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IbE    315 


University  of  California. 


SW-tK.SOM-Lia.V-> 


A 


MEMORIAL 


OF 


JOSEPH  HENKY 


PUBLISHED   BY  ORDER  OF   CONGRESS. 


LIBRA  11 -Y 

UNIVERSITY   OF 

(  AL1FOKNIA, 


WASHINGTON: 

GOVERNMENT   PRINTING   OFFICE. 

1880. 


VX 


CONTENTS 


INTRODUCTION. 

Page 
Proceedings  in  Congress  relative  to  a  public  commemoration 1 


PART   I. 
Obsequies   of  Joseph.   Henry. 

Announcement  by  Chancellor  M.  R.  Waite,  May  14,  1878 7 

Proceedings  of  the  Board  of  Regents,  May  13. 1878 9 

The  Funeral,  May  16,  1878 11 

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 27 


PART   II. 
Memorial    Exercises    at    the    Capitol. 

Announcement  by  Executive  Committee  of-  the  Regents,  January  6,  1879 —  37 

Introductory  Prayer  by  Rev.  Dr.  JAMES  McCosn,  January  16,  1879 39 

Hon.  HANNIBAL  HAMLIN'S  Address,  (read  by  Vice-President  WHEELER) 43 

Address  by  Hon.  ROBERT  E.  WITHERS 49 

Address  by  Professor  ASA  GRAY 53 

Reading  of  Telegrams  by  Hon.  HIESTER  CLYMER 75 

Address  by  Professor  WILLIAM  B.  ROGERS 77 

Address  by  Hon.  JAMES  A.  GARFIELD 91 

Address  by  Hon.  SAMUEL  S.  Cox 99 

Address  by  General  WILLIAM  T.  SHERMAN 117 

Concluding  Prayer  by  Rev.  Dr.  BYRON  SUNDERLAND 121 


PART   III. 
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 130 

Proceedings  of  the  U.  S.  "LightrHouse  Board,"  May  15,  1878 135 


CONTENTS. 


Memorial  Discourse  by  Rev.  Samuel  B.  Dod,  delivered  in  the  College  Chapel 

at  Princeton,  N.  J.  May  19, 1878 139 

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.  James  C.  Welling,  before  the  "Philosophical  Society 

of  Washington,"  October  26,  1878 1 177 

Memorial  Address  by  William  B.  Taylor,  before  the  "Philosophical  Society 

of  Washington,"  October  26,  1878 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- 
emy, May  27,  1879 427 

Biographical  Memoir,  by  Prof.  Simon  Newcomb,  read  before  the  "National 

Academy  of  Sciences,"  April  21,  1880 441 

Memorial  Address  by  Prof.  Alfred  M.  Mayer,  before  the  "American  Association 

for  the  Advancement  of  Science,"  August  26, 1880 475 


APPENDIX. 

Proceedings  in  Congress  regarding  the  erection  of  a  Monument  to  JOSEPH 

HENRY  ...  511 


INDEX  ._  515 


INTKODUCTIOR 


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  ^he 
funeral,  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." 

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  OF  REPRESENTATIVES. 
Monday,  December  9,  1878. 

Mr.  CLYMER.  (Member  from  Pennsylvania.)  "  I  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.  HAMLIN.  (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  PRESIDING  OFFICER.  (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  OF  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  Yice-President  of  the  United  States,  with  the  Sec- 
retary, entered  the  Hall  and  were  properly  announced,  and  the 
Yice-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.  S.  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  YICE-PRESIDENT.  (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  YICE-PRESIDENT  then  announced  that  the  exercises  would 
be  commenced  by  prayer  from  Rev.  Dr.  McCosn,  the  president  of 
the  College  of  New  Jersey,  at  Princeton. 

The  Memorial  Services  were  then  proceeded  with ;  the  YICE- 
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  VICE-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  OF  REPRESENTATIVES. 
Wednesday,  January  22,  1879. 

Mr.  STEPHENS.  (Member  from  Georgia.)  "  I  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  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." 

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.  SINGLETON,  (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.)  "  I  am  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 J) 
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.  ANTHONY,  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  PRESIDENT  April  18,  1879. 


PAET  I. 

OBSEQUIES  OF  JOSEPH  HENRY. 


Washington,  D.  G,  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  l^tnrQ  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  1832;  and  was  elected  the  first  Secretary  and  Director  of 
the  Smithsonian  Institution  in  18^,6. 

He  received  the  honorary  degree  of  Doctor  of  Laws  from 
Union  College  in  1829;  and  from  Harvard  University  in 
1851. 

(7) 


He  was  President  of  the  American  Association  for  the 
Advancement  of  Science  in  18^.9 ;  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- House  Board  of  'the  United 
States  in  the  same  year;  the  last  three  positions  he  continued 
to  fill  until  his  death. 

Professor  Jjenrg  made  contributions  to  science  in  elec- 
tricity, electro-magnetism,  meteorology,  capillarity,  acous- 
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.'f 

M.  K.  WAITE. 
Chancellor  of  the  Smithsonian  Institution. 


(8) 


M  H  I!  A  RY> 

U  N  I  V  K  I !  S  I  T  V    < )  F 


CALIFOUNIA. 


PROCEEDINGS 


OF 


BOARD  OF  REGENTS  OF  THE  SMITHSONIAN  INSTITUTION. 


WASHINGTON,  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 
HAMLIN,  Hon.  AARON  A.  SARGENT,  Hon.  ROBERT  E.  WITHERS, 
Hon.  HTESTER  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  SMITHSON  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.  PETER  PARKER,  and  Professor  S.  F.  BAIRD,  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  JOSEPH  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  WIL- 
LIAM T.  SHERMAN,  Dr.  PETER  PARKER,  and  Professor  SPENCER 
F.  BAIRD,  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  STRONG,  of  the  Supreme  Court  of  the  United  States. 

WILLIAM  W.  CORCORAN,  of  Washington. 

Admiral  JOHN  RODGERS,  Superintendent  National  Observatory. 

General  ANDREW  A.  HUMPHREYS,  Chief  Engineer  U.  S.  Army. 

JOSEPH  PATTERSON,  of  Philadelphia. 

GEORGE  W.  CHILDS,  of  Philadelphia. 

General  JOSEPH  K.  BARNES,  Surgeon-General  U.  S.  Army. 

Captain  CARLILE  P.  PATTERSON,  Sup't  of  U.  S.  Coast  Survey. 

General  ORLANDO  M.  POE,  member  of  U.  S.  Light-House  Board. 

Professor  SIMON  NEWCOMB,  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- 

(11) 


12  THE  FUNERAL. 

sisting  of  selections  of  Scripture,  by  the  Rev.  Dr.  JAMES  H. 
CUTHBERT,  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  ks 
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. 

o 

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 
HODGE,  D.  D.,  of  Princeton,  N.  J.;  and  the  address  was  delivered 
by  the  Rev.  SAMUEL  S.  MITCHELL,  D.  D.,  pastor  of  the  church  of 
which  Professor  HENRY  became  a  member  when  he  removed  to 
Washington,  thirty  years  ago. 


PEATEE 


BY 


REV.  CHARLES  HODGE,  D.  D. 


ALMIGHTY  GOD,  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.    C.    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  JOSEPH  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. 


FUNEEAL  ADDEESS 


BY 


REV.  SAMUEL  S.  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  leaven  working  unto 
the  regeneration  of  earth  and  man.  What  is  it?  What  were  its 
leading  qualities?  How  is  it  diiferentiated?  Purity,  simplicity, 
benevolence — 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.   S.    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  simple  as  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  reputations  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 


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  on  a  small  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  AGASSIZ,  he  could  have  said  :  "  I  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.   S.    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 :  "I 
have  not  given  much  attention  to  the  minutiae  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  not  a  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.   S.    MITCHELL.  21 

CHRISTIAN.  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 — 
''JOSEPH  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.  First,  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 


22  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  JOSEPH  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  INSTITUTION,  APRIL  12, 1878. 

MY  DEAR  MR.  PATTERSON  :  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  getting  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. 

I  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  Jaws,  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  be  a 
universe  without  the  evidence  of  an  intellectual  director. 

In  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, &c.  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  have  a  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.  PATTERSON,  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.  JOSEPH  PATTERSON, 

Philadelphia. 


U  BK A  KY 

N  [  v  KI-SITV  OF 

CALm^^-V 


PROCEEDINGS 

OF  THE  BOARD  OF  REGENTS. 


SMITHSONIAN  INSTITUTION, 

WASHINGTON,  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  WAITE,  Hon.  HANNIBAL 
HAMLIN,  Hon.  AARON  A.  SARGENT,  Hon.  ROBERT  E.  WITHERS, 
Hon.  HIESTER  CLYMER,  Hon.  JAMES  A.  GARFIELD,  Rev.  Dr. 
JOHN  MACLEAN,  Hon.  PETER  PARKER,  Dr.  ASA  GRAY,  General 
WILLIAM  T.  SHERMAN,  President  NOAH  PORTER. 

General  GARFIELD  was  requested  to  act  as  Secretary. 

At  the  request  of  the  Chancellor,  a  prayer  was  offered  by  Rev. 
Dr.  MACLEAN  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 
JOSEPH  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  PORTER,  Dr.  GRAY,  and  Dr.  MACLEAN. 
***** 

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.  SARGENT,  Hon.  ROBERT  E.  WITHERS,  Hon.  JAMES  A. 
GARFIELD,  Hon.  HIESTER  CLYMER,  Dr.  JOHN  MACLEAN,  Dr. 
ASA  GRAY,  Dr.  HENRY  COPPEE,  Hon.  PETER  PARKER,  President 
NOAH  PORTER,  General  WILLIAM  T.  SHERMAN,  and  the  Secre- 
tary, Professor  SPENCER  F.  BAIRD. 


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.  JAMES  McCosn,  President  of 
Princeton  College. 

2.  Address  by  Hon.  HANNIBAL  HAMLIN,  of  the  United  States 
Senate,  and  one  of  the  Regents. 

3.  Address  by  Hon.  ROBERT  E.  WITHERS,  of  the  United  States 
Senate,  and  one  of  the  Regents. 

4.  Address  by  Professor  ASA  GRAY,  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.  SAMUEL  S.  Cox,  of  the  House  of  Repre- 
sentatives. 

8.  Address   by  General  WILLIAM  T.  SHERMAN,  one  of  the 
Regents. 

9.  Concluding  prayer  by  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  PORTER,  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.  31 

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. 

WASHINGTON,  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  WAITE,  Hon.  AARON 
A.  SARGENT,  Hon.  ROBERT  E.  WITHERS,  Hon.  JAMES  A. 
GARFIELD,  Hon.  HIESTER  CLYMER,  Hon.  PETER  PARKER,  Rev. 
Dr.  JOHN  MACLEAN,  Prof.  ASA  GRAY,  Professor  HENRY  COPPEE, 
President  NOAH  PORTER,  General  WILLIAM  T.  SHERMAN,  and 
the  Secretary,  Professor  SPENCER  F.  BAIRD. 

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  BAIRD 
as  the  committee. 

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  1  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, 
CHARLES  G.  PAGE,  Louis  AGASSIZ,  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. 

It  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  JOSEPH  HENRY  and  CHARLES  HODGE,  closely 
united  in  life  were  not  long  divided  by  death :  "  We  thank  Thee, 
O  God,  that  JOSEPH  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." 


34  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. 


PAET    II. 

MEMORIAL  EXERCISES  AT  THE  CAPITOL. 


(35) 


MEMORIAL  EXERCISES 

IN  HONOR  OF 

JOSEPH    HE^BY. 

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  JOSEPH  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  Yice-President  of  the  United  States,  supported  by  the  Speaker 
of  the  House,  to  preside  on  that  occasion. 

(37) 


38  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, 
WILLIAM  T.  SHERMAN, 
Executive  Committee  of  the  Board  of  Regents. 
WASHINGTON,  January  6,  1879. 


PKOCEEDHSTGS. 

HALL  OF  THE  HOUSE  OF  REPRESENTATIVES,  \ 
OF  THE  UNITED  STATES,  / 

THURSDAY  EVENING,  January  16, 1879. 

.  In  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.  SAMUEL  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.  WILLIAM  A.  WHEELER,  the  Vice- President  of 
the  United  States,  who  thereupon  presided  on  the  occasion,  sup- 
ported by  the  Speaker  of  the  House. 


PEATEE 


BY 


REV.  JAMES  McCOSH,  D.  D. 


O  GOD,  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  carry  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    REV.    JAMES   McCOSH,  D.  D.  41 

believe  that  he  is  still  occupied  in  thy  service,  and  that  now,  in  a 
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. 


MM  K  A  R  Y 

UNI  VKKSITY   OK  f 


ADDRESSES. 


The  VICE-PRESIDENT.  The  first  address  in  the  order  of  exer- 
cises was  to  have  been  delivered  by  Hon.  HANNIBAL  HAMLIN,  a 
Senator  from  Maine,  and  a  Regent  of  the  Smithsonian  Institution. 
Mr.  HAMLIN  having  been  appointed  one  of  the  committee  on  the 
part  of  the  Senate  to  attend  the  remains  of  the  late  GUSTAVE 
SCHLEICHER,  late  a  member  of  the  House  of  Representatives, 
before  leaving  requested  that  I  should  read  the  remarks  which  he 
would  have  submitted  in  person  if  present;  which  the  Chair  will 
now  proceed  to  do. 

ADDRESS 

OF 

HON.  HANNIBAL  HAMLIN. 


HISTORY  teaches  us  that  in  every  age  and  country  of  the  civilized 
world  homage  has  been  paid  by  the  living  to  the  illustrious  dead. 
In  all  time  art  has  been  invoked  to  preserve  the  form  and  features 
of  the  great  and  the  good.  Monuments  of  bronze,  of  marble,  and  of 
granite  have  been  erected  and  dedicated  to  their  memory.  In  the 
wisdom  of  this  the  judgment  of  mankind  has  concurred.  It  is  a 
custom  honored  in  the  observance. 

