARFIELD, Rev. Dr.
JoHN Macuean, Hon. PErEr Parxker, Dr. AsA Gray, General
WitiiAM T. SHERMAN, President Noau Porter.
General GARFIELD was requested to act as Secretary.
At the request of the Chancellor, a prayer was offered by Rev.
Dr. MacuEAn for Divine guidance of the Regents in their present
deliberations.
The following resolutions were then adopted :
1. Resolved, 'That the Regents of the Smithsonian Institution
hereby express their profound sorrow at the death of Professor
JoserpH Henry, late Secretary of this Institution, and tender to
the family of the deceased their sympathy for their great and
irreparable loss.
2. Resolved, That in consideration of the long-continued, faithful,
and unselfish services of JosEpH HENRY, our late Secretary, there _
be paid to his widow the same sum to which he would have been
entitled, as salary, for the remainder of this year, and that the
Secretary be directed to make payment to her for the amount
thereof monthly.
(27)
28 PROCEEDINGS OF REGENTS.
3. Resolved, That Mrs. HENRY be informed of this action’ of
the Board, and the desire of the Regents that she will continue the
occupancy of the apartments now in her use for such period, during
the remainder of this year, as may suit her convenience.
4, Resolved, That a committee be appointed who shall prepare
and submit to this Board at its next annual meeting a sketch of the
life, character, and public services of the late lamented Secretary,
which shall be entered upon the records.
5, Resolved, That the Executive Committee of the Board be
requested to make arrangements for a public commemoration in
honor of the late Secretary of the Institution, of such a character
and at such a time as they may determine.
The Chancellor appointed as the special committee under the
fourth resolution, President PorRTER, Dr. GRay, and Dr, MAcLEAN,
k *k *k *k *k
On motion, it was
Resolved, That the Chancellor prepare a suitable notice of the
death of Professor HENRY, to be sent to foreign establishments in
correspondence with the Institution. - - -—
The Board then adjourned sine die.
_ SMITHSONIAN INSTITUTION,
WASHINGTON, D. C., JANUARY 15, 1879.
A meeting of the Board of Regents of the Smithsonian: Institu-
tion was held this day in the Regents’ room, at ten o’clock A. M.
Present; The Chancellor, Chief Justice Waite, Hon. WILLIAM
A. WHEELER, Vice-President of the United States, Hon. AaRon ~
A. Sarcent, Hon. Ropert E. Wirners, Hon. James A.
GARFIELD, Hon. Hiester CLYMER, Dr. Jonn Macwean, Dr.
Asa Gray, Dr. Henry Coppfr, Hon, PETER Parker, President
Noau Porter, General W1LLIAM T, SHERMAN, and the Secre-
tary, Professor SPENCER F. Barrp.
PROCEEDINGS OF .REGENTS. 29
Dr, PARKER, in behalf of the Executive Committee, presented
a report. in relation to the duty imposed on them: by the fifth
resolution of the Board of Regents, adopted at the meeting of May
17, 1878, “to make arrangements for a public commemoration in
honor of the late Secretary of the Institution.” The Committee
had held numerous meetings, the minutes of which were read, and
the arrangements had finally been made as follows:
The exercises will be held in the Hall of the House of Repre-
sentatives on Thursday evening, 16th of January, 1879.
The Vice-President of the United States, supported by the
Speaker of the House, will preside on this occasion, and the Senate
and House will take part in the exercises.
1. Opening prayer by Rev. Dr. JAmMEs McCosu, President of
Princeton College.
2. Address by Hon. HANNIBAL HAMLIN, of the United States
Senate, and one of the Regents.
3. Address by Hon. Ropert E. WITHERS, of the United ous:
Senate, and one of the Regents.
4, Address by Professor ASA a of Harvard University,
and one of the Regents.
5. Address by Professor WILLIAM B. Rogers, of Boston.
6. Address by Hon. JAMES A. GARFIELD, of the House of
Representatives, and one of the Regents.
7. Address by Hon. Samuet S. Cox, of the House of Repre-
sentatives.
8. Address by General Wi1LL1AM T. SHERMAN, one of: the
Regents.
9. Concluding prayer “bp Rev. Dr. SUNDERLAND, Chaplain of
the Senate.
By authority of the Speaker of the House, reserved seats will be
provided on the floor of the House for the following bodies with
which Professor HENRY was associated :
30 PROCEEDINGS OF REGENTS,
1. The Regents of the Smithsonian Institution and the orators
of the evening, who will meet in the room of the Speaker of the
House.
2. The National Academy of Sciences.
3. The Washington Philosophical Society.
4, The Light-House Board, who will meet in the room of the
Committee of Ways and Means.
5. The Alumni Association of Princeton College.
6. The trustees of the Corcoran Gallery of Art.
7. The Washington Monument Association, who will meet in
the room of the Committee on Appropriations.
On motion of Mr. SARGENT, the action of the committee was
approved,
On motion of General GARFIELD, it was
Resolved, That the Board of Regents assemble on ‘Thursday
evening next at half-past seven o’clock, in the Speaker’s room at
the Capitol, to proceed in a body to attend the exercises in the Hall
of the House of Representatives in honor of the memory of Pro-
fessor HENRY,
On motion of General GARFIELD, it was |
Resolved, That the Chancellor be empowered to act for the Board
of Regents in making the final arrangements for the memorial
exercises. |
_ President Porrsr, from the special committee appointed at the
last meeting, under the fourth resolution adopted by the Board, to
“prepare a sketch of the life, character, and public services of
Professor Henry,” made a report that Dr. GRAY had been selected
by the committee to prepare the eulogy on behalf of the Board of
Regents, and that it would form part of the exercises at the public
commemoration at the Capitol.
PROCEEDINGS OF REGENTS. 3bl
WASHINGTON, D.C., JANUARY 16, 1879.
A meeting of the Board of Regents was held this day at half
past seven o’clock P. M., in the room of the Speaker of the House
of Representatives, and at eight o’clock the Regents proceeded in a
body to the Hall of the House of Representatives, to attend the
public exercises in honor of Professor JosEPH Henry, late Secre-
tary of the Smithsonian Institution.
On the day after that on which the Memorial Services were held
in the Capitol, the following action was taken by the Board of
Regents, with reference to the preparation of a Memorial Volume,
in commemoration of Professor JosepH HENRY.
WasuineTon, D.C., JANUARY 17, 1879.
A meeting of the Board of Regents was held this day in the
Regent’s room at half past nine o’clock A. M.
Present: The Chancellor, Chief Justice WArrE, Hon. AARON
A. Sarcent, Hon. Rosert FE. Witruers, Hon. James A.
GARFIELD, Hon. H1EsTER CLYMER, Hon. PETER PARKER, Rev.
Dr. JouHn MACLEAN, Prof. Asa GRAY, Professor HENRY CoPPE&E,
President NoAH PorTER, General Wi1LLIAM T. SHERMAN, and
the Secretary, Professor SPENCER IF’, BArrp. '
The subject of the publication of the eulogies on Professor.
HEnry, together with an account of his scientific writings, &c.,
was discussed, and on motion of Dr. MACLEAN, it was
Resolved, That a special committee of three be appointed, of
which the Secretary of the Institution shall be one, to prepare a
memorial of Professor HENRY, to include in a separate volume of
the Smithsonian series such biographies and notices of the late
Secretary of the Institution as may be considered by them worthy
of preservation and publication.
32); PROCEEDINGS OF REGENTS.
The Chancellor appointed Messrs. GRAY, PARKER, and Bairp
as the committee. tbe:
The Chancellor then stated that any remarks the Regents desired
to make in relation to Professor HENRY were in order.
Dr. ParKER addressed the Board as follows: .
Mr. CHANCELLOR AND FELLOW-REGENTS: We are making
history, and I wish to say a few words that shall remain upon its
page, in memory of JosepH Henry, our beloved and lamented
friend and Secretary, when we, like him, shall have passed from
earth. Many have already pronounced his eulogy and set forth his
rare talents and influence upon the world, and I need not, and
could not, were I to attempt it, add to your appreciation of
Professor HENRY, his life and character, as a friend, scientist, and
christian, the highest type of man.
For twenty years I have been intimately acquainted with Pro-
fessor HENRY, and happily associated with him in many ways; for
ten years as a Regent of the Smithsonian Institution, and as a
member of the Executive Committee, during all that period our
intercourse has been frequent and intimate. I have never known a
more excellent man.
His memory has been much on my mind since he left us, and I
often find myself inquiring how he and others like him are occupied
now. His connection with time is severed, but his existence con-
tinues. When I recall the names of Professors FRANKLIN BACHE,
Cyarues G. Pager, Louis Acassiz, and JosepH Henry, and
others of similar intellect: and virtue, I find myself asking the
question, Are to them all consciousness and thought suspended by
separation from the body? I am reluctant to come to such conclu-
sion. But this I know, the Infinite Father’s ways are right.
Tt seems most providential that Professor Henry had the oppor
tunity and the strength to give in person his last words, a priceless
legacy, to the National Academy at its annual meeting in Wash-
PROCEEDINGS OF REGENTS. 33
ington, in April, and through that association to the civilized and
scientific worlds; I refer to his sentiment “that moral excellence
is the highest dignity of man.” The loftiest talents and highest
attainments without this are deficient in that, which, in the judg-
ment of wise men and of Infinite Wisdom, is of greatest worth.
Was there ever a man from whom the sentiment could come with
better grace?
The opinion has been expressed, and I do not regard it extrava-
gant, that the letter addressed by Professor HENRY to his friend
JOSEPH PATTERSON, emanating from such a mind, such a man, at
the close of a protracted life of singular distinction, was worth a
man’s lifetime to produce. It has probably been read by millions,
in various languages, and will be by future generations.
Professor HENRY was not only a man of science, a discoverer of
nature’s laws and forces, but a sincere believer in God their Author
and in his atoning Son. To quote his language: “We are conscious
of having evil thoughts and tendencies that we cannot associate
ourselves with a Divine Being, who is the Director and Governor
of all, or even call upon him for mercy, without the intercession of
One who may affiliate himself with us.”
Let me quote from the prayer offered at his obsequies, and to
which we repeat our sincere Amen; the lips that uttered it, in less
than one short month were silent in death, and the two remarkable
men, Professors JoseEpH HENRY and CHARLES HonekE, closely
united in life were not long divided by death: “We thank Thee,
O God, that JosrEpH HEnry was born; that Thou didst endow
him with such rare gifts, intellectual, moral, and spiritual; that
Thou didst spare him to a good old age, and enable him to accom-
plish so much for the increase of human knowledge and for the
good of his fellow-men; and above all that Thou didst hold him
up before this whole nation as such a conspicuous illustration of
the truth that moral excellence is the highest dignity of man.”
3
seat PROCEEDINGS OF REGENTS.
On motion of Dr. MAcLEAN, it was— .
Resolved, That the thanks of the Board of Regents be presented
to the gentlemen who took part in the memorial services held in the
United States Capitol on the 16th of January, in honor of the late
Professor HENRY, and that they be requested to furnish copies of
their remarks on that occasion. |
Pav if:
MEMORIAL EXERCISES AT THE CAPITOL.
(35)
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JOPITAD SET PA BIRMOANTA {ATHONSEM
MEMORIAL EXERCISES
IN HONOR OF
ee Noel Fe cledacddeN sete Vos
HELD IN THE HALL OF THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES
On Thursday Evening, January 16, 1879.
ANNOUNCEMENT.
PUBLIC COMMEMORATION IN HONOR OF THE LATE JOSEPH HENRY.
The Board of Regents of the Smithsonian Institution, on the
17th of May, 1878, passed a resolution requesting the executive
committee to make arrangements for a public commemoration in
honor of the late Secretary of the Institution, of such character and
_at such time and place as they might determine.
~The committee has now the satisfaction of announcing that in
conformity with the above action the following concurrent resolu-
tion was unanimously adopted by both Houses of Congress on the
9th and 10th of December, 1878:
Resolved, That the Congress:of the United States will take part
in the services to be observed on Thursday evening, January 16,
1879, in honor of the memory of JoseEPpH HENRY, late secretary
of the Smithsonian Institution, under the auspices of the Regents
thereof, and for that purpose the Senators and Members will assem-
ble on that evening in the Hall of the House of Representatives,
the Vice-President of the United States, supported by the Speaker
of the House, to preside on that occasion.
(37)
388 MEMORIAL OF JOSEPH HENRY.
In accordance with the foregoing resolution, the services will be
held in the Hall of the House of Representatives on Thursday, the
16th of January, 1879, at eight p. m., which the public are invited
to attend.
PETER PARKER,
JOHN MACLEAN,
_WiiiiaM T. SHERMAN,
Executive Committee of the Board of Regents.
WasHINGTON, January 6, 1879. |
PROCEEDINGS.
Haut oF THE House OF REPRESENTATIVES,
* oF THE UNITED STATES,
Tuourspay Eventne, January 16, 1879.
Tn accordance with the arrangements made by order of Congress,
the Senate and House of Representatives of the United States
assembled in the Hall of the House, and were called to order at
eight o’clock by the Hon. Samuet J. RANDALL, the Speaker of
the House, the President with members of the Cabinet occupying
front seats on the right and the Chief-Justice with associate justices
of the Supreme Court corresponding seats on the left. The Speaker
announced briefly the object of the meeting, and then handed the
gavel to the Hon. Witt1AmM A. WHEELER, the Vice-President of
the United States, who thereupon presided on the occasion, sup-
ported by the Speaker of the House.
bel? Ris Yo Bakts
REV. JAMES McCOSH, D. D.
O Gop, we look up and by faith we behold Thee as the Infinite
and the Perfect One; almighty in power, unerring in wisdom,
inflexible in justice, spotless in holiness, and, with thy tender mer-
cies over all thy works; our Maker, our Preserver, our Redeemer,
our Sanctifier, our Judge, our exceeding great reward.
We adore Thee as a Spirit; and we would worship Thee in spirit
and in truth. We adore Thee as light, and we would walk in that
light. We adore Thee as love, and we would dwell and rejoice in
that love. We bless and praise Thee as the creator of all things;
and we would see and acknowledge Thee in all thy works. All
the powers of nature are thine; light and heat and attraction are
thine; they obey thy will, and fulfill thy pleasure, and accomplish
thy end. Thou sayest unto them go, and they go; come, and they
come; do this, and they do it. |
O Lord, how manifold are thy works; in wisdom hast Thou
made them all. The earth is full of thy riches. We bless Thee,
because Thou didst make man after thine image, taught him more
than the beasts of the earth, and made him wiser than the fowls of
heaven, and capable of so far knowing Thee, and believing Thee,
and loving Thee. We cannot indeed with our finite minds com-
prehend Thee in thy amplitude. Who can by searching find out
God? Who can find out the Almighty unto perfection? But
being in thy likeness we can know Thee in part, and sufficiently
to call forth our admiration and our affection; we feel the behold- ~
ing of thy glory to be the highest contemplation in which we can
(39)
40 MEMORIAL OF JOSEPH HENRY.
engage; and the more we know, we adore Thee and love Thee
the more. No man indeed can find out the work which God doeth
from the beginning unto the end; yet thy intelligent creatures can
behold thy working, and understand the invisible things of God
from the things that are made.
We thank Thee, Lord, for the high gifts with which Thou didst
so plentifully endow thy servant, whose services in the cause of
science and humanity we meet this evening to commemorate. We
praise Thee because Thou didst put wisdom into his inward parts,
and give understanding to his heart, so that he applied himself to
seek out and to reach knowledge and the reasons of things. We
bless Thee because he was enabled to throw light on that which
God doeth, on those things which are forever, and those things to
which no man can add and from which no one can take away.
We exalt Thee because mankind have been able to take advan-
tage of the discoveries of the departed in order to make knowledge
to pass to and fro all over the earth, and to add to the intelligence,
the wealth, and the comfort of thy creatures. We pray Thee to
raise up other great and good men who, in like spirit, will puis on
the work in which he was so honorably engaged.
We pray for his widow and for his family, whom he so loved ;
that the prayers he offered for them when on earth may return in
the richest blessings from heaven and from earth upon their heads
and upon their hearts.
We thank Thee, Lord, because Thou didst bestow on him not
only gifts, but graces, faith, and humility, and integrity and love.
We rejoice that we can this day contemplate so pleasantly his char-
acter; that we can cherish the remembrance of him as of a man
of high aims and lofty purpose, devoting his life to the cause of
science and to the glory of God and the good of mankind.
We bless Thee for that faith in Christ which supported him in
life, and for that hope that cheered him in death, and that we can
PRAYER BY REY. JAMES McOCOSH, D. D. 4]
believe that he is still occupied in thy service, and that now, ina
clearer light, he is doing nobler work than he performed on earth.
We rejoice this day because by his profession and by his con-
sistent walk and conversation he gave such evidence that he was
truly a follower of Christ and led by the sanctifying Spirit. May
we all be enabled to follow his good example, trusting like him in
Thee, and giving praise to Father, Son, and Holy Ghost: Amen.
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READING OF TELEGRAMS
BY
HON. HIESTER CLYMER.
This evening from across the sea there have come to us, by
means which his genius and immortal discovery have made possi-
ble, messages, telling of the estimation in which the name and fame
of Henry are held in the Motherland. By the réquest of the
Regents I will read them, so that they may become a part of the
record which this nation to-night is making in honor of our greatest
son of science since the days of FRANKLIN.
The first I shall read is from the University of Glasgow:
Lonpon, January 16, 1879.
“Sir Wiitt1AM TuHomson, of University of Glasgow, con-
gratulates your nation on a perennial possession. HENRY’s name
and works are yours forever, though you now mourn the loss of
his life among you.”
The next is from the Anglo-American Telegraph Company :
Lonpvon, January 16, 1879.
“The board of directors of this company and myself desire to
express our sympathy with the memorial services in honor of the
late Professor Henry, which are to take place in your House of
' Representatives. We sincerely unite in the grief at this irrepara-
ble loss with the relatives and. friends of this great man, who has
rendered such signal services to the science of electricity and to the
(75)
76 MEMORIAL OF JOSEPH HENRY.
world in general, by his important discoveries. This company has
to mourn the loss of a staunch friend.
“The Right Hon. Viscount Moncx,
“Chairman of the Anglo-American Company— London.”
The next dispatch is from the Eastern Telegraph Company and
the direct United States Cable Company :
Lonpon, January 16, 1879.
“Kindly express in the name of my company, directors, and
myself our association in spirit with the memorial services in honor
of the late Professor HENRY, whose services have been so great,
not only to those interested in electrical science, but to the world at
large. The work of such a man as he, helps human progress; and
Professor HENRY has left a distinct mark on our times. We
sympathize with his family in their sad bereavement, and feel while
they have lost a warm friend the world has lost a great benefactor.”
“JoHN PENDER,
Chairman of the Eastern Telegraph Company,
and of the Direct United States Cable Company.”
“To Cyrus W. FIELD,
Care of Mr. Justice FIELD,
Capitol Hill, Washington, D. C.”
ADDRESS
OF
PROF. WILLIAM B. ROGERS,
In the opening years of the present century a learned Italian
philosopher and experimenter devised and brought to the notice of
the scientific world a new engine of electric force, a contrivance for
accumulating the peculiar form of electric energy,. which since the
observations of GaLvANntr had engaged the attention of scientific
men. So general and profound was the interest created by this
discovery that the great First Consul of France invited VOLTA to
Paris, witnessed his experiments with the newly invented instrument
in the august presence of: the National Institute, and soon after
conferred upon him the highest scientific honors and the most distin-
guished decorations in his gift.
Striking as was this tribute to the worth and dignity of science,
to my mind the present occasion constitutes a far grander recogni-
tion than could be accorded by a First Consul of France, though
he were NapoLEon Bonaparte himself. For here the high
functionaries and chosen representatives. of a great people are
assembled in its Capitol almost as if by a spontaneous impulse to
testify to the worth of science and to do honor to one who has. been
among the foremost in its advancement, making this, perhaps
beyond any former occasion in the world’s history,.a national testi-
monial to achievements wrought in the peaceful domain of scien-
tific investigation. .
I am unwilling to interpret this noble memorial meeting as
inspired simply by a regard for the valuable official services of
the philosopher who wisely, discreetly, and firmly carried out the
77)
78 MEMORIAL OF JOSEPH HENRY.
trust committed to him by the Government of the country. Surely
it is largely due to the services which JoserpH Henry rendered
to mankind by his scientific discoveries and researches. Let the
_ philosopher be ever so great in the administration of affairs, even
though these connect themselyes directly with the increase and
spread of knowledge among men, yet the merit and the glory of
the discovery of great scientific truths transcend the honors of any
merely administrative success. This occasion then rises to the
height of a national recognition of science for its own sake in
enlarging the sphere of human intelligence, as well as for its pro-
motion of the material welfare of mankind, and I do not doubt
that the knowledge of what we are this night doing will every-
where give to men of science a new incentive to labor, and will
win for our country an added claim to the honors of an advancing
civilization. |
That first year of the century which brought to view the electric
properties of the voltaic apparatus opened an active campaign in
this department of research among the physicists and chemists of
Europe. Within a few months of the announcement of the electric
polarity and the physiological effects of the voltaic pile, NicHOL-
son and CARLISLE, of England, discovered that its polar wires
had the property, in transmitting the current, of decomposing
water, and gathering its elements at opposite extremities; and soon
with improved forms of the apparatus its marvelous analytic power -
was brought to bear on other liquids and solutions, until, through
the labors mainly of BERzELIus and of Davy, the great generali-
zation of electro-positive and electro-negative substances was estab-
lished, and with it the fruitful theory of the electro-chemical com-
position of compound bodies.
Greatest among the active investigators of this period was Davy,
who, but a few years before an apothecary’s apprentice, was now
seen, inspired by the enthusiasm of an ardent genius, applying the
ADDRESS OF PROF. W. B. ROGERS. 79
new instrument of research to yet untried purposes of: chemical
analysis. Davy was a poet as well as a philosopher, and we can
imagine the glow of poetic enthusiasm which warmed his soul when
he saw for the first time the fiery globules of potassium gather-
ing and exploding around the electric pole. And well might his
prescient thought exult, for from this and his immediately succeed-
ing discoveries it became established that the fixed alkalies and the
earths, till then supposed to be elementary bodies, out of which the
solid crust of our globe is constituted, are nothing more than the
rust or cinders; that is, the oxides of metals and metalloidal bodies.
. Passing from the years 1807-08, when these splendid discov-
eries were made, we mark for several years no further brilliant
achievement in electrical science, but follow the ingenious labors of
distinguished experimenters in improving the efficiency of the
voltaic apparatus, multiplying its applications and giving a broader
basis to the laws of electro-chemistry. |
In a little more than a decade after the era illustrated by Davy’s
experimental genius, the progress of our science was signalized
by another momentous event, the discovery or more properly re-
discovery by the Danish philosopher, OERSTED, of the directive
influence of the voltaic current on the magnetic needle, a fact which,
first noticed by RoMAGNos! at the beginning of the century, * had
been practically overlooked, but which as discovered anew and
more fully investigated by OERSTED, gave him a celebrity such as »
a life-long devotion to science has often failed to secure.
A relation between electricity and magnetism had long been
suspected, but as yet no demonstration of the nature of their con-
nection had been attained. The electric pile of Voura and the
various forms of galvanic battery, exhibiting opposite electrical
*In the address as delivered, no reference was made to this anticipation of
OERSTED’S discovery; and I am indebted for the correction of the generally
accepted history, to Mr. WILLIAM B. TAYLOR’s able Historical Sketch, in the Smith-
sonian Report for 1878.—W. B. R.
80 MEMORIAL OF JOSEPH HENRY.
polarities at their extremities, suggested a strong analogy to magnetic
action, and led in many minds to the thought amounting almost to
to a conviction that there existed an inherent connection between
electricity and ‘magnetism. ,
The attempts to discover this connection had been made with
galvanic piles or batteries whose poles were not connected by con-
ductors, under the expectation that these would show magnetical
relations, although in such cases the electricity, accumulated at the
extremities, was evidently stagnant. It was reserved for OERSTED.
first to bring into prominent view the fact that it was not while
the electricity was thus at rest, but while it was flowing through
the wire connecting the two poles, that it exhibited magnetic action,
and that a wire thus carrying a current— while it had the power of
affecting a magnetic needle, was in turn susceptible of being acted
on by a magnet; and this was the initial step in the science of .
electro-magnetism. .
The announcement of this discovery in 1820 at once brought into
the field a host of experimenters, repeating and extending the obser-
vations of OERSTED, and by various methods of research multiply-
ing the proofs of the magnetic relations of the voltaic currents.
Soon ARAGO and Davy discovered the magnetizing power of the
voltaic conductor on iron filings, and the former found that when a
soft iron wire was placed in a conducting helix it became a tempo-
_ rary magnet as long as the current was maintained. Now came
-forward to take part in these investigations one who was at the same
time a distinguished mathematician and a great experimenter, a
combination which is to. be regarded as the consummation of power
in the investigation and discovery of natural laws.
The French philosopher AmMpERE, here referred to, made the
momentous discovery that when two wires are conveying currents
in the same direction they mutually attract, but that when these
currents flow in opposite directions the conducting wires repel.
ADDRESS OF PROF. W. B. ROGERS. 81
His quick imagination led him at ‘once to what may be called the
electrical construction of the magnet. To his thought each linear
current is but a magnetic element, and every ‘magnet is but a con-
geries of such currents revolving around its axis; and he said to
himself, “TI will construct a magnet with copper wires, and without
the metal hitherto supposed to be essential to this result, for I will
make the current revolve in a copper helix.” He did so; sus-
pended the conducting helix, and found, as he had expected, that
its ends were attracted and repelled by the poles of the ordinary
magnet, and that when free to move it pointed like the compass
needle in obedience to the earth’s directive power, and that in fact
this copper wire had the distinctive properties of a magnet.
AMPERE has been styled the NEwron of electricity, and his
electro-dynamic theory of the action of currents and of magnets
has been thought worthy, so far as the logic of its demonstration
is concerned, of a place near the Principia of Newton.
Electro-dynamic experiments were now rapidly multiplying and
numerous ingenious forms of apparatus were contrived to illustrate
the actions of currents on each other and of currents on magnets,
a class of phenomena which, from their novelty at the time, as well
as their intrinsic interest, some of my hearers will recall as having
been among the most surprising and fascinating of lecture-room
exhibitions.
It was at this stage of discovery that another scientific genius,
FarapAy, who was destined to be the successor and perhaps more
than the equal of his great instructor, DAvy, leaving the chemical
labors in which he had already attained distinction, entered the
field of electrical research. After aiding Davy in 1820 in repeat-
ing and extending OERSTED’s experiments soon after they had been
announced, he succeeded in producing, for the first time, the con- —
tinuous rotation of a magnet around an electric conductor and the
converse rotation of the conductor around the magnet, and a few
6
82 MEMORIAL OF JOSEPH HENRY.
years later entered upon that series of investigations which, con-
tinued for many years, gave to science, as embodied in his well- -
known “Researches in electricity,” those varied and brilliant dis-
coveries which have placed him in the first rank of the philosophers
of modern times. i
About the same period our countryman, Dr. RoperT Hark, gave
a new interest to the study of electric currents in another aspect,
that of their heating energy, by his invention of the calorimotor
and deflagrator, the early products of his untiring ingenuity, which
in the laboratories of former years so dazzled us by their exhibi-
tion of transformed electric power.
Allusion has already been made to the observation of ARAGO
in 1820, that an iron wire, surrounded by a helix conducting a
voltaic current, became a temporary magnet. In the same year
ScuwE1aGER, of Halle, conceived the idea of greatly augmenting
the deviating effect of an electric current on a magnetic needle
by causing it to traverse successive parallel closely adjacent coils of
the conducting wire, in which the needle was suspended, and in
this way constructed the well-known galvanometer ; an instrument
which, as improved by Nosrit, became indispensable in the meas-
‘urement of current electricity, and which through the recent refined
improvements given to it by Sir Witi1am THoMsoN, the first of
living electricians, has been. made one of the most perfect and deli-
cate of all known means of measuring force.
At length, in 1825, an English electrician, SturGEon, who had
done much in the contrivance of electro-dynamic apparatus,
improved upon ARAGO’S experiment by using an iron wire bent
in horse-shoe form covered with non-conducting varnish, around
which was wound in an open helix the conducting wire. As long
as the voltaic current was allowed to pass through the conductor
the inclosed iron wire was made magnetic with poles like those of
a horse-shoe magnet. When the current ceased, the magnetic force
ADDRESS OF PROF. W. B. ROGERS. 83
disappeared. This was SrurGEon’s electro-magnet; and although
its lifting-power was small—limited at the utmost to a few pounds
— it had the merit of being in a practical sense the first electro-
magnet.
After making many experiments with this instrument and with
currents variously applied, Professor BARLOW, an English mathe-
matician and engineer, announced as his conclusion that the current
of electricity, under these circumstances, is so greatly retarded in
its progress through the wire that in a short distance it is rendered
incapable of accomplishing any decided mechanical effect. This —
discouraging result was made public in the year 1825, when in
many quarters schemes began to be proposed for telegraphing
through the medium of electric force, and it seems for a time to
have satisfied the minds of practical and scientific men generally
that an electro-magnetic telegraph was impossible. ;
During all this time America was comparatively silent. It is
true that CoxE had suggested a chemical telegraph, and HARE had
made numerous improvements in galvanic apparatus, but as yet no
representative of FRANKLIN had entered the field of electrical
research. Soon, however, there appeared on the scene, first as a
country schoolmaster and a student in the Albany Academy, then
as a, professor in this Academy, the man whose worth and scientific
labors we are assembled to commemorate, and who, in virtue of his
various discoveries in electrical science, may well be held entitled
to the honor of such a representation.
Beginning his career of original experiment in 1827, JosEPH
HEnry early directed his thoughts to the improvement of electro-
magnetic apparatus, and especially to the development of increased
force in the soft-iron electro-magnet. He took up the rude instru-
ment of SruRGEON, experimented with it, studied the means by
which its efficiency could be varied and augmented, and at length
succeeded in so modifying its construction and its relation to the
84 MEMORIAL OF JOSEPH HENRY.
exciting current as to convert it into an instrument which, instead
of being able to bear a few ounces, or at most a few pounds, was
capable of sustaining a load of hundreds of pounds, and which by
still later improvements, perfected soon after his removal to Prince- |
ton, exhibited, under the impulse of. but a moderate battery power,
the enormous sustaining force of more than three thousand pounds.
I can well remember the astonishment which was created by the
announcement of this result and the delight of those who first wit-
nessed it. As might well be imagined, this striking achievement at
once drew the attention of the scientific world to the rising American
electrician. |
It was not that there was extraordinary merit simply in con-
structing an apparatus which would support one thousand pounds
instead of ten, in making a colossal magnet, but the result claimed
admiration because of the series of thoughtful experiments leading
to it and to yet wider applications; experiments involving an inves-
tigation of the laws which regulated the relation between the bar —
of iron, the wire or wires which encircled it, the prolonged con-
ductor, and the battery which furnished the power.
Availing himself of the principle already applied in ScHweEIe-
aeEn’s galyanometer, Henry succeeded in multiplying the effect of
the current by causing it to revolve in an insulated wire closely
wound about the iron core in coils of many thicknesses; and with
this arrangement he compared the forces developed by currents
derived from different galvanic elements and through different
lengths of conducting wire, and he soon established the fact that
such currents were not of necessity quickly spent, as had been main-
tained by BARLOow, but that, under proper conditions, they retained
an available magnetizing force after having traversed wires of con-
siderable length. He showed that for securing this persistence over
great distances an intensity-battery was.required, while for producing
great magnetic power near to the source of the current a large sur-
ADDRESS OF PROF. W. B. ROGERS. 85
face with but few elements, that is, a quantity-battery, should be
used ; and that in the latter case the effect was greatly increased by
using many separate short coils to inclose the magnet, each connected .
with the galvanic source, or in place of these a single thicker wire,
forming thus what he termed a “quantity-magnet.”
It was in this stage of his researches that, in 1831-32, HENRY
produced a machine moved by electro-magnetism, and exhibited in
the Albany Academy the memorable experiment of transmitting
signals by means of his electro-magnet through more than a mile
of wire, and soon after pointed out the application of the principles
shown to the transmission of intelligence to a distance. ‘This was
undeniably the first example of what was virtually an electro-
magnetic telegraph, and furnished a scientific foundation for those
multiplied inventions which in later years have made the electro-
magnetic telegraph co-extensive with the civilized world.
We may not here consider the various claims of the ingenious
- inventors who in later years originated the numerous details of
practical telegraphy. It was a period in which discovery and
invention were, as it has been said, “in the air;” and it would be
impossible to assign to any, even the most illustrious contributor
to the result, his own precise share in the general progress. °
- Not pausing to make further applications of the discoveries re-
ferred to, so suggestive of great practical use, and not for a moment
considering the profitable return which might be secured from them,
HENRY, in the spirit of a true lover of science, continued his
investigations in the same general field, and after his removal to
Princeton made other and larger additions to the store of electrical
knowledge. Here, repeating an earlier experiment, he made the
important discovery of the reaction of the current upon itself, caus-
ing what is called the extra-current, and carried on the very original
investigations which revealed the existence and the laws of induced
currents of successive orders, which, for their novelty, ingenuity,
86 MEMORIAL OF JOSEPH HENRY.
and conclusiveness in the development of an entirely new class of
phenomena, may, I think, be regarded as the most remarkable and
classical of his electrical researches.
From this time forward, until his active scientific career was
interrupted, and in a measure terminated, by his removal to Wash-
ington to assume the great responsibility of the Smithsonian trust,
Henry continued his zealous investigations. Passing in succession
into new departments of physical inquiry, including questions in
atmospheric electricity, in heat and light, and in molecular physics,
and embracing theoretical generalizations on the origin of mechani-
cal power and the nature of vital force, he never failed to enrich
with new facts and new suggestions every subject to which his
philosophical genius was directed. Indeed, it may well be said of
him in connection with science, as once it was said of a literary
genius whom the world admires: “Nihil tetigit quod non ornavit.”
. Into the details of these researches and discoveries, so full of
interest to science and so replete with practical suggestions, I am
forbidden here to enter, and must leave them to other and abler
hands, and to a less popular occasion. Neither can I more than
passingly allude to those later labors of Henry, by which he initi-
ated a system of meteorological research on a uniform method and
of national comprehensiveness, nor to the great improvement which
he introduced in our light-house illumination and our fog-signals,
or in connection with the last, to the admirable series of observa-
tions undertaken to elucidate the acoustic phenomena due to varia-
tions of atmospheric movement and density, observations in which,
as we all know, he was zealously engaged until but a few months
before the time when the veteran philosopher was compelled by
failing health to retire from the field of his beneficent activity.
On reviewing the long and fruitful career of Professor HENRY
we are impressed by his ingenity and accuracy as an experimentalist
and by his clearness and breadth as a scientific thinker. Of the
ADDRESS OF PROF. W. B. ROGERS. 87
former of these qualifications we have proof in the readiness with
which he could devise means, at once simple and efficient, for
his investigations, such as are seen in the construction of his
first electro-magnetic machine, in the conversion of the electro-
magnet into a means of signaling at a distance, in the thermal
telescope by which he noted the heat reflected from clouds or distant
objects on the land, in his device for measuring the velocity of
projectiles, and in that by which he measured the tenacity of liquid
films of differing curvature, anticipating PLATEAU’s later and
fuller researches, and in numerous other instances which we may
not here recount.
Of his clearness and comprehensiveness in the discussion of
scientific questions perhaps no better example can be cited than the
remarkable paper on the “Origin of mechanical power and the
nature of vital force,” which, following at a very short interval the
publications of Grove, Mayer, and JouLE on the conservation
of forces, for the first time clearly expounded and illustrated the
application of this the grandest of the generalizations of modern
science to the organic world. - . .
Ingenious, zealous, and patient in experiment, HENRY was most
conscientious in reporting his results, allowing no preconceived
theories to modify the record or to warp the conclusions to which it
pointed. He loved scientific truth supremely, and the discovery of
it was a source of unalloyed delight, for he had early been a greedy
seeker of knowledge, and had learned, as Lord Bacon has said,
that “while in all other pleasures there is satiety, of knowledge
there is no satiety, but satisfaction and appetite are perpetually
interchangeable.”
As in the case of most men who have attained eminence in science,
Henry used his imagination as a stimulus and even as a guide to
his investigations; but while in the course of his work he could
not but frame hypotheses, he treated them as but the scaffolding to
88 _ MEMORIAL OF JOSEPH HENRY.
aid in building the solid structure of. physical, truth,.to be thrown
to the ground as soon as the walls were completed.
Professor HENRY was strongly imbued with the spirit of induc-
tive. philosophy, and knew how, in searching for a true generalization,
to carry out the process of successive exclusion, to try this and then
the other experiment in order to discover which of his theories
corresponded with the facts, believing, doubtless, with the wittiest —
of Frenchmen that a theory is like a mouse, which, after passing
through nine holes, may be caught in the tenth.
Although accustomed to distinguish strongly between the merit
of the discovery of a scientific principle and that of invention
through which the principle was to be applied to the world’s use,
che well knew how inseparable are the two, and how greatly even
inventions not directly inspired by science have quickened its march
and extended the field of its activity. The large humanity which
was a marked feature in his character led him to welcome heartily
every instance of inventive application, as well when simply con-
ducive to the welfare of society as when giving. to science a new
implement for investigation. Indeed, the genius of Henry was
eminently practical, if. we extend this term to embrace the highest,
widest, and most enduring. forms of utility. Valuing ‘highly a
legitimate hypothesis, he had, I think, no relish for those flights of
the imagination in which men of. science sometimes indulge them-
selves amid regions of pure conjecture or of vague and indeterminate
data, in the hope, by the spell of a profound mathematics, to convert
shadowy suggestions into substantial truth,
Large and accurate as were his attainments in physical. science,
HENRY was too modest and too just to dogmatize on questions in
regard to which opinions are divided. Whatever were his convic-
tions in matters transcending scientific inquiry and proof, he did
not allow them to be the standard by which other consciences were
to be judged, and he felt, as I cannot but.believe, that dogmatism,
ADDRESS OF PROF. W. B. ROGERS. 89
where there are grounds for doubt, in any province of thought, is
injurious to the cause of truth and incompatible with that genuine
philosophy which recognizes how small is the segment of our actual
knowledge as compared to the infinite sphere of possible discovery.
In closing this imperfect notice of the labors and the character as
a philosopher which have given to JosepH HENRY so high a place
among the men of science of our day, and have won for him the
crowning honor of this national memorial meeting, I am led to
allude to the illustration which he has furnished of the peculiar
genius and temperament of the American people. In his example
we see that combination of the practical and the philosophical which
we may claim as characteristic of our nation, and which refutes the
charge, sometimes made, that, although fertile beyond other nations
in invention, we do not rise to the higher level of scientific thought.
Nor can [ refrain, in this connection, from appropriating to our
country the words in which Mivron so nobly characterized the
capacities of the great nation of which, in his time, we were a part:
“A nation not slow and dull, but of a quick, ingenious, and pierc-
ing spirit, acute to invent, subtle and sinewy to discourse, and not
beneath the reach of any point the highest that human capacity can
soar to,”
=
we
pipe ey ed
j evi lt ri w _
ai
ADDRESS
OF
HON. JAMES A. GARFIELD.
In the presence of these fathers of science who have honored this
occasion with their wisdom and eloquence, I can do but little more
than express my gratitude for the noble contribution they have
made to this national expression of love and reverence. So com-
pletely have they covered the ground, so fully have they sketched
the great life which we celebrate, that nothing is left but'to linger a
moment over the tributes they have offered and select here and there
a special excellence to carry away as a lasting memorial.
No page of human history is so instructive and significant as the
record of those early influences which develop the character and
direct the lives of eminent men. To every man of great original
power there comes, in early youth, a moment of sudden discovery —
of self recognition—when his own nature is revealed to himself,
when he catches, for the first time, a strain of that immortal song
to which his own spirit answers, and which becomes thenceforth
and forever the inspiration of his life—
“Like noble music unto noble words,”
More than a hundred years ago, in Strasburg on the Rhine, in
obedience to the commands of his father, a German lad was reluct-
antly studying the mysteries of the civil law, but feeding his spirit
as best he could upon the formal and artificial poetry of his native
land, when a page of WinLIAM SHAKESPEARE met his eye and
changed the whole current of his life. Abandoning the law, he
created and crowned with an immortal name the grandest epoch of
German literature.
(91)
92 MEMORIAL OF JOSEPH HENRY.
Recording his own experience, he says: “At the first touch of
SHAKESPEARE’S genius I made the glad confession that something
inspiring hovered above me. - - - The first page of his that
I read made me his for life; and when T had finished a single play,
I stood like one born blind on whom a miraculous hand bestows
sight ina moment. I saw, I felt, in the most vivid manner that
my existence was infinitely expanded.”
This Old World experience of Gorryr’s was strikingly repro-
duced, though under different conditions and with different results,
in the early life of Josep Henry. You have just heard the
incident worthily recounted; but let us linger over it a moment.
An orphan boy of sixteen, of tough Scotch fiber, laboring for his
own support at the handicraft of the jeweler, unconscious of his
great powers, delighted with romance and the drama, dreaming of
a possible career on the stage, his attention was suddenly arrested
by a single page of an humble book of science which chanced to
fall into his hands. It was not the flash of a poetic vision which
aroused him. It was the voice of great Nature calling her child.
With quick recognition and glad reverence his spirit responded ;
and from that moment to the end of his long and honored life,
JosEpH THrnry was the devoted student of science, the faithful
interpreter of nature. .
To those who knew his gentle spirit, it is not surprising that
ever afterward he kept the little volume near him and cherished it
as the source of his first inspiration. In the maturity of his. fame,
he recorded on its fly-leaf his gratitude. Note his words; “'This
book under Providence: has exerted a remarkable influence on my
life. - - - It opened to me a new world of thought and
enjoyment, invested things before almost unnoticed with the highest
interest, fixed my mind on the study of nature, and caused me to
resolve at the time of reading it that I would devote my life to the
acquisition of knowledge.” |
ADDRESS OF HON. J. A. GARFIELD. 93
We have heard from his venerable associates with what: resolute
perseverance he trained his mind and marshaled his powers for the
higher realms of science. He was the first American, after FRANK-
LIN, who made a series of successful original experiments in elec-
tricity and magnetism. He entered the mighty line of Voura,
GALVANI, OrrstED, Davy, and Arbre, the great exploring
philosophers of the world, and added to their work a final great
discovery which made the electro-magnetic telegraph possible.*
*As a fuller statement of the steps by which the telegraph was achieved I append
a passage from an address which I delivered at the MorsE memorial meeting, in the
Hall of the House of Representatives, April 16, 1872:
“The electro-magnetic telegraph is the embodiment, I might say the incarnation,
of many centuries of thought, of many generations of effort to elicit from nature
one of her deopest mysteries. No one man, no one century could have achieved it.
It is the child of the human race, ‘the heir of all the ages.’ How wonderful were
the steps which led to its creation! The very name of this telegraphic instrument
bears record of its history—‘electric, magnetic.’ The first, named from the bit of
yellow amber whose qualities of attraction and repulsion were discovered by a
Grecian philosopher twenty-four centuries ago; and the second, from Magnesia, the
village of Asia Minor, where first was found the loadstone, whose touch turned the
needle forever to the North. These were the earliest forms in which that subtle, all-
pervading force revealed itself tomen. In the childhood of the race men stood dumb
in the presence of its more terrible manifestations. When it gleamed in the purple
aurora, or shot dusky-red from the clouds, it was the eye-flash of an angry God, be-
fore whom mortals quailed in helpless fear. When the electric light burned blue on
the spear-points of the Roman legions it was to them and their leaders a portent
from the gods beckoning them to victory. When the phosphorescent Nght, which
the sailors still call Saint Elmore's fire, hovered in the masts and spars of the Roman
ship, it was Castor and Pollux, twin gods of the sea, guiding the mariner to port, or
the beacon of an avenging God luring him to death. -
“When we consider the startling forms in which this element presents itself, it is
not surprising that so many centuries elapsed before men dared to confront and
question its awful mystery. And it was fitting that here, in this new, free. world,
the first answer came revealing to our FRANKLIN the great truth that the lightning
of the sky and the electricity of the laboratory were one; that in the simple electric
toy were embodied all the mysteries of the thunderbolt. Until near the beginning
of the present century the only known method of producing electricity was by fric-
tion. But the discoveries of GALVANI in 1790, and of VoLTA in 1810, resulted in the
production of electricity by the chemical action of acids upon metals, and gave to
the world the galvanic battery and the voltaic pile, and the electric current. This
was the first step in that path of modern discovery which led to the telegraph. But
further discoveries*were necessary to make the telegraph possible. The next great
step was taken by OERSTED, the Swedish professor, who, in 1819-’20, made the discovery
that the needle when placed near the galvanic battery was deflected at right angles
with the electric current. In the four modest pages in which OERSTED announced
this discovery to the world the science of electro-magnetism was found. As FRANK-
LIN had exhibited the relation between lightning and the electric fluid, so ORRSTED
exhibited the relation between magnetism and electricity. Ffom 1820 to 1825 his
discovery was further developed by DAvy and StuRGEoN, of England, and ARAGO
and AMPERE, of France, They found that by sending a current of electricity through
94 MEMORIAL OF JOSEPH HENRY.
It remained only for the inventor to construct an instrument, and
an alphabet. Professor HENRY refused to reap any pecuniary re-
wards from his great discovery, but gave freely to mankind what
nature and science had given to him.
I observe that these venerable gentlemen who have spoken,
express’ some regret that Professor Henry left their higher circle
to come down to us; and to some extent I share in their regret.
Doubtless it was a great loss to science. I remember that Aaassiz
once said that he had made it the rule of his life to abandon any
scientific investigation as soon as it became useful. I fancied I
saw him and his brethren going beyond the region of perpetual
frost, up among the wild elements of nature and the hidden myste-
ries of science, and when they had made a discovery and brought
it down to the line of commercial value, leaving it there, know-
ing that the world would make it useful and profitable, while they
went back to resume their original search. I do not wonder
that these men regretted the loss of such a comrade as JOSEPH
HEnryY.
But something is due to the millions of Americans outside the
circle of science; and the Republic has the right ‘to call on all her
children for service. It was needful that the Government should
have, here at its capital, a great, luminous-minded, pure-hearted
man, to serve as its counselor and friend in matters of science.
a wire coiled around a piece of soft iron, the iron became a magnet while the current
was passing, and ceased to be a magnet when the current was broken. This gave an
intermittent power, a power to grapple and to let go at the will of the electrician,
AMPERE suggested that a telegraph was possible by applying this power to a needle,
In 1825, BARLOw, of England, made experiments to verify this suggestion of the tele- -
graph, and pronounced it impracticable on the ground that the batteries then used
would not send the fluid through even two hundred feet of wire-without a sensible
diminution of its force. In 1831, JosEPH HENRY, now Secretary of the Smithsonian
Institution, then a professor at Albany, New York, as the result of numerous experi-
ments, discovered a method by which he produced a battery of such intensity as to
overcome the difficulty spoken of by BARLow in 1825. By means of this, his dis-
covery, he magnetized soft iron at a great distance from the battery, pointed out the
fact that a telegraph was possible, and actually rang a bell by means of the electro-
magnet acting on along wire. This was the last step in the series of great discoy-
eries which preceded the invention of the telegraph.”
ADDRESS OF HON. J. A. GARFIELD. 95
Such an adviser was never more needed than at the date of Profes-
sor HEenry’s arrival at the capital.
The distinguished scientific gentlemen who have addressed us so
eloquently, have portrayed the difficulties which beset the Govern-
ment in its attempt to determine how it should wisely and worthily
execute the trust of Smiruson. It was a perilous moment for the
eredit of America when that bequest was made. In his large
catholicity of mind, SMrrHson did not trammel the bequest with
conditions. In nine words he set forth its object—‘“for the
increase and diffusion of knowledge among men.” He asked and
believed that America would a his wish aright and with the
liberal wisdom of science.
A town meeting is not a good place to determine scientific truths.
And the yeas and nays that are called from this desk from day to
day are not the supreme test of science, as the country finds when
we attempt to settle any scientific question, whether it relates to the
polariscope or to finance.
For ten years Congress wrestled with those nine words of SMITH-
son and could not handle them. Some political philosophers of
that period held that we had no constitutional authority to accept
the gift at all, and proposed to send it back to England. Every
conceivable proposition was made. The colleges clutched at it; the
libraries wanted it; the publication societies desired to scatter it.
The fortunate settlement of the question was this: after ten years
of wrangling, Congress was wise enough to acknowledge its own
ignorance, and authorized a body of men to find some one who
knew how to settle it. And these men were wise enough to choose
your great comrade to undertake the task. Sacrificing his brilliant |
prospects as a discoverer, he undertook the difficult work. He
drafted a paper, in which he offered an interpretation of the will
of SMITHSON, mapped out a plan which would meet the demands of
science, and submitted it to the suffrage of the republic of scientific
96 MEMORIAL OF JOSEPH HENRY.
scholars. -Aftér due deliberation it received the almost unanimous
approval of the scientific world. With faith and sturdy perse-
verance, he adhered to the plan and steadily resisted all attempts
to overthrow it.
In the thirty-two years during which he administered the great
trust, he never swerved from his first purpose; and he succeeded at
last in realizing the ideas with which he set out. But it has taken
all that time to get rid of the incumbrances with which Congress
had overloaded the Institution. In this work Professor Henry
taught the valuable lesson to all founders and supporters of colleges,
that they should pay less for brick and mortar and more for brains.
Under the first orders imposed upon him by Congress, he was
required to expend $25,000 a year in purchasing books. By wise
resistance he managed to lengthen out the period for that expendi-
ture ten years; and a few years ago he had the satisfaction of
seeing Congress remove from the Institution the heavy load by
transferring the Smithsonian library to the Library of Congress.
The fifty-eight thousand volumes and forty thousand pamphlets of
rare scientific value which are now upon our shelves, have added
greatly to the value of the national library; but their care and |
preservation would soon have absorbed the resources of the Smith-
sonian. When Congress shall have taken the other incumbrance,
the national museum, off the hands of the Institution by making
fit provision for the care of the great collection, they will have done
still more to realize the ideas of Professor HENRY.
He has stood by our side in all these years, mecting every great
question of science with that calm spirit which knew no haste and
no rest. At the call of his Government he discovered new truths
and mustered them into its service. The twelve hundred light-
houses that shine on our shores, the three thousand buoys along our
rivers and coasts, testify to his faithfulness and efficiency.
When it became evident that we could no longer depend upon the
/
ADDRESS OF HON. J. A. GARFIELD. S7
whale fisheries to supply our beacon-lights, he began to search for a
substitute for sperm oil; and after a thousand ‘patient experiments
he made the discovery that of all the oils of the world, the common,
cheap lard oil of America, when heated to 250° Fahrenheit, became
the best illuminant. That discovery gave us at once an unfailing
supply, and for many years saved the Treasury a hundred thousand
dollars a year.
He had no such pride of discovery as to cling to his own methods
when a better could be found. He has recently tested the qualities
of petroleum as an illuminant, and recommended its use for the
smaller lights. In instances far too numerous to be recounted we
have long had this man as our counselor, our guide, and our friend.
During all the years of his sojourn among us, there has been one
spot in this city across which the shadow of partisan politics’ has
never fallen; and that was the ground of the Smithsonian Institu-
tion. We have seen in this city at least one great, high trust so
faithfully discharged for a third of a century that no breath of
suspicion has ever dimmed its record. The Beard of Regents have
seen Professor HENRY’s accounts all closed; and, after the most
rigid examination, the unanimous declaration is made that, to the
last cent, during the whole of that period his financial administration
was as faultless and complete as his discoveries in science. The
blessing of such an example in this city ought at least to do some-
thing to reconcile these men of science to the loss they suffered when
their friend was called to serve the Government at its Capital.
Remembering his great career as a man of science, as a man who
served his Government with singular ability and faithfulness, who
was loved and venerated by every circle, who blessed with the light
of his friendship the worthiest and the best, whose life added new
luster to the glory of the human race, we shall be most fortunate,
if ever in the future, we see his like again.
7
ADDRESS
OF
HON. SAMUEL 8. COX.
WE have found by recent sad experiences in this Hall that
death is no respecter of persons. Neither is he a respecter of
seasons. He may choose the merriest month for the saddest
bereavement. In May last, when the sun was warm, the sky
blue, the flowers in bloom, and the trees luxuriant in leaf, he
entered yonder quaint structure secluded amid its greenery and
bore away one of our rarest minds and purest men. By one fatal
wrench of his skeleton hand a splendid career of eighty years was
closed ; in a twinkling the one hard problem of a long and studious
life was solved; the wonder-world beyond had become a “discoy-
ered country” to JosePpH HENRy. Its season, we trust, is per-
petual May to him. Its new life removed from him, if not from
his bereaved family and friends, the sting of death, and from the
grave its victory.
The lightning, which had been evoked by him to transmit its
instantaneous message to the remotest parts of the earth, sped on
its quick errand to tell the learned of all lands that an intellectual
magnate had been translated. The magnetic cord whose first duty,
as arranged by him, was to send the tidings of a new star over land
and under ocean to every seat of science, heralded to all that “God
had unloosed his weary star,” and that he was a lost luminary in ©
the galaxy of intellect.
Wail! for the glorious Pleiad fled!
Wail! for the ne'er returning star!
Whose mighty music ever led
The spheres in their high homes afar.
(99)
100 MEMORIAL OF JOSEPH HENRY.
Associated with our Government through the Smithsonian Insti-
tution, and with the world through the amenities of science which
it created, the loss of JosePH Henry is not merely national ; it is
cosmopolitan, universal. It is fitting that the head of an institu-
tion which welcomes all countries and all worlds should have a
tribute here worthy of such extended and shining fame.
In our federal way, we order condemned cannon to make bronzes
for our soldiers. Our land is full of the effigies of military
heroes. I have no criticism upon such a patriotic custom. Indeed,
I see that the gallant soldier (General SHERMAN) is to follow me;
and I am more than reluctant to suggest a word of dissent from
such an honored observance. Our parks display also the forms of
literary celebrities—SHAKESPEARE, GOETHE, Scott, and Burns,
and the grand bead-roll, favored of the muses, with only now and
then a HumBowpt, and a dim memory of GOETHE as a devotee of
science. The WasHINGTons and ‘TELxs, soldiers and patriots,
arouse the enthusiasm of the,masses of mankind. ‘This too may be
well; for the Princes of Science, like ARCHIMEDES, GALILEO, KEP-
LER, Newton, Giosa, ToRIcELLI, Boye, Lerpnirz, LAPLACE,
Davy, HerscHet, Araco, Lyeti, Farapay, and Henry,
have their niche in a more exalted and enduring Pantheon.
Bacon, the father of experimental science! What are divines,
jurists, statesmen, soldiers, princes, to this great and audacious
leader of human ‘investigation for truth against mere speculation?
Newton, of whom Macautay says that “in no other mind have
the demonstrative faculty and the inductive faculty coexisted in
such supreme excellence and perfect harmony?”—what are the
mere temporary favorites of the mass of men compared with him?
History gives its muse unbounded license to sing the glories of the
Napoueons of our world. They were indeed guiding intellects;
they were wonderful for civic organization and still more wonderful
in their genius for destruction. But to the thoughtful mind their
ADDRESS OF HON. 8. 8S. COX: 101
heroism is not comparable with that of humble Epmunp Hauey,
who investigated the properties of the atmosphere, the tides, mag-
netism, and the comets, and who periled his life in seeking the
distant Island of Saint. Helena, there to map out in sublime isola-
- tion the southern constellations... He was-no prisoner, no exile, no
modern defiant Prometheus chained to a rock. He was the
peaceful observer and serene conqueror of worlds which ALEXAN-
DER never sighed to conquer and which NAPOLEON never looked
upon save in selfish moodiness from that historic rock.
Lord Bacon has been referred to most pertinently by the learned
gentleman, Professor Rogers. May-I make another reference to
the father of induction? He gave us written wisdom beyond that
of the ancients. He has said that—‘ Whereas founders of States,
law-givers, extirpers of tyrants, fathers of the people were honored
but with titles of worthies or demi-gods—inventors were ever
consecrated with the gods themselves.” |
These are golden words. They properly interpret a philosophic
mind. In Bacon’s meaning of the word inventor, he compre-
hended those who both discover and apply, originate and use, the
secrets of nature for the increase and diffusion of knowledge and
the benefaction of mankind.
States come and go; a king to-day is a subject to-morrow; the
discrowned suzerain of the Orient last year, this year is the vassal
of a newly crowned empress. . Lawgivers who pursue their tortuous
and tangled paths, what can they do-among the atoms or the spaces?
They appropriate money, fix taxes, raise armies, declare war; but
to change one little chemical relation, how powerless! Not all the
statutes ever inscribed on parchment can stop soft iron from becom-
ing a magnet by a certain process of galvanic polarization; yet he
who discovered so simple a relation with such magnificent results
would have been deified by the Greeks along with that god of
beauty who drove the chariot of the sun or that god of strength
102 MEMORIAL OF JOSEPH HENRY.
_who colonized men, conquered nature, and achieved civilization
along the shores of the classic azure sea. ;
In this age of physical progress and grandeur, when experiments
show that the “constant elements” are coquetting with us by their
inconstancy ; when the tough old gases are being tortured, liquefied,
and solidified; when oxygen no longer holds out and hydrogen
begins to succumb; when microphones, telephones, phonographs,
and electric lights and Menlo Park wizards, astound us by their .
miracles; when cables are duplexed and spectroscopes are bringing
down almost to our crucibles those remote stars fixed and “ pinna-
? when LocKYER is said to be
cled dim in the intense inane;’
proving by the bands: of the spectrum the unity of nature, by
showing that all the elements are in some modification, our familiar
hydrogen; when the many are made one; of all elements are unified,
it is no light honor to be the hero or even one of the heroes of
such an age,—an age not merely of iron and steam and gold, but
emphatically the age of light and lightning!
What ARCHIMEDES was to the lever, Newton to gravitation,
the HERSCHEIS to astronomy, Davy to the mining lamp, Tort-
CELLI to the barometer, Goya to the compass, RumMForD to heat,
Farapay to electro-chemical affinity, Boyle to pneumatics,
GUTENBERG to printing, Warr to steam, FRAUNHOFER to the
spectrum, DRAPER to photography, and what Lock YER is becom-
ing to spectroscopic analysis, that was HENRY to electro-magnetic
force. .No quest for the holy grail was ever made with more
chivalric, vigilant, and reverent pursuit than he made for the
subtile and secret forces of the magnet.
Yet this man moved in our midst for thirty years, little known to
the throng who visit and vanish here with our political vicissitudes.
With them he had little or no fame. “He pursued no devious path
to fleeting honors. But there was nothing wanting to give him
present delectation and lasting renown. His old-time courtesy, his
ADDRESS OF HON. 8S. 8. COX. 108
charming simplicity, his loving domestic relations, his singleness of
purpose; his freedom from sordid, jealous, harsh, and bitter qualities,
his chaste, subdued, and genial humor, his pure, poetic, and esthetic
susceptibility, his benignant and dignified manner, his delight in
acquiring, what he imparted with so much suavity, and his earnest
and unobtrusive pursuit of lofty ends through noble means, gave
him felicity, ay, even genuine fame, in this life.
Called to administer the Smithsonian trust, his conscientious
devotion gave it from the first the direction designed by the testator.
His aim was to originate and disseminate. He scattered the seed
broadcast, not through whim or favoritism, but on a matured plan.
His place required a love of science, along with a talent for organ-
ization. He brought these to bear upon the origination of
knowledge, and by his scientific sympathy and ready recognition
of others of his guild he commanded honest homage and became
the director, helper, and umpire in scientific disputation. Did the
War Department require his aid in meteorology? He gave the
plan of weather signals, Did the Census Bureau ask his help?
He planned the remarkable atlas as to tain-falls and temperature.
Did the Coast Survey require scientific suggestion, or the Centen-
nial Commissioners his judgment, or the new library and the ‘School
of Art” a friend and adviser, or the Light-House Board laws of
sound for fogs, and cheaper and better illumination? He freely
gave what was gladly welcomed. His Institution gave AGAssIz
opportunity to study fishes, BArrp birds, and all students encour-
agement to investigate our American archeology and ethnology, as
well as our fauna and flora.
The fund which was under his control was scrupulously used.
At our annual meetings as regents I cannot fail to recall the black-
board where his fisec was chalked with all the exactness of an old
accountant and explained with all the nervous solicitude of a school-
boy doing his first sum. }
104 MEMORIAL OF JOSEPH HENRY.
Never was trustee so free from suspicion of personal enrichment.
He died as he had lived, with little incumbrance from the dross of
the world. Those learned men who have spoken will recall some
of his experiments which showed how the metals could penetrate
each other; he cared more for this than to fill his own coffers with
them, howsoever precious.* He was content with the golden key
to the enchanted chambers of science. In all his discoveries and
with a name whose emphasis was worth millions in speculation,
there was not in his heart a commercial inclination. He was too
proud to patent his thoughts. They were the property of mankind,
made sacred by the seal of Omniscience! He had his own exceed-
ing great reward in their meditation and diffusion. His modest
salary, limited by his own choice, supplied his modest wants; and
his services in the Light-House Board from first to last were gratu-
itously rendered, He planted the vineyard and others had the fruit
and drank the wine thereof. Morsr, GRAHAM, BELL, Epson,
and others gave to the mysteries which he unshadowed, definite,
practical, paying results; but, to use his own words, he never thus
compromised his independence. He was hungry and thirsty for
knowledge, but not for ease and luxury. To prostitute his knowl-
edge for gain was inexpressible profanation. Not all the bonanzas
from the Sierras could tempt him from his rectitude. Without
money and without price, he gave what he acquired. To make
merchandise in his grand temple and out of his sacred calling was |
to touch with sacrilegious hands the ark of the covenant he had
made as a high priest of nature. THis good name was better than
* Another investigation had its origin in the accidental observation of the
following fact: A quantity of mercury had been left undisturbed in a shallow
saucer with one end of a piece of lead wire, about the diameter of a goose-quill,
and six inches long plunged into it, the other end resting on the shelf. In this
condition it was found after a few days that the mercury had passed through the
solid lead, as if it were a siphon, and was lying on the shelf still in a liquid
condition. The saucer contained a series of minute crystals of an amalgam of
lead and mercury.—Letter of Professor Henry, concerning researches at Princeton,
December 4, 1876. :
ADDRESS OF HON. 8. 8. COX. 105
riches, and all money which did not contribute to his lofty aims,
- like the money of the fairy, was as ashes in his sight.
With this idea of his trust need we wonder at his measureless
contempt for the mercenaries and jobbers who filled this city and
even dishonored the halls of legislation? ‘His life was a living
protest against this age of thrift and greed. He drew his rules of
duty not from the silly codes of ostentatious modern society. The
wisdom and humanity, embodied in that ancient code of freedom
which the mailed barons and the great primate of England coerced
from an unwilling king, he applied to his function as a finder and
teacher of truth: “We will sell to no man; we will not deny or
delay to any man right or justice!” JosEPH Henry had, as his
organic law from the Magna Charta engraved on the tablet of his
being, this affirmation: “J will sell to no man, nor will I deny or
delay to any man the precious knowledge drawn under the providence
of God from the arcana of nature.” |
But it is not by his personal virtues or official trustworthiness
that he will be best remembered; not even by his varied accom-
plishments in the sciences, nor because he was a successful specialist
in many fields. Yet how multiplied and diverse were his gifts and
~ services? Did Japan try the experiment of progress, or KANE and
HAYEs struggle to reach the North Pole and its open sea for
discovery —his sympathy was cordial and ready. Was it as an
engineer, geologist, mechanician, ethnologist, meteorologist, or archee-
ologist, he was equally at home in each and all. Was it in the
practical application of science? As master of acoustics, he applied
his researches to buildings for human comfort, and to fog-signals
for the saving of values and life. Was it in optics? The greatest
star and the least atom were in harmony before his telescope and
microscope. Would Government know projectiles to use in war;
would the farmer know how his potatoes and wheat grew, or whence
the egg, and how it matured out of the elements into life— would
106 MEMORIAL OF JOSEPH HENRY.
he know when to sow and when to harvest; would the mariner
have signals of danger and the merchant, warrior, and diplomat
messages as fleet as thought; the knowledge of this philosophic
mind rallied to its work, with a zeal which never flagged, and a
practical success beyond all expectations and praise. And thus in.
various branches of physics he was the companion of Hare, SILLI-
MAN, Draper, Torrey, AGassiz, Guyot, Gray, PEIRCE,
Bacue, and Barrp; the student of NEwron, CuviER, ARAGO,
Wo .aston, and others of perpetual fame; and the correspondent
of Farapay, TYNDALL, Proctor, and others of another hemi-
‘sphere who are engaged in active, daily, arduous duty to science,
In a tractate which he wrote in December, 1876, concerning his
researches while at Princeton, he gives a most interesting account of
his contribution with reference to the origin of mechanical power
and the nature of vital force. Tow plainly he defined and how
richly he colored this recondite subject! He takes the crust of the
earth in a state of equilibrium and describes the substances which
constitute that crust, such as acids and bases. He pursues them
into a state of permanent combination, inert and changeless. True,
he finds what he calls an infinite thin pellicle of vegetable and
animal matter on the surface—men and mollusks, Caucasians, con-
gressmen, and conifers, elephants, and forests; but all the changes
on that surface he refers to a beautiful law of light radiating from
celestial space! How comprehensively he generalizes all the prime
movers which produce molecular changes in matter!
These he refers to two classes: the first, that of water, tide, and
wind power; the second, steam and other powers developed by
combustion, and animal power. Gravity, cohesion, electricity, and
chemical attraction, while they tend to produce a state of equilibrium
or repose on our planet, are only secondary agents in producing
mechanical effects. Must not the water have its level on the surface
of the ocean? In seeking it, is it not a force for the welfare of
ADDRESS OF HON. 8S. 8. COX, 107
man? Yes; but its primary cause of motion is the force which
elevated it in vapor under the radiance of the sunbeam. Combus-
tion, too, is but the passage from an unstable into a stable combina-
tion of the carbon and hydrogen of the fuel, with oxygen of the
atmosphere. These he resolves into the force which causes the
separation of these elements from their previous combination in the
state of carbonic acid, to the radiant heat.of the sunbeam! What
is the mechanical power exerted by animals? It is but the passage
of organized matter taken into the stomach, from an unstable to a
stable equilibrium. It is the combustion of food. Animal power,
like the combustion of fuel, is potential again in the sunbeam!
Arriving thus at the very threshold of the mystery of vitality, he
asks: What is its office? Only that of the eel who directs the
power of the engine.
But these exploits and ieee ie incentives and accomplish-
ments, do not furnish the substantial pediment of HENrRy’s fame.
Did he spend his vacation as Princeton professor in blowing soap-
bubbles for a fortnight? ' It was not the bubble reputation which he
sought. He was seeking something less fragile and prismatic; he
was then investigating the law of liquid films and molecular energy.
What is he doing with the thermal telescope, so exquisitely con-
structed, referred to this evening by Professor RocErs, with such
loving and delicate analysis, and so recently used in our country
under the auspices of Epson? Finding out not merely that the
moon has no heat, but measuring the heat’ of some animate object
in a distant field. He i is making the type of a mechanism beyond
all expression refined.
In all these branches he was a central Jight. EpmMuND SPENSER
has been called the poets’ poet. JosepH HENRY may be called the
savant of the physicists. He loved to show what science was in its
essence, lifting in living harmony all speculations and experiments
into a higher plane; Scientia scientiarum! ‘For half a century he
108 MEMORIAL OF JOSEPH HENRY.
never ceased to investigate the uses and the correlation of forces,
and the modification and conservation, of energy. Here his faith
was paramount to his knowledge. Whether the energy possessed
by any set of bodies were potential, stored up and unscen, or
whether it were visibly performing its work; yet in all its phases
he believed it never altered. Wherever it might go, and howsoever
it might elude human vigilance, it was not lost. It was conserved.
It could not but by “annihilation die,” and God permitted no
annihilation of his forces. These studies led him to the grand
discovery by which he will be ever remembered.
Above all, he was an electrician. CoLumBus had no better title
to the discovery of the new world than Henry has to the discovery
of the principle of the magnetic telegraph. Make a catalogue of
his score and more of general'and special services in science; digest
his thirty years of Smithsonian reports, and at last his simple
magnet —the horseshoe—is the emblem and evidence of his power
over the wizardry of nature in her most marvelous manifestations.
His experiences from youth fitted him for his work. His Scotch’
Presbyterianism did not unfit him for a combat with the dia-
blerié of the storm, His engineering from the Hudson to Erie
strengthened him for the labor lime of closet and laboratory. His
experience as a jeweler-journeyman gave him a knowledge of mech-
anism and tools not to be despised in experiment and in an age
which CARLYLE sings as that of “Tools and the man.”
His pro-
fession of mathematics gave precision to his thoughts and calcula-
tions. Only one anomaly. appears in his early days, before the
magnetic current attracted him by its spell. He loved fiction,
poetry, and play-acting. Like AmPERE and other scientists, he,
too, had his romantic mood and his tender age. Perhaps this tend-
ency quickened his imagination and gave hope and success to.his
experiments by its a priori allurements; Why should it not?
Hypothesis may be delusive; so was alchemy, but it was the pro-
ADDRESS OF HON. 8. S. COX. 109
genitor of chemistry. Was not astrology a theory, a poem,'a dream?
Yet it led up a ladder of stars to the sublimest of sciences. It was
said by one of my predecessors, (the Hon. Mr. WirueErs,) who
spoke this evening, that Professor HENRY was not a genius. In
the sense of a poetaster of a small coterie and of little fancy, he
was no genius. It was said ‘his illumination came slowly and
through labor. Ah! so it did, perhaps, until he found the volume
that awoke and started his peculiar tendency and talent. 'He had
genius; but he had the masterly a to curb and control it, to
direct and glorify it. |
It has been said that at one time he was ‘eek er of the drama
and was almost persuaded to make it his permanent occupation.
He had a friendship for Damon, and a morbid desire after the melan-
choly Dane. But he was disenchanted of this illusory ambition by
friends who knew his sedate and studious mind, to which an
academic course and the little volume on physics, which provoked
his curiosity, gave a useful and permanent bent.. Then came, all
roseate and radiant, the blossom of that magnificent fruitage which
was the promise of a life rounded and full of cautious Sanat
and philosophic deduction.
What of fancy he had, he restrained by slug in details and
thoroughness in work. Glittering generalization he avoided, as he
did controversy. His plan of education for others was that which
he applied to himself. He began with the concrete.: If indeed
Lock YER has found Nature’s inner secret, it is by his two thousand
photographs and one hundred thousand observations. If DRAPER
successfully controverts, it will be done by like patience and labor
in details. If HENRy succeeded in his grand inquisition, it was
by similar detailed labors. While measuring and Weighing the
forces of nature he cautiously deduced his theory. He gathered
the efforts of others— OrrsTED, ARAGO, Davy, and StuRGEON—
in his favorite domain of electro-magnetism, and made a sheaf
110 MEMORIAL OF JOSEPH HENRY.
which stood above them all. He forged the viewless vinculum in
the chain of causes, which bound the universe of matter and mind
in intelligent unity and linked the soul close to the great white
throne!
Yet he was in his most special sphere a pioneer who blazed his
way through the forest. He was more than the Baptist of a new
dispensation of science. He was both herald and hero of our age
of electro-magnetic wonders.
In speaking of Professor Morse in 1872 in this Hall, I under-
took to distinguish between those who found principles and those
who adapt them to practical ends. I said: “Your NEwrons and
LapLacss in the celestial mechanism, and your ARAGOs, AMPERES,
and Henrys in electro-magnetism, are not the temporary but the
eternal heroes; but the lesser intellect carries off the chaplet and
sometimes the lucre.” I then gave a history of the electric magnet
from its beginning down to Professor HENRy’s discovery; and I
asserted what I was proud to say during his life, and what all now
confess — that MorsE was but the inventor of a machine, HENRY
the philosophic discoverer of the principle! Others had discovered
the relations between magnetism and electricity; and others had
made divers limited applications of the magnet, but the inventor
of only one form of application carried off the reward.
It may seem to some a little thing to ring a bell at one end of a
mile-wire by a current incited at the other end. It may seem to
some a little thing to discover the induction of currents, as HENRY
did; or to call in a relay magnet at a distance to help the halting
‘power; or. to produce the spark by means of purely magnetic
induction. It seemed doubtless to many a foolish thing to talk to
members of his family across the Princeton campus by an electric
wire, or by a pole from basement to attic in the college have.his—
negro boy play a real fiddle in the cellar whose tnne was_repeated
in a mock fiddle in the garret. But these experiments were the
ADDRESS OF HON. 8S. 8. COX. j Ip |
gradations to a higher plane, where the genius of his science was
consummate.
Before he began his researches something was known of the
electro-magnet. But it was as feeble in its energy as the child
who toyed with it. It was little besides soft iron. HENRY
energized it so as to make its results stupendous and far-reaching.
Instead of the insulated bar surrounded by an uninsulated coil, he
insulated the wire. He employed many coils and begot the ton-
lifting magnet; and lo! there follows in time the telegraph and
telephone. This is accomplished simply by the arrangement of the
acid and zinc in one way, in his way. He adds to the cells of the
battery; and there is literally no limit in distance for the effect.
When he found that the power of the battery must be as the length
of the conductor, he so intensifies the iron at such a distance that it
gives enchantment to this modern Merlin’s magic wand of wire.
It was not mere by-play when he made a mechanical motor out of
his big magnet, nor in overcoming resistance hitherto insurmount-
able, for distance is resistance. It was not a sportive thing to lift
a ton by his magnet; nor was it an inconsequential freak when he
severed a current and thus dropped heavy weights at a distance.
Such experiments made the lightning his familiar, his demon, his ,
servitor. He lured it into his lecture-room from out of its clouded
home in the thunder-storm. He tamed it so that he could bridle,
mount, ride, curb, and spur it at will.’ Thus he planted the germ
of a system which now numbers 492,913 miles of intelligent wire,
and traverses all climates and dips under all seas.
He stood upon his vantage-ground not only to signal the world
by lightning, but to measure time, calculate longitudes, follow the —
flight of the cannon-ball, and record the stellar motions and transits.
It is a remarkable fact that only one improvement in the magnetic
system of telegraph has been made since Professor HENRY gave it
tous. It now transmits more than one message atatime. But
112 MEMORIAL OF JOSEPH HENRY.
when Professor HENRY made it phonetic, it so remained. The
alphabetic symbols are obsolete. The distant magnet when excited
makes its dots and clicks its audible language, just as HENRY
designed. Blot out Morse and his machine, and Professor HEnNRyY’s
instrument, the telegraph, would go on. Like STEPHENSON’S
multi-tubular boiler, it remains amid all change; for it is perfect
because it has a principle. Discard Professor Henry’s plan, and
no message is possible with sound. All the signals, alarms, and
devices for distant intelligence have their fountain in Professor
Hewnry’s brain... Given his brain, and you have Morsg, BELL,
Epison, and the entire circle of electric inventors.
What a grand occasion was that at the-Centennial, when Sir
Wiiir1aAm THompson and Professor HENRY met about the tele-
-phbne! What fruition of hope! How jocund the exhuberant
heart leaped up to see fresh evidences of the truth of his early
‘experiments under the rigid laws of science!
These laws however never shadowed his devotion to the beauti-
ful, good, and true. His modest methods of research, while they
extended his knowledge and enlarged his reason, never disturbed his
faith, While like the magnetic needle it ever pointed in one direc-
tion, it was never tremulous with skepticism. He who knew so
much of earth, and believed so much of Heaven, had a faith which
was larger than his reason. When he said to his students: “We
explain a fact, when we refer it to a law” —did he stop there? He
bowed reverently, as he added — “ When we explain a law, we refer
it to the will of God.” He never allowed sense to obscure spirit or
secondary causes to be primal! He spoke no spell and taught no
creed for evil or chance. He had the eye of reason to guide his
radiant path and the ear of faith to inspire and exalt his reason.
The impetuosity of the one was tempered by the docility of the
other. The dilettante, the mystic, the pantheist, and the transcend-
entalist were to him less than flippancy and vanity; for he knew
ADDRESS OF HON. 5S. 8.. COX. ©. 113.
the limits. of all human philosophy, physical, mental, and. ethical,
and never leaped the flaming. bounds to, raise issues..on insoluble
problems or dispute the divine mission of Him who-spake as
never man spake. “'That which. we know is little, but. that
which we know not, is immense,” exclaimed. LAPLACE; and the
humility of Professor Henry found in his highest. aspiration
reason for the lowliest modesty. He took shelter in the heal-
ing balm of evening from the. dazzling radiance of speculation,
and in its sweet and inviting undertones found a aca Lk of
infinite love.
During his long life and its closing hours i aes to the Rock
of Ages as the foundation of all his knowledge and the source of
all his comfort. For him there was no gauge of prayer; for prayer,
as he said, was above and beyond. science.. There was for him no
greater light to shine on the daily path of life than that Sun of
Righteousness whose reflection was but the faint illumination in our
finite mind.
We have written testimony but a few aad eftte his death to
his exalted faith in our religion. Amidst a.universe of. change,
where nothing remained the same from one moment to another,
and where each moment,of recorded time had its separate history,
and while a universe of wonders -is presented, to, us in our rapid —
flight through space, he held to the steadfast truth that after all our
attempts to grapple with the problem of’ the universe, the simplest
conception which expands and connects the phenomena of nature is
that of the existence of one spiritual Being, infinite in wisdom, in
power, and all divine perfections, which exists always and every-.
where, which has created us with intellectual faculties in some
degree to comprehend his operations .as they. are developed in
“nature. This was his divine creed of creeds! It was reconciled.
with science. He believed that this Infinite Being was unchange-
able and that therefore his operations were in, accordance with,
8
114 MEMORIAL OF JOSEPH HENRY.
the uniform iaws. Finding everywhere evidences of intelleetual
arrangements as he found them in the operations of man, he inferred
that these two classes of phenomena were the results of similar
intelligence. He found within himself ideas of right and wrong,
and deduced and believed that they formed the basis of our ideas
of the moral universe. In other words, he believed in a Divine
Being as the director and governor of all, and lived as he died,
hoping and praying for his infinite mercy,
Aloof from the lights and shadows of hope and fear, what unim-
agined and “wondrous glory beyond all glory ever seen” is his
to-day! Flowers and fishes, ruins and rivers, skeletons and scoriz,
all the forms of things and forces of nature; the motions of wind,
tide, and water; the elasticity of steam and the explosions of
electricity, which were here in unrest, seeking immobility by laws
of their own—all these mobile elements, which he demonstrated
were seeking repose even in slag or cinders and seeking it by celes-
tial motions and forces—these are all one to him now! ‘The corre-
lation of forces and the conservation of energy are solved. The
principle of chemistry and vitality, of the moving atom and the
immortal mind, no longer vex him with their mystery. His soul,
which was never tried on earth by the crucible, and his religion,
which was never limited to the laboratory — whose relict radiance
it is ours to recall—has that rest which he observed to be the final
law of all animate nature here,
He believed with Orrsrep that the practice of science was
religious worship; and like that Danish physicist—like Farapay
and BoyLE—“sweetness and light were blended in his pure
nature.” .With unblemished eye, like the eagle, his scientific ken
gazed into the sun itself for its revelation; and yet he nestled,
dove-like, amidst his human domestic affections. His processes*of .
thought were chastened by his Christ-like life and heavenly faith;
and he has his reward in eternal bliss.
ADDRESS OF HON. 8. 8. COX. 115
When the first telegraph message went from this capital on the
24th of May, 1844, “What hath God wrought,” it but echoed the
thought of this reverent thinker, who had discovered its mission,
- and who thus recognized the infinite intelligence whose processes
were beyond human ken. This belief chastened his intellectual
dignity, and while it gave him added courage to explore the secrets
of time and space, made his science not that of the carping critic,
but of the loving handmaiden of divinity.
If “we are of a nobler substance than the stars;” if “we have
faculties while they have none,” it is impossible, in thinking of
JosEpH Henry and his life here, to unduly magnify that intel-
lectual orb which, when it left our limited horizon, arose upon
another world to glorify anew the God of all the graces and the
fountain of all the forces!
ADDRESS:
OF
GENERAL WILLIAM T. SHERMAN.
From the beginning the living have paid homage to the virtues _
of the dead; for immortality is the dream of man. From Agra
to Washington scarce a city, town, or village but contains some
monument designed to perpetuate ‘the memory of ‘one who has
passed from earth. Mountains have been excavated; pyramids
built; temples have been erected, and granite, marble, and bronze
shaped into every conceivable form, to give expression to honor,
respect, affection, and love for some dead. hero, warrior, statesman,
or philosopher, - ‘These earthly tributes can be of no service to the
dead, but they form lasting records of deeds held honorable among
men; are strong incentives to noble acts in the’ present, and mark
a steady progress toward that better condition which is the ultimate
destiny of the human race. . hanes Saar echnes yp
We are not assembled to-night ‘to shape in marble; or granite, or
bronze, the human form of our countryman and friend, Professor
JOSEPH HENRY, but in order that those who knew him best may,
by simple tributes of thought and feeling, bear public testimony to
the merits of one who in our day stood ‘forth a most resplendent .
type of moral and: intellectual manhood, and who with little
thought of self rendered eminent service in the cause of: mankind.
He needs no monument: for wherever man goes, or human thought
travels, the poles and continuous wires will remind him that to
Professor HENRY of all men we are most indebted for the inesti-
mable blessings of the telegraph.
(117)
118 MEMORIAL OF JOSEPH HENRY.
JOSEPH HENRY was pre-eminently a philosopher, but none the
less a hero. His conquest was not over cities razed, homes deso-
lated, or the forms of men crushed and _lacerated, but over the
obstacles of nature, in mastering her laws and harnessing them to
the uses of his fellow-men. No widows or orphans are left to
mourn over his victories, but millions who have reason to rejoice
in the increased knowledge and stimulated industry which followed
in the wake of his intellectual triumphs. By these all men are
brought nearer to each other, and the mysterious wires which now
connect all parts of the habitable earth have done more to harmo-
nize the prejudices and passions of man than the conquests of
XERXES, ALEXANDER, and Napoteon. No one knew better.
than Professor Henry that all of nature’s laws had not yet been
revealed, and that there remained an infinite field for further
exploration and study.
Tt was a scientific Englishman, a skillful analytical chemist of
London, who conceived the thought and provided the means
whereby Professor HENRY was enabled to accomplish so much
further good. Arts may have been lost or forgotten, because no
longer needed, and the world’s libraries and universities already
possessed in abundance the vast accumulations of knowledge which
had for ages been garnered and stored away in these valuable |
repositories of learning, yet nature remained so bountiful that there
could be no danger that her fountains would become exhausted, and
Mr. Smrruson provided for an institution which accepts all the
past, and provides only for the future. He endowed munificently
the Institution (which bears his name here in Washington) for
collecting new knowledge, and for distributing it to all parts of the
earth. Great was the conception, generous the endowment, and
fortunate that the execution fell to the lot of Professor HENRY!
Though he loved his country as he loved his family, still, in the
matter of science he knew no bounds. The heavens above and
ADDRESS OF GEN. W. T. SHERMAN. 1B)
the earth beneath were his studio, and his thoughts and his feelings
were as boundless as the orbit of the most distant star. Whatever
the mind of man could compass— yea, whatever the most oriental
imagination could fancy —were to him as precious as the germi-
nation of a seed or the blooming of a flower in his own door-yard.
The student in Australia or the Fiji Islands knew that any inquiry
_of him on scientific subjects would receive the same patient, kindly
notice as if it came from the most learned professor of Berlin or
Stockholm.
In like manner, how patient was he with the young inquirer
after truth, and still more with that large class of mechanics who,
in their hours of leisure, were working on some long-exploded
theory or error. He did not upbraid or ridicule honest labor or
study, but with simple, kindly language would explain to the
comprehension of the most unlearned the immutable laws of nature,
and guide his mind and steps back to the right path which would
lead him to perfect success.
Professor HENRY always seemed to me to take caged pleasure
in every development of science which added to the beautiful in
life, or which contributed to the general happiness of mankind.
Though great progress had been made in his day, he had an abso-
lute faith that more remained to reward the toil and labor of other
students long after he had passed from earth.
For this reason the memory of his life and fame should be treas-
ured by all as an example to the youth of our land, to show that
honor and fame may be earned in the school of philosophy as well
as in the more tempting and active scenes of public life; and there-
fore I rejoice that this occasion has been honored by the presence
of so marked and distinguished an audience in this the Hall of
Representatives of the Capitol of our nation.
Many students, who at this moment are hard at work on their
studies for the advantage of mankind, will feel themselves person-
DO, - MEMORIAL OF JOSEPH ‘HENRY.
-ally‘encouraged and honored by ‘tlie tokens of respect and affection
thus’ paid their prototype, ‘Professor Henry; and their stimulated
-Jabors in the cause of that’science he loved so well will erect to him
‘a monument more lasting than’ of brass or marble.
Nw Wagon Naa
POU
BY
"REV. BYRON SUNDERLAND, D. D.
_ Our Father and our God, Thou who dwellest in supernal light,
and yet with him who is of. an humble and contrite heart— Thou
who hast been so often dishonored in. the anarchic thoughts of men
and yet dost bear the same with ineffable patience, behold us!
Fain would we with all our hearts bow before Thee in wonder
and adoration. ie :
We give Thee hearty thanks for that creation when the morning
stars sang together and for that redemption heralded by a multi-
tude of the heavenly hosts— “ Glory to God in the Highest and on
earth peace, good-will to, men!”
We thank Thee for the mighty train of human generations. We
thank Thee for the capacities of the human race opening out
toward the future for evermore. We thank Thee for the great
nations that have run their course and for the great nations that
are still enacting their parts in this wondrous field of time. We
thank Thee for the vigor of intelligence and the grandeur of
enterprise that have discovered so many great things for man. We
thank Thee for the many toilers on every side who are unravelling
the secrets of nature and building up a possibility for the still more
noble triumphs of the immortal soul.
And we thank Thee for him whose memory, so fragrant, has
been made to bloom so freshly in this winter night. God be
praised for the name of him in whom knowledge and faith blended
their glorious light. God be praised for the evolution and exalta-
tion to which a higher than material philosophy will surely sum-
(121)
122 MEMORIAL OF JOSEPH HENRY.
mon all the ignorant and erring families of men. By the brink
of the grave, over the end of all that perishes on earth, we read,
O God, our Father, that mighty apothegm, “The things that are
seen are temporal, the things that are not seen are eternal.”
Be very nigh to the hearts that knew him best, and bless them
with the blessing he in life invoked. Be very nigh to our rulers
and our chiefs, and to all our people in the state and in the church
and to all those in our schools and seminaries and laboratories, and
in our Congresses and Legislatures who are molding the thoughts
of the nations and the civjlization of our times. Grant free scope
to the awakened faculties of men. Protect the mighty march of
the coming millions, and crown their toil with an unfading crown,
through Jesus Christ. Amen.
Peon ade
MEMORIAL PROCEEDINGS OF SOCIETIES.
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PROCEEDINGS
OF THE
PHILOSOPHICAL SOCIETY OF WASHINGTON.
SreciAL MEETING. May 14, 1878.
Vice-President H1ILGARD in some preliminary remarks on the
death of Professor JosepH Henry, President of the Society,
stated that he had called a special meeting of the members, for the
purpose of taking some appropriate action on this solemn and
mournful occasion.
The Secretary read a communication from Chief-Justice M. R.
Waite, Chancellor of the Smithsonian Institution, announcing the
death of Professor JosepH Henry, the Secretary and Director of
the Institution, in this city, on Monday, May 13, at ten minutes past
noon, and inviting the Philosophical Society of Washington to
attend his funeral on Thursday next, May 16, at half-past four
o'clock P. M.
On motion, a committee of three (Messrs. WreLnina, W. B.
TAYLOR, and GILL) was appointed to prepare suitable resolutions.
Remarks on the character and labors of the deceased were made
by Messrs. HinGarp, Jonunson, TonER, ALVoRD, ABBE, MAson,
Parker, GALLAUDE?, and Groras TAYLOR.
The special committee reported the following resolutions, which
were unanimously adopted :
Resolved, That in the death of Professor JosrEpH HENRY the
Philosophical Society of Washington is called to deplore the loss of
its venerable and beloved President, who from its first institution,
and subsequently from year to year, has been unanimously chosen
to the position he filled among us, in deferencé not only to the
exalted fame which made him the chief ornament of our associ-
ation, but in grateful tribute as well to the varied philosophical
learning, the calm eyen-balanced judgment, and the serene wisdom
; (125) |
126 MEMORIAL OF JOSEPH HENRY.
which so..admirably qualified him to be the moderator of opinjons
in a body composed of zealous and independent workers in nearly
every department of scientific research,
Resolved, That while we are called to sit in the shadow of a great
bereavement, which naturally casts its:deepest gloom on those who,
like ourselves, were daily admitted to the privilege of his personal
friendship and to the precious opportunities afforded by his sagacious
and logical suggestions and wide erudition, as well as by his ready
co-operation in every enterprise which had for its object the exten-
sion of knowledge or the promotion of human welfare, we at the
same time feel that we should be culpably insensible to the surviving
radiance of the bright example he has set us, if even here, in the
presence of his unfilled grave, we did nof testify and record our
solemn thanksgiving for the length of days accorded to our revered
friend and illustrious exemplar, permitted as he was to extend his
useful life beyond the period usually allotted to man, and not only
filling that life with abundant labors which have reflected the
highest honor on science, but also adorning it with the moral
virtues and Christian graces which made him as lovely for the
beauty and simplicity of his nature as he was remarkable for the
strength and dignity of his high and noble character.
Resolved, That when we transfer our thoughts from the bediicts
of this Society, within which he has shed so long and so graciously
the mild light of his high and varied intelligence, to that wider
arena in which he moved as minister and interpreter of nature,
plucking out the heart of her hidden mysteries,—as teacher of
ingenuous youth, quickening in their minds an ardent love of
knowledge, —as apostle of science, deeply imbued with reverence
for his holy calling,—as unselfish worker for the. Government,
serving it even unto death in so many fields of useful and unre-_
warded activity, and above all, when we refer to his long and
beneficent career as Director of the great institution to which
SmrrHson gave his name, but to which HEnry has given the
distinctive direction and specific character which compose the chief
element of its glory in the past and constitute the highest pledge
of its usefulness in the future, we are filled with admiration not
only for the variety and depth of his lore, and for the amplitude
PROCEEDINGS OF PHILOSOPHICAL SOCIETY. 127
of the intellectual sympathies which enabled our honored head to
take “all knowledge for his province,” but also for the rare execu-
tive talent which in the sphere of administration fitted him success-
fully to touch the springs of original inquiry at almost every point
in the wide domains of modern science.
Resolved, That as we survey the long and splendid career of the
great philosopher, who has just fallen at his post of duty, on the
high places of the land, and to whose finished life the seal of death
has now been set, amid the universal regrets of his countrymen,
shared by the civilized world wherever science has a votary, we
shall best prove our love and veneration for his memory, not by
indulging in fruitless repinings, but by borrowing inspiration and
incentive from the sublime example left us in the purity of his life,
and in the beneficence of the works which still follow him though
he has rested from his labors.
Resolved, That cherishing for his memory a profound admiration
and affection, we proffer to his bereaved family our sincerest sym-
pathy and condolence, and that we will attend his funeral as
co-mourners, in a body.
On motion, it was further Resolved, That the Secretary transmit
copies of these resolutions to the family of Professor Henry, and
to the Regents of the Smithsonian Institution.
At a meeting of the General (executive) Committee of the
Soviety held May 25, 1878, it was
Resolved, That Saturday evening, October 26, (being the time of
the regular meeting of the Society next preceding the annual meet-
ing for the election of officers,) be specially set apart and exclusively
devoted to a commemoration of the life, character, and services of
the first President of this Society —JosEpH HeEnry ; and that
Vice-Presidents JAMES C. WELLING and WiLuiaAM B. TAYLOR
be requested to prepare, for that occasion, addresses illustrative of
the personal and scientific character of the deceased.
PROCEEDINGS
: OF THE :
> Aa aN ae ali cc Se bl
ALBANY, May 14, 1878.
On taking the chair the Brenden, Professor HAL, ansipniues
with much emotion the recent death of Professor JoseEpH HENRY,
many years ago an active member of the Institute, and long recog-
nized as one of the most prominent and useful scientific men of this
generation, |
On motion of Mr. Hocan, a committee of three in addition to
the President was appointed to prepare a minute relative to the
death of the late Professor JosepH HENRY, LL.D. Vice-President
Or.Lanpo Means, Professor GATES, and the Recording Secretary
were named as the additional members of the committee, and Presi-
dent Hau was appointed to represent the Institute at the funeral
of Professor HENRY.
On motion of Mr. Coivin, out of respect to. Professor HENEY,
the Institute then adjourned.
. ' optician LAM 28, 1878.
Vice-President MEADs, in behalf of the committee appointed at
the last meeting, submitted the draft of a Memorial Minute relative
to the late Professor Joseru Henry, LL.D,, one of the original
members of the Institute, which he read, and the same was unani-
mously adopted by the Institute and ordered to be entered on the
minutes, and a copy to be sent to the family of Professor HENRY; .
also, to be furnished to the daily newspapers of the city, ;
Mr. Meaps also read a communication from President Han,
excusing his absence, on account of illness, from the meeting of the
committee of which he was a member, and paying a worthy tribute
(128)
PROCEEDINGS OF ALBANY INSTITUTE. 129
of personal regard to the memory of the late Professor HENRY,
which communication was ordered to be entered on the minutes.
The following is a copy of Professor Haws letter :
Port Henry, May 27, 1878.
ORLANDO MEaps, Esq.
Dear Sir: I am very sorry not to meet with the members of the
Albany Institute to-morrow evening, but I am quite unable to do so.
_ For some weeks before the last mecting of the Institute I had
been too feeble to go out at night, and I went on that occasion only
from respect to the memory of Professor HENRY and that I might -
say a few words in eulogy of his character. I now find that I had
kept up and about my work quite too long. Since I came here I
have not been able to sit up more than half the time, and I have
scarcely the energy to write a letter. I am suffering from extreme
nervous prostration.
I write to explain the cause of my absence, and I am very sorry
not to be present with the committee on this occasion. I believe
you know very well my esteem and veneration for Professor
Henry, and I wish not to fail in joining in any expression of
regard for his memory, or of sympathy and condolence with his
most excellent and amiable family in their great affliction.
Professor HENRY was the realization of my ideal of a scientific
man. During a long life he has kept apart from all those influences
which serve to destroy the independence of so many men of science.
His simple and unassuming life, and his quiet and unpretending
manner, while confessedly at the head of all scientific men of his
country, has presented a grand example to the younger men, while
it has secured for him their love, esteem, and veneration. I believe
there has been no scientific man of the generation in which he lived
who has so endeared himself and his memory to men of all pro-
fessions and departments of scientific inquiry, and we cannot too
strongly express our sentiments of appreciation of such a character.
I am, very sincerely and respectfully yours, etc.,
JAMES HALL.
MEMORIAL MINUTE:
BY
ORLANDO MEADS.
Professor JosePH Henry, LL.D., who for more than half a
century has stood at the head of American scientific men, and who
_ for more than thirty years has held, with equal honor to himself
and advantage to the great interests committed to him, the eminent
position of Secretary of the Smithsonian Institution, died at his
post of duty in the city of Washington, on the 13th day of May,
1878, in the eighty-first year of his age. The death of one so
venerable in years, and whose long life has been devoted so assidu-
ously and successfully to the advancement of science in some of its
highest departments, makes it especially fitting that the members of
this Institute, of which he was one of the founders, should place
upon its records some suitable expression of their estimate of his
character and services.
It is with just pride that we call to mind that he was a native
of this city; that it was here in the Albany Academy, and in the
very building in which we are now assembled, that he received
much of his early education, and especially in those branches which
contributed most to prepare him for his subsequent scientific career ;
that after ceasing to be a pupil in the academy, much of his leisure
time, for several years, was spent in the laboratory, then in this very
room, in experimental investigations in chemistry, electricity, in the
application of steam, and in other branches of physical science, in
which he was destined afterwards to attain so great distinction.
While thus engaged, he took an active part in the organization of
the Albany Lyceum, and afterward of the Albany Institute. In
1826, he was appointed professor of mathematics and natural
philosophy in the academy. The place was not unworthy of the
high qualifications he brought to it; for in that day few of the
colleges of this country afforded such a large and thorough course
(130)
MINUTE BY ORLANDO MEADS. 131
of instruction, both in the classics and in mathematics and natural
philosophy, as did the academy. Soon after his appointment to this
professorship, he entered upon the course of original and experi-
mental researches in electro-magnetism that were rewarded with
results so brilliant and valuable as to attract the attention of the
scientific world and place him at once in the front rank of original
investigators. Here he made those great discoveries which in their
practical application, have given us the electric telegraph.
Tle not only showed how a greater magnetic power than had ever
before been supposed possible, could be obtained, but he showed
also how by means of a battery of a greater number of plates,
known as an intensity battery, the power thus obtained might be
transmitted through a circuit so as to produce its effect at a great
distance from the operator, and he also distinctly pointed out the
application of this to the transmission of telegraphic signals. It is
within the recollection of some now here present, that while he was
yet connected with this academy, and long before the Morss tele-
graph was invented, there might be seen, strung circuit upon circuit,
around the walls of the large room in the upper part of the build-
ing, thousands of fect of copper wire, through the whole length of
which he sent a galvanic current so as to excite a magnet and move
a lever at the farther end, which was thus made to strike its signal
ona bell. Here, in a scientific point of view, was all that was
essential to the magnetic telegraph. That he did not attempt to
apply these discoveries to their practical use, was not that he did
not see their- application, or that he had not inventive genius, but
that he had formed for himself a high ideal of a life devoted to
science for its own sake, from which he would not be diverted by
any inferior claims upon his attention. The stand taken by him
thus early was inflexibly adhered to through his whole subsequent
life. ; |
In 1832, he was called to the professorship of natural philosophy
in the college of New Jersey, at Princeton, where he not only con-
tinued to prosecute with great success and growing fame his favorite
investigations in electricity and magnetism, but he also greatly
enlarged the range of his acquirements by studies in acoustics,
optics, astronomy, geology, mineralogy, and architecture, in some
132 MEMORIAL OF JOSEPH HENRY.
of which departments his lectures excited great interest and admi-
ration. He had rare power as a lecturer. With always a full
knowledge of his subject, his language was well chosen and exact,
his elocution dignified and impressive, and he had in a rare degree,
both in conversation and in his public discourses, the faculty charac-
teristic of the highest order of minds—of presenting the deepest
truths with a clearness and simplicity that brought them within the
grasp of ordinary minds. In 1837 he for the first time visited
Europe, where his valuable contributions to physical science had
~ made him well known to such men as FARADAY, WHEATSTONE,
Airy, and others, who received him with the most flattering
attentions. . Suis tend ee ; elt ’
By the noble bequest of James Smiruson, the United States
were made the recipients of a fund “to found at Washington, under
the name of the Smithsonian Institution, an establishment for the
increase and diffusion of knowledge among men.” On the estab-
lishment of this institution under an act of Congress in 1846, the
eyes of the leading scientific men in this country and abroad were
at once turned to Professor HENRY as the man most eminently
qualified. to carry out the great objects of this trust in ‘accordance
with the spirit of the founder. The trust itself, as prescribed in
the will of the founder, was of the grandest and most comprehensive
character. . It was intended for both the increase and the diffusion
of knowledge. It was limited to no particular branch of knowl-
edge, and it was for the benefit of all mankind, It was with great
hesitation and reluctance that Professor HENRY was induced to
give up the line of original research to which he had been devoted,
and undertake a work so different from any in which he had been
engaged, and involving so great responsibility. But having yielded
to the wishes of his friends, he gave himself to the work earnestly
and conscientiously, still hoping that after the organization was
completed he might be enabled again to resume his former pursuits.
Fortunate it was for the honor of the country and for the perma-
nent interests of the institution that such a man was brought to
preside over its original organization, and afterward to direct ‘and
control its administration for nearly a third of a century. How
broadly and wisely he laid the foundations of the institution —
MINUTE BY ORLANDO MEADS. 133
with what a large view and just appreciation of the claims of all
the various departments of liberal knowledge; how skillfully he
guarded it through the manifold perils of its earlier years; with
what vigilance and stern integrity he protected and secured the
trust funds, not only from loss, but from perversion to improper
purposes, or to the promotion of local and selfish interests; how
scrupulously he held himself aloof from all entanglements with
gainful enterprises and from everything that could withdraw his
thoughts from the high duties to which he had devoted himself;
and how strongly he thus entrenched himself in the respect and
confidence not only of those immediately associated with him, but
of the whole American people—is well known to us, and is wit-
nessed to by the voice that now comes to us from every part of the
country.
In commemorating his public services we should not omit to
notice the valuable gratuitous services he has rendered to the coun-
try for so many years as president of the Light-House Board, nor
should we fail also to record the not less important relation in
which, as the head of the Smithsonian Institution, he has stood to
the Government as its trusted adviser in all matters involving
scientific inquiry. Every successive administration for the last
thirty years has had the benefit of his wise and disinterested coun-
sels, and has ever given to him its fullest confidence. But above
all should we bear witness to the great moral worth and dignity of
the example he has furnished in our own country and in our times
of a man of the highest intellectual endowments and with more -
than ordinary aptitude for success in the practical walks of life
giving himself, from the very outset of his career, with stern inflexi-
bility of purpose, exclusively to the pursuit of science for its own
sake, esteeming its path one of all-sufficient honor and distinction,
and its satisfactions and rewards higher and better than all other
worldly success, content to live simply and virtuously, so be it
only that it might be “in the pure and serene air of liberal studies.”
He was a man of warm affections and of a most sincere, generous,
and noble nature. His sympathies with all earnest seekers after
truth, and especially with the young, were ever quick and ready.
He loved truth for its own sake, and had an utter detestation of
134 ; MEMORIAL OF JOSEPH HENRY.
shams, and charlatanism, and all devices for cheap popularity,
whether in science or in other things. He was, moreover, a man
of calm, well considered and decided Christian faith. No seeming
conflict between the truths of science and those of religion ever
disturbed his well assured faith in both,—for he had a mind large
enough, and honest enough, to grasp the relation between them.
No one knew better than he whose life had been spent in seeking
to penetrate the secrets of the natural world, what were the powers,
and what were also the limitations of the human intellect; but
believing as he did, that truth in all its forms procecded on its
one Great Author, he doubted not, that when faith is exchanged
for sight, it will be found in all its varied manifestations to be at
perfect unity with itself,
PROCEEDINGS
OF THE
UNITED STATES LIGHT-HOUSE BOARD.
OFFICE OF THE Licut-HovusE Boarp,
Washington, May 15, 1878.
[ Extract from the minutes of the meeting of the Light-House
Board, held May 15, 1878. ]
The Naval Sceretary read a letter from Chief Justice M. R.
Waite, Chancellor of the Smithsonian Institution, announcing the
death of Professor JosePH Henry, and inviting the Light-House
Board to attend his funeral on Thineedae afternoon at half-past
four o’clock. |
On motion, it was ordered that the Light-House Board accept
the invitation to attend the funeral, and that the Naval Secretary
be charged with making the necessary arrangements.
The following resolutions submitted by the Naval Secretary were
adopted :
Resolved, That in the death of Professor JosEPpH HENRY we
have lost an impartial Chairman, who has done so much to obtain
the harmonious co-operation of the several workers composing the
Board.
Resolved, That we have lost i in his death the head of our Com-
mittee on Experiments, in which’ position for more than a quarter
of a century he has by his patient, able, and successful investiga-
tions into the laws of Jight and sound, and by his fertile suggestions
as to their application, put the Light-House Service into the front
ranks of practical science.
Resolved, That we sincerely deplore his death; as thus we have
each one of us lost a personal friend who by his kindness of heart,
his honest frankness, his genial bearing, and his genuine sympathy,
has commanded our respect and won our affection.
(135)
136 MEMORIAL OF JOSEPH HENRY.
Resolved, That as a token of our appreciation of our loss, the
Board attend his funeral in a body; that the colors of the vessels
in the Light-House Service be set at half-mast on the day of the
funeral ; that the offices of the Light-House Establishment through-
out the country be closed on that day; and that the members of the
Board, and the officers of the Light-House Service, wear the usual
badge of mourning for thirty days.
Resolved, That we tender to the family of the deceased our
deepest sympathy in their great bereavement.
Resolved, That these resolutions be spread on the Journal of the
Board; and that a properly engrossed copy of them be sent to the
family of the deceased.
The Board then adjourned.
. C. P. PatrEerson,
Chairman pro tem.
GEORGE DEWEY,
Perer C. Harns,
Secretaries.
_ OFFICE OF THE LigHT-HovusE Boarp,
Washington, July 9, 1878.
Srr: I transmit herewith a copy of a letter dated London, June
25, 1878, from Mr. Rosin ALLEN, Secretary to the Light-House
Establishment of Great Britain, (‘Trinity House,) condoling with
the Board upon the death of its late Chairman, Professor HENry,
and expressing the high appreciation of his distinguished services
in Pharology, entertained by the “Elder Brethren” of the first
named body.
In transmitting this letter, gllow me to express the hope that its
reception will be as agreeable to you, as it has been to the Light-
House Board. :
Very respectfully, your obedient servant,
GEORGE DEWEY,
_ Naval Secretary.
To the Secretary’
of the Smithsonian Institution.
PROCEEDINGS OF LIGHT-HOUSE BOARD. 137
[ COPY TRANSMITTED. |
Trinity Hovuss, Lonpoy, E. C.,
25th June, 1878.
Str: I have it in command to request that you will be good
enough to convey to the members of the Light-House Board of
the United States the high sense which the Elder Brethren of
this corporation entertain of the many good services rendered to
the science of Pharology by Professor Henry, your lamented
predecessor.
It was the good fortune of two of the members of this Board to
make your late Chairman’s acquaintance when on a tour of inquiry
and observation in the United States, and the survivor of that
deputation, Captain SypNEY Wess, has a very cordial recollection
of the manner in which Professor HENRY placed the experience
of the Department unreservedly at their disposal, and of the ex-
tremely courteous way in which he assisted their researches, and
indicated the directions in which those researches were likely to
bear fruit.
It is at all times a matter of satisfaction to the Trinity House to
remember that its main function is one of such general interest, that
its members may count upon fellow-workers wherever maritime
civilization exists; but they trust it may be taken as an evidence of
their especial hope that through you, Sir, this friendly intercourse
with the Light-House authorities of the United States may be
continued; that they thus desire to record their grateful apprecia-
tion of the important contributions to the applied sciences both of
Light and of Sound, for maritime purposes, with which the name
of Professor JosePH Henry will always be so honorably associated.
I have the honor to be, sir, your obedient servant,
Rosin ALLEN,
Secretary,
To the Chairman
of the Light-House Board of the United States.
DISCOURSE MEMORIAL:*
BY
REV. SAMUEL BAYARD DOD.
“T have written unto you, young men, because ye are Strong, and the word of
God abideth in you.”—I Joun ii, 14,
THE beloved Apostle, in giving unto each class of his readers a
word in season, uses the language of our text in addressing the
young men, pointing them to the abiding of the word of God in
their hearts as furnishing the necessary elements for the formation
of a strong character. I shall try to point out to you how the word
of God meets the necessities of human character in the period of
youth, and what special value it has for the young, in correcting
the errors incident to that period of life, and in supplying the
elements needed for the formation and fixing of character.
Perhaps no one thing contributes more to retard the growth and
permanent progress of our character than the changes and fluctua-
tions of feeling through which we are continually passing.
The mere progress of life, by enlarging our views and bringing
us into new associations, works a great change in our feelings. The
mountains of our youth are but hills in the eye of manhood; its
palaces are transformed into plain houses; its suns dwindle into
stars; its visions splendid “fade into the light of common day ;”
its ardent and generous impulses are tamed into a cool worldly
wisdom.
Beside this more general and permanent change, there are fleeting
clouds of feeling, quick changes of sunshine and shadow continually
passing over us. What alternations of hope, fear, anxiety, joy,
melancholy we pass through in a single week! How, with each
aspect of the mind, the outer world seems changed, according to the
medium through which we view it.
*This Sermon, delivered in the College Chapel, PRINCETON, N, J., on the 19th
of May, 1878, (the Sunday following Professor HENRY’s death,) was published in
the “Princeton Memorial.”
(139)
140 MEMORIAL OF JOSEPH HENRY.
How then amid all this change, shall the heart be kept in ‘one
steady, consistent course of progress, and not be at the mercy of
transient states of feeling? Are there not passages of your own
experience that verify this description? I do not speak of that
ordinary experience exposed to the view of the world in your
actions, but of that inner life, which you keep hidden from the
world’s gaze.
Of what does that testify? Of struggles between opposing
desires; of broken vows and resolutions ; of calm views suddenly
overcast with dark clouds; of elevated aims dragged down to the
mire and dust; of fitful seasons of repentance and self-humiliation.
Our own inner experience reveals purposes formed far higher than
we have ever embodied in action—an ideal life which has little
influence on our real life, which consists mainly in unhappy grasp-
ing after a higher life, but which is only realized in the dreams of
our imagination. |
To counteract this tendency we must learn to act on some fixed
principle. We rhust choose some great purpose for which we will
live, great enough to be a controlling influence over all our life,
which we can set as our pole-star in the heavens. Such a purpose,
and influence, is furnished by the word of God.
* * x. * * * *
But we rest the argument for this truth not only upon what we
may infer the influence of the abiding of the word of God in the
heart to be, but also upon the experience of our fellow-men who
have made that word the guide of their lives.
There passed away from among us, on Monday last, one whose
life and labors beautifully illustrate this truth. It is mect that
within the precincts of this college, special mention should be
made, in terms of reverent affection, of Professor JosEpH. HENRY.
We claim him as one of us—nota son of Princeton, it is true,
for in a far humbler academy his early studies were prosecuted ;
but we claim him as a brother, beloved and loving, for he loved
Princeton sincerely. From her he received his title of Professor ;
in hér old Hall of Natural Philosophy he prosecuted his researches,
begun in Albany; among her professors he found kindred spirits
DISCOURSE BY REY. 8. B. DOD. - 14]
whom he honored and loved; to her students he delighted to impart
the fruits of his study, and. kindle in them some of the earnest
enthusiasm which marked his pursuit of knowledge. And, when
a call which he regarded as imperative, carried him:away from here,
he retained his place still among her professors, and often revisited
Princeton; and those who knew him well, remember his constant
expression of regret and of longing for this peaceful academic life,
with its opportunity for research.
As we look at the appliances of a physical laboratory in these
days, and remember the meagre apparatus of forty years ago, we
wonder at the genius and patience of this great discoverer, who
with limited means, devised and in great measure constructed the
apparatus with which many of his wonderful discoveries were
made, Lee Ps .
I presume that you are familiar with the few incidents of his life.
With no advantages in the way of early education, with limited
means, with no patronage of friends to aid him, by his own labor
he earned his livelihood, by his own efforts he obtained recognition
and position.. First called at his graduation, to the chair of Mathe-
matics in the Albany Academy, from there he was called, in 1832,
to the professorship in Princeton, and from there, in 1846, to the
Smithsonian Institution at Washington.
This is not the time nor the place to enter into a detailed account
of those discoveries, begun in Albany and carried on here, which
have given him not only a national, but a world-wide fame. I
shall only attempt to point out some of those characteristics which
distinguished Professor HENRY as a philosopher and as a man.
As a student of science he was ardent and enthusiastic in his
love for the chosen pursuit of his life. He did not dally with it as
a pastime, nor prosecute it with the greed of gain, nor pursue it
with the ambition of making himself famous among men. He
desired knowledge, and searched out wisdom in the love of it. One
of his students says, speaking of his construction of his second and
largest magnet: “ We shall al ways remember the intense eagerness
with which he superintended and watched his preparations, and how
he fairly leaped from the floor in excitement when he saw his
instrument suspending and holding a weight of more than a ton
142 MEMORIAL OF JOSEPH HENRY.
and a half.” Another writer, speaking of his examination of the
telephone at Philadelphia, says: “It was a most lovely sight, at
the Grand Exhibition at Philadelphia, when Professor HENRy, the
father of the system” of electro-magnetic communication, “and Sir
Witut1am THompson, the greatest living electrician in Europe,
met and experimented with that mysterious telephone. ‘Their
pleasure reminded me more than anything else of the exuberant
joy of childhood, when some beautiful revelation of nature has been
for the first time brought to its brain, and when the innocent child
expresses bAppmee in every feature of its face and every movement
of its person.” :
He was characterized by great reverence in the pursuit of mein
Singularly modest as to his own powers and attainments, he never
suffered the advancement of his own opinions to warp his judgment
or govern his investigations; he held the progress of truth dearer
than the success of atheory. And nothing moved his gentle nature
to greater indignation than the pretensions of the charlatan or
bigot in science.
In all his researches he was actuated principally by the desire to
make the results of his study of benefit to his fellow-men. His
own noble words sum up the ruling principles of his life as a
scientific man. He says, when put on trial for his character as a
man of science and a man of honor, “ My life has been principally
deyoted to science and my investigations in different branches of
physics have given me some reputation in the line of original dis-
covery. I have sought however no patent for inventions and
solicited no remuneration for my labors, but have freely given their
results to the world; expecting only in return to enjoy the con-
sciousness of having added .by my- investigations to the sum of
human knowledge. The only reward I ever expected was the
consciousness of advancing science, the pleasure of discovering new
truths, and the scientific reputation to which these labors would
entitle me.” And verily I say unto you, he hath his reward.
As an investigator, Professor HENRy was characterized by great
patience and thoroughness in his work of observation, and by broad;
well-considered, and far-reaching genéralizations. He distrusted
the so-called. “ brilliant generalizations” with which those favor us
DISCOURSE BY REV. S. B. DOD. 143
who love speculation rather than study. He never took anything
for granted, never despised the details of his work, but carefully
established, step by step, those data on which he based his con-
clusions. In 1849 he says, “Since my removal to Princeton I have
made several thousand original investigations on electricity, mag-
netism, and electro-magnetism, bearing on practical applications of
electricity, brief minutes of which fill several hundred folio pages.
They have cost me years of labor and much expense.” .
Combined with this thoroughness, there was great fertility of
mind. He was distinguished not in one branch of physics, but in,
all. In the catalogue of his published papers (and these represent
but a small part of his work, for‘he worked much and published
comparatively little) there is evidence of the varied fields in which
he wrought. While a large part of them are devoted to his favorite |
and most famous line of research, yet there are numbers of them on
problems in acoustics, on acoustics applied to building, on building
materials, on the sun spots, on natural history, on the prediction
of the changes in the weather, on various problems in meteorology,
on capillarity, on light and heat, on the velocity of projectiles, on
the correlation of forces, and the conservation of energy.
He was possessed of great foresight. The various forms of electro-
motors which have since been attempted are all on the basis of Pro-
fessor HENRyY’s made thirty years ago; nor has all the ingenuity
and money expended since that time advanced us one step beyond
the conclusion which he reached then. “I never regarded it as
practical in the arts because of its great expense of power, except
in particular cases where expense of power is of little consequence.”
The results of his labors I can only briefly sum up.
As president of the American Association for the Advancement
of Science, and of the National Academy of Sciences, he gave the
weight of his influence and the benefit of his experience to the suc-
cessful conduct of these societies.
He was Chairman of the Light-House Board, and during the
rebellion, a member of the commission to examine inventions for
facilitating military and naval operations.
In these varied capacities he has served the Government with
zeal and fidelity, and has made his scientific knowledge of avail in
-
144 MEMORIAL OF JOSEPH HENRY.
protecting commerce and saying human life; giving to all, the -
arduous duties of these positions his thorough personal supervision.
In conjunction with Professor Guyor, through the agency of the
Smithsonian Institution, he first inaugurated the systematic obser-
vation and study of the law of storms that has given us our present
signal-service observations.
But the greatest triumph of his genius and reward of his patient
labor was the discovery of the telegraph. In 1825 Mr. Bartow,
of the Royal Military Academy, published a pamphlet which was
accepted as the demonstration that the telegraph was impossible.
In 1830 Professor Henry had a telegraph in successful operation
of over a mile and a half in length; and a little later, in Prince-
ton, one of several miles in length. A writer, (Mr. EK. N. Dicx-.
ERSON,) who, as counsel in a patent case, had occasion to examine
this matter thoroughly, says: “The thing was perfect as it came
from its author, and has never been improyed from that day to this
as a sounding telegraph.” And ho further calls attention to the
fact that the subsequent invention of an alphabet impressed on.
paper strips has been abandoned, and, to-day, men read the tele-
graph phonetically, as Professor Henry did at the first.
How can we estimate the influence on the world’s history, on
the progress of nations, on the individual lives of men, of the man
who gave to the world, without money and without price, the dis-
covery that made the telegraph possible? |
As over the land and under the sea, the voiceless viewless mes-
sage goes, freighted with its burden of joy or woe, of life or death,
of war or peace, it speaks his praise.
This wonderful discovery, beginning a century ago, is the fruit
of the combined efforts of great men. OERSTED, ARAGO, AMPERE,
Davy, Bartow, SturGEoN, Farapay—each contributed : his
share of discovery to the result; but it was reserved for HENRY
to apply the discoveries already made, and to add the missing factor
that solved the problem and created the electro-magnetic telegraph.
In the later years of his life his arduous and varied duties as
head of the Smithsonian Institution hindered in great measure his
prosecution of original research. This- position he accepted as a
sacred trust from its founder, whose simple declaration, that it was
DISCOURSE BY REV. 8S. B. DOD. 145
to be for the increase and diffusion of knowledge among men, he
kept steadily in view. His purity and simplicity of character Gilat
as no other armor could have done, the artifice of politicians wis
sought to wield its influence for political ends.’ Professor HENRY ;
kept it pure from any stich er and thus payed it to the nation
and the world. :
In all his investigations pea Hawke allowed himself per-
fect freedom. He followed with simplicity of heart and firmness
of mind, whither the revelations of nature led him. He belonged
to no oe clique, was ‘no ee nor Pare: but calm and
unbiased in his conclusions..
But the chief significance of his life S us as Princetonians, as
~ students, and as men, is a ne was an humble,’ paca? consistent
Christian. ’" °° ah :
The following extract peta a letter written April 12, 1878, con-
tains a clear exposition of Professor HEenry’s views. I invite
your thoughtful attention to them; they are the well-weighed,
mature convictions uttered at the close of a long life of earnest
study of nature; and, written but a month before his death, we
may regard them as s his last test gu on this great theme:
“We live in a universe of ee ; nothing remains the same
from one moment till another, and each moment of recorded time
has its separate history. We are carried on by the ever-changing
events in the line of our destiny, and at the end of the year we are
always at a considerable distance from the point of its beginning.
How short the space between the two cardinal points of an earthly
career, the point of birth and that of death; and yet what a uni-
verse of wonders are presented to us in our rapid flight through
this space. _How small the wisdom obtained by a single life in its
passage ; and how small the known when compared with the
unknown by the accumulation of the millions of lives through
the art of printing in hundreds of years.
“How many questions press themselves upon us in these contem-
plations. Whencescome we? Whither are we going? What is
our final destiny? The object of our creation? What mysteries
of unfathomable depth environ us on every side; but after all our
10
146 MEMORIAL OF JOSEPH HENRY.
speculations and an attempt to grapple with the problem of the
universe, the simplest conception which explains and connects the
phenomena is that of the existence of one spiritual Being, infinite
‘in wisdom, in power, and all divine perfections; who exists
always and everywhere; who has created us with intellectual
faculties sufticient in some degree to comprehend His operations as
they are developed in nature by what is called ‘science’ - - -
“Tn accordance with this scientific view, on what evidence does
the existence of a Creator rest? First, it is one of the truths best
established by experience in my own mind that’I have a thinking,
willing principle within me, capable of intellectual activity and of
moral feeling. Second, it is equally clear to me that you have a
similar spiritual principle within yourself, since, when I ask you
an intelligent question, you give me an intellectual answer. Third,
when I examine operations of nature, I find every where theoten
them evidences of intellectual arrangements, of contrivances to
reach definite ends precisely as I find in the operations of man; and
hence I infer that these two classes of operations are results of
similar intelligence. Again, in my own mind I find ideas of right
and wrong, of good and evil. These ideas then exist in the
universe, and therefore form a basis of our ideas of a moral
universe. Furthermore, the conceptions of good which are found
among our ideas associated with evil, can be attributed only to a
being of infinite perfections like that which we denominate ‘God.’
On the other hand, we are conscious of having such evil thoughts
and tendencies that we can not associate ourselves with a Divine
being, who is the director and the governor of all, or even call upon
Him for mercy without the intercession of one who may affiliate
himself with us,” *
Into the kingdom of nature he entered ‘as a little child, and ‘she
laid bare her secrets before him; she opened the leaves of her
wonderful book, and he read therein, and told us some of her most
marvelous secrets, which others had but dimly guessed.
So also into the kingdom of heaven he entered as a little child,
and in the same simplicity and sincerity of faith with which he had
accepted the truths of nature, he received the word of God.
*This letter of Professor HENRY will be found entire on pages 23-25 of this volume,
DISCOURSE BY REV. S. B. DOD. 147
There are some who, in these days, tell us that if a man believe
in God as his maker, in Christ as his redeemer, in the Holy Spirit
as his sanctifier, and in the word of God as the guide of his life, he
is no more to be ranked among scientific men, nor fit to be trusted
as a student of nature. Where then shall we place this father of
American science? Who that vaunts his skeptical conjectures
before the world to-day, as the badge of his scientific acumen and
liberty of thought, can show so wide, and free, and fair a record of
high scientific and beneficent work for his day and generation, as
this avowed Christian philosopher? -
To those who knew Professor HENRY personally, there was the
charm of a singularly gentle and unaffected sincerity of heart and
manner, that made him approachable to all. His attachments were
warm and lasting. He remembered always with undiminished
affection his associates in his professorship at Princeton, and now
their children rise up and call him blessed. ‘None knew him but
to love him.”
Modest, unassuming, gentle in his deportment, he bore the fruit
of Christian faith in his life. Following the example and precepts
of his Master, “When he was reviled, he reviled not again; when
he was _ persecuted, he aed not. » He was the model of a
Christian gentleman.
And now he has passed from this school, pee: by patient labor
and with docile heart, he had learned, from*the two great books of
God, such wondrous lessons of the Taine wisdom and power and
love. To-day that noble intellect and simple heart stands, stripped
of the clogs of sense, before the unveiled presence of his God, and
looks not at the things seen and temporal, but at the things unseen
and eternal. With what rapture and amazement there has opened
to his view wonders, surpassing immeasurably all that he had
guessed on earth, we cannot tell; “for eye hath not seen, nor ear
heard, neither have entered into the heart of man the things that
God hath prepared for them that love Him.”
But who of us, if called to make the choice, would hesitate as to
which were the higher honor and which the happier destiny — the
place which Josep HEnry, the philosopher, holds, and will ever
hold among the great of this world, by virtue of his scientific
148 MEMORIAL OF JOSEPH. HENRY.
achievements, or the place which is his at the right hand of God,
by virtue of his simple Christian faith? , We who love this college,
and cherish the memory of the great and good men who have made
her name illustrious and sacred, from her foundation to the present
hour, feel a thrill of gratification that our illustrious brother was
borne to the grave followed by the chief men of the nation, as one
whom the people delight to honor. But a higher and tenderer joy
fills the heart, when we picture to ourselves his reception at the
court of the King of kings, his welcome into the great company of
those who are “washed and made white in the blood of the Lamb,”
and the honor, above all earthly plaudits, when the Master gra-
ciously said unto him, “ Well done, thou good and faithful servant;
enter thou into the joy of thy Lord.”
God grant that Princeton College may ever maintain, for Ameri-
can science, the noble succession of such Christian princes in the
realms of thought as JoseEpH HENRY,
Nore.
T have appended a letter, which I received from Professor HENRY,
in reply to one soliciting from him some account of his work while
connected with the College of New Jersey.. While I wish that one
better fitted to portray*that noble life and enforce its lessons had
stood in my place, yet it was a labor of love to pay what tribute I
was able to the memory of one who, whenever I met him, spoke in
terms of warm affection of my father, who was one of his colleagues.
I now publish it in the hope that it may commend, especially to.
the students of the college of New Jersey, the noble example of
this life, passed in the service of men and the fear of God.
S. B. Dop.
May, 1878.
LETTER OF J. HENRY TO REV. 8. B. DOD. 149
Wasuineaton, D. C., December 4, 1876.
My Dear Str: In compliance with your request that I would
give an account of my scientific researches during my connection
with the College of New Jersey, I furnish the following brief state-
ment of my labors within the period mentioned:
I. Previous to my call from the Albany Academy to a pro-
fessorship in the College of New Jersey, I had made a series of
researches on electro-magnetism, in which I develeped the principles
of the electro-magnet and the means of accumulating the magnetic
power to a great extent, and had algo applied this power in the
invention of the first electro-magnetic machine; that is, a mechan-
ical contrivance by which electro-magnetism was applied as a motive
power.
I soon saw, however, that the application of this power was but
an indirect method of employing the energy derived from the com-
bustion of coal, and, therefore, could never compete, on the score of
expense, with that agent as a means of propelling machinery, but
that it might be used in some cases in which expense of power was
not a consideration to be weighed against. the value of certain.
objects to be attained. A great amount of labor has since been
devoted to this invention, especially at the expense of the Govern-
ment of the United States, by the late Dr. CHARLEs G. Page, but
it still remains in nearly the same condition it was left in by my-
self in 1831.
I also applied, while in Albany, the results of my experiments
to the invention of the first electro-magnetic telegraph, in which
-. signals were transmitted by exciting an, electro-magnet at a distance,
by which means dots might be made on paper, and bells were struck
in succession, indicating letters of the alphabet.
In the midst of these investigations I was called to Princeton,
through the nomination of Dr. JAcoB GREEN, then of Philadel-
phia, and Dr. Joun Torrey, of New York.
I arrived in Princeton in November, 1832, and as soon as I
became fully settled in the chair which I occupied, I recommenced
my investigations, constructed a still more powerful electro-magnet
than I had made before—one which would sustain. over three —
thousand pounds,—and with it illustrated to my class the manner
150 MEMORIAL OF JOSEPH HENRY.
in which a large amount of power might, by means of a relay
magnet, be called into operation at the distance of many miles.
I also made several modifications in the electro-magnetic machine
before mentioned, and just previous to my leaving for England, in
1837, again turned my attention to the telegraph. I think the
first actual line of telegraph using the earth as a conductor was
made in the beginning of 1836. A wire was extended across the
front campus of the college grounds, from the upper story of the
library building to the philosophical hall on the opposite side, the
ends terminating in two wells. ‘Through this wire, signals were
sent, from time to time, from my house to my laboratory. The
electro-magnetic telegraph was first invented by me, in Albany, in
1830. Professor Morss, according to his statements, conceived the
idea of an electro-magnetic telegraph in his voyage across the ocean
in 1832, but did not until several years afterward — 1837 — attempt
to carry his ideas into practice; and when he did so, he found him-
self so little acquainted with the subject of electricity that he could
not make his simple machine operate through the distance of a few
yards. In this dilemma he called in the aid of Dr. Lronarp D.
GALE, who was well acquainted with what I had done in Albany
and Princeton, having visited me at the latter place. He informed
Professor Morse that he had not the right kind of a battery nor
the right kind of magnets, whereupon the professor turned the
matter over to him, and, with the knowledge he had obtained from
my researches, he was enabled to make the instrument work through
a distance of several miles. For this service Professor Morse
gave him a share of his patent, which he afterward purchased from _.
him for $15,000. At the time of making my original experiments
on electro-magnetism in Albany, I was urged by a friend to take
out a patent, both for its application to machinery and to the tele-
graph, but this I declined, on the ground that I did not then
consider it compatible with the dignity of science to confine the
benefits which might be derived from it to the exclusive use of any
individual. In this perhaps I was too fastidious. In_ briefly
stating my claims to the invention of the electro-magnetic telegraph,
_ I may say I was the first to bring the electro-magnet into the con-
dition necessary to its use in telegraphy, and also to point out its
LETTER OF J. HENRY TO REV. 5S. B. DOD. 151
application to the telegraph, and to illustrate this by constructing a
working telegraph, and had I taken out a patent for my labors at
that time, Mr. Morse could have had no ground on which to found
his claim for a patent for his invention. To Mr. Mors& however
great credit is due for his alphabet, and for his perseverance in
bringing the telegraph into practical use.
Il. My next investigation, after being settled at Princeton, was in
relation to electro-dynamic induction. Mr. FarApAy had dis-
covered that when a current of galvanic electricity was passed
through a wire from a battery, a current in an opposite direction
was induced in a wire arranged parallel to this conductor. I dis-
covered that an induction of a similar kind took place in the
primary conducting wire itself, so that a current which, in its pas-
sage through a short wire conductor, would neither produce sparks
nor shocks, would, if the wire were sufficiently long, produce both
those phenomena. ‘The effect was most strikingly exhibited when
the conductor was a flat ribbon, covered with silk, rolled into the
form of a helix. With this, brilliant deflagrations and other elec-
trical effects of high intensity were produced by means of a current
from a battery of low intensity, such as that of a single element.
III. A series of investigations was afterwards made, which
resulted in producing inductive currents of different orders, having
different directions, made up of waves alternately in opposite direc-
tions. It was also discovered that a plate of metal of any kind,
introduced between two conductors, neutralized this induction, and
this effect: was afterward found to result from a current in the plate
itself. It was afterward shown that a current of quantity was
capable of producing a current of intensity, and vice versa, a cur-
rent of intensity would produce one of quantity.
IV. Another series of investigations, of a parallel character, was
made in regard to ordinary or frictional electricity. In the course
of these it was shown that electro-dynamic inductive action of.
ordinary electricity was of a peculiar character, and that effects
could be produced by it at a remarkable distance. For example, if
a shock were sent through a wire on the outside of a building,
electrical effects could be exhibited in a parallel wire within the
building. As another illustration of this, it may be mentioned
152 + MEMORIAL OF JOSEPH HENRY.
that when a discharge of ‘a battery of several Leyden jars was,sent
through the wire before mentioned, stretched across the campus in
front of Nassau Hall, an inductive effect was produced in a parallel
wire, the ends of which terminated in the plates of metal in the
ground in the back campus, at a distance of several hundred feet
- from the primary current, the building of Nassau Hall intervening.
The effect produced consisted in the magnetization of steel needles,
In this series of investigations, the fact was discovered that the
induced current, as indicated by the needles, appeared to change its
direction with the distance of the two wires, and other conditions
of the experiment, the cause, of. which for a long time baffled
inquiry, but was finally satisfactorily explained by the discovery
that the discharge of electricity from a Leyden jar is of an oscil-
latory character, a principal discharge taking place in one direction,
and immediately afterward a rebound in the opposite, and so on
forward and backward, until the equilibrium is obtained.
V. The next series of, investigations related to atmospheric induc-
tion. The first of these consisted of experiments with two large
kites, the. lower end of the string of one being attached to the
upper surface of a second kite, the string of each consisting of a
fine wire, the terminal end of the whole being coiled around an
insulated drum. I was assisted in these experiments by Mr,
Brown, of, Philadelphia, who furnished the kites. When they
were elevated, at.a time when the sky was perfectly clear, sparks
were drawn. of surprising, intensity and pungency, the electricity
being supplied from the air, and the intensity being attributed to
the induction of the long wire on itself.
VI. The next series of experiments pertaining to the same class,
was on the induction from thunder clouds. For this purpose the
tin covering of the roof of the house in which I resided was used
as an inductive plate.,, A wire was soldered to the edge of the roof
near the gutter, was passed into my study and out again through
holes in the window-sash, and terminated in connection with a plate
of metal in a deép ,well immediately in front of the house. By
breaking the continuity of that part of the wire which was in the
study, and introducing into the opening a magnetizing spiral,
needles placed in this could be magnetized by a flash of lightning
LETTER OF J: HENRY TO REV. S. B. DOD. 153
so distant that the thunder could scarcely be heard. The electrical
disturbance produced in this case was also found to be of an oscil-
Jatory character, a discharge first passing through the wire from
the roof to the well, then another in the opposite. direction, and so
on until equilibrium was restored. This result was arrived at in
this case, as well as in that of the Leyden jar, before mentioned,
by placing the same, or a similar needle, in succession, in spirals of
greater and greater number of turns; for example, in a spiral of a
single turn the needle would be magnetized plus, or in the direction
due to the first and more powerful wave. By increasing the num-
ber of coils, the action of the second wave became dominant, so
that it would more than neutralize the magnetism produced by the
first wave, and leave the needle minus. By further increasing the
number of turns, the third wave would be so exalted as to neu-
tralize the effects of the preceding two, and so on. -In the case of
induction by lightning, the same result was obtained by placing a
number of magnetizing spirals, of different magnetizing intensities,
in the opening of the primary conductor, the result of which was
to produce the magnetization of an equal number of needles, plus
and minus, indicating alternate currents in opposite directions.
VII. In connection with this class of investigations a scries of
experiments was made in regard to lightning-rods. It was found
that when a quantity of electricity was thrown upon a rod, the
lower end of which was connected with a plate of metal’ sunk in
the water of a deep well, that the electricity did not descend silently
into.water, but that sparks could be drawn from every part of the
rod sufficiently intense to explode an electrical pistol and to set
fire to delicate inflammable substances. . The spark thus given off
was found to be of a peculiar character, for while it produced com-
bustion and gave a.slight shock, and fired the electrical pistol, it
scarcely at all affected a gold leaf electroscope. Indeed, it consisted
of two sparks, one from the conductor and the other to it, in such
quick succession that the rupture of the air by the first served for
the path of the second. The conclusion arrived at was, that during
the passage of the electricity down the rod each point in succession
received a charge analogous to the statical charge of a prime con-
ductor, and that this charge, in its passage down: the rod, was.
154 MEMORIAL OF JOSEPH HENRY.
immediately preceded by a negative charge; the two in their spass-
age past the point at which the spark was drawn giving rise to its
duplex character, It was also shown by a series of experiments in
transmitting a powerful discharge through a portion of air, that
the latter, along the path of discharge, was endowed for a moment
with an intense repulsive energy. So great is this that in one
instance, when an electrical discharge from the clouds_ passed
between two chimneys through the cockloft of a house, the whole
roof was lifted from the walls, It is to this repulsive energy, or
tendency in air to expand at right angles to the path of a stroke of
lightning, that the mechanical effects which accompany the latter
are generally to be attributed.
In connection with this series of investigations an experiment
was devised for exhibiting the screening effect, within a space
inclosed with a metallic envelope, of an exterior discharge of elec-
tricity. It consisted in coating the outside of a hollow glass globe
with tinfoil, and afterward inserting, through a small hole in the
side, a delicate gold leaf electrometer. The latter, being observed
through a small opening in the tinfoil, was found to be unaffected
by a discharge of electricity passed over the outside coating.
VIII. Another series of investigations was on the phosphoro-
genic emanation from the sun. It had long been known that when
the diamond is exposed to the direct rays of the sun, and then
removed ‘to a dark place, it emits a pale blue light, which has
received the name of phosphorescence. This effect is not peculiar
to the diamond, but is possessed by a number of substances, of
which the sulphuret of lime is the most prominent. It is also well
known that phosphorescence is produced by exposing the substance
to the electric discharge. Another fact was discovered by Brcque--
REL, of the French Institute, that the agent exciting phosphores-
cence traverses with difficulty a plate of glass or mica, while it is
transittod apparvendly without impodimeont dhirough plates of black
quartz impervious to light.
My experiments consisted, in the first place, in the reproduction
of these results, and afterward in the extension of the list of sub-
stances which possess the capability of exhibiting phosphorescence,
as well as the effects of different interposed media. It was found
LETTER OF J. HENRY TO REV. 8. B. DOD. 155
that, among a large number of transparent solids, some were
permeable to the phosphorescing agent, and others impermeable
or imperfectly permeable. Among the former were ice, quartz,
common salt, alum. Among the latter glass, mica, tourmaline,
camphor, etc. Among liquid permeable substances were water,
solutions of alum, ammonia; while among the impermeable liquids
were most of the acids, sulphate of zinc, sulphate of lead, alcohol,
etc.
It was found that the emanation took place from every point of
the line of the electric discharge, but with more intensity from the
two extremities; and also that the emanation producing phosphor-
escence, whatever be its nature, when reflected from a mirror obeys
the laws of the reflection of light, but no reflection was obtained
from asurface of polished glass. It is likewise refracted by a prism
of rock salt, in accordance with the laws of the refraction of light.
By transmitting the rays from an electrical spark through a series
of very thin plates of mica, it was shown that the emanation was
capable of polarization, and, consequently, of double refraction.
IX. The next series of investigations was on a method of deter-
mining the velocity of projectiles. The plan proposed for this
purpose consisted in the application of the instantaneous transmission
of the electrical action to determine the time of the passage of the
ball between two screens, placed at a short distance from each other
in the path of the projectile. For this purpose the observer is pro-
vided with a revolving cylinder moving by clock-work at a uniform
rate, and of which the convex surface is divided into equal parts
indicating a fractional part of a second. The passage of the ball
through the screen breaks a galvanic circuit, the time of which is
indicated on the revolving cylinder by the terminal spark produced
in a wire surrounding a bundle of iron wires. Since the publica-
tion of this invention various other plans founded on the same
principle have been introduced into practice.
X. Another series of experiments was in regard to the relative
heat of different parts of the sun’s disk, and especially to that of the
spots on the surface. _'These were made in connection with Professor
S. ALEXANDER, and consisted in throwing an image of the sun on
a screen in a dark room by drawing out the eye-piece of a telescope.
156 MEMORIAL OF JOSEPH HENRY.
Through a hole in the screen the end of a sensitive thermo-pile was
projected, the wires of which were connected with a galvanometer.
By slightly moving the smaller end of the telescope, different parts
of the image of the sun could be thrown on the end of the thermo-
pile, and by the deviation. of the needle of the galvanometer, the
variation of the heat was indicated. In this way it was proved
that the spots radiated less heat than the adjacent parts, and that
all parts of the sun’s surface did not give off an equal amount of
heat. biog +s , sii
XI. Another series of experiments was made with what was
called a thermal telescope. ‘This instrument consisted of a long
hollow cone of pasteboard, lined with silver leaf and painted out-
side with lampblack. The angle at the apex of this cone was such
as to cause all the parallel rays from a distant object entering the
larger end of the cone to be reflected on to the end of a thermo-
pile, the poles of which were connected with a delicate galvan-
ometer. When the axis of this conical reflector was directed toward
a distant object of greater or less temperature than the surrounding
bodies, the difference was immediately indicated by the deviation of
the needle of the galvanometer. For example, when the object
was a horse in a distant field, the radiant heat from the animal was
distinctly perceptible at a distance of at least several hundred yards.
When this instrument was turned toward the celestial vault, the
radiant heat was observed to increase from the zenith downward ;
when directed, however, to different clouds, it was found to indi-
cate in some cases a greater, and in others a less, dlegree of radiation
than the surrounding space. When the same instrument was
directed to the moon, a slight increase of temperature was observed
over that of the adjacent sky, but this increase of heat was attrib-
uted to the reflection of the heat of the sun from the surface of the
moon, and not to the heat of the moon itself. To show that this
hypothesis is not inconsistent with the theory that the moon has
cooled down to the temperature of celestial space, a concave mirror
was made of ice and a thermo-pile placed in the more distant focus ;
when a flame of hydrogen, rendered luminous by aspiral platinum
wire, was placed in the other focus, the needle of the galvanometer
attached to the pile indicated a reflection of heat, care being taken
LETTER OF J. HENRY TO REV. 8. B. DOD. 157
to shade the pile by a screen with a small opening introduced |
between it and the flame. - :
XII. Another series of experiments connected with the preced-
ing may. be mentioned here. It is well known that the light from
a flame of hydrogen is of very feeble intensity ; the same is the case
with that of the compound blowpipe, while the temperature of the
latter is exceedingly high, sufficiently so to melt fine platinum wire.
It is also well known that by introducing lime or other solid sub-
stance into this flame its radiant light is very much increased. I
found that the radiant heat was increased in a similar ratio, or in
other words, that in such cases the radiant heat was commensurate
with the radiant light, and that the flame of the compound blow-
pipe, though of exceedingly high temperature, is a comparatively .
cool substance in regard to radiant heat. To study the relation of
the temperature of a flame to the amount of heat given off, four
ounces of water were placed in a platinum crucible and supported
on a ring stand over a flame of hydrogen; the minutes and seconds
of time were then accurately noted which were required for the rais-
ing of the water from the temperature of 60° to. the boiling point.
The same experiment was repeated with an equal quantity of water,
with the same flame, into which a piece of mica was inserted by a
handle made of a narrow slip of the same substance.’ With this
arrangement the light of the flame was much increased, while the
time of bringing the water to the boiling point was also commensu-
rately increased, thus conclusively showing that the increase of light:
was at the expense of the diminution of the temperature. ‘These
experiments were instituted in order to examine the nature of the
fact mentioned by Count RumrorpD, that balls of clay introduced
into a fire under some conditions increase the heat given off into
an apartment. . From the results just mentioned it follows that the
increase in the radiant heat, which would facilitate the roasting of
an article before the fire, would be at the expense of the boiling of
a liquid in a vessel suspended directly over the point of combustion.
XIII. Another investigation had its origin in the accidental
observation of the following fact: A quantity of mercury had been
left. undisturbed in a shallow saucer, with one end of a piece of
lead wire, about the diameter of a goose-quill, and six inches long,
158 MEMORIAL OF JOSEPH HENRY.
plunged into it, the other end resting on the shelf. In this eon-
dition it was found, after a few days, that the mercury had passed
through the solid lead, as if it were a siphon, and was lying on the
shelf still.in a liquid condition. The saucer contained a series of
minute crystals of an amalgam of lead and mercury. A similar
~ result was produced when a piece of the same lead wire was coated
with varnish, the mercury being transmitted without disturbing the
outer surface. .
When a length of wire of five feet was supported vertically, with
its lower end immersed in a vessel of mercury, the liquid metal
was found to. ascend, in the course of a few days, to a height of
three feet. These results led. me to think that the same property
might be possessed by other metals in relation to each other. The
first attempt to verify this conjecture was made by placing a small
globule of gold ona plate of sheet-iron and submitting it to the
heat of an assaying furnace; but the experiment was unsuccessful,
for although the gold was heated much beyond its melting point, it
showed no signs of sinking into the pores of the iron. ‘The idea
afterward suggested itself that a different result would have been
obtained had the two metals been made to adhere to each other, so
that no oxide could form between the two surfaces. To verify
this a piece of copper, thickly plated with silver, was heated to near
the melting point of the metals, when the silver disappeared, and,
after the surface was cleaned with diluted sulphuric acid, it pre-
sented a uniform surface of copper. ‘This plate was next immersed
for a few minutes in a solution of muriate of zinc, by which the
surface of copper was removed and the surface of silver again
exposed, The fact had long been observed by workmen in silver-
plating, that in soldering the parts of plated metal, if care be not
taken not to heat them unduly, the silver will disappear. This
effect was supposed to be produced by evaporation, or the burning
off, as it was called, of the plating. It is not improbable that a
slow diffusion of one metal into the other takes place in the case of
an alloy. Silver coins slightly alloyed with copper, after having
lain long in the earth, are. found covered with a salt of copper.
This may be explained by supposing that the alloy of copper at.
the surface of the coin enters into combination with the carbonic
LETTER OF J. HENRY TO REV. 8. B. DOD. 159
acid of the soil, and being thus removed, its place is supplied
by a diffusion from within, and so on; it is not improbable that a
large portion of the alloy may be removed in progress of time,
and the purity of the coin be considergbly increased. It is known
to the jeweler that articles of copper plated with gold lose their
brilliancy after awhile, and that this can be restored by boiling
them in ammonia.‘ This effect is probably produced by the
ammonia acting on the copper and dissolving off its surface so as to
expose the gold, which by pais had PERE ICEL into the body
of the metal.
The slow diffusion of one metal into sn othar at ordinary tem-
peratures would naturally require a long time to produce a per-
ceptible effect, since it is probably only produced by the minute
vibrations of the particles due to variations of temperature.
The same principle is applied to the explanation of the phenome-
non called segregation—such as the formation of nodules of flint
in masses of carbonate of lime, or in other words, to the expla-
nation of the manner in which the molecular action, which is
insensible at perceptible distances, may produce results which would —
appear, at first sight, to be the BH of attraction acting at a
distance.
XIV. Another series of eeeanent had reference to the con-
stitution of matter in regard to its state of liquidity and solidity,
and they had their origin in the examination of the condition of
the metal of the large gun constructed under the direction of Cap-
tain Stockton, by the explosion of which several prominent -
members of the United States Government were killed at Wash-:
ington. It was observed in testing the bars of iron made from
this gun that they varied much in tensile strength in different
parts, and that in breaking these bars the solution of the con-
tinuity took place first in the interior. This phenomenon was
attributed to the more ready mobility of the outer molecules of the
bars, the inner ones being surrounded by matter incapable of slip-
ping, and hence the rupture. A similar effect is produced in a
piece of thick copper wire, each end when broken exhibiting at
the point of rupture a cup-shaped surface, showing that the exterior
of the metal sustained its connection longer than the interior.
160 MEMORIAL OF JOSEPH HENRY.
From these observations the conclusion was drawn, that rigidity
differs from liquidity more in a polarity which prevents slipping
of the molecules, than in a difference of the attractive force with :
which the molecules are held together; or that it is more in accord-
ance with the phenomena of cohesion, to suppose that in the case of
a liquid, instead of the attraction of the molecules being neutralized
by heat, the effect of this agent is merely to neutralize the polarity
of the molecules, so as to give them perfect freedom of motion
around any imaginable axis. In illustration of this subject the -
comparative tenacity of pure water in which soap had been dis-
solved, was measured by the usual method of. ascertaining the
weight required to’detach from the surface of each the same plate’
of wood, suspended from the beam of a balance, under the same
condition of temperature and pressure.. It was found by. this
experiment that the tenacity of pure water was greater than that
of soap and water. This novel result is in accordance with the .
supposition that the mingling of the soap and the water interferes —
with the perfect mobility of the molecules, while at the same time
it diminishes the attraction.
XV. A series of experiments was also made on the tenacity of:
soap-water in films. For this purpose sheets of soap-water films
were stretched upon rings, and the attempt made to obtain, the
tenacity of these by placing on them pellets of cotton until they
were ruptured, The thickness of these films was roughly estimated
by Newron’s scale of the colors of thin plates, and from the results
- the conclusion was arrived at that the attractive force of the mole-
cules of water,'for those of water, is approximately equal to those
of ice for those of ice, and that the difference in this case, of the
solidity and, liquidity, is due to the want of mobility in the latter,
which prevented the slipping of the molecules on each other. It
is this extreme mobility of the molecules of water that prevents
the formation of permanent bubbles of it, and not a want of
attraction.
The roundness of drops of water is not due to the attraction
of the whole mass, but merely to the action of the surface, which
in all cases of curvature is endowed with an intense contractile
power,
LETTER OF J. HENRY TO REV. 8. B. DOD. 161
This class of investigation also included the study of soap bub-
bles, and the establishment of the fact of the contractile power of
these films. ‘The curvature of the surface of a bubble tends to
urge each particle toward the center with a force inversely as the
diameter. Two bubbles being connected, the smaller will collapse
by expelling its contents into the larger. By employing frames of
wire, soap bubbles were also made to assume various forms, by
- which capillarity and other phenomena were illustrated. This
subject was afterward taken up by PLATEAU, of Ghent. Another
part of the same investigation was the study of the spreading of oil
on water, the phenomenon being referred to the fact that the attrac-
tion of water for water is greater than that of oil for oil, while the
attraction of the molecules of oil for each other is less than the
attraction of the same molecules for water; hence the oil spreads
over the water. This is shown from the fact that when a rupture
is)made in a liquid compound, consisting of a stratum of oil resting
on water, the rupture takes place in the oil, and not between the oil
and water. The very small distance at which the attraction takes
place is exhibited by placing a single drop of oil on a surface of
water of a considerable extent, when it will diffuse itself over the
whole surface. If however a second drop be placed upon the
same surface, it will retain its globular form.
XVI. Another contribution to science had reference to the origin
of mechanical power and the nature of vital force. Mechanical
power is defined to be that which is capable of overcoming resist-
ance; or in the language of the engineer, that which is employed
to do work. ;
If we examine attentively the condition of the crust of the earth,
we find it, as a general rule, in a state of permanent equilibrium.
All the substances which constitute the material of the crust, such
as acids and bases, with the exception of the indefinitely thin pellicle
of vegetable and animal matter which exists at its surface, have
gone into a state of permanent combination, the whole being in the
condition of the burnt slag of a furnace, entirely inert, and capable
in itself of no change. All the changes which we observe on the
surface of the globe may be referred to action from without, from
celestial space.
il
162 _ ‘MEMORIAL OF JOSEPH HENRY.
The following is a list which will be found to include all the
prime movers used at the present day, either directly or indirectly,
in producing molecular changes in matter ;
Water power. Immediately referable
Crass I Tide power. to celestial disturb-
Wind power. ance.
| Steam and other powers ) Immediately referable
Cuass II. < developed by combustion. to what is called
Animal power. ‘vital action. |
The forces of gravity, cohesion, electricity, and chemical attrac-
tion tend to produce a state of permanent equilibrium on our
planet; hence these principles in themselves are not primary, but
secondary agents in producing mechanical effects, As an example,
we may take the case of water-power, which is approximately due
to the return of the water toa state of stable equilibrium on the:
surface of the ocean; but the primary cause of the motion is the
force which produced ‘the elevation of the liquid in the form of
vapor —namely, the radiant heat of the sun. Also in the pheno-
mena of combustion, the immediate source of the power evolved in
the form of heat is the passage from an unstable state into one of
stable combination of the carbon and hydrogen of the fuel with
oxygen of the atmosphere. But this power may ultimately be
resolved into the force which caused the separation of these elements
from their previous combination in the state of carbonic acid —
namely, the radiant light of the sun, But the mechanical power
exerted by animals is due to the passage of organized matter in the
stomach from. an unstable to a stable equilibrium, or as it were
from the combustion of the food. It therefore follows that animal
power is referable to the same source as that from the combustion
of fuel—namely, developed power of the sun’s beams. But
according to this view, what is vitality? It is that mysterious
principle —not mechanical power — which determines the form and
arranges the atoms of organized matter, employing for this purpose
the power which is derived from the food.
These propositions were illustrated by different examples, Sup-
pose a vegetable organism impregnated with a germ (a potato, for
LETTER OF J. HENRY TO REV. 8. B. DOD. 1638
instance) is planted below the surface of the ground in a damp
soil, under a temperature sufficient for vegetation. If we examine
it from time to time, we find it sending down rootlets into the earth,
and stems and leaves upward into the air. After the leaves have
been fully expanded we shall find the tuber entirely. exhausted,
nothing but a skin remaining. The same effect will take place if
the potato be placed in a warm cellar; it will continue to grow
until all the starch and gluten are exhausted, when-it will cease to
increase. If however we now place it in the light, it will com-
mence to grow again, and increase in size and weight. If we weigh
the potato previous to the experiment, and the plant after it has
ceased to grow in the dark, we shall find that the weight of the
latter is a little more than half that of the original tuber. ‘The
question then is, what has become of the material which filled the
sac of the potato? The answer is, one part has run down into
carbonic acid and water, and in this running down has evolved the
power to build up the other part into the new plant. After the
leaves have been formed and the plant exposed to the light of the
sun, the developed power of its rays decomposes the carbonic acid
of the atmosphere, and thus furnishes the pabulum and the power
necessary to the further development of the organization. The
same is the case with wheat, and all other grains that are germinated
in the earth. Besides the germ of the future plant, there is stored
away, around the germ, the starch and gluten to furnish the power
necessary to its development, and also the food to build it up until
it reaches the surface of the earth and can draw the source of its
future growth from the power of the sunbeam. In the case of
fungi and other plants that grow in the dark, they derive the power
and the pabulum from surrounding vegetable matter in process of
decay, or in that of evolving power. A similar arrangement found
is in regard to animal organization. It is well known that the egg
continually diminishes in weight during the process of incubation,
and the chick, when fully formed, weighs scarcely more than one-
half the original weight of the egg. “What is the interpretation of
this phenomenon? Simply that one part of the contents of the
shell has run down into carbonic acid and water, and thus evolved
the power necessary to do the work: of building. up the future
164 MEMORIAL OF JOSEPH HENRY.
animal, In like manner when a tadpole is converted into a frog,
the animal, for a while, loses weight; a portion of the organism of
its tail has been expended developing the power necessary to the
transformation, while another portion has served for the material
of the legs.
What then is the office of vitality? We say that it is analogous
to that of the engineer who directs the power of the steam-engine
in the execution of its work. Without this, in the case of the egg,
the materials, left to the undirected force of affinity, would end in
simply producing chemical compounds —sulphureted hydrogen,
carbonic acid, ete. ‘There is no special analogy between the process
of crystallization and that of vital action. In the one case definite
mathematical forms are the necessary results, while in the other the
results are precisely like those which are produced under the
direction of will and intelligence, evincing a design and a purpose,
making provision at one stage of the process for results to be
attained at a later, and producing organs intended evidently for
locomotion and perception. Not only is the result the same as that
which is produced by human design, but in all cases the power with
which this principle operates is the same as that with which the
intelligent engineer produces his result.
This doctrine was first given in a communication to the Ameri-
can Philosophical Society, in December, 1844, and more fully
developed in a paper published in the Patent Office Report in 1857.
The publication, in full, of three of the series of investigations
herein described, was made in the “Transactions of the American
Philosophical Society.” Others were published in ‘Silliman’s
Journal,” and both these are noticed in the “ Royal Society’s Cata-
logue of Scientific Papers;” but the remainder of them were pub-
lished in the “ Proceedings of the American Philosophical Society,”
and are not mentioned in the work just referred to.
In 1846, while still at Princeton, I was requested by members
of the Board of Regents of the Smithsonian Institution, which was
then just founded, to study the will of Smithson, and to give a plan
of organization by which the object of the bequest might be real-
ized. My conclusion was that the intention of the donor was to
advance science by original research and publication, that the estab-
LETTER OF J. HENRY TO REY. 8. B. DOD. 165
lishment was for the benefit of mankind generally, and that all
unnecessary expenditures on local objects would be violations of the
trust. The plan I proposed for the organization of the Institution
was to assist men of science in making original researches, to pub-
lish these in a series of volumes, and to give a copy of these to
every first-class library on the face of the earth.
I was afterward called to take charge of the Institution, and to
carry out this plan, which has been the governing policy of the
establishment from the beginning to the present time.
One of the first enterprises of the Smithsonian Institution was the
establishment of a system of simultaneous meteorological observa-
tions over the whole United States, especially for the study of the
phenomena of American storms. For this purpose the assistance
of Professor ARNOLD Guyor was obtained, who drew up a series
of instructions for the observers, which was printed and distributed
in all parts of the country. He also recommended the form of
instruments best suited to be used by the observers, and finally calcu-
lated, with immense labor, a volume of meteorological and physical
tables for reducing and discussing observations. ‘These tables were
published by the Institution, and are now in use in almost every
part of the world in which the English language is spoken. The
prosecution of the system finally led to the application of the prin-
ciples established to the predictions of the weather by means of the
telegraph. |
JosEPpH Henry.
Rey. Samus B. Don.
REMINISCENCES :# '
BY
HENRY C. CAMERON, D.D.,
PROFESSOR OF GREEK IN THE COLLEGE OF NEW JERSEY.
THE death of Professor HENRY may be justly termed a national
loss, for probably no American since the days of Franklin has
done so much for the cause of physical science as the late Secretary
of the Smithsonian Institution and former Professor of Natural
Philosophy in the College of New Jersey. His eminent attain-
ments and great reputation reflected honor upon the institution
with which he was connected from 1832 to, 1848, and no graduate
of Nassau Hall in that period went forth from its walls without a
profound sense of the great benefit derived from the instructions of
the professor, and warm attachment to the man.
The writer happened to be a member of the Senior Class at.
Princeton when Professor Henry was elected Secretary of the
Smithsonian Institution, and for a short time held closer relations
to him than students are wont to enjoy with a professor. When
beginning his lectures to a new class, the Professor was accustomed
to select some member of the preceding to assist him, and the writer
had the good fortune to occupy this position during a portion of
his “senior vacation,” as the interval between the final examination
and the commencement was styled. Hence these reminiscences,
which were given in the College Chapel May 19th and June 2d,
and which in response to requests from various quarters are now
given to the public.
When Professor Henry was elected Secretary of the Smithsonian
Institution, numerous biographies of him appeared in the public
journals. While these were correct in the main facts, yet, as was
to have been expected, they contained many errors. ‘To correct ~
these, and for the sake of truth, the Professor, overcoming his own
*“Reminiscences of JosepH Henry, LL. D.’’—Presented in the College Chapel,
at Princeton, on the afternoons of May 10th and June 2d, 1878,
(166)
REMINISCENCES BY PROF. H. C. CAMERON. 167
modesty, upon one occasion gave the Senior Class a sketch of his
life instead of the usual lecture. His lectures always received the
most profound attention, and nothing that he said was unheeded ;
but upon that day his audience hung upon his lips and drank in
every word that he uttered. In the simplest words he told the
story of his life. Born in Albany, N. Y., December 17, 1799, he
received a plain education and was destined to a mechanical pur-
suit, but, as he expressed it, “he was considered too dull to learn
the trade.” He read muh, however, obtaining the books from a
library which was kept in a room adjoining a church. The room
had been closed for some years, but he and some of his companions
gained access to the books in some way, and he thus enjoyed these
-hidden treasures. He subsequently attended the Albany Academy,
then under the care of Dr. T. Romeyn Beck. After completing
his studies he taught a district school, and was private tutor for a
time in the family of Mr. 8. Van Rensselaer, the patroon. He
then devoted a year to the practice of civil engineering, and subse-
quently became Professor of Mathematics in the Academy, although
at an earlier period he said he was “unable to learn geometry.”
His attention was first turned to science in a singular manner.
He had sustained an injury to his face and was compelled to
remain at home for some days. At this time he happened to
pick up a small book upon science intended: for popular use.
This was Lectures on Experimental Philosophy, Astronomy and
Chemistry ; intended chiefly for the use of students and young
persons, by G. Gregory, D. D. The following sentences especially
attracted his attention :
“Again: You throw a stone, or shoot an arrow upward into the
air; why does it not go forward in the line or direction that you
give it? Why does it stop at a certain distance, and then return
to you? What force is it that pulls it down to the earth again,
instead of its going onwards? On the contrary, Why does flame
or smoke always mount upwards, though no force is used to send
them in that direction? And why should not the flame of a candle
drop toward the floor, when you reverse it or hold it downwards,
instead of turning up and ascending into the air?”
168 MEMORIAL OF JOSEPH HENRY.
Young Henry could not answer these questions, but proceeded
to read the answer and the full explanation. He perused the
volume with ever increasing interest. He asked some of his friends
these and other questions, and found that they were no better
acquainted with science than himself. He now determined to investi-
gate the subject that had thus presented itself. This little book and
these simple questions incited him to enter upon that scientific career
and those investigations which have rendered his name immortal.
A copy of this little book he was wont ever after to keep beside
him. It bore the following lines from his own pen:
“This book, although by no means a profound work, has, under
Providence, exerted a remarkable influence upon my life. It
accidentally fell into my hands when I was about sixteen. years old,
and was the first book I ever read with attention. It opened to me
a new world of thought and enjoyment; invested things, before
almost unnoticed, with the highest interest; fixed my mind on the
study of nature, and caused me to resolve at the time of reading it
that I would immediately commence to devote my life to the acqui-
sition of knowledge. SE
Professor: Henry’s subsequent career as a teacher in Albany,
Professor of Natural Philosophy in the College of New Jersey,
Secretary of the Smithsonian Institution, President of the United
States Light-house Board, and President of the National Academy ;
his discoveries in Hetty magnetism, and electro-magnetism ;
his interesting experiments in optics and acoustics ;—are well known,
not only to the scientific world, but to the general public. It is
proper to state here that the venerable Dr. John Maclean, who
was connected with the Faculty for fifty years, and was for four-
teen years the President of the College of New Jersey, suggested
and secured the appointment of Joseph Henry as a professor in
this college in 1832. The friendship of these two men continued
unbroken for nearly half a century. They are separated now, but
it can be for only a short time. Dr, Maclean, in his History of
the College, vol. ii, pp. 288-291, gives & most interesting account
of the circumstances attending his appointment. Although known
to scientific men, the public had heard so little of him that a trustee
REMINISCENCES BY PROF. H. C. CAMERON. 169
of the college inquired, “Who is Henry?” Even at that time
Professor Silliman wrote: ‘Henry has no superior among the
scientific men of the country —at least among the young men ;” and
Professor Renwick wrote, “he has no equal.”