The  learned  and  incorruptible  judge,  with  a  mind  stored  with 
legal  knowledge,  who  dispenses  justice  with  an  even  balance,  alike 
to  the  elevated  and  the  lowly,  the  rich  and  the  poor;  the  heroic  and 
able  commander  of  armies,  who  has  contributed  largely  in  founding 
or  preserving  the  institutions  of  his  country;  and  the  statesman 
and  the  executive  officer  who  respectively  frame  and  execute  the 

(43) 


44  MEMORIAL   OF    JOSEPH    HENRY. 

laws  of  the  nation,  so  that  "the  greatest  good  to  the  greatest  num- 
ber" shall  be  promoted  and  the  individual  rights  of  every  citizen, 
however  humble,  shall  be  fully  protected,  are  all,  whether  living  or 
dead,  entitled  to  the  homage  of  their  countrymen.  But  he  who 
like  Professor  HENRY,  through  a  long  life  of  unwearying  labor  and 
research,  has  drawn  from  science  her  hidden  treasures ;  has  enlarged 
the  dominion  of  mind  over  matter,  and  made  the  forces  of  nature 
contribute  to  the  welfare  and  comfort  of  man — whose  genius  origi- 
nated the  great  idea  that  in  its  perfection  has  put  a  girdle  of  com- 
munication around  the  earth,  which  acts  with  the  speed  of  thought 
and  brings  distant  parts  of  the  world  into  instant  intercourse ;  who, 
by  "the  diffusion  of  knowledge  among  men,"  has  assisted  in  raising 
the  world  to  a  higher  plane  and  given  a  broader  value  to  thought, 
knowledge,  and  action;  who  has  made  it  wiser  and  better  that  he 
lived,  is  entitled  to  the  honor  and  undissembled  homage  of  mankind. 

The  usefulness  and  distinguished  achievements  of  Professor 
HENRY  are  limited  by  no  national  boundaries,  but  are  co-extensive 
with  civilization  itself;  and  his  name  will  be  perpetuated  and 
remembered  wherever  science  is  cultivated  or  knowledge  is  cher- 
ished. We  pause  then,  as  we  are  borne  along  by  the  tide  and 
onward  current  of  human  life,  to  pay  a  just  and  fitting  tribute  to 
the  eminent  life,  character,  and  services  of  Professor  HENRY  ;  and 
we  can  but  be  reminded  of  the  marked  parallel  which  he  furnishes 
in  many  respects  to  the  distinguished  philosophers  of  the  early 
republics. 

But  of  his  triumphs  and  distinction  in  science,  specifically,  it  is  not 
within  my  province  to  speak :  that  duty  will  be  most  successfully 
discharged  by  the  learned  gentlemen  who  are  to  follow  me. 

It  was  my  fortune  to  have  been  officially  connected  with  others 
in  framing  and  enacting  the  organic  law  which  created  the  Smith- 
sonian Institution.  Thus  I  became  early  acquainted  with  Professor 
HENRY,  and  in  a  long  intercourse  of  years  from  then  until  the  time 


HON.  H.  HAMLIN'S  ADDRESS.  45 

of  his  decease,  it  is  indeed  a  pleasant  memory  that  no  word,  or 
thought,  or  deed  ever  marred  the  harmony  of  that  association.  To 
Professor  HENRY  must  be  awarded  the  credit  for  what  has  been 
done  by  the  Smithsonian  Institution  in  science  and  the  "diffusion 
of  knowledge  among  men."  It  was  his  mind  that  conceived  the 
plan  best  calculated  to  accomplish  the  object  designed  by  Mr. 
SMITHSON,  and  steadily,  with  a  zeal  that  never  faltered,  with  per- 
sistent toil  that  hardly  knew  a  limit,  he  pressed  on  in  his  noble 
work  until  the  Institution  under  his  inspirations  stands  to-day 
recognized  and  acknowledged  as  among  the  first  of  a  like  character 
in  the  world.  There  were  times  when  a  change  was  sought  and 
earnestly  urged  in  the  scope,  mode,  and  manner  in  which  the  Insti- 
tution should  be  conducted.  But  the  wiser  plans  and  wiser  counsels 
of  Professor  HENRY  prevailed,  and  it  is  safe  to  say  that  now  no 
ruthless  hand  would  substantially  change  them.  The  test  of  time 
has  fully  established  and  vindicated  his  wisdom. 

Professor  HENRY  was  distinguished  in  an  eminent  degree  for  his 
dignity  of  character  and  rare  modesty.  To  those  who  knew  him 
well  and  intimately  he  was  always  unassuming,  speaking  never  of 
himself  or  his  great  achievements.  He  appeared  in  his  possession 
and  dissemination  of  knowledge,  as  NEWTON  said  of  himself,  like 
a  child  upon  the  sea-shore,  picking  here  and  there  a  grain  of  sand, 
while  a  vast  and  unexplored  ocean  was  before  him. 

Though  gifted  with  knowledge  vast,  varied,  and  profound,  he 
exemplified  and  illustrated  the  maxim  of  the  poet — "Of  their  own 
merits  modest  men  are  dumb."  His  dignity  and  modesty  were 
unerring  marks  of  his  intellectual  greatness,  and  adorned  his  wealth 
of  science  and  learning.  ' 

Eminent  and  distinguished  as  was  Professor  HENRY  to  those 
familiar  with  and  who  knew  the  administration  of  the  Smithsonian 
Institution  in  all  its  parts,  he  was  no  less  great  for  the  rare  ability 
with  which  he  cared  for  and  managed  its  finances.  Here,  too,  as  in 


46  MEMORIAL   OF   JOSEPH    HENRY. 

all  else,  he  was  modest  and  without  pretension,  but  firm  and  un- 
flinching in  the  policy  which  he  pursued,  and  which  was  crowned 
with  such  prominent  success.  He  was  learned  in  the  science  of 
finance,  and  his  knowledge  and  opinions  on  important  occasions 
were  sought  and  adopted  by  others.  But  in  the  administration  of 
the  funds  of  the  Institution  his  financial  theory,  in  practice,  was 
reduced  to  two  simple  rules  from  which  volumes  of  useful  instruc- 
tion may  be  drawn,  and  if  wisely  followed,  how  much  of  what 
are  called  the  misfortunes  of  the  world  would  be  averted.  Indeed, 
an  approximate  adherence  to  his  rules,  and  the  financial  world 
would  hardly  have  been  darkened  by  the  floods  of  such  light  as  has 
been  deluged  upon  it.  PAY  AS  YOU  GO. — SPEND  LESS  THAN  YOUR 
INCOME.  These  were  the  two  rules  that  he  laid  down  for  his  course 
of  action,  and  he  followed  them  without  a  single  departure.  There 
were  times  of  pressing  necessity  and  great  desirability  of  extending 
the  fields  already  occupied  and  of  seeking  new  ones  by  the  Institu- 
tion. But  Professor  HENRY  still  held  to  his  rules  with  an  iron  hand 
and  a  Spartan  will.  The  end  again  illustrates  his  wisdom. 

A  condensed  statement  of  the  Smithsonian  fund  at  the  end 
of  Professor  HENRY'S  administration  as  its  Secretary  shows  as 
follows : 

The  amount  originally  received  as  the  bequest  of 
JAMES  SMITHSON,  of  England,  deposited  in 
the  Treasury  of  the  United  States  in  accordance 
with  the  act  of  Congress  of  August  10,  1846, 
was $515, 169  00 

The  residuary  legacy  of  Smithson,  received  in 
1865,  deposited  in  the  Treasury  of  the  United 
States  in  accordance  with  the  act  of  Congress  of 
February  8,  1867 26,  210  63 


Total  bequest  of  Smithson 541,  379  63 


47 

Amount  brought  forward $541,379  63 

Amount  deposited  in  the  Treasury  of  the  United 
States  as  authorized  by  act  of  Congress  of  Feb- 
ruary 8,  1867,  derived  from  savings  of  income 
and  increase  in  value  of  investments 108,  620  37 

Amount  received  as  the  bequest  of  JAMES  HAM- 
ILTON, of  Carlisle,  Pennsylvania,  February  24, 
1874  _  1, 000  00 


Total  permanent  Smithson  fund  in  the  Treasury 

of  the  United  States  bearing  interest  at  6  per 

cent.,  payable  semi-annually  in  gold 651,  000  00 

To  that  sum  should  be  added  as  the  present  value 

of  State  stocks  held  by  the  Institution 35,  000  00 

Making  a  total  fund  of ^._  686/000  00 

In  addition  to  the  above  the  Institution  has — 

Cash  on  hand  for  current  operations 25,  000  00 

Value  of  building  and  furniture,  cost 500,  000  00 

Value  of  library 200,  000  00 

Value  of  stock  on  hand  of  its  own  publications, 

including    twenty-one    quartos    and    fifteen 

octavos,  wood-cuts,  and  plates 50,  000  00 

Value  of  philosophical  apparatus 5,  000  00 

Value  of  works  of  art 2,  000  00 


Total 1,468,000  00 

The  foregoing  statement  shows  a  fund  and  property  of  the  Insti- 
tution of  nearly  one  and  a  half  millions  of  dollars  in  gold,  or,  to 
analyze  a  little,  a  fund  of  six  hundred  and  fifty-one  thousand 
dollars  at  an  interest  of  six  per  cent,  per  annum  for  the  yearly 
operations  of  the  Institution.  This  is  noticeable  particularly  in 
the  fact  that  the  fund  has  been  increased  nearly  one  hundred  and 


48  MEMORIAL    OF    JOSEPH    HENRY. 

fifty  thousand  dollars  over  and  above  the  sum  bequeathed  by  Mr. 
SMITHSON.  The  other  property  of  the  Institution  in  value,  as  has 
been  stated,  is  over  seven  hundred  thousand  dollars.  Such  is  the 
correct  statement  of  the  fund  and  financial  condition  of  the  Smith- 
sonian Institution  at  the  decease  of  Professor  HENRY.  For  him 
how  proud  the  record,  and  for  the  future  usefulness  of  the  Institu- 
tion how  grand  the  prospect !  With  this  flattering  condition  of  its 
finances,  the  Institution  may  widen  its  present  and  enter  new  fields 
to  seek  for  additional  knowledge  to  be  diifused  among  men,  while 
Professor  HENRY,  its  world-distinguished  secretary,  shall  be  remem- 
bered away  in  the  stillness  of  ages  as  one  of  the  most  learned  men 
of  his  time  and  a  benefactor  of  mankind. 


ADDRESS 


OF 


HON.  ROBERT  E.  WITHERS. 


THIS  thronging  hall,  this  august  assemblage,  this  imposing  pageant 
are  suggestive  and  significant  to  a  degree  that  anticipates  and  almost 
consummates  the  duty  of  the  hour. 

The  death  of  the  soldier,  the  patriot,  or  the  statesman  who  has 
won  glory,  honor,  or  distinction  in  the  public  service,  has  usually 
been  made  the  occasion  of  impressive  memorial  ceremonial;  for  as 
different  as  nations  are  in  many  other  respects,  they  all  agree  in 
this,  —  gratitude  for  distinguished  services,  and  reverence  for  the 
mighty  dead.  This  is  a  feeling  peculiar  to  no  era  or  country;  it 
is  common  to  all  mankind — whether  civilized  or  savage,  barbarous 
or  refined.  The  rude  tumuli  of  the  savage,  the  magnificent  mau- 
solea  of  the  East,  and  the  marble  monuments  of  the  West,  alike 
point  to  where  sleep  the  ashes  of  the  warrior,  the  patriot,  and  the 
sage  whose  services  have  endeared  them  to  their  countrymen  and 
whose  deeds  have  rendered  their  nation  illustrious. 

I  see  around  me,  congregated  in  this,  the  capitol  of  a  great  nation, 
its  highest  functionaries  in  the  executive,  legislative,  and  judicial 
departments  of  government,  distinguished  diplomatic  representa- 
tives of  almost  every  civilized  people,  the  chiefest  dignitaries  of 
church  and  state,  men  most  renowned  in  peace  and  in  war,  those 
most  honored  in  the  world  of  science,  of  literature,  and  of  art, 
convened  to  do  homage  to  the  memory  of  one  whose  brow  was 
decked  neither  with  the  laurel  wreath  of  the  conqueror  nor  yet 
with  the  civic  crown  of  the  statesman.  He  chose  rather  to  dedi- 
cate his  powers  to  the  pursuits  of  science,  to  the  investigation  of 
4  (49) 


50  MEMORIAL   OF   JOSEPH    HENRY. 

those  abstruse  and  occult  problems  which  baffle  the  efforts  of 
scientists,  hoping  thus  perchance  to  add  to  the  stores  of  human 
knowledge  and  the  happiness  of  human  life.  Surely,  mankind  are 
not  mere  followers  of  fame  nor  blind  worshipers  of  Mammon,  but 
are  prompt  to  recognize  true  greatness  wherever  found. 

When  JAMES  SMITHSON'S  munificent  donation  to  the  cause  of 
knowledge  was  heralded  to  the  world,  scientists  and  literati  differed 
widely  in  their  views  of  the  proper  method  of  carrying  into  effect 
the  wishes  of  the  donor,  and  of  utilizing  the  bequest.  Many  were 
the  suggestions  and  varied  the  projects  which  were  successively  pro- 
posed, considered,  and  rejected.  Steadily  adhering  to  his  own  far- 
seeing  convictions,  Professor  HENRY  finally  secured  such  legislation 
as  was  necessary  to  consummate  with  literal  exactitude  the  wishes  of 
the  generous  donor,  and  from  that  hour  the  Smithsonian  Institu- 
tion has  been  dedicated  to  its  great  work,  "the  increase  and  diffu- 
sion of  knowledge  among  men." 

Himself  arranging  all  the  details  whereby  these  results  could  be 
most  surely  attained,  the  work  of  original  investigation  has  under 
his  guidance  gone  steadily  forward,  until  to-day  the  name  and  fame 
of  the  Smithsonian  Institution  and  its  late  secretary  are  known  and 
appreciated  among  the  nations  of  the  earth,  wherever  knowledge 
has  found  a  votary  or  science  an  abiding  place.  The  system  is 
unique,  for  neither  in  the  Old  World  nor  the  New  is  its  counter- 
part to  be  found,  and  I  may  safely  say  that  its  achievements  are 
as  widely  known  and  as  highly  valued  in  other  continents  as  in 
this.  Time  will  not  suffice  to  enumerate  the  varied  and  useful 
results  which  have  been  thus  attained ;  but  we  know,  and  the  world 
knows,  that  to  the  sagacity,  industry,  and  administrative  ability  of 
JOSEPH  HENRY  is  alone  due  the  credit  of  this  great  success. 
Unwilling  to  lessen  the  interest  or  mar  the  beauty  of  the  biograph- 
ical sketch  to  which  you  will  soon  listen,  the  preparation  of  which 
has  been  delegated  to  the  able  hands  of  one  who  knew  him  long 


ADDRESS   OF   HON.    R.    E.    WITHERS.  51 

and  intimately,  I  forbear  to  do  more  than  briefly  glance  at  some  of 
the  salient  points  of  Professor  HENRY'S  character  and  services. 

To  speak  of  him  as  he  was  is  to  praise  him ;  to  describe  his  daily 
walk  and  conversation  as  he  lived,  moved,  and  had  his  being  is  his 
highest  eulogy.  He  was  not  a  genius.  The  characteristics  of  his 
mind  are  typified  rather  by  the  steady  illumination  of  the  well- 
trimmed  lamp,  than  by  the  scintillations  of  those  brilliant  pyro- 
technics which  for  a  while  dazzle,  startle,  and  amaze,  but  suddenly 
expire  in  the  blackness  of  darkness  forever.  Simplicity,  purity, 
and  earnestness  were  his  chief  attributes;  guileless  and  unaffected 
as  a  child  he  was  wise  with  more  than  worldly  wisdom.  Genius 
may  be  admired  as  the  mountain  torrent  or  the  lightning's  flash  for 
its  force  and  brilliancy,  but  a  higher  homage  is  due  to  morality  and 
virtue,  which  should  guide  the  strength  of  the  one  and  the  splendor 
of  the  other  to  beneficent  results. 

That  "knowledge  is  power"  has  been  accepted  as  an  axiom, 
but  it  is  a  power  for  good  or  for  evil;  it  becomes  a  blessing  or  a 
curse  as  it  is  well  or  illy  used.  It  is  a  treasure  above  all  price  when 
consecrated  to  the  cause  of  morality  and  virtue,  but  an  inexhausti- 
ble fountain  of  woe  when  wedded  to  immorality  and  vice. 

If  these  things  be  true,  then  may  we  confidently  point  to  him  as 
an  example  calculated  to  inspire  a  deeper  reverence  for  the  majesty 
of  virtue  in  public  and  in  private  life,  and  as  furnishing  a  higher 
incentive  to  virtuous  deeds  of  emulation  in  his  countrymen. 

He  acted  on  the  principle  that  no  success  in  life,  whether  meas- 
ured by  wealth  or  fame,  could  compensate  for  the  loss  of  that  calm 
sunshine  of  conscious  integrity,  and  that  deserved  praise  so  surely 
awarded  a  life  of  usefulness  and  beneficence. 

Viewing  the  mere  acquisition  of  wealth  with  philosophic  indif- 
ference, he  was,  nevertheless,  as  a  financier  a  model  of  sagacity. 
The  full  and  satisfactory  detail  to  which  you  have  just  listened  of 
the  principles  which  guided,  and  the  success  which  attended  his 


52  MEMORIAL    OF    JOSEPH    HENRY. 

administration  of  the  funds  intrusted  to  his  management  will 
abundantly  verify  this  assertion. 

In  his  own  affairs,  however,  he  exhibited  an  indifference  to  gain 
which  was  by  many  regarded  as  almost  inexcusable.  Consecrated 
to  the  cause  of  science,  he  freely  and  unselfishly  gave  to  mankind 
the  results  of  all  his  discoveries.  When  with  untiring  assiduity  he 
had  traced  to  its  matrix  the  germ  of  a  useful  idea,  and  became 
satisfied  that  he  had  brought  to  light  a  principle  destined  to  benefit 
his  fellow-man,  he  left  to  others  the  task  of  applying  this  principle 
and  reaping  the  pecuniary  recompense,  while  he,  again  returning  to 
the  domain  of  original  research,  boldly  invaded  the  very  penetralia 
of  nature's  laboratory  in  quest  of  further  knowledge.  This  trait  of 
his  character  is  strikingly  illustrated  in  the  history  of  the  electric 
telegraph,  for  to  him  is  the  world  indebted  for  the  discovery  of  the 
principle  from  which  has  been  developed  by  the  labors  of  others 
such  wondrous  results.  In  these  results,  with  their  accompanying 
emoluments,  he  had  no  share,  nor  ever  seemed  to  regard  them  as  of 
the  slightest  moment. 

Though  thus  devoted  to  scientific  pursuits  and  standing  second 
to  none  in  the  expansive  breadth  of  his  inquiries  or  the  acuteness 
of  his  analytical  investigations,  Professor  HENRY  belonged  not  to 
the  class  of  ultra-scientists,  whose  sharpened  faculties  forbid  the 
recognition  of  a  first  great  cause,  and  whose  boasted  reason  scorns  to 
accept  the  simple  story  of  the  Cross.  The  uniform  tenor  of  a  long 
life,  the  unsullied  purity  of  his  character,  the  uniform  practice  of 
all  the  Christian  virtues,  the  regular  attendance  upon  the  Christian 
ministry,  and  the  testimony  he  left  us  in  his  dying  hour,  all  attest 
that  for  him  faith  had  bridged  the  dark  gulf  which  separates  the 
seen  from  the  unseen,  and  led  him  safely  through  the  gates  into  the 
eternal  city  whose  builder  and  maker  is  God. 


BIOGRAPHICAL  MEMORIAL, 


BY 


PROFESSOR  ASA  GRAY, 

IN  BEHALF  OP  THE  BOARD  OF  REGENTS. 


THE  Regents  of  the  Smithsonian  Institution,  on  the  day  following 
the  obsequies  of  their  late  Secretary,  resolved  to  place  upon  record, 
by  the  hands  of  their  committee,  a  memorial  of  their  lamented 
associate.  The  time  has  arrived  when  this  should  be  done,  now  that 
the  Institution  enters  upon  another  official  year,  and  its  bereavement 
is  brought  freshly  to  mind. 

Although  time  may  have  assuaged  our  sorrow,  as  time  will  do, 
and  although  the  recollection  that  a  well-spent  life  was  well  appre- 
ciated and  not  prematurely  closed,  should  temper  regret,  yet  they 
have  not  dulled  our  sense  of  loss,  nor  lessened  our  estimate  of  the 
signal  services  to  science,  to  this  Institution,  and  to  the  general 
good  which  remarkable  gifts  and  a  devoted  spirit  enabled  this  man 
to  render. 

If  we  would  fit  this  memorial  to  the  subject  of  it,  we  must  keep 
in  mind  Professor  HENRY'S  complete  and  transparent,  but  dignified 
simplicity  and  modesty  of  character,  in  which  a  delicate  sense  of 
justice  went  along  with  extreme  dislike  of  exaggeration,  and  aver- 
sion to  all  that  savored  of  laudation. 

Yet  it  is  not  for  ourselves,  his  associates — some  of  few,  some  of 
many  years — that  this  record  is  made;  nor  need  we  speak  for  that 
larger  circle  of  his  associates,  the  men  of  science  in  our  land,  who 
will,  in  their  several  organizations,  recount  the  scientific  achieve- 
ments of  their  late  leader  and  Nestor.  And  nothing  that  we  can 
say  will  enhance  the  sentiments  of  respect,  veneration,  and  trust  with 

which  he  was  regarded  here,  in  Washington,  by  all  who  knew  him, 

(53) 


54  MEMORIAL    OF   JOSEPH    HENRY. 

whether  of  high  or  humble  station.  Even  those,  here  or  elsewhere, 
who  came  only  into  occasional  intercourse  with  him,  will  remember 
that  thoughtful  and  benignant  face; — certainly  it  will  be  remem- 
bered by  those  who,  in  that  recourse  to  him  which  it  was  always  easy 
to  gain,  have  seen  the  mild  seriousness  of  a  somewhat  abstracted 
and  grave  mien  change  into  a  winning  smile,  sure  precursor  of 
pleasant  words,  cheerful  attention,  and,  if  need  were,  wise  counsel 
and  cordial  help.  But  we  are  all  passing,  as  he  has  passed,  and  the 
tribute  to  his  memory  which  it  is  our  privilege  to  pay,  is  a  duty  to 
those  who  are  to  come  after  us. 

JOSEPH  HENRY  was  of  Scotch  descent.  His  grandparents, 
paternal  and  maternal,  landed  at  New  York  from  the  same  vessel 
on  the  day  before  the  battle  of  Bunker  Hill.  The  HENRYS  settled 
in  Delaware  County,  the  ALEXANDERS  in  Saratoga*  County,  New 
York.  Of  his  father,  WILLIAM  HENRY,  little  is  known.  He  died 
when  his  oldest  son,  JOSEPH,  was  eight  or  nine  years  old.  His 
mother  lived  to  a  good  age.*  He  was  born  at  Albany  very  near 
the  close  of  the  last  century,  f  His  boyhood  was  mostly  passed 
with  his  maternal  grandmother  in  the  country  at  Galway.  His 
early  education  was  such  as  a  country  common  school  would  furnish 
to  a  lad  of  inquisitive  mind  but  no  aptness  for  study.  The  fond- 
ness for  reading  came  early,  but  in  a  surreptitious  way. 

One  day,  in  the  pursuit  of  a  pet  rabbit,  he  penetrated  through  an 
•opening  in  the  foundation- wall  of  the  village  meeting-house.  A 
glimmer  of  light  enticed  him  through  the  broken  floor  into  a  room 
above,  in  which  an  open  bookcase  contained  the  village  library. 
He  took  down  a  book — Brooks's  Fool  of  Quality — was  soon 
absorbed  in  the  perusal,  returned  again  and  again  to  this,  which  he 

*  She  is  remembered  as  a  lady  of  winning  refinement  of  mien  and  character,  of 
small  size,  with  delicate  Grecian  features,  fair  complexion,  and  when  young  she  is 
said  to  have  been  very  beautiful. 

t  The  date,  December  17, 1797,  given  in  the  American  Cyclopedias,  appears  to  be 
wrong;  was  perhaps  misprinted.  There  is  little  doubt  that  he  was  bom  on  the  17th 
of  December,  1799. 


ADDRESS  OF  PROF.  A.  GRAY.  55 

said  was  the  first  book  he  ever  opened  voluntarily,  and  to  all  the 
works  of  fiction  which  the  library  contained.  Access  in  the  regular 
way  was  soon  granted  to  him. 

The  lad  at  this  time  was  a  clerk,  or  office-boy,  in  the  store  of  a 
Mr.  BRODERICK.  He  returned  to  Albany  at  the  age  of  fourteen 
or  fifteen.  We  may  count  it  as  a  part  of  his  education  that  he  there 
served  a  brief  apprenticeship  to  a  silversmith,  in  which  he  acquired 
the  manual  dexterity  afterward  so  useful  to  him.  Opportunely 
perhaps,  the  silversmith  soon  failed  in  business,  and  young  HENRY 
was  thrown  out  of  employment.  His  powers  were  now  developing, 
but  not  in  the  line  they  were  soon  to  take.  To  romance  reading 
was  now  joined  a  fondness  for  the  theater.  Not  content  with  seeing 
all  the  plays  he  could,  he  found  his  way  behind  the  scenes,  and 
learned  the  methods  of  producing  stage  effects.  He  joined  a  juve- 
nile forensic  and  theatrical  society,  called  the  Eostrum,  and  soon 
distinguished  himself  in  it  by  his  ingenuity  in  stage  arrangements. 
He  was  made  president,  and  having  nothing  else  to  do  at  the  time, 
he  gave  his  whole  attention  to  the  Rostrum.  He  dramatized  a  tale, 
wrote  a  comedy,  and  took  a  part  in  its  representation.  Unusually 
comely  in  form  and  features,  and  of  prepossessing  address,  our 
future  philosopher  was  in  a  fair  way  to  become  an  actor,  perhaps  a 
distinguished  one. 

But  now  a  slight  illness  confined  him  for  a  few  days  to  his  mother's 
house.  To  while  away  the  hours  he  took  up  a  small  book  which  a 
Scotchman,  who  then  occupied  a  room  in  the  house,  had  left  upon 
his  mother's  table.  It  was  "Lectures  on  Experimental  Philosophy, 
Astronomy,  and  Chemistry,  intended  chiefly  for  the  use  of  young 
persons,  by  G.  Gregory,"  an  English  clergyman.  It  is  an  unpre- 
tending volume,  but  a  sensible  one.  It  begins  by  asking  three  or 
four  questions,  such  as  these : 

"You  throw  a  stone,  or  shoot  an  arrow  into  the  air;  why  does  it 
not  go  forward  in  the  line  or  direction  that  you  give  it?  Why  does 


56  MEMORIAL    OF   JOSEPH    HENRY. 

it  stop  at  a  certain  distance,  and  then  return  to  you?  -  -  -  On 
the  contrary,  why  does  flame  or  smoke  always  mount  upward, 
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  downward,  instead  of  turning  up  and  ascending 
into  the  air?  -  -  -  Again,  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  that  it  is  done  by  reflection  of  light.  But  what  is 
reflection  of  light?" 

Young  HENRY'S  mind  was  aroused  by  these  apt  questions,  and 
allured  by  the  explanations;  he  now  took  in  a  sense  of  what 
knowledge  was.  The  door  to  knowledge  opened  to  him,  that  door 
which  it  thence  became  the  passion  of  his  life  to  open  wider. 
Thenceforth  truth  charmed  him  more  than  fiction.  At  the  next 
meeting  of  his  dramatic  association  he  resigned  the  office  of  president 
and  took  his  leave  in  a  valedictory  address,  in  which  he  assured  his 
comrades  that  he  should  now  prepare  to  play  his  part  on  another 
stage,  with  nobler  and  more  impressive  scenes.  The  volume  itself 
is  preserved  in  Professor  HENRY'S  library.  On  a  fly-leaf  is  the 
following  entry: 

"This,  book,  although  by  no  means  a  profound  work,  has,  under 
Providence,  exerted  a  remarkable  influence  upon  my  life.  It  acci- 
dentally fell  into  my  hands  when  I  was  about  sixteen  years  old,  and 
was  the  first  work  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." 

The  pursuit  of  elementary  knowledge  under  difficulties  and  pri- 
vations now  commenced.  At  first  he  attended  a  night-school,  where 
he  soon  learned  all  the  master  could  teach.  At  length  he  entered 


ADDRESS  OF  PROF.  A.  GRAY.  57 

Albany  Academy,  earning  the  means  at  one  time  by  teaching  a 
country  district  school,  later  by  serving  as  tutor  to  the  sons  of  Gen- 
eral STEPHEN  VAN  RENSSELAER  the  patroon.  Then  he  took  the 
direction  of  a  road-survey  across  the  southern  portion  of  the  State, 
from  West  Point  to  Lake  Erie,  earning  a  little  money  and  much 
credit.  He  returned  to  Albany  Academy  as  an  assistant  teacher, 
but  was  very  soon,  in  1828,  appointed  professor  of  mathematics. 
He  had  already  chosen  his  field,  and  began  to  make  physical  inves- 
tigations. 