Professor Henry’s great modesty prevented him from asserting
his own scientific claims; and it was only in connection with suits
pertaining to the electric telegraph that his own statements and the
testimony of others, judicially presented, irrefragably established
his just merits before the general public. From Henry’s article
in Silliman’s Journal in 1831, and from personal intercourse with
him in Princeton at a later period, Professor Morse obtained. a
knowledge of those principles of electro-magnetism which rendered
his plan successful. Into this controversy the writer does not pro-
pose to enter. It is well known, however, that after eminent sci-
entific men had pronounced an electric telegraph impossible, a vision
of Utopia, Henry, by his discoveries in Albany and at Princeton,
had accomplished the great result, and furnished ocular and audible
demonstration of the fact. And it is not a little remarkable that
the operator now writes his message from the sound of his instru-
ment, upon Henry’s original principle. He was never tempted
.to disparage others in consequence of any attempt to detract from
his own merits. He once remarked that he “wished to be judged
simply by what he had done; it was no great compliment to be told
that he had done a great deal considering his few early advantages ;
but if he was to be remembered, he desired to be remembered for
the real value of any discoveries he had made.”
He was elected Secretary of the Smithsonian Institution without
any effort on his part. The scientific men of this country and of
Europe besought him to take the place. While others were seek-
ing the appointment, the late Professor A. D. Bache, Superinten-
dent of the Coast Survey, wrote to Europe and obtained the opinions
entertained by the most distinguished scientific men abroad in refer-
ence to Professor Henry. The letters of Sir David Brewster,
Faraday, Arago, and others, with those of Bache, Silliman, Hare,
and similarly distinguished men, were laid before the Board of
Regents, and Professor Henry was unanimously elected. It was
at that time that Sir David Brewster wrote, “The mantle of
170 MEMORIAL OF JOSEPH HENRY.
Franklin has fallen upon. the shoulders of Henry.” It was no
selfish motive that induced him to accept the appointment, but
a sincere devotion to the cause of science. At that time various
plans had been proposed for the employment of the Smithsonian
fund, which had been lying in the United States Treasury for some
years. A National Uniyersity, a Public Library had been sug-
gested ; but Smithson’s known devotion to science, and the wise
choice of Professor Henry, made in deference to the most enlight-
ened judgment and in view of his merits, determined the character
of the Institution to be established. The first fair copy of the
plan of the Smithsonian Institution was in the handwriting of the
author of these reminiscences. He would give much now to recover
that MS. in its plain, boyish chirography. He remembers that it
was “An Institution for the increase and diffusion of knowledge
among men.” “To increase knowledge, men were to be stimulated
to original research ; to diffuse knowledge, the results of such research
and reports on the progress of the various branches of knowledge
were to be published.” This general idea was then wrought out
into details. This plan, in an enlarged form, was presented to the
Board of Regents, and adopted December 13, 1847, and has been
repeatedly published. In copying the plan a single word happened
to be omitted, and the writer well recalls the nervous twitching of
the Professor’s lips when he discovered the mistake, and his own
regret at the occurrence, and his sorrow that anything should mar
the face of a MS, that was intended to be submitted either to the
Board of Regents or to eminent scientific men at a distance. Pro-
fessor Henry remarked to the writer that, except scientific terms,
he was very reluctant to use any words not found in Johnson’s
Dictionary, which he kept upon his study table. His style was
pure and simple, very terse and forcible; his manner of lecturing
easy, graceful, and impressive. No one who was ever under his
instruction can ever forget his definition of science, or his manner
of enunciating it with his handsome face and magnificent physique.
“Screncg, gentlemen, is the knowledge of the /aws of phenomena,
whether they relate to mind or matter.” -And what better defini-
tion can be given? So admirably were the principles of physical
science expressed, so clearly were the facts presented, and so success-
REMINISCENCES BY PROF. H. C. CAMERON. 171
fully were the experiments performed, that even the dullest mem-
bers of the class had knowledge forced into them almost without an
effort on their part, and the brightest were aroused to the utmost
enthusiasm. The writer remembers the occasion when the Pro-
fessor first formulated what may certainly be considered a very
happy expression. He was accustomed to dictate a syllabus of each
lecture to his assistant, who wrote it upon the blackboard for the
use of the class. The students were required to “write up” the
lectures from this syllabus, and from their notes taken during the
delivery of the lectures. But few books in the writer’s library are
more highly prized than the two volumes containing these lectures,
especially when the kind words of the -Professor in commendation
of them are recalled. But.to return to the incident. He was
walking to and fro, and had just dictated: “We explain a fact
when we refer it to a Jaw;” and then it occurred to him to express
the corresponding idea in a similar form: “We explain a daw when
we refer it to the will of God.”? He stopped, and exclaiming, “Yes!
that is it!” he repeated the expression. In his notion of law he
differed very much from the views of many scientific men of the
present time. With him the material never obscured the spiritual,
sense never gained the victory over faith. While accepting all the
facts and established principles of science, his simple trust in Christ
remained unshaken, and his confidence in the God who reveals Him-
self in His Word, as well as in His works, was undiminished.
While, like Sir Thomas Brown, he could say, “There are two
books from which I collect my divinity; besides that written one —
of God, another of His servant, Nature—that universal and public
manuscript that lies expansed unto the eyes of all,” he could also
add, that “the person who thought that there could be any real
conflict between science and religion, must be very young in science
or very ignorant of religion.”
Professor Henry was very successfil in his experiments, and
took the greatest delight in them. His apparatus was always in
perfect order, and if failure ever occurred in his experiments it was
a matter of surprise, and could not be attributed to any failure on
his part. His lecture-room was in the upper story of the Philo-
sophical Hall, which formerly occupied the site of the present library ;
172 MEMORIAL OF JOSEPH HENRY.
and it is a matter of the most profound regret that it was ever, de-
molished. It corresponded in appearance with the building con-
taining the Geological lecture-room and the Philadelphian rooms,
The main room was equal in size to the two rooms of the Philadel-
phian Society, and there was a smaller room in a projection in the
rear, which was subdivided into a room of moderate size, and two
small ones. The apparatus was placed in glass cases surrounding
the main room, the seats occupying the centre. Probably the most
interesting things in this room were the little horse-shoe electro-
magnet, with which he made some of his most important discove-
ries — the little machine which he invented, and which was the first
machine moved by electro-magnetism,— and the large electro-magnet,
which could support 3,300 pounds, and which was for many years
the largest in the world. It could be magnetized, demagnetized,
and remagnetized so rapidly that a weight of hundreds of pounds
could not detach itself from the grasp of the magnet in the interval
of reversing the currents. These things are still preserved in the —
Scientific School, along with the small glass cylinders, covered with
sealing-wax, and the electrical machine prepared after the directions
of Franklin. As an illustration of character it may be men-
tioned that in the largest room of the projection hung a tradesman’s
placard, upon which was depicted a folded whip, with the legend:
“A PLACE FOR EVERYTHING, AND EVERYTHING IN ITS PLACE.”
From his lecture-room to the opposite building, and thence to his
house, which was the house now occupied by General Kargé, but
_ then standing on the site of Re-Union Hall, stretched a wire, through
which currents of electricity were sent that rang bells and thus con-
veyed messages. In his house he also had wire connected with the
lightning-rod, and needles inserted in the coils of it, that, like
Franklin, he might study the effects of electricity while the storms
were raging. The little machine mentioned was simply a small
beam of iron, surrounded by a conductor of insulated copper wire
and supported by a fulerum, which was caused to oscillate by the
influence of two small stationary upright magnets near its ends. A
maker of philosophical apparatus once visited Princeton to sell
Professor Henry some of his machines. He showed the person
this little machine, and was threatened with a suit for “infringe-
ment of patent rights!”
REMINISCENCES BY PROF. H. C. CAMERON. i Wie}
In the discovery of the mode of magnetizing soft iron at a distance
by means of currents of galvanism, and in his invention of this little
machine, was not merely the possibility, but the fact of the electro-
magnetic telegraph. Whatever may be the judgment of the general
public, men of science and of education will never deny to Joseph
Henry his just meed of praise in connection with this subject. It
must ever be remembered that he always placed discovery above
invention, and thought more highly of the principles of science than
of their practical application.
Some of his discoveries came upon him suddenly, although he
never pursued any other than the inductive method, questioning
facts, and obtaining principles as results. Upon one occasion in
Albany, he was seated in the room with his family, and engaged in
profound thought. Suddenly he brought his hand down with force
upon the table by which he was sitting, and—like Archimedes
when he discovered the mode of ascertaining the specific gravity of
bodies and cried out e5pyxa, e5pyxa,—he exclaimed, “TI have it,” “TI
have it.” He had solved the problem on which he had been
engaged, and discovered an important principle of science. In
1844 the College Commencement was changed from the Fall to the
Summer, and the vacation lasted only two weeks. He spent these
two weeks in scientific experiments. And in what do you suppose
these experiments consisted? The answer will excite a smile. Jn
blowing soap-bubbles. And yet from this childish amusement the
philosopher, like the great Newton before him, was deriving im-
portant truths in physical science. All his old pupils will recall
how careful he was in explaining, and how rigid he was in insisting
upon the inductive method of scientific investigation. None of his
pupils was ever likely to confound a mere hypothesis with a theory,
as too many scientific men at present are prone to do.
‘In going to Washington he remarked that he “sacrificed reputa-
tion to fame.” He felt that he should become known throughout
the country simply as the Director of the Smithsonian Institution
and to some extent of the science of the country, but that he should
have little time for scientific investigation which would increase his
reputation. This remark was, alas! too true. At that time he
seemed to be upon the verge of most important discoveries ; he had
174 MEMORIAL OF JOSEPH HENRY.
made many thousands of experiments, especially upon points in
electro-magnetism, and his inductions were leading him to most
interesting results. But his career was interrupted, and it was sad
afterward to hear him say, “Ten, fifteen, or twenty years ago I
made various experiments upon these points, but my duties in
.Washington have prevented me from pursuing my investigations
further.’ And even the record of those experiments perished in
the flames when.a portion of the Smithsonian building was burned
a few yearssince. Henceforth he incited others to work and guided
them in their investigations. He was the representative of Amer-
ican science, and the contributions of the Smithsonian Institution,
and his Annual Reports for thirty years, show how faithfully he
carried out the purpose of the Institution. Into the management
of its funds he carried the same economy and scrupulous delicacy
that he exhibited in his private financial transactions. He would
not employ for the use of his family funds which legally belonged
to him, because he thought that morally they belonged to a single
member of it. If any fault could be found with the financial affairs
of the Institution over which he presided, it was that the compen-
sation of the men of science who labored for it was entirely inade-
quate. Occasionally they were not even paid for their time, much
less for their labor or with reference to their scientific reputation.
He persistently declined to have his own modest salary increased,
and even gave the net proceeds of any lectures he delivered to the
Institution. © A single incident will illustrate his high character and
his delicate sense of honor. Shortly after he was elected Secretary
of the Smithsonian Institution, Dr. Hare resigned his position as
Professor of Chemistry in the Medical Department of the Univer-
sity of Pennsylvania, at that time probably the most desirable scien-
tific chair in this country. Philadelphia was the headquarters of
Medical education; this Medical School was the oldest and the
largest in'the land; the salary from fees amounted to $5,000 or
$6,000; the duties ‘occupied less than six months annually, leaving
the remainder of the year free for scientific investigation. Professor
Henry was sent for, and was asked if he would accept the appoint-
ment. The writer well recalls the day. The Professor, as he was
returning from his interview with the Trustees of the University in
REMINISCENCES BY PROF. H. C. CAMERON. 175
Philadelphia, met him in the college campus in Princeton. He had
‘not yet reached his home, and standing with his carpet-bag in his
hand, he gave the writer an account of the interview, and the rea-
sons which induced him ¢o decline a position so well suited to his
tastes, his wishes, his attainments. He said it would not be honor-
able for him to decline a position which his scientific brethren
desired him to occupy, and where he could accomplish much for
science if not for himself; but especially because, if he accepted the
chair in Philadelphia, to which a larger salary ‘was attached than he
should receive in Washington, it might be supposed that he was
influenced by pecuniary reasons. How different would have been
the great philosopher’s career had his decision been different!
‘ He did not favor the erection ‘of a large building for the Institu-
tion, remarking that he needed only two rooms as an office. When
it was determined to erect the fine building which now adorns the
public grounds at Washington, he employed only a portion of the
interest that had accumulated, and built slowly, so that a portion of
this was saved and was added to the original fund.
The first paper that was offered him for publication, according to
the writer’s recollection, was one by Dr. John Locke, upon the
Ancient Mounds in Ohio. The writer well remembers the large
’ bundle of MS., a portion of which, at least, was published in the
first volume of the Smithsonian Contributions, if the entire paper
was not accepted.*
How faithfully the Secretary discharged all his duties is well
known. Amid all the corruption of public life at Washington,
there was never a spot upon the fair fame of Joseph Henry; not
a breath ever tarnished his reputation. In addition to his duties as
Secretary of the Smithsonian Institution, as President of the
Light-house Board, he annually inspected the light-houses, and
devoted a considerable portion of his vacations for sixteen years to
experiments on light and sound for the benefit of the General
Government. His only compensation was his expenses. In the
desk in the small room that had been fitted up for him near the
*[The paper of Dr. LocKE was incorporated (with due acknowledgement) in
the extended Memoir on “The Ancient Monuments of the Mississippi Valley,”
by Messrs. SQuIER and DAvis; which work occupied the entire first volume of
the Smithsonian Contributions.]
e
176 MEMORIAL OF JOSEPH HENRY.
light-house on Staten Island will probably be found the record of
his last summer’s observations, As a member of the National
Academy, he made many scientific investigations for the Govern-
ment, and thus saved the country large sums of money.
He died,'as he lived, a comparatively poor man; and except a
policy of life insurance, the only money he ever laid aside was the
few hundred dollars he gained in the year when he was a civil
engineer engaged in locating a road for the State of New York.
This small sum was taken by a wealthy capitalist, and the interest
was annually added to the capital. This money has remained
untouched for fifty years, and is now in the hands of the son of the
friend of his youth, ready to be given to those to whom he has left
a nobler legacy than money, even a good name that is better than
precious ointment.
THE LIFE AND CHARACTER
JOSEPH HENRY.*
JAMES C. WELLING, LL.D.,
PRESIDENT OF COLUMBIAN UNIVERSITY.
JOSEPH HENRY was born in Albany, N. Y., on the 17th of
December, 1799. His grandparents on both his father’s and
mother’s side emigrated from Scotland, and landed in this country
on the 16th of June, 1775, the day before the battle of Bunker’s
Hill. At the age of seven or earlier, for what reason is unknown,
he went to live with his maternal grandmother, who resided at
Galway, in the county of Saratoga, N. Y., and his father having
died soon afterward, he continued to dwell for years under her roof.
At Galway he attended the district school, of which one Israel
Phelps was the master, and having there learned the rudiments
of an English education, he was placed at the early age of ten in
a store kept in the village by a Mr. Broderick. Receiving from
his employer every token of kindness, and, indeed, of paternal
interest in his welfare, the boy-clerk, already remarkable for his
handsome visage, his slender figure, his delicate, complexion, and
his vivacious temper, became a great favorite with his comrades,
who, according to the customs of the village store, were wont to
saunter about the door in summer, and to gather round the stove
in winter, for the interchange of such trivial gossip as pertains to
village life. Though released at this time for the half of each day
from the duty of waiting in the store that he might attend the
sessions of the common school in the afternoon, it does not appear
that he had as yet evinced any taste for books, notwithstanding the
*Read before the ‘Philosophical Society of Washington,” October 26, 1878.
(Bulletin of the Phil. Soc. W. vol. ii. p. 203.)
12 (177)
178 MEMORIAL OF JOSEPH HENRY.
fact, as he afterwards recalled, that his young brain was even,then
troubled at times with the “malady of thought,” as he lost himself
in the mazes of revery or speculation about God and creation—
“those obstinate questionings of sense and outward things,” which
the philosophical poet of England has described as the natural
misgivings of a “creature moving about in worlds not realized.”
“Delight and liberty,” as was natural to a bright boy in the full
flush of his animal spirits, still remained the simple creed of his
childhood, until one day his pet rabbit escaped from its warren
and ran into an opening in the foundation of the village church.
Finding the hole sufficiently large to admit of pushing his person
through it, he followed on all fours in eager pursuit of the fugitive,
when his eyes were attracted in a eertain direction by a glimmer
of light, and groping his way toward it, beneath the church, he
discovered that it proceeded from a crevice which led into the vesti-
bule of the building, and which opened immediately behind a
book-case that had been placed in the vestibule, as the depository of
the village library. Working his way to the front of the book-case,
he found himself in the presence of all the literature stored on its
shelves, and on his taking down the first book which struck his eye,
it proved to be Brooke’s Fool of Quality, a work of fiction in
which views of practical life and traits of mystical piety are artfully
blended, insomuch that even John Wesley was inclined to except
it from the auto-da-fé which, after the manner of the curate and
barber in the story of Don Quixote, he would have gladly per-
formed upon the less edifying products of the novel-writing imagi-
nation. Poring ever the pages of this fascinating volume, young
Henry forgot the rabbit in quest of which he had crept beneath
the church. It was the first book he had ever read with zest,
because it was the first book he had ever read at the impulse of his
“own sweet will.” Mrs. Browning has told us that we get no
good from a book by being ungenerous with it, by calculating
profits— “so much help by so much reading.”
“Tt is rather when
We gloriously forget ourselves, and plunge
Soul-forward, headlong, into a book’s profound,
Impassioned for its beauty and salt of truth—
’Tis then we get the right good from a book,”
DISCOURSE OF DR. J. C. WELLING. 179
Such was the “soul-forward, headlong plunge” which the boyish
Henry now first took in the waters of romance, rendered only the
sweeter to him, it may be, because, without affront to innocence,
they took the flavor of “stolen waters” from the stealth with which
they were imbibed. From that time forth he made frequent visits
to this library, by the same tortuous and underground passage,
reading by preference only works of fiction, the contents of which
he retailed to listening comrades around the stove by night, until,
in the end, his patron, who shared in his taste for such “light
reading,” procured for him the right of access to the library in the
regular way, and no longer by the narrow fissure in Ae rear of the
book-case.
At the age of fifteen he-left the store of Mr. Boidatick in
Galway, and, returning to the place of his birth, entered a watch-
maker’s eteblininen, in Albany, but finding nothing congenial to
his taste in the new pursuit, he soon abandoned it. At this time he
had formed a strong predilection for the stage. Two or three years
before, while living at Galway, he had seen a play for the first time,
on the occasion of a casual visit to Albany, and the impression it
made upon his mind was as vivid as that Jeft by the perusal of his
first novel. He described and re-enacted its scenes for the wonder-
ment of the Galway youth, and now that he was living in Albany
he could give full vent to his new inclination. His spare money
was all spent in theatrical amusements, until at length he won his
way behind the scenes, and procured admission to the green room,
where he learned how to put a play on the boards and how to pro-
duce the illusion of stage effects. In the skill with which he learned
thus early to handle the apparatus of the stage we may discern,
perhaps, the first faint prelude of the skill to which he subsequently
attained in handling the levers and screws with which, according to
Goethe, the experimental philosopher seeks to extort from nature the
revelation of her mysteries.
Invited at this period of his life to join a private theatrical
association in Albany, known by the name of “The Rostrum,” the
young enthusiast soon distinguished himself among his fellow-mem-
bers of riper years by the ingenuity of his dramatic combinations
and the felicity of his scenic effects, insomuch that he was made
180 MEMORIAL OF JOSEPH HENRY.
President of the Society. Meanwhile, the watchmaker had? left
Albany, and young Henry, no longer having the fear of the
silversmith’s file and crucible before his eyes, was left free to follow
the lead of his dramatic tastes and aspirations. He dramatized a
tale, and prepared a comedy; both of which were acted by the
association. Indeed, so much was he absorbed in this new vocation
that our amateur’ Roscius seemed, according to all outward appear-
ance, in a fair way of making a place for himself among the
“periwig-pated fellows who tear a passion to tatters” on the stage;
or, at the best, of taking rank with the great dramatic artists who,
standing in front of the garish foot-lights, “hold the mirror up
to nature” in a sense far different from that of the experimental
philosopher, standing in the clear beams of that lumen siceum which
Bacon has praised as the light that is best of all for the eyes of
the mind. But in the midst of these disguises, under which the
unique and original genius of Henry has thus far seemed to be
masquerading, we have now come to the time when his mind under-
went a great transfiguration, which revealed its native brightness,
and a transfiguration as sudden as it was great.
Minds richly endowed, if started at first in a wrong direction,
may sometimes have, it would seem, an intellectual conversion as
marked as that moral onversion which is often visible in the lives
of great saints. It certainly was so in the case of Henry. Over-
taken in the sixteenth year of his age by a slight accident, which
detained him for a season within doors, he chanced, in search of
mental diversion, to cast his eyes upon a book which a Scotch gentle-
man, boarding with his mother, had left upon the table in his
chamber. - It was Dr. Gregory’s Lectures on Experimental Phi-
losophy, Astronomy, and Chemistry. It commences with an address
to the young reader, in which the author stimulates him to deeper
inquiry concerning the familiar objects around him. “ You throw
a stone,” he says, “or shoot an arrow upwards into the air; why
does it not go forward in the air, and in the direction you give it?
What force is it that presses it down to the earth? Why does
flame or smoke always mount upward? You look into a clear well
of water, and see your own face and figure, as if painted there;
why is this? You are told it is done by reflection of light. But
DISCOURSE OF DR. J. C. WELLING. 181
what is reflection of light?” etc., ete. These queries certainly are
very far from representing the prudens questio of Bacon in even
its most elementary form, but they opened to the mind of young
Henry an entirely “ new “xoeld of thought and enjoyment.” His
attention was enchained by this book as it had not been enchained by
the fiction of Brooke or by the phantasmagoria of the drama.*
The book did for him what the spirits did for Faust when they
opened his eyes to see the sign of the macrocosm, and summoned
him “to unveil the powers of nature lying all around him.” Not
more effectual was the call which came to St. Augustine, when, as
he lay beneath the shadow of the fig-tree, weeping in the bitterness
of a contrite soul, he seemed to hear a voice that said to him: “ Tolle,
lege; tolle, lege,” and at the sound of which he turned away forever
from the Ten Predicaments of Aristotle, and all the books of the
rhetoricians, to follow what seemed to him the “lively oracles of
God.” No sooner had Henry recovered from his sickness, than,
obedient to the new vision of life and duty which had dawned upon
him, he summoned his comrades of “the Rostrum” to meet him in
conference, formally resigned the office of President, and, in a vale-
dictory address, announced to his associates that, subordinating the
pleasures of literature to the acquisition,of serious knowledge, he
had determined henceforth to consecrate his life to arduous and
solid studies. '
There are doubtless those who, in the retrospect of Bentoesu
Henry’s youth, as contrasted with the rich flower and fruitage of his
riper years, will please themselves with curious speculations on what
“might have been,” if his rabbit had never slipped its inclosure, if
there had been no crack in the wall behind the book-case, or if
Gregory’s Lectures had never fallen in his way at the critical
*He soon became so much interested in this book that its owner gave it to him,
and in token of the epoch it had marked in his life, Professor Henry ever iter:
wards preserved it among the choicest memorials of his boyhood. In the fiy-leaf
of the book the following memorandum is found, written in the year 1837: This
book, although by no means a profound work, has, under Providence, exerted a
remarkable influence on my life. It accidently fell into my hands when I was about
sixteen years old, and was the first book that I ever read with attention. It opened
to me a new world of thought and enjoyment; invested things before almost
unnoticed with the highest interest; fixed my mind on the study of nature, and
caused me to resolve at the time of reading it that I would immediately commence
to devote my life to the acquisition of knowledge.—J. H.
182 ‘MEMORIAL OF JOSEPH HENRY,
juncture of his life, much as the great mind of Pascal pleased
itself with musing how the fate of Europe might have been changed
if the Providential grain of sand in Cromwell’s tissue had not
sent him to a premature grave; or how the whole face of the earth
would have been changed if the nose of Cleopatra had been a
little shorter than it was, and so had marred the beauty of face which
made her, like another Helen, the teterrima causa belli for a whole
generation. Such fanciful speculations are well calculated to import
into the philosophy of human life, and into the philosophy of human
history, a theory of causation which is as superficial as it is false.
As honest Horatio says to Hamlet in the play, when the latter
proposes to trace the noble dust of Alexander the Great, in imagi-
nation, until perchance it may be found stopping a bung-hole, one
feels like saying in the presence of such fine-spun speculations,
‘?’Twere to consider too curiously to consider so.” The strong
intellectual forces which are organic in a great mind, as the strong
moral and political forces which are organic in society, do not depend
for their evolution, or for their. grand cyclical movements, on the
casual vicissitudes which ripple the surface of human life and affairs.
To argue in this wise is to mistake occasion for cause, and by con-
founding what is transient and incidental with what is permanent
and pervasive, is to make the noblest life, with its destined ends and
ways, the mere creature of accident, and is to convert human history,
with its great secular developments, into the fortuitous rattle and
chance combinations of the kaleidoscope. We may be sure that.
Henry was too great a man to have lived and died without making
his mark on the age in which his lot was cast, whatever should have
been the time, place, or circumstance which was to disclose the color
and complexion of his destiny. The strong, clear mind, like the
crystal, takes its shape and pressure from the play of the constituent.
forces within it, and is not the sport of casual influences that come
from without. |
Armed, however, with his new enthusiasm, the nascent philoso-
pher hastened to join a night school in Albany, but soon exhausted
the lore of its master. Encountering next a peripatetic teacher of
English grammar, he became, under the pedagogue’s drill, so versed
in the arts of orthography, etymology, syntax, and prosody, that.
DISCOURSE OF DR. J. C. WELLING. 183
he started out himself on a grammatical tour through the provincial
districts of New York, and returning from this first field of his
triumphs as a teacher, he entered the Albany Academy (then in
charge of Dr. T. Romeyn Beck) as a pupil in its more advanced
studies. Meanwhile, in order to “pay his way” in the academy,
he sought employment as a teacher in a neighboring district school,
this being, as he afterwards was wont to say, the only office he had
ever sought in his life; and in this office he succeeded so well that
his salary was raised from $8 for the first month to the munificent
sum of $15 for the second month of his service! From pupil in
the academy and teacher of the district school, he was soon pro-
moted to the rank of assistant in the academy, and henceforward
had ample means for the further prosecution of his studies. Leav-
ing the academy, he next accepted the post of private tutor in the
family of the patroon in Albany, Mr. 8. Van Rensselaer; and,
devoting his leisure hours to the study of the higher mathematics,
in conjunction with chemistry, physiology, and anatomy, he at this
time purposed to enter the medical profession, and had made some
advances in this direction, when he was called, in the year 1826, to
embark in a surveying expedition, set on foot under the auspices of
the State government of New York, for the purpose of laying out
a road through the southern tier of counties in that State. Starting
with his men at West Point, and going through the woods to Lake
Erie, he acquitted himself so well in this expedition that his friends
endeavored to procure for him a permanent appointment as captain
of an engineering corps, which it was proposed to create for the
prosecution of other internal improvement schemes, but the bill —
projected for this purpose having fallen through, Mr. Henry
again accepted, though with some reluctance, a vacant chair which
was offered him in the Albany Academy.
In connection with the duties of this chair, he now commenced
a series of original experiments in natural philosophy —the first
connected series which had been prosecuted in this country. Dr.
Hare, indeed, had already invented the compound blowpipe, as
Franklin before him, by his brilliant but desultory labors, had
given an immense impulse to the science of electricity; yet none
the less is it true that regular and systematic investigations, designed
184 MEMORIAL OF JOSEPH HENRY.
to push forward the boundaries of knowledge abreast with the
scientific workers of Europe, had hardly been attempted at that
time in the United States.
The achievements of Henry in this direction soon began to win
for him an increase of reputation as well as an increase of knowl-
edge; but in the midst of the fervors which had come to quicken
his genius, he was visited by the fancy (or was it a fact?) that a
few of the friends who had hitherto supported him in his high
ambition were now beginning to look a little less warmly on his
aspirations. Suffering from this source the mental depression
which was natural to a sensitive spirit, no less remarkable for its
modesty than for its merit, he found solace in the friendly words
of good cheer and hopefulness addressed to him by Mr, William
Dunlap.* While one day making, with Mr. Henry, a trip down
the Hudson River on board the same steamboat, Mr. Dunlap
observed in the young teacher’s face the marks of sadness, and, on
learning its cause, he laid his hand affectionately on Henry’s
shoulder, and closed some reassuring advice with the prophetic
words, “ Albany will one day be proud of her son.” The presage
was destined to be abundantly confirmed. Soon afterward came
the call to Princeton College, and, because of the wider career it
opened to him, the call was as grateful to Henry as its acceptance
was gratifying’ to the friends of that: institution. And_ shortly
before this promotion a new happiness had come to crown his life
in his marriage to the excellent lady who still survives him.
He entered upon the duties of his new post in the month of
November, 1832, and bringing with him a budding reputation,
which soon blossomed into the highest scientific fame, he became
the pride and ornament of the Princeton Faculty. ‘The prestige
of his magnets attracted students from all parts of the country ;
but the magnetism of the man was better far than any work of
his cunning hand or fertile brain. It was in Princeton, as he
was afterward wont to say, that he spent the happiest days of
his life, and they were also among the most fruitful in scientific
*This Mr. Dunlap had been the manager of the Park Theatre in New York,
and combined with his dramatic vocation the pursuits of literature and the
painter’s art. He wrote the “ History of Arts and Designs in the United States,” a
work which was esteemed a standard one at the date of its first publication in 1834,
DISCOURSE OF DR. J. C. WELLING. 185
discovery. Leaving the record of his particular achievements at
this epoch ‘to be told by Mr. Taylor, who is so well qualified to
do them justice, I beg leave only to refer to this period in the
career of Professor Henry as that in which it was my good for-
tune to come, for the first time, under the personal influence of the
great philosophical scholar, who, after being my teacher in science
during the days of my college novitiate at Princeton, continued
during the whole of his subsequent life to honor me with a friend-
ship which was as much my support in every emergency that called
for counsel and guidance as: it was at all times my joy and the
crown of my rejoicing.
In the year 1847, when Professor Henry was in the forty-eighth
year of his age, he was unanimously elected by the Regents of the
Smithsonian Institution as its Secretary, or Director. At that time
the institution existed only in name, under the organic act passed by
Congress for its incorporation, in order to give effect to the bequest
of James Smithson, Esq., of London, who by his last will and
testament had given the whole of his property to the United States
to found at Washington, under the name of the “Smithsonian Insti- .
tution,” an establishment for “the increase and diffusion of knowl-
edge among men.” It does not need to be said that Professor
_ Henry did not seek this appointment. It came to him unsolicited,
but it came to him from the Board of Regents not only by the free
choice of its members, but also at the suggestion and with the
approval of European men of science, like Sir David Brewster,
Faraday, and Arago, as also of American scientific men, like Bache
and Silliman and Hare. I well remember to have heard the late
_ George M. Dallas (a member of the constituent Board of Regents
by virtue of his office as Vice-President of the United States)
make the remark on a public occasion, immediately after the elec-
tion of Professor Henry as Director of the Smithsonian Institution,
that the Board had not had the slightest hesitation in tendering
the appointment to him “as being peerless among the recognized
heads of American science.” ) :
At the invitation of the Regents he drew up an outline plan of
the Institution, and the plan was adopted by them on the 13th of
186 MEMORIAL OF JOSEPH HENRY.
December, 1847. The members of this Society, living, as they do,
beneath the shadow of the great Institution to which Smithson
worthily gave his name and his estate, but of which Henry was at
once the organizing brain and the directing hand from the date of
its inception down to the day of his death, do not need that I should
sketch for them the theory on which it was projected by its first
Secretary, or that I should rehearse in detail the long chronicle of
the useful and multiform services which in pursuit of that theory it
has rendered to the cause of science and of human progress. And,
moreover, in doing so I should here again imprudently trench on the
province assigned to my learned colleague. But I may be allowed
to portray the method and spirit which he brought to the duties of
this exacting post, at least so far as to say that he proved himself
as great in administration as he was great in original research; as
skilful in directing the scientific labors of others as he was skilful
in the conduct of his own, Seizing, as with an intuitive eye, the
peculiar genius of an institution which was appointed to “increase
knowledge” and to “diffuse” it “among men,” he touched the
springs of scientific inquiry at a thousand points in the wide domain
of modern thought, and made the results of that inquiry accessible
to all with a catholicity as broad as the civilized world. And the
publications of the Smithsonian Institution, valuable as they are,
and replete as they are with contributions to human knowledge,
represent the least part of his manifold labors in connection with the
Institution. His correspondence was immense, covering the whole
field of existing knowledge, and ranging, in the persons addressed,
from the genuine scientific scholar in all parts of the world to the
last putative discoverer of perpetual motion, or the last embryo
mathematician who supposed himself to have squared the circle.
In accepting a post where he was called by virtue of his office to
promote the labors of other men rather than his own, Professor
Henry distinctly saw that he was renouncing for himself the paths
of scientific glory on which he had entered so auspiciously at Albany
and Princeton. He once said to me, in one of the self-revealing
moods in which he sometimes unbosomed himself to his intimate
friends, that in accepting the office of Smithsonian Secretary he was
conscious that he had “sacrificed future fame to present reputation.”
DISCOURSE OF DR. J. CG. WELLING. 187
He was in the habit of recalling that Newton had made no dis-
coveries after he was appointed Warden of the Mint in 1695,* and
the remark is historically accurate, unless we should incline with
Biot, against the better opinion of Sir David Brewster, to place
after that date the “discoveries” which Newton supposed himself
to have made in the Scriptural ehronology and in the interpretation
of the Apocalypse— discoveries which, whenever made, provoked
the theological scoff, as they perhaps deserved the theological criti-
cism, of the polemical Bishop Warburton. Yet, having convinced
himself that it was a duty he owed to the cause of science to sink
his own personality in the impersonal institution he was called to
conduct, Henry never paused for an instant to confer with flesh
and blood, but moved “right onward” in the path of duty, with
only the more of steadfastness because he felt that it was for him a*
path of sacrifice.
How sedulously he strove to maintain the Institution in the high
vocation to which he believed it was appointed no less by a sacred
regard for the will of its founder than by an intelligent zeal for the
promotion of human welfare, is known to you all. And the suc-
cess with which he resisted all schemes for the impoverishment of the
exalted function it was fitted to perform in the service of abstract
science, is a tribute at once to his rare executive skill and to the
native force of character which made him a tower of strength against
the clamors of popular ignorance and the assaults of charlatanism.
Whatever might be the consequences to himself personally, he was
determined to magnify ts vocation and make it honorable. And
hence I do not permit myself to doubt that during the long period
of his administration as Secretary of the Smithsonian Institution,
covering a period of thirty years, he has impressed upon its conduct
a definite direction which his successors will be proud to maintain,
not simply in reverence for the memory of their illustrious prede-
cessor, but also in grateful recognition of the fruitful works which,
*The effect of the Wardenship on Newton’s scientific labors may be seen in the
warmth with which he rebuked Flamsteed for purposing to publish, in 1698, the
fact that Newton was then engaged on a revision of the Horroxian theory of the
moon. Newton wrote: ‘Ido not love to be printed on every occasion, much less
to be dunned and teased by foreigners about mathematical things, or to be thought
by our own people fo be trifling away my time when I should be about the King’s busi-
ness.”
188 MEMORIAL OF JOSEPH HENRY.
in the pursuit of his enlightened plans, will continue to follow him
now that he has rested from his labors,
The rest into which he has entered came to him in a green old —
age, after a life as full of years as it was full of honors. He was
not only blest with an old age which was
serene and bright, .
And lovely as a Lapland night,
but he also had that which, according to the great dramatist, should
accompany old age— “As honor, love, obedience, troops of friends.”
And the manner of his death was in perfect keeping with the man-
ner of his life. Assured for months before the inevitable hour came
that his days on earth were numbered, he made no change in his
daily official employments, no change in his social and literary diver-
sions. None was needed. Surprise, I learn, has been expressed
that in the full prospect of death he should have “ talked” so little
about it. But the surprise is quite unfounded. Professor Henry
was little in the habit of talking about himself at any time. Yet
to his intimate friends he spoke freely and calmly about his ap-
proaching end. ‘Two weeks before he died he said to one such, a
gentleman from New York, to whom he was strongly attached: “T
may die at any moment. . I would like to live long enough. to com-
plete some things I.have undertaken, but I am content to go. I
have had a happy life, and I hope I have been able to do some
good.” In an hour’s conversation which I had with him six days
before he died, he referred to the imminence of his death with the
same philosophic and Christian composure. And_ perfectly aware
as he was, on the day before he died, and on the day of his death,
that he had already entered the. Dark Valley, he feared no evil as
he looked across it, but, poised in a swect serenity, preserved his
soul in patience, at an equal remove from rapture on the one hand
or anything like dismay on the other. or his friends he had even
then the same benignant smile, the same warm pressure of the hand,
and the same affable words as of yore. With the astronomer, New-
comb, he pleasantly and intelligently discoursed about the then
recent transit of Mercury —not unheedful of the great transit he
was making, but giving heed none the less to every opportunity for
the inquiry of truth. Toward the attendants watching: around his
DISCOURSE OF DR. J. C. WELLING. 189
couch he was as observant as ever of all the “small sweet courtesies”
which marked consideration for others rather than for himself
even in the suprerne moment of his dissolution. The disciples of
Socrates recalled, with a sort of pathetic wonder at the calm and
intrepid spirit of their dying master, that as the chill of the fatal
hemlock ‘was stealing toward his heart, he uncovered his face to ask’
that Crito should acquit him of a small debt he owed to A®scula-
pius; and so in like manner I recall that our beloved chief did not
forget in the hour of his last agony to make provision for the due
dispatch of a letter of courtesy, which on the fea before he had
promised to a British stranger.
And so in the full possession of all his great mental Si aernst
his waking hours filled with high thoughts and with a peace which
passed all understanding; in his sleep stealing away
‘To dreamful wastes where footless fancies dwell,”
and talking even there of experiments in sound on board the steamer
Mistletoe, or haply taking note of electric charges sent through im-
aginary wires at his bidding,*—the soul of Joseph Henry passed
away from the earth which he had. blessed me pretence by his
presence. t
From these imperfect notes on the life of Professor Henry I
" pass to consider some of his traits and characteristics as a man.
He was endowed with a physical organization in ‘which the ele-
ments were not only fine and finely mixed, but were cast in a mould
remarkable for its symmetry and manly beauty. The perfection of
his “outward man’ ’ was not unworthy of the “inward man” whom
it enshrined, and if, as a church father has phrased it, “the human
soul is the true Shechinah,” it may none the less be, said that the
human body never appears to.so much advantage as when, trans-
figured by this Shechinah, it offers to the informing spirit a temple
which is as stately as it is pure. When Dr. Bentley was called to
write the epitaph of Cotes, (that brilliant scholar of whom Newton
* Professor Henry took great delight in the acoustical researches which, during
the closing years of his life, he made at sea on board the steamer Mistletoe, while it
was in electricity that he won his first triumphs as a scientific man. That his first
love and last passion in science still filled his thoughts in his dying moments was
attested by the words which even then fell from his lips, in sleep.
+ He died ten minutes after twelve o’clock, on the 13th of May, 1878.
190 MEMORIAL OF JOSEPH HENRY.
said that “if he had lived we might have known something,’’)
the accomplished master of words thought it not unmeet to record
that the fallen Professor, who had been snatched away by a pre-
mature death, was only “the more attractive and lovely because
the virtues and graces which he joined to the highest repute for
learning were embellished by a handsome person.” Thesame tribute
of admiration might be paid with equal justice to the revered Pro-
fessor whose “good gray head” has just vanished from our sight.
The fascination of Professor Henry’s manner was felt by all
who came within the range of its influence—by men with whom he
daily consorted in business, in college halls, and in the scientific
academy; by brilliant women of society who, in his gracious pres-
ence, owned the spell of a masculine mind which none the less was
feminine in the delicacy of its perceptions and the purity of its sensi-
bilities; by children, who saw in the simplicity of his unspoiled
nature a, geniality and a kindliness which were akin to their own,
A French thinker has said that in proportion as one has more intel-
lectuality he finds that there are more men who possess original
qualities. It was the breadth and catholicity of Henry’s intelligence
which enabled him to find something unique and characteristic in
persons who were flat, stale, and unprofitable to the average mind. —
Gifted with a mental constitution which was “feelingly alive to
each fine impulse,” he possessed a high degree of sesthetic sensibility
to the beautiful in nature and in art. It cannot be doubted that a
too exclusive addiction to the analytic and microscopic study of
nature, at the instance of science, has a tendency to blunt in some
_ minds a delicate perception for the “large livingness” of Nature,
considered as a source of poetic and moral inspiration, but no such
tendency could be discovered in the intellectual habitudes of Pro-
fessor Henry. ‘To a mind long nurtured by arts of close and crit-
ical inquiry into the logic of natural law he none the less united a
heart which was ever ready to leap with joy at “the wonder and
bloom of the world.” When on the occasion of his first visit to
England, in the year 1837, he was travelling by night in a stage-
coach through Salisbury Plain, he hired the driver to stop, while
all his fellow-passengers were asleep, that he might have the privi-
lege of inspecting the ruins of Stonehenge, as seen by. moonlight,
DISCOURSE OF DR. J. C. WELLING. 191
and brought away a weird sense of mystery which followed him in
all his after life. At a later day, in the year 1870, after visiting
the Aar Glacier, the scene of Professor Agassiz’s well-known labors,
he crossed over the mountain to the Rhone Valley, until, at a sudden
turn of the road, he came full in the presence of the majestic Glacier
of the Rhone. For minutes he stood silent and motionless; then,
turning to the daughter who stood by his side, he exclaimed, with.
the tears running down his cheeks: “This is a place to die in. We
should go no further.”
And as he rejoiced in natural scenery so also was he charmed with
the beauties of art,and fat as much at home in the atelier of the
painter or sculptor as in the laboratory of the chemist or the appa-
ratus room of the natural philosopher, and exulted as sincerely in
the Louvre or the Corcoran Gallery of Art as in the ae of the
_ mineralogist or the museum of the naturalist.
He was as remarkable for the simplicity of his nature as for the
breadth of his mind and the acumen of his intellect. ‘Those who
analyze the nature and charm of simplicity in a great mind suppose
themselves to find the secret of both in the fact that simplicity,
allied with greatness, works its marvels with a sweet unconscious-
ness of its own superior excellence, and it works them with this
unconsciousness because it is greater than it knows. Talent does
what it can. Genius does what it must. And in this respect, as an
English writer has said, there is a great analogy between the highest
goodness and the highest genius; for under the influence of either,
the spirit of man may scatter light and splendor around it, without
admiring itself or seeking the admiration of others. And it was
in this sense that the simplicity of Henry’s nature expressed itself
in acts of goodness and in acts of high intelligence with a spon-
taneity which hid from himself the transcendent virtue and dignity
of the work he was doing; and hence all his work was done with-
out the slightest taint of vanity or tarnish of self-complacency.
As might be expected, he was a fervent lover of the best litera-
ture. His acquaintance with the English poets was not only wide
but intimate. His memory was stored with choice passages, di-
dactic, sentimental, witty; and humorous, which he reproduced at
will on occasions when they were apt to his purpose. His famil-
192 _ MEMORIAL OF JOSEPH HENRY.
iarity with fiction dated, as we have seen, from early boyhood, and
in this fountain of the imagination he continued to find refreshment
for the “wear and tear” of the hard and continuous thought to
which he was-addicted in the philosopher’s study. His knowledge
of history was accurate, and it was not simply a knowledge of facts,
but a knowledge of facts as seen in the logical coherence and rational
explanation which make them the basis of histoyic generalization.
The genesis of the Greek civilization was a perpetual object of
interest to his speculative mind, as called to deal with the phenom-
ena of Grecian literature, art, philosophy, and polity.
He was a terse and forcible writer. #f, as some have said, it is
the perfection of style to be colorless, the style of Henry might
be likened to the purest amber, which, invisible itself, holds in clear
relief every object it envelops. Without having that fluent deliv-
ery which, according to the well-known comparison of Dean
Swift, is rarely characteristic of the fullest minds, he was none
the less a pleasing and effective speaker—the more effective be-
cause his words never outran his thought. We loved to think and
speak of him as “the Nestor of American Science,” and if his
speech, like Nestor’s, “flowed sweeter than honey,” it was due to
the excellent quality of the matter rather than to any rhetorical
facility of manner.
He was blest with a happy temperament. He recorded in his
diary, as a matter of thanksgiving, that through the kindness of
Providence he was able to forget what had been painful in his past
experiences, and to remember only and enjoy that which had been
pleasurable. ‘The same sentiment is expressed in one of his letters.
Radiant with this sunny temper, he was in his family circle a per-
petual benediction. And, in turn, he was greatly dependent on his
family for the sympathy and watch-care due in a thousand small
things to one who never “lost the childlike in the larger mind.” His
domestic affections were not dwarfed by the exacting nature of his
official duties, his public cares, or his scientific vigils. He had none
of that solitary grandeur affected by isolated spirits who cannot
descend to the tears and smiles of this common world. He was never
so happy as when in his home he was communing with wife and chil-
dren around the family altar. THe made them the confidants of all
DISCOURSE OF DR. J. C. WELLING. 193
his plans. He rehearsed to them his scientific experiments. He
reported to them the record of each day’s adventures. He read
with them his favorite authors.* He entered with a gleeful spirit
into all their joys; with a sympathetic heart into all their sorrows.
And while thus faithful to the charities of home he was intensely
loyal to his friends, and found in their society the very cordial of
life. Gracious to all, he grappled some of them to his heart with
hooks of steel. The friendship, fed by a kindred love of elegant
letters, which still lends its mellow lustre to the names of Cicero
and Atticus, was not more beautiful than the friendship, fed by
kindred talents, kindred virtues, and kindred pursuits, which so
long united the late Dr. Bache and Professor Henry in the bonds
of a sacred brotherhood. And this was but one of the many similar
intimacies which came to embellish his long and useful career.
His sense of honor was delicate in the extreme. It was not only
that “chastity of honor which feels a stain like a wound,” but at
the very suggestion of a stain it recoiled as instantly as the index
finger of Mr. Edison’s tasimeter at the “suspicion” of heat. I
met him in 1847, when, soon after his election as Secretary of the
Smithsonian Institution, he had just been chosen to succeed Dr.
Hare as Professor of Chemistry in the Medical Department of the
University of Pennsylvania, at a salary double that which he was
to receive in Washington, and with half the year open to free
scientific investigation, because free from professional duties. It
was, he said, the post which, of all others, he could have desiderated
at that epoch in his scientific life, but his honor, he added, forbade
him to entertain, for a moment, the proposition of accepting it after
* The following extract from a diary, kept by one of his daughters, is descriptive
of his habits under this head: ‘‘ Had father with us all the evening. I modelled his
profile in clay while he read Thomson’s Seasons to us. In the earlier part of the
evening he seemed restless and depressed, but the influence of the poet drove away
the cloud, and then an expression of almost childlike sweetness rested on his lips,
singularly in contrast yet beautifully in harmony with the intellect of the brow
above.”’
Or take this extract from the same diary: ‘‘We were all up until a latd hour,
reading poetry with father and mother, father being the reader. He attempted Cow-
per’s Grave, by Mrs. Browning, but was too tender-hearted to finish the reading of
it. We then laughed over the Address to the Mummy, soared to heaven with Shel-
ley’s Skylark, roamed the forest with Bryant, culled flowers from other poetical
flelds, and ended with Tam O’Shanter. I took for my task to recite a part of the
latter from memory, while father corrected, as if he were ‘ playing schoolmaster.’” .
13
194 MEMORIAL OF JOSEPH HENRY.
the obligations under which he had come to the interests repre-
sented by the Smithsonian Institution. At a later day, after he
had entered on his duties-in Washington, and found the position
environed with many difficulties, Mr. Calhoun came to him, and
urged his acceptance of a lucrative chair in a Southern college,
using as a ground of appeal the infelicities of his present post, and
the prospect of failing at last to realize the high designs he had
projected for the management of the Smithsonian Institution.
Admitting that it might be greatly to his comfort and advantage
at that time to give up the Smithsonian, he declined at once to
consider the proposal that was made to him, on the ground that his
“honor was committed to the Institution.” Whereupon Mr, Cal-
houn seized his hand and exclaimed, “ Professor Henry, you are a
man after my own heart.” |
When in 1853, and again in 1867, he was entreated by friends to
allow the use of his name in connection with a call to the Presi-
dency of Princeton College, the college of his love, and the scene of
his “happiest days,” he instantly turned away from the lure, as feel-
ing that he could not love the dear old college so much if he loved
not more the honor and duty which bound him to the establishment
in Washington, with which, for good or for evil, he had wedded his
name and fortune. And in all other concerns, from the greatest to
the least, he seemed like one
Intent each lurking frailty to disclaim,
And guard the way of life from all offence,
Suffered or done.
The “Man of Ross,” portrayed by the pencil of Pope, was not
more benevolent in heart or act than Professor Henry. His
bounty was large and free. The full soul mantled in his eyes at
every tale of woe, and the generous hand was quick to obey the
charitable impulses of his sympathetic nature. This benevolent
spirit ran like a silver cord through the tissue of his life, because it
was interwoven in the very warp and woof of his being, and
because it was kept in constant exercise. It appeared not only in
acts of kindness to the poor and afflicted, but interpenetrated his
whole demeanor, and informed all his conduct wherever he could
be helpful to a fellow-man. He did good to all as he had oppor-
DISCOURSE OF DR. J. C. WELLING. 195
tunity, from “the forlorn and shipwrecked brother,” who had
already failed in the voyage of life, to the adventurous young
mariner who sought his counsel and guidance for the successful
launching of his ship’ from its ways. ‘Many are the young men,
who, in all parts of the land, could rise up to-day and call him
blessed, for the blessing he brought to them by the kind word
spoken and the kind deed done, each in its season.
Unselfishness was a fundamental trait in the character of Pro-
fessor Henry, and he made the same trait a fundamental one in
his conception of the philosopher’s high calling. The work of sci-
entific inquiry was with him a labor of love, not simply because he
loved the labor, but because he hoped by it to advance the cause
of truth and promote the welfare of man. He never dreamed of
profiting by any discovery he made. He would not even have his
salary increased, so tenaciously did he hold to the Christ-like privi-
lege of living among men “as one that serveth.” This was a
crown which he would let no man take from him. To the Govern-
ment he freely gave, in many spheres of public usefulness, all the
time he could spare from his official duties. And it was in one of
these subsidiary public labors, as chairman of the Light-House
Board, that he contracted, as he believed, the disease which carried
him to the grave.
A sense of rectitude presided over all his thoughts and acts.
He had so trained his mind to right thinking, and his will to right
feeling and right doing, that this absolute rectitude became a part
of his intellectual as well as moral nature. Hence in his methods
of philosophizing he was incapable of sophistical reasoning. He
sat at the feet of nature with as much of candor as of humility,
never importing into his observations the pride of opinion, and
never yielding to the seductions of an overweening fancy. He
was sober in his judgments. He made no hasty generalizations.
His mind seemed to turn on “the poles of truth.”
I could not dwell with enough of emphasis on this crowning
grace of our beloved friend if I should seek to do full justice to
my conception of the completeness it gave to his beautiful character.
But happily for me I need dwell upon it with only the less of
emphasis because it was the quality which, to use a French idiom,
196 MEMORIAL OF JOSEPH HENRY.
“leaped into the eyes” of all who marked his walk and convetsa-
tion. In the crystal depths of a nature like his, transparent in all
directions, we discern as well the felicity as the beauty of that habit
of mind which is begotten by the supreme love of Truth for her
own sake—a habit which is as much the condition of intellectual
earnestness, thoroughness, and veracity in penetrating to the reality
of things, as of moral honesty, frankness, sincerity, and truthful-
ness in dealing with our fellow-men. The great expounder of the
Nicomachean Ethics has taught us, and one of our own moralists
has amplified the golden thesis,* that high moral virtue implies the
habit of “just election” between right and wrong, and that to
attain this habit we need at once an intelligence which is impas-
sioned and an appetite which is reflective. And so in like manner
all high intellectual virtue implies a habit of just election between
truth and error—an election which men make, other things being
equal, according to the degree in which their minds are enamored
with the beauty of truth, as also in proportion to the degree in
which their’ appetencies for knowledge have been trained to be
reflective and cautious against the enticements of error. I never
knew a man who strove more earnestly than Henry to make this
just election between right and wrong, between truth and error, or
who was better equipped with a native faculty for making the wise
choice between them. He had brought his whole nature under the
dominion of truthfulness.
But while thus eager and honest in the pursuit of truth he had
nothing controversial in his temper. It was a favorite doctrine of
his that error of opinion could be most successfully combated, not
by the negative. processes of direct attack, rousing the pride and
provoking the contumacy of its adherents, but rather by the affirm-
ative process of teaching, in meekness and love, the truth that is
naturally antagonistic to it. The King of Sweden and Norway
made him a Knight of St. Olaf, but St. Olaf’s thunderous way of
propagating Christianity —by battering down the idols of Norway
with Thor’s own hammer—is not the way that his American
votary would have selected. There was nothing iconoclastic in
Henry’s zeal for truth. He believed that there is in all truth a
*Dr. James H,. Thornwell: Discourses on Truth.
DISCOURSE OF DR. J. C. WELLING. 197
self-evidencing quality, and a redemptive power which makes it at
once a potent and a remedial force in the world. Hence he never
descended to any of those controversies which, in the annals of
science, have sometimes made the odium scientificwm a species of
hatred quite as distinct, and quite as lively, too, as its more ancient
congener, the odiwm theologicum. When once it was sought to force
a controversy of this kind upon him, and when accusations were
made which seemed to affect his personal honor, as well as the gen-
uineness of his scientific claims, he referred the matter for adjudi-
cation to the Regents of the Smithsonian. Their investigation and
their report dispensed him from the necessity of self-defense. The
simple truth was his sufficient buckler. And this equanimity was not
simply the result of temperament. It sprang from the largeness of
his mind, as well as from the serious view he took of life and duty.
He was able to moderate his own opinions, because, in the ampli-
tude of his intellectual powers, he was able to be a moderator of
opinions in the scientific world. You all know with what felicity
and intellectual sympathy he presided over the deliberations of
this Society, composed as it is of independent scientific workers in
almost every department of modern research. Alike in the judicial
temper of his mind and in the wide range of his acquisitions he
was fitted to be, as Dante has said of Aristotle, “the master of those
who know.”
And this power of his mind to assimilate knowledge of various
kinds naturally leads me to speak of his skill in imparting it. He
was a most successful educator. He had many other titles of honor
or office, but the title of Professor seemed to rank them all, for
everybody felt that he moved among men like one anointed with
the spirit and power of a great teacher. And he had philosophical
views of education, extending from its primary forms to its highest
culminations—from the discipline of the “doing faculties” in
childhood to the discipline of the “thinking faculties” in youth
and manhood. No student of his left the Albany Academy, in the
earlier period of his connection with that institution, without being
thoroughly drilled in the useful art of handling figures, for then
and there he taught the rudimental forms of arithmetic, not so
much by theory as by practice. No student of his left Princeton
198 MEMORIAL OF JOSEPH HENRY,
College without being thoroughly drilled in the art of thinking as
applied to scientific problems, for then and there he was called to
indoctrinate his pupils in the rationale as well as in the results of
the inductive method. And I will venture to add that no intelli-
gent student of his at Princeton ever failed, in after life, to recognize
the useful place which hypothesis holds in labors directed to the:
extension of science, or failed to discriminate between a working
hypothesis and a perfected theory.
Pausing for a moment at this stage in ik analysis of Professor
Henry’s. mental and moral traits, I cannot omit to portray the
_effect produced on the observer by the happy combinatiop under
which these traits were so grouped and confederated in his person
as to be mutual complements of each other. Far more significant
than any single quality of his mind, remarkable as some of his
qualities were, was the admirable equipoise which kept the forces
of his nature from all interference with the normal development
of an integral manhood. He was courtly in his manners, but it
was a courtliness which sprang from courtesy of heart, and had
no trace of affectation or artificiality; he was fastidious in his
literary and artistic tastes, but he had none of that dilettantism
which is “fine by defect and delicately weak ;” he was imbued
with a simplicity of heart which left him absolutely without
guile, yet he was shrewd to protect himself against the arts of
the designing; he was severe in his sense of honor without being
censorious; benevolent yet inflexibly just; quick in perception yet
calm in judgment and patient of labor; tenacious of right without
being controversial; benignant in his moral opinions yet never
selling the truth; endowed with a strong imagination yet evermore
making it the handmaid of his reason; a prince among men yet with-
out the slightest alloy of arrogance in the fine gold of his imperial
intellect; in a word, good in all his greatness, he was, at the same
time, great in all his goodness. Such are the limitations of human
excellence in most of its mortal exhibitions that transcendent powers.
of mind, or magnificent displays of virtue exerted in a single direc-
tion, are often found to owe their “splendid enormity” to what
Isaac Taylor has called “the spoliation of some spurned and
forgotten qualities,” which are sacrificed in the pursuit of a predomi-
DISCOURSE OF DR. J. C. WELLING. 199
nant taste, or an overmastering ambition.* The “infirmities of
genius” often attest in their subjects the presence of a mental or
moral atrophy, which has hindered the full-orbed development of
one or more among their mental and moral powers. But in Pro-
fessor Henry no one quality of mind or heart seemed to be in
excess or deficiency as compared with the rest. All were fused
together into a compactness of structure and homogeneity of parts
which gave to each the strength and grace imparted by an organic
union. And hence, while he was great as a philosopher he was
greater as a man, for, laying as he did all the services of his scien-
tific life on the altar of a pure, complete, and dignified manhood,
we must hold that the altar which sanctified bis gifts was greater
than even the costliest offerings he laid upon it.
It will not be expected that I should close this paper without
referring to the religious life and opinions of Professor Henry.
If in moral height and beauty he stood like the palm tree, tall,
erect, and symmetrical, it is because a deep religious faith was the
tap-root of his character. He was, on what he conceived to be
rational grounds, a thorough believer in theism. I do not think he
would have said, with Bacon, that he “had rather believe all the
fables in the Legend, the Talmud, and the Alcoran, than that this
universal frame is without a mind,” for he would have held that in
questions of this kind we should ask not what we would “rather
believe,” but what seems to be true on the best evidence before us.
He was in the habit of saying that, next to the belief in his own
existence, was his belief in the existence of other minds like his own,
and from these fixed, indisputable points, he reasoned, by analogy,
to the conclusion that there is an Almighty Mind pervading the uni-
verse. But when from the likeness between this Infinite Mind and
the finite minds made in His image, it was sought, by @ priori logic,
or by any preconceived notions of man, to infer the methods of the
Divine working, or the final causes of things, he suspected at once
the intrusive presence of a false, as well as presumptuous, philo-
*The phrase, as originally applied by Taylor, is descriptive of certain incom-
plete ethical systems, but it is equally applicable to certain typical exemplifica-
tions of human character; in which ‘the strength and the materials of six parts
of morality have been brought together wherewith to construct a seventh part.’
200 MEMORIAL OF JOSEPH HENRY.
sophism, and declined to yield his mind an easy prey to its bland-
ishments, To his eyes much of the free and easy teleology, with
which an under-wise and not over-reverent sciolism is wont: to
interpret the Divine counsels and judgments, seemed little better
than a Brocken phantom—the grotesque and distorted image of
its own authors projected on mist and cloud, and hence very far
~ from being the inscrutable teleology of Him whose glory it is to
conceal a thing, and whose ways are often past finding out, because
His understanding is infinite,
As Professor Henry was a believer in theism, so also was he a
believer in revealed religion—in Christianity. He had not made
a study of systematic, or of dogmatic, theology as they are taught
in the schools, and still less was the interest he took in polemical
divinity, but he did have a theology which, for practical life, is
worth them all—the theology of a profound religious experience.
He was a fresh illustration of Neander’s favorite saying: Pectus
facit theologum. ‘The adaptation of the Christian scheme to the
moral wants of the human soul was the palmary proof on which
he rested his faith in the superhuman origin of that scheme. The
plan had to him the force of a theory which is scientific in its exact
conformity to the moral facts it explains, when these facts are pro-
perly known and fully understood.
Hence he was little troubled with the modern conflict between
science and religion.’ History, as well as reason and faith, was here
his teacher. He saw that the Christian church had already passed
through many epochs of transition, and that the friction incident to
such transition periods had only brushed away the incrustations of
theological error and heightened the brightness of theological truth.
In a world where the different branches and departments of human
knowledge are not pushed forward pari passu — where “knowledge
comes but wisdom: lingers”—he held it nothing strange that the
scientific man should sometimes be unintelligible to the theologian,
and the theologian unintelligible to the scientific man. He believed,
with the old Puritan, phe “the Lord has more truth yet to break
out of His holy word” than the systematic theologian is always
ready to admit; and as the humble minister and interpreter of
nature he was certain that the scientific man has much truth to
DISCOURSE OF DR. J. C. WELLING. 201
learn of which he is not yet aware. There must needs be ferment-
ation in new thought as in new wine, but the vintage of the brain,
like the vintage of the grape, is only the better for a process which
brings impurities to the surface where they may be scummed off,
and settles the lees at the bottom, where they ought to be. It is
under the figure of a vintage that Bacon describes the crowning
result of a successful inductive process. When this process has
been completed in any direction, it remains for a wider critical and
reconciling philosophy to bring the other departments of ‘knowl-
edge into logical relation and correspondence with the new outlook
that has been gained on nature and its phenomena.
Erasmus tells us in his Praise of Folly, mingling satire with
the truth of his criticism, that in order to understand the scholastic
theology of his day, it was necessary to spend six-and-thirty years
in the study of Aristotle’s physics and of the doctrines of the
Scotists. What a purification of method has been wrought in
theology since the times of Erasmus! And for that purification
the Church is largely indebted to the methodology of modern sci-
ence, in clearing up the thoughts and rationalizing the intellectual
processes of men. ‘The gain for sound theology is here unspeaka-
ble, and amply repays her for the heavy baggage she has dropped
by the way at the challenge of science—baggage which only im-
peded her march without reinforcing her artillery.
Hence, as a Christian philosopher, Professor Henry never found
it necessary to lower the scientific flag in order to conciliate an ob-
scurantist theology, and he never lowered the Christian flag in
order to conciliate those who would erect the scientific standard
over more territory than they have conquered. He had none of
that spirit which would rather be wrong with Plato than right
with anybody else. He wanted to follow wherever truth was in
the van. But better than most men I think he knew how to dis-
criminate between what a British scholar calls the duty of “follow-
ing truth wherever it leads us, and the duty of yielding to the
immediate pressure of an argument.” He saw, as the same writer
adds, that for whole generations “the victory of argument may
sway backward and forward, like the fortune of single battles,”
but the victory of truth brings in peace, and a peace which comes
202 MEMORIAL OF JOSEPH HENRY.
to stay. He swept the scene of conflict with the field-glass of a
commander-in-chicf, and did not set up his trophies because of a
brilliant skirmish on the picket lines,of science. But he believed
in the picket line, and rejoiced in every sharpshooter who fought
with loyalty to truth in the forefront of the scientific army.
A man of faith, Professor Henry was a man of prayer. But
his views of prayer were perhaps peculiar in their spirituality.
There was nothing mechanical or formal in his theory of this
religious exercise. He held that it was the duty and privilege of
enlightened Christians to live in perpetual communion with the
Almighty Spirit, and in this sense to pray without.ceasing. Work
was worship, if conducted in this temper. He accepted all the
appointments of nature and Providence as the expressions of Infinite
Wisdom, and so in everything gave thanks.* He believed that
familiarity with the order of nature and scientific assurance of its
uniformity need not and should not tend to extinguish the instinct,
or abolish the motives of prayer by seeming to imply its futility,
but should rather tend to purify and exalt the objects of prayer.
The savage prays to his idol, that he may have success in killing his
enemies. The Hottentot whips and worships his fetich in blind but
eager quest of some sensual boon, that he may consume it upon
his lusts. The prayers of the Vedic Books are the childish prayers
of an unspiritual and childish people. “They pray,” says Max
Miiller, “for the playthings of life, for houses and homes, for
cows and horses, and they plainly tell the gods that if they will
only be kind and gracious they will receive rich offerings in return.”
And do we, asks the critic of comparative religions, we Christians
*The “sweet reasonableness” into which he had schooled his temper was mani-
fested by the great trial which befell him in the year 1865, when the Smithsonian
building suffered from the ravages of a fire which destroyed all the letters written
down to that date by Professor Henry, as Smithsonian Secretary, in reply to innu-
merable questions relating to almost every department of knowledge. Besides, the
Annual Report of the Institution in manuscript, nearly ready for the press, a valu-
able collection of papers on meteorology, with written memoranda of his own to aid
in their digest, and countless minutes of scientific researches which he purposed to
make, all perished in the flames. Yet he was more concerned about the loss of
Bishop Johns’s library, which had been intrusted to his care, than about the loss of
his own papers and records. Referring to the latter in a note written to his friend,
Dr. Torrey, a few days after the fire, he held the following language: “A few years
ago such a calamity would have paralyzed me for future efforts, but in my present
view of life I take itas the dispensation of a kind and wise Providence, and trust that
it will work to my spiritual advantage.”
DISCOURSE OF DR. J. C. WELLING. 203
of this nineteenth century, “do we do much otherwise,” if regard
be had to the quality of our petitions? Professor Henry held
that it was both the duty and privilege of enlightened Christians to
“do much otherwise,” by praying pre-eminently, if not exclusively,
for spiritual blessings. And hence he held that the highest natural
philosophy combines with the highest Christian faith to transfer the
religious thoughts, feelings, and aspirations of man more and more
from things seen to things unseen, and from things temporal to
things eternal. This view of his had nothing of quietism or of
mysticism in it. Still less was it the expression of an apathetic
stoicism. It was only the philosopher’s way of praying to the great
All-Father, in the spirit of St. Augustine, “Da quod jubes, et jube
quod vis.”
[ have made this reference to the opinions of Professor Henry
on the relations of science to religion, as also on the relations of
natural philosophy to prayer, not only for the light they shed on the
character of the man, but also for a reason which is peculiar to this
Society, and which it may be a matter of interest for you to know.
Immediately after his last unanimous election as the President of
our Society, he communicated to me his purpose to make the rela-
tions of science and religion, as also the true import of prayer, the
subject of his annual presidential address. He gave me an outline
of the views he intended to submit, and I have here given but a
brief résumé of them, according to my recollections of the colloquy,
which was only one of many similar conferences previously had on
thesame highthemes. Hesaid that it would be, perhaps, the last time
he should ever be called to deliver a presidential address before the
Society he so much loved, and that he wished to speak as became .
an humble patron of science, believing fully in her high mission,
and at the same time as an humble Christian, believing fully in the
fundamental truths of Revelation. That he was not able to fulfil
this purpose will be as much a source of regret to you as it is to me;
but when we compare the valediction which it was in his heart to
utter, with the peaceful end which came a few months later to crown
his days with the halo of a finished life, we may console ourselves
with the thought that no last words of his were needed to seal on
our hearts the lesson taught by his long and splendid career. Being
dead he yet speaketh. ;
204 : MEMORIAL OF JOSEPH HENRY.
Tt is, indeed, the shadow of a great affliction which his death has
cast upon our Society, but the light of his life pierces through the
darkness, and irradiates for us all the paths of duty and labor, of
honor and purity, of truth and righteousness, in which he walked
with an eye that never blenched, and a foot that never faltered. We
shall not see his face any more, beaming with gladness and with the
mild splendor of chastened intellect, but we shall feel his spiritual
presence whenever we meet in this hall. We shall never hear his
voice again, but its clear and gentle tones, as from yonder chair he
expounded to us the mysteries of nature, will re-echo in the chambers
of memory with only a deeper import, now that he has gone to join
the “dead but sceptred sovereigns who still rule our spirits from
their urns.”
THE SCIENTIFIC WORK
OF
JOSEPH HENRY:
BY
WILLIAM B. TAYLOR.
To cherish with affectionate regard the memory of the venerated
dead is not more grateful to the feelings, than to recall their excel-
lences and to retrace the stages and occasions of their intellectual
conquests is instructive to the reason. Jew lives within the century
are more worthy of admiration, more elevating in contemplation,
or more entitled to commemoration, than that of our late most
honored and beloved president—JosEPH HENRY.
Distinguished by the extent of his varied and solid learning, pos-
sessing a wide range of mental activity, so great were his modesty
and self-reserve, that only by the accidental call of occasion would
even an intimate friend sometimes discover with surprise the full-
ness of his information and the soundness of his philosophy, in some
quite unsuspected direction. Remarkable for his self-control, he '
was no less characterized by the absence of self-assertion. Ever
warmly interested in the development and advancement of the young,
he was a patient listener to: the trials of the disappointed, and a
faithful guide to the aspirations of the ambitious. Generous with-
out ostentation, he was always ready to assist the deserving— by
services, by counsel, by active exertions in their behalf.
In his own pursuits Truth was the supreme object of his regard,—
the sole interest and incentive of his investigations; and in its quest
he brought to bear in just allotment qualities of a high order ;—
quickness and correctness of perception, inventive ingenuity in
* Read before the ‘‘ Philosophical Society of Washington,” October 26th, 1878. (Bul-
letin of the Phil. Soc. W. vol. ii. p. 230.) A large portion of the discourse (including
nearly the whole of the section on the ‘Administration of the Smithsonian Institu-
tion’’) was necessarily omitted on the occasion of its delivery.
(205)
206 MEMORIAL OF JOSEPH HENRY.
experimentation, logical precision in deduction, perseverance in
exploration, sagacity in interpretation.* |
EARLY CAREER.
Of Henry’s early struggles,—of the youthful traits which might
afford us clue to his manhood’s character and successes, we have but
little preserved for the future biographer. Deprived of his father
at an early age, he was the’ sole care and the sole comfort of his
widowed mother. Carefully nurtured in the stringent principles of
a devout religious faith, he adhered through life to the traditions
and to the convictions derived from his honorable Scottish ancestry.
At the age of about seven years, (his mother having been induced
to: part with him for a time,) he was sent by his uncle to attend
the district school at Galway, in Saratoga county, N. Y., at a distance
of 36 miles from Albany, his native city. He remained under the
care of his grandmother in this village for several years, until the
death of his uncle; when he returned to his mother at Albany.
As a youth he was by no means precocious, as seldom have been
those who have left a permanent influence on their kind. Héseems
to have felt no fondness for his early schools, and to have shown no
special aptitude for the instructions they afforded. Like many
another unpromising lad, he followed pretty much his own devices,
‘ unconcerned as to the development of his latent capabilities. The
books he craved were not the books his school-teachers set before
him. ‘The novel and the play interested and absorbed the active
fancy naturally so exuberant in youth; and the indications from his
impulsive temperament and dreamy imaginative spirit were that he
would probably become an actor —a dramatist —or a poet.
He was however from his childhood’s years a close observer —
both of nature and of the peculiarities of his fellows: and one char-
* HENRY’S tribute to Peltier, seems peculiarly applicable to himself. ‘He pos-
sessed in an eminent degree the mental characteristics necessary for a successful
scientific discoverer; an imagination always active in suggesting hypotheses for the
explanation of the phenomena under investigation, and a logical faculty never at
fault in deducing consequences from the suggestions best calculated to bring them
to the test of experience; an invention ever fertile in devising apparatus and other
means by which the test could be applied; and finally a moral constitution which
sought only the discovery of truth, and could alone be satisfied with its attainment,”
(Smithsonian Report for 1867, p. 158.)
DISCOURSE OF W. B. TAYLOR. 207
acteristic early developed gave form and color to his mental dispo-
sition throughout later years,—an unflagging energy of: purpose.
In 1810, or 1811, when about thirteen years of age, he was ap-
prenticed to Mr. John F’. Doty, a watch-maker and silver-smith,
in Albany. He remained in this position about two years; when
he was released by his employer giving up the business.
About the year 1814, while a boy of still indefinite aims and of
almost as indefinite longings, having bgen confined to the house for
a few days in consequence of an accidental injury, he took up a small
volume on Natural Philosophy, casually left lying on a table by a
boarder in the house. Listlessly he opened it and read. Before he
reached the third page, he became profoundly interested in the state-
iment of some of the enigmas of the great sphinx— Nature. A new
world seemed opening to his inquisitive eyes. Eagerly on he read,—
intent: to find the hidden meanings of phenomena which hitherto
covered by the “veil of familiarity” had never excited a passing
wonder or a doubting question. Was it possible ever to discover
the real causes of things? Here was a new Ideal—if severer, yet
grander than that of art. He no longer read with the languid en-
joyment of a passive recipient; he felt the new necessity of reaching
out with all the faculties of a thinker, with all the activity of a co-
worker.* For the first time he realized (though with no conscious
expression of the thought) that there is—so to speak,—an imagi-
nation of the intellect, as well as of the emotional soul ;— that Zruth
has its palaces no less gorgeous — no less wonderful than those reared
by fancy in homage to the Beautiful.
The new impulse was not a momentary fascination. Thencefor-
ward the novel was thrown aside, and poesy neglected ; though to
his latest day a sterling poem never failed to strongly impress him.
As it dawned upon his reason that the foundation of the coveted
*“There is a great difference between reading and study, or between the indolent
reception of knowledge without labor, and that effort of mind which is always neces-
sary in order to secure an important truth and make it fully our own.” J. HENRY.
(Agricultural Report of the Patent Office for 1857, p. 421.) The book which so strongly
impressed him was entitled ‘‘ Lectures on Experimental Philosophy, Astronomy,
and Chemistry: by G. Gregory, D. D., Vicar of West-ham.” 12mo. London, 1808.
The owner of the book —a young Scotchman named Robert Boyle—observing the
close application of the boy, very kindly presented the book to him. Many years
afterward Henry wrote in it: “It accidentally fell into my hands when I was about
sixteen years old, and was the first book I ever read with attention.”
208 MEMORIAL OF JOSEPH HENRY.
knowledge must be the studies he had thought so irksome, he at
once determined to repair as far as possible his loss of time by
- taking evening lessons from two of the professors in the Albany
Academy; applying himself diligently to geometry and mechanics.
And here shone out that strength of will which enabled him to rise
above the harassing obstacle of the res angusta domi. As soon as
he felt able (although yet a mere boy), he managed to procure a
position as teacher in a country school, where for seven months suc-
cessfully instructing boys not much younger than himself, in what
he had acquired, he was enabled by rigid economy to take a regular
course of instruction at the Albany Academy. Again returning to
his school-teaching, he furnished himself with the means of com-
pleting his studies at the Academy ; where learning that the most
important key to the accurate knowledge of nature’s laws is a famil-
iarity with the logical processes of the higher mathematics, he
resolutely set himself to work to master the intricacies of the dif-
ferential calculus.
Having finished his academic course and passed with honor
through his examinations, he then through the warm recommen-
dation of Dr. T. Romeyn Beck—the distinguished principal of
the Academy, obtained a position as private tutor in the family of
General Stephen Van Rensselaer.* As this duty did not exact
more than about three hours a day of his attendance, he applied
his ample leisure (having in view the medical profession) — partly
to the assistance of Dr. Beck in his chemical experiments, and partly
to the study of anatomy and physiology, under Doctors Tully and
Marsh.
His devotion to natural philosophy which had only grown and
strengthened with his own growth in knowledge, led him constantly
to repeat any unusual experiment as soon as reported in the foreign
scientific journals; and to devise new modifications of the experi-
ment for testing more fully the range and operation of its funda-
mental principles.
Communications to the Albany Institute—The “Albany Insti-
tute” was organized May 5th 1824, by the union of two older
* Presiding officer of the original Board of Trustces of the Albany Academy.
DISCOURSE OF W. B. TAYLOR. 209
societies ; with General Stephen Van Rensselaer as tts President:*
and young Henry became at once an active member: though with
his modest estimate of his own attainments, he preferred the part —
of listener and acquirer, to that of seeming instructor, till urged by
those who knew him best to add his contributions to the general
garner, :
Henry’s first communication to the Institute was read October
30th, 1824, (at the age of about twenty-six years,) and was “On the
chemical and mechanical effects of steam: with experiments de-
signed to illustrate the great reduction of temperature in steam of
high elasticity when suddenly expanded.”+. From the stop-cock
of a strongly made copper vessel in which steam could be safely
generated under considerable pressure, he allowed an occasional
escape; and he showed by holding the bulb of a thermometer in
the jet of steam, at a fixed distance (say of four inches) from the
orifice, that as the temperature and pressure increased within the
boiler, the indications of the thermometer without grew lower ;—
the expansion and consequent cooling of the escaping steam under
great pressure, increasing in a higher ratio than the increased tem-
perature required for the pressure. And finally he exhibited the
striking paradox, that the jet.of saturated steam from a boiler will
not scald the hand exposed to it, at a prescribed near distance from
the try-cock, provided the steam be sufficiently hot. t
Prolific and skillful in devising experiments, Henry delighted
in making evident to the senses the principles he wished to impress
upon the mind. Extending the law of cooling by expansion, from
steam at high temperatures, to air at ordinary temperatures, his
*The Albany Institute resulted from the fusion of ‘The Society for the Pro-
motion of Useful Arts in the State of New York,’ organized Feb. 1791, (incorporated
April 2nd, 1804,) and the “‘ Albany Lyceum of Natural History ’’ formed and incorpo- -
rated April 23rd, 1823: of which latter society, HENRY had been a member. See “Sup-
plement,” Note A.
+ Trans. Albany Institute, vol. i. part 2. p. 30.
t{ While it requires a temperature of 250° F. to generate a steam-pressure of two
atmospheres (i. c.one additional to the existing), 25° higher will produce a pressure
of three atmospheres, and 100° higher, (or 355° F.) will produce a pressure of nine
atmospheres: the curve (by rectangular co-ordinates of temperature and pressure)
resembling a hyperbola. The increased velocity at high pressure produces a mole-
cular momentum of expansion carrying the rarefaction beyond the limit of atmos-
pheric pressure; and in the case of the exposed hand, the injected air current
doubtless adds to the cooling impression.
14
210 MEMORIAL OF JOSEPH HENRY.
next communication to the Institute (made March 2nd 1825;) was
“On the Production of, Cold by the Rarefaction of Air.” As
before, he accompanied his remarks by several characteristic exhi-
bitions.
“One of these experiments most strikingly illustrated the great
reduction of temperature which takes place on the sudden rarefac-
tion of condensed air. Half a pint of water was poured into a
strong copper vessel of a globular form, and having a capacity of
five gallons; a tube of one-fourth of an inch caliber with a num-
ber of holes near the lower end, and a stop-cock ‘attached to the
other extremity, was firmly screwed into the neck of the vessel;
the lower end of the tube dipped into the water, but a number of
holes were above the surface of the liquid, so that a jet of air min-
gled with water might be thrown from the fountain. The apparatus
was then charged with condensed air, by means of ‘a powerful con-
densing pump, until the pressure was estimated at nine atmospheres,
During the condensatioh the vessel became sensibly warm. After
suffering the apparatus to cool down to the temperature of the room,
the stop-cock was opened: the air rushed out with great violence,
carrying with it a quantity of water, which was instantly converted
into snow. After a few seconds, the tube became filled with ice,
which almost entirely stopped the current of air. The neck of the
vessel was then partially unscrewed, so as to allow the condensed
air to rush out around the sides of the screw: in this state the
temperature of the whole interior atmosphere was so much reduced
as to freeze the remaining water in the vessel.” *
Although the principle on which this striking result was based
was not at that time new, it must be borne in mind that this par-
ticular application, thus publicly exhibited, was long before any of
-the numerous patents were obtained for ice-making, not a few of
which adopted substantially the same process.
State Appointment as a Civil Engineer.—Through the friendship
and confidence of an influential judge, Henry received about this
time an unexpected offer of an appointment as engineer on the sur-
vey of a route for a road through the State of New York, from
* Trans, Albany Institute, vol. i, part 2. p. 36.
DISCOURSE OF W. B. TAYLOR. _ Ale t
the Hudson river on the east, to lake Erie on the west, a distance
of about three hundred miles. The proposal was too tempting to
his natural proclivities to be refused; and being appointed, he’em-_
barked upon his new and arduous duties with the zeal and energy
which were so prominent a feature of his character. “His labors
in this work were exceedingly arduous and responsible. They
extended far into the winter, and the operations were carried on in
some instances amid deep snows in primeval forests.” In connec-
tion with Professor Amos Eaton, he completed the survey with
credit to himself, and to the entire satisfaction of the Commissioners
of the work.
So attractive appeared the profession of engineer to his enter-
prising disposition, that he was about to accept the directorship in
the construction of a canal in Ohio, when he was informed that the:
Chair of Mathematics in the Albany Academy would soon become
vacant, and that his own name had already been prominently
brought forward in connection with the position, At the urgent
solicitation of his old friend and former teacher Dr. T. Romeyn
Beck, he consented ‘with some hesitation to signify his willingness
to accept the vacant chair if appointed thereto.