It  is  worth  noticing  that  just  when  HENRY'S  youthful  resolution 
to  devote  his  life  to  the  acquisition  of  knowledge  was  ready  to  bear 
fruit,  another  resolve  was  made,  in  England,  by  another  scientific 
investigator,  JAMES  SMITHSON,  in  his  will,  executed  in  October, 
1828,  wherein  he  devoted  his  patrimony  "TO  FOUND  AT  WASH- 
INGTON AN  ESTABLISHMENT  FOR  THE  INCREASE  AND  DIFFUSION 

OF  KNOWLEDGE  AMONG  MEN."  Who  could  have  thought  that  the 
poor  lad,  who  resolved  to  seek  for  knowledge  as  for  hid  treasure, 
and  the  rich  man  of  noble  lineage,  who  resolved  that  his  treasure 
should  increase  and  diffuse  knowledge,  would  ever  stand  in  this 
interesting  relation;  that  the  one  would  direct  and  shape  the  estab- 
lishment which  the  other  willed  to  be  founded ! 

The  young  professor's  position  was  an  honorable  but  most 
laborious  one.  Although  Albany  Academy  was  said  by  the  distin- 
guished president  of  Union  College  in  those  days  to  be  "a  college 
in  disguise,"  it  began  its  work  low  down.  Its  new  professor  of 
mathematics  had  to  teach  seven  hours  of  every  day,  and  for  half 
of  this  time  to  drudge  with  a  large  class  of  boys  in  the  elements 
of  arithmetic.  But  he  somehow  found  time  to  carry  on  systemat- 
ically the  electro-magnetic  researches  which  he  had  already  begun. 
In  the  very  year  of  his  appointment,  1828,  he  described  in  the 
Transactions  of  the  Albany  Institute  a  new  application  of  the 
galvanic  multiplier,  and  throughout  that  year  and  the  two  next  he 


58  MEMORIAL   OF   JOSEPH    HENRY. 

carried  on  those  investigations  which,  when  published  at  the  begin- 
ning of  the  ensuing  year,  January,  1831,  in  that  notable  first  paper 
in  the  American  Journal  of  Science  and  the  Arts,  at  once  brought 
HENRY'S  name  to  the  front  line  among  the  discoverers  in  electro- 
magnetism. 

STURGEON  may  be  said  to  have  first  made  an  electro-magnet ; 
HENRY  undoubtedly  made  the  electro-magnet  what  it  is.  Just 
after  BARLOW,  in  England,  had  declared  that  there  could  be  no 
electric  telegraph  to  a  long  distance,  HENRY  discovered  that  there 
could  be,  how  and  why  it  could  be ;  he  declared  publicly  its  practi- 
cability, and  illustrated  it  experimentally  by  setting  up  a  telegraph 
with  such  length  of  wire  as  he  could  conveniently  command, 
delivering  signals  at  a  distance  by  the  sounding  of  a  bell. 

Previously  to  his  investigations  the  means  of -developing  mag- 
netism in  soft  iron  were  imperfectly  understood  (even  though  the 
law  from  which  they  are  now  seen  to  flow  had  been  mathematically 
worked  out  by  OHM),  and  the  electro-magnet  which  then  existed 
was  inapplicable  to  the  transmission  of  power  to  a  distance.  HENRY 
first  rendered  it  applicable  to  the  transmission  of  mechanical  power 
to  a  distance;  was  the  first  actually  to  magnetize  a  piece  of  iron  at 
a  distance,  and  by  it  to  deliver  telegraphic  signals.  He  also 
showed  what  kind  of  battery  must  be  employed  to  project  the 
current  through  a  great  length  of  wire,  and  what  kind  of  coil 
should  surround  the  magnet  used  to  receive  this  current  and  to 
do  the  work.  * 

*The  following  appear  to  be  the  main  points  in  the  order  of  discovery  which 
led  to  the  electro-magnetic  telegraph.  They  are  here  condensed  from  Professor 
HENRY'S  "Statement,"  in  the  "Proceedings  of  the  Regents,"  published  in  the 
Smithsonian  Report  for  the  year  1857,  and  from  a  note  appended  by  Mr.  William 
B.  Taylor  to  his  "Memoir  of  JOSEPH  HENRY  and  his  Scientific  Work,"  read 
before  the  Philosophical  Society  of  Washington  : 
1819-1820.  OERSTED  showed  that  a  magnetic  needle  is  deflected  by  the  action  of  a 

current  of  galvanic  electricity  passing  near  it.    It  recently  appears  that  this 

discovery  had  already  been  made  as  early  as  the  year  1802,  by  ROMAGNESI, 

and  published  in  1805. 
1820.  ARAGO  discovered  that  while  a  galvanic  current  is  passing  through  a  copper 

wire  it  is  capable  of  developing  magnetism  in  soft  iron. 


ADDRESS  OF  PROF.  A.  GRAY.  59 

For  the  telegraph,  and  for  electro-magnetic  machines,  what  was 
now  wanted  was  not  discovery,  but  invention,  not  the  ascertainment 
of  principles,  but  the  devising  of  methods.  These,  the  proper 
subjects  of  patent,  have  been  supplied  in  various  ways  and,  as  to 
the  telegraph,  with  wonderful  efficiency;  —  in  Europe,  by  the  trans- 
mission of  signs  through  the  motion  of  a  magnetic  needle;  in 
America,  by  the  production  of  sounds  or  records  by  the  electro- 
magnet. MORSE  was  among  the  first  to  undertake  the  enterprise, 
and,  when  directed  to  the  right  way  through  Professor  GALE'S 
acquaintance  with  HENRY'S  published  researches,  he  carried  the 


1820.  AMPERE  discovered  that  two  wires  through  which  currents  are  passing  in  the 
same  direction  attract,  and  in  opposite  directions  repel,  each  other;  and  thence 
he  inferred  that  magnetism  consists  in  the  attraction  of  electrical  currents 
revolving  at  right  angles  to  the  line  joining  the  two  poles  of  the  magnet,  and 
is  produced  in  a  bar  of  steel  or  iron  by  induction  from  a  series  of  electrical 
currents  revolving  in  the  same  direction  at  right  angles  to  the  axis  of  the  bar. 

1820.  SCHWEIGGER  in  the  same  year  produced  the  galvanometer. 

1825.  STURGEON  made  the  electro-magnet  by  bending  the  bar,  or  rather  a  piece 
of  iron  wire,  into  the  form  of  a  horse-shoe,  covering  it  with  varnish  to  insulate 
it,  and  surrounding  it  with  a  helix  of  wire  the  turns  of  which  were  at  a  dis- 
tance. 

1829-1830.  HENRY,  in  accordance  with  the  theory  of  AMPERE,  produced  the  intensity 
or  spool-wound  magnet,  insulating  the  wire  instead  of  the  rod  or  bar,  and 
covering  the  whole  surface  of  the  iron  with  a  series  of  coils  in  close  contact. 
He  extended  the  principle  to  the  full  by  winding  successive  strata  of  insulated 
wire  over  each  other,  thus  producing  a  compound  helix  formed  of  a  long  wire 
of  many  coils.  At  the  same  time  he  developed  the  relation  of  the  intensity 
magnet  to  the  intensity  battery,  and  their  relations  to  the  magnet  of  quantity. 
He  thus  made  the  electro-magnet  capable  of  transmitting  power  to  a  long 
distance,  demonstrated  the  principle  and  perfected  the  magnet  applicable  to 
the  purpose,  was  the  first  actually  to  magnetize  a  piece  of  iron  at  a  distance, 
and  to  demonstrate  and  declare  the  applicability  of  the  electro-magnet  to 
telegraphy  at  a  distance.  Using  the  terminal  short-circuit  magnet  of  quantity, 
and  the  armature  as  the  signaling  device,  he  was  the  first  to  make  by  it 
acoustic  signals,  sounding  a  bell  at  a  distance  by  means  of  the  electro-magnet. 

1833.  WEBER  discovered  that  the  conducting-wires  of  an  electric  telegraph  could 
be  left  without  insulation  except  at  the  points  of  support. 

1833.  GAUSS  ingeniously  arranged  the  application  of  a  dual  sign  in  such  manner 
as  to  produce  a  true  alphabet  for  telegraphy. 

1836.  DANIELL,  invented  and  brought  into  use  a  constant  galvanic  battery. 

1837.  STEINHEIL  discovered  that  the  earth  may  form  the  returning  half  of  the 
circuit,  so  that  a  single  conducting  wire  suffices  for  telegraphy. 

1837.  MORSE  adopted,  through  the  agency  of  Dr.  LEONARD  GALE,  the  principle  of 
the  HENRY  electro-magnet,  and  made  of  the  armature  a  recording  instrument. 

1838.  MORSE  devised  his  "dot  and  dash"  alphabet,  a  great  improvement  upon  the 
GAUSS  and  STEINHEIL,  alphabets. 

1844.  MORSE  suggested  and  brought  into  use  the  system  of  relay-magnets,  and 
relay-circuits,  to  reinforce  the  current. 


60  MEMORIAL   OF   JOSEPH    HENRY. 

latter  mode  into  practical  and  most  successful  execution.  If  HENRY 
had  patented  his  discovery,  which  he  was  urged,  but  declined  to  do, 
MORSE  could  have  patented  only  his  alphabetical  mode  of  signaling, 
and  perhaps  the  use  of  relay-batteries,  the  latter  indispensable  for 
long  lines  upon  that  system. 

The  scientific  as  well  as  popular  effect  of  Professor  HENRY'S 
first  paper  in  Silliman's  Journal  was  immediate  and  great.  With  the 
same  battery  that  STURGEON  used  he  developed  at  least  a  hundred 
times  more  magnetism.  The  instantaneous  production  of  magnets 
lifting  four  hundred  and  twenty  times  their  own  weight,  of  those 
which  with  less  than  a  pint  of  dilute  acid  acting  on  two  hands7 
breadth  of  zinc  would  lift  seven  hundred  and  fifty  pounds,  and 
this  afterward  carried  up  to  a  magnet  lifting  thirty-three  hundred 
pounds,  was  simply  astonishing.  Yet  it  was  not  these  extraordinary 
results,  nor  their  mechanical  applications  which  engaged  Professor 
HENRY'S  attention  so  much  as  the  prospect  they  opened  of  a  way 
by  which  to  ascend  to  higher  discovery  of  the  laws  of  nature.  In 
other  hands,  his  discoveries  furnished  the  means  by  which  dianiag- 
netism,  magnetic  effects  on  polarized  light,  and  magneto-electricity — 
now  playing  so  conspicuous  a  part — soon  came  to  be  known.  In 
his  own  hands,  the  immediate  discovery  of  the  induction  of  a  cur- 
rent in  a  long  wire  on  itself*  led  the  way  to  his  next  fertile  field 
of  inquiry,  the  following  up  of  which  caused  unwise  tardiness  in 
the  announcement  of  what  he  had  already  done.  For  it  is  within 
our  knowledge  that  the  publication  of  the  paper  which  initiated  his 
fame  had  been  urged  for  months  by  scientific  friends,  and  at  length 
was  hastened  by  the  announcement  of  some  partly  similar  results 
reached  in  a  different  way  by  MOLL,  of  Utrecht.  In  a  letter  not 
long  afterward  written  to  one  of  us,  Professor  HENRY  had  occasion 
to  declare :  "  My  whole  ambition  is  to  establish  for  myself  and  to 
deserve  the  reputation  of  a  man  of  science."  Yet  throughout  his 

*  Announced  in  American  Journal  of  Science  and  the  Arts  in  1832. 


ADDRESS   OF   PROF.  A.   GRAY.  61 

life  ardor  for  discovery  and  pure  love  of  knowledge  were  unattended 
by  corresponding  eagerness  for  publication.  At  the  close  of  that 
very  year,  1832,  however,  he  did  announce  the  drawing  of  a  spark 
from  a  magnet,  that  first  fact  in  magneto-electricity,  and,  as  he 
supposed,  a  new  one.  But  he  had  been  anticipated. 

In  May,  1830,  Professor  HENRY  married  HARRIET  L.  ALEX- 
ANDER, of  Schenectady,  New  York,  who,  with  three  daughters, 
survives.  Two  earlier  children  died  in  infancy,  and  a  son  in  early 
manhood. 

Pleasant  in  most  respects  as  his  situation  at  Albany  was,  it  was 
not  an  unwelcome  invitation  which,  in  the  summer  of  1832,  it 
became  the  duty  and  the  privilege  of  the  most  venerable  of  our  num- 
ber, then  vice-president  of  the  College  of  New  Jersey,  to  give  to 
Professor  HENRY,  offering  him  the  chair  of  Natural  Philosophy  at 
Princeton.  By  this  early  call  that  college  secured  him  for  her  own 
during  the  years  most  prolific  for  science.  It  was  on  a  later  occasion 
that  Sir  DAVID  BREWSTER  wrote:  "The  mantle  of  FRANKLIN 
has  fallen  upon  the  shoulders  of  HENRY."  But  the  aureole  was 
already  visible  to  his  fellow- workers  in  science;  and  SILLIMAN, 
RENWICK,  and  TORREY  urged  his  acceptance  of  the  new  position, 
and  congratulated  Princeton  upon  the  acquisition. 

The  professorship  came  to  him  unsought.  In  his  last  address  to 
one  of  the  learned  societies  over  which  he  presided,  Professor  HENRY 
mentions  that  the  various  offices  of  honor  and  responsibility  which 
he  then  held,  nine  in  number,  had  all  been  pressed  upon  him ;  that 
he  never  occupied  a  position  for  which  he  had  of  his  own  will  and 
action  been  made  a  candidate.  It  did  not  occur  to  him  at  that 
moment  to  make  one  exception.  When  a  pupil  in.  Albany  Academy 
he  once  offered  himself  as  a  teacher  of  a  country  district  school . 
The  school  trustees  thought  him  too  young,  but  took  him  on  trial 
at  eight  dollars  a  month.  At  the  beginning  of  the  second  month 
they  raised  his  pay  to  fifteen. 


62  MEMORIAL   OF   JOSEPH    HENRY. 

At  Princeton  Professor  HENRY  found  congenial  companions  and 
duties  well  suited  to  his  powers.  Here  he  taught  and  investigated 
for  fourteen  fruitful  and  happy  years;  here  he  professed  the  faith 
that  was  in  him,  entering  into  the  communion  of  the  Presbyterian 
Church,  in  which  he  and  his  ancestors  were  nurtured;  and  here 
he  developed— what  might  not  have  been  expected — a  genius  for 
education.  One  could  count  oh  his  being  a  clear  expositor,  and  his 
gifts  for  experimental  illustration  and  for  devising  apparatus  had 
been  already  shown.  But  now,  as  a  college  professor,  the  question 
how  to  educate  came  before  him  in  a  broader  way.  He  appreciated, 
and  he  made  his  associates  and  pupils  appreciate,  the  excellence  of 
natural  philosophy  for  mental  discipline,  for  training  at  once  both 
the  observing  and  the  reasoning  faculties.  A  science  which  rises  from 
the  observation  of  the  most  familiar  facts,  and  the  questioning  of 
these  by  experiment,  to  the  consideration  of  causes,  the  ascertaining 
of  laws,  and  to  the  most  recondite  conceptions  respecting  the  consti- 
tution of  matter  and  the  interplay  of  forces,  offers  discipline  to  all 
the  intellectual  powers,  and  tasks  the  highest  of  them.  Professor 
HENKY  taught  not  only  the  elementary  facts  and  general  principles 
from  a  fresh  survey  of  both,  but  also  the  methods  of  philosophical 
investigation,  and  the  steps  by  which  the  widest  generalizations  and 
the  seemingly  intangible  conceptions  of  the  higher  physics  have  been 
securely  reached.  He  exercised  his  pupils  in  deducing  particular 
results  from  admitted  laws,  and  in  then  ascertaining  whether  what 
was  thus  deduced  actually  occurred  in  nature ;  and  if  not,  why  not. 
Though  very  few  of  a  college  class  might  ever  afterward  undertake  a 
physical  or  chemical  investigation,  all  would  or  should  be  concerned 
in  the  acquisition  of  truth  and  its  relations;  and  by  knowing  how 
truth  was  won  and  knowledge  advanced  in  one  field  of  inquiry, 
they  would  gain  the  aptitude  which  any  real  investigation  may 
give,  and  the  confidence  that  springs  from  a  clear  view  and  a  sure 
grasp  of  any  one  subject. 


ADDRESS   OF   PROF.  A.  GRAY. 

He  understood,  as  few  do,  the  importance  of  analogy  and  hypoth- ^  1 . 
esis  in  science.  Premising  that  hypothesis  should  always  be  founded  \<d 
on  real  analogies  and  used  interrogatively,  he  commended  it  as  the 
prerequisite  to  experiment,  and  the  instrument  by  which,  in  the 
hands  of  sound  philosophers,  most  discoveries  have  been  made.  This 
free  use  of  hypothesis  as  the  servant  and  avant-courier  of  research — 
as  means  rather  than  end — is  a  notable  characteristic  of  HENRY. 
His  ideas  on  the  subject  are  somewhat  fully  and  characteristically 
expounded  by  himself  in  his  last  presidential  address  to  the  Philo- 
sophical Society  of  Washington, — one  which  he  evidently  felt 
would  be  the  last. 

How  HENRY  was  valued,  honored,  revered  at  Princeton,  the 
memorial  published  by  his  former  associates  there  feelingly  declares. 
What  he  did  there  for  science  in  those  fourteen  years  would  be  long 
to  tell  and  difficult  to  make  clear  without  entering  into  details, 
here  out  of  place.  Happily  the  work  has  been  done  to  our  hand 
by  the  Professor  himself,  in  a  communication  which  is  printed 
in  the  index  volume  of  the  Princeton  Review,  and  reprinted  in  the 
Princeton  Memorial. 

One  of  these,  of  the  Princeton  period,  ought  to  be  mentioned. 
It  is  upon  the  origin  of  mechanical  power  and  its  relations  to  vital 
force.  It  is  a  characteristic  example  of  Professor  HENRY'S  happy 
mode  of  treating  a  scientific  topic  in  an  untechnical  way.  It  also 
illustrates  his  habit  of  simply  announcing  original  ideas  without 
putting  them  prominently  forward  in  publication,  as  any  one  who 
was  thinking  of  himself  and  of  his  own  fame  would  be  sure  to  do. 
The  doctrine  he  announced  was  communicated  to  the  American 
Philosophical  Society  in  1844  in  brief  outlines.  He  developed  it 
further  in  an  article  published  in  the  Patent  Office  Report  for  1856, 
twelve  years  later;  a  medium  of  publication  which  was  naturally 
overlooked.  Only  at  a  friend's  desire  was  the  paper  reproduced, 
in  1860,  in  the  American  Journal, of  Science,  where  it  would  be 


64  MEMORIAL   OF   JOSEPH    HENRY. 

noticed.  The  attention  of  Professor  HENRY  was  turned,  to  the 
topic  (as  we  happen  to  know)  by  an  abstract  which  was  given  to 
him  of  DUMAS'  celebrated  lecture,  in  1841,  on  the  Chemical  Statics 
of  Organized  Beings.  If  he  had  published  in  1844,  with  some 
fullness,  as  he  then  wrought  them  out,  his  conception  and  his  attract- 
ive illustrations  of  the  sources,  transformation,  and  equivalence  of 
mechanical  power,  and  given  them  fitting  publicity,  HENRY'S  name 
would  have  been  prominent  among  the  pioneers  and  founders  of 
the  modern  doctrine  of  the  conservation  of  energy. 

In  the  year  1837  Professor  HENRY  first  visited  Europe,  and 
came  into  personal  communication  with  the  principal  men  of  science 
of  England,  Scotland,  and  France.  One  of  us  had  the  pleasure,  a 
few  years  afterward,  of  hearing  FARADAY  speak  of  HENRY  in 
terms  of  hearty  regard  and  admiration.  The  two  men  were  in 
some  respects  alike,  wholly  alike  in  genuine  simplicity  of  character 
and  in  disinterested  devotion  to  scientific  discovery.  They  were 
then  rival  investigators  in  the  same  line;  and  the  race  for  a  time 
was  not  unequal,  considering  how  HENRY  was  weighted  with 
onerous  professional  work.  For  FARADAY,  while  that  most  acute 
mind  retained  its  powers,  there  was  the  congenial  life  of  pure 
research,  undistracted  by  cares  of  administration  or  of  instruction, 
beyond  a  few  popular  lectures;  supplied  with  every  means  of 
investigation;  stimulated  by  the  presence  or  proximity  of  many 
fellow- workers;  rewarded  by  discovery  after  discovery,  and  not 
unconscious  of  the  world's  applause — such  was  the  enviable  life 
of  the  natural  philosopher  favorably  placed.  But  in  this  country, 
where  fit  laborers  are  few,  duty  rather  than  inclination  must  deter- 
mine their  work.  Midway  in  his  course  Professor  HENRY  was 
called  to  exchange  a  position  which  allowed  the  giving  of  consider- 
able time  to  original  researches,  for  one  of  greater  prominence,  in 
which  these  had  practically  to  be  abandoned.  Not,  indeed,  that 
this  was  assuredly  expected,  but  it  was  contemplated  as  probable. 


ADDRESS  OF  PROF.  A.  GRAY.  65 

And  the  event  justified  the  apprehension,  while  it  opened  other 
fields  of  not  inferior  usefulness. 

In  August,  1846,  the  act  of  Congress  establishing  the  Smith- 
sonian Institution  was  passed  and  approved.  On  the  7th  of  Sep- 
tember ensuing,  the  Regents  held  their  first  meeting.  On  the  3d 
of  December  following  they  resolved : 

"  That  it  is  essential  for  the  advancement  of  the  proper  interests 
of  the  trust  that  the  Secretary  of  the  Smithsonian  Institution  be  a 
man  possessing  weight  of  character  and  a  high  grade  of  talent; 
and  that  it  is  further  desirable  that  he  possess  eminent  scientific 
and  general  acquirements ;  that  he  be  a  man  capable  of  advancing 
science  and  promoting  letters  by  original  research  and  effort,  well 
qualified  to  act  as  a  respected  channel  of  communication  between 
the  Institution  and  scientific  and  literary  individuals  and  societies 
in  this  and  foreign  countries;  and,  in  a  word,  a  man  worthy  to 
represent  before  the  world  of  science  and  letters  the  Institution 
over  which  this  Board  presides." 

Immediately  following  the  adoption  of  this  resolution,  Professor 
JOSEPH  HENRY,  of  Princeton,  was  elected  Secretary.  On  the  14th 
of  December  a  letter  was  read  from  him  accepting  the  appointment. 
At  the  meeting  a  week  later,  he  appeared  and  entered  upon  the 
duties  of  his  office.  From  this  time  the  biography  of  Professor 
HENRY  is  the  history  of  the  Institution.  That  history  is  set  forth 
in  the  Secretary's  annual  reports,  presented  by  the  Board  of  Regents 
to  Congress,  and  it  need  not  be  recapitulated.  A  few  words  may 
give  some  idea  of  the  deep  impression  he  made  upon  the  Institution 
while  it  was  yet  plastic. 

Some  time  before  his  appointment  he  had  been  requested  by 
members  of  the  Board  of  Regents  to.  examine  the  will  of  SMITHSON, 
and  to  suggest  a  plan  of  organization  by  which  the  object  of  the 
bequest  might,  in  his  opinion,  best  be  realized.  He  did  so,  and  the 
plan  he  drew  was  in  their  hands  when  he  was  chosen  Secretary. 


66  MEMORIAL   OF   JOSEPH    HENRY. 

As  he  himself  summed  it  up,  the  plan  was  based  on  the  conviction 
"that  the  intention  of  the  donor  was  to  advance  science  by  original 
research  and  publication ;  that  the  establishment  was  for  the  benefit 
of  mankind  generally,  and  that  all  unnecessary  expenditures  on 
local  objects  would  be  violations  of  the  trust."  The  plan  proposed 
was,  in  the  leading  feature,  "to  assist  men  of  science  in  making 
original  researches,  to  publish  them  in  a  series  of  volumes,  and  to 
give  a  copy  of  these  to  every  first-class  library  on  the  face  of  the 
earth." 

His  "Programme  of  Organization,"  filled  out  in  its  details  and 
adjusted  to  the  conditions  prescribed  by  the  law  and  by  the  action 
of  the  Regents,  was  submitted  to  the  Board  in  the  following  year, 
was  adopted  as  its  "governing  policy,"  and  it  has  been  reprinted,  in 
full  or  in  part,  in  almost  every  annual  report.  All  would  understand, 
therefore,  that  Professor  HENRY'S  views  were  approved,  and  that 
they  would  be  carried  into  effect  as  far  and  as  fast  as  they  com- 
mended themselves  to  the  judgment  of  the  Regents,  and  as  oppor- 
tunity made  them  practicable. 

If  the  Institution  is  now  known  and  praised  throughout  the 
world  of  science  and  letters,  if  it  is  fulfilling  the  will  of  its  founder 
and  the  reasonable  expectations  of  the  nation  which  accepted  and 
established  the  trust,  the  credit  is  mainly  due  to  the  practical  wis- 
dom, the  catholic  spirit,  and  the  indomitable  perseverance  of  its 
first  Secretary,  to  whom  the  establishing  act  gave  much  power  of 
shaping  ends  which,  as  rough-hewn  by  Congress,  were  susceptible 
of  various  diversion.  For  Congress,  in  launching,  did  not  shape 
the  course  of  the  Institution,  except  in  a  general  way.  And 
in  intrusting  its  guidance  to  the  Regents,  the  law  created  only 
one  salaried  and  permanent  officer,  the  Secretary,  on  whom,  by  its 
terms  and  by  the  conditions  of  the  case,  it  devolved  great  responsi- 
bility and  commensurate  influence.  Some  of  us  are  old  enough  to 
remember  the  extreme  diversity  of  opinion  hi  Congress  over  the 


ADDRESS   OF    PROF.   A.   GRAY. 


67 


use  to.  be  made  of  SMITHSON'S  legacy.  One  party,  headed  by  an 
eminent  statesman  and  ex-President,  endeavored  to  found  with  it 
an  astronomical  observatory,  for  which  surely  the  country  need  not 
be  indebted  to  a  foreigner.  A  larger  party  strove  to  secure  it  for  a 
library;  not,  probably,  because  they  deemed  that  use  most  relevant 
to  the  founder's  intention,  but  because  rival  schemes  might  fritter 
away  the  noble  bequest  in  popular  lecturing,  itinerant  or  stationary, 
of  which  the  supply  and  the  quality  are  in  this  country  equal  to 
the  demand ;  or  in  the  dissemination  of  elementary  knowledge  by 
the  printing-press,  as  if  that  were  beyond  the  reach  of  private 
enterprise ;  or  in  setting  up  one  more  college,  university,  or  other 
educational  establishment  on  half  an  endowment;  or  in  duplica- 
ting museums  and  cabinets,  which,  when  supported  by  a  fixed  cap- 
ital, necessarily  soon  reach  the  statical  condition  in  which  all  the 
income  is  absorbed  in  simply  taking  care  of  what  has  been  accu- 
mulated. 

Congress  rejected,  one  after  the  other,  the  schemes  for  making  of 
the  Institution  an  observatory,  a  library,  a  normal  school,  and  a 
lecturing  establishment  with  professors  at  Washington.  It  created 
a  Board  of  Regents,  charged  it  with  the  care  of  the  collections  and 
museums  belonging  to  the  United  States ;  authorized  the  expendi- 
ture, if  the  Regents  saw  fit,  of  a  sum  not  exceeding  twenty-five 
thousand  dollars  annually  for  the  formation  of  a  library;  and  in 
all  else  it  directed  them  to  make  such  disposal  of  the  income  "as 
they  shall  deem  best  suited  for  the  promotion  of  the  purpose  of  the 
testator." 

Under  this  charter,  and  with  the  course  of  the  Institution  still 
to  be  marked  out,  it  is  not  surprising  that  the  official  adviser  and 
executive  of  the  Board  should  look  to  the  will  of  SMITHSON  for  the 
controlling  interpretation  of  the  law.  He  knew  moreover  that  in 
an  earlier  will,  SMITHSON  had  bequeathed  his  fortune  to  the  Royal 
Society  of  London,  an  institution  expressly  for  the  furtherance  of 


68  MEMORIAL   OF   JOSEPH   HENRY. 

scientific  research ;  and  that  he  changed,  as  we  may  say,  the  trustee- 
ship for  a  purely  personal  reason.  HENRY  took  his  stand  on  the 
broad  and  simple  terms  of  the  bequest,  "for  the  increase  and  dif- 
fusion of  knowledge  among  men."  And  he  never — 

Narrowed  his  mind, 
And  to  locality  gave  what  was  meant  for  mankind. 