Election as Professor of Mathematics.—In the spring of 1826,
Henry was duly elected by the Trustees of the Albany Academy
to the Professorship of Mathematics and Natural Philosophy in
that institution. As the duties of his office did not commence till
September of that year, he was allowed a practical vacation of about
five months; which was partly occupied with a geological explora-
tion in the adjoining counties, as assistant to Professor Eaton, of
the Rensselaer School, and partly devoted to a conscientious prepa-
ration for his new position.
In a worldly point of view, this variety of occupation and ver-
satility of adaptation might perhaps be regarded as unfavorable to
success. As a method of culture, it was of unquestionable advan-
tage to his intellectual powers. A hard student, with great capacity
for close application, he accumulated large stores of information;
and in addition to the slaking of his constant thirst for acquire-
ment in different directions, his leisure was occupied to a considera-
212 MEMORIAL OF JOSEPH HENRY.
ble extent with physical and chemical investigations. On the 21st
of March 1827, he delivered before the Albany Institute a lecture
on “Flame,” accompanied with experiments.*
Meteorological Work.—The Regents of the University of the
State of New York, endowed by the State Legislature with super-
visory functions over the public educational institutions of the
State, —in 1825 established a system of meteorological observation
for the State, by supplying to each of the Academies incorporated
by them, a thermometer and a rain-gauge, and requiring them to
keep a daily register of prescribed form, to entitle them to their
portion of the literature fund of the State. In 1827, the Hon.
Simeon De Witt, Chancellor of the Board of Regents, associated
with himself Dr. T. Romeyn Beck and Professor Henry of the
Albany Academy, to prepare and tabulate the results of these
observations. The first Abstract of these collections (for the year
1828) comprised tabulations of the monthly and yearly means of
temperature, wind, rain, etc. at all the stations, an account of
meteorological incidents generally, and a table of “ Miscellaneous
Observations” on the dates of notable phases of organic phenomena
connected with climatic conditions. These annual Abstracts, to
which Henry devoted a considerable share of his attention, were
continued through a series of years and were published in the
“Annual Reports of the’ Regents of the University to the Legisla-
ture of the State of New York.t The third Abstract (for 1830)
includes an accurate tabulation by Henry of the latitudes, longi-
tudes, and elevations of all the meteorological stations; over forty
in number.
ELECTRICAL RESEARCHES AT ALBANY: FROM 1827 TO 1882.
Of Henry’s distinguished success as a lecturer and teacher, in
imparting to his pupils a portion of his own zeal and earnestness
in the pursuit of scientific knowledge, as well as in winning their
affection and in inspiring their esteem, it is not designed here to dis-
course; but rather of his solitary labors outside of his professional
* Trans. Albany Institute, vol. i. part 2. p. 59.
+ Reports of Regenis, etc. Albany, vol. i. 1829-1835.
DISCOURSE OF W. B. TAYLOR. 213
occupation in communicating and diffusing knowledge. Very
shortly after his occupation of the academic chair of mathematics
and physics, he turned his attention to the experimental study of
that mysterious agency—electricity. Professor Schweigger of
Halle, had improved on Oersted’s galvanic indicator (of a single
wire circuit) by giving the insulated wirea number of turns around
an elongated frame longitudinally enclosing the compass needle;
and by thus multiplying the effect of the galvanic circuits, had con-
verted it into a real measuring instrument—a ¢&galvanometer.’’*
Ampére and Arago of Paris, developing Oersted’s announcement
of the torsional or equatorial reaction between a galvanic conductor
and a magnetic needle, had found that a circulating galvanic cur-
rent was capable not only of deflecting a suspended magnet, but of
generating magnetism — permanently in sewing needles, and tem-
porarily in pieces of iron wire, when placed within a glass tube
around which the conjunctive wire of the battery had been wound
ina loose helix; and had thus created the “electro-magnet.” + The
scientific world was just aroused to the close interrogation of this
new marvel, each questioner eager to ascertain its most efficient
conditions, and to increase its manifestations. William Sturgeon
of Woolwich, England, had extended the discoveries of Ampére
and Arago, by dispensing with the glass tube, constructing a “horse-
shoe” bar of soft iron (after the form of the usual permanent
magnet) coated with a non-conducting substance, and winding the
copper conjunctive wire directly upon the horse-shoe; and had thus
*The name of GALVANI (as original discoverer of chemico-electricity) is usually
retained to designate both the current and its generator; although the chemico-
electric pile and battery were really firs! contrived by VouTA in 1800. In the same
manner OERSTED is generally accounted the discoverer of electro-magnetism,
although he nover devised an electro-magnet; and appears not to have been the first
even to discover the directive influence of a current ona magneticneedle. Eighteen
years before his announcement, GIAN DoMENICO RoMAGNOsI, a physicist of Trent,
published in an Italian newspaper of that city, the Gazzétta di Trento, on the 3rd of
August, 1802, his observation of the galvanic deflection of the needle. This impor-
tant discovery was also published in Professor G. Aldini’s ‘‘Essai théorique et
exp¢rimental sur le Galvanisme.” 4to. Paris, 1804, p. 191: and in Professor J. Izarn’s
“Manuel du Galvanisme.” 8vo. Paris, 1805, sect. ix. p. 120. |
+ Annales de Chimie et de Physique, 1820, vol. xv. pp. 93-100. VAN BEEK of Utrecht,
in 1821 inverting ARAGO’s experiment, had found that an iron or steel wire coiled
around a glass tube as a short helix, became magnetic on passing a charge from a
Leyden jar through a straight brass wire placed within the glass tube. Communi-
cated by Professor G. Moll. (Brewster’s Edinburgh Journal of Science, Jan. 1822, vol.
vi. p. 84.)
214 MEMORIAL OF JOSEPH HENRY.
produced the first efficient electro-magnet ;— capable of sustaining
several pounds by its armature, when duly excited by the galvanic
current. He had also greatly improved lecture-room apparatus for
illustrating the electro-magnetic reactions of rotations, etc. (where
. @ permanent magnet is employed), by introducing stronger magnets,
and had thereby succeeded in exhibiting the phenomena on a larger
scale, with a considerable reduction of the battery power. *
Faraday had not yet commenced the series of researches which
in after years so Wlumined his name, when Henry published his first
contribution to electrical science, in a communication read before the
Albany Institute, October 10th, 1827, “On some Modifications of
the Electro-Magnetic Apparatus.” From his experimental investi-
gations he was enabled to exhibit all the class illustrations attempted
by Sturgeon, on even a still larger and more conspicuous scale,
with the employment of very weak magnets (where required), and
with a still further reduction of the battery power. These quite
striking and unexpected results were obtained by the simple expe-
dient of adopting in ever'y case where single circuits had previously
been used, the manifold coil of fine wire which Schweigger had
employed to increase the sensibility of the galvanometer. He
remarks :
“Mr. Sturgeon of Woolwich, who has been perhaps the most.
successful in these improvements, has shown that a strong galvanic.
power is not essentially necessary even to exhibit the experiments
on the largest scale. - - - Mr. Sturgeon’s suite of apparatus,
though superior to any other as far as it goes, does not however
form a complete set: as indeed it is plain that his principle of
strong magnets cannot be introduced into every article required,
and particularly into those intended to exhibit the action of the
earth’s magnetism on a galvanic current, or the operation of. two-
conjunctive wires on each other. To form therefore a set of instru-
ments on a large scale that will illustrate all the facts belonging to-
* Trans. Soc. Encouragement Arts, etc. 1825, vol. xliii. pp. 38-52. His battery (of a
single element) consisted ‘of two fixed hollow concentric cylinders of thin copper,
having a movable cylinder of zinc placed between them. Its superficial area is only
130 square inches, and it weighs no more than 1 lb.5 ozs.’ Mr. STURGEON was de-
servedly awarded the Silver Medal of the Society for the Encouragement of Arts,
etc., ‘‘for his improved electro-magnetic apparatus.” Described also in Annals of
Philos. Nov, 1826, vol. xii. new series, pp. 357-361.
DISCOURSE OF W. B. TAYLOR. 215
this science, with the least expense of galvanism, evidently requires
some additional modification of apparatus, and particularly in those
eases in which powerful magnets cannot be applied. | And such a
modification appears to me to be obviously pointed out in the con-
struction of Professor Schweigger’s Galvanic Multiplier: the prin-
ciples of this instrument being directly applicable to all the experi-
ments in which Mr. Sturgeon’s improvement fails to be useful.’’ *
The coils employed in the various articles of apparatus thus
improved, comprised usually about twenty turns of fine copper wire
wound with silk to prevent metallic contact, the whole being closely
bound together. To exhibit for example Ampére’s ingenious and
delicate experiment showing the directive action of the earth as a
magnet on a galvanic current when its conductor is free to move,
(usually a small wire frame with its extremities dipping either into
mercury cups, or into mercury channels,) or its simpler modifica-
tion, the “ring” of De la Rive, (usually an inch or two in diam-
eter and made to float freely with its galvanic element in its
own bath,) the effect was strikingly enhanced by Henry’s method
of suspending by a silk thread a large circular coil twenty inches
in diameter, of many wire circuits bound together with ribbon,—
the extremities of the wire protruding at the lower part of the
hoop, and soldered to a pair of small galvanic plates;— when by
simply placing a tumbler of acidulated water beneath, he caused the
hoop at once to assume (after a few oscillations) its equatorial posi-
tion transverse to the magnetic meridian. By a similar arrangement
of two circular coils of different diameters, one suspended within the
other, Ampére’s fine discovery of the mutual action of two electric
currents on each other, was as strikingly displayed. Such was the
character of demonstration by which the new Professor was accus-
tomed to make visible to his classes the principles of electro-magnet-
ism: and it is safe to say that in simplicity, distinctness, and
efficiency, such apparatus for the lecture-room was far superior to -
any of the kind then existing.
Should any one be disposed to conclude that this simple exten-
sion of Schweigger’s multiple coil was unimportant and unmeri-
torious, the ready answer occurs, that talented and skillful electri-_
* Trans, Albany Institute, vol. i. pp. 22, 23.
216 MEMORIAL OF JOSEPH HENRY.
?
cians, laboring to attain the result, had for six years failed to make
such an extension. Nor was the result by any means antecedently
assured by Schweigger’s success with the galvanometer. If Stur-
geon’s improvement of economizing the battery size and consump-
tion, by increasing the magnet factor (in those few cases where
available), was well deserving of reward, surely Henrjy’s improve-
ment of a far greater economy, by increasing the circuit factor
(entirely neglected by Sturgeon) deserved a still higher applause.
In a subsequent communication to Silliman’s Journal, Henry
remarks on the results announced in October, 1827 :—“Shortly
after the publication mentioned, several other applications of the
coil, besides those described in that paper, were made in order to
increase the size of electro-magnetic apparatus, and to diminish
the necessary galvanic power. The most interesting of these was
its application to a development of magnetism in soft iron, much
more extensive than to my knowledge had been previously effected
by a small galvanic element.” And in another later paper, he
repeated to the same effect: “ After reading an account of the gal-
vanometer of Schweigger, the idea occurred to me that a much
nearer approximation to the theory of Ampére could be attained
by insulating the conducting-wire itself, instead of the rod to be
magnetized; and by covering the whole surface of the iron with a
series of coils in close contact.”
The electro-magnet figured and described by Sturgeon (in his
communication of November, 1825,) consisted of a small bar or
stout iron wire bent into a N or horse-shoe form, having a copper
wire wound loosely around it in eighteen turns, with the ends of
the wire dipping into mercury-cups connected with the respective
poles of a battery having 130 square inches of active surface,
This was probably the only electro-magnet then in existence.
In June of 1828, Henry exhibited before the Albany Institute a
small-sized electro-magnet closely wound with silk-covered copper
wire about one-thirtieth of an inch in diameter. By thus insulat-
ing the conducting wire, instead of the magnetic bar or core, he
was enabled to employ a compact coil in close juxtaposition from
one end of the horse-shoe to the other, obtaining thereby a much
larger number of circuits, and with cach circuit more nearly at
DISCOURSE OF W. B. TAYLOR. DLT
right angles with the magnetic axis. The lifting power of this
magnet is not stated, though it must obviously have been much
more powerful than the one described by Sturgeon.
In March of 1829, Henry exhibited before the Institute a some-
what larger magnet of the same character. ‘A round piece of
iron about one-quarter of an inch in diameter was bent into the
_ usual form of a horse-shoe, and instead of loosely coiling around it
a few feet of wire, as is usually described, it was tightly wound
with 35 feet of wire covered with silk, so as to form about 400
turns; a pair of small galvanic plates which could be dipped into a
tumbler of diluted acid, was soldered to the ends of the wire, and
the whole mounted on a stand. With these small plates the horse-
shoe became much more powerfully magnetic than another of the
saine size and wound irf the usual manner, by the application of a bat-
tery composed of 28 plates of copper and zinc each 8 inches square.”
In this case the coil was wound upon itself in successive layers.
To Henry, therefore, belongs the exclusive credit of having first
constructed the magnetic “spool” or “bobbin,” that form of coil
since universally employed for every application of electro-magnet-
ism, of induction, or of magneto-electrics. This was his first great
contribution to the science and to the art of galvanic magnetization.
In the latter part of 1829, Henry still further increased the
magnetic power derived from a single galvanic pair of small size,
by a new arrangement of the coil. “It consisted in using several
strands of wire each covered with silk, instead of one.” Employ-
ing a horse-shoe formed from a cylindrical bar of iron half an inch
in diameter and about 10 inches long, wound with 30 feet of toler-
ably fine copper wire, he found that with a current from only two
and a half square inches of zine, the magnet held 14 pounds.
Winding upon its arms a second wire of the same length (30 feet)
whose ends were similarly joined to the same galvanic pair, he
found that the magnet lifted 28 pounds. “With a pair of plates
4 inches by 6, it lifted 39 pounds, or more than fifty times its own
weight.”* On these results he remarks:
*It must not be forgotten that at the time when this experimental magnet
was made, the strongest if not the only electro-magnet in Europe was that of
STURGEON, capable of supporting 9 pounds, with 180 square inches of zine surface
in the battery.
218 MEMORIAL OF JOSEPH HENRY.
“These experiments conclusively proved that a great development
of magnetism could be effected by a very small galvanic element,
and also that the power of the coil was materially increased by mul-
tiplying the number of wires, without increasing the length of each.
The multiplication of the wires increases the power in two ways:
first, by conducting a greater quantity of galvanism, and secondly,
by giving it a more proper direction; for since the action of a gal-
vanic current is directly at right angles to the axis of a magnetic
needle, by using several shorter wires we can wind one on each inch
of the length of the bar to be magnetized, so that the magnetism of |
each inch will be developed by a separate wire. In this way the
action of each particular coil becomes directed very nearly at right
angles to the axis of the bar, and consequently the effect is the great-
est possible. This principle is of much greater importance when
large bars are used. The advantage of a greater conducting power
from using several wires might in a less degree be obtained by sub-
stituting for them one large wire of equal sectional area; but in this
case the obliquity of the spiral would be much greater, and conse-
quently the magnetic action less.” *
But in the following year, 1830, Henry pressed forward his
researches to still higher results. Assisted by his friend Dr. Philip
Ten-Eyck, he proceeded to test the power of electro-magnetic
attraction on a larger scale. “A bar of soft iron 2 inches square
and 20 inches long was bent into the form of a horse-shoe 9 inches
high ; (the sharp edges of the bar being first a little rounded by the
hammer ;) it weighed 21 pounds. A piece of iron from the same
bar, weighing 7 pounds, was filed perfectly flat on one surface for
an armature or lifter. The extremities of the legs of the horse-shoe
were also truly ground to the surface of the armature. Around this
horse-shoe 540 fect of copper bell-wire were wound in nine coils of
60 feet each; these coils were not continued around the whole length
of the bar, but each strand of wire (according to the principle before
mentioned) occupied about two inches, and was coiled several times
backward and forward over itself. The several ends of the wires
*Silliman’s Am, Journal of Science, Jan. 1831, vol. xix.p. 402, The three names—
ARAGO, STURGEON, and HENRY,—may well typify the infancy, the youth, and the ©
mature manhood, of the electro-magnet,
DISCOURSE OF W. B. TAYLOR. 219
were left projecting, and all numbered, so that the first and the last
end of each strand might be readily distinguished. In this manner
we formed an experimental magnet on a large scale, with which
several combinations of wire could be made by merely uniting the
different projecting ends. Thus if the second end of the first wire
be soldered to the first end of the second wire, and so on through
all the series, the whole will form a continued coil of one long wire.
By soldering different ends, the whole may be formed into a double
coil of half the length, or into a triple coil of one-third the length,
&c. The horse-shoe was suspended in a strong rectangular wooden
frame 3 feet 9 inches high and 20 inches wide.” .
Two of the wires (one from each extremity of the legs) when
joined together by soldering, so as to form a single circuit of 120
feet, with its extreme ends connected with the battery, produced a
lifting-power of 60 pounds. ' The same two wires being separately
connected with the same battery (forming a double circuit of 60 feet
each), a lifting-power of 200 pounds was obtained, or more than
three times the power of the former case with the same wire. Four
wires (two from each extremity of the legs) being separately con-
nected with the battery (forming four circuits) gave a lifting-power
of 500 pounds. Six wires (three from each leg) united in three
pairs (forming three circuits of 180 feet each) gave a lifting-power
of 290 pounds. ‘The same six wires being separately connected with
the battery in six independent circuits, produced a lifting-power of
570 pounds, or very nearly double that of the same wires in double
lengths. When all the nine wires were separately attached to the
battery a lifting-power of 650 pounds was evoked. In all these
experiments “a small single battery was used, consisting of two con-
centric copper cylinders, with zine between them; the whole amount
of zinc-surface exposed to the acid from both sides of the zine was
two-fifths of a square foot; the battery required only half a pint of
dilute acid for its submersion.”
“Tn order to ascertain the effect of a very small galvanic element
on this large quantity of iron, a pair of plates exactly one inch square
was attached to all the wires; the weight lifted was 85 pounds.”
For the purpose of obtaining the maximum attractive power of this
magnet, with its nine independent coils, “a small battery formed
220 MEMORIAL OF JOSEPH HENTKRY,
with a plate of zine 12 inches long and 6 wide, and surrounded" by
copper, was substituted for the galvanic element used in the former
experiments; the weight lifted in this case was 750 pounds,” * — In
illustration of the feeble power of the magnetic poles when exerted
separately, it was found that with precisely the same arrangements
giving a holding power of 750 pounds to the double contact arma-
ture, either pole alone was capable of sustaining only 5 or 6
pounds; “and in this case we never succeeded in making it lift the
armature — weighing 7 pounds, We have never seen the circum-
stance noticed of so great a difference between a single pole and
both,”
Henry's “Quantity” Magnet compared with Moll’s,— About the
same time that Henry was developing this wonderful power in the
electro-magnet, Dr, Gerard Moll, Professor of Natural Philosophy
in the University of Utrecht, was engaged in a similar research,
In a paper published in the latter part of 1830, he states that his
attention was drawn to the electro-magnet of Sturgeon in 1828,
during a visit to London.f “This apparatus I saw in 1828 at Mr,
Watkins’s, curator of philosophical apparatus to the London
University; and the horse-shoe with which he performed the experi-
ment, became capable all at once of supporting about nine pounds. }
I immediately determined to try the effect of a larger galvanic
apparatus on a bent iron cylindrical wire, and L obtained results
Which appear astonishing, and are—as far as the intensity of mag-
netic force is concerned, altogether new. 1 have anxiously looked
since that time into different scientific continental and Mnglish jour-
nals, without finding any further attempt to extend and improve
Mr, Sturgeon’s original experiment.” Moll’s first’ magnet, a
horse-shoe formed of a round bar of iron about one inch thick, was
about eight and one-half inches in height, and had a wrapped cop- — ,
per wire of about one-eighth inch diameter coiled eighty-three
times around it, ‘The weight of the horse-shoe and wire was about
*Silliman’s am, Journal of Science, Jian, 1831, vol, xix, pp. 404, 405, -
{Bibliotheque Universelle des Sciences, etc, Sept, 18380, vol, xly, pp, 10-35, Also Mdin-
burgh Journal of Science, Oct, 1830,
{{At the date referred to, Henry had already exhibited before the Albany Tnati-
tute, a much more powerful magnet.) by she
DISCOURSE OF W. B. TAYLOR. 221
five pounds; of the armature, about one and one-fourth pound; and
with a single galvanic pair whose acting zine surface was about
~ eleven square feet, the electro-magnet supported about 50 pounds.
With cautious additions, the load could be increased to 75 pounds,
An additional galvanic pair of about six square feet was applied
without increasing the power of the magnet. Another horse-shoe
about twelve and a half inches in height, formed of a rod two
and one-fourth inches in diameter, was prepared by Professor Moll,
with a brass wire, one-eighth of an inch thick, wound around
it in forty-four coils; the weight of the whole being about twenty-
six pounds. With the galvanic element of eleven square feet,
this magnet lifted 135 pounds. The largest load this magnet was
afterward made to support was 154 pounds. *
As soon as the account of Moll’s magnet reached this country,
(late in October, or early in November,) Henry — who had obtained
and had publicly exhibited nearly two years previously, considera-
bly higher results, and who realized that there was at least one very
important difference of construction between his own magnet and
that of the Dutch savant, felt it a duty at once to publish the details
of his own researches, in a more public form. He accordingly
proceeded in the latter part of November, 1830, to write out a
description of his former experiments and results, which he for-
warded to Silliman’s American Journal of Science, (then published
only quarterly,) in time for insertion in the forthcoming number of
that journal, for January, 1831; causing a copy of Professor
Moll’s paper, faken from Brewster’s Edinburgh Journal of Science
for October 1830, to be inserted in the same number. ‘At the con-_
clusion of his own article he remarks: “The only effect Professor
Moll’s paper has had over these .investigations, has been to hasten
their publication: the principle on which they were instituted was
known to us nearly two years since, and at that time exhibited to
the Albany Institute.”
Comparing now Moll’s results with Henry’s,—we find that
Henry’s magnet of November or December, 1829, (a half-inch bar
*Brewster’s Edinburgh Jour, Sci. Oct. 1830, vol. iil. n. s. pp. 209-214. An account of
MOoLL’s magnet is also given in the Annales de Chimie et de Physique, 1832, vol. L.
pp. 324-828.
222 MEMORIAL OF JOSEPH HENRY.
»
of iron covered with several strands of wire,) excited by a galvanic
pair of one-sixth of a square foot of zinc surface, sustained 39
pounds, or more than fifty times its own weight; while Moll’s mag-
- net of about double the dimensions, employing eleven square feet
of battery, lifted only 75 pounds, or fifteen times its own weight.
That is, Henry’s magnet while about only one-seventh of the weight
of Moll’s (without their wrappings) supported more than half the
load of the latter. Or comparing their larger magnets, — while
Moll’s twelve and a half inch magnet (of two and a quarter inch
iron) lifted as its greatest effort 154 pounds, (a result with which
the author justly felt elated,) Henry’s nine and a half inch magnet
(of about the same sized iron) lifted 750 pounds; or about five
times its maximum load. But the most surprising contrast between
the two series of experiments, resulting from their different systems,
was the enormous difference of battery-power respectively applicd ;
—Moll pushing his up to seventeen square feet,— Henry reduc-
ing his in the first case to one-sixth of a square foot, and‘in the
latter case obtaining his five-fold duty with one-eleventh of the
quantity of galvanic current. The philosopher of Utrecht, though
he evidently realized with him of Albany, the importance of close-
winding, employed but a single layer of coil. The latter, by means
of well-considered trials had ascertained the great increase of mag-
netic force resulting from a considerable number of coils. On the
theoretical grounds assigned by Henry therefore, Moll’s single
conducting wire of one-eighth inch diameter, while electrically
equivalent to some half a dozen of Henry’s conducting wires (of
‘the same length and collective weight) would be magnetically inferior
thereto —for equal iron cores.
Notwithstanding that Henry’s successes were thus both earlier
and more brilliant than those of Moll, the two names are usually
associated together by European writers in treating of the develop-
ment of the magnet.*
*FARADAY in subsequently investigating the conditions of galvanic induction,
referred with approbation to the magnets of Mo_u and HENRY as best calculated
to produce the effects sought. In constructing his duplex helices for observing
the direction of the induced current, he however adopted HENRY’s method by
winding twelve coils of copper wire each twenty-seven feet long—one upon the
other. (Phil. Trans. Roy. Soc. Noy. 24, 1831, vol. cx xii. (for 1832,) pp. 126, and 158. Exz-
perimental Researches, etc. vol. i. art. 6, p. 2; and art. 57, p. 15.)
DISCOURSE OF W. B. TAYLOR. Zao
Henry's “Intensity” Magnet.—But Henry’s remarkable paper
of January, 1831, contains still another original contribution to the
theory and practice of electro-magnetics, no less important than his
invention of the magnetic spool. While Moll had endeavored to
induce strong magnetism by the use of a powerful “ quantity ”’ bat-
tery, Henry had labored to derive from a minimum galvanic power
its maximum magnetizing effect: and in his varied experiments on
these two factors, he discovered very curious and unsuspected rela-
tions between them. -. It was. found that with the small battery a shock could
be given from the current of the third order to twenty-five persons
joining hands; also shocks perceptible in the arms were obtained
from a current of the fifth order.” As Henry simply remarks:
“The induction of currents of different orders, of. sufficient inten-
sity to give shocks, could scarcely have been anticipated from our
previous knowledge of the subject.” By means of the small
magnetizing helix introduced into each circuit, the direction of
these successive currents was found to be alternating or reversed to
each other. These remarkable results were obtained in the summer
of 1838. *
The concluding section of this important memoir is occupied
with an account of “The production of induced currents of the
different orders, from ordinary electricity.” An open glass cylinder
about six inches in diameter was provided with two long narrow
strips of tin foil pasted around it in corresponding helical courses,
the one on the outside and the other on the inside, directly opposite
to each other. The inner coiled strip had its extremities connected
with insulated wires which formed a circuit outside the cylinder,
and included a small magnetizing helix. The outer tin foil strip
was also connected with wires so that an electrical discharge from a
half-gallon Leyden jar could be passed through it. The magneti-
zation of a small needle indicated an induced current through the
inner tin-foil ribbon corresponding in direction with the outer cur-
* Trans, Am. Phil. Soc. vol. vi. (n. 8.) p. 303,
250 MEMORIAL OF JOSEPH HENRY.
rent from the jar.* By means of a second glass cylinder similarly
provided with helical tin-foil ribbons in suitable connections, a ter-
tiary current of induction was obtained, analogous to that derived
from galvanism. ‘Also by the addition in the same way of a third
cylinder, a current of the fourth order was developed.”
Similar as these successive inductions from an electrical discharge
were to those previously observed in the case of the galvanic cur-
rent, they presented one puzzling difference in the direction of the
currents of the different orders. ‘These in the experiments with
the glass cylinders, instead of exhibiting the alternations of the gal-
vanic currents, were all in the same direction as the discharge from
the jar, or in other words they were all plus. On substituting for
the tinned glass cylinders, well insulated copper coils, “alternations
were found the same as in the case of galvanism.” ‘The only differ-
ence apparently between the: two arrangements, was that the tin-foil
ribbons were separated only by the thin glass of the cylinders, while
the copper spiral coils were placed an inch and a half apart. By
varied experiments, the direction of the induced currents was found
to depend notably on the distance between the conductors ;— the
induction ceasing at a certain distance, (according to the amount of
the charge and the characters of the conductors,) and the direction
of the induced current beyond this critical distance being contrary
to that of the primary current.* “With a battery of eight half-
gallon jars, and parallel wires about ten feet long, the change in the
direction did not take place ‘at a less distance than from twelve to
* About a year later, the distinguished German electrician PETER RIESs, appa-
rently unaware of HENRY’s researches, discovered the secondary current induced
from mechanical electricity, by a very similar experiment. (Poggendorff’s
Annalen der Physik und Chemie, 1839, No. 5, vol. xl vii. pp. 55-76.)
+The variation in the direction of polarization (without reference to induction
currents) appears to have been first noticed by FELIX SAVARY, some dozen years
before. In animportant memoir communicated to the Paris Academy of Sciences
July 81, 1826, M. Savary announced that “The direction of the magnetic polarity of
small needles exposed to an electric current directed along a wire stretched longi-
tudinally, varies with the distance of the wire:’—the action being found to be
periodical with the distance. M. Savary observed three periods, and also the fact
that the distances of maximum effect and of the nodal zeros ‘‘ vary with the length
and diameter of the wire, and with the intensity of the discharge.” He also found .
that “‘when a helix is used for magnetizing, the distance at which the needle placed
within it is from the conducting wire, is indifferent; but the direction and the de-
gree of magnetization depends on the intensity of the discharge, and on the ratio
between the length and size of the wire.” (Brewster’s Edinburgl Jour. Sci. Oct.
1826, vol. v. p. 369.)
DISCOURSE OF W. B. TAYLOR. 251
fifteen inches, and with a still larger battery and longer conductors,
no change was found although the induction was produced at the
distance of several feet.” With Dr. Hare’s battery of 32.one-gallon
jars, and a copper wire about one-tenth of an inch thick and 80 feet
long stretched across the lecture-room and back on either side toward
the battery, a second wire stretched parallel with the former for
about 35 feet and extended to form an independent circuit, (its ends
being connected with a small magnetizing helix,) was tested at vary-
ing distances beginning with a few inches until they were twelve
feet apart: at which distance of the parallel wire, its induction
though enfeebled, still indicated by its magnetizing power, a direc-
tion corresponding with the primary current. The form of the
room did not permit a convenient separation of the two circuits to
a greater distance.* .
The eminent French electrician Antoine C. Becquerel, in a chap-
ter on Induction in his large work, remarks: “Very recently M.
Henry, Professor of Natural Philosophy in New Jersey, has extended
the domain of this branch of physics: the results obtained by him
are of such importance, particularly in regard to the intensity of
the effects produced, that it is proper to expound them here with
some detail.” ‘Twenty pages are then devoted to these researches. +
A memoir was read before the Society, June 19th, 1840, giving
an account of observations on the two forms of induction occurring
on the making and on the breaking of the primary galvanic circuit,
the two differing in character as well as in direction. In these ex-
periments he employed a Daniell’s constant battery of 30 elements;
the battery being “sometimes used as a single series with all its
elements placed consecutively, and at others in two or three series,
arranged collaterally, so as to vary the quantity and intensity of
the electricity as the occasion might require.” As the initial induc-
tion had always been found so feeble as to be scarcely perceptible,
(although in quantity sufficient to affect the ordinary galvanometer
* Trans. Am, Phil. Soc., vol. vi. (n. 8.) art. ix. pp. 303-337. In' the Proceedings of
the Society for November 2d, 1838, when this memoir was read, it is recorded ‘' Pro-
fessor H&NRY made a verbal communication during the course of which he illus-
trated experimentally the phenomena developed in his paper.’ (Proceed. Am. Phil,
Soc. Nov. 2, 1838, vol. 1. pp. 54-56.)
+ Traité erpérimental de U Blectricité et du Magnétisme, vol. v. pp. 87-107.
252 MEMORIAL OF JOSEPH HENRY.
as much as the terminal induction;) most of' the ‘results: previously
obtained (such jas the detection of sudcessive orders of currents) were
derived from the strong inductions ‘at the moment of breaking the
circuit.» It became therefore important to endeavor: to intensify the
initial: induction for its more especial examination: and this it was
found could be effected in two ways, — by increasing the “intensity ”
of the battery, and by sajuabenteieat within aos dieu the length
of the primary coil. i ge
“With the current from one alenene the alioek ‘at thRekiae the
circuit was quite severe, but at making the same it was very feeble,
and could be perceived in the fingers only or through'the tongue.
With two:elements in the circuit the shock at the beginning was -
slightly increased: with three elements the increase was more decided,
while the shock at breaking the circuit remained nearly of the same
intensity: as. at first, or was. comparatively but’ little - increased.
When: the number of elements was increased to ten, the shock at
making contact was found fully equal to that at breaking, and by
employing a still greater number, the former was ‘decidedly: greater
than the latter, the difference continually increasing’ until all the
thirty elements were introduced into the circuit.» “+)'-+" --» Experi-
ments were next made to deterrnine the influence’ of a variation in
the length of the coil, the intensity of the battery remaining the
same.” For iis! purpose the battery consisting of a single element
“was employed ; and the length of the copper ribbon coil was suc-
cessively reduced from 60. feet, by measures of 15 feet. With 45
feet, the initial induction was stronger than with 60 feet: with the
next shorter length it was more perceptible, and increased in
intensity with each diminution of the coil, until a length of about
fifteen feet appeared to give a maximum ae ” At the same time
it was found that “the intensity of the shock at the ending of the
battery current diminishes with each diminution of the length of
the coil. - - - By the foregoing results we are evidently fur-
nished with two methods of increasing at pleasure the intensity of
the induction at the beginning of a battery current, the one con-
sisting in increasing the intensity of the source of the electricity,
and the other in diminishing the resistance to conduction of the
circuit while its intensity remains the same.”
DISCOURSE OF W: B. TAYLOR. ' 250
‘Having ‘thus succeeded ‘in exalting the initial induction, Henry
proceeded ‘in his ‘investigation. . Distinct currents of: ‘the third,
fourth, and fifth orders were readily obtained from it;:and as was
enticed arith their signs (or directions) the reverse of the cor-
responding: orders derived from the'terminal induction. In: other
respects “the: series of induced currents:produced at the beginning
of the primary current appeared to possess all the properties belong-
ing to those of. the induction at the ending of the same current.”
In the course of ‘these investigations. the. idea having occurred to
him “that the intense shocks given by the electric fish may possibly
be. from a secondary current, ” as’ it Appeared to him that “this is
- the only way in which we can conceive of such intense electricity
being produced i in organs imperfectly insulated and immersed in a
conducting medium,” he endeavored to simulate the effect by ar-
ranging a secondary \ wire coil furnished with terminal handles, over
a primary copper ribbon coil, the two being insulated as usual.
“By immersing the apparatus in a shallow vessel of water, the
handles being placed at the two extremities of the diameter of the
helix, and the hands plunged into the water parallel toa line j join-
ing the two poles, a shock i is felt through the arms.’
~The former experiment of obtaining an induction alae fin
one room to-another through a- partition, was repeated on a still
larger scale. All the coils of copper ribbon having been united in
a single continuous conductor of about 400 feet in length, “this
was rolled: into a ring of five and a half feet in diameter, and sus-
pended vertically against the inside of the large folding doors which
‘separate the laboratory ftom the lecture-room. Beyond the doors,
in the lecture-room and directly opposite the coil, was placed a helix
formed of upwards of a mile of copper wire, one-sixteenth of an
inch in. thickness, and wound into a hoop of four feet in diameter.
With this arrangement, and a battery of 147 square feet of zine
surface divided into eight elements, shocks were. perceptible in. the
tongue when the two conductors were separated to the distance of
nearly seven feet. At the distance of between three and four feet, the
shocks were quite severe. The exhibition was rendered more inter-
esting by causing the induction to take place through a number of
persons standing in a row between the two conductors.”
254 _ MEMORIAL OF JOSEPH HENRY.
The second section of the memoir is mainly oceupied with details
of experiments on the screening effect of conducting plates (of non-
magnetic metals) when interposed between, the primary and second-
ary coils; showing remarkable contrasts in the “quantity” and
“intensity” classes of galvanic effects. When the annular spool
or helix (of nearly one mile of copper wire) was employed with the
large spiral coil of copper ribbon, “the coil being connected with a
battery of ten elements, the shocks both at making and breaking
the circuit were very severe; and these as usual were almost entirely
neutralized by the interposition of the zinc plate. But when the
galvanometer instead of the body, was introduced into the circuit,
its indications were the same whether the plate was interposed or
not: or in other words the galvanometer indicated no screening,
while under the same circumstances the shocks were neutralized.
A similar effect was observed when the galvanometer and the mag-
netizing helix were together introduced into the circuit. The
interposition of the plate entirely neutralized the magnetizing
power of the helix (in reference to tempered steel) while the deflec-
tions of the galvanometer were unaffected.” The induction currents
of the third, fourth, and fifth orders, were found to be of consid-
erable “ intensify: —-magactieine steel needles, giving shocks, not
being interrupted by a drop of water placed in the circuit between
the ends of the severed wire,—and yet being screened or neutral-
ized by a metallic plate interposed between the coils.*
A continuation of the memoir was read before the Philosophical
Society November 20th, 1840, discussing further the theoretical
differences between an oa or an increasing galvanic current, and
a decreasing or an arrested current, in producing the phenomena of
induction, On the same occasion Henry described “an apparatus
for producing a reciprocating motion by the repulsion in the consec-
utive parts of a conductor through which a galvanic current is
passing.” About ten years before, he had devised the first electro-
magnetic engine (operating by intermittent magnetic attractions and
repulsions); and now he had contrived the first galvanic engine,
operating by the analogous intermittent attractions and repulsions
of the electric current.t
* Trans. Am. Phil. Soc. June 1840, vol. viii. (n. s.) art. 1. ‘pp. 1-18.
+ Proceedings Am. Phil. Soc. Novy. 20, 1840, vol. i. p. 801.
DISCOURSE OF W. B. TAYLOR. 255
Oscillation of Electrical Discharge.—In June, 1842, he presented a
communication to the Society recounting an investigation of some
anomalies in ordinary electrical induction. While with the larger
needles (“ No. 3 and No. 4’’) subjected to the magnetizing helix, the
polarity was always conformable to the direction of the discharge,
he found that when very fine needles were employed, an increase in
the force of the electricity produced changes of polarity. About a
thousand needles were magnetized in the testing helices in these
researches. Sige: ;
This puzzling phenomenon was finally cleared up by the important
discovery that an electrical equilibrium was not instantaneously
effected by the spark, but that it was attained only after several
oscillations of the flow. “The discharge—whatever may be its
nature, is not correctly represented by the single transfer from one
side of the jar to the other: the phenomena require us to admit the
existence of a principal discharge in one direction, and then several
reflex actions backward and forward, each more feeble than the pre-
ceding, until the equilibrium is obtained.”* In every case therefore
of the electrostatic discharge, the testing needles were really sub-
jected to an oscillating alternation of currents, and consequently to
successive partial de-magnetizations and re-magnetizations. The
complications produced by this residual action, satisfactorily ex-
plained for the first time, the discordant results obtained by different
investigators. This singular reflux of current was ingeniously ap-
plied by Henry to explain the apparent change of inductive current
with differing distances. Should the primitive discharge wave be
in excess of the magnetic capacity of the needle at a given position,
the return wave might be just sufficient to completely reverse its
polarity, and the diminished succeeding wave insufficient to restore
it to its former c6ndition; while at a greater distance, the primitive
wave might be so far reduced as to just magnetize the needle fully,
* Proceedings Am. Phil. Soc. June 17, 1842, vol. ii. pp. 193-196.— Prof. HERMANN IL.
F. IIgLMHOLTz some five years later (in 1847), but quite independently, suggested
“a backward and forward motion between the coatings’? when the Leyden Jar is
discharged. (Scientific Memoirs, edited by Dr. J. Tyndall, 1853, vol. i. p. 143.) And still
five years later (in 1852) Sir WILLIAM THOMSON made the same independent conjec-
ture. (L. E. D. Phil. Mag. June, 1858, vol. v. pp. 400, 401.) To FELIX SAVARY however
is due the credit of having first advanced the hypothesis of electrical oscillations,
as early as 1827. See Supplement,” NoTE F.
256 MEMORIAL OF JOSEPH HENRY.
and the second wave, being still more enfeebled, would only partially
de-magnetize it, leaving still a portion of the original polarity ; and
so for the ellewine diminished oscillations.
In the course of these extended researches the presence of inductive
action was traced to most surprising and unimagined distances. “A.
single spark from the prime conductor of the machine, of about an
inch long, thrown on the end of a circuit of wire in an upper room,
produced an induction sufficiently powerful to magnetize needles in
a parallel circuit of wire placed in the cellar beneath, at a perpen-
dicular distance of thirty feet, with two floors and ceilings—each
fourteen inches thick intervening.” .
“The last part of the series of ton dears relates to induced
currents from atmospheric electricity. By a very simple arrange-
ment, needles are strongly magnetized in the author’s study, even
when the flash is at the distance of seven or eight miles, and when
the thunder is scarcely audible. On this principle he proposes a
simple self-registering electrometer, connected with an elevated
exploring rod.” For obtaining the results above alluded to, a
thick wire was soldered to the edge of the tin roof of his dwelling
and passed into his study through a hole in the window frame;
while a similar wire passing out to the ground, terminated in con-
nection with a metal plate in a deep well close by. Between the
wire ends within his study, various apparatus, including magnetiz-
ing helices of different sizes and characters, could be attached, so as
to be within the line of conduction from the roof to the ground.
The inductions from atmospheric discharges were found to have the
oscillatory character observed with the Leyden jar; and by inter-
posing several magnetizing helices with few and with many con-
volutions, Henry was able to get from a needle in the former
the polarity due to the direct current, and in thé latter, that due
to the return current; thus catching the lightning (as it were) upon
the rebound.
In examining the “lateral discharge” from a lightning-rod in
good connection with the earth, he had often observed that while a
spark could be obtained sufficiently strong to be distinctly felt, it
scarcely affected in the slightest degree a delicate gold-leaf electro-
scope. How explain so incongruous a phenomenon? Henry
DISCOURSE OF W. B. TAYLOR. 257
discovered the very simple solution, by a reference to the self-induc-
tion of the rod,—a negative wave passing, succeeded immediately
by a positive wave so rapidly as to completely neutralize the effect
upon the electroscope before the inertia of the gold-leaf could be
overcome, while actually producing a double spark (sensibly co-in-
cident) to and from the recipient.
A few months later, “he had succeeded in magnetizing needles by
the secondary current, in a wire more than two hundred and twenty
feet distant from the wire through which the primary current was
passing, excited by a single spark from an electrical machine.”*
In this case the primary wire was his telegraph line stretched seven
years before across the campus of the college grounds in front of
Nassau Hall; the secondary or induction wire being suspended in
a parallel direction across the grounds at the rear of Nassau Hall,
with its ends terminating in buried metallic plates:—the large
building intervening between the two wires.
This brilliant series of contributions to our knowledge of a most
recondite and mysterious agent, placed Henry, by the concurrent
judgment of all competent physicists, in the very front rank of
original investigators.. His persevering researches in the electrical
paradoxes of induction, perhaps more than any similar ones, tended
to strengthen the hypothesis of an etherial dynamic agency; although
he himself had for a long time been inclined to favor the material
hypothesis, f
INVESTIGATIONS IN GENERAL PHYSICS: FROM 1830 TO 1846.
In order to give a proper connection to the experimental inqui-
ries undertaken by Henry in various fields, it is necessary to pause
here, and to recur to some of his earlier scientific labors,— begin-
ning again at Albany.
* Proceedings Am. Phil. Soc. Oct. 21, 1842, vol. fi. p. 229. Itis barely possible that
the primary current might have returned through the second wire.
tIn a paper ‘On the Theory of the so-called Imponderables” published some
years later, in referring to the phenomena of electrical oscillation in discharge, and
of the series of inductions taking place and “extending toa surprising distance on
all sides,” he remarks: “As these are the results of currents in alternate directions,
they must produce in surrounding space a series of plus and minus motions, anal-
ogous to—if not identical with undulations.” (Proceed. Amer. Association, Albany,
Aug. 1851, p. 89.)
17
258 MEMORIAL OF JOSEPH HENRY.
Meteorology. F rom an early date Henry took a deep interest
in the study of meteorology: not only on account of its practical
importance, but from its relation to cosmical physics, and because
from the very complexity and irregularity of its conditions, it
‘challenged further investigation and stood in need of larger gener-
alizations.. His early association with Dr. T. Romeyn Beck in
the first development of the system of meteorological observations
established in the State of New York, has already been referred to
in the sketch of his “Early Career.” (Page 212.) ‘This active and
zealous co-operation continued from 1827 to 1832; or as long as he
resided in Albany.
In September of 1830, he commenced a series of observations
for Professor Renwick of Columbia College, to determine the
magnetic intensity at Albany. With the assistance of his brother-
in-law, Professor Stephen Alexander, these observations were con-
tinued daily for two months.* In April, 1831, a second serics of
observations was commenced; in the course of which his attention,
was attracted by a great disturbance of the needle during the
time of a conspicuous “aurora” on the 19thof April, 1831. At
noon of the 19th the oscillations were found to be perfectly accord-
ant with previous ones, but at 6 o’clock Pp. M. a remarkable increase
of magnetic intensity was indicated. At 10 o’clock of the same
evening, during the most active manifestation of the aurora, the
oscillations of the needle were again examined. “ Instead of still
indicating as at 6 o’clock an uncommonly high degree of magnetic
intensity, it now showed an intensity considerably lower than usual.”
Thus, designating the normal intensity at the place as unity, at 6
o’clock it had increased to 1,024, and at 10 o’clock had subsided to
0.993, which according to Hansteen’s observations is the usual
*The needles employed in these observations were a couple received by Professor
RENWICK from Capt, SABINE,—one of which had belonged to Professor HANSTEEN
of Norway. ‘‘They were suspended according to the method of Hansteen in a small
mahogany box, by asingle fiber of raw silk. The box was furnished with a glass
cover, and had a graduated arc of ivory on the bottom to mark the amplitude of the
vibrations, In using this apparatus, the timeof three hundred vibrations was noted
by a quarter-second watch, well regulated to mean time; a register being made at
the end of every tenth vibration, and a mean deduced from the whole, taken as the
true time of the three hundred vibrations, Experiments carefully made with this
apparatus were found susceptible of considerable accuracy ;”’ the individual observa-
tions not differing from the mean number, ordinarily more than one- ‘thousandth.
(Silliman’s Am. Jour. Sci. April, 1832, vol. xxii. p. 145.)
DISCOURSE OF W. B. TAYLOR. 259
relation of magnetic disturbance by an aurora.* An account of
these results was communicated by Henry to the Albany Institute,
January 26, 1832; and was also published in the Report of the
Regents of the New York University. A little more than a month
later (to wit on March 6, 1832,) he.had been able to collate the
various published accounts of this aurora; and he learned “ the fact
of a disturbance of terrestrial magnetism being observed by Mr.
Christie in England on the same evening, and at nearly the same
time the disturbance was witnessed in Albany, and that too in con-
nection with the appearance of an aurora.” This circumstance led
him to make a careful comparison of the notices of auroral displays
given in the meteorological reports in the Annals of Philosophy for
1830 and 1831, with those of the Reports of the New York
Regents for the same period. “ By inspecting these two publica-
tions it was seen that from April, 1830, to April, 1831, inclusive,
the aurora was remarkably frequent and brilliant both in Europe
and in this country; and that most of the auroras described in the
Annals for this time, particularly the brilliant ones, were seen on
the same evening in England and in the State of New York.”
From which he argues that “these simultaneous appearances of the
meteor in Europe and America would therefore seem to warrant the
conclusion. that the aurora borealis cannot be classed among the
ordinary local meteorological phenomena, but that it must be referred
to some cause connected with the general physical principles of the
globe; and that the more. energetic action of this cause (whatever
it may be) affects simultaneously a greater pons of the northern
hemisphere.” +
In attempting to classify and digest the meteorological data
within his reach, Henry became strongly impressed with the
necessity of much more extensive, continuous, and systematic obser-
vations than any as yet undertaken: and he neglected no oppor-
tunities of directing influence upon the minds of our national
*Professor HANSTEEN has remarked that ‘A short time before the aurora
borealis appears, the intensity of the magnetism of the earth is apt to rise to an un-
common height; but so soon as the aurora borealis begins, in proportion as its force
in¢reases, the intensity of the magnetism of the earth decreases, recovering its
former strength by degrees, often not till the end of twenty-four hours.” (Edinburgh
Philosoph. Jour. Jan. 1825, vol. xii. p. 91.)
{ Silliman’s Am. Jour. Sci, April, 1832, vol. xxii. pp. 150-155.
260 MEMORIAL OF JOSEPH HENRY. .
legislators, to impress them with the great need—as well as the
practical policy of prosecuting the subject by governmental
resources. No one at that day seemed so fully awake both to the
importance and to the methods of prosecuting such inquiry: and
no one more effectually advanced both by direct and by indirect.
exertions the wide-spread interest in this study, than he.
In 1839, while at Princeton, he in conjunction with his friend
Professor Bache, induced the American Philosophical Society
officially to memorialize the National Government to establish
stations for magnetic and meteorological observations: a movement
which was partly successful, though not to the extent desired. On
the subject of international systems of observation and register, he
justly remarks at a later date: “In order that the science of
meteorology may be founded on reliable data, and attain that rank
which its importance demands, it is necessary that extended systems
of co-operation should be established. In regard to climate, no
part of the world is isolated: that of the smallest island in the
Pacific, is governed by the general currents. of the air and the
waters of the ocean. To fully understand therefore the causes
which influence the climate of any one country, or any one place,
it will be necessary to study the conditions, as to heat, moisture, and
the movements of the air, of all others. It is evident also that as
far as possible, one method should be adopted, and that instruments
affording the same indications under the same conditions should be
employed. - - - A general plan of this kind, for observing
the meteorological and magnetical changes, more extensively than
had ever before been projected, was digested by the British Asso-
ciation in 1838, in which the principal Governments of Europe
were induced to take an active part; and had that of the United
States, and those of South America, joined in the enterprise, a series
of watch-towers of nature would have been distributed over every
part of the earth, - - - Though the Government of the
United States took no part with the other nations of the earth, in
the great system before described, yet it has established and sup-
ported for a number of years a partial system of observation at the
different military posts of the army.” *
* Agricultural Report of Commissioner of Patents, for 1855. pp. 367, 368.
DISCOURSE OF W. B. TAYLOR. 261
A large collection of original notes of various meteorological
observations,— on magnetic variations, on auroras with attempts at
ascertaining their extreme height, on violent whirlwinds, on hail-
stones, on thunder-storms, and the deportment of lightning-rods,—
unfortunately never published nor transcribed, were lost (with
much other precious scientific material) by fire in 1865. The phe-
nomena of thunder-storms were always studied by Henry with
great interest and attention. A very severe one which visited
Princeton on the evening of July 14, 1841, was minutely described
in a communication to the American Philosophical Society, Novem-
ber 5th, 1841. * |
On November 3d, 1843, he made a communication to the Society
“in regard to the application of Melloni’s thermo-electric apparatus
to meterological purposes, and explained a modification of the parts
connected with the pile, to which he had been Jed in the course of
his researches. He had found the vapors near the horizon, powerful
reflectors of heat; but in the case of a distant thunder-storm, he had
found that the cloud was colder than the adjacent blue space.” {
On June 20, 1845, he read a paper before the Society on “a
simple method of protecting from lightning, buildings covered |
with metallic roofs ;” urging the importance in such cases of having
the vertical rain pipes always in good electrical connection with the
earth, since “on the principle of electrical induction, houses thus
covered are evidently more liable to be struck than those furnished
either with shingle or tile. It is of course necessary to have the
metallic roof in good metallic connection with the gutters and
pipes; and the latter may conveniently have soldered to the lower
end a ribbon of sheet copper two or three inches wide, continuing
into the ground surrounded with charcoal and extending out from
the house till it terminates in moist ground. {
* Proceed. Am. Phil. Soc. vol. ii. pp. 111-116.
+ Proceed. Am. Phil. Soc. vol. iv. p. 22.
{ Proceed. Am. Phil. Soc. vol. iv. p. 179. HENRY appears to have been much im-
pressed with the conducting value of the tinned sheet-iron pipes commonly used
as rain spouts, from observing that amid the strange vagaries of the circuitous
path pursued by the lightning (in cases of houses struck by this destructive
agent), the rain pipe was not unfrequently selected as part of the route;—marks
of explosive violence being exhibited at its lower end, and sometimes at its top
as well,— while the pipe itself was found to be uninjured.
262 MEMORIAL OF JOSEPH HENRY.
In this paper he incidentally meets the much debated question
whether a lightning-rod is efficient as a conductor by its solidity, or
by its surface only. While he had been able to magnetize small
needles placed transversely to the edges of broad strips of copper,
through which electrical discharges were passed, he could obtain no
signs of magnetism in needles when placed transversely near the
sides of such strips about mid-way from the edges. In like man-
ner he failed to discover any action in a small magnetizing helix
placed within a section of gas-pipe and connected with it at either
end, when transmitting through the system an electrical spark;
while he easily obtained magnetic effects with a galvanic current
passed through the same arrangement.* From these and other
experiments he was led to believe that mechanical electricity tends
to pass mainly along the exterior surface of a conductor, and accord-
ingly that Ohm’s law of conduction is not applicable to lightning
or mechanical electricity. f
Some popular uneasiness having been excited i in 1846, in conse-
quence of telegraph poles being occasionally struck by lightning,
and of the supposed danger to travellers along highways likely to
result therefrom, a communication on the subject addressed to Dr.
Patterson, one of the Vice-Presidents of the American Philosophical
Society, was read before the Society, and referred to Professor
Henry for report. This was in the very infancy of the electro-
magnetic telegraph; as it had not then been in existence more than
a couple of years. Henry responded in a communication read
June 19th, 1846, to the effect that while telegraph wires as long
conductors were eminently liable to receive discharges of atmos-
pheric electricity both from charged clouds and from the varying
electrical condition of the air at distant points along the line (as for
*In passing a galvanic current through an iron tube, he obtained the evidence
of an induction from both the inside and the outside of the tube, but in opposite
directions.
+ This very important question cannot be regarded as even yet decisively:
settled:—eminent authorities maintaining that electricity in jsjlow—of whatever
origin—observes equally the ratio of proportionality to area of cross section in
the conductor. Probably the law of conductivity varies with circumstances,
RircHig£ remarks that “if a metallic rod be raised to a red heat, its power of
conducting common electricity is increased, whilst its conducting power for
voltaic electricity 1s considerably diminished,’”’ (Journal of the Royal Institution
of Great Britain, Oct. 1830, vol. i. (n. 8.) p. 37.)
. DISCOURSE OF W. B. TAYLOR. 265
pression is found by experiment to differ very little from that of
water contained in a vessel,” * all the most popular text-books on
physics continued to teach that the cohesion of the liquid state is
intermediate between that of the solid and the gaseous states.¢ It
seemed therefore desirable to test the question by some more direct
means than the resistance of liquids contained in closed vessels ; and
for this purpose Henry employed the classical soap-bubble. ‘The
effect of dissolving the soap in the water is not as might at first
appear, to increase the molecular attraction, but to diminish the
mobility of the molecules.” In fact the actual tenacity of pure water
is greater than that of soap-water.
The first set of experiments was directed to determine “the
quantity of water which adhered to a bubble just before it burst.”
The second set of experiments was devised to measure the contractile
force of a soap-bubble blown on the wider end of a U-shaped glass
tube half filled with water, by the barometric column sustained in
the narrower stem of the tube; the difference of level being care-
fully observed by means of a microscope. The thickness of the
soap-bubble film at its top was estimated by the last of the Newton
rings shown previous to bursting. . The result arrived at from both
sets of experiments was that water instead of having a cohesion of
53 grains to the square inch (as was very commonly stated), ‘has a
cohesive force of several hundred pounds to the inch; or that the
inter-molecular cohesion of a liquid is fully equal to that of the sub-
stance in the solid state. {
* Young’s Lectures on Nat. Philos. Lect. 50, vol. i. p. 627.
+“If we attempt to draw up from the surface of water a circular disk of metal
say of an inch in diameter, we shall see that the water will adhere and be supported
several lines above the general surface. This experiment which is frequently given
in elementary books as a measure of the feeble attraction of water for itself, is im-
properly interpreted. It merely indicates the force of attraction of a single film of
atoms around the perpendicular surface, and not of the whole column elevated.”
(Agricultural Report for 1857. p. 427.— Henry’s paper on Meteorology.)
t Proceed. Am. Phil. Soc. April 5 and May 17, 1844, vol.iv. pp. 56, 57,and 84, 85. The
original notes of these interesting experiments containing the numerical results
obtained under a great variety of conditions, laid aside for further reductions and
comparisons, were destroyed by fire in 1865. Since the density of most solid sub-
stances differs very slightly from that of their liquid state, being indeed less in
many,—unless at considerably lower temperatures, (as in the case of ice, and most
of the metals,) it appears quite improbable that the difference between solidity and
liquidity could depend in any case on the degree of cohesion. On the contrary, the
cohesion of water should be sensibly greater than that of ice, since its constituent
266 MEMORIAL OF JOSEPH HENRY.
In 1846, he presented to the Philosophical Society an epitome of
his views on the molecular constitution of matter; giving the
reasons for accepting the atomic hypothesis of Newton. He pointed
out that the discovery and establishment of a general scientific prin-
ciple “is in almost all cases the result of deductions from a rational
antecedent hypothesis, the product of the imagination ; founded it
is true on a clear analogy with modes of physical action, the truth
of which has been established by previous investigation:” and he
urged that the hope of further advancement lies in the assumption
“that the same laws of force and motion which govern the phenomena .
of the action of matter in masses, pertains to the minutest atoms of
these masses.” He therefore felt “obliged to assume the existence
of an etherial medium formed of atoms which are endowed with
rears the same properties as those we have assigned to common
matter.”
“According to the foregoing rules we may assume with Newton,
the existence of one kind of matter diffused throughout all space,
and existing in four states, namely the etherial, the aeriform, the
liquid, and the solid.”* [In referring to this postulated fourfold
state of matter, Henry was accustomed to point out the remarkable
analogy between this conception, and that of the four elements of
the ancients, — fire, air, water, and earth. |
“Tn conclusion, it should be ane that the Tesitiintetat use of
speculations of this kind, is not to furnish plausible explanations
of known phenomena, or to present old knowledge én a new and
more imposing dress, but to serve the higher purpose of suggesting
new experiments and new phenomena, and thus to assist in enlarg-
ing the bounds of science, and extending the power of mind over
matter; and unless. the hypothesis can be employed in this way,
however much ingenuity may have been expended in its construc-
tion, it can only be considered as a scientific romance worse than
molecules are closer together. Of the natureof that “lateral adhesion” which resists
the flow of solids (excepting under the conditions of great strain— long continued),
and whose absence is marked in liquids by their almost perfect and frictionless mo-
bility, our present science affords us no intimation, :
*T wo hundred years ago, NEWTON speculating on the unity of matter, ventured
the suggestion, ‘Thus perhaps may all things be originated from sether.”—Letter to
the Secretary of the Royal Society—Henry Oldenburg, January, 1676. (History of
the Royal Society : by Thomas Birch, vol. iii. p. 250. )
DISCOURSE OF W. B. TAYLOR. 263
example even by a fog or precipitation of vapor at one station) as
also from induction at a distance, the danger to travellers along a
telegraph road would be very slight, unless a person should be
standing or passing quite close to a pole at the moment of its being
struck. He however recommended that for the protection of the
poles, they should be provided with conductors. “The effects of
powerful discharges from the clouds may be prevented in a great
degree by erecting at intervals along the line and beside the support-
ing poles a metallic wire connected with the earth at the lower end,
and terminating above at the distance of about half an inch from the
wire of the telegraph. By this arrangement, the insulation of the
conductor will not be interfered with, while the greater portion of
the charge will be drawn off. I think this precaution of great
importance at places where the line crosses a river and is supported
_ on high poles. Also in the vicinity of the office of the telegraph,
where a discharge falling on the wire near the station might send a
current into the house of sufficient quantity to produce serious acci-
dents.” * This precaution has now been largely adopted, especially
on the telegraph lines of the central portion of the United States,
which are more liable to the effects of lightning.t
Molecular Physics. — Among other inquiries many original exam-
inations were made by Henry in the domain of molecular physics.
While Professor in the College of New Jersey in 1839, his attention
was attracted to a curious case of metallic capillarity. A small lead
tube about eight inches long happening to be left with a bent end
lying in a shallow dish of mercury, he noticed a few days afterward
that the mercury had disappeared from the dish, and was spread
on the shelf about the other end of the tube. On a careful exam-
ination of the tube by incision, it appeared that the mercury had not
passed along the open canal of the tube, but had percolated through
its solid substance. To test this, a solid rod of lead about one-
fourth of an inch thick and seven inches long was bent into a siphon
form, and the shorter end immersed in a small shallow vessel of
mercury ; a similar empty vessel being placed under the longer end.
* Proceed. Am. Phil. Soc. vol. iv. p. 266.
+Prescott. Electricity and the Electric Telegraph, 8vo. N. York, 1877, chap. xxiii.
pp. 296 and 411.
264 MEMORIAL OF JOSEPH HENRY. ,
Tn the course of 24 hours a globule of mercury was found at+the
lower end of the lead rod; and in five or six days it had all passed
over excepting what appeared in the form of crystals of a lead
amalyam in the upper vessel.* A long piece of thick lead wire
was afterward suspended in a vertical position, with its lower end
dipping into a cup of mercury. In the course of a few days, traces
of the mercury were found in the rod at the height of three feet
above the cup: thus showing that a metal impervious to water or
oil (excepting under very great pressure) was easily penetrated to
great distances by a liquid metal.
Some years later on a visit to Philadelphia he endeavored with
the assistance of his friend Dr. Patterson (then Director of the
United States Mint), by melting a small globule of gold on a plate
of clean sheet-iron, to obtain its capillary absorption; but without
effect; probably owing to the interposition of a thin film of oxide. |
Applying to another personal friend, Mr. Cornelius of Philadelphia,
a very intelligent and ingenious manufacturer of bronzes, and plated
ornaments for chandeliers, etc. to try whether a piece of silver-plated
copper heated to the melting point of silver would show any absorp-
tion of that metal, he learned that it was a common experience under
such circumstances to find the silver disappear; but that this had
always been attributed to a volatilization of the silver, or in the
-workman’s phrase,—to its being “burnt off.” At Henry’s request
the experiment was tried: the heated end of a silver-plated piece
of copper exhibited on cooling and cleaning, a copper surface; the
other end remaining unchanged. Henry next had the copper sur-
face slightly dissolved off by immersion for a few minutes in a
solution of muriate of zinc, when as he had anticipated, the silver
was again exposed, having penetrated to but a very short and toler-
ably uniform distance below the original surface. ¢
In 1844, he made some important observations on the cohesion
of liquids. Notwithstanding that Dr. Young early in the century
maintained that “the immediate cause of solidity as distinguished
from liquidity is the lateral adhesion of the particles to each other,”
and had shown that “the. resistance of ice to extension or com-
* Proceed. Am. Phil. Soc. vol. i. p. 82.
+ Proceed. Am. Phil. Soc. June 20, 1845, vol. iy. p. 177.
DISCOURSE OF W. B. TAYLOR. 267
useless, since it, tends to satisfy the mind with the semblance of truth,
and thus to render truth itself less an object of desire.” *
Tight and Heat.— Henry also made important investigations on
some peculiar phenomena connected with light and heat. For the
purpose of experimenting on sun-light he devised in 1840, a very
simple form of heliostat, based on the suggestion of Dr. Young,
whereby the solar ray was received into an upper room in a direc-
tion parallel to the earth’s axis, by means of a simple equatorial
movement of the reflector ;{ which was effected by the aid of a
common cheap pocket watch placed on a small hinged board set by
a screw to the angle of latitude. The mirror mounted on a swivel
and properly balanced, presented no sensible resistance to the run-
ning of the watch, which was arranged for the 24-hour rotation by
a watchmaker of Princeton. The whole cost of the completed in-
strument (including the time-movement) was but sixteen dollars.
If any particular direction of the ray was required, it was only
necessary to place a stationary mirror in the fixed path of the ray,
adjusted to the desired angle. {
In 1841, on repeating experiments of Becquerel and Biot on
“ Phosphorescence,” he discovered some new characteristics in the
emanation (particularly when excited by electrical light) which had
not before been observed.§ ‘These were more fully detailed in a
communication made to the American Philosophical Society, in
1843, “On Phosphorogenic Emanation.” This phenomenon had
been first observed in the diamond, when taken into a dark room
immediately after exposure to direct sunlight, or to a vivid electric
spark; and was afterward observed in several other substances,—
notably in the chloride of calcium —“ Homberg’s phosphorus.”’||
It had also been shown by Becquerel that while this phosphores-
* Proceed. Am. Phil. Soc. Nov. 6, 1846, vol. iv. pp. 287-290.
+ Dr. Young's Lectures on Nat. Phil. lect. xxxvi. vol. i. p. 426. LESSEE helio-
stat appears to have been first suggested by FAHRENHEIT.
{ Proceed. Am, Phil. Soc. Sept. 17, 1841, vol. li. p. 97.
@ Proceed. Am. Phil. Soc. April 16, 1841, vol. ii. p. 46.
| HompBera’s phosphorus is a calcium chloride prepared by melting one part of
sal ammoniac (ammonic chloride) with two parts of slaked lime. CANTON’sS phos-
phorus isacalcium sulphide formed by a mixture of three parts of sifted and cal-
cined oyster shells, and one part of flowers of sulphur, exposed for an hour to astrong
heat.
268 | MEMORIAL OF JOSEPH HENRY.
cence may be fully excited in the sensitive body by rays which
have passed through transparent sulphate of lime, or through
quartz, the effect is entirely arrested by a plate of transparent mica,
or glass.* Henry by a long series of experiments greatly ex-
tended these lists, including in them a large number of liquids.
He also subjected both the exciting rays (especially that of the elec-
tric spark), and the luminous emanation, to various treatment, by
reflection, refraction, polarization,'etc. The Nicol prism was found
to obstruct this peculiar exciting ray so much as to permit scarcely
any impression; but what was remarkable and unexpected, a pile
of thin mica plates which seemed to cut off entirely the phosphoro-
genic impression, was found’ when placed obliquely at the best
polarizing angle, to distinctly excite a surviving luminous spot.
On examination of the phosphorescence excited by polarized light,
no effect was perceived by a rotation of the analyzer: “when the
beam was transmitted through crystals in different directions with
reference to their optical axis, no difference could be observed.”
The phosphorescence was completely depolarized, as if taking an
entirely new origin in the sensitive substance: a fact re-discovered
by Professor George G. Stokes some ten years later, with regard to
fluorescent emanations.
That the phosphorogenic effect docs not depend on a heating of
the substance, appeared to be shown by the fact that “the lime
becomes as luminous under a plate of alum as under a plate of
rock-salt.”” ‘The emanation was examined by a prism of rock-
crystal, and by one of rock-salt : science had not then the spectro-
scope. While the impression could be readily made by a reflected
beam from a metallic mirror, it failed entirely when directed from
a looking-glass. The luminous effect on the phosphorescent sub-
stance was found to be defined in location by the form ‘of the open-
ing made in sheet-metal screens. Different portions of the electric
spark being tested by means of a narrow. slit in the screen, the
two. terminals of the spark were found to be much more active (as
measured by the subsequent duration of the phosphorescence) than
the middle portion. By a suitable arrangement of double screens
* That there should be such a difference between quartz and glass or mica, is cer-
tainly a remarkable circumstance,
DISCOURSE OF W. B. TAYLOR. 269
with three slits each, he was able to make simultancous star-like
“photographs” on the substance, of the two extreme portions of the
spark and of a middle point: and while the latter point “exhibited
a feeble phosphorescence for two or three seconds” only, the two
former “continued to glow for more than a minute:” and yet the
middle of the spark appeared to the eye quite as vivid as its ex-
tremities.. It was also observed that while a sensitive daguerreo-
type plate received no impression from the electric spark, inversely -
another similar plate exposed for several minutes to the direct light
of the full moon received a photographic impression, while the
lime similarly exposed, exhibited no phosphorescence.* °
As.a striking illustration of the closely allied phenomenon of
fluorescence, Henry was afterward accustomed on the occurrence
of a bright aurora, to expose a sheet of paper written or figured
with a solution of bisulphate of quinia to the auroral light, when
the characters (quite invisible by lamp-light or even by day-light)
‘would distinctly glow with a pale blue light; — indicating the
electrical nature of the meteor.
In January, 1845, in conjunction with Professor Stephen Alex-
ander, he instituted a series of experimental observations on the
relative heat-radiating power of the solar spots. On the 4th of
January a large spot through which our terrestrial globe could have
been freely dropped, (having been estimated at more than 10,000
miles in diameter,) favorably situated near the middle of the disk,
was examined with a telescope of four inches aperture. A screen
having been arranged in a dark room, with a thermo-electric
apparatus behind it and having its terminal or pile just projecting
through ahole in the screen, the image of the spot was received upon
it, giving a clearly defined outline about two inches long and one
inch and a half wide. By a slight motion of the telescope the spot
could readily be thrown on or off the end of the pile as desired. A
considerable number of observations indicated very clearly by the
* Proceed. Am, Phil. Soc. May 26, 1843, vol. iii. pp. 38-44. This interesting but ob-
scure subject although apparently connected with the phenomenon of ‘fluores-
cence”’ has yet an entirely distinct phase in its abnormal continuance of lumin-
osity,—similar to the familiar effect of a thermal impression. It is possible how-
ever that the conversion of wave-periodicity (wave-length), shown by Stokes to be
the characteristic of fluorescence, may require time for its full development.
270 MEMORIAL OF JOSEPH HENRY.
differing deflections of the galvanometer needle “that the*spot
emitted less heat than the surrounding parts of the luminous disk.” *
A brief account of the results obtained by these researches given in
a letter to his friend Sir David Brewster, was read by the latter
at the Cambridge Meeting of the British Association in June, 1845.
The determinations arrived at have been. fully confirmed by the
later observations of Secchi and others. {
In 1845, he contributed a paper to the Princeton Review, on
“Color Blindness ;” which although in the modest form of a literary
review of two Memoirs then recently published, (that of Sir David
Brewster in the Philosophical Magazine; and that of Professor Elie
Wartman, of Lausanne, in the Scientific Memoirs,) supplied
original observations on this interesting department of the physi-
ology of vision.
Miscellaneous Contributions—Henry’s miscellaneous contribu-
tions to’ physical science are so numerous and varied, that only a
brief allusion to some of them can be afforded. In 1829, he
published quite an elaborate “Topographical sketch of the State of
New .York, designed chiefly to show the general elevations and
depressions of its surface.Ӥ , And in later years he devoted much
attention to physical geography. He also made some geological
explorations and observations in the State of New York. He per-
formed at various times a good deal of chemical work (chiefly of
an analytical character), —first as Dr. T, Romeyn Beck’s assistant, ||
* Proceed. Am, Phil. Soc. June 20, 1845, vol. iv. pp. 173-176,
+ Report Brit. Assoc, 1845, part ii. p. 6.
{P. ANGELo SEccHI—during the years 1848 and 1849, (then a young man of thirty,)
was Professor of Mathematics at the College of Georgetown, D. C, and in the pre-
paration of his ‘‘ Researches on Electrical Rheometry,” published in the third
volume of the Smithsonian Contributions, (art. ii, 60 pp.) he received from Henry the
friendly ‘assistance of apparatus and suggestions. It is interesting to refer to
Henry’s introduction: of Professor Secchi’s first researches to the attention of the
Regents of the Smithsonian Institution, when the name was as yet wholly un-.
known to the scientific world. ‘Another memoir is by Professor Secchi, a young
Italian of much ingenuity. and learning, a member of Georgetown College. It’
consists of a new mathematical investigation of the reciprocal action of two
galvanic currents on each other, and of the action of a current on the pole of a
magnet.” (Smithsonian Report for 1849, p. 172, S. ed. and p, 164, H. R. ed.) Professor,
Secchi was appointed Director of the Observatory at Rome, in 1850. ;
¢ Trans. Albany Institute, vol. i. pp. 87-112. ‘
| ‘HENRY was then Dr. BECK’s chemical assistant, and already an admirable’
experimentalist.” . Address before the Albany Institute, by Dr. O. Meads, May Dae
1871. (rans. Albany Institute, vol. vii. p. 21.)
DISCOURSE OF W. B. TAYLOR. 271
and afterward independently, as well as mediately in directing his
own pupils and assistants. In 1833, he devised an improvement
on Wollaston’s mechanical scale of the chemical equivalents, for the
benefit of his pupils in chemistry :—a contrivance which was much
used and highly appreciated at the time.
The suggestion had been thrown out by more than one astron-
omer, that carefully timed observations on characteristic meteors
or “shooting-stars” might be made available for determining
differences of longitude between the stations of observation.* For
many years however the proposition had been generally regarded
as offering rather a speculative than a practical method of solving
a problem of so great nicety. Henry in concert with his brother-
in-law, Professor Alexander, and with his friend Professor Bach,
determined to ascertain by actual trial the availability and value of
the system. On the 25th of November, 1835, Professor Bache
observing at his residence in Philadelphia (assisted by Professor J.
P. Espy,)—simultaneously with Professor Henry and Professor
Alexander, at the Philosophical Hall at Princeton, they obtained
seven co-incidences: —the instant of disappearance of the meteor
being in each case selected as the most accurately attainable epoch.
These seven observations (whose greatest discrepancies amounted to
but a trifle over 3 seconds) gave a mean result of 2 minutes 0.61
second (time longitude), differing only one second and two-tenths
from the mean estimate of relative longitude arrived at by other
methods. Tf’
In 1840, Henry gave an account of “electricity obtained from a
small ball partly filled with water, and heated by a lamp.” t
*“The merit of first suggesting the use of shooting-stars and fire-balls as signals
for the determination of longitudes is claimed by Dr. Olbers and the German
astronomers for BENZENBERG, who published a work on the subject in 1802, Mr.
Bailey however has pointed out a paper published by Dr. MASKELYNE twenty
years previously, in: which that illustrious astronomer calls attention to the sub-
ject, and distinctly points out this application of the phenomena,” This was
dated Greenwich, November 6th, 1783. (. 2. D. Phil. Mag. 1841, vol. xix. p. 554.)
+ Proceed. Am. Phil. Soc. Dec. 20, 1839, vol. i. pp. 162, 163. ‘‘This appears to have
been the first actual determination of a difference of longitude by meteoric obser-
vations.” (ZL. E. D. Phil. Mag. 1841, vol. xix. p. 553.) Several years later (in 1838 )
similar meteoric observations wére made betweeh Altona and Breslau; and also
bétween Rome and Naples.
t Proceed. Am. Phil. Soc. Dec. 18, 1840, vol. 1. p. 333.
272 MEMORIAL OF JOSEPH HENRY.
In 1843, he read a communication to the Society, “On amew
method of determining the velocity of Projectiles: for this purpose
employing two screens of fine insulated wire each in circuit with a
galvanometer, and at determined near distances in the path of the
projectile ;— whereby the galvanic currents would be successively
interrupted at the instants of penetration. To record the interval,
each galyanometer needle is provided at one end with a marking
pen touching a horizontally revolving cylinder, which is divided by
longitudinal lines into 100 equal parts, and is driven by clock-work
at the rate of ten revolutions per second, giving therefore to the
interval of passage between two consecutive lines, the thousandth
part of a second.* Another still more ingenious method is sug-
gested, whereby the galvanometer may be dispensed with: each
circuit including an induction coil, one end of whose secondary
circuit is connected with the axis, and the other end placed very
nearly in contact with the surface of the graduated paper on the
revolving cylinder, so as to give the induction spark through the
paper at the instant of the interruption of the primary circuits by
the projectile passing through the wire screens. This is really a
much neater and more direct application of the electric interruption
than the employment of a galvanometer needle for making the
record, as it involves no material inertia, If desirable, the cylinder
may be made to have a very slow longitudinal movement by a screw,
so as to give a helical direction to the tracings; and different pairs
of screens similarly arranged at distant points in the path of the
projectile may be employed to determine the variations of velocity
in its flight. T
Henry was always a watchful student of psychological and sub-.
jective phenomena. Witnessing on one occasion the performance
of an athlete before a large assembly, he noticed with a’ curious
interest the “inductive” sympathy manifested by nearly every
spectator (himself included) in being swayed by a movement as of
*Tt appears that WHEATSTONE devised his ingenious electro-magnetic ‘‘ chrono-
scope” in 1840; though he unfortunately published no account of it till 1845; or
two years after the publication by Henry. And this was called out as a reclama-
tion, on the publication of a similar invention by L. BREGUET, of Paris, in January
of the same year. See “Supplement,” Notre G. ‘
+ Proceed. Am, Phil. Soc. May 30, 1843, vol. ill. pp. 165-167.
DISCOURSE OF W. B. TAYLOR. 213
assistance to the performer. In remarking the i impression of being
moved, while steadily watching a series of passing canal boats, he
ee the impression (amounting almost to a sensation of move-
ment on each boat reaching a certain point,) to the relative angle
of vision formed by the moving body.
He made a number of experiments on the flow of water jets under
varying conditions: also observations on sonorous flames when pass-
ing into a stove-pipe of eight inches diameter and about ten feet in
length: on the comparative rates of evaporation from fresh and
from salt water: on the slow evaporation of water from the open
end of a U-shaped tube, and the much greater rapidity of evapora-
tion when the tube is open at both ends: extended notes of which,
with a great number of other researches, perished in the flames.
In 1844, he published a Syllabus of his Lectures at Princeton.
In December of that year he presented to the Philosophical Society
a communication of a somewhat more theoretical character than
usual,—on the derivation and classification of mechanical motors.:
He refers these to two classes ;— the first, those derived from celes-
tial disturbance (as water, tide, and wind powers),—and the second,
those derived from organic bodies or forces (as steam and other heat
powers, and animal powers). The forces of gravity, cohesion, and
chemical affinity are not included, since these tend speedily to stable
equilibrium; and they become sources of mechanical power only
as they are disturbed by some of those before mentioned. It is not
the running down of the water-fall, or the clock-weight, which is
the true origin of their useful work, but the lifting of them: up.
The same is true.of the power derived from combustion. ' He then
adds that his second class (the forces derived from the organic world)
might perhaps by a similar process of reasoning be derived from
the first class; (that of celestial disturbance ;)— regarding “animal
power as referable to the same-sources as that from the combustion
of fuel,” and the action of the vegetative power as “a force derived
from the divellent power of the sunbeam,” being simply a case of
solar de-oxidation. Organism — vegetable and animal, he considers
as built up under the direction of a vital principle, which is not
itself a mechanical force. Volcanic power is neglected as compara-
18
274 MEMORIAL OF JOSEPH HENRY.
tively feeble and limited, and not practically utilized.* This inter-
esting digest presents one of the earliest and clearest theoretical
statements we have, of the correlation and transformation of the
physical forces; including with these the so-called organic forces.
ADMINISTRATION OF THE SMITHSONIAN INSTITUTION.
By an Act of Congress approved August 10, 1846, the liberal
bequest to the United States, for the promotion of Science, by James
Smithson of London, England, was appropriated to the foundation
of the Institution bearing his name; the establishment being made
to comprise: the chief dignitaries of the Government as the super-
vising body, and a Board of Regents being created for conducting
the business of the Institution after completing its organization.
As the testator had bequeathed his fortune, in simple terms “for
the increase and diffusion: of knowledge among men,” there arose
not unnaturally a great diversity of opinion both among Congress-
men, and among the Regents, as to the most desirable method of
executing the purpose of the Will: and the organizing Act was
itself a sort of compromise, after many years of discussion and
_ disagreement in both branches of Congress. To literary men, no
instrument of knowledge could be so important as an extensive
Library : —to the professional, a seat of education or public instruc-
tion—general or special—supplemented by elaborate courses of
public lectures, appeared the obvious and necessary means of dif-
fusing useful learning,—to the “practical,” a large agricultural
and polytechnic institute—supplemented perhaps by a museum,
was the only fitting plan of developing the resources of our coun-
try: — to the artistic, extensive galleries of art were the most worthy
and instructive objects of patronage. The Regents sought counsel
from the distinguished and the learned: and several of them applied
to Professor Henry for his opinion. He gave the subject a careful
* Proceed. Am. Phil. Soc. Dec. 20, 1844, vol. iv. pp. 127-129. This appears to be the
first—as it is probably the best—analysis of physical energy, which has been
proposed. Twenty years later, a similar analysis (with certainly no improvement
in the classification) was adopted by Professor Tait, in an essay on “ Energy;”
(North British Review, 1864, vol. x1. art. iii. p. 191, of Am, edition:) and by Dr. Balfour
Stewart, in his Elementary Treatise on Heat, Oxford, 1866; (book iii, chap. v. art, 388,
p. 354.)
+The whole amount of the bequest was a trifle over 100,000 pounds, or about
540,000 dollars.
DISCOURSE OF W. B. TAYLOR. 275
consideration; and announced very decided views. As Smithson
was a man of scientific culture, a Fellow of the Royal Society, an
expert analytical chemist, and devoted to original research, Henry
held that the language of his Will must receive its most accurate
and scientific and at the same time most comprehensive interpreta-
tion; that the words “increase and diffusion of knowledge among
men” were deliberately and intelligently employed; and that no
local or even national interests were as broad as its terms,—that no
merely educational projects of whatever character, no schemes of
material and practical advancement however useful, could justly
be regarded as fulfilling the obvious intent —expressed by a scien-
tific thinker and writer—first of all the increase of knowledge by
the promotion of original research,—the addition of new truths to
the existing stock of knowledge, and secondly—its widest nites
diffusion ¢ among mankind.* .