He  proposed  only  one  restriction,  of  obvious  wisdom  and  neces- 
sity, that,  in  view  of  the  limited  means  of  the  Institution,  it  ought 
not  to  undertake  anything  which  could  be  done,  and  well  done,  by 
other  existing  instrumentalities.  So,  as  occasion  arose,  he  lightened 
its  load  and  saved  its  energies  by  giving  over  to  other  agencies  some 
of  its  cherished  work — meteorology,  for  instance,  in  which  a  most 
popular  bureau  now  usefully  expends  many  times  more  than  the 
whole  Smithsonian  income. 

He  has  in  these  last  years  signified  his  desire  to  go  still  further 
in  this  direction,  and  to  have  the  institution  relieved  from  the  charge 
of  the  National  Museum,  now  of  imperial  dimensions  and  impor- 
tance. His  reasons  were  summed  up  in  a  few  words  in  his  last 
report,  along  with  his  synopsis  of  the  appropriate  functions  of  the 
Institution,  which  he  prays  may  not  be  merged  in  or  overshadowed 
by  any  establishment  of  the  Government,  but  may  stand  "free  to 
the  unobstructed  observation  of  the  whole  world,  keeping  in  per- 
petual remembrance  the  will  of  its  founder."  Its  true  functions 
he  declares  are — 

"  First.  To  enlarge  the  bounds  of  human  thought  by  assisting 
men  of  science  to  make  original  investigations  in  all  branches  of 
knowledge;  to  publish  these,  and  to  present  copies  to  all  the  prin- 
cipal libraries  of  the  world.  Second.  To  institute  investigations 
in  various  branches  of  science,  and  explorations  for  the  collection 
of  specimens  in  natural  history  and  ethnology,  to  be  distributed  to 
museums  and  other  establishments.  Third.  To  diffuse  knowledge 
by  carrying  on  an  extended  international  series  of  exchanges  by 


ADDRESS    OF   PROF.   A.   GRAY.  69 

which  the  accounts  of  all  the  original  researches  in  science,  the 
educational  progress,  and  the  general  advance  of  civilization  in  the 
New  World  are  exchanged  for  similar  works  of  the  Old  World/7 

The  plan  which  our  late  Secretary  originated  has  commended 
itself  to  the  judgment  of  successive  Boards  of  Regents,  and,  we 
may  be  permitted  to  add,  is  now  approved  wherever  it  is  known 
and  understood. 

Professor  HENRY  took  his  full  share  of  the  various  honorable 
duties  to  which  such  men  are  called.  He  was  in  turn  President 
of  the  American  Association  for  the  Advancement  of  Science,  in 
the  year  1 849 ;  of  the  Society  for  the  Advancement  of  Education, 
in  1855;  a  Trustee  of  Princeton  College,  and  of  Columbian  Uni- 
versity, also  of  the  Corcoran  Gallery  of  Art,  in  which  the  Smith- 
sonian Institution  deposits  its  art  collections ;  Visitor  of  the  Gov- 
ernment Hospital  for  the  Insane;  President  of  the  Philosophical 
Society  of  Washington;  President  of  the  National  Academy  of 
Sciences  at  Washington.  For  many  years  a  member  of  the  Light- 
House  Board,  to  which  he  gave  gratuitous  and  invaluable  services 
as  Chairman  of  its  committee  on  experiments,  he  added  for  the 
last  seven  years  the  chairmanship  of  the  board  itself,  in  his  adminis- 
tration no  sinecure.  Advice  and  investigation  were  sought  from 
him,  from  time  to  time,  by  every  department  of  Government.  All 
were  sure  that  his  advice  was  never  biased  by  personal  interest ; 
and  his  sound  judgment,  supported  by  spotless  character,  was 
greatly  deferred  to. 

We  have  said  that  in  coming  to  Washington  a  career  of  investi- 
gation was  exchanged  for  a  life  of  administration.  It  should  rather 
be  said  that  his  investigations  thereafter  took  a  directly  practical 
turn,  as  his  mind  was  brought  to  bear  upon  difficult  questions  of 
immediate  importance  which  were  referred  to  him  by  Government 
or  came  in  the  course  of  official  duty.  In  the  light-house  service 
alone  his  timely  experiments  upon  lard-oil  lighting,  and  the  firmness 


70  MEMOKIAL   OF    JOSEPH    HENRY. 

with  which  he  pressed  his  conclusions  into  practice  when  sperm-oil 
became  dear,  has  already  saved  more  than  a  million  of  dollars ;  the 
adaptation  of  mineral  oil  to  the  lesser  lights  made  another  great 
saving;  and  the  results  reached  by  his  recent  investigations  of  the 
conditions  which  influence  the  transmission  of  sound  and  their  ap- 
plication to  acoustical  signaling  are  not  to  be  valued  by  the  saving 
of  money  only. 

It  was  in  the  prosecution  of  these  last  investigations,  over  a  year 
ago,  and  probably  in  consequence  of  exposure  in  them,  at  the  light- 
house station  on  Staten  Island,  that  an  intimation  of  the  approach- 
ing end  of  these  labors  was  received.  Yet  a  few  months  more 
of  useful  life  were  vouchsafed  to  him,  not  free  from  suffering, 
but  blessed  with  an  unclouded  mind  and  borne  with  a  serene 
spirit;  and  then,  at  midday  on  the  13th  of  May  last,  the  scene 
was  closed. 

At  the  sepulture  of  his  remains  (on  the  16th)  and  afterward,  it 
was  generally  remarked  at  Washington  that  never  before. had  the 
funeral  of  a  private  citizen  called  forth  such  sense  of  loss,  such 
profound  demonstrations  of  respect  and  affection. 

It  is  not  for  us  to  assign  Professor  HENRY'S  place  among  the  men 
of  science  of  our  time.  Those  who  do  this  will  probably  note  that 
his  American  predecessors  were  FRANKLIN  and  RUMFORD  ;  that  all 
three  were  what  we  call  self-made  men ;  that  all  three,  after  having 
proved  their  talents  for  original  investigation  in  physics,  were  called 
in  their  mature  years  to  duties  of  administration  and  the  conduct 
of  affairs.  There  are  interesting  parallels  to  be  drawn  from  their 
scientific  work,  if  one  had  time  to  trace  them. 

Not  often  is  a  great  man  of  science  a  good  man  of  business. 
HENRY'S  friends  at  Princeton,  who  besought  him  not  to  abandon 
the  peaceful  academic  life  which  he  was  enjoying  and  the  quiet 
pursuits  which  had  given  him  fame,  were  surprised  when  in  another 
sphere  he  developed  equal  talents  for  organization  and  administra- 


ADDRESS   OF   PROF.  A.   GRAY.  71 

tion.  We  have  seen  how  he  always  developed  the  talent  to  do 
wisely  and  well  whatever  he  undertook.  His  well-poised  spirit,  at 
once  patient  and  masterful,  asserted  itself  in  the  trials  he  encountered 
in  the  early  years  of  the  Institution,  and  gave  assurance  that  he  could 
deal  with  men  as  well  as  with  the  forces  of  nature. 

Again,  not  often  is  a  man  of  science  free  from  the  overmastering 
influence  of  his  special  pursuit.  More  or  less  his  "  nature  is  subdued 
to  what  it  works  in,  like  the  dyer's  hand.''  Now,  HENRY'S  mind 
was  uncolored  by  the  studies  of  his  predilection.  His  catholic  spirit 
comes  out  in  his  definition  of  science :  "  Science  is  the  knowledge 
of  the  laws  of  phenomena,  whether  they  relate  to  mind  or  matter." 
It  appears  in  his  choice  of  the  investigations  to  be  furthered  and 
memoirs  to  be  published  by  the  Institution.  These  nowhere  show 
the  bias  of  a  specialist. 

Then,  he  was  a  careful,  painstaking  man,  very  solicitous — perhaps 
unduly  anxious — about  the  particulars  of  everything  for  which  he 
felt  responsible.  Therefore  he  was  sometimes  slow  in  making  up 
his  mind  on  a  practical  question.  May  we  here  condescend  to  a 
trivial  anecdote  of  his  early  boyhood,  which  he  amusingly  related 
to  one  of  us  many  years  ago  and  pleasantly  recalled  at  one  of  our 
latest  interviews.  It  goes  back  to  the  time  when  he  was  first  allowed 
to  have  a  pair  of  boots,  and  to  choose  for  himself  the  style  of 
them.  He  was  living  with  his  grandmother  in  the  country,  and 
the  village  Crispin  could  offer  no  great  choice  of  patterns ;  indeed, 
it  was  narrowed  down  to  the  alternative  of  round  toes  or  square. 
Daily  the  boy  visited  the  shop  and  pondered  the  alternatives,  even 
while  the  manufacture  was  going  on,  until  at  length  the  shoemaker, 
who  could  brook  no  more  delay,  took  the  dilemma  by  both  horns 
and  produced  the  most  remarkable  pair  of  boots  the  wearer  ever 
had ;  one  boot  round-toed,  the  other  square-toed. 

Deliberate  as  HENRY  was  in  after  years,  taught  by  this  early 
lesson  he  probably  never  again  postponed  decision  till  it  was  too 


72  MEMORIAL   OF   JOSEPH    HENRY. 

late  to  choose.  One  result  of  due  deliberation  was  that  he  rarely 
had  to  change  his  mind.  When  he  had  taken  his  course,  he  held 
to  it.  His  patience  and  kindness  under  demands  upon  his  time 
were  something  wonderful.  Some  men  are  thus  patient  from  easy 
good-nature ;  HENRY  was  so  from  principle.  A  noticeable  part  of 
the  Secretary's  correspondence  was  with  a  class  of  men  —  more 
numerous  than  would  be  supposed — who  thought  they  had  discov- 
ered new  laws  of  nature  or  new  applications  of  them,  and  who 
appealed  to  him  to  make  their  discoveries  known.  The  Secretary 
never  returned  a  curt  answer  to  such  appeals  or  inquiries,  whether 
made  personally  or  by  letter.  Many  are  the  hours  which  he  would 
conscientiously  devote  to  such  paradoxical  schemes — sometimes  of 
wonderful  ingenuity — and  to  the  dictation  of  elaborate  replies  to 
them.  Detecting  far  down  in  the  man's  mind  the  germs  of  the 
fallacy  which  had  misled  him,  he  would  spare  no  pains  to  present 
it  and  its  consequences  so  plainly  to  his  bewildered  correspondent 
that  he  could  find  his  own  way  out  of  it ;  while  at  the  same  time  he 
awarded  credit  and  encouragement  for  whatever  was  true,  probable, 
or  ingenious. 

Although  of  sensitive  spirit  and  with  a  just  sense  of  what  was 
due  to  himself,  Professor  HENRY  kept  free  from  controversy.  Once 
he  took  up  the  pen,  not  because  his  discoveries  were  set  at  naught, 
but  because  his  veracity  was  impliedly  assailed.  His  dignified 
recital  of  undeniable  facts  (in  his  Annual  Report  for  1857)  was  all 
that  was  necessary,  and  not  even  a  word  of  indignant  comment  was 
added. 

He  left  his  scientific  work  to  form  its  part  of  the  history  of  science 
and  to  be  judged  by  scientific  men.  The  empiric  he  once  senten- 
tiously  defined  to  be  "  one  who  appeals  his  cause  to  an  incompetent 
tribunal."  He  never  courted  publicity;  not  from  fastidious  dislike, 
still  less  from  disdain  of  well-earned  popular  applause,  but  simply 
because  he  never  thought  of  it. 


ADDRESS   OF   PROF.  A.   GRAY.  73 

His  disinterested  devotion  to  this  Institution  was  shown  in  many 
ways ;  among  others  in  successive  refusals  to  accept  increase  of 
salary  lest  it  should  be  thought  that  the  office  he  held  was  lucrative. 
Twice  or  thrice,  moreover,  while  cumbered  with  anxieties,  he 
promptly  declined  calls  to  positions  of  greater  emolument,  less  care, 
and  abundant  leisure  for  the  pursuits  he  loved. 

We  cannot  here  continue  these  delineations,  and  it  may  be  that 
the  character  of  the  man  has  portrayed  itself  in  general  outlines  as 
the  narrative  proceeded.  But  one  trait  may  not  be  wholly  omitted 
from  the  biography  of  one  who  has  well  been  called  athe  model 
of  a  Christian  gentleman/7  and  who  is  also  our  best  example  of  a 
physical  philosopher.  His  life  was  the  practical,  harmony  of  the 
two  characters.  His  entire  freedom  from  the  doubts  which  disturb 
some  minds  is  shown  in  that  last  letter  which  he  dictated,  in  which 
he  touches  the  grounds  of  faith  both  in  natural  and  revealed  religion ; 
also  in  his  sententious  declaration  upon  some  earlier  occasion,  that 
the  person  who  thought  there  could  be  any  real  conflict  between 
science  and  religion  must  be  either  very  young  in  science  or  ignorant 
of  religion. 

The  man  for  whom  this  memorial  is  placed  was  a  veteran  in  both ; 
was  one  of  that  noble  line  of  natural  philosophers  for  whom  we  may 
in  all  sincerity  render  to  Almighty  God  hearty  thanks,  not  only  for 
the  good  example  and  fruit  of  their  lives,  but  also  that,  having 
finished  their  course  in  faith,  they  do  now  rest  from  their  labors. 


READING  OF  TELEGRAMS 

BY 

HOK  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  request  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: 

LONDON,  January  16,  1879. 

"Sir  WILLIAM  THOMSON,  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: 

LONDON,  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  MONCK, 
"Chairman  of  the  Anglo- American  Company — London." 

The  next  dispatch  is  from  the  Eastern  Telegraph  Company  and 
the  direct  United  States  Cable  Company : 

LONDON,  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.  <?." 


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  GALVANI  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  JOSEPH  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  themselves  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  ROMAGNOSI  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  VOLTA  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  AMPERE,  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,  "  I  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  NEWTON  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, 
FARADAY,  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 


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. 

About  the  same  period  our  countryman,  Dr.  ROBERT  HARE,  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 
SCHWEIGGER,  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  NOBILI,  became  indispensable  in  the  meas- 
urement of  current  electricity,  and  which  through  the  recent  refined 
improvements  given  to  it  by  Sir  WILLIAM  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  STURGEON'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  STURGEON,  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  SCHWEIG- 
GER'S  galvanometer,  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  BARLOW,  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  1 831-'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   OP   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, 
he  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  I  refrain,  in  this  connection,  from  appropriating  to  our 
country  the  words  in  which  MILTON  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." 