These wise and far-reaching views exerted a marked influence;
and though hardly then in accord with the opinion of the eset ee
yet led to his election December 3d, 1846, as the “Secretary” and
actual Director of the infant entation Y A second time was
Henry called upon to sever dearly prized associations,—the pros-
perous and congenial pursuits of fourteen years within the classic’
halls of Princeton. One motive turned the wavering scale. Here
was a rare occasion offered by the enlightened provision of James
Smithson, to secure for abstract science and unpromising original
research, a much needed encouragement and support; and an obli-
gation imposed upon the scientific few to resist and if possible
prevent the perversion of the trust to the merely popular uses of
the short-sighted many. That years would be required for shaping
the character and conduct of the institution as he desired, was
certain ;—that this could not be effected without much opposition
and various obstacle, he very clearly foresaw. That during these
years of active supervision and direction, he must abandon all hope -
of personal opportunity for original Seseatcl , he as freely accepted
in the expressive remark made to a trusted friend in consultation on
«Programme of Organization,” Smithsonian Report for 1847. See ‘Supple
ment,’ Nore H.
+See “Supplement,’’ Nore I.
276 MEMORIAL OF JOSEPH HENRY.
the occasion: “If I go, I shall probably exchange permanent fame
for transient, reputation,”
With the assurance of the Trustees of the College of New Jersey,
that should he fail to realize his programme, or should he satisfac-
torily accomplish his apostolic purpose, his chair should always be
at his command, with a hearty welcome back, Henry, neither spurred
by over-confidence, nor depressed with undue timidity, though filled
with anxious solicitude for the future, accepted the appointment
tendered to him. He removed with his family to Washington,
December 14, 1846, and at once commenced his administration of
the duties assigned to him by the Regents of the Institution.
Summoned thus to the occupancy of a.new and untried field, and
to the discharge of essentially executive functions, he from the first
displayed a clearness and promptness of judgment, a singleness and
steadiness of aim, a firmness and consistency of decision, combined
with a practical sagacity and moderation in adapting his course to
the exigencies of adverse conditions, which stamped him as a most
able and successful administrator, Without concealment and with-
out diplomacy, his distinctly avowed principle of action was steadily
and patiently pursued.* With honest submission to the controlling
‘Act of Congress, he made as honest avowal of his desire and of
his endeavor to have that legislation modified. _Hampered by pro-
visions he deemed unwise and injurious, he yet skillfully managed
to reconcile contestant interests, and to secure the entire confidence
and concurrence of the Regents. Henceforth his purpose and his
effort were to be directed to the unique object of encouraging and
fostering the development of what has so flippantly been designated
“useless knowledge;” and merging self in the community of physi-
cal inquirers and collaborators, to become the high-priest of abstract
investigation ;— prepared to lend all practicable assistance to that
small but earnest band of nature-students, who inspired by no aims
of material utility, seek from their mistress as the only reward of
their devotion, a closer intimacy, a higher knowledge of truth.
*See ‘‘Supplement,” Notre J.
+ HENRY has finely said; ‘‘Let censure or ridicule fall elsewhere,—on those
whose lives are passed without labor and without object; but let praise and honor
be bestowed on him who seeks with unwearied patience to develop the order,
harmony, and beauty of even the smallest part of God’s creation. A life devoted
DISCOURSE OF W. B. TAYLOR. AEE
Of the two distinct objects of endowment specified by Smithson’s
Will, —“ the increase—and the diffusion —of knowledge,” Henry
forcibly remarked: “These though frequently confounded, are very
different processes, and each may exist independent of the other.
While we rejoice that in our country above all others, so much
attention is paid to the diffusion of knowledge, truth compels us to
say that comparatively little encouragement is given to its increase.*
There is another division with regard to knowledge which Smithson
does not embrace in his design; viz. the application of knowledge
to useful purposes in the arts. And it was not necessary he should
found an institution for this purpose. There are already in every
civilized country, establishments and patent laws for the encourage-
ment of this department of mental industry. As soon as any
branch of science can be brought to bear on the necessities, con-
veniences, or luxuries of life, it meets with encouragement and
reward. Not so with the discovery of the incipient principles of
science. The investigations which lead to these, receive no fostering
care from Government, and are considered by the superficial observer
as trifles unworthy the attention of those who place the supreme
good in that which immediately administers to the physical needs ,
or luxuries of life. If physical well-being were alone the object
of existence, every avenue of enjoyment should be explored to its
utmost extent. But he who loves truth for its own sake, feels that
its highest claims are lowered and its moral influence marred by
being continually summoned to the bar of immediate and palpable
utility: Smithson himself had no such narrow views.t The promi-
exclusively to the study of a'single insect, is not spent in vain: No animal how-
ever insignificant is isolated; it forms a part of the great system of nature, and is
governed by the same general laws which control the most prominent beings of
the organic world.’’ (Smithsonian Report for 1855, p. 20.) -
*[SWAINSON the Naturalist, the countryman and friend of Smithson, has very
pointedly marked this recognized distinction. “The constitution of the Zoological
Society is of a very mixed nature, admirably adapted indeed to the reigning taste, ©
It is more calculated however to diffuse than to increase the actual stock of scien-
tifie knowledge.”’ (Discourse on the Study of Natural History, Cabinet Cyclopedia,
16mo. London, 1834, part iv. chap. i. sec. 221, p. 314.) And again: ‘It is very essential
when we speak of the diffusion or extension of science, that we do not confound
these stages of development with discovery or advancement; since the latter may
be as different from the former as depth is from shallowness.’’ (Same work, part
iv. chap. Ii. sec. 240, p. 343.) ] .
+{In regard to the value of scientific truth, SMITHSON in a communication
dated June 10th, 1824, has forcibly expressed his strong ‘‘conviction that it is in his
278 MEMORIAL OF JOSEPH HENRY.
nent design of his bequest is the promotion of abstract science? In
this respect the Institution holds an otherwise unoccupied place in
this country; and it adopts two fundamental maxims in its policy ;.
—first to do nothing with its funds which can be equally well done
by other means; and second to produce results which as far as pos-
sible will benefit mankind in general.” *
Congress —naturally with a prevailing tendency to the literary,
the showy, and the popular, had (after eight years of dilatory con-
troversy) diregted in its organizing Act (sec. 5,) the erection of a
building “of sufficient size, and with suitable rooms or halls for the
reception and arrangement upon a liberal scale, of objects of natural
history, including a geological and mineralogical cabinet, also a.
chemical laboratory, a library, a gallery of art, and the necessary
lecture-rooms.” By the 9th section of the Act, the Board of Re-
gents were authorized to expend the remaining income of the endow--
ment “as they shall deem best suited for the promotion of the pur-
pose of the testator.” Out of an annual income of some 40,000
dollars, the Regents in full accord with their Secretary (whose care-
fully elaborated programme they officially adopted December 13,
1847,) succeeded in creditably inaugurating all the objects specified
in the charter; and at the same time in establishing the system of
publication of original Memoirs, to which Henry justly attached
the first importance.
An incident in itself too slight to produce a visible ripple on the
current of Henry’s life, is yet too characteristic to be here omitted.
Dr. Robert Hare having in 1847 decided upon resigning his
Professorship of Chemistry in the Medical Department of the |
University of Pennsylvania, (the largest and best patronized in the
country,) the vacant chair was tendered by the Board of Trustees to:
Professor Henry. His friend Dr. Hare himself used his influence
ta induce Henry to become his successor ; particularly dwelling on
the large amount of leisure afforded for independent investigations.
knowledge that man has found his greatness and his happiness, the high superi-
ority which he holds over the other animals who inhabit ‘the earth with him;
and consequently that no ignorance is probably without loss to him, no error
without evil.’ (Thomson’s Annals of Philosophy, 1824, vol. xxiv. or new series, vol.
vill, p.54.)] @
* Smithsonian Report for 1853, p. 8.
DISCOURSE OF W. B. TAYLOR. 279
The income of this professorship was more than double the salary of
the Smithsonian Secretaryship. The position, tempting as it might
have been under different circumstances, was however declined.
Henry felt that to leave his present post before his cherished policy
was fairly settled and established, would be most probably to abandon
nearly all the results of the experiment: and having set before him-
self the one great object of directing the resources of the Smithsonian
- Institution as far as possible to the advancement of science, in con-
formity with the undoubted intention of its founder, (and as the
execution therefore of a sacred trust,) he resolutely put aside every
inducement that might divert him from the fulfillment of his task. *
Of the half a dozen objects of attention specified in the 5th section
of the organizing Act, (the various inspiration of different partisans,)
not one directly tended to further the primary requirements of the
Will; —even the Laboratory being avowedly introduced simply
as a utilitarian workshop for mining and agricultural analyses.
Regarded as methods of diffusing existing knowledge they were
obviously local and limited in their range: and as compared with
the instrumentality of the Press, were certainly very inefficient for
spreading the benefits of the endowment among men. ft
Henry with a rare courage dared maintain against most powerful
influence, that the interests specifically designated must all be
subordinated to the fundamental requirement, the promotion of
*Some six years later, a somewhat similar temptation was presented. In 1853,
on the resignation of President Carnahan of the College of New Jersey at Prince-
ton, an effort was made to induce the return of Professor Henry to his academic
seat, by 2 movement to obtain for him the Presidency of the College. Such a
token of affectionate remembrance could not but be grateful and touching to his
feclings; but a sense of obligation was upon him, not to be laid aside. He had
undertaken a work and a responsibility which must not be left to the hazard of
failure. He declined the proffered honor— with thanks; and warmly recommended
Dr. Maclean to the vacant position: who thereupon was duly elected. (Maclean’s
Hist. of College of New Jersey, vol. il. p. 336.)
+‘‘The objects specified in the Act of Congress evidently do not come up to the
idea of the testator as deduced from a critical examination of his will. A library,
a museum, @ gallery of arts, though important in themselves, are local in their
influence, I have from the beginning advocated this opinion on all occasions, and |
shall continue to advocate it whenever a suitable opportunity occurs.’’ (Smith-
sonian Report for 1858, p. 122 (of Senate edit.)—p. 117 (of H. Rep. edit.) The superficial
pretext was not wanting on the part of some, that the words “increase and diffu-
sion’’ were not to be taken too literally, but to be considered as the tautology of
legal equivalents, applicable to the development of the individual mind; since
school-boys (if not the pundits) were evidently capable of an “increase” of
knowledge.
280 MEMORIAL OF JOSEPH HENRY.
original research for increasing knowledge: and that this »was
amply sustained by the residuary grant of authority to the Regents
(under the 9th section of the Act) “to make such disposal as they
shall deem best suited for the promotion of the purposes of the testator,
anything herein contained to the contrary notwithstanding,” of any
income of the Smithsonian fund “not herein appropriated, or not
required for the purposes herein provided.” Henry’s carefully
studied programme comprised two sections: the first, embracing -
the details of the plan for carrying out the explicit purpose of
Smithson; the second, indicating the proper steps for carrying out
the provisions of the Act of Congress. The first and principal
section proposed as methods of promoting research, — the stimula-
tion of particular investigations by special premiums, — the publi-
cation of such original memoirs furnishing positive additions to
knowledge by experiment and observation as should be approved
by a commission of experts in each case,—the active direction of
certain investigations by the provision of instruments as well as of
the necessary means, the appropriations being judiciously varied in
distribution from year to year,—the prosecution of experimental
determinations and the solution of physical problems, —the exten-
sion of ethnology (especially American), and in general the conduct
of such varied explorations as should ultimately result in a complete
physical atlas of the United States. As methods of promoting the
diffusion of knowledge, it was proposed to give a wide circulation
to the published original memoirs or Smithsonian “ Contributions
to Knowledge” among domestic and foreign libraries, institutions,
and scientific correspondents, to have prepared by qualified collab-
orators, series of careful reports on the latest progress of science in
different departments, and to provide facilities for the distribution
and exchange of scientific memoirs generally.
It is unnecessary here to follow closely the slow steps by which —
through all the obstructions of narrow prejudice and ignorant mis-
construction, of selfish interest and pretended philanthropy, of
friendly remonstrance and hostile denunciation, — the policy origin=
ally marked out by the Secretary was with unwavering resolution
and imperturbable equanimity steadily pursued, until it gained its
_ DISCOURSE OF W. B. TAYLOR. 281
assured success ; the vindication and the unpretentious trrumph of
“the just man tenacious of purpose.’
The most formidable of the specialist schemes both in Congress
and elsewhere, was that of the Library faction, which prosecuted
with remarkable zeal and energy, threatened by the acknowledged
ability of its leading advocates to control the action of the Regents,
even to the neglect and abandonment of all the other interests
indicated by the statute.* In Henry’s judgment the Institution
should possess simply a working library, an auxiliary for those
engaged in scientific research, a repertory well supplied with the
published Proceedings and Transactions of learned Societies, but
which so far from aiming at an encyclopedic or a literary character,
should be mainly supplementary to the large National Library
already established at the Capital.t “The idea ought never to be
entertained that the portion of the limited income of the Smith-
sonian fund which can be devoted to the purchase of. books will
ever be sufficient to meet the wants of the American scholar. On
the contrary it is the duty of this Institution to increase those wants
by pointing: out new fields for exploration, and by stimulating other
researches than those which are now cultivated. It is a part of that
duty to make the value of libraries more generally known, and their
want in this country more generally felt.’{ 9...
Processes of Divestment.—Henry’s declaration that the moderate
means at command were insufficient to support worthily either a
Library, or a Museum, alone, was early justified. The Library
though slowly formed of only really valuable scientific works, and
this largely by exchanges with the Smithsonian publications, § in
"* See “Supplement,” Nore K,
¢''To carry on the operations of the first section a working library will be re-
quired, consisting.of the past volumes of the transactions and proceedings of all
the learned societies in every language. These are the original sources from which
‘the most important principles of the positive knowledge of our day have been
drawn.” (Smithsonian Report for 1847, p. 139 of Sen. ed.—p. 131 of H. Rep. ed.)
{Smithsonian Report for 1851, p. 224 (of Sen. ed.)—p. 216 (of H. Rep. ed.)
2“It is the intention of the Regents to render the Smithsonian library the
most extensive and perfect collection of Transactions and scientific works in this
country, and this it will be enabled to accomplish by means of its exchanges,
which will furnish it with all the current journals and publications of societies,
while the separate series may be completed in due time as opportunity and means
may offer.’ The Institution has.already more complete sets of Transactions of
learned societies than are to be found in the oldest libraries in the United States.”
(Smithsonian Report for 1855, p. 29.)
282 MEMORIAL OF JOSEPH HENRY.
the course of a dozen years amounted to about 40,000 volumes:
and the annual cost of binding, superintendence, and the constant
enlargement of room and of cases, was becoming a serious tax upon
the resources of the Institution. The propriety of transferring the
custody of this valuable and rapidly increasing collection to the
National Library established by Congress, was repeatedly urged
upon the attention of that body: and by an Act approved April
5th, 1866, such transfer was at last effected.
“Congress had presented to the Institution a portion of the pub-
lic reservation on which the building is situated. In the planting
of this with trees, nearly 10,000 dollars of the Smithson income
were expended.” Ultimately however opportunity was taken to
have the Smithsonian park included in the general appropriation
by the Government for improving the public grounds,
The courses of Lectures which were continued from their estab-
lishment in 1849, to 1863, were then abandoned. In conformity
with the judicious policy entertained from the beginning not to
consume unprofitably the limited means of the Institution by
attempting to do what could be as well or better accomplished
by other organizations, its herbarium comprising 30,000 botanical
specimens and other allied objects, was transferred to the custody
of the Agricultural Department. Its collection of anatomical and
osteological specimens was transferred to the Army Medical Mu-
seum. And its Fine-Art collections were transferred to the custody
of the “Art-Gallery” established at Washington (with a larger
endowment than the whole Smithsonian fund) by the enlightened
liberality of Mr. W. W. Corcoran.
Such were the successive processes by which much of the early
and injudicious legislative work of organization, intended for pop-
ularising the activities of the Institution, was gradually undone;
greatly to the dissatisfaction and foreboding of many of its well-
meaning friends. “It should be recollected” said Henry, “ that
the Institution is not a popular establishment.”’*
* Smithsonian Report for 1876, p. 12. A distinguished politician, now many years
deceased, (an influential Member of Congress—and possible statesman,) in the con-
fidence of friendship pointed out with emphasis, how by a few judicious expedi-
ents— involving only a moderate reduction of the income of the Institution, golden
opinions might be won from the press, and the Smithsonian really be made quite
DISCOURSE OF W. B. TAYLOR. 283
The National Musewm.—The last heritage of misdirected legisla-
tion—the National Museum, still remains in nominal connection
with the Institution; although Congress has recognized the justice
of making special provision for its custody by an annual appropria-
tion ever since its establishment in 1842,—four years before the
organization of the Smithsonian Institution. The Government
collection of curiosities had accumulated from the contributions of
the various exploring expeditions; and Henry from the first, had
objected to receiving it as a donation, foreseeing that it would prove
more than “the gift of an elephant.”* In his first Report, he
ventured to say: “It is hoped that in due time other means may
be found of establishing and supporting a general collection of
objects of nature and art at the seat of the general Government,
with funds not derived from the Smithsonian bequest.”+ In his
third annual Report he remarked: “The formation of a Museum
of objects of nature and of art requires much caution. With a
given income to be appropriated to the purpose, a time must come
when the cost of keeping the objects will just equal the amount of
the appropriation: after this no further increase can take place.
Also, the tendency of an institution of this kind unless guarded
against, will be to expend its funds on a heterogeneous collection
of objects of mere curiosity.” Justly jealous of any dependence
of the Institution, designed as a monument to its founder, upon
the varying favors or caprices of a political government, or of any
confusion between the National Museum, and its own special collec-
tions for scientific study rather than for popular display, he added:
“Tf the Regents accept this Museum, it must be merged in the
Smithsonian collections. It could not be the intention of Congress
a “popular’’ establishment. Unseduced by these friendly suggestions of worldly
wisdom, Henry astonished his adviser by the smiling assurance that his self-
imposed mission and deliberate purpose was to prevent, as far as in him lay,
precisely that consummation. Had the philosopher repudiated the ‘breath of his
nostrils’? he could not have been looked upon by the politician, as more hope-
lessly demented.
*His friend Professor Silliman in a letter dated December 4th 1847, wrote: ‘If
it is within the views of the Government to bestow the National Muscum upon
the Smithsonian Institution, the very bequest would seem to draw after it an
obligation to furnish the requisite accommodations without taxing the Smithso-
nian funds: otherwise the gift might be detrimental instead of beneficial.”’
+ Smithsonian Report for 1847, p. 139 (Sen. ed.)—p. 132 (H. Rep. ed.)
284 MEMORIAL OF JOSEPH HENRY.
that an Institution founded by the liberality of a foreigner, and to
which he has affixed his own name, should be charged with the
keeping of a separate Museum, the property of the United States.
- - = Thesmall portion of our funds which can be devoted to’
a museum may be better employed in collecting new objects, such
as have not yet been studied, than in preserving those from which
the harvest of discovery has already been fully gathered.” Nor
was he reconciled to the gift by the suggestion that a suitable appro-
priation. would be granted by the National Government, for the
expense of its custody. “This would be equally objectionable;
since it would annually bring the Institution before Congress as a
supplicant for government patronage.”’*
In his Report for 1851, he forcibly stated in regard to the require-
ments of a general Museum, that “the whole income devoted to
this object would be entirely inadequate:” and he strongly urged
a National establishment of the Museum on a basis and a scale
which should be an honor and a: benefit to the people and their
Capital city. “Though the formation of a general collection is
neither within the means nor the province of the Institution, it is
an object which ought to engage the attention of Congress. A
general Museum appears to be a necessary establishment at the seat
of government of every civilized nation. - - - An establish-
ment of this kind can only be supported by Government; and the
proposition ought never to be’ encouraged of: putting this duty on
the limited though liberal bequest of a foreigner.”+ This policy
was urged in almost every subsequent Report. “There can be but
little doubt that in due time ample provision will be made for a
Library and Museum at the Capital of this’ Union, worthy of ‘a
Government whose perpetuity depends upon the virtue and intelli-
gence of the people. It is therefore unwise to hamper the more
important objects of this Institution by attempting to anticipate
results which will be eventually produced without the expenditure
of its means.” { “The importance of a collection at the seat of
government, to illustrate the physical geography, natural history,
* Smithsonian Report for 1849, pp. 181, 182 (of Sen, ed.)—pp, 178, 174 (of H. Rep, ed.)
+ Smithsonian Report for 1851, p. 227 (of Sen, ed,)—p. 219 (of H. Rep. ed.)
t Smithsonian Report for 1852, p, 253 (of Sen. ed.)—p. 245 (of H, Rep. edi)
DISCOURSE OF W. B. TAYLOR. 285
and ethnology, of the United States, cannot be too highly estimated :
but the support of such a collection mel not to be a burden aa
the Smithsonian fund.” * ;
The popular mind did not eee st appear to be prepared to
accept these earnest presentations; and in 1858, thé National
Museum was transferred by law to the custody of the Smithsonian
Institution, with the .same annual appropriation (4,000 dollars)
which had been granted to the United States Patent Office when in
charge of it.
So rapidly were the treasures of the Museum increased by the
gathered fruits of various government explorations and surveys,
as well as by the voluntary contributions of the numerous and
wide-spread tributaries of the Institution, that the policy was early
adopted of freely distributing duplicate specimens to other institu-
tions where they would be most appreciated and most -usefully
applied. And in this way the Smithsonian became a valuable,
center of diffusion of the means of investigation in geology, miner-
alogy, botany, zoology, and archeology.t The clear foresight which
announced that the Museum must very soon outgrow the entire
capacity of the Smithsonian resources, has been most amply vindi-
cated: { and to-day a large Gavennmnen building is stored from
basement to attic, with boxed up rarities of art and nature, suffi-
cient more than twice to fill the Smithsonian halls and galleries,
in addition to their present overflowing display.§ The strong desire
of Henry to see established in Washington a National. Museum on
a scale worthy of our resources, and in which the existing. over-
grown collections might be so beneficially exhibited, he did not live
* Smithsonian Report for 1858, p. 11 (of Sen. ed.)—p. 9 (of H. Rep. ed.)
+See “Supplement,” Norte L.
tFrom the rapid growth of the, national collection after it was transferred to’
the custody of the Smithsonian Institution, the annual appropriation of 4,000 dol-
lars by Congress very soon became wholly insufficient to defray even one-half its
necessary expenses. A memorial signed by the Chancellor and the Secretary,
was presented to Congress May 1, 1868, in which the memorialists ‘beg leave to
represent on behalf of the Board of Regents, that the usual annual appropriation
of 4,000 dollars is wholly inadequate to the cost of preparing; preserving, and
exhibiting the specimens;—the actual expenditure for that purpose, in 1867,
having been over 12,000 dollars.’’ (Smithsonian Report for 1867, p. 115.) It was not
however till 1871 that the appropriation was raised to 10,000 dollars. In 1873, it
was increased to 15,000 dollars, and in 1875, to 20,000 dollars.
2See “Supplement,” NorE M.
286 MEMORIAL OF JOSEPH HENRY.
/
to see gratified. That the realization of this beneficent project is
only a question of time, is little doubtful; for it cannot be supposed
that collections so valuable, and so manifestly beyond the capacities
of the Institution, will be suffered to waste in usclessness. And
when established, its being and its benefits will in no small degree
be due to him who first realizing its necessity, and most appre-
ciating its: importance, with unwearying perseverance for twenty-
five years omitted no opportunity of urging upon members As
Congress its importunate claims.
Meteorological Work.—In the conduct of what were appropri-
ately called the “active operations” of the Institution—under the
first section of the programme (in contradistinction to the local and
statical objects of the second section), a rare energy and promptness
was exhibited. The very first Report of the Secretary announced
not only the acceptance and preparation for publication of an elab-
orate work by Messrs. Squier and Davis, on explorations of “ Ancient
Monuments of the Mississippi Valley,” but the commencement of
official preparations “for instituting various lines of ‘physical
research. Among the subjects mentioned by way of example in
the programme, for the application of the funds of the Institution,
is terrestrial magnetism. - - - Another subject of hecatie,
mentioned in the programme, and which has been urged upon the
immediate attention of the Institution, is that of an extensive sys-
tem of meteorological observations, particularly with reference to
the phenomena of American storms. Of late years in our country
more additions have been made to meteorology than to any other
branch of physical science. Several important generalizations have
been arrived at, and definite theories proposed, which now enable
-us to direct our attention with scientific precision to such points
of observation as cannot fail to reward us with new and inter-
esting results. It is proposed to organize a system of observations
which shall extend as far as possible over the North American
continent. - - - The present time appears to be peculiarly
auspicious for’ commencing an enterprise of the proposed kind.
The citizens of the United States are now scattered over every
part of the southern and western portion of Northern America,
and the extended lines of telegraph will furnish a ready means of
DISCOURSE OF W. B. TAYLOR. 287
warning the more northern and eastern observers to be on the
watch for the first appearance of an advancing storm.” *
An appropriation for the purpose having been made by the
Regents, a large number of observers scattered over the United
States and the Territories became voluntary correspondents of the
Institution. Advantage was taken of the stations already estab-
lished under the direction of the War, and of the Navy Depart-
ments, as well as of those provided for by a few of the States.
The annual reports of the Secretary chronicled the extension and
success of the system adopted; and in a few years between five and
six hundred regular observers were engaged in its meteorological
service. ‘The favorite project of employing the telegraph for
obtaining simultaneous results over a large area was at once organ-
ized; and in 1849, a system of telegraphic despatches was estab-
lished, by which (a few years later) the information received in
Washington at the Smithsonian Institution was daily plotted upon
a large map of the United States by means of adjustable symbols.
Espy’s generalization that the principal storms and other atmos-
pheric changes have an eastward movement, was fully established
by this rapidly gathered experience of the Institution; so that “it
was often enabled to predict (sometimes a day or two in advance)
the approach of any of the larger disturbances of the atmosphere.”
Eminently efficient as the enterprise approved itself, increasing
experience served to demonstrate the expanding requirements of the
* Smithsonian Report for 1847, pp. 146, 147 (of Sen. ed.)—pp. 138, 189 (of H. Rep. ed.)
Professor Loomis (to whom among others “distinguished for their attainments in
meteorology” letters inviting suggestions, had been addressed,) recommended that
there should be at least one observing station within every hundred square miles
of the United States; and he sagaciously pointed out that “When the magnetic
telegraph [then an infant three years old] is extended from New York to New
Orleans and St. Louis, it may be made subservient to the protection of our com-
merce.” This interesting letter was published in full as “Appendix No. 2,” to the
Report. In 1848, a paper was read before the British Association by Mr. John Ball,
“On rendering the Electric Telegraph subservient to Meteorological Research: in
which the author suggested that simultaneous observations so collected, might
reveal the direction and probable time of arrival of storms. (Report Brit. Assoc.
Swansea, Aug. 1848. Abstracts, pp. 12, 13.)
+ FRANKLIN is said to have been the first who stated the general law, that the
storms of our Southern States move off to the northeastward over the Middle and
Eastern States.
tSmithsonian Report for 1864, p. 44. An interesting and instructive résumé of
results accomplished within fifteen years was given in this Report, pp. 42-45: and
continued in the succeeding 2eport for 1865, pp. 60-59.
288 MEMORIAL OF JOSEPH HENRY.
service; and it was seen that to prosecute the subject of meteor-
ology over so large a territory, with the fullness necessary, would
require a still larger force of observers, and a greater drain upon
the resources of the Institution, than could well be spared from
other objects; and as the great value of, the system was fully
recognized by the intelligent, the propriety of maintaining a
meteorological bureau by the national support was early presented
to the attention of Congress, This most important department of
_ observation had been advanced by Henry to that position, in which
a larger annual outlay than the entire income of the Institution
was really required to give just efficiency to the system. In his
Report for 1865, he remarked: “The present would appear to be
a favorable time to urge upon Congress the importance of making
provision for the reorganizing all the meteorological observations of
the United States under one combined plan, in which the records
should be sent to a central depot for reduction, discussion, and final
' publication. An appropriation of 50,000 dollars annually for this
purpose would tend not only to advance the material interests of
the country, but also to increase its reputation. - - - It is
scarcely necessary at this day to dwell on the advantages which
result from such systems of combined observations as those which
the principal governments of Europe have established, and are now
constantly extending.” *
Five years later, in support of the proposition that the subject
from its magnitude now appealed to the liberality of the nation, he
briefly recapitulated the work accomplished by the limited means
of the Institution. “The Smithsonian meteorological system was
commenced in 1849, and has continued in operation until the present
time. - - - It has done good service to the cause of meteor-
ology; 1st, in inaugurating the system which has been in operation
upward of twenty years: 2nd, in the introduction of improved instru-
ments after discussion and experiments: 3rd, in preparing and pub-
lishing at its expense an extensive series of meteorological tables:
4th, in reducing and discussing the meteorological material which
could be obtained from all the records from the first settlement of
the country till within a few years: 5th, in being the first to show
* Smithsonian Report for 1865, p. 57.
DISCOURSE OF W. B. TAYLOR. 289
the practicability of telegraphic weather signals: 6th, in publishing
records and discussions made at its own expense, of the Arctic ex-
peditions of Kane, Hayes, and McClintock: 7th, in discussing and
publishing a number of series of special records embracing periods
of from twenty to fifty years in different sections of the United
States,—of great interest in determining secular changes of the
climate: 8th, in the publication of a series of memoirs on various
meteorological phenomena, embracing observations and discussions
of storms, tornadoes, meteors, auroras, etc.: 9th, in a diffusion of a
knowledge of meteorology through its extensive unpublished cor-
respondence and its printed circulars. It has done all in this line
which its limited means would permit; and has urged upon Con-
gress the establishment with adequate appropriation of funds, of a
meteorological department under one comprehensive plan, ‘in which
the records should be sent to a central depot for reduction, discus-
sion, and final publication.’’’*
In 1870, a meteorological department was established by the
Government under the Signal Office of the War Department, with
enlarged facilities for systematic observations: and agreeably to the
settled policy of the Institution, this important field of research
was in 1872, abandoned in favor of the new organization.t Of
the voluminous results of nearly a quarter of a century of system-
atic records over a wide geographical area which have been slowly
digested and laboriously discussed, only a small portion has yet been
published. ~The publication of the series when practicable, will
yet prove an inestimable boon to meteorological theory.
Although our country can boast of many able meteorologists,
who have greatly promoted our knowledge of the laws of atmos-
pheric phenomena, it is safe to say that to no single worker in the
field is our nation more indebted for the advancement of this branch
of science to its present standing, than to Joseph Henry. Quite as
much by his incitement and encouragement of others in such re-
searches, as by his own exertions, does he merit this award. To
* Smithsonian Report for 1870, p. 43.
+As an illustration of the popular favor in which this Signal service is held, it
may be stated. that the annual appropriation by Government for its support now
exceeds not merely the entire Smithsonian income, but sizteen times that amount;
or in fact its whole endowment.
19
290 MEMORIAL OF JOSEPH HENRY.
him is undoubtedly due the most important step in the modern eys-
tem of observation,—the installation of the telegraph in the service
of meteorological signals and predictions.* While giving however
his active supervision to the extensive system he had himself inau-
gurated, publishing many important reductions of particular features,
as well as various circulars of detailed instructions to observers, of
the desiderata to be obtained by those haying the opportunities of
arctic, oceanic, and southern explorations, and directing the constant
observations recorded at the Institution as an independent station,
he made many personal investigations of allied subjects;—as of
the aurora, of atmospheric electricity and thunder-Storms, of the
supposed influence of the moon on the weather,—and contributed
a valuable series of memoirs on meteorology, embracing a wide
range of physical exposition, to the successive Agricultural Reports
of the Commissioner of Patents, during the years 1855, 756, ’57,
’58, and 1859. Instructive articles on Magnetism and Meteorology
were prepared in 1861 for the American Cyclopmdia. And one
of his latest published papers comprises a minute -account of the
effects of lightning in two thunder-storms; one occurring in the
spring of last year (1877) at a Light-house in Key West, Florida,
and the other occurring in the summer of last year at New London,
Connecticut.
Archeological Work.— One of the earliest subjects taken up for
investigation by the Institution, was that of American Archeology ;
the attempt by extended explorations of the existing pre-historic
relics, mounds, and monuments, of the aborigines of our country,
to ascertain as far as possible their primitive industrial, social and
intellectual character, and any evidences of their antiquity, or of
*“ However frequently the idea may have been suggested of utilizing our knowl-
edge by the employment of the electric telegraph, it is to Professor Henry and his
assistants in the Smithsonian Institution that the credit is due of having first
actually realized this suggestion. - - - It will thus be seen that without mate-
rial aid from the Government, but through the enlightened policy of the telegraph
companies, the Smithsonian Institution first in the world organized a comprehen-
sive system of telegraphic meteorology, and has thus given—first to Europe and
Asia, and now to the United States, that most beneficent national application, of
modern science—the Storm Warnings.” Article on ‘‘ Weather Telegraphy” by
Professor Cleveland Abbe. (Am. Jour. Sci., Aug. 1871, vol. ii. pp. 83, 85.)
+ Journal of the American Electrical Society, 1878, vol. ii. pp. 37-44. The communica-
ttian is dated Oct. 13, 1877; though not published till during the author’s last illness, .
DISCOURSE OF W. B. TAYLOR. 291
their stages of gas The first publication of “Smithsonian
_ Contributions” comprised in a good sized quarto volume an account
of extensive examinations of the mounds and earthworks found
over the broad valley of the Mississippi, with elaborate illustrations
of the relics and results obtained: and this volume extensively cir-
culated. by gift and by sale, attracted a wide-spread attention and
interest, and gave a remarkable stimulus to the further prosecution
of such researches. “Whatever relates to the nature of man is
interesting to the students of every branch of knowledge; and
_ hence ethnology affords a common ground on which 'the cultivators
of physical science, of natural history, of archeology, of language,
of history, and of literature, can all harmoniously labor. Conse-
quently no part of the operations of this Institution has been more
generally popular than that which relates to this subject.’’*
Special explorations inaugurated by the Institution, have sup-
plied it with important contributions to archeological information,
and with the rich spoils of collected relics; which together with
much material gathered from Arctic and from Southern regions,
from Europe, from Asia, and from Africa, fill now a large museum
hall 200 feet long and 50 feet wide, exclusively devoted to compara-
tive Anthropology and Ethnology. In 1868, the Secretary reported
that “during the past year greater effort had: been made than ever
before to collect specimens to illustrate the ethnology and archeology
of the North American continent:” and he dwelt upon the impor-
tance of the subject as a study connecting all portions of the habitable
earth, pointing out that “it embraces not only the natural history
_and peculiarities of the different races of men as they now exist
upon the globe, but: also their affiliations, their changes in mental
and moral development, and also the question of the geological epoch
of the appearance of man upon the earth. - - - The ethnolog-
ical specimens we have mentioned are not considered as mere
curiosities collected to excite the wonder of the illiterate, but as
contributions to the materials from which it will be practicable to
reconstruct by analogy and strict Bay the history of the past
in its relation to the present.” +
* Smithsonian Report for 1860, p. 38.
+ Smithsonian Report for 1868, pp. 26 and 33.
292) - MEMORIAL OF JOSEPH HENRY.
Two years later he reported: “The collection of objects, to
illustrate anthropology now in possession of the Institution is
almost unsurpassed, especially in those which relate to the present
Indians and the more ancient inhabitants of the American conti-
nent.” Deprecating the frequent dissipation of small private
collections of such objects at the death of their owners, he forcibly
urges that “the only way in which they can become of real impor-
tance, is by making them part of a general collection, carefully
preserved in some public institution, where in the course of the
increasing light of science, they may be made to reveal truths
beyond present anticipation.” *
In his last Report — for 1877, (just published, and which he
did not live to see in print,) he says: “Anthropology, or what may
be considered the natural history of man, is at present the most
popular branch of science. It absorbs a large share of public
attention, and many original investigators are assiduously devoted
to it. Its object is to reconstruct as it were the past history of man,
to determine his specific peculiarities and general tendencies. It
has already established the fact that a remarkable similarity exists
in the archeological instruments found in all parts of the world,
with those in use among tribes still in a savage or barbarous condi-
tion. The conclusion is supported by evidence which can scarcely
be doubted, that by thoroughly studying the manners and customs
of savages and the instruments employed by them, we obtain a
knowledge of the earliest history of nations which have attained
the highest civilization. It is remarkable in how many cases,
customs existing among highly civilized peoples are found to be sur- .
vivals of ancient habits.” He then argues from the significance
thus developed of many trivial practices and unmeaning ceremonies
handed down from immemorial time, the importance to a full com-
prehension of the customs of modern society, of a scientific study
of the myths and usages of ancient peoples. “American anthro-
pology” he remarks, “early occupied the attention of the Smith-
sonian Institution ;” and alluding to its first published work, he
says, “from the time of the publication of this volume until the
present, contributions of value have been made annually by the
* Smithsonian Report for 1870, pp. 35, 36.
DISCOURSE OF W. B. TAYLOR. 293
Institution to this branch of knowledge. - - - The collection of
the archeology and ethnology of America, in the National Museum,
is the most extensive in the world: and in order to connect it
permanently with the name of Smithson, it has been thought ad-
visable to prepare and publish at the expense of the Smithsonian
fund, an exhaustive work on American anthropology, in which the
various classes of specimens shall be figured and described.” *
This great work still remains to be perfected.
Publications—To attempt the recapitulation of the various
branches of original research initiated or directly fostered by the
Institution, would, be to write its history. The range and variety
of its active operations, and the value of their fruits, are in view
of the limited income, and the collateral drains of less important
objects exacted from it, something quite surprising. Scarcely a
department of investigation has not received either directly or
indirectly liberal and eflicient assistance: and a host of physicists
in the successful prosecution of their diverse labors, have attested
their gratitude to the Institution, and no less to the ever sympa-
thetic encouragement of its Director. |
Of the various works submitted to the Institution,— differing
widely as they necessarily must in the comprehensiveness as well
as in the originality of treatment of their diversified topics,—only
those were accepted for publication, which had received the approval
of a commission of distinguished experts in each particular field of
inquiry. But even after such formal approval and acceptance,
Henry ever maintained a sense of responsibility which entailed
upon him a vast amount of unrecognized and little appreciated
labor, in his desire to make each publication a credit to the Institu-
tion as well as to its author. In the editing of this multitudinous
material, he gave a critical attention to each memoir; and there are
probably few of the series which do not bear the marks of his
watchful care, in the elimination of obscurities, of redundancies, or
of personalities, and in the pruning of questionable metaphors, of
* Smithsonian Report for 1877, pp. 22, 28. Circulars broadly distributed by the
Institution, have served to give desired direction to popular attention and activity
in this fleld of research; and the extent of co-operation is such as probably only
the “Smithsonian” could have secured, unless by a vastly greater outlay.
294 MEMORIAL OF JOSEPH HENRY.
imperfect or hasty generalizations, or of incidental inaccuracies of
statement or inference. ; :
Over one hundred important original Memoirs, generally too
elaborate to be published at length by any existing scientific society,
issued in editions many times larger than the most liberal of any
such society’s issue, most of them now universally recognized as .
classical and original authorities on their respective topics, forming
twenty-one large quarto’ volumes of “SMITHSONIAN CONTRIBU-
TIONS TO KNOWLEDGE,” distributed over every portion of the
civilized or colonized world, constitute a monument to the memory
of the founder, James Smithson, such as never before was builded
on the foundation of one hundred thousand pounds: and before
which the popular Lyceums of our leading cities, with endowments
averaging double this amount, are dwarfed into insignificance.
Such as these Lyceums with their local culture, admirable and
invaluable in their way, but exerting no influence upon the progress
of science, or outside of their own communities, and scarcely known
beyond their cities’ walls—such was the type of institute which
early legislators could alone imagine. Such as the “Smithsonian
Institution” stands to-day,—such is the monument mainly con-
structed by the foresight, the wisdom, and the resolution of Henry.*
All honor. to the Regents, who with an enlightenment so far in
advance of the ruling intelligence of former days, and against the
pressures of overwhelming preponderance of eyen educated popular
sentiment, courageously adopted the programme of the Secretary
and Director they had appointed ; and who throughout his career,
so wisely, nobly, and steadfastly upheld his policy and his purpose.
Fifteen octavo volumes of “Smithsonian Miscellaneous. Collec-
tions” of a more technical character than the “ Contributions,”
*“Tt is not by its castellated building, nor the exhibition of the museum of
the Government, that the Institution has achieved its present reputation; nor by
thé collection and display of material objects of any kind, that it has vindicated
the intelligence’ and good faith of the Government in the administration of the
trust. It is by its explorations, its researches, its publications, its distribution of
specimens, and its exchanges, constituting it an active living organization, that it
has rendered itself favorably known in every part of the civilized world; has made
contributions to almost every branch of science; and brought, more than ever
before, into intimate and friendly relations, the Old and the New Worlds.” (Memo-
rial to Congress, by Chancellor S. P. CHASE, and Secretary JOSEPH HENRY. Smith-
sonian Report for 1867, p. 114.)
DISCOURSE OF W. B. TAYLOR. 295
(including systematic and statistical compilations, scientific sum-
maries, and valuable accessions of tabular “constants,”) form in
themselves an additional series; and represent a work of which
any learned Society or Institution might well be proud. And
thirty octavo volumes: of annual Reports, rich with the scattered
thoughts and hopes and wishes of the Director, form the official
journal of his administration.
The Bibliography of Science.—Among the needful preparations
for conducting original inquiry, none is more important than ready
access and direction to the existing state of research in the particu-
lar field, or its allied districts. This information is scattered in the
- thousands of volumes which form the transactions of learned
Societies; and its acquisition involves therefore in most cases a
very iaborious preliminary bibliographical research. To make this
vast store of observation available to scientific students, by the
directory of well arranged digests, would appear to fall peculiarly
within the province of an Institution specially established for pro-
moting the increase and diffusion of knowledge among men: and
was early an object of particular interest to Henry. In his Report
for 1851, he remarked: “One of the most important means of
facilitating the use of libraries (particularly with reference to
science,) is well-digested indexes of subjects, not merely referring
to volumes or books, but to memoirs, papers, and parts of scientific
transactions and systematic works. As.an example of this, I would
refer to the admirably arranged and valuable catalogue of books
relating to Natural Philosophy and the Mechanic Arts, by Dr.
Young. This work comes down to 1807 ; and I know of no richer
gift which could be bestowed upon the science of our own day,
than the continuation of this catalogue to the present time. Every
one who is desirous of enlarging the bounds of human knowledge,
should in justice to himself as well as to the public, be acquainted .
with what has previously been done in the same line; and this he
will only be enabled to accomplish by the use of indexes of the
kind above mentioned.’’*
* Smithsonian Report for 1851, p. 225 (of Sen. ed.)—p. 217 (of H. Rep. ed.) The valu-
able Repertorium commentationum a societatibus litterariis editarum, edited by Prof.
JERoM D. Reuss, and published in 16 quarto volumes at Gottingen, (1801-1821,) to a
large extent supplied this desideratum, down to the end of the last century.
296 MEMORIAL OF JOSEPH HENRY.
. At the time, and for years afterward, one-half of the Smith-
sonian income was diverted by the requirements of Congress to the
local objects of the Lyceum: and the hopelessness of attempting a
work —additional to that already mapped out, which would require
thé united labors of a large corps of well-trained and educated
assistants for many years, and the subsequent devotion of the whole
available income for many years following, to complete its publica-
tion, was fully realized. The project however was not abandoned:
and in 1854, Henry conceived the plan of taking up the more
limited department of American Scientific Bibliography; and by
the persevering application of a fixed portion of the income annually
for a succession of years, of finally producing a thorough subject-
matter index, as well as an index of authors, for the entire range of
American contributions to science from their earliest date. Inspired
with this ambition, he sought to enlist the co-operation of the
British Association for the Advancement of Science, in procuring
with its large resources, a similar classified index for British and
European scientific literature.
The favorable reception of this project, was officially announced
to Henry by the Secretary of the Association, in the transmission
of the following extract from the proceedings of that body for 1855.
“ A communication from Professor Henry of Washington having’
been read, containing a proposal for the publication of a catalogue
of philosophical memoirs scattered throughout the Transactions of
Societies in Europe and America, with the offer of co-operation on
the part of the Smithsonian Institution, to the extent of preparing
and publishing in accordance with the general plan which might be
adopted by the British Association, a catalogue of all the American
memoirs on physical science, — the Committee approve of the sug-
gestion, and recommend that Mr. Cayley, Mr. Grant, and Professor
Stokes be appointed a committee to consider the best system of
arrangement, and to report thereon to the council.” * The report of
this committee dated 13th June, 1856, was presented to the succeed-
ing Meeting of the British Association ; in which they take occasion
to say: ‘The Committee are desirous of expressing their sense of
the great importance and increasing need of such a catalogue. - -
* Report Brit. Assoc. Glasgow, Sept. 1855, p. Lxvi.
DISCOURSE OF W. B. TAYLOR. 297
The catalogue should not be restricted to memoirs in Transactions
of Societies, but should comprise also memoirs in the Proceedings
of Societies, in mathematical and scientific journals:” etc. - - -
3 he catalogue should begin from the year 1800. There should
be a catalogue according to the names of authors, and also a cata-
logue according to subjects.” * The committee comprising Fellows
of the Royal Society of London finally succeeded in interesting that
grave body in the undertaking: and the result was that greatly to
Henry’s satisfaction, the entire work was ultimately assumed by the
Royal Society itself.
In the course of ten years that liberal Society aided by a large
grant from the British Government gave to the world its half
instalment of the great work, in its admirable “ Catalogue of Scien-
tific Papers” alphabetically classified by authors, in seven or eight
large quarto volumes. In the Preface to this splendid monument
of industry and liberality, stands the following history of its incep-
tion. “The present undertaking may be said to have originated in
a communicatior from Dr. Joseph Henry, Secretary of the Smith-
sonian Institution, to the Meeting of the British Association at
Glasgow in 1855, suggesting the formation of a catalogue of Phil-
osophical memoirs. ‘This suggestion was favorably reported on by
a Committee of the Association in the following year, - - -
In March, 1857, General Sabine, the Treasurer and Vice President
of the Royal Society, brought the matter before the President and
Council of that body, and requested on the part of the British Asso-_
ciation, the co-operation of the Royal Society in the project: where-
upon a committee was appointed to take into further consideration
the formation of such a catalogue. - - - No further step was
taken by the British Association or by the Royal Society in co-op-
eration with that body: but the President and Council of the Royal
Society acting on the recommendations contained in a Report of the
Library Committee dated 7th January, 1858, resolved that the prepa-
ration of a Catalogue of scientific memoirs should be undertaken by
the Royal Society independently, and at the Society’s own charge.”
* Report Brit. Assoc. Cheltenham, Aug. 1856, pp. 463, 464.
} Preface to Catalogue of Scientific Papers, (1800-1863) vol. i. 1867, pp. iil. iv. The
second and most important division of this great and invaluable work,—the
classified Index to Subjects,—still remains to be accomplished.
298 MEMORIAL OF JOSEPH HENRY.
System of Exchanges.—For the diffusion of knowledge afong
men, one of the methods adopted by Henry from the very com-
mencement of his administration was the organization of a system
by which the scientific memoirs of Societies or of individuals from
any portion of the United States, might be transmitted to foreign
countries without expense to the senders: and by which in like
manner the similar publications of scientific work abroad might be .
received at the Smithsonian Institution, for distribution in this
country. * This privilege however is properly restricted to bona
fide donations and exchanges of scientific memoirs; all purchased
publications being carefully excluded and left to find their legiti-
mate channels of trade. By an international courtesy — creditable
to the wisdom and intelligence of the civilized Powers, —such
packages to and from the Institution are permitted to pass through
all custom-houses, free of duty; an invoice of authentication being
forwarded in advance. When it is considered that this large work
of collection and distribution (including the constant supply of the
Institution’s own publications, and the extensive ’returns: therefor
of journals, proceedings, and transactions, for its own library)
requires the systematic records and accounts in suitable ledgers,
with the accurate parcelling and labelling of packages, large and
small, to every corner of the globe, it may well be conceived that
no small amount of labor and expense is involved in these forward-
ing operations. t A recognition of the benefits conferred by this
*‘The promotion of knowledge is much retarded by the difficulties expe-
rienced in the way of a free intercourse between scientific and literary societies
in different parts of the world. In carrying on the exchange of the Sinithsonian
volumes, it was necessary to appoint a number of agents, These agencies being
established other exchanges could be carried on through them and our means of
conveyance, at the slight additional expense owing to the small increase of
weight. - - - The result cannot fail to prove highly beneficial, by promoting a
more ready communion between the literature and science of this country and
the world abroad.” (Smithsonian Report for 1851, p. 218, Senate ed.)
+It may be stated that the number of foreign institutions and correspondents
‘receiving the Smithsonian publications exceeds two thousand; whose localities
embrace not only the principal cities of Europe. (from Iceland to Turkey), of
British America, Mexico, the West Indies, Central and South America, and of
Australia, but also those of New Zealand, Honolulu in the Sandwich Islands,
twelve cities in India, Shanghai in China, Tokio and Yokohama in Japan, Bata-
via in Java, Manila in the Philippine Islands, Alexandria and Cairo in Egypt,
Algiers in northern Africa, Monrovia in Liberia, and Cape Town in southern
Africa, The correspondents and recipients in the United States, are probably
nearly as numerous,
DISCOURSE OF W. B. TAYLOR. 299
generous enterprise, is practically indicated by the rapid enlarge-
ment of the operations. The weight of matter sent abroad by the
"Institution at the end of the first decade was 14,000 pounds for the
year 1857: the weight sent at the end of the second decade was
22,000 pounds for the year 1867: and the weight sent at the end —
of the third decade was 99,000 pounds for the last year 1877.
This admirable system has been greatly encouraged and facilitated
by the most praiseworthy liberality of the great lines of occan
steamers, and of the leading railway companies, in carrying the
Smithsonian freight in many cases free of charge, or in other cases at
greatly reduced rates: an appreciative tribute alike to the beneficent
services and reputation of the Institution, and to the personal
character and influence of its Director. *
“This part of the system of Smithsonian operations has every-
where received the commendation of those who have given it their
attention or have participated in its benefits. The Institution is
now the principal agent of scientific and literary communication
between the old world and the new. - - - The importance of
such a system with reference to the scientific character of our coun-
try, could scarcely be appreciated by those who are not familiar
with the results which flow from an easy and certain intercommu-
nication of this kind. Many of the most important contributions
to science made in America have been unheard of in Europe, or
have been so little known, or received so little attention, that they
have been republished as new discoveries or claimed as the product
of European research.” + It would indeed be difficult to estimate
rightly the benefit to science in the encouragement of its cultivators,
afforded by this fostering service. Few Societies are able to incur
much expense in the distribution of their publications ; and hence
**“*The cost of this system would far exceed the means of the Institution, were
it not for important aid received from various parties interested in facilitating
international intercourse and the promotion of friendly relations between distant
parts of the civilized world. The liberal aid extended by the steamship and
other lines, mentioned in previous reports, in carrying the boxes of the Smith- ,
son exchanges free of charge, has been continued, and geveral other lines have
been added to the number in the course of the year.” (Smithsonian Report for
1867, p. 89.) Notwithstanding this unprecedented generosity, the exchange system
has reached such proportions as to require for its maintenance one-fourth of the
entire income from the Smithsonian fund.
+ Smithsonian Report for 1853, p. 25 (of Senate ed.)
300 MEMORIAL OF JOSEPH HENRY.
their circulation is necessarily very limited. The fructifying inter-
change of labors and results, dependent on their own resources,
would be obstructed by the recurring expenses and delays of cus-_
toms interventions, and by unconscionable exactions: and indeed
without the Smithsonian mechanism, nine-tenths of the present
scientific exchanges would be at once suppressed. Let it be hoped
that so beneficent a system will not break down from the weight of
its own inevitable growth.
Astronomical Telegraphy.—Analogous in principle to the system
of exchange, is that adopted for the instantaneous trans-Atlantic
communication of discoveries of a special order. In the year 1878,
in the interests of astronomy (to which Henry was ever warmly
devoted) he concluded “a very important arrangement between the
Smithsonian Institution and the Atlantic Cable Companies, by which
is guaranteed the free transmission by telegraph between Europe
and America of accounts of astronomical discoveries which for the
purpose of co-operative observation require immediate announce-
ment.”* This admirable service to science, so creditable to the
intelligence and the liberality of the Atlantic Telegraph Companies,
embraces direct reciprocal communication between the Smithsonian
Institution and the foreign Observatories of Greenwich, Paris,
Berlin, Vienna, and Pulkova. During the first year of its opera-
tion, four new planetoids were telegraphed from America, and seven
telescopic comets from Europe to this country.
“ Although the discovery of planets and comets will probably
be the principal subject of the cable telegrams, yet it is not intended
to restrict the transmission of intelligence solely to that class of
observation. Any remarkable solar phenomenon presenting itself
suddenly in Europe, observations of which may be practicable in
America several hours after the sun has set to the European ob-
server,— the sudden outburst of some variable star similar to that
which appeared in Corona borealis in 1866,— unexpected showers
of shooting stars, etc. would be proper subjects for transmission by
cable.
“The announcement of this arrangement has called forth the
approbation of the astronomers of the world: and in regard to it
eee ne
* Smithsonian Report for 1873, p. 32.
DISCOURSE OF W. B. TAYLOR. 301
we may quote the following passage from the fifty-fourth annual
report of the Royal Astronomical Society of England: ‘The great
value of this concession on the part of the Atlantic telegraph and
other Companies, cannot be too highly prized, and our science must
certainly be the gainer by this disinterested act of liberality.
Already planets discovered in America haye been observed in
Europe on the evening following the receipt of the telegram, or
within two or three days of their discovery.’ ”*
Official Correspondence.—A. vast amount of individual work
having in view the diffusion of knowledge, has been performed by
the correspondence of the Institution ; which may be best described
in the language of an extract from one of the early reports: “There
is one part of the Smithsonian operations that attracts no public
attention, though it is producing important results in the way of
diffusing knowledge, and is attended perhaps with more labor than
any other part. I allude to the scientific correspondence of the
Institution. Scarcely a day passes in which communications are
not received from persons in different parts of the country, con-
taining accounts of discoveries, which are referred to the Institution,
or asking questions relative to some branch of knowledge. The
rule was early adopted to give respectful attention to every letter
received, and this has been faithfully adhered to from the beginning
up to the present time. - - - Requests are frequently made
for lists of apparatus, for information as to the best books for the
study of special subjects, for suggestions on the organization of
local societies, etc. Applications are also made for information by
persons abroad, relative to particular subjects respecting this coun-
try. When an immediate reply cannot be given to a question, the
subject is referred by letter to some one,of the Smithsonian co-labor-
ers to whose line of duty it pertains, and the answer is transmitted
to the inquirer, either under the name of the person who gives the
* Smithsonian Report for 1873, p. 33. In 1876, a stellar outburst in the “Swan”
observed by Dr. Schmidt of Athens, on the 24th of November, was announced.
Less brilliant than the similar outburst which occurred in the northern ‘‘Crown”
in May, 1866, it continued to decline through the month of December, and at the
close of the year, had dwindled from the third to the eighth magnitude. (This
may possibly be the same “temporary star’’—seen in Cygnus in 1600, and again
in 1670: and having therefore a period of variability of about 69 years.)
302 MEMORIAL OF JOSEPH HENRY.
information, or under that of the Institution, according to the cir-
cumstances of the case. - - - Many of those communications
are of such a character, that at first sight it might seem best to treat
them with silent neglect; but the rule has been adopted to state
candidly and respectfully the objections to such propositions, and
to endeavor to convince tlteir authors that their ground is untenable.
Though this course is in many cases attended with no beneficial
results, still it is the only one which can be adopted with any hope
of even partial good.”*
The information given to scientific inquirers has been of an ex-
ceedingly varied and highly valuable character, not unfrequently
involving a large amount of research from: special’ experts; who
have been accustomed cheerfully to bestow a degree of attention on
difficult questions thus presented, which would have been accorded
perhaps less ungrudgingly to others than to the universally honored
Smithsonian Director. As to the pretensions and importunities of
the unscientific,—such is the judgment pronounced after a quarter
of a century of laborious experience with them:
‘The most troublesome correspondents are persons of extensive
reading, and in some cases of considerable literary acquirements,
who in earlier life were not imbued with scientific methods, but who
not without a certain degree of mental power, imagine that they
have made great discoveries in the way of high generalizations.
Their claims not being allowed, they rank themselves among the
martyrs of science, against Phas the scientific schools and the envy
of the world have arrayed themselves. Indeed to such intensity
does this feeling arise in certain persons, that on their special sub-
jects they are really monomaniacs, although on others they may be
not only entirely sane, but even evince abilities of a high order.
- - - Two persons of this class have recently made a special
journey to Washington, from distant parts of the country, to demand
justice from the Institution in the way of recognition of their claims
to discoveries in science of great importance to humanity ; and each
of them has made an appeal to his representative in Congress to
aid him in compelling the Institution to acknowledge the merits of
his speculations, Providence vindicates in such cases the equality
* Smithsonian Report for 1853, pp. 22, 23, (of Senate ed.)
DISCOURSE OF W. B. TAYLOR. 303
of its justice in giving to such persons an undue share of self-es-
teem and an exaltation of confidence in themselves, which in a great
degree compensate for what they conceive to be the want of a just
appreciation by the public. Unless however they are men of great
benevolence of disposition, who can: look with pity on what they
deem the ignorance and prejudice of leaders of science, they are apt
to indulge in a bitterness of denunciation which might be injurious
to the reputation of the Institution, were their effects not neutral-
ized by the extravagance of the assertions themselves.” *
To the projectors and propellers of Paine electric engines, and
Keely motors, eager for a marketable certificate from such an
authority, Henry would calmly reply: ‘““We may say that science has
established the great fact—without the possibility of doubt, that
what is called power, or that which produces changes in matter, can-
not be created by man, but exists in nature in a state of activity or in
a condition of neutralization; and furthermore that all the original
forces connected with our globe, as a general rule have assumed a
state of permanent equilibrium, and that the crust of the earth as
a whole (with the exception of the comparatively exceedingly small
proportion, consisting of organic matter such as coal, wood, etc.) is ‘
as it were a burnt slag, incapable of yielding power; and that all
the motions and changes on its surface are due to actions from celes-_
tial space, principally from the sun. - - - All attempts to
substitute electricity or magnetism for coal power must be unsuc-
cessful, since these powers tend to an equilibrium from which they
can only be disturbed by the application of another power, which
is the equivalent of that which they can subsequently exhibit.
They are however, with chemical attraction, etc. of great impor-
tance as intermediate agents in the application of the power of heat
as derived from combustion. Science does not indicate in the slight-
est degree, the possibility of the discovery of a new primary power
comparable with that of combustion as exhibited in the burning of
coal. Whatever unknown powers may exist in nature capable of
doing work, must be in a state of neutralization, otherwise they
would manifest themselves spontaneously; and from this state of
neutralization or equilibrium, they can be released only by the action
* Smithsonian Report for 1875, pp. 37, 38.
304 MEMORIAL OF JOSEPH HENRY.
of an extraneous power of equivalent energy; and we therefore do
not hesitate to say that all declarations of the discovery of a new
power which is to supersede the use of coal as a motive-power, have
their origin in ignorance or deception, and frequently in both, A
man of some ingenuity in combining mechanical elements, and hay-
ing some indefinite scientific knowledge, imagines it possible to ob-
tain a certain result by a given combination of principles, and by
long brooding over this subject previous to experiment, at length
convinces himself of the certainty of the anticipated result. Hay-
ing thus deceived himself by his sophisms, he calls upon his neigh-
bors to accept his conclusions as verified truths; and soon acquires
the notoriety of having made a discovery which is to change the
civilization of the world, The shadowy reputation which he has
thus acquired, is too gratifying to his vanity to be at once relin-
quished by the announcement of his self-deception; and in prefer-
ence he applies his ingenuity in devising means by which to continue
the deception of his friends and supporters, long after he himself
has been convinced of the fallacy of his first assumptions. In this
_ way what was commenced in folly, generally ends in fraud.” *
In looking back upon the struggles, conflicts, and obstructions of
the past, it really seems quite marvelous that so much should have
been accomplished, with so limited expenditure. These large re-
sults are partly due to the admirable method of the Secretary, his
clear presage of effects, and his high power of systematic distribu-
tion and appliance; partly to the intelligent zeal and sympathetic
energy of the able assistants whom he had associated with him
almost from the organization of the institution; and partly to the
personal magic of the man,—to the surprising amount of voluntary
co-operation he was able to call forth in almost every direction, by
the sheer force of his own earnest industry, and the contagious influ-
ence of his own devotion to the cause of scientific advancement.
Scientific Observatories.—One of the objects very dear to Henry’s
heart, was the establishment of a physical observatory (with a phys-
ical laboratory in connection) for the systematic observation and
record of important points in celestial and terrestrial physics. For
—
* Smithsonian Report for 1875, pp. 89, 40.
DISCOURSE OF W. B. TAYLOR. 3805
the proper maintenance of such an establishment, he thought an
income as large as that of the Smithson fund, would not be too
much: and on two different occasions he endeavored to enlist the
interest of wealthy and public-spirited citizens in such an enterprise.
One of these was Mr. McCormick of Illinois; and a letter on the
subject was afterward printed (without its address) in the Report for
1870.* The other was Mr. Lick of California: who after some
hesitation, decided in favor of an astronomical observatory. Another
allied object of great interest to Henry, and one requiring as large
an endowment, was a well-equipped chemical laboratory, in which
—under judicious restrictions—those really engaged in original
researches, should have liberal facilities of appliances and needed
materials, furnished them. He considered that an important part °
of the work to be accomplished by a physical and chemical labora-
tory, would be the determination and tabulation of “The Constants
of Nature and Art” with a much wider range of subjects, and on a
scale of much greater completeness and accuracy, than had heretofore
been attempted: and thus might be realized the great work or works
of reference, suggested by Charles Babbage as a scientific desider-
atum.t Had the Smithsonian fund been twice as large as it is,-
both these great enterprises for the increase of knowledge, would
undoubtedly have been successfully inaugurated by Henry.
Loss by Fire.—FEarly in the year 1865, (on the 24th day of Jan-
uary,) the central portion of the Smithsonian Building suffered
fromya disastrous fire, the effects of which were aggravated by the
extreme severity of the winter cold, which greatly obstructed the
efficiency of the engines brought into action. { “The progress of
the fire was so rapid, that but few of the contents of the upper
rooms could be removed before the roof fell in. ‘The conflagration
was only stayed by the incombustible materials of the main build-
ing :” the flooring of the upper story, forming an iron and brick
* Smithsonian Report for 1870, pp. 141-144.
+Brewster’s Edinburgh Jour. Sci. April, 1882, vol. vi. pp. 334-340. — Smithsonian
Report for 1856, pp. 289-302.
tThe accident resulted from the carelessness of some workmen in the upper
picture gallery, who in temporarily setting up a stove, inserted the pipe through
a wall-lining into a furring space (enppeding it a flue), but which conducted
directly under the rafters of the roof. :
20
306 MEMORIAL OF JOSEPH HENRY.
vaulting over the lower or principal story. Neither wing of, the
building was reached by the fire; and the valuable Library (not
then transferred to the Capitol), and the Museum, fortunately
escaped without injury. The Stanley collection of Indian portraits,
comprising about 200 paintings, and estimated as worth 20,000
dollars, was entirely destroyed. A fine full-sized copy in Carrara
marble, by John Gott, of the antique statue known as “The Dying
Gladiator,” was crumbled into a formless mass of stone.
The Secretary’s office unfortunately fell within the range of the
flames. “The most irreparable loss was that of the records, con-
sisting of the official, scientific, and miscellaneous correspondence ;
embracing 35,000 pages of copied letters which had been sent, (at
least 30,000 of which were the composition of the Secretary,) and
50,000 pages of letters received by the Institution; the receipts for
publications and specimens ; reports on various subjects which have
been referred to the Institution; the records of experiments insti-
tuted by the Secretary for the Government; four manuscripts of
original investigations, [memoirs by collaborators, ] which had been
adopted by the Institution for publication ; a large number of papers
and scientific notes of the Secretary ; a series of diaries, memorandum
and account books.” * ‘This truly “irreparable loss” of the original
notes of many series of experiments by Henry, of varied character,
running back for thirty years, kept for the purpose of reduction
and discussion, or further extension (as leisure might permit), and
of which but few had been published even by results, — was borne
- by their author with his characteristic equanimity; and was very
rarely alluded to by him, unless when in answer to inquiries respect-
ing particular points of his researches, he was compelled to excuse
the absence of precise data. ,
The Lecture Room —a model of its class — entirely burned out
by the fire, was not reconstructed: but the space it occupied on the
upper floor, was with the adjacent rooms (used as the apparatus
room, and the art gallery) thrown into one large hall, 200 feet long,
—at present occupied as the ethnological museum. Advantage
was taken of the hazard demonstrated by the fire, to induce Con-
gress in the following year to transfer the custody of the Smith-
* Smithsonian Report for 1865, p. 18.
DISCOURSE OF W. B. TAYLOR. 307
sonian collection of scientific works to the National Library: and
the propriety of this change was thus defended. “The east wing
of the Smithsonian building, in which the books were deposited is
not fire-proof, and is liable to destruction by accident or the torch
of the incendiary, while the rooms of the Capitol are of incom-
bustible materials. This wing was moreover filled to overflowing ;
and a more extended and secure depository could not be obtained,
except by another large draught on the accumulated funds intended
to form part of the permanent capital.” *
Second Visit to Hurope.—At a meeting of the Board of Regents,
held February 3rd, 1870, “General Delafield in behalf of the Exec-
utive Committee, stated that they deemed it highly important for
the interests of the Institution in the promotion of science, and due
to the Secretary for his long and devoted services, that he should
visit Europe to consult with the savans and societies of Great Britain
and the continent; and he therefore hoped that a leave of absence
would be granted to Professor Henry for several months, and an
allowance be made for his expenses. On motion of Dr. Maclean it
was unanimously Jesolved, That Professor Henry, Secretary of the
Institution, be authorized to visit Europe in behalf of the interests
of the Smithsonian Institution, and that he be granted from three
to six months leave of absence, ea two thousand dollars for
travelling expenses for this purpose.” +
It is not necessary here to recount the particulars of this second
visit of Henry to Europe, more fully than in the brief account
given by him in his annual Report. “Before closing this report, it
is proper that I should refer to a resolution adopted by your honor-
able board at its last session, granting me leave of absence to visit
Europe to confer with savans and societies relative to the Institu-
tion, and making provision for the payment of my expenses. The
presentation of this proposition was entirely without my knowl-
edge, but I need scarcely say that its unanimous adoption was
highly gratifying to my feelings; and that I availed myself of the
privilege it offered with a grateful appreciation of the kindness
* Smithsonian Report for 1866, p. 14.
+ Smithsonian Report for 1869, p. 89.
308 MEMORIAL OF JOSEPH HENRY.
intended. I sailed from New York on the 1st of June, returning
after an absence of four and a half months, much improved in
health, and with impressions as to science and education in the Old
World, which may be of value in directing the affairs of the Insti-
tution. Although limited as to time, and my plans interfered with
somewhat by the war, I visited England, Ireland, Scotland, Bel-
gium, parts of Germany and France. But deferring for the present
an account of my travels, and the observations connected with
them, I will merely state that as your representative, I was every-
where kindly received, and was highly gratified with the commen-
dations bestowed on the character and operations of the Institution
intrusted to your care.” *
Service on the Light-House Board.—While the whole high bent
of Henry’s mind was rather toward abstract than utilitarian
research, there was no well devised system of practical benefit for
man, that did not command his earnest sympathy or enlist his
active co-operation ;—no labor in such co-operation from which he
shrank, if he felt that without the sacrifice of other duties, he
could make such labor useful. On the establishment of the Light-
House Board, in 1852, Henry was appointed one of its members;
and although his valuable time was already fully occupied, he con-
sented to serve on the Board, in the hope of aiding to benefit the
interests of navigation. ‘To the requirements of his new position,
he brought his accustomed energy, skill, and eminently practical
, judgment; and soon made his influence felt throughout the light-
house service.
* Smithsonian Report for 1870, p. 45.
t+ In less than ten years from the organization of the Light-House Board, the
lenticular system of AUGUSTIN JEAN FRESNEL had been introduced into all the
light-houses of the United States. LEONOR FRESNEL, Secretary of the Light-House
Board of France, (the brother of that distinguished physicist,) in a letter addressed
to the Secretary of the United States Light-House Board, dated May 7th, 1861, says:
“The prodigious development of this service within so short a time under the
Light-House Board. has truly astonished me My old experience in fact enables
me the better to appreciate how mu¢h energy and activity were necessary to
bring to this degree ot perfection, the light-house service of such a vast expanse
of coast, as well on the Pacific. as onsthe Atlantic. without mentioning the task
of succeeding in establishing against hostile prejudices the adoption of a new -
system.” (Report to Secretary of the Treasury, Feb. 4, 1862. Mis. Doc, No, 61, 37th
Cong. 2nd Sess. Senate, p. 16.)
DISCOURSE OF W. B. TAYLOR. 309
When the steadily advancing cost of whale oil made it necessary
to seek for some more economical illuminant, he attacked the prob-
Jem with his habit’of scientific method. Colza oil or rape-seed oil
had been used in France with some success;' and efforts were made
to introduce its culture and production in this country. Lard oil
had been tested by Professor J. H. Alexander of Baltimore, and
pronounced by him of very inferior value as an illuminant. For
accuracy of determination, Henry caused to be prepared at the
Light-house Depot on Staten Island, a long dark fire-proof cham-
ber, and had it painted black on all its interior surfaces for the
purpose of photometric observations. In ordinary lamps, the colza
oil was found to be about equal to whale oil in illuminating power,
and lard oil inferior to it. Petroleum or mineral oil was also tried ;
but its quality was at that time too variable, and its use was found
to be too dangerous. Experiment showed that lard oil had a
greater specific gravity than sperm oil, a less capillarity or ascen-
sional attraction in a wick, and a less perfect fluidity. The con-
ditions were varied; and it was found that with elevation of
temperature, the fluidity, and the capillarity, of the Jard oil
increased more rapidly than those of the sperm oil, until at about
250° I*. the former surpassed the latter in these qualities. With
these results, it became important to compare the oils in large
lamps, such as were actually required for the lanterns of light-
houses. The heat evolved by the large-sized Argand burners,
would seem peculiarly to favor the lard oil: a few trials, with a
proper adaptation of the lamps, established its supremacy; and
conclusively demonstrated —contrary to all the laboratory trials of
former experimenters, that for the purpose desired, this contemned
article was for equal quantities a more brilliant illuminant than
mineral kerosene oil, or vegetable colza oil, or animal sperm oil,
while its market price was only about one-fourth that of the latter.*
Against all the opposition of interested dealers, and prejudiced keep-
ers, the lard oil was at once introduced into actual use in the years
1865 and 1866, in all the light-houses of the United States; with
a saving of at least one dollar on every -gallon of the hundred
thousand in annual use; that is of 100,000 dollars per annum.
*See “Supplement,’”’ Nore N.
310 MEMORIAL OF JOSEPH HENRY.
During the progress.of these useful labors, no less important
investigations were commenced, on the most efficient forms of
apparatus for acoustic signalling, as the substitutes for light signals
during thé prevalence of sea-board fogs. “Among the impedi-
ments to navigation, none perhaps are more to be dreaded than
those which arise from fogs. - - - The only means at present
known for obviating the difficulty, is that of employing powerful
sounding instruments which may be heard at a sufficient distance
through the fog, to give timely warning of impending danger.” *
Gun signals were early abandoned, as inefficient, dangerous, and
expensive: inefficient, because of both “the length of the intervals
between the successive explosions, and the brief duration of the
sound, which renders it difficult to determine with accuracy its.
direction.” Innumerable projects eagerly pressed upon the Board
by visionary inventors (some of them being rattles, gongs, or organ
pipes operated by manual cranks, many of them being varieties of
automatic horn or whistle operated by the winds or the waves)
were impartially tested, and uniformly rejected as wholly insuffi-
cient: very few of their projectors having the slightest practical
idea of the requirements of the service. Experiments on steam-
whistles of large size and on horns with vibrating steel tongues or
reeds, sounded by steam-power, or by hot-air engines, varied and
continued for several years under wide changes of conditions,
finally determined their most efficient size and character. +
In 1867, comparative trials were made at Sandy Hook (on the
Jersey shore, at the entrance to Raritan Bay, and to New York
Bay,) with three powerful instruments; a large steam-whistle
whose cup was 8 inches in diameter, and made adjustable in pitch;
a large reed trumpet 17 feet long and 38 inches in diameter at its
flaring mouth, whose steel tongue was 10 inches long, 2} inches.
* Report of Light-House Board for 1874, p. &3.
+ An enterprising inventor had secured a patent for ‘a metallic compound or
alloy for steam-whistles, especially adapted to increase greatly their power as fog-
signals. In yain was he assured that his “improvement” was a fallacy; that the
cylindrical cup of the whistle was not a bell, but only a resonant chamber; and
that its material was compdratively unimportant. He was only with difficulty
convinced, when HENRY had his whistle formally tested, with a stout cord wound
tightly around its cylindrical surface: when its tone under steam escape was
proved to be as full, as loud, and as penetrating, as with the cord removed.
DISCOURSE OF W. B. TAYLOR. oll
wide, and half an inch thick at its smaller vibrating end, and was
blown by a hot-air engine; and lastly a large siren horn operated
by steam at different pressures, the aerial vibration being produced
by the intermittence of a revolving grating disk or valve in the
small end of the horn, driven at high velocities by the steam
engine, and its pitch regulated by the adjustable speed of the revolv-
ing disk. The trumpet or fog-horn was provided with a series of
replaceable stcel tongues of different sizes, and the siren was driven
at five different pitches of from 250 to 700 impulses per second,
and at steam pressures varying from 20 pounds to 100 pounds per
square inch. For the purpose of accurate estimation, within short
distances, a phonometer or “artificial ear” was employed, having
at its smaller upturned end a horizontal drum of stretched mem-
brane, sprinkled with sand, after the plan devised by Sondhauss.
Trumpets of thé same size, were made of different materials, as of
brass, iron, and wood; but these differences were found to exercise
little or no influence on the intensity or penetration of the sound.
Trumpets were also made of different shapes, straight and curved,
and square as well as round, with equal lengths and equal areas of
cross section; from whose trials it appeared that the conical form
gave nearly double the distance of action on the sand of the “arti-
ficial ear,” that was given by the pyramidal form. Such investi-
gations — varied and long-continued, serve to show the conscientious
earnestness with which Henry sought to give the highest efficiency
to the expedients available for the protection of life and property
along our extended sea coast.
The steam-whistle was found to be less powerful than the trum-
pet, with the same expenditures of fuel. Steam-whistles were
afterwards tried of 10 inches, 12 inches, and 18 inches in diameter.
The largest size was not found to give results proportioned to its
increased consumption ; and the 10 or 12 inch size was regarded
as practically the most efficient. The siren was found to be the
most powerful and penetrating of the instruments tested, as it
admitted more advantageously the application of a higher steam
expenditure. The best result with this instrument was attained
with a pressure of from 60 to 80 pounds, and at a pitch between
350 and 400 vibrations per second. Under favorable conditions,
312 MEMORIAL OF JOSEPH HENRY.
this instrument frequently made itself heard at a distance of fifteen,
and twenty miles. THenry’s large experience with the occasional
aerial impediments to sound propagation,* and his strong sense of
the vital importance of having fog-signals recognized at a distance,
under the most adverse conditions, led him to favor the introduc-
tion of the most powerful sounders attainable, without absolutely
limiting the decision to their relative economy. Hence he was the
first to devise improvements in the siren, and to press its adoption
at important or dangerous stations, notwithstanding its higher con-
sumption of steam or heat power. f
Partly under the stimulus given to the sale of lard oil by the
striking proofs of its excellence as an illuminant under favorable
conditions, furnished by Henry, this article slowly advanced in
price; though probably not to an extent of more than a fourth part
additional cost. Henry’s energies again were called into requisition
to devise a remedy, ‘Neither gas, nor electricity, the favorite means
of numerous projectors and advisers, appeared just:fied, on the
score of economy. { A new series of elaborate experiments was
undertaken to determine whether mineral oil (so abundant as to be
easily procurable at one-third the cost of lard oil) could not be
made available. The great improvements introduced into its prep-
*An abstract of Henry's elaborate and invaluable researches on some abnormal
phenomena of Sound—the crowning labor of his life, must be reseryed for a con-
cluding section.
+ Major G. H. Elliott, commissioned by the U.S. Light-House Board to make a
tour of inspection of European Light-house establishments in 1873, in his Report
‘published by the Senate in 1874, says of the British and French systems, “I saw
many details of construction and administration which we can adopt to adyan-
tage, while there are many in which we excel. Our shore fog-signals particularly,
are vastly superior both in number and power.” (Leport on European Light-houses,
p.12,) “To the careful and laborious Investigations and experiments of the dis-
tinguished Chalrman of the Light-Ifouso Bourd, prolonged through a series of
years, and prosecuted under a great variety of conditions, Is largely to bo at-
tributed the acknowledged superiority of our fog-signal glace (Journal of
Franklin Institute, Jan. 1876, vol. xxi. p. 43.)
t Report of L. H. Board for 1874, p. 11. No agency (for whatever purpose) has
proved so enticing to the half-informed as electricity. For years past scarcely a
month has elapsed without some new form of patent electric-light, or some
marvelous application of electric-lights, being pertinaciously urged by sanguine
“reformers”? upon the Light-House Board for adoption; some of these ideal
schemes being the mounting of electric-lights on buoys, or on the masts of light
ships, or their suspension from moored balloons. Many eminently original
minds haye earnestly desired to obtain contracts for supplying all the light-
. houses with oxy-hydrogen lime lights. In a fog, the most powerful electric-light
is as useless as the cheapest kerosene lamp.
DISCOURSE OF W. B. TAYLOR. 313
aration in later years by high distillation, seemed to justify the
attempt. Not only was a laborious inquiry into the best conditions
of combustion, by precise photometric measurement required, but
for the security of the service, equally laborious examinations into
the best practicable methods of testing, of handling, and of storing
this material.* To secure a proper oxygenation*in burning, a
modification of the lamp was required. “It was soon apparent
that the use of mineral oil would necessitate a change of lamps,
and attention is now directed to the perfection of one which will
produce the best results from this illuminant. It is thought that
the lamps now used with lard oil can be converted at no great
expense and successfully used with mineral oil. Our experiments
have shown that this oil can be more readily used in the smaller
lamps; and it is proposed as soon as suitable ones can be prepared,
to put it into use at such stations of the fifth and sixth order, as
may be thought expedient; when if it be found satisfactory, an
attempt will be made to substitute it for lard oil in lamps of the
higher orders.” | “This change is proposed entirely with reference
to economy; for it has been found by repeated experiment, that
while a somewhat superior light may be obtained from a small
lamp charged with kerosene, a larger lamp charged with lard oil
affords the greater illuminating power. So great is this difference
in lamps of the first order with five wicks, that the rates of light
from kerosene and lard, are as three to four respectively. Since
the safety of the keeper and the continuity of the light are essen-
tial elements in the choice of an illuminant, a thorough acquaint-
ance with the nature of the substance is essentially necessary.
With a view therefore to the introduction of kerosene, a series of
experiments have been made during the last two years on the
different varieties of this material found in the market.” {
*“Tt has been established that the ordinary fire-test is insufficient as usually
applied, and that an explosive mixture may be formed by confining the vapors
given off at a temperature in some cases twenty degrees lower than that certified
to by the public inspector. That this inquiry is of great practical importance to
the Light-house system, must be evident when we reflect that means must be
dlevised for testing the ofl offered for acceptance in accordance with contracts;
for storing it; for transporting it to light-house stations; for preserving it in
butts at the stations; and for the instruction of the keepers in its daily use.”
(Report of L. H. Board, 1877, p. 5.)
+ Report of L. H. Board, 1875, p. 6.
t Report of L. H. Board, 1877, p. 4.
314 eB MEMORIAL OF JOSEPH HENRY.