1.1  BKAK 

K1VK  CSITY    OF 

GAL1KOIIN1A.  J 


ADDRESS 


OP 


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  WILLIAM  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  I  had  finished  a  single  play, 
I  stood  like  one  born  blind  on  whom  a  miraculous  hand  bestows 
sight  in  a  moment.  I  saw,  I  felt,  in  the  most  vivid  manner  that 
my  existence  was  infinitely  expanded." 

This  Old  World  experience  of  GOETHE'S  was  strikingly  repro- 
duced, though  under  different  conditions  and  with  different  results, 
in  the  early  life  of  JOSEPH  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  HENRY  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  VOLTA, 
GALVANI,  OERSTED,  DAVY,  and  AMPERE,  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  MOKSE  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  deepest  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  to  men.  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  light,  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  OERSTED 
exhibited  the  relation  between  magnetism  and  electricity.  From  1820  to  1825  hia 
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  AGASSIZ 
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 
HENRY. 

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  a  long  wire.  This  was  the  last  step  in  the  series  of  great  discov- 
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 HENRY'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  SMITHSON.  It  was  a  perilous  moment  for  the 
credit  of  America  when  that  bequest  was  made.  In  his  large 
catholicity  of  mind,  SMITHSON  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  interpret  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.  After  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,  meeting  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.  97 

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  Board  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. 


ADDRESS 


OF 


HON.  SAMUEL  S.  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  "discov- 
ered country"  to  JOSEPH  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  HUMBOLDT,  and  a  dim  memory  of  GOETHE  as  a  devotee  of 
science.  The  WASHINGTON  and  TELLS,  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,  GIOJA,  TORICELLI,  BOYLE,  LEIBNITZ,  LAPLACE, 
DAVY,  HERSCHEL,  ARAGO,  LYELL,  FARADAY,  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  MACAULAY  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 
NAPOLEONS  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.    S.    S.    COX.  101 

heroism  is  not  comparable  with  that  of  humble  EDMUND  HALLEY, 
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- 
cled dim  in  the  intense  inane;"  when  LOCKYER  is  said  to  be 
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,  or  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  HERSCHELS  to  astronomy,  DAVY  to  the  mining  lamp,  TORI- 
CELLI  to  the  barometer,  GIOJA  to  the  compass,  RUMFORD  to  heat, 
FARADAY  to  electro-chemical  affinity,  BOYLE  to  pneumatics, 
GUTENBERG  to  printing,  WATT  to  steam,  FRATJNHOFER  to  the 
spectrum,  DRAPER  to  photography,  and  what  LOCKYER  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.    S.    S.    COX.  103 

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  aesthetic 
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  rain-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,  BAIRD  birds,  and  all  students  encour- 
agement to  investigate  our  American  archaeology  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  fisc  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.  MORSE,  GRAHAM,  BELL,  EDISON, 
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.  His  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  U,  1876. 


ADDRESS   OF   HON.    S.    S.    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 :  " I  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  archae- 
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, 
BACHE,  and  BAIRD;  the  student  of  NEWTON,  CUVIER,  ARAGO, 
WOLLASTON,  and  others  of  perpetual  fame;  and  the  correspondent 
of  FARADAY,  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.  How  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  coniferse,  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  eifects.  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.    S.    S.    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  engineer  who  directs  the 
power  of  the  engine. 

But  these  exploits  and  associations,  incentives  and  accomplish- 
ments, do  not  furnish  the  substantial  pediment  of  HENRY'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  ROGERS,  with  such 
loving  and  delicate  analysis,  and  so  recently  used  in  our  country 
under  the  auspices  of  EDISON?  Finding  out  not  merely  that  the 
moon  has  no  heat,  but  measuring  the  heat  of  some  animate  object 
in  a  distant  field.  He  is  making  the  type  of  a  mechanism  beyond 
all  expression  refined. 

In  all  these  branches  he  was  a  central  light.  EDMUND  SPENSER 
has  been  called  the  poets7  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  sdentiarum  !  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  unseen,  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- 
blerie" of  the  storm.  His  engineering  from  the  Hudson  to  Erie 
strengthened  him  for  the  labor  limce  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.    S.    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.  WITHERS,)  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  genius  to  curb  and  control  it,  to 
direct  and  glorify  it. 

It  has  been  said  that  at  one  time  he  was  enamored  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  experiments 
and  philosophic  deduction. 

What  of  fancy  he  had,  he  restrained  by  patience  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 
LOCKYER  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 — OERSTED,  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  NEWTONS  and 
LAPLACES  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  tune  was  repeated 
in  a  mock  fiddle  in  the  garret.  But  these  experiments  were  the 


ADDRESS   OF   HON.    S.    S.    COX.  Ill 

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 
to  us.  It  now  transmits  more  than  one  message  at  a  time.  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  HENRY'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 
HENRY'S  brain.  Given  his  brain,  and  you  have  MORSE,  BELL, 
EDISON,  and  the  entire  circle  of  electric  inventors. 

What  a  grand  occasion  was  that  at  the  Centennial,  when  Sir 
WILLIAM  THOMPSON  and  Professor  HENRY  met  about  the  tele- 
phone! 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.    8.   S.    COX.  113 

the  limits  of  all  human  philosophy,  physical,  mental,  and  ethical, 
and  never  leaped  the  naming  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  whisperings  of 
infinite  love. 

During  his  long  life  and  its  closing  hours  he  clung  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  weeks  before  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 


114  MEMORIAL   OF   JOSEPH    HENRY. 

the  uniform  iaws.  Finding  everywhere  evidences  of  intellectual 
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  scoriae, 
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  OERSTED  that  the  practice  of  science  was 
religious  worship;  and  like  that  Danish  physicist — like  FARADAY 
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.    S.    S.    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. 

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  NAPOLEON.  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. 

It  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.  SMITHSON  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. 

the  earth  beneath  were  his  studio,  and  his  thoughts  and  his  feeling^  ir        r^/r,   > 

were  as  boundless  as  the  orbit  of  the  most  distant  star.     Whatever      "V  / 

'. 

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  especial  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- 


120  MEMORIAL    OF    JOSEPH    HENRY. 

4 

ally  encouraged  and  honored  by  the  tokens  of  respect  and  affection 
thus  paid  their  prototype,  Professor  HENRY;  and  their  stimulated  • 
labors  in  the  cause  of  that  science  he  loved  so  well  will  erect  to  him 
a  monument  more  lasting  than  of  brass  or  marble. 


PEATER 


3Y 


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. 

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  civilization  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. 


PAET    III. 

MEMORIAL  PROCEEDINGS  OF  SOCIETIES. 


(133) 


PROCEEDINGS 

OF   THE 

PHILOSOPHICAL  SOCIETY  OF  WASHINGTON. 


SPECIAL  MEETING.  MAY  14,  1878. 

V^ice-President  HILGARD  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.  WELLING,  W.  B. 
TAYLOR,  and  GILL  )  was  appointed  to  prepare  suitable  resolutions. 

Remarks  on  the  character  and  labors  of  the  deceased  were  made 
by  Messrs.  HILGARD,  JOHNSON,  TONER,  ALVORD,  ABBE,  MASON, 
PARKER,  GALLAUDET,  and  GEORGE  TAYLOR. 

The  special  committee  reported  the  following  resolutions,  which 
were  unanimously  adopted : 

Resolved,  That  in  the  death  of  Professor  JOSEPH  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  deference  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  even-balanced  judgment,  and  the  serene  wisdom 

(125) 


126  MEMORIAL   OF   JOSEPH    HENRY. 

which  so  admirably  qualified  him  to  be  the  moderator  of  opinions 
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  not  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  precincts 
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 
SMITHSON  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. 

R&ofocd,  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 
Society  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  HENRY;  and  that 
Vice-Presidents  JAMES  C.  WELLING  and  WILLIAM  B.  TAYLOR 
be  requested  to  prepare,  for  that  occasion,  addresses  illustrative  of 
the  personal  and  scientific  character  of  the  deceased. 


PROCEEDINGS 

OF   THE 

ALBANY    INSTITUTE 


ALBANY,  MAY  14,  1878. 

On  taking  the  chair  the  President,  Professor  HALL,  announced 
with  much  emotion  the  recent  death  of  Professor  JOSEPH  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.  HOG  AN,  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.  Yice-President 
ORLANDO  MEADS,  Professor  GATES,  and  the  Recording  Secretary 
were  named  as  the  additional  members  of  the  committee,  and  Presi- 
dent HALL  was  appointed  to  represent  the  Institute  at  the  funeral 
of  Professor  HENRY. 

On  motion  of  Mr.  COLVIN,  out  of  respect  to  Professor  HENRY, 
the  Institute  then  adjourned. 


MAY  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  JOSEPH  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.  MEADS  also  read  a  communication  from  President  HALL, 
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  HALL'S  letter: 

PORT  HENRY,  May  27,  1878. 
ORLANDO  MEADS,  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  meeting  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. 
9 


MEMOEIAL    MINUTE: 

BY 

ORLANDO  MEADS. 


Professor  JOSEPH  HENKY,  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) 


I 

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. 

He  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  MORSE  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  feet  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 
on  a  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 


1 

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. 

By  the  noble  bequest  of  JAMES  SMITHSON,  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  wrill  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  proceeded  from  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. 


I        ,  I 

PROCEEDINGS 

OF  THE 

UNITED  STATES  LIGHT-HOUSE  BOARD. 


OFFICE  OF  THE  LIGHT-HOUSE  BOARD, 

Washington,  May  15,  1878. 

[  Extract  from  the  minutes  of  the  meeting  of  the  Light-House 
Board,  held  May  15,  1878.] 

.  The  Naval  Secretary  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  Thursday  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  JOSEPH  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  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  light  and  sound,  and  by  his  fertile  suggestions 
as  to  their  application,  put  the  Light-House  Service  into  the  front 
ranks  of  practical  science,  v, 

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 
Boar,d  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.  PATTERSON, 

Chairman  pro  tern. 
GEORGE  DEWEY, 
PETER  C.  HA  INS, 

Secretaries. 


OFFICE  OF  THE  LIGHT-HOUSE  BOARD, 

Washington,  July  9,  1878. 

SIR  :  I  transmit  herewith  a  copy  of  a  letter  dated  -London,  June 
25,  1878,  from  Mr.  KOBIN  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,  allow  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  HOUSE,  LONDON,  E.  C., 

25th  June,  1878. 

SIR:  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  SYDNEY  WEBB,  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, 

ROBIN  ALLEN, 

Secretary. 
To  the  Chairman 

of  the  Light-House  Board  of  the  'United  States. 


DISCOURSE    MEMORIAL:* 

BY 

EEV.  SAMUEL  BAYAKD  DOD. 


"I  have  written  unto  you,  young  men,  because  ye  are  strong,  and  the  word  of 
God  abideth  in  you."  — I  JOHN  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 
j  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  must  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. 


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  meet  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 — not  a  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  her  old  Hall  of  Natural  Philosophy  he  prosecuted  his  researches, 
begun  in  Albany;  among  her  professors  he  found  kindred  spirits 


DISCOURSE   BY    REV.  S.  B.  DOD.  141 

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. 

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  always  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 
WILLIAM  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  happiness  in  every  feature  of  its  face  and  every  movement 
of  its  person." 

He  was  characterized  by  great  reverence  in  the  pursuit  of  truth. 
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  a  theory.  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 
devoted  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  generalizations.  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  oh  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  w^hich 
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 HENRY'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  saving  human  life;  giving  to  all  the 
arduous  duties  of  these  positions  his  thorough  personal  supervision. 
In  conjunction  with  Professor  GUYOT,  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.  BARLOW, 
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.  E.  N.  DICK- 
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  improved  from  that  day  to  this 
as  a  sounding  telegraph."  And  he  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,  BARLOW,  STURGEON,  FARADAY — 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.  S.  B.  DOD.       ft 

7'/         ' 'V/          '*    l> 

to  be  for  the  increase  and  diffusion  of  knowledge  among  mefy  fye 

kept  steadily  in  view.    His  purity  and  simplicity  of  character  foileo^A  r 

as  no  other  armor  could  have  done,  the  artifice  of  politicians  who      rV 

sought  to  wield  its  influence  for  political  ends.     Professor  HENRY 

kept  it  pure  from  any  such  taint,  and  thus  saved  it  to  the  nation 

and  the  world. 

In  all  his  investigations  Professor  HENRY  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  scientific  clique,  was  no  bigot  nor  partisan,  but  calm  and 
unbiased  in  his  conclusions. 

But  the  chief  significance  of  his  life  to  us  as  Princetonians,  as 
students,  and  as  men,  is  that  he  was  an  humble,  sincere,  consistent 
Christian. 

The  following  extract  from  a  letter  written  April  12,  1878,  con- 
tains a  clear  exposition  of  Professor  HENRY'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  his  last  testament  on  this  great  theme : 

"We  live  in  a  universe  of  change;  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. Whence  come  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  sufficient  in  some  degree  to  comprehend  His  operations  as 
they  are  developed  in  nature  by  what  is  called  '  science/  -  -  - 
"  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.  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  everywhere  through 
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  threatened  not."  He  was  the  model  of  a 
Christian  gentleman. 

And  now  he  has  passed  from  this  school,  where,  by  patient  labor 
and  with  docile  heart,  he  had  learned,  from  the  two  great  books  of 
God,  such  wondrous  lessons  of  the  Divine  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  JOSEPH  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  JOSEPH  HENRY. 


NOTE. 

I  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.  DOD. 
MAY,  1878. 


LETTER   OF   J.  HENRY   TO   REV.  S.  B.  DOD.  149 

WASHINGTON,  D.  C.,  December  4,  1876. 

MY  DEAR  SIR  :  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  developed  the  principles 
of  the  electro-magnet  and  the  means  of  accumulating  the  magnetic 
power  to  a  great  extent,  and  had  also  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 
pOAver. 

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.  JOHN  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 
Ihan  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  MORSE,  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.  LEONARD  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.  S.  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.  MORSE  however 
great  credit  is  due  for  his  alphabet,  and  for  his  perseverance  in 
bringing  the  telegraph  into  practical  use. 

II.  My  next  investigation,  after  being  settled  at  Princeton,  was  in 
relation  to  electro-dynamic  induction.     Mr.  FARADAY  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  Ley  den  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  deep  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- 
latory 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  plm,  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  series  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  pass- 
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  BECQUE- 
REL,  of  the  French  Institute,  that  the  agent  exciting  phosphores- 
cence traverses  with  difficulty  a  plate  of  glass  or  mica,  while  it  is 
transmitted  apparently  without  impediment  through  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.  S.  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  a  surface  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  instantaneo.us  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. 