In 1871, on the resignation of Admiral Shubrick, Henry*was
chosen as the Chairman of the Light-House Board; and his ener-
getic labors in behalf of the service, fully vindicated the wisdom of
the choice. Punctual in his attendance on the weekly meetings of
the Board, he inspired others with a portion of his own zealous
devotion. Nor did he fail to urge upon the Government, the con-
stant need and responsibility of maintaining an efficient establish-
ment. He emphatically declared that “The character of the aids
which any nation furnishes the mariner in approaching and leaving
its shores, marks in a conspicuous degree its advancement in civili-
zation. Whatever tends to facilitate navigation or to lessen its
dangers, serves to increase commerce; and hence is of importance
not only to the dwellers on the seaboard, but to the inhabitants of
every part of the country. - - - Therefore it is of the first
importance that the signals, whether of light or sound, which indi-
cate the direction of the course, and the beacons which mark the
channel, shall be of the most improved character, and that they be
under the charge of intelligent, efficient, and trustworthy attend-
ants.” * And rising to a higher argument, he pointed out that “It
is not alone in its economical aspect that a light-house system is to
be regarded: it is a life-preserving establishment founded on the
principles of Christian benevolence, of which none can so well
appreciate the importance as he who after having been exposed to
the perils of the ocean—it may be for months—finds himself
approaching in the darkness of night a lee shore. But it is not
enough to erect towers, and establish other signals: they must be
maintained in an efficient state with uninterrupted constancy.” f
Unfailing continuity was the watch-word of his administration.
* Report of L. H, Board, 1873, pp. 3,4. The coast line of the United States Is far
more extended than that of any other nation on the globe. ‘The magnitude of
the Light-house system of the United States may be Inferred from the following
facts; from the St. Croix River on the boundary of Maine, to the mouth of the
Rio Grande in the Gulf of Mexico, includes a distance of over 6,000 miles; on the
Pacific coust, a length of about 1,500 miles; on the great northern Lakes, about
8,000 miles; and on inland rivers about 700 miles; making a total of more than
10,000 miles, Nearly every square foot of the margin of the sea throughout the
whole extent of 5,000 miles along the Atlantic and Gulf coast, is more or less
illuminated by light-house rays; the mariner rarely losing sight of one light
until he has gained another,” (p.4, of same Report.)
+ Report of L, H, Board, 187A, p. 5.
DISCOURSE OF W. B. TAYLOR. 315
A formal report made to the Honorable Secretary of the Treas-
ury by the Naval Secretary of the Light-House Board, dated May
21st, 1878, (very shortly after Henry’s death,) simply detailing for
information, the character of his gratuitous services to the light-
house establishment during a quarter of a century, (and not
intended for the public,) takes the inevitable form of eulogy. A
portion of it is here quoted:
“As Chairman of this committee, Professor Henry acted as the
scientific adviser of the Board. But in addition it was his duty to
conduct the experiments made by the Board, not only in the matter
of original investigation, and testing of the material used, but in
examining and reporting on the models, plans, and theories, pre-
sented by others to the Board. The value of the services he ren-
dered in this position is simply inestimable. He prepared the
formula for testing our oils; he conducted the series of experiments
resulting in the substitution of lard oil for sperm oil, which effected
an jmmense saving in cost; and he also conducted the experiments
which have resulted in making it possible to substitute mineral oil
for lard oil, when another economy will be made. His original
investigation into the laws of sound have resulted in giving us a
fog-signal service conceded to be the best in the world. ' Iis exami-
nations into the action of electricity, have enabled the Board to
almost completely protect its stations from the effect of lightning.
The result of his patient, continuous, practical experimentation is
visible everywhere in the service. No subject was too vast for him
to undertake; none too small for him to overlook. And while he
has brought into the establishment so many practical applications
of science, he has done almost as much service by keeping out
what presented by others seemed plausible, but which on examin-
ation proved impracticable.
“Every theory, plan, or machine, which was pressed on the
Board, as for the interests of commerce and navigation, was referred
to the committee on experiments, when it was examined by its
Chairman, and was formally reported upon. If it had no practical
value, the report on record simply stated the inexpediency of its
adoption: but the Professor often verbally pointed out to the pre-
senter, its fallacy; and sent him away—if not satisfied —at least
316 MEMORIAL OF JOSEPH HENRY.
feeling that he had been well treated. He thus prevented not only
the adoption of impracticable plans, but avoided the enmity of
their inventors.
“Professor Henry made many valuable reports, containing the
results of his elaborate experiments into matters which were for-
mally referred to him, which are spread on the records of the
Board; and the reports were drawn in such form that his sugges-
tions were capable of and received practical application. But in
addition to this, he was constantly extending his scientific researches
for the benefit of the service in all directions. His summer vaca-
tions were as a rule passed in experimentation at the laboratory of
the Establishment at Staten Island, on its steamers, or at its light-
stations, pushing his inquiries to their last results. To experimen-
tation in the interests of this service, Professor Henry seemed to
give his whole heart. It appeared as if he never lost sight of the
needs of the Establishment, and as if he never neglected an oppor-
tunity to advance its interests. In addition to his other duties,
Professor Henry presided as Chairman of the Light-House Board
for the last seven years at its weekly meetings, when he did much
to infuse into the different members of the Board, his own spirit of
labor for, and devotion to its interests.” *
Services to the National G'overnment.—The value of Henry’s
services to the various Executive Departments of our Government,
faithfully and unostentatiously performed through a long series of
years and a succession of Presidential Administrations, cannot be
estimated, as its history can never be written. Whatever material
for it existed in the form of abstracts of inquiries, trials, and
reports, prior to 1865, unfortunately perished in the fire of that
year. Whenever in any important case a scientific adviser could
be useful to the proper conduct of a Bureau, Henry’s reputation
generally pointed him out as the most suitable expert and arbiter.
On the outbreak of the great civil war, the number of such refer-
* Hxecutive Documents, No. 94, Forty-fifth Congress, 2d Session, Senate, pp. 2,3. It
is gratifying to know that on the presentation of his report and recommendation
to Congress, by the high-minded Secretary of the Treasury, a moderate appropri-
ation for the benefit of his bereaved family was at once passed, in slight recogni-
tion of Henry’s ‘‘inestimable’”’ services.
DISCOURSE OF W. B. TAYLOR. 317
ences was naturally very considerably increased. The Departments
of War, of the Navy, and of the Treasury, were besieged by pro-
jectors with every imaginable and impossible scheme for saving the
country, and demolishing the enemy. ‘Torpedo balloons, electric-
light balloons, wonderful compounds destined to supersede gun-
powder and revolutionize the art of war; cheap methods for the
manufacture of Government bonds and paper-money ; multitudinous
expedients for the prevention of counterfeiting, by devices in the
engraving, by secret markings, by anti-photographic inks, by pecu-
liar textures of paper, (applicable to coupons, to circulating notes,
to revenue stamps,)—each warranted to be infallible; such were
among the agencies by which patriotic patentees and adroit adven-
turers were willing to serve their country and to reap their reward
by the moderate royalty or percentage due to the magnificence of
the public benefit. Such were among the unenviable tasks of
examination and adjudication accepted by Henry, only from an
intrepid sense of duty.
“The course which has been pursued of rendering the Govern-
ment in its late trials, every aid which could be supplied by scientific
research, has been warmly approved. As most persons are probably
entirely ignorant of the services really rendered to the Government
by the Institution, I may here state the fact that a large share of
my time, (all indeed which could be spared from official duties,)
has been devoted for the last four years to investigations required
by the public exigencies. Within this period, several hurdred
reports, requiring many experiments, and pertaining either to pro-
posals purporting to be of high national importance, or relating to
the quality of the multifarious articles offered in fulfillment of legal
contracts, have been rendered. The opinions advanced in many of
these reports, not only cost much valuable time, but also involved
grave responsibilities. While on the one hand the rejection of a
proposition would be in contravention to the high importance
claimed for it by its author, on the other the approval of it would
perhaps incur the risk of the fruitless expenditures of a large
amount of public money. It is not necessary, I trust, to say that
the labor thus rendered was entirely gratuitous, or that in the
judgment pronounced in any case, no regard was paid to the inter-
318 MEMORIAL OF JOSEPH HENRY.
ested solicitations or personal influence of the parties concerned # on
the contrary it has in some instances resulted from the examination
of materials sold to the Government, that attempted fraud has been
exposed, and the baffled speculator received his due reward in con-
demnation and punishment. These facts it ‘is thought will be
deemed a sufficient answer to those who have seemed disposed to
reproach the Institution with the want of a more popular demon-
stration—but of a really far less useful or efficient aid in the
support of the Government.” *
In the performance of these troublesome and often disagreeable
labors, conducted with the single aim necessitated by all his scien-
tific habits and instincts, it-of course resulted that a great majority
of his judgments and recommendations were decidedly adverse to
the hopes and wishes of the aspirants to fame and fortune. Having
once satisfied himself of the frivolity or the chicanery of an article
or project, his decision was inflexible; and although importunate
appeals to the Department Secretary, abetted by a prostituted
political or other influence, in one or two instances succeeded in
fastening for a time upon the public Treasury a worthless or a
noxious leech, the vast number of such, excluded from experi-
mental imbibitions by Henry’s critical supervision, must have been
a protection to the public interests quite beyond the reach of esti-
mation: while on the other hand, the supplies of honest contractors
awarded their just commendation, and the rare proposals of real
merit’ favorably reported upon, which from a hasty survey might
have been confounded and overlaid with the mass of untried
puerilities, no less served to strengthen and assist the Government
during its years of greatest trial, need, and exhaustion,
Krom the outset of the unnatural sectional revolt, fully appre-
ciating the vastness of the interests, the sacrifices, and the dangers
involved, Henry contemplated the crisis—not with despondency,
but with a profound sorrow and solicitude. While his sympathies
and his hopes were all for the preservation of the national integrity
of jurisdiction, he was little given to public exhibitions of his feel-
ings. _Undemonstrative—less from: temperament than from the
deliberate and habitual subjection of emotional expression to reason,
* Smithsonian Report for 1864, p. 15.
DISCOURSE OF W. B. TAYLOR. 319
during those times of feverish excitement apprehension and circum-
spection necessarily attendant on the prevalence of a gigantic rebel-
lion, (unparalleled in incentive, in temper, and in magnitude,) many
of whose leaders had been among his personal friends, he was not
unnaturally looked upon by many as lukewarm in his patriotism,
if not disloyal in his citizenship. ‘To the occasional inuendoes of
the press, he deigned no answers: he was the last man to accord
compliance with the urgency of a popular clamor. And yet during
the entire period of the Southern Insurrection, he was the personal
and trusted friend of President Lincoln. *
CONTRIBUTIONS TO SCIENCE AT WASHINGTON.
In addition to what may be called the public labors of Henry so
diligently performed in various fields after his advent to the Smith-
sonian Institution, it is well briefly to contemplate the special scien-
tific work he was able to accomplish in the intervals of his exacting
occupations, that some estimate may be formed of the independent
value of his later contributions, as well as of his wonderful indus-
try. While still engaged in his difficult task of organizing and
shaping the policy of the Institution, in 1850, on taking occasion
to present before the American Association at New Haven, Conn.
* Early in the war (in the autumn of 1861,) a caller at the Presidential Mansion
very anxious to see the Chief Magistrate of the nation, was informed that he
could not then be seen, being engaged in an important private consultation.
The caller not to be repulsed, wrote on a piece of paper that he must see Mr.
Lincoln personally, on a matter of vital and pressing importance to the public
welfare. This of course secured his admission to the presence of Mr. Lincoln,
who was sitting with a middle-aged gentleman. Observing the hesitancy of his
visitor, the President told him he might speak freely, as only a friend was
present. Whereupon the visitor announced that for several evenings past he
had observed a light exhibited on the highest of the Smithsonian. towers, for a
few minutes about nine o'clock, with mysterious movements, which he felt
satisfled were designed as signals to the rebels encamped on Munson’s hill in
Virginia. Having gravely listened to this information with raised eyebrows, but
a subdued twinkle of the eye, the President turned to his companion, saying
“What do you think of that? Professor Henry.” Rising with a smile, the person
addressed replied, that from the time mentioned, he presumed the mysterious
Nght shone from the lantern of an attendant who was required at nine o'clock
each evening to observe and! record the indications of the meteorological instru-
ments placed on the tower. The painful confusion of the officious informant, at
once appealed to Henry’s sensibility; and quite unmindful of the President, he
approached the visitor, offering his han@, and with a courteous regard counselled
him never to be.abashed at the issue of a conscientious discharge of duty, and
never to let the fear of ridicule interfere with its faithful execution.
320 MEMORIAL OF JOSEPH HENRY.
a résumé of the electrical phenomena exhibited by the Leyden ¥ar,
and their true interpretation, he remarked that “for the last three
and a half years, all his time and all his thoughts had been given
to the details of the business of the Smithsonian Institution. He
had been obliged to withdraw himself entirely from scientific
research; but he hoped that now the Institution had got under
way, and the Regents had allowed him some able assistants, that he
would be enabled in part at least to return to his first love—the
investigation of the phenomena of nature.” *
Thermal Telescope.—Shortly after his establishment at Washing-
ton, he continued a series of former experiments with the “thermo-
galvanic multiplicator” devised by Nobili and Melloni in 1831;
and by some slight but significant modifications of the apparatus,
he succeeded in imparting to it a most surprising delicacy of action.
With the thermo-electric pile carefully adjusted at the focus of a
suitable reflector, his “thermal telescope” when directed to the
celestial vault, indicated that the heat radiated inward by our
atmosphere when clear, is least at the zenith, and increases down-
ward to the horizon; as was to have been inferred from its increas-
ing mass: when directed to clouds, they were found to differ very
widely accordingly as they were condensing or being dissipated ;
some even indicating a less amount of radiation than the surround-
ing atmosphere. When directed to a horse in a distant ficld, its
animal heat concentrated on the pile, was distinctly made manifest
on the galyanometer needle. Even the heat from a man’s face at
the distance of a mile could be detected; and that from the side of
a house at several miles distance.t These and many similar obser-
vations demonstrated to sense the inductions of reason, that there
is a constant and universal exchange by radiation in straight lines
from every object in nature, following the same laws as the palpable
emanation from incandescent bodies; and that even when the
amplitude of the thermal vibrations (equivalent to the square root
of their dynamic energy) is reduced a million fold, its existence
may still be distinctly traced.
* Proceed. ‘Am. Assoc. 4th Meeting, New Haven, Aug. 1850, p. 878.
+ Silliman’s Am. Jour. Sci. Jan. 1848, vol. y. pp. 118, 144.
DISCOURSE OF W. B. TAYLOR. ool
Henry showed by experiment, that ice could be employed both
as a convex lens for converging heat to a focus, and also asa con-
cave mirror for the same purpose: a considerable portion of the
incident rays being transmitted, a large portion reflected, and the
remainder (a much smaller quantity ) absorbed by the ice.
In 1849, for the purpose of estimating the effects of certain
meteorological conditions of .the atmosphere, he made some experi-
ments on the lateral radiation from a current of ascending heated air
at different distances above the flame; the latter being thoroughly
eclipsed. ‘
He also experimented on the radiation of heat from a hydrogen '
flame, which was shown to be quite small, notwithstanding the high
temperature of the flame. By placing an infusible and incombus-
tible solid in the flame, while the temperature is much reduced, the
radiant light and heat are greatly increased: *—results closely
analogous to those obtained by him in the differences between the
audibility of vibrating tuning-forks when suspended by a soft thread,
or when rigidly attached to a sounding-board. These results have
also an undoubted significance with regard to celestial radiations;
not only as to the differences between gaseous nebule and stars or
clusters, but as to the differences between stars in a probably differ-
ent state of condensation or of specific gravity.
A few years later, he continued his investigation of this subject
of radiation, more especially with reference to Rumford’s “Obser-
vations relative to the means of increasing the quantities of Heat
obtained in the Combustion of Fuel:” published in Great Britain in
1802. He found that Rumford’s recommendation of the intro-
duction of balls of clay or of fire brick (about two and a half
inches in diameter) into a coal fire, was fully justified as an eco-
nomic measure: more heat being thereby radiated from the fire into
the room, and less being carried up the flue. He also showed
however that for culinary purposes, while the incandescent or
heated clay increases the radiation, and thereby improves. the
quality of the fire for roasting, it correspondingly expends the tem-
perature, and thereby diminishes its power for boiling. “That a
* Proceed. Am. Phil. Soc. Oct. 19, 1849, vol. v. p. 108.
+ Journal Royal Institution, 1802, vol. i. p. 28.
21
322 MEMORIAL OF JOSEPH HENRY.
solid substance increases the radiation of the heat of a flame, is an
interesting fact in connection with the nature of heat itself. It
would seem to show that the vibrations of gross matter are neces-
sary to give sufficient intensity of impulse to produce the phe-
nomena of ordinary radiant heat.” *
In 1851, he read before the American Association at Albany, a
paper “On the Theory of the so-called Imponderables:” (mainly a
development of his earlier discussion in 1846, of the molecular
constitution of matter,) in which he forcibly criticised a frequent.
tendency to assume or multiply unknown and unrealizable modes
of action: holding that with regard to the most subtle agencies of
nature, we have no warrant by the strict scientific method, for
resorting to other than the observed and established laws of matter
and force, until it has been exhaustively demonstrated that these
are insufficient. The fundamental laws of mechanical philosophy
“are five in number; viz. the two laws of force—attraction, and
repulsion, varying with some function of the distance; and secondly, ,
the three laws of motion—the law of inertia, of the co-existence ,
of motions, and of action and re-action, Of these laws we can
give no explanation: they are at present considered as ultimate
facts; to which all mechanical phenomena are referred, or from
which they are deduced by logical inference, The existence of
these laws as has been said, is deduced from the phenomena of the
operations of matter in masses; but we apply them by analogy to |
the minute and invisible portions of matter which constitute the
atoms or molecules of gases, and we find that the inferences from
this assumption are borne out by the results of experience.” He
regarded the modern kinetic or dynamic theory of gases, by its
predictions and verifications, as furnishing almost a complete estab-
lishment of the atomic and molecular theory of matter. Referring
to the ingenious hypothesis of Boscovich, he thought that though
well adapted to embrace the two static laws above mentioned, it did
not appear equally well adapted to satisfy in any intelligible sense
the three kinetic laws. He contended that any attempt at conform-
ing our conception of the ultimate constitution of matter to the
* Proceed. Am, Assoc. Providence, Aug. 1855, pp. 112-116, “On the Effect of min-
gling Radiating substances with Combustible materials.”
DISCOURSE OF W. B. TAYLOR. S20
inductions of experience, would seem to conduct us directly to the
atomic hypothesis of Newton. A careful study of the dynamics
of the so-called “imponderables” certainly tended to their unifica-
tion. Admitting the difficulty of framing an entirely satisfactory
theory of the resultant transverse action of electricity, he suggested
that a tangential force was not accordant with any inductions from
actual experience; and was incapable of direct mechanical realiza-
tion. Extending the atomic conception of matter to the setherial
medium of space, he concluded by urging “the importance in the
adoption of mechanical hypotheses, of conditioning them in strict
accordance with the operations of matter under the known laws of
force and motion, as exhibited in. time and space.” *
Among the various public Addresses delivered by Henry on
special occasions, reference may be here made to his excellent expo-
sition of the nature of power, and the functions of machinery
as its vehicle,—concluding with a sketch of the progress of art,
pronounced. at the close of the Exhibition of the Metropolitan
Mechanics’ Institute, in Washington, on the evening of March 19th,
1853. After representing to his hearers the close physical analogy
between the human body as a moving machine, and the steam loco-
motive under an intelligent engineer, he remarked: “In both, the
direction of power is under the influence of an immaterial, think-
ing, willing principle, called the soul. But this must not be con-
founded as it frequently is with the motive power. ‘The soul of a
man no more moves his body, than the soul of the engineer moves
the locomotive and its attendant train of cars. In both cases the
soul is the -directing, controlling principle; not the. impelling
power.” + |
Views of Education.—Another address deserving of special notice
(delivered the following year,) is his introductory discourse before
the “ Association for the Advancement of Education,” as its retiring
President. In this, he maintained that inasmuch as “the several
facultics of the human mind are not simultaneously developed, in
educating an individual we ought to follow the order of nature, and
‘to adapt the instruction to the age and mental stature of the pupil.
* Proceed. Am. Assoc. Albany, Aug. 1851, pp. 84-91.
}+ Closing Address Metr. Mech. Inst. Washington, 1853, p. 19.
324 MEMORIAL OF JOSEPH HENRY.
Memory, imitation, imagination, and the faculty of forming mental
habits, exist in early life, while the judgment and the reasoning
powers are of slower growth.” Hence less attention should be
given to the development of the reasoning faculties, than to those
of observation: the juvenile memory should be stored rather with
facts, than with principles: and he condemned as mischievous “the
proposition frequently advanced, that the child should be taught
nothing but what he can fully comprehend, and the endeavor in
accordance with this, to invert the order of nature, and attempt to
impart those things which cannot be taught at an early age, and to
neglect those which at this period of life the mind is well adapted
to receive. By this mode we may indeed produce remarkably
intelligent children, who will become remarkably feeble men. The
order of nature is that of art before science; the entire concrete
first, and the entire abstract last. ‘These two extremes should run
gradually into each other, the course of instruction becoming more
and more logical as the pupil advances in years.”—“The cultiva-
tion of the imagination should also be considered an essential part
of a liberal education: and this may be spread over the whole
course of instruction, for like the reasoning faculties the imagination
may continue to be improved until late in life.”
Applying this same reasoning to the moral training of youth, hie
considered that (as in the intellectual culture) the object should be
“not only to teach the pupil how to think, but how to act and to do ;
placing great stress upon the early education of the habits. - - -
We are frequently required to act from the impulse of the moment,
and have no time to deduce our course from the moral principles
of the act. An individual can be educated to a strict regard for
truth, to deeds of courage in rescuing others from danger, to acts of
benevolence, generosity, and justice. - - - The future character
of a child and that of the man also, is in most cases formed prob-
ably before the age of seven years. Previously to this time
impressions have been made which shall survive amid the vicissi- -
tudes of life, amid all the influences to which the individual may
be subjected, and which will outcrop as it were, in the last stage of °
his earthly existence, when the additions to his character made in
later years, have been entirely swept away.” Childhood (he inti-
DISCOURSE OF W. B. 'TAYLOR. 325
mated) is less the parent of manhood, than of age: the special vices
of the individual child though long ieebatced sometimes surviving
and re-appearing in his “second childhood.”
Affirming that culture is constraint,— education and direction an
expenditure of force, and extending his generalization from the
. individual to the race, he controverted the idea so popular with
some benevolent enthusiasts, that there is a spontaneous tendency
in man to civilization and advancement. The origins of past
civilizations — taking a comprehensive glance at far distant human
populations —have been sporadic as it were, and their prevalence
- comparatively transitory. “It appears therefore that civilization
itself may be considered as a condition of unstable equilibrium,
which requires constant effort to be sustained, and a still greater
effort to be advanced. It is not in my view the ‘manifest destiny’
of humanity to improve by the operation of an inevitable necessary
law of progress: but while I believe that it is the design of Provi-
dence that man should be improved, this improvement must be the
result of individual effort, or of the combined effort of many indi-
viduals animated by the same feeling and co-operating for the
attainment of the same end. - - - If we sow judiciously in
the present, the world will assuredly reap a beneficent harvest in
the future: and he has not lived in vain, who leaves behind him as
his successor, a child better educated — morally, intellectually, and
physically, than himself. From this point of view, the responsi-
bilities of life are immense. Every individual by his example and
precept, whether intentionally or otherwise, does aid or oppose this
important work, and leaves an impress of character upon the suc-
ceeding age, which is to mould its destiny for weal or woe, in
all coming time. - - - The world however is not to be
advanced by the mere application of truths already known: but we
look forward (particularly in physical science) to the effect of the
development of new principles. We have scarcely as yet read more
than the title-page and preface of the great volume of nature, and
what we do know is as nothing in comparison with that which may
be yet unfolded and applied.” *
* Proceed. Assoc. Adv. Education, 4th Session, Washington, Dec. 28, 1854, pp. 17-31.
'The pregnant thought that human civilization is an artificial and coerced con-
dition, would seem to have a suggestive bearing on the two great theories of
326 MEMORIAL OF JOSEPH HENRY.
Experiments on Building-Stone.—In 1854, a series of experiments
on the strength of different kinds of building-stone, was undertaken
by Henry as one of a commission appointed by the President,
having reference to the marbles offered for the extension of the
United States Capitol. Specimens of the different samples— accu-
rately cut to cubical blocks one inch and a half in height, were first
tried by interposing a thin sheet of lead above and below, between
the block and the steel plates of the crushing dynamometer. “ ‘This
was in accordance with a plan adopted by Rennie, and that which
appears to have been used by most if not all of she subsequent
experimenters in researches of this kind. Some doubt however
was expressed as to the action of interposed lead, which induced a
series of experiments to settle this question; when the remarkable
fact was discovered that the yielding and approximately equable
pressure of the lead caused the stone to give way at about half the
pressure it would sustain without such an -interposition. For
example, one of the cubes precisely similar to another which with-
stood a pressure of upwards of 60,000 pounds when placed in
immediate contact with the steel plates, gave way at about 30,000
pounds with lead interposed. ‘This interesting fact was verified in
a series of experiments embracing samples of nearly all the mar-
bles under trial, and in no case did a single exception occur to vary
the result.
“The explanation of this striking phenomenon (now that the
fact is known) is not difficult. The stone tends to give way by
bulging out in the centre of each of its four perpendicular faces,
and to form two pyramidal figures with their apices opposed to
each other at the centre of the cube, and their bases against the
steel plates. In the case where rigid equable pressure is employed,
as in that of the thick steel plate, all parts must give way together.
But in that of a yielding equable pressure as in the case of inter-
development, and evolution, so generally confounded by the superficial. What may
be called the radical difference between these two views of organic extension, is
that the former assumes an inherent mysterious tendency to progression, whose
motto is ever “excelsior;” while the latter assumes a general tendency to vari-
ation within moderate limits in indefinite directions; so that elevation is no
more normal than degradation, and indeed may be regarded as rarer and more
exceptional, since at every upward stage attained by the few, there are probably
more further digressions downward than upward, the motto being ever ‘‘aptior.’”
DISCOURSE OF W. B. TAYLOR. BPH |
posed lead, the stone first gives way along the outer lines or those
of least resistance, and the remaining pressure must be sustained by
the central portions around the vertical axis of the cube. After
this important fact, was clearly determined, lead and all other inter-
posed substances were discarded, and a method devised by which the
upper and lower surfaces of the cube could be ground into perfect
parallelism. - - - All the specimens tested were subjected to
this process, and on their exposure to pressure were found to give
concordant results. The crushing force sustained was therefore
much greater than that heretofore given for the same material.” *
In the same communication, interesting remarks are made on the
tensile strength of materials, particularly the metals. “ According
to the views presented, the difference in the tenacity in steel and
lead does not consist in the attractive cohesion of the atoms, but in
their capability of slipping upon each other:” that is on the differ-
ence of lateral adhesion of the molecules, as exemplified in ice and: .
water. A bar of soft metal—as lead—subjected to tensile strain,
by reason of the greater freedom of the exterior layers of mole-
cules, exhibits a stretching and thinning; while the interior mole-
cules being more confined by the surrounding pressure, are less
mobile, permit less elongation of the mass,.and are therefore the
first to commence breaking apart. Accordingly on ultimate sepa-
ration, each fragment exhibits a hollow or cup-like surface of
fracture, where the interior portion of the material has first parted :
the depth of the concavity being somewhat proportioned to the
malleability or ductility of the substance. “With substances of
greater rigidity, this effect is less apparent, but it exists even in
iron, and the interior fibres of a rod of this meta] may be entirely
separated, while the outer surface presents no appearance of change.
From this it would appear that metals should never be elongated
by mere stretching, but in all cases by a process of wire-drawing,
or rolling. A wire or bar must always be weakened by a force
which permanently increases its length without at the same time
compressing it.” +
* Proceed. Am. Assoc. Providence, Aug: 1855, pp. 102-112.
f This conclusion is not at all in opposition to the ascertained fact of the
increased strength imparted to an iron rod by “‘thermio-tension,” discovered by
Professor WALTER R. JOHNSON, in 1838. (Journal of Franklin Institute, Oct. 1839, vol.
Xxiv. n.s. pp. 232-236.)
328 MEMORIAL OF JOSEPH HENRY
Hydrometric Experiment,—A. novel project for the rectification
of spirits by the simple process of static separation of the alcohol
and water by the stress of their specific gravities when exposed in
long columns, produced in 1854 a considerable sensation. It was
alleged i in various publications by those interested in the new enter-
prise, that the coercitive compression exerted by the water in a
long hydrostatic column greatly accelerated the displacement and
separation induced by gravitation, and that only a few hours were
necessary to complete the process, if the depth of the liquid were
sufficiently great.* iui
A. patent was obtained: affidavits and samples fully attested the
wonderful efficiency cf the process; and only the co-operation of
confiding capitalists was required, to realize fabulous profits, and
effect a manufacturing and commercial revolution.
Simply in the interests of truth, Henry undertook the careful
investigation of this surprising pretension. One of the towers of
‘the Smithsonian Building supplied a convenient well for the experi- .
ment, easily accessible throughout its height. “A series of stout
iron tubes of about an inch and a half internal diameter formed
the column; the total length of which was one hundred and six
feet. Four stop-cocks were provided ; one at the bottom, one about
four feet from the top, and the other two to the intermediate space
equally divided or nearly so.” ‘Very careful hydrometer and ther-
mometer registers were made at increasing intervals of time, the
last being that of nearly half a year: a portion of the reserved
liquor being simultaneously tested. The result stated, is: “There
is not the slightest indication of any difference of density between
the original liquor and that from the top or bottom of the column,
after the lapse of hours, days, weeks, or months. The fluid at the
bottom of the tube it must be remembered was for five months
exposed to the pressure of a column of fluid at least one hundred
feet high.” +
* An incidental remark in Gmelin’s ‘‘Handbook of Chemistry’’ seemed to give
some color of plausibility to the scheme. ‘Brandy kept in casks is said to con-
tain a greater proportion of spirit in the upper, and of water in the lower part.”
Gmelin’s Handbook, Translated by Henry Watts, London, 1841, part i. sect. 4,—
vol. i. p. 112.
+t Proceed. Am. Assoc. Providence, Aug. 1855, pp. 142, 143.
DISCOURSE OF W. B. TAYLOR. 329
Sulphuric-acid Barometer.—In 1856, Henry had constructed. for
the Smithsonian Institution, at the suggestion of Professor George
C. Schaeffer, a large sulphuric-acid barometer, whose column being
more than seven times the height of the mercurial column (about
184 feet) gave correspondingly enlarged and sensitive indications.
Water barometers with cisterns protected by oil, (as that constructed
by Daniell for the Royal Society,) have always proved instable.
With reference to sulphuric acid, “The advantages of this liquid
are: Ist that it gives off no appreciable vapor at any atmospheric
temperature; and 2nd that it does not absorb or transmit air. The
objections to its use are: Ist the liability to accident from the cor-
rosive nature of the liquid, either in the filling of the tube or in its
subsequent breakage; and 2nd its affinity for moisture, which tends
to produce a change in specific gravity.” The latter defect was
obviated by a drying apparatus consisting of a tubulated bottle con-
taining chloride of calcium, and connected by a tube with the glass
bottle forming the reservoir, which excluded all moisture from
the transmitted air. “The glass tube [of the barometer] is two
hundred and forty inches long, and three-fourths of an inch in
diameter; and is inclosed in a cylindrical brass case of the same
length, and two and a half. inches in diameter. The glass tube is
secured in the axis of the brass case by a number of cork collars,
placed at intervals.” * This barometer continued in successful and
satisfactory use for many years; and had its readings constantly
recorded.
Of several of Henry’s courses of experiments, no details have
been published; and his original notes appear to have perished.
In 1861, he made a number of experiments on the effects of burn-
ing gunpowder in a vacuum, as well as in different gases.
“A series of researches was also commenced, to determine more
accurately than has yet been done, the expansion produced in a bar
of iron at the moment of magnetization of the metal by means of
a galvanic current. The opportunity was taken with the consent
of Professor Bache, of making these experiments with the delicate
instruments which had previously been employed in determining
* Proceed. Am. Assoc. Albany, Aug. 1856, pp. 135-138:
330 MEMORIAL OF JOSEPH HENRY,
the varying length, under different temperatures, of the measuring
apparatus of the base lines of the United States Coast Survey.” *
This wonderfully, microscopic measuring’ apparatus—devised by
Mr, Joseph Saxton, was capable of distinguishing (by means of the
light-ray index of its contact reflector,) a dimension equal to a half
wave-length of average light, or the 100,000th part of an inch,
The long under-ground vaults of the Smithsonian building having
been selected as a suitable place for the precise verification of the
residual co-efficient of compensated temperature expansion of the
base rods of the Survey, the opportunity was seized by Henry, at
the termination of the investigation, to apply the same delicate
apparatus to the determination of the polarized or magnetic expan-
sion, ‘The results of these delicate and interesting investigations
are lost to the world,
In less than six years from the time of these researches, he was
called on to mourn the death of his life-long intimate and honored
friend, who had always exhibited so brotherly a sympathy and
co-operation with his own varied labors, In consequence of this
event—the death of his friend Professor A. Dallas Bache in 1867,
Henry was chosen in 1868, to be his successor as President of the
National Academy of Sciences. At the request of that body, he
prepared a eulogy of his friend the late President, which was read
before the Academy April 16th, 1869, In grateful acknowledg-
ment of the wise counsels and valuable services of Dr. Bache as one
of the Smithsonian Regents, he observed; “In 1846 he had been
named in the act of incorporation as one of the Regents of the
Smithsonian Institution, and by successive re-election was continued
by Congress in this office until his death, a period of nearly twenty
years. ‘lo say that he assisted in shaping the policy of the estab-
lishment would not be enough, It was almost exclusively through
his predominating influence that the policy which has given the
Institution its present celebrity, was after much opposition finally
adopted. - - = Professor Bache with persistent firmness tem-
pered by his usual moderation, advocated the appropriation of the
proceeds of the funds principally to the plan set forth in the first
* Smithsonian Report for 1861, p. 48.
DISCOURSE OF W. B. TAYLOR. 301
report of the Scerctary, namely of cncouraging and supporting
original research in the different branches of science. - - - It
would be difficult for the Secretary — however unwilling to intrude
anything personal on this occasion, to forbear mentioning that it
was entirely due to the persuasive influence of Professor Bache, that
he was induced —almost against his own better judgment, to leave
the quiet pursuit of science and the congenial employment of col-
lege instruction, to assume the laborious and responsible duties of
the office to which through the partiality of friendship he had been
called. Nor would it be possible for him to abstain from acknowl- -
edging with heart-felt emotion, that he was from first to last sup-
ported and sustained in his difficult position by the fraternal
sympathy, the prudent counsel, and the unwavering friendship of
the lamented deceased.” * |
Many minor contributions in various fields of scientific observa-
tion, must here be omitted: but it would be inexcusable, in this
place and on this occasion, to neglect a reference to the active part
he took in the organization and advancement of this Society ; + and
the unflagging interest ever exhibited in its proceedings, from the
date of its convocation, March 13th, 1871, to that of his last illness,
All here, remember with what punctuality he attended the meet-
ings—whether of the executive committee or of the society,
undeterred by inclemencies of the weather which often kept away
many much younger members. All here, recall with what unpre-
tentious readiness he communicated from his rich stores of well-
digested facts, observations— whether initiatory or supplementary,
on almost every topic presented to our notice; how apt his illustra-
tions and suggestions in our spontaneous discussions ; and with what
unfailing interest we ever listened to his words of exposition, of
knowledge, and of wisdom: utterances which we shall never hear
again; and which unwritten and unrecorded, have not been even
reported in an abstract.
* Biographical Memoirs, Nat. Acad. Sci. vol. 1. pp. 181-212. Republished in the
Smithsonian Report for 1870, pp. 91-116. The father of Professor BAcHE—Richard
Bacho, was a son of the only daughter of the illustrious BENJAMIN FRANKLIN,
+ The Philosophical Society of Washington.
Be MEMORIAL OF JOSEPH HENRY.
Range of information.—It was not alone in those physital
branches of knowledge to which he had made direct original con-
tributions, that the mental activities of Henry were familiarly:
exercised and conspicuously exhibited. There was scarcely a
department of intellectual pursuit in which he did not feel and
manifest a sympathetic interest, and in which he did: not follow with
appreciative grasp its leading generalizations. Holding ever to the
unity of Nature as the expression and most direct illustration of the
Unity of its Author, he believed that every new fact discovered in
_ any of nature’s fields, would ultimately be found to be in intimate
correlation with the laws prevailing in other fields—seemingly the
most distant.* To his large comprehension, nothing was insignifi-
cant, or unworthy of consideration. He ever sought however to
look beyond the ascertained and isolated or classified fact, to its
antecedent cause; and in opposition to the dogma of Comte, he
averred that the knowledge of facts is not science, — that these are
merely the materials from which its temple is constructed by the
generalizations of sagacious and attested speculation.
Among his earlier studies, Chemistry occupied a prominent place.
The youthful assistant in the laboratory of his former Instructor
and ever honored friend, Dr. T. Romeyn Beck, and later, himself
a teacher of the art and knowledge to others, a skillful manipulator,
an acute analyst and investigator of re-actions, he seemed at first
destined to become a leader in chemical research. Like Newton,
he endeavored to bring the atomic combinations under the concep-
tion of physical laws; believing this essential to the development
of chemistry as a true science. He always kept himself well-
informed on the progress of the more recent doctrines of quantiva-
lence, and the newer system of nomenclature.
He had also paid considerable attention to geology; with its
relations to paleontology on the one side, and to physical geography
on the other.
* A proper view of the relation of science and art will enable him [the
reader] to see that the one is dependent on the other; and that each branch of
the study of nature is intimately connected with every other.” (Agricultural
Report for 1857, p. 419.) “The statement cannot be too often repeated, that each
branch of knowledge is connected with every other, and that no light can be
gained in regard to one, which is not reflected upon all.” (Smithsonian Report
for 1859, p. 15.)
DISCOURSE OF W. B. TAYLOR. 333
As intimated in touching upon the stimulus given to “arche-
ological work” by the Smithsonian publications, (ante, p. 290,)
Henry ever displayed a warm sympathy with researches in Anthro-
pology; and he would hg eee Si this partiality by repeating
the familiar “homo sum” of Terence.” A student of the “com-
parative anatomy” of ethnology,—of the obscure but cumulative
traces of a remote human ancestry,—and of the curious relics of
social, civil, and religious customs, apparently derived from distant
or from vanished races, he amassed a fund of well-digested informa-
tion in these alluring fields, to be appreciated only by the specialist
in such pursuits.
Familiar with the details—as well of astronomical observation
as of the mathematical processes of reduction, he would have done
honor to any Observatory placed under his charge. He was lenient
in his judgment of the ancient star-worshippers; and was always
greatly attracted by astronomical discoveries. As already men-
tioned (ante, p. 239 » he delivered in 1834, a course of Lectures on »
Astronomy.
Well read in the science of Political ee he had by guar
vation and analysis of human nature, made its inductive principles .
his own, and had satisfied himself that its deductions were fully
confirmed by an intelligent appreciation of the teachings of finan-
cial history. He attributed the lamentable disregard of its funda-
mental doctrines, by many of our so-called legislators, to a want of
scientific training, and consequent want of perception and of faith
in the dominion and autonomy of natural law.
A good linguist, he watched with appreciative interest the prog-
ress of comparative philology, and the ethnologic significance of its
generalizations, in tracing out the affiliations of European nations.
By no means neglectful of lighter literature, he enjoyed at leisure’
evenings, in the bosom of his cultivated family, the readings of
modern writers, and the suggestive interchange of sentiment and
criticism. Biikine passages of poetry made a strong impression
on his retentive memory; and it was not unusual to hear him
embellish some graver fact, in conversation, with an unexpected but
most apt quotation. With a fine esthetic feeling, his appreciation
and judgment of works of art, were delicate and discriminating.
334 MEMORIAL OF JOSEPH HENRY.
Among the subjects to which he had given a close and critical
attention, was the attractive field of Architecture, both in its his-
torical development as a Fine-art—symbolizing devotional senti-
ment, and in its later manifestations as the application of antique °
and eclectic forms of ornamentation to utilitarian structures. His
very admiration of ancient classic and gothic art, made him intoler-
ant of the servile reproduction of Temple and Cathedral styles
for purposes and uses to which they were wholly unsuited.* And
he was severe in his criticisms on the too frequent practice of
wasting a large portion of the funds bequeathed to scientific, edu-
cational, or charitable purposes, on showy and pretentious piles,
(the inspiration and the monument of an ambitious architect,) to
the permanent spoliation and restriction of the endowment intended
for intellectual and moral ends,
The Reign of Law.— Henry held very broad and decided views
as to the reign of order in the Cosmos. Defining science as the
“Inowledge of natural law,” and law, as the “will of God,” he
was always accustomed to regard that orderly sequence called the
“law,” as being fixed and immutable as the omniscient providence of
‘its Divine Author: admitting in no case caprice or variableness: and
he would quote with expressive emphasis, Halley’s classic lines,
—‘Quas dum primordia rerum
Pangeret Omniparens:leges violare Creator
Noluit, seternique operis fundamina fixit.”
*“The Greek architect was untrammelled by any condition of utility. Archi-
tecture was with him in reality a fine-art. The temple was formed to gratify the
tutelar deity. Its minutest parts were exquisitely finished, since nothing but
perfection on all sides and in the smallest particulars, could satisfy an all-seeing
and critical eye, It was intended for external worship, and not for internal
use, - - - The uses therefore to which in modern times, buildings of this kind
can be applied, are exceedingly few. - - - Modern architecture is not like
painting or sculpture, a ‘fine-art’ par excellence: the object of these latter is to
produce a moral emotion, to wwaken the feelings of the sublime and the beau-
tiful; and we egregiously err when we apply these productions to a merely
utilitarian purpose. To make a fire-screen of Rubens’ Madonna, or a candela-
brum of the statue of the Apollo Belvidere, would be to debase these exquisite
productions of genius, and do violence to the feelings of the cultivated lover of
art. Modern buildings are made for other purposes than artistic effect, and in
them the sesthetical must be subordinate to the useful; though the two may
co-exist, and an intellectual pleasure be derived from a sense of adaptation and
fitness, combined with a perception of harmony of parts, and the beauty of
detail. The buildings of a country and an age should, be an ethnological expres-
sion of the wants, habits, arts, and sentiments of the time in which they were
erected.” (Proceed, Am. Assoc. at Albany, Aug. 1856, part i. pp. 120, 121, and Smith-
sonian Report for 1856, p. 222.)
DISCOURSE OF W. B. TAYLOR. 335
The doctrine of the absolute dominion of law—so oppressive
and alarming to many excellent minds, was to him accordingly but
a necessary deduction from his theologic and religious faith.
» Lhe series of meteorological essays already referred to as con-
tributed to the Agricultural Reports of the Commissioner of Pat-
ents, (ante, p. 290,) commences with this striking passage: “All the
changes on the surface of the earth and all the movements of the
heavenly bodies, are the immediate results of natural forces acting
in accordance with established and invariable laws; and it is only
by that precise knowledge of these laws, which is properly denomi-
nated science, that man is enabled to defend himself against the
adverse operations of Nature, or to direct her innate powers in
accordance with his will. At first sight, it might appear that
meteorology was an exception to this general proposition, and that
the changes of the weather and the peculiarities of climate in differ-
ent portions of the earth’s surface, were of all things the most
uncertain and farthest removed from the dominion of law: but
scientific investigation establishes the fact that no phenomenon is
the result of accident, or even of fitful volition. The modern
science of statistics has revealed a permanency and an order in the’
occurrence of events depending on conditions in which nothing of
this kind could have been supposed. Even those occurrences .
which seem to be left to the free will, the passion, or the greater or
less intelligence of men, are under the control of laws— fixed,
immutable, and eternal.” And after dwelling on the developments
and significance of moral statistics, he adds: “The astonishing facts
of this class lead us inevitably to the conclusion that all events are
governed by a Supreme Intelligence who knows no change; and
that under the same conditions, the same results are invariably
produced.” *
Organic Dynamics.— The contemplation of these uniformities
leads naturally to the great modern generalization of the correlation
of all the working energies of nature: and this to the subject of
organic dynamics.. ‘ Modern science has established by a wide and
careful induction, the fact that plants and animdls consist princi-
* Agricultural Report Com. Pat. for’ 1855, pp.’ 357, 358.
336 MEMORIAL OF JOSEPH HENRY.
pally of solidified air; the only portions of an earthy character
which enter into their composition, being the ashes that remain:
after combustion.” Some ten years before this, or in 1844, (as
already noticed in an earlier part of this memoir,—ante, p. 273,
Henry had very clearly indicated the correlation between the forces
exhibited by inorganic and organic bodies: arguing that from the
chemical researches of Liebig, Dumas, and Boussingault, “it would
appear to follow that animal power is referable to the same sources
as that from the combustion of fuel:” * probably the earliest explicit
announcement of the now accepted view. In the series of agricul-
tural essays above referred to, he endeavored to frame more defi-
nitely a chemico-physical theory by which the elevation of matter
to an organic combination in a higher state of power than its source,
might be accounted for. Regarding “ vitality” not as a mechanical
force, but as an inscrutable directing principle resident in the
minute germ — supposed to be vegetative, and inclosed in a sac of
starch or other organic nutriment, he considered the case of such
provisioned germ (a bean or a potato for instance) embedded in the
soil, supplied with a suitable amount of warmth and moisture to
give the necessary molecular mobility, soon sending a rootlet down-
ward into the earth, and raising a stem toward the surface, fur-
~nished with incipient leaves. Supposing the planted germ to be a
potato, on examination we should find its large supply of starch
exhausted, and beyond the young plant, nothing remaining but the
skin, containing probably a little water.. What has, become of the
starch? “If we examine the soil which surrounded the potato, we
do not find that the starch has been absorbed by it; and the answer
which will therefore naturally be suggested, is that it has been trans-
formed into the material of the new plant, and it was for this pur-
pose originally stored away. But this though in part correct, is
not the whole truth: for if we weigh a potato prior to germination,
and weigh the young plant afterward, we shall find that the amount
* Proceed. Am. Phil. Soc, Dec. 1844, vol. iv, p. 129, The admirable treatise of
Dr. JuLius R, MAYER of Heilbronn, on “Organic Movement in its relation to
material changes,” in which for the first time he maintained the thesis that all
the energies developed by animal or vegetable organisms, result from internal
changes having their dynamic source in external forces, was published the fol-
lowing year, or in 1845, RUMFORD nearly half a century earlier, had a partial
grasp of the same truth, (Phil. Trans. R, 8S. Jan, 25, 1708, vol. 1xxxviil. pp. 80-102.)
DISCOURSE OF W. B. TAYLOR. 337
of organic matter contained in the latter, is but a fraction of that
which was originally contained in the former. We can account in
this way for the disappearance of a part of the contents of the sac,
which has evidently formed the pabulum of the young plant. But
here we may stop to ask another question: By what power was the
young plant built up of the molecules of starch? The answer
would probably be, by the exertion of the vital force: but we have
endeavored to show that vitality is a directing principle, and not a
mechanical power, the expenditure of which does work. The con-
clusion to which we would arrive will probably now be anticipated.
The portion of the organic molecules of the starch, &c. of the
tuber, as yet unnaccounted for, has run down into inorganic matter,
or has entered again into combination with the oxygen of the air,
and in this running down and union with oxygen, has evolved the
power necessary to the organization of the new plant. - - - We
see from this view that the starch and nitrogenous materials in
which the germs of plants are imbedded, have two functions to
fulfill, the one to supply the pabulum of the new plant, and the
other to furnish the power by which the transformation is effected,
the latter being as essential as the former. In the erection of a
house, the application of mechanical power is required as much as
a supply of ponderable materials.” * :
The less difficult problem of the building up of the plant after
the consumption of the seed, under the direct action of the solar
rays, is then considered; the Jeaves of the young plant absorbing
by their moisture carbonic acid from the atmosphere, which being
decomposed by solar actinism, yields the de-oxidized carbon to enter
* Agricultural’ Report, for 1857, pp. 440-444. In May, 1842, Dr. JuLIus R. MAYER»
published in Liebig’s Annalen der Chemie etc. his first remarkable paper on
“The Forces of Inorganic Nature,” constituting the earliest scientific enunciation
of the correlation of the physical forces; and (if we except the work of SEQUIN in
1839,) of the mechanical equivalent of heat. (Annalen u.s.w. vol. xlii. pp. 233-240.)
In September, 1849, Dr. R. FowLer read a short paper before the British Asso-
ciation at Birmingham, on “ Vitality as a Force correlated’ with the Physical
Forces.” (2eport Brit. Assoc. 1849, part il. pp. 77, 78.) In J une, 1850, Dr. W. B. CAr-
PENTER presented to the Royal Society a much fuller memoir “On the Mutual
Relations of the Vital and Physical Forces.” (Phil. Trans. R. S. vol. exl. pp.
727-757.) Neither of these essays accounts for the amount of building energy dis-
played in the development of the seed, under conditions of low and diffused
heat: and the expression “ Vital Force” used both by FowLER and CARPENTER,
was studiously avoided by HENRY.
22
338 MEMORIAL OF JOSEPH HENRY.
into the structure of the organism. “All the material of which a
tree is built up, (with the exception of that comparatively small
portion which remains after it has been burnt, and constitutes the
ash,) is derived from the atmosphere. In the decomposition of the
carbonic acid by the chemical ray, a definite amount of power is
expended, and this remains as it were locked up in the plant so long
‘as it continues to grow.” And thus under the expenditure of an
external force, the plant (whether the annual cellular herb or the
perennial fibrous tree) was shown to be built up from the simpler
stable binary compounds of the inorganic world to the more com-
plex and unstable ternary compounds of the vegetable world. “In
the germination of the plant, a part of the organized molecules
runs down into carbonic acid to furnish power for the new arrange-
ment of the other portion. In this process no extraneous force is
required; the seed contains within itself the power, and the
material, for the growth of the new plant up to a certain stage
of its development. Germination can therefore be carried on
in the dark, and indeed the chemical ray which accompanies light
retards rather than accelerates the process.” This important
organic principle appears to receive in these passages its earliest
enunciation.
It was also pointed out that on the completion of the cycle of
growth (however brief or however extended), the decay of the
plant not only returns the elevated matter to its original lower
. plane, but equally returns the entire amount of heat energy
absorbed in its elevation: an amount precisely the same, whether
the slow oxidation be continued through a series of years, or a
rapid combustion be completed in as many nfinutes. “The power
which is given out in the whole descent is according to the dynamic
theory, just equivalent to the power expended by the impulse from
the sun in elevating the atoms to the unstable condition of the
organic molecules. If this power is given out in the form of
vibrations of the stherial medium constituting heat, it will not be
appreciable in the ordinary decay say of a tree, extending as it may
through several years: but if the process be rapid, as in case of
combustion of wood, then the same amount of power will be given
out in the energetic form of heat of high intensity.”
DISCOURSE OF W. B. TAYLOR. . 339
The elevation of inorganic matter (carbonic ‘acid, water, and
ammonia,) to the vegetable plane of power, introduces naturally
the consideration of the still higher elevation of vegetable organic
matter to the animal plane of power. ‘As in the case of the seed
of the plant, we presume that the germ of the future animal pre-
exists in the egg; and that by subjecting the mass to a degree of
temperature sufficient perhaps to give greater mobility to the mole-
cules, a process similar in its general effect to that of the germi-
nation of the seeds commences. - - - During this process,
power is evolved within the shell, we cannot say in the present state
of science under what particular form; but we are irresistibly con-
strained to believe that it is expended under the direction again of
the vital principle, in re-arranging the organic molecules, in build-
ing up the complex machinery of the future animal, or developing
a still higher organization, connected with which are the mysterious
manifestations of thought and volition. In this case as in that of
the potato, the young animal as it escapes from the shell, weighs
less than the material of the egg previous to the process of incu-
bation. The lost material in this case as in the other, has run down
into an inorganic condition by combining with oxygen, and in its
descent has developed the power to effect the transformation we
have just described.” The consumption of internal power does not
however stop with the development of the young animal, as it does
in the case of the young plant. “The young animal is in an
entirely different condition: exposure to the light of the sun is not
necessary to its growth or its existence: the chemical ray by
impinging on the surface of its body does not decompose the car-
bonic acid which may surround it, the conditions necessary for this
decomposition, not being present. It has no means by itself to
elaborate organic molecules; and is indebted for these entirely to its
food. It is necessary therefore that it should be supplied with food
consisting of organized materials; that is of complex molecules in
a state of power. - - - The power of the living animal is
immediately derived from the running down of the complex organ-
ized molecules of which the body is formed, into their ultimate
combination with oxygen, in the form of carbonic acid and water,
and into ammonia. Hence oxygen is constantly drawn into the
340 MEMORIAL OF JOSEPH HENRY.
lungs, and carbon is constantly evolved. - - - The animal is
a curiously contrived arrangement for burning carbon and hydro-
gen, and for the evolution and application of power. A machine
is an instrument for the application of power, and not for its crea-
tion. The animal body is a structure of this character. - - -
A comparison lias been made between the work which can be done
by burning a given amount of carbon in the machine—man, and
an equal amount in the machine—steam-engine. The result
derived from an analysis of the food in one case, and the weight of
the fuel in the other, and these compared with the quantity of
water raised by each to a known elevation, gives the relative work-
ing value of the two machines.. From this comparison, made from
experiments on soldiers in Germany and France, it is found that
the human machine in consuming the same amount of carbon, does
four and a half times the amount of work of the best Cornish
engine: - - -
“There is however one striking difference between the animal
body and the locomotive machine, which deserves our special atten-
tion; namely the power in the body is constantly evolved by burn-
ing (as it were,) parts of the materials of the machine itself; as if
the frame and other portions of the wood-work of the locomotive
were burnt to .produce the power, and then immediately renewed.
The voluntary motion of our organs of speech, of our hands, of
our feet, and of every muscle in the body, is produced not at the
expense of the soul but at that of the material of the body itself.
Every motion manifesting life in the individual, is the result of
power derived from the death as it were of a part of his body.
We are thus constantly renewed and constantly consumed; and in
this consumption and renewal consists animal life.” *
Seven years after the publication of this highly original and sug-
gestive exposition, (whose topics and line of discussion had been
* Agricultural Report for 1857, pp. 445-449. This important essay it will be
observed, antedates Prof. JOSEPH LE CONTE’s paper ‘“‘On the Correlation of Physi-
cal, Chemical, and Vital Force,’’ read before the American Association at Spring-
field, Aug. 1859, (Proceed. Am. Assoc. py. 187-203: and Sill. Am. Jour. Sci. Nov.
1859, vol. xxviii. pp. 305-319,) as well as Dr. CARPENTER’S second and more mature
paper ‘On the application of the Principle of Conservation of Force to Physi-
ology,” published in Crookes’ Quarterly Journal of Science, for Jan. and April,
1864, (vol. i. pp. 76-87; and pp. 259-267.)
DISCOURSE OF W. B. TAYLOR. 341
distinctly formulated and sketched out more than two years before,
at the commencement of the series in. 1855,) the eminent physiolo-
gist. Dr. Carpenter produced his valuable memoir on the Conserva-
tion of Force in Physiology; in which for the first time he dis-
tinctly affirms the development of vegetative reproductive energy,
by the partial running down of matter to its stabler compounds,—
“by the retrograde metamorphosis of a portion of the organic com-
pounds prepared by the previous nutritive operations:” and also
the ultimate return by decay, of the whole amount of force as well
as of matter, temporarily borrowed from nature’s store. . Likewise
with animal powers, “these forces are developed by the retrograde
metamorphosis of the organic compounds generated by the instru-
mentality of the plant, whereby they ultimately return to the simple
binary forms (water, carbonic acid, and ammonia,) which. serve as
the essential food of vegetables. - - - Whilst the vegetable is
constantly engaged (so to speak) in raising its component materials
from a lower plane to the higher, by means of the power which it
draws from the solar rays,—the animal whilst raising one portion
of these to a still higher level by the descent of another portion to
a lower, ultimately lets down the whole of what the plant had
raised.”* So little was Henry’s earlier paper known abroad, that
his name does not occur in Dr. Carpenter’s dissertation.
Derivation of Species— With regard to the great biologic ques-
tion of the past fifteen years—the affiliation of specific forms, it
was impossible that Henry should remain an unconcerned observer.
Brought up (as it may be said) in the school of Cuvier, but slightly
impressed with the brilliant previsions of his competitor, Geoffroy
Saint Hilaire, accustomed to look upon the recurrent hypotheses of
automatic development as barren speculations, and beside all this,
ever the warmly attached personal friend of Agassiz, he approached
the consideration of this controverted ‘subject, certainly with no
antecedent affirmative pre-possessions. His general acquaintance
with the ascertained facts of the metamorphic development of the
individual organism from its origin, as well as with the remarkable
analogies and homologies disclosed by the sciences of comparative
I ea
* Quart. Jour. Sci. 1864, vol. i. pp. 87 and 267.
342 ‘MEMORIAL OF JOSEPH HENRY.
physiology and embryology, served however in some measure to
prepare his mind to apprehend the significance of the indications
which had been so industriously collected, and so intelligently
collated: and from the very first, he accepted the problem as a
purely philosophical one; employing that much abused term in no
restricted sense. With no more reserve in the expression of his
views, than the avoidance of unprofitable controversies, (though no
one more than he—enjoyed the calm and purely intellectual dis-
cussion of an unsettled question by its real experts,) he yet found
no occasion to write upon the subject. The unpublished opinions
however, of one so wise and eminent, cannot be a matter of indiffer-
ence to the student of nature; and their exposition cannot but assist
to enlighten our estimate of the mental stature of the man, and of
his breadth of apprehension and toleration,
Whatever may be the ultimate fate of the theory of natural
selection, (he remarked in the freedom of oral intercourse with
several naturalists,) it at least marks an epoch, —the first elevation
of natural history (so-called) to the really scientific stage: it is
based on induction, and correlates a large range of apparently dis-
connected observations, gathered from the regions of paleontology
or geological successions of organisms, their geographical distribu-
tion, climatic adaptations and remarkable re-adjustments, their
comparative anatomy, and even the occurrence of abnormal varia-
tions, and of rudimentary structures—scemingly so uselessly dis-
played as mere simulations of a “type.” It forms a good “ working
hypothesis” for directing the investigations of the botanist and
zoologist.* Natural selection indeed—no less than artificial, (he:
was accustomed to say,) is to a limited extent a fact of observation ;
and the practical question is to determine approximately its reach
of application, and its sufficiency as an actual agency, to embrace
larger series of organic changes lying beyond the scope of direct.
human experience. It is for the rising generation of conscientious
zoologists and botanists to attack this problem, and to ascertain if
practicable its limitations or modifications.
*“Tn the investigation of nature, we provisionally adopt hypotheses as ante-
cedent probabilities, which we seek to prove or disprove by subsequent observa-
tion and experiment: and it is in this way that science is most rapidly and
securely advanced.” (Agricult. Teport, 1856, p. 456.)
DISCOURSE OF W. B. TAYLOR. 343
‘These broad and fearless views, entertained and expressed as
early as 1860, or 1861, exhibiting neither the zealous confidence of
the votary, nor the jealous anxiety of the antagonist, received
scarcely any modification during his subsequent years. Nor did
it ever seem to occur to him that any reconstruction of his religious
faith was involved in the solution of the problem. So much reli-
gious faith indeed was exercised by him in every scientific judgment,
that he regarded the teachings of science but as revelations of the
Divine mode of government in the natural world: to be diligently
sought for and submissively accepted; with the constant recognition
however of our human limitations, and the relativity of human’
knowledge.* Not inappropriately may be here recalled a char-
acteristic statement of the office of hypothesis, made by him some
ten years earlier: presenting a consideration well calculated to
restrain dogmatism — whether in science or in theology. “It is not
necessary that an hypothesis. be. absolutely true, in order that it may
be adopted as an expression of a generalization for the purpose of
explaining and predicting phenomena: it is only necessary that it
should be well conditioned in accordance with known mechanical
principles. - - - Man with his finite faculties cannot hope in
this life to arrive ata knowledge of absolute truth: and were the
true theory of the universe, or in other words 'the precise mode in
which Divine Wisdom operates in producing the phenomena of the
material world revealed to him, his mind would be unfitted for its
reception. It would be too simple in its expression, and too gen-
eral in’ its application, to be understood and applied by intellects
like ours.” f
INVESTIGATIONS IN ACOUSTICS.
During the last quarter of a century, among the many interests
which demanded and engaged his attention, Henry studied with
* With reference to the intimations of the comparative antiquity of man,
HENRY quoted with sympathetic approbation the sentiment so well expressed by
the Bishop of London in a Lecture at Edinburgh, that ‘The man of science
should go on honestly, patiently, diffidently, observing and storing up his obser-
vations, and carrying his reasonings unflinchingly to their legitimate conclu-
sions, convinced that it would be treason to the majesty at once of science and
of religion, if he sought to help either by swerving ever so little from the straight
line of truth.’’ (Smithsonian Report for 1868, p. 33.)
+ Proceed. Am, Assoc, Albany, Aug. 1851, pp. 85, 86, and 87,
344 MEMORIAL OF JOSEPH HENRY.
much care various phenomena of acoustics, and added much to, eur
practical as well as theoretical knowledge of that important agency
—sound, _ In.1851, he read a communication before the American
Association, “On the Limit, of Perceptibility of a direct and
reflected Sound,” in which he gave as the result of experimental
observations, the subjective fact that.a wall or, other. reflecting sur-
face if beyond the distance of about 35 feet from the ear, or from
the origin of the sound, gives a distinguishable echo from the sound ;
but that if the ear or the sounding agent be placed within this
distance, the reflected sound appears to blénd. completely with the
‘original one, From a number of experiments, he found that under
the same circumstances, this limit of perceptibility did not. vary
more than a single foot; but that under differing conditions the
limit of distance ranged from 30 to 40 feet, (equivalent to a differ-
ence of from 60 to 80 feet of sound. trayel,) depending. partly on
the sharpness or clearness of .the sound, and partly on the pitch or
the length of the soniferous wave, which affected the amount of
overlapping of the two series. ,,, These results. imply.a duration of
acoustic impression on the ear of about one-sixteenth of a second ;
serving to show that 16 vibrations to the second must be about the
lower limit of a recognizable musical tone, * As applied to Lecture-
rooms, he pointed out that the ceiling should not be more than
about thirty feet high, within which elevation, a smooth ceiling
would tend to re-inforce the sound of a speaker’s voice. f
Many experiments were afterward made on the resonance of dif-
ferent materials, by means of tuning forks. While a tuning fork
suspended ‘by a fine thread continued to vibrate for upward of four
minutes with scarcely any appreciable sound, if placed in contact
with the top of a pine table, the same vibration continued but ten
seconds, but gave a loud full tone. Ona marble topped table the
sound was much more feeble, and the vibration continued nearly
two minutes. While the tuning fork against a brick wall gave a
* FELIX SAVART some twenty years previously, concluded from observations
with the siren, “that sounds are distinctly perceptible, and even strong, when
composed of no more than eight vibrations in a second,” (Rev. Encycl. July, 1832,
Quoted in Silliman’s Am. Jour. Sci. for 1832, vol. xxii. p. 374.) This does not seem
to agree with ordinary observations, as it is certain that intervals of one-eighth
of a second would give a very appreciable rattle to almost every ear,
+ Proceed. Am. Assoc, Cincinnati, May, 1851, pp. 42, 43.
.DISCOURSE OF W. B, TAYLOR. 345
feeble tone continuing for 88 seconds, against a lath and _ plaster
partition it gave a sound considerably louder but continuing only
18 seconds. On a large block of soft india-rubber resting on the
marble slab, the vibration was very rapidly extinguished, but with-
out giving any sensible sound. This anomaly required an explana-
tion. By means of a compound wire of copper and iron inserted
into the piece of rubber, and having the extremities connected with
a thermo-galvanometer, it was found that in this ense the acoustic
vibrations were converted into heat. Sheets of india-rubber there-
fore are among the best absorbers and destroyers of sound. A
series of experiments was also made on the reflection of sound, to
determine the materials least adapted, and those best adapted to this
purpose. A résumé of these researches, having reference. to the
acoustic properties of public halls, was read before. the American
Association in August, 1856. *
In 1865, as Chairman of the Committee of Experiments of the
U.S. Light-House Board, Henry commenced an extended series of
observations on the conduct and intensity of sound at a distance,
under varying meteorological conditions., Well aware that for the
practical purposes of giving increased security to navigation, the
experiments of the laboratory were of little value, he undertook a
number of experimental trips on board sailing vessels, and on
steamers, in order to make his observations under the actual con-
ditions of the required service. As many of his investigations
demanded intelligent co-operation, and sometimes at the distances of
many miles, he associated with him at different times, among mem-
bers of the Light-House Establishment, Commodore Powell, Com-
modore Case, Admiral Trenchard, Commander Walker, Captain
Upshur, General Poe, General Barnard, General Woodruff, Mr.
Lederle, and other engineers of different Light-House Districts,
and outside of the establishment, Dr. Welling and others.
At the outset of his experiments, he found that sound reflectors,
which play so interesting a part in lecture-room exhibitions, were
practically worthless (of whatever available dimensions) for the
purpose of directing or concentrating powerful sounds to any con-
* Proceed. Am. Assoc. Albany, Aug. 1856, pp. 128-131.
346 MEMORIAL OF JOSEPH HENRY.
siderable distance. At the distance of a mile or two a large steam
whistle placed in the focus of a concave reflector 10 feet in diameter
could be heard very nearly as well directly behind the reflector, as
directly in front of it. In like manner the direction of bell-
mouths and of trumpet-mouths, was found to be of comparatively
little importance at a distance; showing the remarkable tendency
to diffusion, especially with very loud sounds. Most of the obser-
vations made on ship-board were afterward repeated on land; and
several weeks were occupied with these important researches.
“During this series of investigations an interesting fact was dis-
covered, namely, a sound moving against the wind, inaudible to the
ear on the deck of the schooner, was heard by ascending to the
mast-head. . This remarkable fact at first suggested the idea that
sound was more readily conveyed by the'upper current of air than
the lower.” After citing observations by others apparently con-
firming the suggestion of some dominant influence in the upper
wind, Henry adds: “The full significance however of this idea did
not reveal itself to me until in searching the bibliography of
sound, I found an account of the hypothesis of Professor Stokes in
the Proceedings of the British Association for 1857,* in which the
effect of an upper current in deflecting the wave of sound so as to
throw it down upon the ear of the auditor, or directing it upward
- far above his head, is fully explained.” A rough attempt was
made in the course of these observations (which were undertaken
at the Light-house near New Haven, Connecticut) to compare the
velocity of the wind in the upper regions with that near the surface
.)
of the earth. “The only important result however was the fact
that the velocity of the shadow of a cloud passing over the ground
was much greater than that of the air at the surface, the velocity
of the latter being determined approximately by running a given
distance with such speed that a small flag was at rest along the side
of its pole. While this velocity was not perhaps greater than six
miles per hour, that of the shadow of the cloud was apparently
equal to that of a horse at full speed.” f
* Report Brit, Assoc. Dublin, 1857, vol, xxvii. 2d part, pp. 22, 23.
+ Report of Light-House Board for 1874, p. 92.
{This difference has since been established by a number of independent
observations. Mr. Glaisher from his balloon ascents in 1863-1865, ascertained that
‘
DISCOURSE OF W. B. TAYLOR. 347
In October, 1867, a series of observations was made at Sandy
Hook (New Jersey) with various instruments. A sound reflector
being employed, the distance at which the sand on the: phonometer,
drum —carried in front, ceased to move was 51 yards, as compared
with a distance of 40 yards, without the reflector. At a greater
distance, with a more sensitive instrument, the ratio was very much
diminished. Experiments were also made on the relative distances
at which the trumpet affected sensibly the drum of the phonometer
in different directions, giving as their result a limiting spheroid
whose reach in the forward axis of the trumpet was about double
that in the rear axis, and at right angles to the axis, was about a
mean proportional between the two. With greater distances, these
differences were evidently very much reduced, the radii becoming
more equalized. In the summer of 1871, Henry made investiga-
tions at different Light-stations, on our western coast of California.
The very important observation that a sound could best be heard
at an elevation when the wind is adverse (that is when it blows
from the observer towards the acoustic signal,) and that after it had
even been entirely lost to the ear in such case, it might be regained
in full force by simply ascending to a suitable elevation,— admitted
apparently but one explanation, namely that the line of successive
impulse constituting a sound-beam was deflected or bent upwards
by the action of the opposing wind. If—as had already been
shown to be the case sometimes, and as might therefore be expected
generally,—the adverse wind were assumed to be a little’ stronger
at the elevation than at the surface, such a result would at once
follow. ‘The explanation of this phenomenon as suggested by the
hypothesis of Professor Stokes is founded on the fact that in the
case of a deep current of air the lower stratum or that next the
earth is more retarded by friction than the one immediately above,
the upper currents of air are frequently five or six times more rapid than the
surface currents. (7ravels in the Air, p.9.) Prof. Cleveland Abbe remarks; ‘From
seven balloon ascensions made on July 4th, 1871, at different points in the United
States, I have deduced the velocity of the upper currents as about four times that
of the surface wind prevailing.” (Bulletin Philosoph. Soc. Washington, Dec. 16, 1871,
vol. i. p. 39.) And M. Peslin states in general terms: “It is certain according to
all observations made both in mountains and in balloons, that the force of the
wind increases considerubly as we ascend in the atmosphere.” (Bulletin Inter-
national de l’ Observ. de Paris et de l’Observ. Phys. Cent. Montsouris, July 7, 1872.)
348 MEMORIAL OF JOSEPH HENRY.
and this again than the one above it,and so on. The effect of: this
diminution of velocity as we, descend toward the earth is in the case
of sound: inoving with the current, to carry the upper part of the
sound waves’ more rapidly forward than the lower ‘parts, thus
causing them to incline toward the earth, or in other words, to be
thrown down upon the ear of the observer. When the sound is in
a contrary direction to the current, an opposite effect is produced,
the upper portion of the sound-waves is more retarded than the
lower, which advancing more rapidly in consequence, inclines the
waves upward.and directs them above.the head of the observer.” *
From several observed and reported cases where the sound of a
fog-signal was exceptionally heard to a greater distance against the -
wind than toward the direction of the wind, Professor Henry for a
while hesitated to give the hypothesis of Professor Stokes an
unqualified acceptance; but forced as he was constantly to recur to
it as the only plausible explanation of the ordinary influence of
wind on the transmission of sound, he finally was able to satisfy
himself that even the apparent exceptions to the rule were really
in accord with it. Having more than once observed that when
the upper current of ajr, as indicated by the course of the clouds,
is in an opposite or different direction from the lower or setiiis
wind, the range of audibility is more affected and favored by the
upper current, it was a natural induction to extend such a condition
in imagination to other cases of abnormal behavior of sound. A
large amount of subsequent labor and attention was devoted to the
determination of this important question.
In 1872 it was observed from on board a steamer aprenchiae
Portland Head station in the harbor of Portland (Maine) that the
fog-signal which had been distinctly heard through many miles,
was lost to the ear when within two or three miles of the point,
that it continued inaudible throughout the nearer distance of a mile
or so, and that it was again heard as the station was neared. At
Whitehead light station on a small rocky island about a mile and a
half from the coast, (being some 65 miles northeast of Portland
Head,) it was observed on board a steamer approaching the station
during a thick fog, that the signal (a 10-inch steam whistle) though
* Report of Light-House Board for 1874, p. 106.
DISCOURSE OF. W. B. TAYLOR. 349
distinctly .heard at the distance of six miles or more, and with
increasing distinctness as the steamer’ advanced, was suddenly lost
at about three miles, and was not recovered until within a quarter
of a mile from the station; the wind at ‘the time being approxi-
mately adverse to the sound. A six-inch steam whistle on board
the steamer was meanwhile distinctly heard at the station during
the whole time of inaudibility of the larger ten-inch whistle, which
had also been sounded without any interruption. This remarkable
phenomenon implied a compound flexure of the sound-beams, and
accorded with previous observations made at the same points by
General Duane the engineer in charge of the first and second Light-
House Districts.
In 1873 observations were again made at Whitehead station, and
at Cape Elizabeth light station, both on the coast of Massachusetts.
At Whitehead the steam whistle was heard through a distance of
15 miles, with a light adverse wind. At Cape Elizabeth, with a
stronger adverse wind, the siren was heard only about -nine miles.
In 1874, observations were made at Little Gull island, (off the
coast of Connecticut;) at Block island, (off the coast of Rhode
Island ;) and at Sandy Hook, (New Jersey.) ‘At Little Gull island
the sound of a siren was heard against a moderate wind, only three
and a half miles. At Block island the siren was reported to have
been heard under favoring conditions of wind-through a distance
of more than 25 miles. While it was frequently heard at Point
Judith station, and the siren at the latter point was as frequently
heard at Block Island, (the distance between the two points being
17 miles,) it was shown on comparison of records, that the two
instruments had not been heard simultaneously; the wind when
favorable to the one being unfavorable to the other.
At Sandy Hook, for the purpose of making simultaneous obser-
vations in different directions, three steamers (the tenders of differ-
ent light-houses). were employed, with steam whistles specially -
adjusted to the same tone and power. The latter quality having
been carefully tested by the phonometer, the three vessels steamed
out abreast on trial; and their whistles sounding in regular succes-
sion “became inaudible all very nearly at the same moment.”’ One
of the vessels being then anchored at a distance from land, the two
300 MEMORIAL OF JOSEPH HENRY.
others were directed in opposite courses, one with the wind, or east-
ward, the other against it, or westward. In 15 minutes the whistle
of the former ceased to be heard, while that of the latter was very
distinctly heard; the anemometer showing a wind of about six
miles per hour. About noon the vessels changed positions, but the
sound from the west continued audible for about three times the
distance of that from the east, though the wind had declined to
nearly a calm or to about half a mile per hour, In an hour and a
half the wind had changed to “within two points of an exactly
opposite direction, blowing from the indications of the ancmometer
at the rate of ten and a half miles per hour.” ‘The vessels once
more departing, one with the wind, the other against it, the sound
of the whistle coming against the wind .was this time heard for the
greater distance, contrary to expectation. On the following day a
number of small balloons having been provided, a similar series of
experiments to that of the preceding day was made; a station being
selected at a greater distance from land. Qn the first trial, with a
light wind from the west of about one and a quarter miles per hour
as indicated by the anemometer, a balloon was set off which con-
tinued rising and moving eastward till lost to sight. Two of the
vessels taking opposite courses as before, gave the sound in the
direction of the wind about double the-duration of that coming
against the slight wind. ‘The vessels then changed places in their
opposite courses; the wind having subsided to a calm, “A balloon
let off ascended vertically until it attained an elevation of about
1,000 feet, when turning east it followed the direction of the pre-
vious one, In this case the sound of the whistle coming from the
east was heard somewhat longer than the opposite one. At the
third trial made after noon, the wind had changed nearly one-third
of the circle, its force being about five miles per hour. ‘The vessels
once more taking their courses with the wind and against it, “several
balloons set off at this time were carried by the surface wind west-
wardly until nearly lost to sight, when they were observed to turn
east, following the direction of the wind traced in the earlier obser-
vations.” In this case the sound was heard with the wind very
slightly farther than against it. It was thus shown that the upper
current of wind had remained constant throughout the day, while
DISCOURSE OF W. B. TAYLOR. 351
the changing surface wind was apparently a land and sea breeze
“due to the heating of the land as the day advanced:” and the
varying behavior of the sound-beams was easily explained by the
varying differences of velocity in their wave fronts at different
heights.
In.1875 Henry continued his observations at Block island, (R. I.)
and at Little Gull island: (Conn.) The southern light-house on
Block island standing on the edge of a perpendicular cliff 152 feet
above the sea level, and being itself 52 feet high (to its focal plane)
this point was selected for making investigations on the effect of
altitude in modifying unfavorable conditions of audibility. Obser-
vers were accordingly stationed on the beach at the foot of the cliff,
and also on the tower 200 feet above, to record simultaneously the
duration of the whistle signals of two steamers proceeding in oppo-
site directions toward the right and the left. The sound coming
against the wind (of about seven miles per hour) continued audible
at the upper station four times longer, (i.e. for four times greater
distance ) than at the lower station. The sound coming with the
wind, was unexpectedly heard at the lower station for a longer
period than at the upper one. Another observation (with the wind
about five miles per hour) gave for the sound against the wind,
rather more than twice the distance of audibility at the upper
station; and for the sound favored by the wind, a slightly greater
distance at the top than at the bottom station. ‘The next observa-
tion gave as before, with the adverse wind, the advantage of more
than double the distance of audibility to. the upper station; mean-
_while one of the observers at the foot of the cliff, after the sound
was entirely lost, managed by climbing to a ledge about 30 feet
above the beach, to recover the signal quite distinctly, and to hear
it for some time. The sound coming with: the wind ‘continued to
be heard at both the higher and the lower stations for precisely the
same time, giving on this occasion no advantage to either. Obser-
vations made on board the two steamers while moving in opposite
directions, gave for the sound travelling with the wind, a duration
and distance more than: five times that for the sound which came
against the wind. Five similar experiments gave very similar
- results. The two vessels moving in opposite courses, each at right
352 MEMORIAL OF JOSEPH HENRY.
angles to the direction of the wind, gave a very close equality, for
the reciprocal durations of the sound. In the following month,
similar observations were.made at Little Gull island, which were
_very accordant with those made at the former station. As a result
of plotting the ranges of audibility in different directions from a
- given point, producing a series of circular figures (more or less
distorted) of very different sizes, Henry was inclined to believe
that the whole area of audition is less in high winds than in gentle
winds.: These investigations as their author well remarks,—
“though simple in their conception, have been difficult and laborious
in their execution. To be of the greatest practical value they
were required to be made on the ocean under the conditions in
which the results are to be applied to the use of the mariner, and
therefore they could only be conducted by means of steam vessels
of sufficient power to withstand the force of rough seas, and at
times when these vessels could be spared from other duty. They
also required a number of intelligent assistants skilled in observa-
tion and faithful in recording results.” *
In the summer of last year, 1877, with undiminished ardor, -
continued his observations on ad selecting this time Portland
harbor, Monhegan island, and Whitehead light station, on the coast
of Maine. At the latter station, the abnormal phenomenon of a
region of inaudibility near the fog-signal, and extending outward
‘ for two or three miles, (beyond which distance the signal is again
very distinctly: heard,) had for several years been frequently
observed. This singular. effect is noticed only in the case of a
southerly wind when the vessel is approaching the signal from.
_the same quarter, and consequently with the wind adverse to the
direction of the sound-beams, a condition of the wind which is
the usual accompaniment of a fog. The observation showed this
intermediate “belt of silence” to be well marked -on board the
steamer both on approaching the station and,on receding from it
by retracing the same line of travel. Meanwhile the intermittent
signal whistle from the steamer was distinctly heard at the station
on both the outward and homeward trips of the vessel, throughout
its course. ‘The next set of observations was made on the opposite
* Report of the Light-House Board for 1875, p. 107.
DISCOURSE OF W. B. TAYLOR. ‘ 300
side of the small island, by directing the course of the steamer
northward; and in this case the shore signal was distinctly heard
throughout the trip, while the signal from the vessel passed through
the “belt of silence” to the observers at the station. The hypothesis
of a local sound shadow of definite extent, is excluded by the
simple fact that the regions traversed were entirely unobstructed,
the two points of observation—movable and stationary — being
constantly in view from each other when not obscured by fog.
The hypothesis of a stationary belt of acoustic opacity is equally
excluded by the uninterrupted transmission of sound through the
critical region in one direction; and this too whichever order of
observation be selected. So that in one of the cases the powerful
whistle ten inches in diameter blown. by a steam pressure of 60
pounds, failed utterly to make itself heard, while the sound from a
much feebler whistle only six inches in diameter and blown by a
steam pressure of 25- pounds, traversed with ease and fulness the
‘very same space. The only hypothesis left therefore is that. of
diacoustic refraction; by which the sound-beam from one origin is
bent and lifted over the observer, while from an opposite origin the
refraction is in a reversed direction; and such a quality in the
moving air is referable to no other observed condition but that of.
‘ its motion, that is to the influence of the wind. Observations were
afterward made at Monhegan island, on some of the more normal
effects of the refraction of sound by differences of wave velocity, %
all fully confirming the supposition which had been so variously
and critically subjected to examination.
The principal conclusions summed up in the last Report for
1877, are: Ist. The audibility of sound at a distance depends
primarily upon the pitch, the intensity, and the quantity of the
sound: the most efficient pitch being neither a very high nor a very
low one,—the intensity or loudness of sound resulting from the
amplitude of the vibration, and the quantity of sound resulting
from the mass of air simultaneously vibrating. 2nd. ‘The external
condition of widest transmission of sound through the air is that
of stillness and perfect uniformity of density and temperature
throughout. 3rd. The most serious disturbance of the audibility
23 :
354 MEMORIAL OF JOSEPH HENRY.
of sound at a distance, results from its refraction by the wind,
which as a general rule moving more freely and rapidly above than
near the earth, tends by this difference to lift the sound-beams
upward when moving against the wind, and in a downward curve
when moving with it. 4th. When the upper current of air is
adverse to the lower or sensible wind, or whenever from any cause
the wind below has a higher velocity than that above—in the same
direction, the reverse phenomenon is observed of sound being heard
to greater distances in opposition to the sensible wind than it is
when in the direction of the surface wind. 5th. While suitable
reflectors and trumpet cones are serviceable in giving prominent
direction to sounds within moderate or ordinary distances, yet from
the rapid diffusibility of the sound-beams, such appliances are
worthless for distances beyond a mile or two. 6th. The siren has
been frequently found to have its clearest penetration through a
widely extended fog, and also through a thick snow-storm of large
area. 7th. Intervening obstructions produce sound shadows of
greater or less extent, which however at a distance but slightly
enfeeble the sound, owing to the lateral diffusion and closing in of
the sound-waves. 8th. The singular phenomenon of distinct
audibility of sound to a distance with a limited intermediate region
of inaudibility where no optical obstruction exists, is due sometimes °
to a diffusion of upper sound-beams which have not suffered the
upward refraction; sometimes to the lateral refraction of sound-
beams or to the lateral spread of sound from directions not affected
by the upward refraction; and very frequently to a double curva-
ture of the refracted sound-beams under an adverse lower wind, by
reason of the wave fronts being less retarded by the lower or
surface 'stratum of wind than by that a short distance above, and at
still greater heights being again less retarded, and finally accelerated
by the superior favoring wind.
These remarkable series of acoustic investigations undertaken
after the observer had considerably exceeded his three-score years,—
perseveringly continued weeks at a time, and sometimes for more
than a month,—extending through a period of twelve years, and
pursued over a wide and extremely irregular range of sea-coast,
\
.
DISCOURSE OF W. B. TAYLOR. 355
and under great variety of both topographical and meteorological
conditions, untiringly prosecuted by numberless sea trips of 10,
15, and even 20 miles in single stretches, in calm, in sunshine, in
storm, with every variety of disregarded exposure,—form altogether
a labor and a research, quite unequalled and unapproached by any
similar ones on record. As a result of so great earnestness and
thoroughness in the conduct of an enterprise of so great difficulty,
‘Henry has advanced and enriched our knowledge by contribu-
tions to the science of acoustics, unquestionably the most important
and valuable of the century. By persistent cross-examination of
the bewildering anomalies of sound propagation under wide diver-
sities of locality and condition, he has succeeded in evolving order
-out of apparent chaos, in reclaiming a new district, now subjected
‘to the orderly reign of recognized law, and in raising the plausi-
-ble but long neglected hypothesis of Stokes into the domain of a
-verified and fully established theory. Only on the subject of the
‘ocean echo had he failed to reach a solution which entirely satisfied
-his judgment ;* and at the ripe age of four-score years he had
mapped out a further extension of his laborious search after truth,
when his untiring and beneficent purposes were cut short by death.
With these great labors—(a full demand upon the energies of
youthful vigor) fittingly closed the life of one whose long career
had been dedicated to the service of his race,—no less by the unre-
corded incitations and encouragements of others to the prosecution
of original research, than by his own direct and earnest efforts on
all occasions to extend the boundaries of our knowledge. Nor is
it permitted us to indulge in vain regrets that thirty years of such
‘a life were, seemingly so much withdrawn from his own chosen
; *“The ‘question, therefore, remains to be answered: what is the cause of the
aerial echo? As I have stated, it must in some way be connected with the hori-
zon. The only explanation which suggests itself to me at present is, that the
spread of the sound which fills the whole atmosphere from the zenith to the
horizon with sound-waves, may continue their curvilinear direction until they
; strike the surface of the water at such an angle and direction as to be reflected
back to the ear of the observer. In this case the echo would be heard from a
_ perfectly flat surface of water, and as different sound-rays would reach the water
at different distances and from different azimuths, they would produce the pro-
longed character of the echo and its angular extent along the horizon. While
‘we do not advance’ this hypothesis as a final solution of the question, we shall
‘provisionally adopt it as a means of suggesting further experiments in regard to
.this perplexing question at another season.” (Report of L. H. Board, 1877, p. 70.)
356 MEMORIAL OF JOSEPH HENRY.
ministry at the altar of science, to be occupied so largely with the
drudgery and the routine of merely administrative duties. “True.
though it be, that talents adapted to such functions are very much.
more common and available than those which form the successful
interrogator of Nature, who that knows by what exertions Smith-
son’s wise endowment was rescued from the wasteful dissipation of
heterogeneous local agencies and objects— by what heroic constancy,
‘and through what ordeals of remonstrance and misconception, of
contumely and denunciation, the modest income of the fund (hus-
banded and increased by prudent management) was yearly more
and more withdrawn from merely popular uses and interests, and
more and more applied to its truest and highest purpose, the foster-
ing of abstract research, the founding of a pharos for the future,—
the “increasing and diffusing of knowledge among men,’— who
that knows all this, can say that Henry was mistaken in his de-
votion, or that his ripest years were wasted in an unprofitable
mission?* But in addition to this vast work,—accomplished as
probably no one of his scientific compeers would have had the forti- |
tude and the indomitable persistence to carry through, his personal
contributions to modern science (as has been shown) have through-
out been neither few nor unimportant.
One remarkable circumstance relating to Henry’s directorship of
the Smithsonian publications (which have had so-wide a distribution
and influence) must not be here passed over. Having himself,
*“But it is not alone the material advantages which the world enjoys from
the study of abstract science on which its claims are founded, Were all further
applications of its principles to practical purposes ta cease, it would still be
entitled to commendation and support on account of its more important effects
upon the general mind. It offers unbounded fields of pleasurable, healthful, and
ennobling exercise to the restless intellect of man, expanding his powers and
enlarging his conceptions of the wisdom, the energy, and the beneficence of the
great Ruler of the universe, From these considerations then, and others of a
like kind, I am fully justified in the assertion that this Institution has done
good service in placing prominently before the country the importance of original
reseurch, and that its directors are entitled to commendation for having so uni-
formly and persistently kept in view the fact that it was not intended for
educational or immediately practical purposes, but for the encouragement of the
study of theoretical principles and the advancement of abstract knowledge.”
(Smithsonian Report for. 1859, p. 17.)
+“The number of copies of the Smithsonian Contributions distributed, is
greater than that of the Transactions of any scientific or literary society; and
therefore the Institution offers the best medium to be found for diffusing a
knowledge of scientific discoveries.” (Smithsonian Report for 1851, —p. 202.)
DISCOURSE OF W. B. TAYLOR. 357
amidst the absorbing occupations of his position, conducted so valu-
able original investigations —on the strength of building materials,
—on the best illuminants and their proper conditions,— and espe-
cially in his last great labor on the philosophy of sound, we should
naturally expect to find them displayed in the “Smithsonian Con-
tributions ;” where in interest and importance second to none
contained in that extensive and admirable series, these memoirs
would have found their fitting place, and have given honor to the
collection. But asif to avoid all semblance of a personal motive in
his resolute policy of administration, he published nothing for him-
' self at the expense of the Smithsonian fund; his numerous original
productions being given to the public through the channel of vari-
ous official reports. And thus it has occurred that his writings
scattered in the different directions which seemed to him at the
time most suitable, with little thought of any special publicity or
perpetuity, have largely failed to reach the audience which would
most appreciate them. And many of his most valuable papers —
never by himself collected —must be searched for in unsuggestive
volumes of Agricultural, or Light-House Board Reports. *
For him it seemed enough that what was once established, would
- not be willingly let die; that the medium or the occasion of com-
munication was of comparatively little consequence, if but a new
fact or principle were thrown into proper currency, and duly
accepted as part of the world’s wealth: and beyond all ordinary
men he seemed to feel the insignificance of personal fame as com-
pared with the infinite value of truth. The most appropriate monu-
ment of such a man would be a‘full collection of his writings,
produced in a worthy and appropriate style of publication.
Less than a year ago, (on the evening of November 24th, 1877,)
he delivered in this place before this Society his annual address,
shortly after his re-election as its President ;—an address which as
we beheld the remarkable fulness and freshness of the speaker’s
* Many valuable communications made to the Anferican Association, to the
National Academy of Sciences, to the Washington Philosophical Society, and to
other bodies, from rough notes, which their author was prevented from writing
fairly out, by the unceasing pressure of his multitudinous official and public
duties, have unfortunately been published only by title.
358 MEMORIAL OF JOSEPH HENRY.
mental and bodily powers,— we little thought was in reality his
valedictory. In it he concisely yet lucidly portrayed for the stimu-
lation of more youthful physicists, the processes and the qualities
necessary for success in original research ;—the awakened attention
to “the seeds of great discoveries constantly floating around us,’—
the careful observation, the clear perception of the actual facts
uncolored as much as possible by a priori conceptions or expecta-
tions,— the faculty of persevering watchfulness, and the judgment
to eliminate (with all due caution) the conditions which are acci-
dental,—the importance of a provisional hypothesis,—the con-
scientious and impartial testing of such by every expedient that.
ingenuity may suggest,—the lessons taught by failure,—the firm
holding of the additional facts thus gleaned, though adverse and.
disappointing,— the diligent pondering, and the logical application.
of deductive consequences, to be again examined, until as the reward
of patient solicitation, the answer of nature is at least revealed.
“The investigator now feels amply rewarded for all his toil, and
is conscious of the pleasure of the self-appreciation which flows
from having been initiated into the secrets of nature, and allowed
the place not merely of an humble worshipper in the vestibule of
the temple of science, but an officiating priest at the altar. In this
sketch which I have given of a successful investigation, it will be
observed that several faculties of the mind are called into operation.
First, the imagination, which calls forth the forms of things unseen
and gives them a local habitation, must be active in presenting to
the mind’s eye a definite conception of the modes of operation of.
the forces in nature sufficient to-_produce the phenomena in question.
Second, the logical power must be trained in order to deduce from
the assumed premises the conclusions necessary to test the truth of
the assumption in the form of an experiment; and again the inge-
nuity must be taxed to invent the experiment or to bring about the
arrangement of apparatus adapted to test the conclusions. ‘These
faculties of mind may all be much improved and strengthened by
practice. The most important requisite however to scientific
investigations of this character, is a mind well stored with clear
conceptions of scientific generalizations, and possessed of sagacity
in tracing analogies and devising hypotheses. Without the use of
DISCOURSE OF W. B. TAYLOR. 359
hypotheses or antecedent probabilities,as a general rule no extended
series of investigations can be made as to the approximate cause of
casual phenomena. They require to be used however with great
care, lest they become false guides which lead to error rather than
to truth.” * Who that listened could fail to perceive that the speaker
was unconsciously giving us precious glimpses into his own ex-
perience ?
In less than two weeks after this, his last appearance among us,
he suffered at New York a temporary numbness in his hands,
~which he feared might threaten a paralysis; but a subsequent swell-
ing of his feet and hands revealed to his physician the nature of
his inward disease as a nephritis, which had _insidiously assailed
him before it was suspected, and had ‘doubtless been, aggravated
by his unremitting scientific labors continued.as usual through his
last summer vacation. Only a month before he died, he thus
described the commencement of his malady: “After an almost
uninterrupted period of excellent health for fifty years, I awoke on
the 5th of December at my office in the Light-House Depot in
Staten Island, finding my right hand in a paralytic condition. This
was at first referred by the medical adviser, to an affection of the
brain, but as the paralysis subsided in a considerable degree.in the
course of two days, this conclusion was doubted, and on a thorough
examination through the eye, and by means of auscultation, and
chemical analysis, Dr. S. Weir Mitchell and Dr. J. J. Woodward
pronounced the disease an affection of: the kidneys.” { :
* Bulletin Phil. Soc. Washington, Nov. 24, 1877, vol. ii. pp. 165, 166.
+ Opening Address, written for the meeting of the National Academy of Sci-
ences, April 16th, 1878. (Proceed. Nat. Acad, Sci., vol. i. part 2, pp. 127, 128.)—In the
same address (read to the Academy by the Secretary) he remarked: ‘‘I am warned
that I must devote my energies with caution, and expend no more power—
physical or mental, than is commensurate with my present condition, and in
consideration of this I think it advisable to curtail as much as possible, the
various offices which have been pressed upon me in consideration of my resi-
dence in the city of Washington, and my association with the Smithsonian —
Institution. - - - I therefore beg leave to renew my request to be allowed to
resign the presidency of the Academy, the resignation to take effect at the next
meeting. I retain the office six months longer, in the hope that I may be
restored to such a condition of health as to be able to prepare some suggestions
which may be of importance for the future of the Academy.” And in his closing
Address at the end of the session, three days later (April 19th), in earnest words
having now the solemnity of a valedictory charge, he urged that moral integrity
of character is essential to conscientious fidelity in scientific research; and that
360 MEMORIAL OF JOSEPH HENRY.
Aware that his illness was fatal, he yet felt lulled by that strange
flattery of disease when unattended with a painful wasting, into
the thought that he might probably survive the approaching warmer
weather; and fully prepared for death, with the sense of life still
strong within him, he planned what might yet be accomplished.
But with occasional alternations of more favorable symptoms,
with the uremia steadily increasing, his strength slowly declined:
and as he lay at noon of the 13th of last May, [1878,] with grow-
ing difficulty of breathing —surrounded by loving and anguished
hearts—his last feeble utterance was an inquiry which way the
wind came.' With intellect clear and unimpaired, calmly that pure
and all unselfish spirit passed away; leaving a void all the more
real, all the more felt, that. the deceased had reached a good old age,
and had worthily accomplished his allotted work.
PERSONALITY AND CHARACTER.
Of Henry’s personal appearance, it is sufficient to say, that his
figure, above the medium height, was finely proportioned; that his
mien and movement were dignified and imposing; and that on
whatever occasion called upon to address an assembly,
‘With grave aspéct he rose, and in his rising seemed
A pillar of state: deep on his front engrayen
Deliberation sat, and public care,”
His head and features were of massive mould; though from the
perfect proportion of his form, not too conspicuously so. His
expansive brow was crowned with an abundant flow of whitened
hair; his lower face always smoothly shaven, expressed a mingled
gentleness and firmness; and his countenance of manly symmetry
was in all its varying moods, a pleasant study of the mellowing,
moulding impress of long years of generous feeling, and a worthy
exponent of the fine and thoughtful spirit within: wearing in
it should therefore be an indispensable test of membership in an Academy
strenuous in maintaining its exalted function. “It is not social position, popu-
larity, extended authorship, or success as an instructor in science which entitles
to membership, but actual new discoveries; nor are-these sufficient if the repu-
tation of the candidate is in the slightest degree tainted with injustice or want
of truth. Indeed I think that immorality and great mental power exercised in
the discovery of scientific truths, are incompatible with each other; and that
more error is introduced from defect in moral sense than from want of intellec-
tual capacity.” (Same Proceedings, p. 129.)
DISCOURSE OF W. B. TAYLOR. 361
repose a certain pensive but benignant majesty, in the abstraction
of study a semblance of constrained severity, in the relaxation of
friendly intercourse a genial frank and winning grace of expression.
The varying shades of such expression, with the changing current
of his thought, combined with a certain reserve, —or (perhaps more
properly) freedom from effusiveness, —imparted to his aspect and
his intercourse a singular charm.* His whole physique was in ad-
mirable harmony with his power of intellect ;—the fitting vesture of
the mens sana in corpore sano. Like his intimate personal friend
Agassiz, he seemed to stand and to move among men as the very
embodiment of unfailing vigorous health and physical strength; and .
only a year ago, he walked with as erect and elastic a carriage,
with as firm and sprightly a step, as any one here present.
It is difficult to attempt even a sketch of Henry’s intellectual
character, without allusion to his moral attributes; so constantly
did the latter dominate the former. It may be said that the most
characteristic feature of his varied activities was earnestness, and
this as usual, was the ofepring as much of a moral as of a mental
purpose.
His mind was cainentl logical ; and this rational power was
exhibited in every department of his theoretical or his practical
pursuits. He never showed or felt uneasiness at necessary deduc-
tive consequences, if the premises were well considered or appeared
to be well founded; confident that all truth must ultimately be
found consistent. If presented with the problem of an untried
case, while avowing the necessity of reserve in predicting results,
he seemed to have an almost intuitive apprehension of the opera-
tion of natural law. If confronted with an unfamiliar phenomenon,
whether in the experience of others, or in his own observations,
his imagination was fertile in the suggestion of test conditions for
eliminating variable influences. While few have ever held the
function of hypothesis in higher estimation as an instrument of
research, no one ever held hypothesis in more complete subjection.
*Of the numerous photographic portraits of Henry taken within the past ten
or twenty years, it has been often remarked that no two appear to have the same
character, or to bear a very close resemblance to each other, Three or four meri-
torious portraits in oil (of life-size) perpetuate his likeness, with the same char-
acteristic differences,
362 MEMORIAL OF JOSEPH HENRY.
As a lecturer and instructor, he was always most successful.
Free from all self-consciousness, thinking only of his subject, and
its fittest mode of presentation, he spoke from the fullness of a
ripened knowledge, — intent on communicating to others the intel-
lectual pleasures of insight he had made his own; and without
attempt at oratorical display, his expositions — in simple, direct, and
conversational language, were so lucid, satisfying, and convincing,
that they enlisted from the beginning and secured to the close,
the attentive interest of his auditors.
His sympathy with the pursuits of the rising generation of phys-
icists was ever manifested in a disposition to frequent consulta-
tion and interchange of views with them; as if’ (aware of the usual
tendency to mental ossification with advancing years,) he thus
sought by familiar association to drink at the fountain of perennial
youth, And surely no one was ever more successful in retaining
life’s coveted greenness in age;—not more in the child-like sim-
plicity of his disposition, in the geniality of his affections, and in
his undimmed faith, hope, and charity, for mankind, than in his
intellectual freedom from undue prejudices, and in his readiness
calmly to discuss or adopt new theories.
And this leads to the reflection that in the seeming contrasts of
his nature were combined qualities which formed in him a resultant
of character and of temperament as rare as admirable. With this
great mobility of aptitude and of circumspection, this adaptability
of mental attitude, he yet possessed an unusual firmness of resolu-
tion. With a manly sturdiness of conviction he presented an
unvarying equability of temper and of toleration; and with per-
fect candor as perfect a courtesy. With a characteristic dignity of
figure of presence and of deportment, he preserved an entire free-
dom from any shade of arrogance. With a warm and _ active
charity, he still displayed a shrewd: perception of character; and
while ever responsive to the appeals of real distress, his insight
into human nature protected him from being often deceived by the
wiles of the designing. Intolerant of charlatanry and imposture,
he was capable of exhibiting a wonderful patience with the tedium
of honest ignorance. Possessing in earlier life a natural quick-
ness of temper, and always a high degree of native sensibility, his
DISCOURSE OF W. B. TAYLOR. ; 363
perfect self-control led the casual acquaintance to regard him as
reserved and unimpressible. Of him it may be truly said in
simple and oft-quoted words:
‘“ Wis life was gentle; and the elements -
So mized in him, that Nature might stand up
And say to all the world—This was a MAN!”
With all his broad humanity, he possessed but little of what is
known as “humor.” He could enjoy the ludicrous more heartily
when drolly narrated by its appreciative victims, than when sarcas-
tically recited at the expense of another. The sparkle of wit he
fully appreciated, provided it were free from coarseness and from
personal satire. From the subordination of his sense of humor to
his native instinct of sincerity, he had no approbation —or indeed
tolerance of “practical jokes,” holding that the shock to the feel-
ings or to the confidence of the dupe, is far too high a price for the
momentary hilarity enjoyed by the thoughtless at a farcical situa-
tion. Newspaper hoaxes—literary or scientific, in like manner
received his stern reprobation, as uncompensated injuries to popular
trust and to the cause of popular enlightenment.
Strong in his unerring sense of justice and of right, he allowed.
no prospects of personal advantage to influence his judgment in
action, in decision, or in opinion: he never availed himself of
the opportunities offered by his position, of reaping gain from
profitable suggestions or favorable awards: and he never willingly
inflicted an injury even on the feelings‘of the humblest. This was
characteristically shown in the pains taken to convince the judg-
ment of those against whose visionary projects he was so often called
upon to report in the public interests of. the Smithsonian Institution,
of the Light-House service, and of the General Government :—
often expending an amount of valuable time and of patience which
few so situated would have accorded, or could well have afforded.
And yet on the other hand when himself the subject of injustice,
misconstruction, or abuse, he never suffered himself to be provoked
into a controversy ;—as if holding life too serious, time too pre-
cious, to be wasted in mere disputation. Least of all did he ever
think of resorting to retaliatory conduct or to the expression of
opprobrious sentiments. He calmly put aside disturbing elements,
\
364 MEMORIAL OF JOSEPH HENRY.
and seemed endowed with the power of excluding from his mental
vision all irritating incidents. In that benignant breast there
harbored no resentments.
Great ‘as is the loss we have sustained of “guide, philosopher,
and friend,” we have yet the mournful satisfaction of reflecting
that his‘influence, powerful as it always has been for good, still
survives—in his works, his high example, and his unclouded
memory ;—that our community, our country, ihe world itself,
has been benefitted by his existence here; and that as time rolls
on, its course will be marked by increasing circles of appre-
ciation, reverence, and aoe for the teachings of his high and
noble life.
1825.
1827.
1829.
1829.
1829.
1830.
1831.
1831.
1831.
1831.
1831.
LIST OF THE
SCIENTIFIC PAPERS OF JOSEPH HENRY. |
On the production of cold by the rarefaction of “Air: accompanied with
Experiments. (Presented Mar. 2.) Abstract, Trans. Albany Institute,
vol. i. part ii. p. 36.
On some Modifications of the Electro-magnetic Apparatus. (Read Oct. 10.)
Trans. Albany Inst. vol. i. pp. 22-24.
Topographical Sketch of the State of New York; designed chiefly to abbey
the General Elevations and Depressions of its Surface. (Read Oct. 28.)
Trans. Albany Inst. vol. i. pp. 87-112.
First Abstract of Meteorological Records of the State of New York, for 1828.
(In conjunction with Dr. T. Romeyn Beck.) Annual Report of Regents of
University, to the Legislature of New York.—Albany, 1829.
On the Mean Temperature of Twenty-seven different Places in the State of
New York, for 1828. (In conjunction with Dr. T. Romeyn Beck.) Brew-
ster’s Edinburgh Jour. Science, Oct. 1829, vol. i. n. 8. pp. 249-259.
Second Abstract of Meteorological Records of the State of New York for 1829.
(In conjunction with Dr. T. Romeyn Beck.) Annual Report of Regents of
University, to the Legislature of New York.—Albany, 1830.
On the Application of the Principle of the Galvanic Multiplier to Electro-
magnetic Apparatus, and also to the development of great Magnetic power
in soft iron, with small Galvanic Elements. Silliman’s American Jour.
Science, Jan. 1831, vol. xix. pp. 400-408. Jour. of Roy. Institution of Gr.
Brit. May, 1831, vol. i. pp. 609, 610.
Tabular Statement of the Latitudes, Longitudes, and Hlavaeas of 42 Mete-
orological Stations in New York. Annual Report Regents of Sctate, to
Legislature N. Y. 1831.
Third Abstract of Meteorological Records of State of New York for 1830.
(In conjunction with Dr. T. Romeyn Beck.) Annual Report of Regents of
University, to the Legislature of New York.—Albany, 1831.
An Account of a large Electro-magnet, made for the Laboratory of Yale Col-
lege. (In conjunction with, Dr. Ten Eyck.) Silliman’s Am. Jour. Sci.
, April, 1831, vol. xx. pp. 201-203. Jour. of Roy. Institution of Gr. Brit.
Aug. 1831, vol. ii. p. 182.
On a Reciprocating Motion produced by Magnetic attraction and repulsion.
Silliman’s Am. Jour. Sci. July, 1831, vol. xx. pp. 340-343. Sturgeon’s
Annals of Electricity, etc. vol. iii. pp. 430-432.
; (365)
366
1832,
1832.
1832,
1832.
1833.
1835.
1835.
1837,
1838,
1838.
MEMORIAL OF JOSEPH HENRY.
On a Disturbance of the Earth’s Magnetism in connection with the appear-
ance of an Aurora as observed at Albany on the 19th of April, 1831.
(Communicated to the Albany Institute, Jan, 26, 1832.) Report of Regents
of University, to the Legislature of New York.—Albany, 1832. Silliman’s
Am, Jour. Sci. July, 1832, vol, xxii. pp. 143-155.
Fourth Abstract of Meteorological Records of the State of New York for 1831.
(In conjunction with Dr, T. Romeyn Beck.) Annual Report of Regents of
University, to the Legislature of New York.—Albany, 1831.
On the Production of Currents and Sparks of Electricity from Magnetism.
Silliman’s Am, Jour. Sci, July, 1832, vol. xxii. pp. 403-408.
On the effect of a long and helical wire in increasing the intensity of a galvanic
current from a single element. (Conclusion of preceding paper.) Silliman’s
Am, Jour, Sci. July, 1832, vol. xxii. p. 408, Beequerel’s Traité expérimen-
tal de U Electricité, etc. 1837, vol. v. pp. 231, 232.
Fifth Abstract of Meteorological Records of the State of New York for 1832.
(In conjunction with Dr, T. Romeyn Beck.) Annual Report of Regents of
University, to the Legislature of New York.—Albany, 1833,
Contributions to Electricity and Magnetism. No. I. Description of a Gal-
vanic Battery for producing Electricity of different intensities. (Read Jan.
14.) Transactions Am. Philosoph, Society, vol. v. n. 8. pp. 217-222. Stur-
geon’s Annals of Electricity, etc. vol. i. pp. 277-281.
Contributions to Electricity and Magnetism, No. II. On the influence of a
Spiral Conductor in increasing the intensity of Electricity from a Galvanic
arrangement of a single Pair, ete. (Read Feb, 6.) Trans, Amer. Phil. Soc.
vol, v. n. 8. pp. 223-232. Sturgeon’s Annals of Hlectricity, etc. vol. i. pp.
282-290. ‘Taylors Scientific Memoirs, vol. i. pp. 540-547,
. Facts in reference to the Spark, etc. from a long Conductor uniting the poles
of a Galvanic Battery. Journal of Franklin Institute, Mar. 1835, vol.
xv. pp. 169, 170, Silliman’s Am, Jour, Sci. July, 1835, vol. xxviii. pp.
327-331,
A Notice of Electrical Researches, particularly in regard to the “lateral dis-
charge.” (Read before the British Association at Liverpool, Sept. 1837.)
Report Brit. Assoc, 1837, Part II. pp. 22-24. Silliman’s dm. Jour. Sci.
April, 1838, vol. xxxiv. pp. 16-19,
A Letter on the production directly from ordinary Electricity of Currents by
Induction, analogous to those obtained from-Galvanism, (Read to Philo-
soph. Society, May 4.) Proceedings Am, Phil. Soc, vol. i. p. 14.
Contributions to Electricity and Magnetism, No. III. On Electro-dynamic
Induction. (Read Nov. 2,) Trans. Am, Phil. Soc. vol. vi. n. 8, pp. 303-
337. Silliman’s Am. Jour, Sci. Jan, 1840, vol. xxxviii. pp. 209-243, Stur-
geon’s Annals of Electricity, ete. vol. iv. pp. 281-310. L. BE. D. Phil. Mag.
Mar. 1840, vol. xvi. pp. 200-210: pp. 254-265: pp. 551-562. Becquerel’s
Traité expérimental de U Electricité, etc. vol. v. pp. 87-107. Annales de
Chimie et de Physique, Dec. 1841, 3d series: vol. iii. pp. 394-407. Poggen-
dorff’s Annalen der Physik und Chemie. Supplemental vol. i. (Nach Band li.)
1842, pp. 282-312.
1839.
1839.
1839.
1840.
1840.
1840.
1840.
1841.
1841.
1841.
1842.
1842.
1843.
1843.
SCIENTIFIC. PAPERS OF HENRY. 367 |
A novel phenomenon of Capillary action: the transmission of Mercury through
Lead. (Read Mar. 15.) Proceedings Am. Phil. Soc. vol. i. pp. 82, 83.
Silliman’s Am. Jour. Sci. Dec. 1839, vol. xxxviii. pp. 180, 181. Biblioth.
Universelle, vol. xxix. pp. 175, 176. Liebig’s Annalen der Chemie, etc. vol.
xl. pp. 182, 183.
A Letter on two distinct kinds of dynamic Induction by a Galvanic current.
(Read to Phil. Soc. Oct. atl Eopeetetings Am. Phil. Soc. vol. i. pp. 134-
136.
Observations of Meteors haan Nov. 25, 1835, bt iy at Princeton and
at Philadelphia, for determining their difference of Longitude. (In con-
junction with Professors A. D. Bache, 8. Alexander, and J. P. Espy.)
Proceedings Am. Phil. Soc. Dec. 21, vol. i. pp. 162, 163. Silliman’s Am.
Jour. Sci. Oct. 1840, vol. xxxix. pp. 372, 373.
Contributions to Electricity and Magnetism. No. IV. On Electro-dynamic
Induction. (Read June 19.) Trans. Am: Phil. Soe. vol. viii. n.s. pp. 1-18.
Silliman’s Am. Jour. Sci. April, 1841, vol. xli. pp. 117-152. Sturgeon’s
Annals Electricity, etc. vol. vii. pp. 21-56. L. B.D. Phil. Mag, June, 1841,
vol. xviii, pp. 482-514. Annales de Chim, et de Phys. Dec. 1841, 3d ser. vol.
iii. pp. 407-436. Poggendorff’s Annal. der Phys. und Chem, 1841, vol. liv.
pp. 84-98.
Contributions to Electricity and Magnetism. No. IV,—continued. Theoret-
ical Considerations relating to Electro-dynamic Induction. (Read Nov. 20.)
Trans. Am. Phil. Soc. vol. viii. n. 8. pp. 18-35.
On the production of a reciprocating motion by the repulsion in the consecu-
tive parts of a conductor through which a galvanic current is Passing:
(Read Nov. 20.) Proceedings Am. Phil. Soc. vol. i. p. 301.
Electricity from heated Water. (Read Biba. 18.) Proceedings Am. Phil. Soc.
vol. i. pp. 322-324.
Report of the Tenth Meeting of the British Association, ete. Princeton Review,
Jan. 1841, vol. xiii. pp. 132-149.
Description of a simple and inexpensive form of Heliostat. (Read Sept. 17.)
Proceedings Am. Phil. Soc. vol. ii. pp. 97, 98. ,
Observations on the effects of a Thunderstorm which visited Princeton on the
evening of the 14th of July, 1841. (Read Nov. 5.) Proceedings Am. Phil.
Soc. vol. ii. pp. 111-116.
Résumé des Recherches faits sur les Courants d’Induction, Archives de l’ Elec-
tricité, 1842, vol. ii. pp. 348-392. :
Contributions to Electricity and Magnetism. _No. VY. On Electro-dynamic
Induction: and on the oscillatory discharge. (Read June 17.) Proceed- .
ings Am. Phil. Soc. vol. ii. pp. 193-196. :
On Phosphorogenic Emanation. (Read May 26.) Proceedings Am. Phil. Soc.
vol. iii. pp. 38-44. _ Walker’s Electrical Magazine, 1845, vol. i. pp. 444-450.
On a new Method of determining the Velocity of Projectiles. (Read May 30.)
Proceedings Am. Phil. Soc. vol. iii. pp. 165-167. Walker's Electrical Maga-
zine, 1845, vol. i. pp. 350-352.
368
1843.
1843.
1843,
1844.
1844,
1844,
1844,
1845,
1845.
1845,
1845,
1845.
1845.
1845,
1846.
1846.
MEMORIAL, OF JOSEPH HENRY,
Nouvelles Expériences sur Induction développée par }’Electricité ordinaire.
(Translated.) Archives de U Electricité, 1843, vol. iii, pp. 484-488, *
On the application of Melloni’s thermo-electric apparatus to Meteorological
purposes. (Presented orally Nov. 3.) Proceedings Am, Phil. Soc. vol. iv.
p. 22.
Theory of the discharge of the Leyden jar. (Presented Nov. 3.) Proceed-
ings Am. Phil. Soc, vol. iv. pp. 22, 23.
On the Cohesion of Liquids. (Read April 5.) Proceedings Am. Phil. Soc.
vol. iv. pp. 56, 57. Silliman’s dm. Jour, side Oct, 1844, vol. xlviii. pp.
_ 215, 216.. ‘
On the Cohesion of Tirtdeeragitinted (Read May 17.) Proud dm.
Phil. Soc, vol. iv. pp. 84, 85. Silliman’s Am, Jour, Sci, Oct. 1844, vol.
xlviii, pp. 816, 217. L. E. D. Phil. Mag. June, 1845, vol. xxvi. pp. 541-
543.
Syllabus of Lectures on Physics. Princeton, 8vo. 1844. Republished in part
in Smithsonian Report, 1856, pp. 187-220.
Classification and Sources of Mechanical Power. (Read Dec. 20.) Proceed-
ings. Am, Phil. Soc. vol. iv. pp. 127-129.
On the Coast Survey. Princeton Review, April, 1845, vol. xvii, pp, 321-344,
On the relative Radiation of Heat by the Solar Spots. (Read J une 20. ) Pro-
ceedings Am, Phil. Soc. vol, iv. pp. 173-176. Brief Abstract in Report
Brit, Assoc. 1845, Part II. p. 6, Walker’s Electrical ‘Magazine, | 1846, vol. ii.
pp. 321-324. Troriep’s Neue Notizen, etc. No. 826, 1846, vol. xxxviii. col.
179-182. Poggendorff’s Annalen der Physik und Ohemie, 1846, vol. Ixviii.
pp. 102-104. | ;
On the Capillarity of Metals, (Read June 20.) Proceedings Am, Phil. Soc.
vol. iy. pp. 176-178. Froriep’s Neue Notizen, etc. No. 855, 1846, vol.
xxxviii, col, 167-169. Poggendorft’s Annalen der Physik und Chemie. 2d
supplemental vol. (Nach Band 1xxii.) 1848, pp. 358-361,
On the Protection of Buildings from Lightning, (Read June 20.) ° Proceed-
ings Am. Phil. Soc. vol. iv. p.179, Silliman’s Am. Jour. Sci. 1846, vol. ii. pp,
405,406. Walker's Electrical Magazine, 1846, vol. ii, pp. 824-326, Froriep’s
Neue Notizen, etc, No, 823, 1846, vol. xxxviii. col, 133, 134, :
An account of peculiar effects on a house struck by Lightning. (Read June
20.) Proceedings Am. Phil. Soc, vol, iv. p. 180,
On Color Blindness. Princeton Review, July, 1845, vol. xvii. pp. 483-489.
Smithsonian Report, 1877, pp. 196-200.
On the discharge of Electricity through a long wire, ete. (Read Nov. 7.)
Proceedings Am, Phil, Soc, vol, iv. pp. 208, 209.
Repetition of Faraday’s Experiment on the Polarization of Liquids under the
influence of a galvanic current. (Read Jan, 16.) Proceedings Am. Phil, Soc.
vol. iv. pp. 229, 230.
Extrait d’une Lettre a M. de la Rive, sur les Télégraphes Electriques dans les
Etats-Unis de l'Amérique. Biblioth. Universelle. Archives, 1846, vol. ii.
p. 178.
1846.
1846.
1855.
1855.
SCIENTIFIC PAPERS OF HENRY. 369
Report on the action of Electri¢ity on the Telegraph Wires: and Telegraph-
poles struck by Lightning. (Read June 19.) Proceedings Am. Phil. Soc.
vol. iv. pp. 260-268. Silliman’s 4m. Jour. Sci. 1847, vol. iii. pp. 25-32.
L, E. D, Phil. Mag. 1847, vol. xxx. pp. 186-194. Agricultural Report,
Commr. Pats. 1859, pp. 509-511.
On the ball supported by a water jet: also experiments in regard to the
“interference” of heat. (Read Oct. 16.) Proceedings Am. Phil. Soc. vol.
iv. p. 285.
. On the corpuscular hypothesis of the constitution of Matter. (Read Nov. 6.)
Proceedings Am. Phil. Soc. vol. iv. pp. 287-290.
On the Height of Aurore. (Read Dec. 3.) Proceedings Am. Phil. Soc. vol.
iv. p. 370.
Programme of Organization of the Smithsonian Institution. ( Presented
to the Board of Regente, Dec. 8, 1847.) Smithsonian Report, 1847, pp.
120-132.
Article on Magnetism” for the Encyclopwdia Americana, Zncycl. Amer.
1847, vol. xiv. pp. 412-426.
On Heat.—A Thermal Telescope. Silliman’s Am. Jour. Sci. Jan. 1848, vol. v.
pp. 113, 114.
Explanations and Illustrations of the Plan of the Smithsonian Institution.
Silliman’s Am. Jour, Sci. Nov. 1848, vol. vi. pp. 305-317.
On the Radiation of Heat. (Read Oct. 19.) Proceedings Am. Phil. Soc. vol. v.
p- 108.
Analysis of the dynamic phenomena of the Leyden jar. Proceedings Amer.
Association, Aug. 1850, pp. 377, 378.
. On the Limit of Perceptibility of a direct and reflected Sound. Proceedings
Amer. Association, May, 1851, pp. 42, 43.
On the Theory of the so-called Imponderables. Proceedings Amer, Association,
Aug. 1851, pp. 84-91. ’
Address before the Metropolitan Mechanics’ Institute, Washington. (Deliv-
ered March 19.) 8vo. Washington, 1853, 19 pp.
Meteorological Tables of mean diurnal variations, etc.—Prepared as an Appen-
dix to Mr. Russell’s Lectures on Meteorology. Smithsonian Report for
1854, pp. 215-223. Re
. Thoughts on Education; an Introductory Discourse before the Association for
the Advancement of Education. (Delivered Dec. 28.) Proceedings Assoc.
Adv, Education, 4th Session, 1854, pp. 17-31. Amer. Jour. of Education,
Aug. 1855, vol. i. pp. 17-31.
On the mode of Testing Building Materials, etc. Proceedings Am, Assoc. Aug.
1855, pp. 102-112. Silliman’s Am. Jour, Sci. July, 1856, vol. xxii. pp. 30-
38; Smithsonian Report, 1856, pp. 303-310.
On the effect of mingling Radiating Substances with Combustible Materials :
(or incombustible bodies with fuel.) Proceedings Am. Assoc. Aug. 1855, pp.
112-116.
24
370
1855.
1855.
1855.
1855.
1855.
1855.
1857,
1857.
1857,
1858.
1859..
1859.
MEMORIAL OF JOSEPH HENRY.
Account of Experiments on the alleged spontaneous separation of Alcohol and
Water. Proceed. Am. Assoc, Aug. 1855, pp. 140-144. =
On the Induction of Electrical Currents. (Read Sept. 11.) | Proceedings Am,
Academy of Arts, etc, vol. iii. p. 198.
Note on the Gyroscope, Appendix to Lecture by Professor E, 8. Snell. Smith-
sonian Report, 1855, p. 190.
Remarks on Rain-fall at varying elevations. Smithsonian Report, 1855, pp.
213, 214.
Directions for Meteorological Observations. (In conjunction with Professor
A. Guyot.) Smithsonian Report, 1855, pp. 215-244,
Circular of Inquiries relative to Earthquakes. Smithsonian ite 1855,
p. 245.
. Instructions for Observations of the Aurora. Smithsonian Report, 1855, pp.
247-250.
>. On Green’s Standard Barometer for the Smithsonian Institution. Smithsonian
Report, 1855, pp. 251-258.
. Circular of Instructions on Registering the peniodics! phenomena of animal
and vegetable life. Smithsonian Report, 1855, pp. 259-263.
55. Meteorology in its connection with Agriculture, Part I. Agricultural Report
of Commr. Pats, 1855, pp. 357-394,
. On Acoustics applied to Public Buildings. “Proceedings Am. Assoc. Aug. 1856,
pp. 119-135. Smithsonian Report, 1856, pp. 221-234. Canadian Journal,
etc. Mar. 1857, vol. ii, n. 8. pp. 130-140,
. Account of a large Sulphuric-acid Barometer in the Hall of the Smithsonian
Institution Building. Proceedings Am, Assoc, Aug. 1856, pp. 135-138.
. Meteorology in its connection with Agriculture, Part II. General Atmos-
pheric Conditions. Agricultural Report of Commr. Pats. 1856, pp. 455-
492..
Communication to the Board of Regents of the Smithsonian Institution, rela-
tive to a publication by Professor Morse. Smithsonian Report, 1857, pp.
85-88.
Statement in relation to the history of the Electro-magnetic Paearayes Smith-
sonian Report, 1857, pp. 99-106.
Meteorology in its connection with Agriculture, Part III. Terrestrial Physics,
and ecaperaiare: Agricultural Report of Commr, Pats. 1857, pp. 419-
506. : :
Meteorology in its connection with Agriculture, Part IV. Atmospheric Vapor,
and Currents. Agricultural Report of Commr. Pats. 1858, pp. 429-493,
On Meteorology. Canadian Naturalist and Geologist, Aug. 1859, vol. iv. pp.
_ 289-291.
Application of the Pia to the Prediction of Changes of the Weather, —
(Read Aug. 9.) Proceedings Am. Academy of Arts, etc. vol. iv. pp. 271-275.
1859, Meteorology in its ‘connection with Agriculture, Part V. Atmospheric Elec-
tricity. Agricultural Report of Commr. Pats. 1859, pp. 461-508.
1859,
1860.
-1860.
1860.
1861.
1861.
1861.
1862.
1863.
1863.
1864.
1865.
1865.
1865.
1865.
1866.
‘1866.
1866.
1866.
1866.
SCIENTIFIC PAPERS OF HENRY. _ 371
On the Protection of Buildings from the effects of Lightning. Agricult. Report,
Com. Pat. 1859, pp. 511-524.
On the Conservation of Force. Silliman’s Am. Jour. Sci. J uly, 1860, vol. xxx.
pp. 32-41.
Circular to Officers of Hudson’s Bay Company (April 20.) Smithsonian
Miscell. Collections, No. 137, vol. viii. pp. 1-4.
Description of Smithsonian Anemometer. Smithsonian Report, 1860, pp.
414-416.
Letter on Aeronautics to Mr. T. S. C. Lowe. (March 11.) Smithsonian Re-
port, 1860, pp. 118, 119.
Article on “Magnetism” for the American Cyclopedia. Edited by Ripley
and Dana. Am. Cycl. 1861, vol. xi. pp. 61-63.
Article on ‘‘Meteorology” for the American Cyclopedia. Edited by Ripley
and Dana. Am. Cycl. 1861, vol. xi. pp. 414-420.
Report of the Light-House Board on the proposed Transfer of the Lights to
the Navy Department, Exec, Docts. 37th Cong. 2d Sess. Senate, Mis. Doc.
No. 61, pp. 2-18. piv & :
Letter to Orlando Meads, Chairman of Committee of Trustees, etc. on the
semi-centennial celebration of the Albany Academy. (Dated June 23.)
Proceedings on Semi-Centennial Anniversary, etc. pp. 66, 67.
Introduction to Memoir by Professor J. Plateau. On the Figures of Equili-
brium of a Liquid Mass, etc. Smithsonian Report, 1863, pp. 207, 208.
On Materials for Combustion in Lamps of Light-Houses. (Read Jan. 12,
before the Heavens Academy of Sciences.) [Not published in Proceed-
ings. ]
Report relative to the Fire at the Smithsonian Institution, occurring Jan. 24th,
1865. (In conjunction with Mayor Richard Wallach.) Presented to the
Regents February, ‘1865. Smithsonian Report, 1864, pp. 117-120.
Queries relative to Tornadoes : directions to observers. _ Smithsonian Miscell.
Collections, No. 190, vol. x. pp. 1-4.
Remarks on the Meteorology of the United seo _ Smithsonian Report, 1865,
pp. 50-59. | ;
Remarks on Ventilation: especially with reference to the U. S. Capitol. Smith-
sonian Report, 1865, pp. 67, 68.
Report on the Warming and Ventlatne of the U. 8. Capitol. (May 4.)
Exec. Doc. No. 100. ° ‘H. of Rep. 39th Cong. 1st Sess. pp. 4-6.
Report of Building Committee on Repairs to Sm. Inst. building from Fire.
(In conjunction with Gen]. Richard Delafield, and Mayor Richard Wallach.)
Presented to Regents April 28. “Smithsonian Report, 1865, pp. 111-114.
‘On the aboriginal Migration of the American races. Appendix to: paper: by
F. Von Hellwald. Smithsonian Report, 1866, PP. 344, 345.
Remarks on Vitality, Smithsonian meres 1866, pp. 386-388. :
Meteorological Notes. “To Correspondents.” ' ” Sinithsonian Report, ‘1866, pp.
403-412, paren
372
1866.
1867.
1867,
1867.
1867.
- 1867.
1867.
1868.
1868.
1869.
1870.
1871.
1871.
1871.
1871.
1871.
1871.
1871.
1871.
1871.
1872,
MEMORIAL OF JOSEPH HENRY.
Investigations in regard to Sound. (Read Aug. 10, before the National Acad-
emy of Sciences.) [Not published in Proceedings. ]
Circular relating to Collections in Archeology and Ethnology. (Jan. 15.)
Smithsonian Miscell. Collections, No. 205, vol. viii. pp. 1, 2.
Circular relative to! Exchanges. (May 16.) Smithsonian Report, 1867,
pal: ;
Suggestions relative to Objects of Scientific Investigation in Russian America.
(May 27.) Smithsonian Miscell. Collections, No. 207, vol. viii. pp. 1-7.
Notice of Peltier, Smithsonian Report, 1867, p. 158.
Notes on Atmospheric Electricity. To Correspondents. Smithsonian Report,
1867, pp. 320-323.
On the Penetration of Sound. (Read Jan. 24, before the National Academy
of Sciences. [Not published in Proceedings. ]
Appendix to a Notice of Schoenbein. Smithsonian Report, 1868, pp. 189-192.
On the Rain-fall of the United States. (Read Aug. 25, before the National
Academy of Sciences.) [Not published in Proceedings. ]
Memoir of Alexander Dallas Bache. (Read April 16.) Biographical Memoirs
of Nat. Acad. Sci. vol. i, pp. 181-212. Smithsonian Report, 1870, pp. 91-
116.
Letter. On a Physical Observatory. (Dec. 29.) Smithsonian Report, 1870,
pp. 141-144.
Observations on the Rain-fall of the United States, Proceedings California
Academy of Sciences, vol, iv. p, 185. i
Instructions for Observations of Thunder Storms. Smithsonian Miscell. Col-
lections, No, 235, vol. x. p. 1.
Circular relative to Heights. For a topographio chart of N. America, Smith-
sonian Miscell, Collections, No, 236, vol. x. p. 1,
Directions for constructing Lightning-Rods. Smithsonian Miscell, Collections,
No. 237, vol. x. pp. 1-3. Silliman’s dm. Jour, Sci. Noy. 1871, vol. ii. pp.
344-346.
Letter to Capt. C. F. Hall, in regard to the Scientific Operations of the Expe-
dition toward the North Pole. (June 9.) Smithsonian Report, 1871, pp.
364-366.
Suggestions as to Meteorological Observations; during the Expedition toward
the North Pole. Smithsonian Report, 1871, pp. 372-379.
Meteorological Notes and Remarks. Smithsonian Report, 1871, pp. 452, 455,
456, 459, 461.
Effect of the Moon on the Weather. Smithsonian Report, 1871, pp. 460, 461.
Anniversary Address as President of the Philosophical Society of Washington.
(Delivered Nov. 18.) Bulletin Phil. Soc. Washington, vol. i. pp. 5-14.
Remarks on Cosmical Theories of Electricity and Magnetism: an Appendix
to a Memoir by Professor G. B. Donati. Smithsonian Report, 1872, pp.
307-309.
1872.
1873.
1873.
1873.
1874.
1874.
1874.
1875.
1875.
1875.
1875.
1876.
1876.
1876.
1876.
1877.
1877.
1877.
1877.
1877.
SCIENTIFIC PAPERS OF HENRY. 373
t
On certain Abnormal Phenomena of Sound, in connection: with Fog-signals.
(Read Dec. 11.) Bulletin Phil. Soc. Washington, vol. i. p. 65, and Appendix
ix. 8 pp.
Letter to John C. Green, Esq. of New York, on his establishment of the
“Henry Chair of Physics” in the College of New Jersey. Washington
Daily Chronicle, Mar. 21, 1873.
On Telegraphic Announcements of Astronomical Discoveries. (May.) Smith-
sonian Miscell. Collections, No. 263, vol. xii. pp. 1-4.
Remarks on the Light-House Service. Report of Light-House Board, 1873,
pp. 3-7.
Report of Investigations relative to Fog-Signals, and certain abnormal
phenomena of Sound. Report of Light-House Board, 1874. Appendix, pp.
83-117.
Memoir of Joseph Saxton. (Read Oct. 4.) Biographical Memoirs of Nat.
Acad. Sci. vol. i. pp. 287-316.
Remarks on Recent Earthquakes in North Carolina. Smithsonian Report,
1874, pp. 259,260.
Remarks on the Light-House Service. Ieport of Light-House Board, 1875,
pp. 5-8.
An account of investigations relative to Illuminating Materials, Report of
Light-House Board, 1875. Appendix, pp. 86-103.
Investigations relative to Sound. Report of Light-House Board, 1875. Appen-
dix, pp. 104-126.
On the Organization of Local Scientific Societies. Smithsonian Report, 1875,
pp. 217-219.
Article on ‘‘ Fog,” for Johnson’s Universal Cyclopedia. Edited by Dr. Bar-
nard. J. Univ. Cycl. vol. ii. pp. 187, 188.
Article on ‘“Fog-Signals” for Johnson’s Universal Cyclopedia. Edited by
Dr. Barnard. J. Univ. Cyel, vol. ii. pp. 188-190.
Article on ‘‘Hygrometry” for Johnson’s Universal Cyclopedia. Edited by
Dr. Barnard. J. Univ. Cycl. vol. ii. pp. 1072-1074.
Letter to Rev. S. B. Dod; on researches made at Princeton. (Dated Dec. 4.)
Princeton Memorial, May 19, 1878, 8vo. N. Y. pp. 51-70.
Article on “Lightning” for Johnson’s Universal Cyclopedia, Edited by Dr.
Barnard. J. Univ. Cycl. vol. iii. pp. 32-36.
Article on ‘‘ Lightning-Rods” for Johnson’s Universal Cyclopedia. Edited by
Dr. Barnard. J. Univ, Cycl. vol. iii. pp. 36, 37.
Remarks on the Light-House Service. Report of Light-House Board, 1877,
pp. 3-7.
Report of Operations relative to Fog-Signals. Report of Light-House Board,
1877. Appendix, pp. 61-72.
Address before the Philosophical Society of Washington. Bulletin Phil. Soc.
Washington, vol. ii. pp. 162-174.
374
1878.
1878.
1878.
1878
1878
1878
MEMORIAL OF JOSEPH HENRY. |
On Thunder Storms. (Letter Oct. 13.) Journal Am, Electrical Society, 1878,
vol. ii. pp. 37-44. ; .
Letter to Joseph Patterson, Esq. of Philadelphia, on the “Joseph Henry
Fund.” (Dated Jan. 10.) Public Ledger and Transcript, May 14, 1878..
The Press: of Philadelphia, May 14, 1878.
Report on the Ventilation of the Hall of the House of Representatives. (Jan.
26.) 45th Cong. 2nd Sess, H. R. Report, No. 119, pp. 1-6.
. Report on the Use of the Polariscope in Saccharimetry. (Feb.5.) Mis. Doc.
45th Cong. 2nd Sess, H. R.
. Opening Address before the National Academy of Sciences. (Read April 16.)
Proceedings Nat. Acad. Sci. vol. i. part 2, pp. 127, 128,
. Closing Address before the National Academy of Sciences. (Read April 19.)
Proceedings Nat. Acad, Sci. vol. i. part 2, pp. 129, 130.
SUPPLEMENTARY NOTES.
Note A. (From p. 209.)
HENRY’S FIRST EXPERIMENTS.
From the time of leaving the Albany Academy young Henry
exhibited a great fondness for chemical experimentation., The
wonderful transformations of familiar substances under the magic
spell of decomposing re-actions and combining affinities, seemed to
his ardent imagination to offer a possible clue’ to the mystery of
matter and of force. His mental activity sought an outlet in assist-
ing to establish the “Albany Lyceum.” i's ;
Orlando Meads, LL.D. in the “Annual Address” read before
the Albany Institute, May 25, 1871, thus records his early reminis-
cences : : "s ;
“When a boy in the Albany Academy in 1823 and 1824, it was
my pleasure and privilege, when released from recitations, to resort
to the chemical laboratory and lecture room. There might be
found from day to day through the winter, earnestly engaged in
experiments upon steam and upon a small steam-engine, and in
chemical and other scientific investigations, two young men—both
active members of the ‘Lyceum,’ then very different in their exter-
nal circumstances and prospects in life, but of kindred tastes and
sympathies; the one was Richard Varick DeWitt, the other was
. Joseph Henry, as yet unknown to fame, but already giving promise
of those rare qualities of mind and character which have since raised
him to the very first rank among the experimental philosophers of
his time. Chemistry at that time was exciting great interest, and
Dr. Beck’s courses of chemical lectures, conducted every winter in
the lecture room of the Academy, were attended not only by the
students, but by all that was most intelligent and fashionable in the
city. Henry, who had been formerly a pupil in the Academy, was .
then Dr. Beck’s chemical assistant, and already an admirable ex-
perimentalist, and he availed himself to the utmost of the advan-
tages thus afforded, of prosecuting his investigations in chemistry,
electricity, and galvanism.” *
* Transactions of Albany Institute, 1872, vol. vii. pp. 20, 21. :
(375)
376 MEMORIAL OF JOSEPH HENRY.
Note B. (From p. 227.) |
“INTENSITY” AND “QUANTITY” CURRENTS.
Karly in the century, the eminent chemist Dr. Thomas Thomson
endeavored to express the difference between mechanical electricity
and chemical electricity, by characterizing the former as’ possessing
“intensity,” and the latter as possessing “quantity.” Irom the
increase of electrical effects with the multiplication of galvanic —
pairs in a pile or battery, Volta a short time before had designated
such action as “electromotor” force. Dr, Robert Hare in 1816
devising a galyanic battery in which all the positive elements were
directly connected together, as were all the negative elements, (thus
constituting it virtually a battery of a single pair,) from the heating
effects obtained, designated the action as “‘calorimotor” force. It |
appeared quite ‘natural afterward to distinguish these classes of
effects by the old terms—“‘intensity” for electromotive force, and
“quantity” for calorimotive force. There is obviously a close anal-
ogy between these differences of condition or resultant, and the
more strongly contrasted conditions of mechanical and chemical
electricity: and indeed the whole may be said to lie in a continuous
series, from the highest “intensity” with minimum quantity, to the
greatest “quantity” with minimum intensity.
Peltier in 1836 published a paper entitled “Definition of the
terms electric Quantity and Intensity, derived from direct experi-
ment;” in which he showed that “if we form a voltaic pair of two
fine wires, zinc and copper, immersed in pure water, and connected
by a circuit of copper wire 300 metres (328 yards) long, although
there is as we know a continuous current in this closed circuit, the
copper wire if placed immediately over a magnetic needle, will not
deflect it from the magnetic meridian. But if the needle be sur-
rounded by a “multiplicator” formed of 100 or 200 coils of the °
long wire, there will be at once a notable deviation; and if the
number of coils be increased to 2,000 the deviation may extend to
60 degrees.” In this experiment, as the primitive current has not
been changed, but a “factitious quantity” only has been produced
by conducting it 2,000 times around the magnetic needle, Peltier
inferred that it is by the quantity (and by no other modification)
that the action has been thus enhanced; and that it is therefore
through its quantity that a current acts on the magnetic needle.
“Taking now a thermo-electric pair, zinc and copper, of five square
millimetres, (the 129th part of a square inch,) and ‘heating one of
the solderings to 40 degrees, (104° I’.) we find that with the same
closed circuit and multiplicator of 2,000 coils, the needle will not
be deflected; the electricity will not pass. But if we retrench
\
DISCOURSE OF W. B. TAYLOR:— NOTES. ott
1,800 coils, (shortening the conductor to this extent,) the galva-
nometer now of 200 coils will begin to give notable deviations. If
we reduce it to 10 coils, the deflection will be considerably aug-
mented. Finally, if we reduce it to a single coil formed of a strip
of copper containing as much substance as the 200 coils, the deflec-
tion of the needle may amount to even 60 degrees. The quantity
of electricity produced in this experiment by the thermo-electric
pair is therefore’ evidently 2,000 times greater than that of the
above hydro-electric pair, since we obtain the same deviation with a
single coil as with the factitious quantity given by the reduplication
of the coils. On the other hand, in the first experiment the length
of the conducting wire was easily traversed by the hydro-electric
current; the inertia of the matter was overcome without difficulty
and without appreciable loss of the current: in the second experi-
ment this inertia could not be overcome; the power of action was
insufficient and it was necessary to reduce the circuit to a very small
length for the electricity to be able to traverse it.” From these
phenomena, Peltier argued that two very distinct conditions were
presented, which should not be confounded; an action of quantity
without resistance, and an action of intensity y independent of quan-
tity, capable of overcoming considerable resistance.*
In the same memoir however, Peltier took occasion to say that he
considered “dynamic intensity” an inappropriate expression for
electricity in movement; and that the term if retained should be
used to designate not a modification of the electric current, but a
particular disposition of the electro-motor. He discarded the idea
that intensity represents a peculiar quality in the current itself; but
considered the action as only the consequence of increased resistance
offered by the pile to a backward movement or return of the electric
flow: or in other words that intensity regarded as the power of
overcoming obstacles in the external path, results from the greater
obstacles presented by the battery to a neutralization by rctrogra-
dation.t
The designations under discussion have been largely superseded
in modern authorities by the mathematical treatment of the subject,
which takes cognizance alone of the ratio between electromotive
force and resistance differences inthe circuits. Thus Professor
Jenkin, speaking of the two classes of batteries, remarks: “ With a
short circuit of small external resistance, we can increase the cur-
rent by increasing the size of cells, or what is equivalent to this, by
joining several cells in multiple are. With a long circuit of great
external resistance, large cells (or many of them joined in multiple
* Annales de Chimie et de Physique, 1836, vol. Ixiii, pp. 245, 246.
+ Same work, p. 253.
378 MEMORIAL OF JOSEPH HENRY.
arc) will fail to give us strong currents, but we may increase ,the
current by joining the same cells in series. - - - Cells joined
in series are sometimes described as joined for ‘intensity’; and cells
joined in multiple arc, as joined for ‘quantity,’ These terms are
remnants of an erroneous theory.” *
Again, in speaking of galvanometers of long and_ fine coils, as
distinguished from those of short and thick wire coils, he says: “In
some writings these two classes of instruments are spoken of as
adapted to two different classes of ‘currents’ instead of to two
different classes of circuits. ‘The instrument with numerous turns
of fine wire is said to indicate ‘intensity’ currents, the other class
to indicate ‘quantity’ currents. These two old names survive,
although the fallacious theory which assumed that there were two
kinds of currents is extinct: the term ‘intensity galvanometer’ is
used to signify an instrument with thousands of turns of thin wire
in its coil, and ‘quantity galvanometer’—an instrument with few
turns of thick wire. I shall name the two varieties ‘long coil’
and ‘short coil’ galyanometers.” +
Admirable as the mathematical theory of galvanic circuits has
proved itself in its fullness and precision, it does not supply us with
any satisfactory physical conception of the palpable dynamic differ-
ence in the resultant galvanic currents. The old terms, whether
accurate or not, are still convenient designations of the acknowl-
edged differences when reference is had to effects rather than to
arrangements, f
No one has more clearly pointed out the’ almost constant an-
tithesis between the actions of “‘static” and “dynamic” electricity,
than Peltier himself. “Static electricity is duplex; each of its
forms is collected, controlled, and maintained separately; being
manifested only in the state of isolation and separation: these forms
are only preserved thus separate by non-conducting substances, and
their action endures as long as their insulation, Dynamic electricity
is not double; it cannot be separately either collected, controlled,
or maintained; being manifested only at the instant of its trans-
mission through conductors insulated or not: for continuous effect
it is necessary that the producing cause be continuous. ‘The former
collects only at the surface, being equally or unequally distributed
thereon according to the form of the surface. The latter is propa-
* Electricity and Magnetism. By Fleeming Jenkin. 16mo. London and New
York, 1873, chap. iv. sect. 7, p. 88.
+ Same work, chap, xiii. sect. 3, p. 190.
t Peltier from experiments (the results of which he has detailed) controverted
the universality of the law of Ohm and Gauss, that galvanic resistance is directly
proportioned to the length of the conducting wire, and inversely proportional to
the area of its cross-section. (Comples Rendus, Oct, 12, 1835, vol. i. pp. 208, 204.)
DISCOURSE OF W. B. TAYLOR:—WNOTES. 379
gated equally through the interior of , conducting bodies, and in
proportion to their mass quite irrespective of the form of their
surfaces. ‘Two bodies charged with the same kind of static elec-
tricity, exhibit mutual repulsion; while if charged with contrary
kinds they exhibit mutual attraction: and by contact establish a
complete neutralization. .T'wo currents of dynamic electricity, in
the same direction attract each other; in opposite directions repel
each other: the contact of their conductors produces neither divis-
ion nor neutralization; nor does any external communication disturb
the current in a closed circuit. A body charged with either kind
of static electricity exerts no action but attraction on a neutral
body; it induces_the opposite electrical state on the portion of a
body approached, repelling its own kind to the further extremity.
A current of dynamic electricity produces various inductive effects
on neighboring bodies, as transverse magnetization, instantaneous
impulses at the moment of any change, chemical actions, etc. The
former finds, an Ee of its two forms in very unequal
degrees in different metals.* The latter finds’ only conducting
differences between the metals; and is not affected by other cur-
rents. The former is feeble or intense according to the extent of
surface on which it is accumulated; and manifests its tension by a
greater or less attraction or repulsion. The latter exhibits the
states of quantity—measured by the deflection of the galvano-
meter, and of ‘intensity —-measured by the power of overcoming
resistance or of traversing poor andictest 7
Characteristically different as are the phenomena thus exhibited
by mechanical and chemical electricities, (to distinguish which we ‘
have unfortunately no satisfactory expressions,) almost as marked —
though in a much smaller degree, are the peculiarities of galvanism
itself, in what must be called its varying states of tension. ' And
for these striking differences, Ohm’s celebrated law ‘that “the
strength of the current is proportional to the electro-motive force
divided by the conducting resistance,” affords no more intelligible
explanation than it does for the peculiar deportment of so-called
“static” electrigity.™ Indeed Ohm’s formula represenits but a close
* Peltier first derhonétrated that the electric capacity of the metals for the
same kind from 4 constant source, is very unequal: thus zinc takes and retains
more positive than negative electricity, while the contrary takes place with
copper: so gold is more apt than silver or platina to become charged with posi-
tive electricity. (Comptes Rendus, 1835, vol. i. pp. 860 and 470.)
+ Annales de Chimie et de Physique, 1838, vol. Ixvil. pp. 426-428. The title of this
memoir is '' Experimental researches on the quantities of static and dynamic action
produced by the oxidation of a milligramme of zine: and the author arrives at
the conclusion that the static effects are as the squares of the dynamic effects;
or conversely, the dynamic as the square roots of the static. (p. 446.)
380 ‘VAs MEMORIAL OF JOSEPH HENRY.
approximation to the actual facts of electrical transmission; and
gives us no account of the remarkable fact discovered by Henry:
that the magnetizing power of a current actually increases with the
length of the conductor, up to a certain point; nor of his other
discovery, the “extra current” or the induction of a current upon .
itself. Indeed it takes no cognizance of any of the numerous per-
turbations dependent on the mvsterious re-actions of electrical
“induction.”
Note C. (From p. 229.)
THE ELECTRO-MAGNETIC TELEGRAPH.
From among living eye-witnesses of Henry’s early telegraphic
experiments in the years 1831 and 1832, the following may be
cited :
Dr. Orlando Meads, a former student of the Albany Academy,
in an anniversary discourse commemorating the fiftieth year of its
existence, thus referred to the scenes he witnessed a third of a cen-
tury before: “The older students of the Academy in the years 1830,
1831, and 1832, and others who witnessed his experiments which
at that time excited so much interest in this city, will remember the
long coils of wire which ran circuit upon circuit for more than a
mile in length around one of the upper rooms in the Academy, for
the purpose of illustrating the fact that a galvanic current could be
- transmitted through its whole length so as to excite a magnet at the
farther end of the line, and thus move a steel bar which struck a
bell. This in a scientific point of view, was the demonstration and
accomplishment of all that was required for the magnetic telegraph.
- - - Let us not forget that the click of the telegraph which is
heard from every joint of those mystic wires which now link to-
gether every city, and village, and post, and camp, and station, all
over this continent, is but the echo of that little bell which first
sounded in that upper room of the Academy.” *
On the same occasion, the Hon. Alexander W. Bradford, also a
former pupil of the Academy, (who finished his course at the Insti-
tution and left it in 1832,) recalled the suspended lines of insulated
copper wire through which his teacher had demonstrated “the
magnetic power of the galvanic battery ; and years before the inven-
tion of the telegraph, proclaimed to America and to Europe the
means of communication by the electric fluid. I was an eye-
* TTistorical Discourse”; on the Celebration of the Semi-Centennial Anni-
- versary of the Albany Academy, June 23, 1863. Proceedings, etc. pp. 25, 26.
DISCOURSE OF W. B. TAYLOR:—NOTES. 381
witness to those experiments, and to their eventual demonstration
and triumph.” * .
Professor James Hall, (in the same year in which he was Presi-
dent of the American Association at its Albany meeting,) in a letter
addressed to Professor Henry, January 19, 1856, relates the circum-
stances of a visit to the Albany Academy in August, 1832, on which
occasion he was shown a long circuit of wire about the walls of a
larger upper room, “and at one termination of this, in the recess of
a window, a bell was fixed, while the other extremity was connected
with a galvanic apparatus. You showed us the manner in which
the bell could be made to ring by a current of electricity transmitted
through this wire; and you remarked that this method might be
adopted for giving signals by the ringing of a bell at the distance
of many miles from the point of its connection with the galvanic
apparatus. All the circumstances attending this visit to Albany
are fresh in my recollection; and during the past years while so
much has been said respecting the invention of electric telegraphs,
I have often had occasion to mention the exhibition of your electric
telegraph in the Albany Academy, in 1832.” +
Professor Morse, who states that the idea of an electric telegraph
first occurred to him in October, 1832, commenced experimenting
on this conception in the latter part of 1835. The following is his
own account of his first experiments:
__ “Tn the year 1835, I was appointed a professor in the New York
City University, and about the month of November of that year, I
occupied rooms in the University buildings. There I immediately
commenced with very limited means to experiment upon my inven-
tion. My.first instrument was made up of an old picture or canvas
frame fastened to a table, the wheels of an old wooden clock moved
by a weight to carry the paper forward, three wooden drums upon
one of which the paper was wound and passed over the other two,
a wooden pendulum suspended to the top piece of the picture or
_ stretching frame and vibrating across the paper as it passed over
the center wooden drum, a pencil at the lower end of the pendulum
in contact with the paper, an electro-magnet fastened to a shelf
across the picture or stretching frame opposite to an armature made
fast to the pendulum, a type-rule and type for breaking the circuit
on an endless band (composed of carpet-binding) which passed over
two wooden rollers. moved by a wooden crank and carried forward
by points projecting from the bottom of the rule downward into the
carpet-binding, a lever with a small weight on the upper side and a
*“Commemorative Address”: at Semi-Centennial Anniversary of Albany
Academy, June 23, 1863. Proceedings, etc. p. 48.
4 Published in the Smithsonian Report for 1857, p. 96.
382 MEMORIAL OF JOSEPH HENRY.
tooth projecting downward at one end operated on by the type,,and
a metallic fork also projecting downward over two mercury-cups
and a short circuit of wire embracing the helices of the electro-
magnet, connected with the positive and negative poles of the bat-
tery and terminating in the mercury-cups. - - - Karly in 1836,
I procured forty feet of wire, and putting it in the circuit I found
that my battery of one cup was not sufficient to work my instru-
ment.” *
The last statement exhibits a singular unconsciousness of the real
defect of his receiving apparatus, and of the fact that no number
of galvanic cups would have sufficed “to work the instrument” as
then constructed. It is true (as first shown by Henry) that an
“intensity”? battery of many elements is required to operate a mag-
netic telegraph line; but (as also shown by him) a no less essential
constituent, is an “intensity” magnet, if any use’is to be made of
the armature. And on this point Professor Morse seems never to
have understood the vital importance of Henry’s discoveries to the
success of his own invention. . Had he employed the most powerful
of then existing magnets, (Henry’s Yale College magnet of 1831,
lifting 2,300 pounds, or Henry’s Princeton College magnet of 1834,
lifting 3,500 pounds,) he would still have found neither one cup nor
one thousand cups “sufficient to work the instrument” through a
circuit of fine wire, at the distance of a single mile.f Although
Professor Morse was enabled therefore to operate the armature of
his Sturgeon magnet through a few yards of wire, it is certain that
his experiments in 1836 were, for any telegraphic purpose, an abso-
lute failure:—a failure as complete as were those undertaken by
Barlow in 1825. The relevancy’ of his incidental remark as in
extenuation— one cup was not sufficient to work my instrument,”
may therefore be appreciated.
As an artist of repute, Mr. Morse had been appointed professor
of the “Arts of Design,” in the newly established New York City
University, in the autumn of 1835; but with any literature of sci-
ence, he was remarkably unfamiliar. He therefore very naturally
had recourse to his colleague Professor Leonard D. Gale Os the
chair of chemistry) for needed scientific assistance, The following
is Dr. Gale’s account of Morse’s original invention: )
“In the winter of 1836—’37, Samuel I’. B. Morse, who as well’
as myself was a professor in the New York University, city of
* Professor Morse’s deposition in the ‘Bain case,’’ 1850.
+ ‘*Electro-magnets of the greatest power, even when the most energetic bat-
teries are employed, utterly cease to act when they are connected by considerable
lengths of wire with the battery.”. (J. .F. Daniell’s Introduction to the Study of °
Chemical Philosophy, 2nd ed, 8yo. London, 1848, chap, xvi. sect. 859, p. 576.) -
DISCOURSE OF W. B. TAYLOR: — NOTES. 383
New York, came to my lecture room, and said he had a machine in
his lecture room or studio which he wished to show me. I accom-
panied him to his room and there saw resting on a table a single-
pair galvanic battery, an electro-magnet, an arrangement of pencil,
a paper-covered roller, pinion wheels, levers, etc. for making letters
and figures to be used for sending and receiving words and sentences
through long distances. - - - It was evident to me that the
one large cup-battery of Morse should be made into ten or fifteen
smaller ones to make it a battery of intensity. - -- - i ae ' ’
(427)
428 MEMORIAL OF JOSEPH HENRY.
and for which he wrote and acted tragedy and comedy, —absorhed
his time and thoughts. All who have seen and admired the refined,
intellectual face, and' the erect, dignified form of the ripe hiloss-
pher, can easily imagine the success of the young aspirant for
dramatic distinction when these charms of person and mind were
decked in the beauty of youth: the self-possession, the repose, and
the grace of this expounder of physical science alone remained to
tell of his: short-lived eccentricity. ‘Those’ readers, who allow the
mythical apple to divide with Newton the glory of a great discovery,
will listen eagerly to the statement that the theatrical career of young
Henry was'suddenly arrested. by his accidental encounter, during a
brief illness, with Dr. Gregory’s popular lectures. The literal truth
of the story is not questioned ; for Professor Henry himself believed
it, and \reyerently cherished the , precious volume to the last. Such
however was the occasion, but not the cause, of his dedicating him-
self henceforth to science. Innumerable accidents of a similar kind
happen to every one, but! not with the same result. | Man, especially
such a-man, is not. the creation of any accident. The inspiration
comes from within; it is the unbidden thought, and not the external
events with which :it is associated. ; Said a great divine, “If you
say that man is the creature of circumstances, it must be with the
understanding that the greatest and ‘most effective of these circum-.
stances is the manihiniself.) vty il voter opel con aadeds
Bidding farewell to’ the stage and his theatrical companions,
Henry went seriously to work to complete his education; at first in
an evening school, then with an itinerant pedagogue, and finally in
the Albany Academy, where he was successively pupil, and teacher.
Next he was private tutor in the family of the patroon, devoting his
leisure to the study of mathematics, and) subjects which would fit
him for the medical profession. In 1826 he made, in connection
with Amos Eaton, the survey for a road across the State of New
York, In this work he displayed so much energy and ability that
his friends hoped to find, or to create for him, a permanent position
as engineer. . But the State failed to respond, and Henry returned
to the Albany Academy as. assistant teacher, and in 1828 as Pro-
fessor of Mathematics.
Only a few years had elapsed since the science of electricity had
NOTICE BY PROF. J. LOVERING. 429
taken: a new departure under the name of electro-magnetism.
Oersted, of Copenhagen, had kindled the flame, which passed rapidly
from hand to hand among the scientific workers of Europe, until it
' culminated in the splendid generalization of Ampére. This west-
ern continent may have been tardy in welcoming the bright light
in the east, but the response, when given, was not a fire, but a
conflagration. Professor Henry led in the new line of physical
research with a self-born enthusiasm which seven hours of daily
teaching in mathematics could not extinguish or cool. The limits
of this notice forbid a lengthened statement of his contributions to
electro-magnetism. But the fertile principle which he. deduced
from his experiments must not be passed over in silence. His dis-
tinction between quantity and intensity magnets, and between
quantity and intensity batteries, (though now differently expressed, )
is all-important and of manifold applications. Every experiment
with electro-magnetism, in the laboratory, in the lecture-room, and
in the arts, is a success or a failure in proportion as this. law is
obeyed or ignored. If this discovery has linked Professor Henry’s
name with the telegraph especially, it is because that was the great
problem of the hour, — unsolved, and as some supposed unsolvable.
It is not easy to draw the dividing line: between the merits of the
discoverer and the inventor, when one follows closely upon the heels
of the other. Professor Henry’s contribution to the final triumph
was large, and brilliant, and indispensable; but it was not all-
sufficient. An alphabet was wanting ; a sustaining battery must be
invented ; moreover, a:man must appear with a capacity for busi-
ness and a courage born of hope, with no original knowledge of the
familiar laws of electricity but with an easy absorption of the science
of other. men, who, by a happy combination of experimental. devices
and the devotion of. years, might finally achieve a grand!commer-
cial success, .In view of Professor Henry’s additional conquests in
the,realm of physical research, science will ever rejoice that he was
not himself dazzled by the inviting prospect of riches and popular
applduse; that he. renounced the fruits of invention when they
were almost within his grasp; that he preferred to any short-lived,
meteoric display the. chance of shining for ever as a star in the.
upper heavens, with Agassiz, Cuvier, and Faraday.
430 MEMORIAL OF JOSEPH HENRY.
_. Loyalty to the devotees of scientific research does not demand
any disparagement of the usefulness or the genius of inventors. If
the former enlarge the area of human knowledge, the latter contrib-
ute to the civilization of the race. If there are individuals in one
class who think only of their pecuniary success, the other class is
not without examples of those who mean to achieve, even if they
do not deserve, a high scientific reputation. It is not incumbent on
every scientific man to think, with Cuvier, that he must abandon a
discovery the moment it enters the market,— that its practical
application is of no concern to him. No one certainly has a better
right to the fruits of this application than the discoverer himself.
Inventors may sometimes stumble on good fortune; but the rich
prizes are. comparatively few, and, on the average, they are dearly
earned by years of severe thought and anxious waiting. No grave-
yard holds so many buried hopes as the Patent Office at Washing-
ton, Since the first introduction of the telegraph, discovery and
invention have advanced, hand in hand, over continents and through
the ocean, leaving the world in doubt which to admire the most, —
the conceptions of pure science, or the exquisite mechanism in which
they are embodied. If on one occasion this harmony was disturbed
by the repudiation of an indebtedness which had often before been
freely acknowledged, the ingratitude was rebuked by the indignant
voice of science, and the just claims of Mr, Henry were established
on an impregnable foundation,
It does not detract from the merit or the originality of Professor
Henry’s early discoveries that the same ground had been covered by
Fechner, in a work published in 1831, and that both had been
anticipated by Ohm’s experimental and mathematical analysis of
the galvanic circuit, which dates back to 1827. For Ohm’s little
book of that date, which now shines as a foreland light for the
guidance of all who explore in that direction, was known only to a
few in Germany, and was unknown in France, England, and
America at a time when, if known, it might have illuminated Pro-
fessor Henry’s researches. At a later period, Pouillet published
the results of his own experiments, without knowing that he him-
self had been anticipated by Ohm. The father of Ohm had
intended his son for a locksmith; but, unlike Henry, he did not
NOTICE BY PROF. J. LOVERING: 431
even begin his apprenticeship. He pursued his studies to the verge
of starvation; his heated brain worked ‘while his body shivered
before a fireless stove, often covered with ice. His book, which
placed him before his death, in 1854, among the greatest of Ger-
man physicists, was coldly received by his colleagues in the College
of Jesuits, at Cologne. On the contrary, Professor Henry’s recog-
nition was prompt and sympathetic, at home and abroad; at a single
bound he came to the front, and there he always remained.) |
' In 1832, Professor Henry removed to Princeton to fill’ the chair
of Natural Philosophy in the College of New Jersey. :'\Here he
found sympathizing associates, congenial duties, and the opportunity
for original research. One year earlier Faraday, already widely
known by his chemical discoveries, appeared upon ‘the field of
experimental electricity, and immediately became the most conspicu-
ous figure thereon, the cynosure of admiring eyes in every land.
His discovery of induced currents, and of the evolution of elec-
tricity from magnets, marked a new era in the science of electricity,
elucidating facts which had defied the ingenuity of Arago, Herschel,
- and Babbage, creating the science of magneto-electricity as the cor-
relative of electro-magnetism, and justly claiming for its Jast-born
the splendors and wonders of the Ruhmkorff coil, the Gramme
machine, and the telephone.!' Henry supplemented, the work of
Faraday by his own discoveries of the evtra-current in the primi-
tive circuit, and of induced currents of higher orders in as many
adjacent circuits: _He:also succeeded where Faraday had doubts
about his own experiments; viz: in obtaining unequivocal indica-
tions of similar induction in the momentary passage of electricity
of high tension; proving also the oscillating discharge of the Ley-
den jar. Numerous experiments were made on induction by thun-
der-clouds, and on atmospheric reat ie in see by means of -
tandem-kites and lightning-rods.) “(iisy! levi iiby eo bi) |
Nobili and Melloni had nore and deepened the foundations .
of thermotics, unveiling new and intimate analogies between radiant
light and heat, and enriching physical cabinets with many novelties,
especially the thermopile and the galvahniometer. Henry took advan-
tage of the new instruments, for: measuring the heat of different
parts of the sun." Secchi; the late astronomer and meteorologist of
432 MEMORIAL OF. JOSEPH HENRY,
the Collegio Romano, distinguished as the foster-brother of Victor,
Emmanuel, but more as the gifted expounder of solar physics, owed:
his first inspiration in science, in:his youth, (for he died in 1878, ati
the age of fifty-nine,) to Henry, whom he assisted in these experi-
ments. Doubtless, other young men, if they could be heard, would.
' confess to an equal enthusiasm for science, caught from the same.
high example... But the multitudinous productions which issued in
rapid succession. from. the. prolific. brain and pen of Secchi, without
the adventitious. reinforcement of imaginary. cases, justify and
demand the assertion that what Henry led others to do is second
only in importance to what he.did himself, ,,, bbiasgutirs :
More than fifty years:ago, a little book was E mblichat dee the
fascinating title of “Philosophy in Sport made Science in Earnest,”
Of the many ingenious, complex, and, costly instruments of research,
has any one been richer in its revelations to science than the child’s.
soap-bubble? .. But where the child saw. only an evanescent display
of colors; Newton read with mathematical clearness his celebrated,
theory of fits of easy transmission and reflection, and Young mea-.
sured the constants of the undulations of light. To-day, the micro-., .
scopic molar, or molecular motions of the, telephone-plate are trans-
lated into visible speech by the colors of a sympathetic film of
liquid in the phoneidoscope. In 1844, Henry experimented with
this every ready minister to the delight and instruction of all ages,
so beautiful but apparently so tender, and found that its cohesion,
and its contractile force were those of a giant if its own thinness,
were made the standard of measure, , Thus was opened an, avenue;
into the study of molecular action which Plateau has extended and.
embellished. with the, most varied and original experiments, not
disheartened by; .the, totalloss of eyesight: finding, by the way a.
beautiful experimental. illustration of the cosmogony of [a Place,,
and building architectural forms out of aan films. as if they had.
the cohesion of marble..), |. | 1) |
When, at the close of 1846, jeg aan Hemy left the quiet walks
of the Academy for a more public career, in. Washington, in obedi-
ence to the summons of the Regents of the Smithsonian Institution,
though all applauded the wisdom of the choice, not a few regretted
the sad interruption in his scientific life, already rich in performance
NOTICE BY PROF. J. LOVERING. 433
and bright with the promise of more and perhaps greater discov-
eries. ‘The sacrifice seemed to be too great to demand of science in
a country where the taste and the mental qualifications, combined
with the opportunity, for original research are rare. If Professor
Henry had remained at Princeton, he would certainly have added
other jewels to his crown: would it, however, have shone more
brightly than it now shines? When posterity makes up its verdict
on his claim to its gratitude and remembrance, ae discoveries will
not be counted, but weighed. uf | :
On the Sher hand, no friend of science can contemplate with
complacency the aus alternatives if: the Regents had come to a
different choice, or if they had been defeated in their first selection.
Literature or science; popular lectures or original research; the
diffusion of old uch or the discovery’ of new truth; a pial
library, a national university, or a national museum sea ay had
warm and influential advocates. Professor Henry’s plan of organi-
zation bears the date of December 8, 1847, and was adopted by the
Regents on the 13th of December. It tha its departure from the
words of the founder, viz: an establishment: for the increase and
diffusion of knowledge among men; and it emphasized every word
of the pregnant sentence., Not science in its restricted sense, but'
knowledge was to be first increased, then diffused world-wide,— by.
the endowment of research; by the publication and liberal distri-
bution of contributions to knowledge, which may have little value.
in the market, but which are of transcendent importance to man’s
culture and civilization; by elaborate reports in special departments,
in which the known would be separated from the unknown for the
benefit of new explorers; by the translation of writings otherwise
inaccessible to most students; by opening a highway along which
the current literature and science of the day could easily pass from
continent to continent, and reach their remotest corners. This sober
and catholic scheme, in literal fulfillment of the will of Smithson,’
was less dazzling to the popular imagination, and enlisted a smaller
numerical support, than rival propositions which were more on the
level of the average understanding. Because these antagonistic
plans narrowed the enjoyment of a benefaction, (itself absolutely
unfettered, ) to a.small community, they secured a local influence
28
434 MEMORIAL OF JOSEPH HENRY.
which threatened to defeat the comprehensive views of the Secretary.
These views, recommended by their reasonableness and indorsed by
individuals, academies, and societies of science and learning, had a
tower of strength in the high scientific reputation and the weight
of character of the Secretary himself. Winning and persuasive in
his manner, he was inflexible in his purpose.
Ixperience has proved the truth of that which was the conten-
tion at the time; viz; that universities, libraries, museums, lectures,
because they confer local benefits, will never lack endowments,
whereas the Christian world had waited eighteen centuries for a
large-minded and large-hearted benefactor, whose bequest was all
knowledge, existing or to be discovered, and whose recipients were
all nations of men, Slowly but steadily time has revealed the wis-
dom and foresight of the Secretary; individuals and communities,
in increasing numbers, have felt the benefits of his administration ;
the Government of the United States has known where to look for
impartial advice on matters outside of .its own knowledge, in times
of prosperity and also in its darkest days; and now all opposition
has died out; and, after a trial of thirty years, no one probably
desires any thing better for the Smithsonian Institution than that
the plan, so wisely conceived and so faithfully administered by the
first Secretary, should continue the abiding rule for his successors.
Moreover, the plan of Professor Henry, cosmopolitan in its geo-
graphical embrace, did not sacrifice the interests of the unborn to
those of the living, He would not allow the hopes of Smithson
to be frustrated by lavishing upon a single generation what was
intended for all time; or, what is worse, sacrificing both the present
and the future upon’ the altar of an ambitious architecture. Ex-
amples abound, if experience is all which men need, of fatal ship-
wrecks on these alluring shores; of endowed churches, colleges,
observatories, laboratories, libraries, which have nothing to show
but a mass of masonry, lacking in the highest beauty of art, (fitness
for its purpose,) however much it may please the eye, even if the
merciless architect had left any thing for administration. The rigid
rules of science, unqualified by good common sense, may work a
disaster in matters of business. ‘The consummate mathematician,
La Place, omnipotent in the domain of physical astronomy, when
NOTICE BY PROF. J. LOVERING. ' 435
appointed by Napoleon I. to a high office of state, attempted to
carry the laws of the infinitesimal calculus into his administration,
and failed. Not a few men of brilliant intellect, masters of thought
and of the pen, have prided themselves on a childlike simplicity in
the ways of the world. If Professor Henry had been one of these,
much would have been forgiven to his honesty of purpose, to his
love of truth, and to the success with which he had wooed her in
her most secret recesses. Therefore, it is not the least of his tri- .
umphs that he did not, in imitation of an old astronomer, walk
into a pitfall on this lower earth while gazing into the depths of
space. He could roam with ‘Emerson through the universe of
thought, but the feet of both were firmly planted on the ground.
Henry’s judicious system of expenditures, so essential to the per-
manent prosperity of the Institution, put to shame the short-sighted-
ness and the short-comings of many professed financiers; and
exemplified, by anticipation, the magical products of the Holtz and
Ladd induction machines, in which a trifling capital of well-invested
electricity, the income of which is partly spent: and partly saved,
yields an ample return for the present, and by the law of compound
interest secures still more brilliant results for the future.
When Professor Henry left Princeton, he knew, and his friends
knew, that he must leave behind him the object of his highest
ambition, viz: the undisturbed and the unostentatious study of the
unfolding laws of the material universe. But he did not, and he
could not, renounce the spirit of independent research which had
made him what he was. As opportunity offered in the discharge
of his official duties he manifested this spirit himself, and communi-
cated it to others. His second report to the Board of Regents, for
1848, exhibits the promptness with which he had conceived, and
begun to execute, the project of covering the United States, and
eventually the North American continent, with a net-work of
meteorological stations, which, with the facilities of the telegraph,
yet in its infancy, would prove a perennial blessing to commerce
and agriculture; and, by consolidating the scattered efforts of emi-
nent meteorologists, (among whom Coffin, Espy, Loomis, and Guyot
were conspicuous,) throw some light on the law of storms and
meteorology in general. In the Patent Office Report for 1857, he
436 MEMORIAL OF JOSEPH HENRY.
gave his views of the relations between |meteorology and agricul-
ture. In this and other ways, the Smithsonian Institution has been
a hot-bed for starting and nursing new projects in their days of
infancy and weakness, , After they have, outgrown its accommo-
dations and proved their usefulness, they have been adopted by the
general Government and transplanted, to a richer soil.
For many years Professor Henry has been a conspicuous figure,
not merely in scientific, circles, but in the full view of the. public:
his name and his co-operation haye been in constant demand. | ; He
naturally gravitated to places of honor which were often: places of
additional labor, Men of leisure have no time to give to occasional
calls upon their publio spirit.,ii The, hard-workers must also 'do:all
the extra work., Professor Henry was no exception: to this rule.
To the day of hig,death, he filled positions of trust and. responsi-
bility, with duties sufficient to crush an effeminate!man.: But they
seemed to rest lightly, upon, shoulders which sustained, beside, the
weight of a great institution,, His mind was ever in a state of
prolonged. tension ; | but it kept its balance under. these distractions,
as do the rings of Saturn amid the multitudinous disturbances of
its satellites... Often he waited for, the leisure which never came to
him, when he might, write, out for publication ‘scientific’ communi-
cations which he had made from a brief. . He was President of the
American Association at its second meeting, in Cambridge, in 1849.
He gave. the usual address of the retiring President at the fourth
meeting, in New Haven, but it was not printed, He was Vice~
President of, the National Academy of Sciences in 1866, succeeded
Dr. Bache as President in/1868,\and died.in offices) | it |
The most responsible and the most onerous of the gratuitous ser-
vices which, he gave to, science and the country were rendered in his
capacity of member of, the; Light-House Board, of, which ‘he was
for seven years the chairman, The substitution of lenses for mir-
rors began the revolution in light-houses; but lens or mirror, with-
out the light, ig no better than a steam-engine without steam. ‘To
conquer prejudice by experiment, and save millions to the country
by exchanging sperm oil for lard oil, is not so brilliant a service as
the discovery of a new law of nature. But, more than any dis-
covery, it makes science respected in high places, and enlists the
4
NOTICE BY PROF. J. LOVERING. 437
sympathy of the unscientific community. There are times when
sextants, chronometers, tables of the moon, and even light-houses,
are of no avail, and an impenetrable veil of darkness shuts out the
mariner from the lights of heaven and earth. ‘But what is opaque
to light may be pierced by sound. The experiments which have
been made by Henry in this country and by Tyndall in England, in
their official capacity, on the fog-penetrating power of the fog-horn,
_ the fog-bell, the siren, the steam-whistle, and cannonading, have
raised interesting questions in science, to which different answers
have been given; but the facts remain, above controversy, to instruct
governments in the best way of supplementing optical signals by.
acoustic signals. These last investigations of Professor Henry, to
which it is feared he was a willing martyr, will always have a
pathetic interest for those who knew and loved him.
It has been the aim of this notice to place in strong relief a few
of the salient points in the intellectual life of Henry. Any state-
ment in detail of the accumulations of his long life, in the way of
experiment or deduction, must be very voluminous or very meagre.
For he was not a concentrated specialist.’ His expanded thought
swept the whole vast horizon of the physical sciences; not to specu-
late, but to discover. The severe discipline of science did not
harden him against the fascinations of literature, poetry, and art.
It would be a delicate task, and premature, to attempt to assign
to Henry his exact rank among those who have legislated for science
in this and former centuries. There are laws of perspective in
time as well as in space, whereby a small eminence seems to out-
. climb the distant Alps, and the present generation dwarfs apparently
all its predecessors. Foreign countries and posterity will pronounce
their irreversible verdict in this as in other. cases. In his own
country, and among his contemporaries, Mr. Henry was long and
. easily the acknowledged chief of experimental philosophers. If the
earlier science of the country is passed in review, only a few names’
shine so brightly across the intervening years as to deserve any
comparison with' him ‘who has ‘recently departed. Winthrop and
Rittenhouse in astronomy,' Franklin in electricity, Rumford in
thermotics, and Bowditch in mathematics, exhaust the catalogue of
possible rivals. Of these, all but Winthrop ‘were’ self-instructed,
438 MEMORIAL OF JOSEPH HENRY.
as was Henry, at least in what relates to their higher education. -.Of
these, Franklin and Rumford, no less than Henry, were as remark-
able in administration as in science; Franklin and Rumford from
taste, and Henry from a sense of duty, All three served their
country well,— Franklin and Henry while living, and Rumford by
his bequests. Winthrop, Rittenhouse, and Bowditch reached their
exalted position by paths wholly untrodden by Henry. They can-
not therefore be the standard for his measure. Rumford’s mind _
was essentially practical, even in its science, He had more of the
spirit of an inventor than a discoverer. In Henry’s place he would
have been more interested in pushing the telegraph to its final issue
than in supplementing Faraday’s laws of electro-dynamical induc-
tion. But in dealing with the heat of friction, Rumford displayed
an experimental skill and a boldness of conception which have vin-
dicated his claim to a high scientific position, The progress of
recent discovery and the tendency of scientific speculation have
promoted Rumford from the position which he long held, as leader
of a forlorn hope, to the place of hero in the last act of the scien-
tific drama. , In this connection Henry’s views on the correlation
of the physical and organic forces may be recalled, which. only
lacked the fuller development and the wider publication which he
finally gave to them, to have secured for him the first complete
announcement of one of the grandest generalizations of modern
science.
It might seem to be easy to institute a comparison between Frank-
lin and Henry in’ reference to the value of their original scientific
work, which was largely in the field of electricity. Buta century .
has made great changes in the starting-point, the opportunities, and
the resources of the discoverer. Franklin, with humble tools, had
a virgin soil to cultivate. He had also the rare felicity, for which
Newton also was envied, of living at a time when the scattered .
facts of a new science were waiting for a comprehensive generaliza-
tion. If Franklin had made no experiments on the Leyden jar, or
on the thunder-cloud, his theory of electricity, which has held its
own to this day without any amendment, (though its final doom is
written upon it,) would have secured for him a place second to no
other among the worthies of science. Now the instruments of
NOTICE BY PROF. J. LOVERING. 439
physical research are numerous and delicate; but uscless unless the
senses are educated to them.- The literature of science is volumin-
ous and in many languages. Success in scientific investigations
demands now original thought, disciplined senses, scientific culture,
and a well-chosen field, where the discoveries of other men will not
be repeated. Both Franklin and Henry burned brightly in their
allotted spheres, and in the future may differ only as one star differs
from another star in glory.
The funeral services on May 16, 1878, proclaimed to the world
that the republic had lost an illustrious citizen. There was no
hollow pageant of empty carriages of state, but the highest and
best in the land felt a personal bereavement. A patriotic and
devoted servant of the Government was dead; a bright light in
science had gone out; a noble man, born to attract and to sway, in
whom science was illuminated by faith, and faith was enlightened by
science, lived on earth no longer except by his example; a long life,
crowded with beneficent services to truth and to man, was closed.
Not less, affecting were the memorial exercises of J anuary 16, 1879,
in the hall of the House of Representatives, before the assembled
wisdom and grandeur of the nation. Science may be proud of this
spontancous tribute to her favored child, if she only remembers
that it is character which makes intellect a blessing and not a scourge
to mankind, and awakens genuine sympathy and admiration. Mr.
Henry was not the favorite and ornament of a court, but the peer
of the greatest and wisest in a free republic. The monument of
Humboldt was not thought to be worthy of a place in sight of the
king’s palace in Berlin. That was a spot consecrated to princes
‘of the blood and military heroes. Will any American think that
any ground in this country is too sacred to contain a monument to
Henry?
ik)
BIOGRAPHICAL MEMOIR:*
BY
PROF. SIMON NEWCOMB.
In presenting to the Academy the following notice of its late
lamented President the writer feels that an apology is due for the
imperfect manner in which he has been obliged to perform the duty
assigned him. The very richness of the material has been a source
of embarrassment. Few have any conception of the breadth of
the field occupied by Professor HENRY’s researches, or of the num-
ber of scientific enterprises of which he was either the originator or
the effective supporter. What, under the circumstances, could be
said within a brief space to show what the world owes to him has
already: been so well said by others that it would be impracticable to
make a really new presentation without writing a volume. The
Philosophical Society of this city has issued two notices which
together cover almost the whole ground that the writer feels com-
petent to occupy. The one is a personal biography —the affection-
ate and eloquent tribute of an old and attached friend; the other
an exhaustive analysis of his scientific labors by an se member
of the society well known for his philosophic acumen. The Re-
gents of the Smithsonian Institution made known their indebted-
ness to his administration in the Memorial Services held in his honor
in the Halls of Congress.
Under these circumstances the only practicable course has seemed
to be to give a condensed resumé of Professor HENRY’s life and
works, by which any small occasional gaps in previous notices might
be filled. That in doing this the writer may repeat much that has
already been better said by others is a fault which he hopes the
Academy will pardon in view of the difficulty of avoiding it.
*An Address read before the ‘‘ National Academy of Sciences,’ April 21, 1880.
(441)
442 . MEMORIAL OF JOSEPH HENRY.
BIOGRAPHICAL NOTICE. .
Tu& interest which, in the light of modern theories of heredity,
attaches to the ancestry of men possessing uncommon intellectual
powers would naturally lead us to desire a knowledge of Professor
HeEnry’s ancestors. We have, however, no sufficient historical data
for gratifying any desire of this kind, Little more can be said than
that his grand-parents were of Scottish origin, and landed in this
country about the beginning of the revolutionary war. Of his
father little is known, and that little does not enable us to explain
why he had such a son. His mother was a woman of great refine-
ment, intelligence, and strength of character, but of a delicate
physical constitution. Like the mothers of many other great men
she was of deeply devotional character. She was a Presbyterian of
the old-fashioned Scottish stamp, and exacted from her children
the strictest performance of religious duties. }
The son Joseph was born in Albany, on the 17th of December,
either 1797 or 1799.* The doubt respecting the year has not yet
been decisively settled. At the age of seven years he left his pater-
nal home and went to live with his grandmother at Galway, where
he attended the district school for three years. At the age of ten
he was placed in a store kept by a Mr. Broderick, and spent part
of the day in business duties and part at school. ‘This position he
kept until the age of fifteen. During these early years his intel-
lectual qualities were fully displayed, but in a direction totally dif-
ferent from that which they ultimately took. He was slender in
person, not vigorous in health, with almost the delicate complexion
and features of a girl. His favorite reading was books of romance,
The lounging-place for the young villagers of an evening was
around the stove in Mr. Broderick’s store. Here young Henry,
although the slenderest of the group, was the central figure, retail-
ing to those around him the stories which he had read, or which
his imagination suggested. He was of a highly imaginative turn
of mind, and seemed to live in the ideal world of the fairies.
*This uncertainty appears to have resulted from the difficulty of deciphering the
faded record of date in the old family Bible,
ADDRESS OF PROF. 8S. NEWCOMB. 443
At the age of fifteen he returned to Albany, and, urged by his
imaginative taste, joined a private dramatic company, of which he
soon became the leading spirit.. There was every prospect of his
devoting himself to the stage when, at the age of sixteen, accident
turned his mental activities into an entirely different aditéction,
Being detained in-doors by a slight indisposition, a friend loaned
him a copy of Dr. Gregory’s lectures on Experimental Philosophy,
Astronomy, and Chemistry. He became intensely. interested in the
field of thought which this work opened'to him. Here in the do-
main of Nature were subjects of investigation far more worthy of
attention than anything in the ideal world in which his imagination
had hitherto roamed. . He determined to make the knowledge of
this newly opened domain the great object of his life, but did not
confine himself to any narrow sphere. He devoted himself imme-
diately, with great ardor, to study.’ During the three years follow-
ing he was successively English teacher, pupil of various masters,
and a student at the Albany Academy. At about eighteen years
of age he was recommended by Dr. BEcK to the position of private
tutor in the family of the patroon. He found this situation to be
a very pleasant one, and was treated with great consideration by the
family of Mr. Van Rensselaer. His duties required only his
morning hours, so that he could devote his entire afternoons to
mathematical and physical studies. . In the former he went so far
as to read the Mécanique Analytique of La Grange.
His delicate constitution now suffered so much from confinement
and study that at the age of twenty-two he accepted an invitation
to go on a surveying expedition to the western part of the State.
In this work his constitution was completely restored, and he
returned home with a health and vigor which never failed him
during the remainder of his long and arduous life. Soon after his
return he was elected a professor at the Albany Academy. Here a
new field was opened to him. It is one of the most curious features
in the intellectual history of our country that after producing such a
man as Franklin it found no successor to him in the field of science
for half a century after his scientific work was done. There had
been without doubt plenty of professors of eminent attainments
who amused themselves and instructed their pupils and the public
\
444 MEMORIAL OF JOSEPH HENRY.
by physical experiments. But in the department of electricity,
that in which Franklin took so prominent a position, it may be
doubted whether they enunciated a single generalization which will
enter into the history of the science. This interregnum closes with
the researches now commenced by Professor Henry. His first
published paper on the subject was read in 1827 before the Albany
Institute, and is entitled, “On some modifications of the electro-
magnetic apparatus.” It consisted simply of a brief discussion of
several forms of apparatus designed to exhibit the mutual action of
the galvanic current and the magnet, but does not appear to com-
prise any discussions of new ideas. ‘Two years later he published
a topographical ‘sketch of the State of New York, which also
appeared in the Transactions of the Albany Institute. It comprises
a brief sketch of the physical geography of the State with especial
reference to the newly inaugurated canal system.
In 1831, he published in Silliman’s Journal, a paper on the devel-
opment of great magnetic power in soft iron with a small galvanic
element. This paper is in some sort a continuation of his first paper,
the fundamental object of both being to show how the greatest
development of power could be obtained with the smallest battery.
The ideas were suggested by the study of Schweigger’s Galvan-
ometer. He shows that in a piece of soft iron the magnetic power
produced by the galvanic current may be greatly increased by
increasing the number of coils. A still further improvement is
made when, instead of passing a single coil between the two poles
of the battery, a number of separate insulated wires are wound
around the magnet, so that each shall form an independent connec-
tion. He was thus enabled with a battery of a single pair of small
plates (4 by 6 inches) to form an electro-magnet which would lift
a weight of 39 pounds. He also intimates that by winding a
separate wire on each inch of the magnet a yet greater effect could
be attained. This paper also contains the germ of the theory of
electro-magnetic force, and of electrical resistance and quantity,
though not developed in any generalized form. He explains that
with one very long wire a combination of several plates must be
used so as to obtain “projectile force,” while when several larger
wires are used the battery must consist of a single pair. A great
-ADDRESS OF PROF. 8. NEWCOMB.’ , 445
number of experiments illustrative of the theory are described.
‘With a battery having a single plate of zinc, of half a square foot
of surface, he made a magnet lift a weight of 750 pounds,— more
than thirty-five times the weight of the magnet.. -
In the same year, 1831, he describes a little machine for produ-
cing continuous mechanical motion by magnetic attraction and
repulsion. He considered the apparatus to be merely a philosophical
_toy involving a principle which at some future time might be applied
toa useful purpose; . ay Aen os Ae]
In 1830, at the request of Professor Renwick, he commenced a
series of observations to determine the magnetic intensity at Albany.
This gave him occasion to’ investigate a subject of which the evi-
dences had before been very conflicting, namely, the effect of the
aurora upon the magnetism of the earth.
In 1831, April 19, at 6 P. M., a remarkable phenomenon was
noticed, namely, an extraordinary increase in the number of vibra-
tions of the needle, and in the consequent magnetic intensity of the
earth. ' Every precaution was taken that no local influence should
affect the magnet, but the result was the same. ‘ About 9 o’clock in
the evening a brilliant aurora commenced. . ‘The idea now occurred to
_ him that it might be connected with the magnetic disturbance, and
another observation of the magnet was therefore made. . ‘The result
was the opposite of what had been ‘anticipated, for instead of show-
ing a continuous increase the intensity was now far below the aver-
age. An extended discussion of other results of the: same sort is
given, followed by an inquiry into the origin of the aurora.
|The next important: investigation, in which. Professor Henry
appears is that which led to his being an independent discoverer of
magneto-electricity. ' In the early experiments in this direction we
have an interesting example of how a discovery may be long re-
tarded through the want of correct theoretical notions. The idea
entertained by the early experimenters of the present century seems
to have been that since a galvanic current passing around a core of
soft iron renders it magnetic, it may be expected that a magnet placed
inside of a coil of wire will cause a current of electricity to pass
through it. Accordingly, endeavors were made to produce this
current by using powerful magnets. But since a continuous gal-
)
446 ‘MEMORIAL OF JOSEPH HENRY.
vanic current can be employed to produce both heat and mechan- ,
ical force, it follows that if it could be produced and kept up by
simply inserting a permanent. magnet in a coil of wire we should
have a machine working without any supply of power. Since it
can hardly be supposed that these experimenters would have hoped
to realize the perpetual motion, the direction in which their efforts
were prosecuted could have been taken only through a failure to
grasp the proper principles. These principles once apprehended,
it would have been obvious that either the project of producing
electricity from magnetism must be given up, or the production
must be accompanied by motion or change in the magnet. The
latter idea being grasped, success would at once have been assured.
It happened, however, that the experiments pursued in a wrong
direction necessitated this motion or change, because the magnet had
to be moved to get inside the coil, or magnetism had to be produced
in it in commencing the experiment.
In 1831, Faraday and. Henry - were independently working
upon the problem. The former was entirely successful in showing
how a momentary electric current could be produced by changes of
magnetism in a soft iron body, or by other electrical currents, before
Henry published anything of his work. No question, therefore,
can attach to Faraday’s claim to priority, and on the system some-
times adopted no other name than his would be mentioned in a
history of the subject. But a more liberal principle now prevails,
and the propriety of giving due credit to the independent investi-
gator, though he may be behindhand in publishing, is very gen-
erally acknowledged.. From Professor Henry’s paper it would
appear that he had actually reached a similar result before Fara-
day’s work came to his knowledge. The magnet with which elec-
tricity was to be excited was the soft iron armature of his great
galvanic magnet. A piece of copper wire thirty feet long was
coiled around the middle of this armature and connected with a
distant galvanometer. The great magnet being suddenly excited,
the north end of the needle was deflected 30 degrees to the west,
indicating a current of electricity in the helix surrounding the
armature. The needle soon returned to its former position, and
when the plates were withdrawn from the acid moved 20 degrees
ADDRESS OF PROF. 8. NEWCOMB. 447
to the east. The conclusions of these experiments are now too
familiar to need discussion. We can only regret that the American
physicist did not immediately publish his first experiments.
In this same paper Professor Henry appears as the first ob-
server of another previously unnoticed phenomenon, sometimes called
the self-induction of the current. A vivid spark is seen when a
current through a long wire of considerable resistance is suddenly
broken by withdrawing the wire from the cup of mercury through
which the connection is produced. The longer the conducting
wire and the larger the plates of the battery, the more vivid the
spark. He attributes it to the long wire becoming charged with
electricity, which by its reaction on itself projects a spark when the
- connection is broken.* The same discovery was independently
made two or three years later by Faraday; who does not appear to
have noticed Henry’s description of the phenomenon.
Shortly after this Professor Henry. was called to the chair of
natural philosophy in Princeton College. Although the duties of
an American college professor seldom allow much time for original
investigation, he soon resumed his electrical researches, and the first
of a regular series was communicated to the American Philosophical
Society in 1835. On February 6 of that year he continued the
subject of the self-induction of the electric current with especial
reference to the influence of a spiral conductor upon it. ‘The series
of experiments on this subject are very elaborate, but cannot be
fully described without going into a series of minute details.
On November 2, 1838, he presented an extended paper on Elec-
tro-Dynamic Induction.t He states that since the discovery of
magneto-electricity by Faraday in 1831 attention had been almost
exclusively devoted to the induction of electricity from magnetism.
He had therefore been engaged in reviewing and extending the
purely electrical part of ‘Faraday’s admirable discovery” in the
_---------..-.-----------_--___ 130, 375
Albany, New York, the birth-place of Henry-_-----------------_.-----_--_ 7, 54, 177, 427, 442
Alexander, Prof. J. H.—experiments by, on illuminating oils for the U.S. Light-
House Board: 25-52 22s2 ee es Se sa a eS eh ee 309, 422
Alexander, Prof. Stephen,— observations by, with Henry, on comparative heat
Of the solar spots.2e-ss22 lessees je soo eet Re 269, 448, 502
Alexander, Prof. Stephen,—observations by, with Henry, on determination of
longitude: by meteors) -12-2-2222! = Ase ee Ee e eee eee 271
Alexander, Prof. Stephen,—observations by, with Henry, on terrestrial mag-
Me@bism == 2. 22a ee ee ee eee 258
Allen, Robin, Secretary of Trinity House,—letter from, on the death of Henry__ 137
Ampére, discovery by,—of the magnetic action of galvanic currents ~_______ 80, 215, 478
Ampére first to suggest the electro-magnetic telegraph___.---------_-___-__________ 223
Announcement of the death of Joseph Henry by the Chancellor of the Smith-
Rontan Institution — = 5.52 = 28s a ae ee Se ees Bott
Announcement of Memorial Services at the U.S. Capitol, by the executive com-
mittee of the Regents of the Smithsonian Institution___-_-_----______________. 37
Announcement of the speakers at the Memorial Services, made by the Vice-
TP resident a sn os es eto Sa aa 2
Anthony, Hon. Henry B.,— resolution reported by, to the Senate to print Memo-
rinl Volume, also portrait of Henry, for the same____.......--.-----_- 4
Appointment of speakers for the public commemoration, by the executive com-
mittee of the Regents of the Smithsonian Institution_____._____-_--_-_-________ 29
Appropriation of $15,000 by Congress, for a statue of Henry ____-_-----_-________-___ 514
Arago the first to magnetize a needle by the galvanic current__-___--__-________ 213, 479
Archeological work fostered by the Smithsonian Institution______.--_-___________ 290
Architectural adaptation,— Henry’s views of__--.---------.-------.---_-______ 334, 434, 455
(517)
518 INDEX.
: Page
Architecture,—lectures on, by Henry----------.--------..-...---- -~-=--= = «== -==---- 200 ok
Astronomical discoveries,— the announcement of, by telegraph------------------- 300
Astronomy,—lectures on, by Henry-----.~--.----._--.—-.-------------------------- 239, 333
Aurora polaris observed to be related to terrestrial thagnetism pie Sc aeeeeee 259, 445
Bache, A. Dallas,—active interest of, in Henry’s discovery of the “extra cur-
Ta) Ap Or a ree 241, 394
Bache, A. Dallas,—eulogy of, by Henry---..-.--._---.-._._---___----..-----------_-~ 330
Bache, A. Dallas ye Oba S RANE by, with Henry, on meteors for determining
DOV GT Coes ee ree ee 271
Bache, A, Dallas,—urgent solicitation of Henry by, to accept the Smithsonian
Cobb ered oy gs) a1 lo peepee 331, 454
Baird, Prof. Spencer F. ,one of a committee appointed by the Regents to arrange
the funeral caremanien Of Joseph Eienn ye eee eno nane ne eamee 10,11
Baird, Prof. Spencer F., one of a committee appointed by the Regents to prepare
8, Memorial Voli Gi aoe eee aera eager ae ee eee nee 32
Barlow, Peter,— experiments by, in electro-magnetic telegraphy in 1825___58, 83, 223, 485
Barnes, Surgeon-General Joseph K., a pall-bearer at the funeral of Joseph
DS 2) 6 Gage 11
Barometer erected by Henry, containing sulphuric acid______--.-----_------------ 329
Battery, galvanic, first devised by Volta, in 1800 ___-_________________-------------- 79, 213
Battery, galvanic, modified for ‘‘quantity”’ by Hare, in 1816_-__-------------- 82, 239, 376
Battery, galvanic, modified for “quantity” and ‘‘intensity’”’ convertibly by
Ve eyay igs Vey 1. yee ee re 239
Beck, Dr. T. Romeyn, principal of the Albany Academy, the teacher and friend ©
(0) B=) 08 va a ne ee 183, 208, 332
Bibliography of science,—Henry’s plan for digesting_------------------------------ 295
Biographical Memorial of Joseph Henry, by Prof. Asa Gray_---------------------- 53
Biographical Memoir of Joseph Henry, by Prof. Simon Newcomb---------------- 441
Birth of Joseph Henry,—the date of___..__--___--... .._----.--------------------- 54, 177, 442
Birth-place of Joseph Henry,— Albany, N, Y., the_---------------------- 7, 54, 177, 427, 442
“Bobbin” coil for the electro-magnet, first devised by Henry, in 1829__--__---_--- 217
“ Bobbin ” coil for the electro-magnet, introduced into France in 1832, by Pouillet. 226
Bradford, Hon, A. W.—testimony of, to Henry's early magnetic telegraph__----- 380
Brewster, Sir David,—appreciation of Henry by----.-------------------------- 61, 169, 270
British Association,—favorable reception by, of Henry’s proposal of a scientific
1X6 Uc), ee ee a See a ae ee a ee re ee Se er pe ee err 296
British Assoclation,— meeting of, at Liverpool, attended by Henry---_----------- 245
Bronze statue of Henry, authorized by Congress_----------------------------------- 614
Building-stone,—experiments on, by Henry ---------------------------------------- 326
Cameron, Prof. Henry C.—Reminiscences of Joseph Henry by -------------------- 166
Capillarity between liquid and solid metals observed____-----.2----------------- 263, 495
Catalogue of scientific papers, suggested by a and published by the Royal
Society of TeOndOn 2 se el 297
Chairmanship of the Light-House Board conferred on Henry in 1871 ----69, 183, 314, 436
Chancellor of the Smithsonian Institution,—announcement by ------------------ ff
Chancellor of the Smithsonian Institution,—remarks by, on the death of J oseph
EM a ya sw a ee 9
GRALACHALIOL ELON Ty,’ Hs Dean ye a a ere Sea eee are ere rere ete 73, 191, 361, 469
Chemical professorship in the University of Pennsylvania offered to Henry_—_-193, 278
Chemical. skill ofsdenry c= 3-2 ae es Se eee eee 332, 375
Chemistry, chair of,—at Princeton, temporarily filled by Henry_----------------- 238
Chemistry,— early experiments of Henry in ---------------------------------- 130, 208, 270
Chief-Justice M. R. Waite,— official announcement by_---------------------------- 7
Chief-Justice M, R. Waite,—remarks by, on the death of Joseph Honry---------- 9
Ohilds, George W., a pall-bearor at the funeral of Joseph Henry .----------------- 11
Christian character of Joseph Henry--_---/--.----------------- 16, 21, 33, 73, 114, 134, 147, 200
INDEX. 519
Page
Chronograph, electric, invented by Henry-___-.-.----------------------___ 155, 272, 398, 448
Chronoscope, electric, of Wheatstone, compared with the chronograph of Henry_ 398
Civilization not spontaneous, according to Henry, but coerced________----=_______ 325
Classification of motive powers, by Henry_._..-0-—- <2 oee eee ee 273
Clymer, Hon. Hiester,—bill presented by, in the House of Representatives, for
CLOCuUINE KEANE OL Ong. se. a cee ne ee mee ee Os ot Nw eee ee “614
Clymer, Hon. Hiester, of the House of Representatives,—reading of telegrams
Dyaveuohe WleMOnal Services! asses i= se ec ce ee ee ee ee ee ee 75
Clymer, Hon. Hiester,—resolution presented by, in the House of Representa-
tives, to participate in the Memorial Services --_-_____--_____-_____------________ 1
Clymer, Hon. Hiester,—resolution presented by, in the House of Representa-
tives, to print portrait of Henry in the Memorial Volume______-_--------_-_-__ 4
Cohesion of liquids found by Henry to be equal to that of solids___-___-_--_-___ 265, 498
College of New Jersey at Princeton,— Henry professor in _.____-_---__61, 131, 238, 431, 447
College of New Jersey at Princeton,—memorial services of__--_-------_-____- 63, 139, 166
Combination of two galvanic circuits by Henry, in 1835_-_-_____________---________ 243
Commemoration, public; in honor of Henry == == 2-52 2,38
Committee appointed by the Regents of the Smithsonian Institution to make
arrangements for the funeral ceremonies of Joseph Henry —-._____----________ 10
Committee appointed by the Regents of the Smithsonian Institution to prepare
for their records, a biographical sketch of Joseph Henry_-_-_--__-___-__________ 28
Committee appointed by the Regents of the Smithsonian Institution to prepare
or MenmionialiViol ume! 22a ssi Se ere ee Ee aren ee oe 31
Committee, executive, of the Board of Regents, directed to make arrangements
folvanpublicicommemorntiOnyce.csse eases ee sces meee ae ee anes arene ees 1, 28
Congress, proceedings in, relative toa monument to Henry _-_-____----_______--- 611
Congress, resolution of, directing the publication of a Memorial Volume-_______ 3
Congress, resolution of, to participate in the Memorial Services to be held at
the: Capito] See ee ee a ee ee ea Se ee 1,37
Contributions to scientific research by Henry at Washington ea te a eae 319
Convertible “quantity ’’ and “intensity” battery contrived by Henry______-____ 239
Corcoran, William W., 2 pall-bearer at the funeral of Joseph Henry__--.--------- 11
Correspondence of the Sinithsonian Institution on sclontifie subjeots_.-------- 72, 301
Cox, Hon. Samuel S., of the House of Representatives,— Address by_---__-__-_-__ 99
Cox, Hon. Samuel §., selected by the Regents to deliver an Address at the Memo-
Tiali Services ese a-8 eee ae ee nn re ee ee 29
Cuthbert, Rev. Dr. James H.,— offices by, at the funeral of Joseph Henry_______- 12
Date of Henry's birth somewhatiuncertainss ee ee re ee 64, 442
Deathiof Josep hehe miy assess ae. ee ee Oa ee eee 7, 130, 188, 360, 467
Derivation of organic species,—the doctrine of______---____-___----____-__-_--_____- 341, 507
Discourse by William B. Taylor, before the Philosophical Society of Washington_ 205
Discourse by Dr. James C. Welling, before the Philosophical Society of Wash-
tA OY) 90) 0 eee eS ee Rene eee ee as ee AP tc aha nt es LO os MO aN ae 177
Discourse memorial of Joseph Henry, by Rev. Samuel B. Dod____--------_________. 139
Distribution of Smithsonian material, for the promotion of science___-_--__-__ 418,
Dod, Rey. Samuel B.— Discourse memorial of Joseph Henry ~---------_--_______ 139
Dod, Rev. Samuel B.— letter to, from Joseph Henry____-------._-__-_------_____- 149
Dove, Prof. H. W.—account by, of the disparagement of Ohm’s theory__------- 489
Drama;— Henry’s'youthfuliaddiction to 22225 ee ee ee 109, 179
Duties imposed on Henry by various Bodies________----_ seaseteeesrseecsead 69, 103, 436
Early experimental researches of Henry-.--------------------_----------- 209, 375, 476, 481
Hducation,— Henty7siviewsoncsess ee on ee Re ee ee 323, 507
Hauchtionvof Joseph lent yerce seaat soso eek acenee saat ea ee eee 64, 56, 177, 206
Electrical discharge discovered by Henry to be oscillatory___---.-----_-_- 255, 396, 448
Electrical induction discovered by Henry to exist in successive orders___85, 248, 494
Electrical researches of Henry at Albany-__-_------. ieee ee ace ees ee ner 212, 476
520 INDEX.
Page
Electrical researches of Henry at Princeton_------------------------------------ 238, 494
Electrical self-induction in a long wire discovered by Henry ----- 287, 239, 394, 447, 493
Electric Telegraph,— Barlow’s experiments on ----------------------------- 59, 83, 223, 485
Electric Telegraph,— Morse’s experiments on-----~--------------------------- 59, 382, 488
Electro-magnet first made by Sturgeon----------------------------------------- 58, 82, 213
Electro-magnet greatly developed by Henry-------------------------- 84, 111, 181, 218, 444
Electro-magnet of intensity, first produced by 18 (yey ae Se ee ee 223, 227, 488
Electro-magnetic action developed by Ampére____----------------------- 81, 213, 215, 477
Electro-magnetic chronograph invented by Henry --------------------- 155, 272, 398, 448
Electro-magnetic engine invented by Henry -------------------------------- 143, 230, 445
Electro-magnetic influence discovered by Romagnosi and Oersted ------------ 79, 213
Electro-magnetic telegraph first devised by Henry -------------- 85, 131, 149, 228, 380, 487
Electro-magnetic telegraph first suggested by Ampére -----~--------------------- 223
Elevations, topographical, of the State of New York tabulated by Henry ----- 270, 444
Engineering survey in New York State, Dye RGM yeaa see eee 57, 183, 210, 428
Engine operated by electro-magnetism, the CEES ee 143, 230, 445
Eulogy by Henry, of A. Dallas Bache ----------------- ----------------------------- 330
Europe,— Henry’s first visit to, in 1837 -------------------------------------------- 64, 244
Europe,— Henry’s second visit to, in 1870 --------------------.---------------------- 307
Exchanges of scientific publications, established by Henry---------------------- 298
Executive Committee of the Board of Regents, directed to make arrangements
for a public commemoration_-_-_-------------------------------~--------=--------- 1, 28
Expansion of iron by magnetization,—experiments On--------------------------- 329
Experiment by Henry on the static rectification of alcohol_-------------------- 328
Experiments of Henry on the strength of building-stone ------------------------ 326
“Extra current” in a long electric wire, discovered by Henry ---237, 239, 394, 447, 493
Faraday and Henry GOUMpaNed at. oe ae Re ee oe Ocean Oe
Faraday,— employment by, of Henry’s multiple-coil magnet -------------- 222, 230, 390
Faraday ,— production of electro-magnetic rotation ) ee 81, 479
Faraday’s regard for Henry--------------------------------------------------------- 64, 506"
Field, Cyrus W.,—Telegrams to, from London companies, read at the Memorial
Services...__------------------------------------------------------------------------- 76
Finances of the Smithsonian Institution,— flourishing condition of_----------- 48
Financial ability and accuracy of Henry ------------------------------------------ 46, 97
Fine-arts,— fine appreciation of, by Henry_------------------------------ 191, 333, 437, 471
Fire at the Smithsonian Institution in 1865,—loss of papers by--------------- 305, 459
Fluidity,—experiments on, by Henry -------------------------------------------- 423, 498
Fog-signaling instruments,— experiments on, by. Henry... 310
Fog-signals greatly improved by Henry-_------------------------------------- 311, 464, 499
Forces of nature as motive powers, classified by Henry ------------------------- 273
Forecasts of the weather inaugurated by Henry -------------------------------- 287, 463
Four elements of the ancients, typical of the fourfold state of matter -------_- 266
Fourfold state of matter postulated ___--_------------------------------------------- 266
Franklin and Henry compared___--------------------------------------------- 407, 408, 438
Franklin’s successor in Henry-------------------------------------------- 70, 83, 93, 170, 444
Fresnel, Augustin,—experiments by, in 1820, to obtain magneto-clectricity ---. 233
Fresnel, L. (secretary of the Light-House Board of France),-—testimony of, to
the activity of the United States Light-House Board__------------------------ 308
Funds of the Smithsonian Institution,— flourishing condition of ~-------------- 48
Funeral of Joseph Henry------------------------------------------------------------- 11
Funeral Sermon by Rey. Samuel 8. Mitchell_------------------------------------- 15
Funeral services at the New York Avenue Presbyterian Church of Washington- 12
electric telegraph _---------------------------- ------------------------------------ 59, 150
Gale, Dr. L. D.—letter from, to Henry, on the telegraph of Morse__------------- 388
Gale, Dr. L. D.—successful application by, of Henry’s discoveries, to the tele-
graph of Morse ------------------------------------------------------------ 59, 150, 383, 488
INDEX. 521:
Page
Galvanic battery devised by Volta in 1800 ___--------_-------_- si hale aia es 79, 213
Galvanic battery modified by Dr. Hare in 1816, as a ‘‘calorimotor”’_____-- 82, 239, 376
Galvanic battery modified by Henry in 1835, for either ‘‘ quantity” or “‘inten-
Slit: CHEE CMUS 2 Sas sate se aa oon aan ea = nce ack enc nea te eh ee 239
Garfield, Gen. James A., of the House of Representatives, a Regent,— Address
byqatiuhewMeomorial Servicess=-n..0.- ones aaa) an eae Dee ee ee 91
Garfield, Gen. James A., of the House of Representatives, a Regent,— resolutions
ofered|by, at meeting. ofthe Rerents .—-~- 2-3 ona enc nek at sacs eennuceenns. 30
Garfield, Gen. James A., of the House of Representatives, a Regent, selected by
the Regents to deliver an Address ___----__-- Beccwaeeesccbaccs saan senss aaceesau 29
Goethe’s intellectual awakening and that of Henry, compared -—----.-_--.-----. 92
Government of the United States,— Henry’s services to__.---------..------ 133, 143, 316
Gray, Prof. Asa, a Regent,—Address by, at the Memorial Services__--__--.__--____ 53
Gray, Prof. Asa, a Regent, one of 2 committee appointed by the Regents to pre-
pare for their records a biographical memoir of Joseph Henry ~--------------- 30
Gray, Prof. Asa, a Regent, one of a committee appointed by the Regents, to pre-
S PAYela mM OMOFr AlV OLNMG sates nee oe eee on kee a ee ne ee 32
Gray, Prof. Asa, a Regent, selected by the Regents to deliver an Address at the
Memorial Services acs a. nate aaa oe ee ee oe eee ee ees Sa a 28, 29
Guyot, Prof. Arnold, a pall-bearer at the funeral of Joseph Henry--_-_____-___-___ ll
Hall of the House of Representatives assigned by Resolution of Congress, for
the holding of Memorial! Services| 2.2. oa a ees 37
Hall, Prof. James,—letter of, on the death of Henry--__--..-----__---------------- 129
Hall, Prof. James,— testimony of, to Henry’s early magnetic telegraph__-__-___ 381
Hamilton, Col. C.S.—letter from, to the Light-House Board, on lard and rape-
Seed oll sree asa see a sen ns acacasecec sen secae tenon ne acanaheneccabensobessscscases 424
Hamlin, Hon. Hannibal, Senator, a Regent,—Address of, at the Memorial Serv-
ices)\(read bythe! Vice-President) )sssensee enon eens ee eee 43
Hamlin, Hon. Hannibal, Senator, a Regent,—resolution presented by, in the
Senate, to participate in the Memorial Services ~_----------_--_-_--------_---_- 2
Hamlin, Hon. Hannibal, Senator, a Regent, selected by the Regents to deliver
an Address at the Memorial Services ___------__..-------------------------------- 29
Hare, Dr. Robert,—calorimotor galvanic battery devised by ------~---- 82, 239, 376, 484
Heat-radiation, comparative, of the solar spots___-_-.--.---------_---.-- 269, 431, 448, 502
Heat-radiation detected at great distances by the thermal telescope -.-_____- 156, 320
Heat-radiation,— experiments on, by Henry --------------------------------------- 321
Hendrie, the ancestral name of the Henry family ~----------------_---__---------.-- 507
Ienry-.as'a: Christian: 22a ss ee ee ee 16, 21, 33, 73, 114, 134, 147, 200
BieniryAasayGiscoviere nts eee ee ee een cea a ee eee 475
Ifon ry asia financler so-so sescc ae oe ere ee en see eee ee en eee ee eee 46, 51, 97
Henry as) a: teachers Sos ee Ee oe See ence aasconteoca 62, 197, 212, 362
Henry,—contributions to science at Washington by -----------_--_---_- pe oooskoe 319
Henry ;—deathofs Sisk ee ae ee oda oe ee een toe 7, 188, 360, 467
Ienry:— education) Of 25222 - oo ae Ss oo ee ee ee 54, 56, 177, 206
Henry elected professor of mathematics at Albany Academy---____ 67, 130, 211, 443, 476
Henry elected professor of physics at Princeton ~_-_----------___--__ 61, 131, 238, 431, 447
Henry elected Secretary of the Smithsonian Institution _--_65, 132, 169, 185, 275, 453, 406
Henry,—improvement of the Light-House service by —-------__---»___ 97, 308, 315, 436, 464
Henry independent discoverer of magneto-electricity --..------------------ 235, 445, 490
Henry inventor of the electric chronograph--_------..-.-_.-------------- 155, 272, 398, 448
Henry inventor of the electro-magnetic engine -__--_____-_--------_--~-_--_---- 230, 445
Henry inventor of the magnetic telegraph -___---.._--_. ise 85, 131, 149, 228, 380, 487
Henry,—letter from; to Rey. 5: DOG oo. 2. noon aaa aces ean e mecca eeean 149
Henry,—letter from, to) Prof. 8S: Ws 0B) Morse — 2-2... sn a none ce nena nos 384
Henry,—letter from, to Dr. Ei. NO ttsese ac cone nner cn once cscs cneenenccsces meneneoces 409
Henry,—letter from, to Mr. J. Patterson -.........--._...------------~-.----------- 23
LON MARITIS PO Ol cco acco cenen Uncee ne ene esc cesc cecceccbcnsaacascsuacaceusessesund 61, 238
522, INDEX.
Page
Henry,—the mother of__-----------------.--=-=-=--=---=<------------==----==-====--==- 54
Eleni y — ODS ci Uil eis) 0 he ree eee ee ee PEs
Henry,— parentage and date of birth of_------------------------------------ 64, 177, 427, 442
Henry's administration of the Smithsonian Institution -----------------_-_- 274, 409, 435
Henry's eesthetic perceptions -----_----_--_-_------------------------------- 190, 333, 437, 471
Henry's character_---_---.____._.__------.------ === -- = -— =< = = = = == 73,191, 361, 469
Tionry’s carly electro-magnet______-__ 84, 131, 218, 444, 483
Henry’s first attraction to books_—__——— ee ae ee 54,178
Henry’s first introduction to scientific literature_----____--____- 55, 167, 180, 207, 428, 443, 505
Henry’s personal appearance ___---_—-__-_-___-_ ne 189, 360
Henry’s researches on the radiation of sound --------------------------------- 346, 465, 500
Henry’s scientific papers,—list of ~.----2----_--_---_------__------_----=_--_--.------ 365
TOnr’y/8 | SCLOUM bith C7 ww OLN ee ae ee ee eed 83, 209, 476
Heliostat of simple form arranged by Henry---_.___-_---_-________________ 267
Hodge, Rey. Charles,— death of, referred to by Dr, Parker ---------------_--------- 33
Hodge, Rev. Charles,— prayer by, at the funeral services of Joseph Henry__----- 13
Humphreys, Gen, Andrew A., a pall-bearer at the funeral of Joseph Hfeury, Se 11
Hydrometiic experiment by Henry, on the separation of liquids__-_--------_-__- 328
Tlluminants,— ivestigation Osby ELON Vy esate ese see tec s ec eee e 309, 313, 421, 502
“Tmponderables,”— theory of, controverted by Henry_-----_----------------------- 322
Increase of the Smithson fund during Henry’s administration_---_-___-----______ 48
Index to scientific literature proposed by Henry_------__.__--_______-.______-_.._.. 296
Index to scientific literature undertaken and published by the Royal Society of
POCO C0) a SE Se ee ee ee 297
Induction, electrical, of successive orders, discovered by Henry-------------- 85, 248, 494
Induction, initial and terminal, investigated .----_________-_______________.._____- 251
Tnformation'—Henry h wide LANE Ol ose n es ae ae ae eee 332, 437, 471
Intensity and quantity galvanic battery contrived by Henry- -----------------__- 239
“Intensity” and “ quantity” galvanic currents considered__---------------------- 376
Intensity and quantity magnets and batteries ---__---___--_---------------- 84, 226, 429, 483
“Intensity” electro-magnet first produced by Henry------------------------- 223, 227, 448
International exchanges of scientific publications established by Henry-------.- 208
Jonkin, Mr.— observation by, on electric self-induction ~----------_------_------- 240, 494
Jenkin, Prof. F.—remarks of, on the terms “intensity” and “ quantity” ---_-__. 377
Joint resolution of Congress to have engraved and printed a portrait of Henry
Poy PLA HCING Ce} Coy eC} WAY PE Pec) ee = ae Ee ee ee 4
Joule’s testimony to Henry’s original electro-magnetic engine__---_--_--_--_---_. 231
ast days of Joseph) Hem ry nnn rr nge ee opt ence semen cere 188, 466
Law, the domain of, recognized by 8 (5) 0) ih ee ee ee ee ee eee 334
Letter from Dr. L. D. Gale, to Henry, on the telegraph of Prof. Morse ~-_---_---__ 388
Letter from Col, C.8, Hamilton, to the Light-House Board, on the success of
ave) be Ep-g aVere WONT NET eee a eee 424
Letter from Henry to Rev.S. B. jib 0k ees iN ach et: te AIST 149°
MUCEBEC TOMA ELOMITY, GO NOVOL, coe kaye LON SC aera 384
Letter from Henry to Dr; EB. NOtl an 409
JER Mere oye yd S (sya eto oe Wey cl JR I EE ns) gO) 0 23
Letter of condolence from the Trinity House, London ee ee 137
Letter of Prof. James Hall, onthe death of Menry_—-______ 129
Library scheme,— struggles of, for control of the Smithson endowment ____281, 410, 457
Light-House Board of England,— memorial from ___--_-_--------------------------- 137
Light-House Board of France,— testimonial from______-_----__----- ee 308
Light-House Board of the United States,— Henry, chairman of__---_--_-- 69, 133, 314, 463
Light-Ifouse Board of the United States,— memorial proceedings of, on the death
CON td 8 IC) Yoh eee ree eal eee ee ee ee eee 135
Light-House establishment,—services of Henry to ------------------------ 70, 315, 464, 502
INDEX. 523
Page
Light-House illumination,— Henry’s investigations in ~-_-__------__- 97, 309, 312, 421, 502
Light-House service greatly improved by Henry_-_------------------------- 97, 308, 316,436 -
igo hunine-rOds \ODSELVaviOns OMe — n-ne ee ae ee ee ee 261
Lightning-rods suggested for telegraph poles_-___~---_-.----...-.-----....-.-..--__- 262
Liquid cohesion found to be equal to solid cohesion ~_--------____---_-__-_-_-_-__- 265, 498
ishonelvenvy Ss Scientinic papers... =~ 225 eat eee as oe ree ee 365
Longitude determination by simultaneous observations on meteors____---------_ 271
Loss of valuable scientific papers by fire, in 1865_..-________-__.-..-_-.-------.-.._-- 305
Lovering, Prof. Joseph,— obituary memoir of Henry, by ~-------------------------- 427
McCosh, Rev. Dr. J., appointed by the Regents to offer introductory prayer at the
UN Seas a OUEST a Ce a aoe ee ae ae ae ee 29
McCosh, Rev. Dr. J.— opening prayer by, at Memorial Services ~.-----------_----- 39°
Maclean, Dr. John,— account by, of Henry’s election to Princeton__--_--__---_- 168, 238
Maclean, Dr. John, one of executive committee appointed by the Regents to
make arrangements for a public commemoration _______----------------------- 1, 28
Maclean, Dr. John, one of a select committee appointed by the Regents to pre-
pares) biographical sketch of Henry ._2- —..- an none eee ese ceaee 28
Maclean, Dr. John,— prayer offered by, at meeting of the Regents, on the death
Cos eUCorstc) 0) alld & =) 0) hk i ae ae oe QT
Maclean, Dr. John,—resolution of thanks presented by, at meeting of the
VANS) ESPNU ese ee caps prea a CE ee ee ee ee ee ee 34
Maclean, Dr. John,—resolution presented by, at meeting of the Regents, rela-
tive to preparation of a Memorial Volume —______--.______________..-=...__-_._- 31
Magnet, Henry’s Albany, of 750 pounds, made in 1830, for the Academy _-__-____-- 220
Magnet, Henry’s New Haven, of 2,300 pounds, made in 1831, for Yale College_____ 229
Magnet, Henry’s Princeton, of 3,500 pounds, made in 1835, for the College of
DSN PICS Ye a a a ee a el eS ee ee ee ee 244, 484
Magnet, Intensity, for acting at a distance, made by Henry in 1830__-__-_-_ 223, 227, 488
Magnetic expansion of iron tested by Henry_--... ---_---_._—_---__-.- === 329
Magnetic needle by galvanism, first produced by BSA na eee 479
Magnetic telegraph first made possible by Henry- ----------------------------- 93, 225, 486
Magnetic telegraph invented by Henry-_-------- -------------------- 85, 131, 149, 228, 380, 487
Magnetism, by menns of a galvanic current, first developed by Arago-_-_--_----- 213, 479
Magnetism, torrestrial,— observations by Henry on the intensity of_..-.------_- 268, 445
Magnetizing “bobbin” first devised by Henry~._- ~..-..-.-----._-_..-.-----.-...... 217
Magneto-electricity first attempted by Fresnel in 1820 -----_----__---_----_-_-_---_---_- 233
yee first discovered by Faraday in 1831 -_-_------------___-___--_- 234, 446
agneto-electricity independently discovered by Henry early in 1832_61, 235, 445, 490, 493
Marriage of Joseph Henry to Miss Alexander ____-_-_-___-___-_-__-_-------------- 61, 238
Mathematics,— attainments of Henry in .------_.- =. 2 eee 208, 443
Mathematics,— Henry, professor of, at Albany Academy -_------------------- 57, 130, 211
Meads, Dr. O.—account by, of Henry’s early experiments________-_-_-___----------- 375
Meads, Dr. O.— memorial minute by, on the death of Henry ~-----------_--_~----_ 130
Meads, Dr. O.— testimony of, to Henry’s early magnetic telegraph____----_--_-__ 131, 380
Medal, Copley, proposed for Henry, by Faraday and Wheatstone____-__------- Zoe) O06:
Memorial minute for the Albany Institute, by Dr. Orlando Meads -_:_----_------_ 130
Memorial Services appointed by Congress, to be held in the Hall of the House of
Representatives, United States Capitol_---.___-_______________--_.~__.--_---.--... 37
Memorial Services at the Capitol, arrangements for..____----_ --------------------- 29
Memorial Services at the Capitol, held on the evening of January 16, 1879 _-___- 2, 38
Memorial tribute to.A. Dallas Bache; by Henty ..-- 2222-25202 eee ae ec eeenene 330
Memorial Volume in honor of Joseph Henry, directed by the Regents__---------- 31
Memorial Volume in honor of Joseph Henry,—the printing of 15,000 copies of,
OLA CTERIDyACONPTCSS aoe Sa ew ne tae eee nena eean eee ses eee nena 4
Memoirofetoenry by erof. Erenry ©. C8 Orou ss aos cre eee 166
Memoirot Henry.by Revsaniuel Bs DOG Sac cee ere ee ee eee 139
Memoir of Henry by Prof. Asa Gray ------ Bec ee eee aa neem ea eee 53
524 INDEX.
Page
Memoir of Henry by Prof. Joseph Lovering ----------------------------------------- 427
Memoir of Henry by Prof. Alfred M. Mayer- ---------------------------------------- 415°
Memoiniof, ELennys ly. Dr.) OT) arn Om Cah eer ee 130
Memoir of Henry by Prof. Simon Newcomb----------------------------------------- 441
Memoirof Henry by William: BD. Da ylon ene race ee 205
Memoinoflenry by Dr. James CC, Welling eee eee eee 177
Memoir of Henry directed by resolution of the Regents -----__-----_--_----------- 28
Metals,— capillarity of, observed_-_.--------------------_---___---____-_------__------- 263
Meteoric determination of longitude, by Henry, Bache, and others__------------- 271
Meteorological observations for the country, inaugurated by Henry-------- 287, 435, 463
Mete@rol op ice lw Orbs Of bel CM Type eee rrr rarer eer ere eet meee 212, 257, 286
Mitchell, Rev. Samuel S.— Funeral Address by-------------------------------------- 15
Molecular constitution of matter, hypothesis of__.--------------_------------------- 266
Moll’s “quantity” electro-magnet compared with Henry’s --_--------------------- 220
Monument to Henry,— proceedings in Congress regarding_------------------------ 611
Morrill, Hon. J.8.— Bill presented by, in the U.S.Senate for erecting a statue of
DEI UN a A SE SES 612
Morse, Prof.S. F. B.— experiments of, in electric telegraphy_-------- ---------- 50, 150, 381
Morse, Prof.S. F. B.— Henry's encouraging letter to_-_--------- --------------------- 384
EOUMET OL DOSC PN VC Ways sea ca eee 54
Motive powers discriminated and classifled_____------------------------------------ 273
Motor, electro-magnetic, first devised by Henry ------------------------------ 143, 230, 445
Multiplé-coll magnet of Henry soa sean sna aaeeen eee eee 85, 218, 229, 390, 444, 484
Multiple-coil magnet of Henry, employed by Faraday-_-_--------------------- 222, 230, 390
Museum, beyond the capacity of the Smithsonian building-----------__---------- 419
Museum ,— efforts of Henry to detach, from the Smithsonian Institution--_-__-_ 283
Museum, National, supported by the Government -_-_~-_----_--------------------- 460
National Government,—services of Henry to ~----------------------------------- 133, 316
National Museum,—efforts by Henry to obtain the establishment of______--------- 285
Naturdl selection,— views of Henry on---.-----.--------__-_____________-_________ 342, 507
Newcomb, Prof. Simon,— biographical memoir of Henry by------ ------ ---------- 441
Newcomb, Prof. Simon, a pall-bearer at the funeral of Joseph Henry------------ 11
New York State,—suryey of a State road through, by Henry in 1826_---- 57, 183, 210, 428
New York State,— topographical elevations of, by Henry in 1829__--__--------__ 270, 444
Nott, Dr. E.—letter to, from Henry -----------------------------~-----------.------------ 409
Obituary memoir of Joseph Henry, by Prof. Joseph Lovering--------------------- 427
Observations on the comparative heat of the solar spots ~--------------- 269, 431, 448, 502
Observations on the earth’s magnetic intensity at Albany-_--------- ~--_-------- 258, 445.
Observatories for physical, magnetical, and chemical research____---------------- 304
Oersted’s announcement of the re-action between a galvanic current and the
magnetic needle_______-_-__.___.-.....---.----------.---------~-------=---==-- 79, 213, 477
Official correspondence of the Smithsonian Institution____-__-----_-_--.---------- 301
Ohm the first to announce the law of galvanic currents in 1827 __---__----_-___- 227, 430.
Ohm,— the papers of, first published in English in 1841__--__---_-----__--_-------- 227, 490
Ohm,—the theory of, for years universally neglected —__--------__----------- 227, 430, 489
Oils for illumination,— investigation of, by Henry----------- ------------ 309, 319, 421, 502
Organic dynamics — Henry’s conception) Of- aan aa aaa aaa cea a eee neer nee nena= 335
Organic “ force’”’ but a department of the physical_____-_ -------------------------- 273.
Organization of the Smithsonian Institution, proposed by Henry_---~_275, 399, 433, 456
Oscillation of electrical discharge, discovered by Henry--------------------- 255, 396, 448
Pall-hearers:at the funeral of Joseph Henly. 11
Parentage Of JOsep iy EMC mi ry aa a car ry 54, 177, 442
Parker, Dr. Peter, chairman of executive committee of the Board of Regents, to
make arrangements for a public commemoration _-_---------__---------------- 1, 28
Parker, Dr. Peter, one of a committee appointed by the Regents, to arrange the
funeral ceremonies of Joseph Henry-_-* 10, 11
INDEX. 525
. Pago
Parker, Dr. Peter, one of n committce appointed by the Regonts, to propare a
Momorial Volume ---_.---.___..--- eee a i ree eee eee ee 32
Parker, Dr. Peter,— Remarks by, before the Regents on the character of Joseph
LEI EA eee See eee ce Se 32
Parker, Dr. Peter,—report by, of arrangements made for a public commemo-
TODD OT a on ee Sete SES Se Se a Se eee ee ae 29
Patterson, Carlile P., a pall-bearer at the funeral of Joseph Henry-_--_------------- 11
Patterson, Joseph, a pall-bearer at the funeral of Joseph Henry------------------ 11
Peltier,— discussion by, of the terms electric ‘‘quantity ’’ and ‘‘ intensity 5 eR ete 376
Peltier;—eulogistic tribute'to; by Henry 22-32 206
Personal appearance of Joseph Menry=--<2- ee ee 189, 360
Philosophical Society of Washington,— active interest of Henry in organizing
endsmoail ntainin Coecsaanees rae eee ees ae ee enka te oes cnenacnencscantoce 331
Philosophical Society of Washington,—appointment by, of Vice-presidents
Welling and Taylor to deliver addresses at a memorial service on Oct. 26,1878 127
Philosophical Society of Washington,— Address before, by Dr. J.C. Welling-_---- 117
Philosophical Society of Washington,— Address before, by W.B. Taylor -—-------- 205
‘Philosophical Society of Washington, — memorial proceedings of, on May 14 and
Oct 26; 1878 ere ae a ee ee he ee ee ee eee ee 125, 177
*Phosphorescence,— original observations on, by Henry-----------~ --------------- 267
Poe, Gen. Orlando M., 2 pall-bearer at the funeral of Joseph Henry —------------- ll
Poetry,— Henry/s fondness lors === a 225 a a ee 191, 207, 333, 507
Pope, Frank L.—appreciative eulogy of Henry, by---- ----------------------------- 485
’ Porter, President Nonh, one of 2 committee appointed by the Regents, to pre-
pare.a bierraphicalisketchof Menry i222 a2 eae conten atone ae eae ene 28
Porter, President Noah,—report by, to the Regents on the selection of memorial
blographer of Henry s-s2.5255.. so-so ese ee ee a eS 30.
Portrait of Joseph Henry,—joint resolution of Congress to engrave and print,
for the Memorial sVol tim ese cae ees Sea Ee Oa ee wee oe ee 4
Pouillet,—introduction by, of Henry’s “bobbin’”’ coil magnetinto France, in 1832 226
Prayer at conclusion of Memorial Services at the Capitol, by Rev. Dr.Sunderland 121
Prayer at Funeral Services, by Rev. Charles Hodge ---_--.-__-----_-_-- ~----------- 13
Prayer at Memorial Services at the Capitol by Rev. Dr. James McCosh ae eee 39
Presidency of College of New Jersey at Princeton; proposed to Henry---- ----- 194, 279
Presidency of National Academy of Sciences, conferred on Henry --------- 330, 436, 441
Princeton,— College of New Jersey at, Henry professor of physics in_61, 131, 238, 431, 447
Princeton electro-magnet of 3,500 pounds made by Henry in 1835___-_-_---_--___ 244, 484
Princeton Memorial, of May 19) 187822220625 st 63, 139, 166
Princeton,— Presidency of the college at, offered to Henry___-__ ~----. ---------- 194, 279
‘Printing of 15,000 copies of a Memorial Volume ordered by Congress__------------ 4
Proceedings of the Albany Institute, on the death of Joseph Henry-_------------- 128
Proceedings of Congress on the evening of the Memorial Services, (Jan. 16, 1879)_ 2,38
Proceedings of Congress, relative to the holding of Memorial Services, in honor
Of Henry 2.22. ee Se eee ere es ae ee ee tk Se ae eee 7
Proceedings of Congress, relative to a Memorial Volume_-__-_-----_-.-____----___- 3
' Proceedings of Congress, relative to a monument to Henry--___-----------___---- 611
Proceedings of the Philosophical Society of Washington, on the death of Joseph
ED ON Ty or nt ee ee ee ee PARTE) FAS Ee Se eee 125
Proceedings of the Regents of the Smithsonian Institution on the death of
Joseph: Henry - 2 223 ee ee es a a ee eed ee 2s ee ea oes Se ee 9,27
Proceedings of the Regents of the Smithsonian Institution relative to a Memo-
rial Volume. 2. 2 Seen Be eed Pale Se ees 2A a ee 31
Proceedings of the Regents of the Smithsonian Institution relative to a public
commemoration, in honor of Joseph Henry------------ ------------------------ 28
Proceedings of the U. 8. Light-House Board, on the death of Joseph Henry ----- 135
Professorship of mathematics at Albany Academy, conferred on Henry-------- 57, 130
Professorship of physics, at Princeton, conferred on Henry ---------- 61, 131, 238, 431, 447
Programme of Memorial Services at the Capitol___------------ eee ae aereniemere 29
526 INDEX.
: Page
Programme of organization by Henry for the Smithsonian Institution_-__- 66, 275, 399
Projectiles,— the velocity of, recorded by electric chronograph--_----------- 155, 272, 448
Publications of the Smithsonian Institution, edited by Henry----- ------ -------- 293
Quantity and intensity galvanic battery contrived by Henry--------------------- 239
“Quantity ” and ‘intensity’ galvanic currents considered_---------------------- ' 376
Quantity and intensity magnets and batterles__-_----------- ------------- 84, 226, 429, 483
Quantity electro-magnets of Henry_---.------------------------ 84,111, 131, 218, 244, 444, 484
Randall, Hon. Samuel J., Speaker of the House of Representatives,— Memorial
Services at the Capitol, opened by--------------------------- Se eae 2, 38
Randall, Hon Samuel J., Speaker of the House of Representatives,—remarks
Ly, at the close of the Memorial Services ---- .__-----------_--------------------- 3
Range of information possessed by Henry, very extended_-_____----_-__- 332, 437, 471, 507
Reading of Henry. yaried and extensive aoe ee ee en 192, 507
“ Receiving’’ magnet of telegraphy, first devised by Henry------- ---------------- 244
Refraction of sound suggested by Prof.Stokes in 1857, and established by Henry
YRC 87 a ea eed a ee ee EE, 346, 353, 465, 501
Regents of the Smithsonian Institution,— proceedings of, on the death of Joseph
18 ep eb eee se a pore He SS Soros S So pe eo 9, 27
Regents of the Smithsonian Institution,— proceedings of, relative to a Memorial
SOUND cos a a a 31
Regents of the Smithsonian Institution,— proceedings of, relative to a public
commemoration ~~~... ee ee eee Acpee cae s= Saes 28
“ Roign of Law,”— Henry’s views on----------.----------------- fe eeiss en ee 334
Remarks by Dr. Peter Parker, on the death of Joseph Henry, before the Regents
of the Smithsonian Institutlon—---_--_- 8 cence een 32
Remarks by Chief Justice M. R. Waite, on the death of Joseph Henry_-_--------- 9
Remarks by Speaker 8. J. Randall, at the close of the Memorial Services_-_------ 3
Remarks by Hon. William A, Wheeler, Vice-President of the United States, at
the: Memorial! Servicess.-25 sc. =o se a oe eee 43
Reminiscences of Joseph Henry by Dr. Henry C. Cameron _--_-------------------- 166
Renwick, Prof. James,— emphatic testimonial of, to Henry_-----.--------------- 169, 238
Renwick, Prof. James,— observations on terrestrial magnetism for, by Henry-268, 445
Report of Naval Secretary on Henry’s services to the Light-House Establishment 315
Representatives, Hall of,— devoted to Memorial Services______-------------------- 37
Resolution of Congress, appropriating the Hall of Representatives to the Me-
eae) ot Oy ES hey ig Cele | ee ee 1,37
Resolution of Congress authorizing the publication of the Memorial Volume___ 4
Resolution of Congress to participate in the Memorial Services -----_------__--_- 1, 37
Resolution of the Regents of 8. I. to arrange a public commemoration_-_---_-_-__- 28
Resolutions of the Philosophical Society of Washington, on the death of Joseph
18 wy ee ee Se Eo Seis ea 125
Resolutions of the Regents of S. I. on the death of Joseph Henry._-.----....-..-.. 27
Resolutions of the Regents of §, I. relative to the funeral of Joseph Henry ------ 10
Resolutions of U. 8. Light-House Board, on the death of Joseph Henry--------_- 135
Rodgers, Admiral John, o pall-bearer at the funeral of Joseph Henry-----.-----. 11
Rogers, Prof. William B.— Address by, at the Memorial Services__-----_----.----- T7
Rogers, Prof. William B., selected by the Regents to deliver an Address ~_______- 29
Romagnosi,— discovery by, of the influence of galvanism on a magnet____-_-__ 79, 213
Royal Society of London,—adoption by, of Henry’s plan of a scientific index____ 297
Rumford’s experiments on heat supplemented by Henry------------------------ 321, 438
Schweigger’s “multiplier” or galvanometer -__-___---------.-------------- 82, 213, 444, 480
Science,— bibliographic index of, planned by Henry------------------------------- 295
Scientific exchanges,—system of, organized and established by Henry-_--------- 298
Scientific interest,— first awakening of, in Henry’s mind__-_~-------_- 55, 56, 167, 180, 207
Scientific investigations made by Henry at Washington__---_-------------_---_-_- 319
INDEX. 527
Page
SCLENUMNI CG ODSCEVALORIES. DFO|CCtS Ofe 8 nae aa eee eee ee ee 304
Pieclomeianer bi Henrys en bere ee Seen tt eee 365
Sclentiticihwork commenced by, Henry 22-9 ee 83, 209, 476
Secchi, Prof. A.— observations of, on solar spots__---------------__----___- 270, 431, 448, 503
Secretary of the Smithsonian Institution,— Henry elected as____- 65, 132, 169, 185, 275, 406
Self-induction in a long electrical wire, discovered by Henry_-_____- 237, 239, 394, 447, 493
Sermon, Funeral, by Rey. Samuel S,Mitchell, at the New York Avenue Pres-
DycerinniGhurchrin Washing tonessss 222 ee ee
Sermon, Memorial, by Rev. Samuel B. Dod, at Princeton, on the death of Joseph
15100) 95 ces ea er ea abl Ne ee aes aah yD aad eh IU 1 pale ates ec dete ooh 135
Services of Henry to the General Government ___-__---__-----------------__- 133, 143, 316
Sherman, General William T.,a Regent,— Address by, at the Memorial Services. 117.
‘Sherman, General William T.,a Regent, chairman of select committee of Board
of Regents, to arrange the funeral ceremonies_______________________- imeocepaee LOS LL:
Sherman, General William T., a Regent, one of executive committee of Board
of Regents, to arrange a public commemoration_______--______________-.-______ 1, 28
Sherman, General William T., a Regent, selected by the Regents to deliver an
PNGATEES aE Ue MenIOLial Services sens coat ene ee ee eee 29
Silliman, Prof. Benjamin,—account by, of Henry’s Yale College magnet_-__._.-.- 229
Silliman, Prof. Benjamin,— appreciation of Henry, by__---_-.--------------_--_- 169, 238
Singleton, Hon. 0. R.— resolution presented by, to the House of Representatives,
to print portrait of Henry for the Memorial Volume________-_-__-_-___________ 4
Siren adopted by Henry as a fog-signaling trumpet______-____----___-____--_________ 311
Smithsonian Annual Reports, in 30 vols., edited by Henry ___-___--_----_-________ 295
Smithsonian Contributions to Knowledge, in 21 vols., edited by Henry —_--_----- 294
Smithsonian fund,— condition of, at Henry’s death _______---____________________.- 47
Smithsonian Institution established in 1846___.._--__-_--___-___--_-_-_-_-- 65, 274, 452
Smithsonian Institution,— Henry Secretary and Director of _-_______________ 65, 132, 453
Smithsonian Institution,—the plan of, devised by Henry________ 45, 50, 95, 118, 132, 170, 433
Smithsonian Miscellaneous Collections, in 15 vols., edited by Henry -_------_--_- 294
Smithson’s endowment waiting for an interpreter _----_--_-.-_-----______ 95, 186, 434, 451
Smithson’s will,—the scope of _____-__-________.-_-_--------_----------- 67, 185, 399, 433, 449
Solar spots,—comparative heat of, observed_____-_---------____-_-------__ 209, 431, 448, 602
Sound,—observationsof Henry on 2-2-2222. -s2so225-2-eeenne 344, 464, 499
Sound radiation,—the laws of, investigated by Henry__----------------_- 346, 353, 465, 501
Speaker of the House of Representatives, Memorial Services at the Capitol
OPENED yas eee ome A OTNE LAh PASEO ALN) gt AUN NTO, ORY NT: EN eM 2,38
Speaker of the House of Representatives,_remarks by, at the close of the Me-
morialiServicessseee tas = ras oe LOS e AT) a REET SES, 2b) eRe 3
Speakers at the Memorial Services, introduced by the Vice-President --____-_____ 2
Speakers for the public commemoration, appointed by the Regents of the Smith-
SODLANMINSOLbUt ON sss es See Bd eee Ne Re Pei ad Le 29
Species, organic,— doctrine of the derivation of __-__--_--___-________--4_________- 341, 507
Speculations on the constitution of matter______________-____._______ 266
Spofford, A. R.— remarks of, on the Smithsonian library ~_-_-------__--___________ 417
Stage performances,— early predilection of Henry for_____---2.-------------_- 55,179, 427
Statement of the Smithsonian fund at Henry’s death ___-__-_--__------------_______ 47
Statue of Henry, authorized by Congress__-____--_---..------_-_-_------------------- 514
Steam,—early experiments by Henry Oe 209, 375
Steam-siren adopted by Henry for signaling through fogs______ PROS. “aeNE" wide ied 311
Stephens, Hon. Alexander H.,—resolution presented by, in the House of Repre-
sentatives, to print Memorial Volume_.___-.---..-___.---.---_-_----2-_--- 3
Stokes, Prof. G. G.— hypothesis by, of refraction of sound by wind___-__ 346, 355, 465, 501
Story, W. W., tho sculptor, selected to model a statue of Henry__----------------- 614
Strong, Mr. Justice William, of the Supreme Court, a pall-bearer at the funeral
Oh Tosephebien ty {tence eo Peet ati ete Pe ete ber, Peeks ee eileen, Pee 11
Sturgeon, William, the first to make an electro-magnet_________--_-_______. 58, 82, 213, 480
Sturgeon, William,— tribute by, to Henry’s Yale College magnet_---_--__--__----_ 230
528 INDEX.
Page
Successive orders of electrical induction discovered by Henry__-------------- 85, 248, 494
Sulphuric-acid) barometerierected by Plemivy sss ee 329
Sunderland, Rey. Dr. Byron, Chaplain of the U.S. Senate, selected by the Regents
tovonter prayer at the Memorial Services sas a eee 29
Sunderland, Rey. Dr. Byron,—concluding prayer by, at the Memorial Services__ 121
Survey for a State road through New York, by Henry-_-------___-------__- 57, 183, 210, 428
Taylor, William B.—Sketch by, of the scientific work of Henry____--------___-___ 205
Teacher.— Henrys Sicill an dsucCess: As seen eee eee ee ee 62, 197, 212, 362
Telegram from Anglo-American Telegraph Company at London ---__----_------- 75
Telegram from Direct United States Cable Company at London-_------------------ 76
Melee rametronl Sita W ills Ok OMIS OM see ae ee ee ee ee ee 75
Telegrams read by Hon. Hiester Clymer at the Memorial Services___--_--------_- 75
Telegraphic announcement of astronomical discoveries established by Henry__ 300
Telegraph, magnetic, invented by Henry in 1831___-__-_--_-------- 85, 131, 149, 228, 380, 487
Telescope for detecting heat-radiation at a distance__-___--.---------------___-_-- 156, 320
Ten-Kyck, Dr.—assistant to Henry in constructing electro-magnets____----_----- 224
Dheory, of theso-called “imponderaples a = ee fates $22
Thermal telescope devised pysMenry =o os oee na nee eee oe 156, 320
Thermopile applied by Henry in 1845, to test solar spots----_______-----_- 269, 431, 448, 502
Thomson, Sir William,—Telegram from, read at the Memorial Services ~-------- 75
Topographical sketch of the State of New York, by Henry-___-------------------- 270, 444
Trinity House, London,—letter of condolence from-_-------------------------------- 137
Union of short quantity circuit with long intensity circuit, by Henry in 1835____ 243
University, New York City,— Professor Morse’s first telegraphic experiments in,
UY OY BSG Ua Se ake Te ee a pe alt iy Nt So erg we a es Bek Ng Se ee Dae Le ah 381
University of Pennsylvania,— chemical professorship in, offered to Henry_174, 193, 278
University of Virginia,—a professorship in, proposed to Henry by Mr. Calhoun, 194
Van Rensselaer, Gen. Stephen,— Henry’s employment by, as tutor_---_-- 57, 183, 208, 443
Velocity of projectiles registered by electric chronograph-_-_----------------- 155, 272, 448
“Vice-President of the United States, presiding officer at the Memorial Services__ 2,38
» Vice-President of the United States,— reading of Mr. Hamlin’s Address by------- 43
‘Vice-President of the United States,—remarks by, at the Memorial Services_____ 2, 43
Volta, the inventor of the galvanic pile and battery__--_--------------------_----- 79, 213
Waite, Chief Justice Morrison R., Chancellor of the Smithsonian Institution,—
official announcement by, of the death of Joseph Henry ---------------------- i
Waite, Chief Justice Morrison R., Chancellor of the Smithsonian Institution,—
remarks by, on the death of Joseph Henry__-—___._-_- ee 9
Weather forecasts\organized by ElCnry.----oas-as—- secon ee eee ee 287, 463
Welling, Dr. James C.— Notes by, on the life and character of Joseph Henry____- 117
Welling, Dr. James C., a pall-bearer at the funeral of Joseph Henry-------------- 11
Wheatstone’s chronoscope compared with Henry’s chronograph--_--------------- 398
Will of James Smithson,—the purport of _-.-------- .------------------- 57, 185, 399, 433, 449
Withers, Hon. Robert E., Senator, a Regent,—Address by, at the Memorial
Services. ..< 2g ee ee ae ee ene ee ee ee ee 49
Withers, Hon. Robert E., Senator, a Regent, selected by the Regents to deliver
QnA dGYeSS8o 2-8 en a ee ec oe ee ee eee eee 29
Wheeler, Hon, William A., the Vice-President,— presiding officer at the Memo-
Mla Services. sos. see Ee es a ee ee ee ee ee 2,38
Wheeler, Hon. William A., the Vice-President,— reading of Hon. Mr. Hamlin’s
Address by, 2220 et ee Se eee ee ee eon one eee 43
Wheeler, Hon. William A., the Vice-President,— Remarks by, at the Memorial
Services!2..24. = sess 30s 2 eee ee bt aS SS ee eee ee 2, 43
Wollaston’s scale of chemical equivalents, modified by Henry_------------------- 271
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