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,  degree  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  a  spiral  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.  S.  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  RUMFORD,  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  con- 
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  on  a  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.  S.  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  considerably  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  eifect  is  probably  produced  by  the 
ammonia  acting  on  the  copper  and  dissolving  off  its  surface  so  as  to 
expose  the  gold,  which  by  diffusion  had  penetrated  into  the  body 
of  the  metal. 

The  slow  diffusion  of  one  metal  into  another  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  effect  of  attraction  acting  at  a 
distance. 

XIV.  Another  series  of  experiments  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  NEWTON'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.  S.  B.  DOD.  1.61 

t 

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. 
11 


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 

CLASS  I.   <  Tide  power.  >     to  celestial  disturb- 

(          Wind  power.  J      ance. 

(  Steam  and  other  powers  "j  Immediately  referable 
CLASS  II.  <  developed  by  combustion.  >     to   what    is    called 
(Animal  power.  J      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  eifects.  As  an  example, 
we  may  take  the  case  of  water-power,  which  is  approximately  due 
to  the  return  of  the  water  to  a  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.  S.  B.  DOD.  163 

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,  etc.  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    REV.  S.  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  GUYOT  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. 

•t  •  JOSEPH  HENRY. 

Kev.  SAMUEL  B.  DOD. 


EEMINISOENOES  :  * 

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  19th  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  much,  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.  S.  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.  J.-  H." 

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  electricity,  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  a  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  disparage1  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  eifort  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  MEMOHIAL    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  University,  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. 
"  SCIENCE,  gentlemen,  is  the  knowledge  of  the  laws  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 
eifort  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  law;"  and  then  it  occurred  to  him  to  express 
the  corresponding  idea  in  a  similar  form :  "  We  explain  a  law  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  successful  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  Philadelphia!!  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  vvipi  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  Karge",  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  fulcrum,  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.  173 

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  eopyxa,  supyxa} — he  exclaimed,  "I  have  it,"  "I 
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.  In 
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  MEMOETAL   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  years  since.  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  to  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.] 


176  MEMORIAL    OF    JOSEPH    HENRY. 

tt 

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. 


JN  L  11  K  A  K  \ 
UN  I  VKKSITY   OF 

CAL1KO.UN1A. 


THE  LIFE  A1TD   OHAEACTER 

OF 

JOSEPH  HENRY.* 

BY 

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  certain  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-fe  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  over  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." 


It  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  the  rear  of  the 
book-case. 

At  the  age  of  fifteen  he  left  the  store  of  Mr.  Broderick  in 
Galway,  and,  returning  to  the  place  of  his  birth*,  entered  a  watch- 
maker's establishment  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  left  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  siccum  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  conversion  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.,  etc.  These  queries  certainly  are 
very  far  from  representing  the  prudens  qucestio  of  Bacon  in  even 
its  most  elementary  form,  but  they  opened  to  the  mind  of  young 
Henry  an  entirely  "  new  world  of  thought  and  enjoyment.77  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.77  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 :  "  Totte, 
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.77  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 77  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  Professor 
Henry7s  youth,  as  contrasted  with  the  rich  flower  and  fruitage  of  his 
riper  years,  will  please  themselves  with  curious  speculations  on  what 
"  might  have  been,77  if  his  rabbit  had  never  slipped  its  inclosure,  if 
there  had  been  no  crack  in  the  wall  behind  the  book-case,  or  if 
Gregory7s  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  after- 
wards preserved  it  among  the  choicest  memorials  of  his  boyhood.  In  the  fly-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, 
a?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.  S.  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, 
moreove^  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.'1 


DISCOURSE   OF   DR.  J.  C.  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  chronology  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  its  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:  "I  do  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  to  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 :  "  I 
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  sweet  serenity,  preserved  his 
soul  in  patience,  at  an  equal  remove  from  rapture  on  the  one  hand 
or  anything  like  dismay  on  the  other.  For  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  supreme  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  -ZEscula- 
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  day  before  he  had 
promised  to  a  British  stranger. 

And  so  in  the  full  possession  of  all  his  great  mental  powers — in 
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  and  brightened  by  his 
presence.f 

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  oifers  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. 

t  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."  The  same  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  aesthetic  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  felt  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  cabinet  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  historic  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.  If,  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  rnind."  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.  He  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  0ms  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  festless  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  late  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 
fields,  and  ended  with  Tarn  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,  arid 
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 

i 

tunity,  from  "the  forlorn  and  shipwrecked  brother/7  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 v 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  conversa- 
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.  Thorn  well:    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  scientificum  a  species  of 
hatred  quite  as  distinct,  and  quite  as  lively,  too,  as  its  more  ancient 
congener,  the  odium  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  hi»  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  the  analysis  of  Professor 
Henry's  mental  and  moral  traits,  I  cannot  omit  to  portray  the 
effect  produced  on  the  observer  by  the  happy  combination  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,  hut  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;7'  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 

uant  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  his  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  a  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  iheologum.  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,  that  "  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  it  as  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/7  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,  etjube 
quod  vis." 

I  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  r$sum&  of  them,  according  to  my  recollections  of  the  colloquy, 
which  was  only  one  of  many  similar  conferences  previously  had  on 
the  same  high  themes.  He  said  that  ft  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. 

It  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." 


M  B  K  A  K  V 

UNIVKKSITV   OP 


THE    SCIENTIFIC    WORK 

OP 

JOSEPH  HENRY.* 

BY 

WILLIAM  B.  TAYLOK. 


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.  Few  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.  He  seems 
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  been  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- 
ment 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  Truth 
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  tha't  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  Trustees  of  the  Albany  Academy. 


DISCOURSE  OF  W.  B.  TAYLOR.  209 

societies;  with  General  Stephen  Van  Rensselaer  as  its  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.  J 

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. 

t  Trans.  Albany  Institute,  vol.  i.  part  2.  p.  30. 

%  While  it  requires  a  temperature  of  250°  F.  to  generate  a  steam-pressure  of  two 
atmospheres  (i.  e.  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  condensation  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.  211 

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.f  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  1832. 

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  Regents,  etc.  Albany,  vol.  i.  1829-1835. 


DISCOURSE  OF  W.  B.  TAYLOK.  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  wire  a  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."* 
Ampere  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 
in  a  loose  helix;  and  had  thus  created  the  "  electro-magnet."  f  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  Ampere 
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  firsl  contrived  by  VOI/TA  in  1800.  In  the  same 
manner  OERSTED  is  generally  accounted  the  discoverer  of  electro-magnetism, 
although  he  never  devised  an  electro-magnet;  and  appears  not  to  have  been  the  first 
even  to  discover  the  directive  influence  of  a  current  on  a  magnetic  needle.  Eighteen 
years  before  his  announcement,  GIAN  DOMENICO  ROMAGNOSI,  a  physicist  of  Trent, 
published  in  an  Italian  newspaper  of  that  city,  the  Gazzctta  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  thgorique  et 
experimental  sur  le  Galvanisme."  4to.  Paris,  1804,  p.  191 :  and  in  Professor  J.  Izarn's 
"  Manuel  du  Galvanisme."  8vo.  Paris,  1805,  sect.  ix.  p.  120. 

t  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 

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 
a  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  illumined  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  every  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.  38-62.  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  Ib.  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. 


DISCOUESE  OF  W.  B.  TAYLOR.  215 

this  science,  with  the  least  expense  of  galvanism,  evidently  requires 
some  additional  modification  of  apparatus,  and  particularly  in  those 
cases  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  Ampere'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,  Ampere'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  Henry'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  Ampere  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  each  circuit  more  nearly  at 


DISCOUKSE  OF  W.  B.  TAYLOR.  217 

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 
same  size  and  wound  in  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  t(  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  zinc,  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  130  square  inches  of  zinc  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  feet  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— 
AKAGO,  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  zinc  between  them ;  the  whole  amount 
of  zinc-surface  exposed  to  the  acid  from  both  sides  of  the  zinc  was 
two-fifths  of  a  square  foot;  the  battery  required  only  half  a  pint  of 
dilute  acid  for  its  submersion." 

"  In  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    HENRY. 

with  a  plate  of  zinc  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.  J 
I  immediately  determined  to  try  the  effect  of  a  larger  galvanic 
apparatus  on  a  bent  iron  cylindrical  wire,  and  I  obtained  results 
which  appear  astonishing,  and  are — as  far  as  the  intensity  of  mag- 
netic force  is  concerned,  altogether  new.  I  have  anxiously  looked 
since  that  time  into  different  scientific  continental  and  English  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,  Jan.  1831,  vol.  xix.  pp.  404,  405. 

•fSibliolheque  Universclle  des  Sciences,  etc.  Sept.  1830,  vol.  xlv.  pp.  19-35.  Also  Edin- 
burgh Journal  of  Science,  Oct.  1830. 

J[At  the  date  referred  to,  Henry  had  already  exhibited  before  the  Albany  Insti- 
tute, a  much  more  powerful  magnet.] 


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  zinc  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,  taken  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.  iii.  n.  s.  pp.  209-214.  An  account  of 
MOLL'S  magnet  is  also  given  in  the  Annales  de  Chimie  et  de  Physique,  1832,  vol.  i~ 
pp.  324-328. 


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  applied ; 
—  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  MOLL  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.  Nov.  24,  1831,  vol.  cxxii.  (for  1832,)  pp.  126,  and  138.  Ex- 
perimental Researches,  etc.  vol.  i.  art.  6,  p.  2;  and  art.  57,  p.  15.) 


DISCOURSE  OF  W.  B.  TAYLOR.  223 

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.  A  great  majority  of  investigators — after 
having  definitely  ascertained  the  striking  fact  of  the  great  inferi- 
ority in  magnetizing  power,  of  a  single  long  continuous  coil,  to  a 
proportionally  shortened  circuit  of  multiple  coils, — would  naturally 
nave  been  led  to  abandon  all  further  investigation  of  the  feebler 
system.  Henry  however  recognized  in  this  a  field  of  instructive 
inquiry :  and  for  the  first  time  showed  that  the  coil  of  short  and 
numerous  circuits,  least  affected  by  a  battery  of  many  pairs,  was 
on  the  contrary  most  responsive  to  a  single  galvanic  element ;  while 
the  single  extended  coil,  least  influenced  by  a  single  pair,  was  most 
excited  by  a  battery  of  numerous  elements. 

The  illustrious  Laplace  had  suggested  to  Ampere  in  1820, — 
immediately  upon  the  discovery  of  the  galvanometer,  that  it  would 
be  desirable  to  test  the  deflection  of  the  needle  through  a  long  cir- 
cuit of  conjunctive  wire.  The  latter  having  made  the  experiment 
"  through  a  very  long  conducting  wire,"  (the  length  of  which  is 
not  stated,)  and  having  found  the  result  "  completely  successful," 
had  remarked  in  a  paper  presented  to  the  "  Royal  Academy  of  Sci- 
ences," October  2nd,  1820,  that  by  sending  the  galvanic  current 
through  long  wires  connecting  two  distant  stations,  the  deflections 
of  inclosed  magnetic  needles  would  constitute  very  simple  and  effi- 
cient signals  for  an  instantaneous  telegraph.  * 

Peter  Barlow  the  eminent  English  mathematician  and  magnetician 
taking  up  the  suggestion,  had  endeavored  more  fully  to  test  its  prac- 
ticability. He  has  thus  stated  the  result :  "  In  a  very  early  stage  of 
electro-magnetic  experiments  it  had  been  suggested  that  an  instan- 
taneous telegraph  might  be  established  by  means  of  conducting  wires 
and  compasses.  The  details  of  this  contrivance  are  so  obvious,  and 

*Annales  de  Chimie  et  de  Physique,  1820,  vol.  xv.  pp.  72,  73. 


224  MEMORIAL   OF   JOSEPH    HENRY. 

the  principle  on  which  it  is  founded  so  well  understood,  that  there 
was  only  one  question  which  could  render  the  result  doubtful ;  and 
this  was, —  is  there  any  diminution  of  effect  by  lengthening  the  con- 
ducting wire?  It  had  been  said  that  the  electric  fluid  from  a  common 
[tin-foil]  electrical  battery  had  been  transmitted  through  a  wire 
four  miles  in  length  without  any  sensible  diminution  of  effect,  and 
to  every  appearance  instantaneously;*  and  if  this  should  be  found 
to  be  the  case  with  the  galvanic  circuit,  then  no  question  could  be 
entertained  of  the  practicability  and  utility  of  the  suggestion  above 
adverted  to.  I  was  therefore  induced  to  make  the  trial ;  but  I  found 
such  a  sensible  diminution  with  only  200  feet  of  wire,  as  at  once  to 
convince  me  of  the  impracticability  of  the  scheme.  It  led  me  how- 
ever to  an  inquiry  as  to  the  cause  of  this  diminution,  and  the  laws 
by  which  it  is  governed."f 

Henry  in  his  researches  just  referred  to,  (assisted  by  his  friend 
Dr.  Ten-Eyck,)  employed  a  small  electro- magnet  of  one-quarter- 
inch  iron  "wound  with  about  8  feet  of  copper  wire."  Excited 
with  a  single  pair  "composed  of  a  piece  of  zinc  plate  4  inches  by 
7,  surrounded  with  copper/7  (about  56  square  inches  of  zinc  sur^ 
face,)  the  magnet  sustained  four  pounds  and  a  half.  With  about 
500  feet  of  insulated  copper  wire  (0.045  of  an  inch  in  diameter) 
interposed  between  the  battery  and  the  magnet,  its  lifting  power 
was  reduced  to  two  ounces ; —  or  about  36  times.  With  double 
this  length  of  wire,  or  a  little  over  1000  feet,  interposed,  the  lifting 
power  of  the  magnet  was  only  half  an  ounce :  thus  fully  confirm- 
ing the  results  obtained  by  Barlow  with  the  galvanometer.  With 

*[SAi/VA  in  1798,  had  successfully  worked  an  electric  telegraph  from  Madrid  to 
Aranjuez,—  a  distance  of  26  miles.  (Turnbull's  Electro-Magnetic  Telegraph,  2nd.  ed.  1853, 
pp.  21, 22.)  Frictional  or  mechanical  electricity  does  not  observe  OHM'S  law  of  resist- 
ance. The  only  drawback  to  its  application,  is  the  greatly  increased  difficulty  of 
insulation.] 

t"On  the  Laws  of  Electro-magnetic  Action."  Edinburgh  PhilosophicalJournal, 
Jan.  1825,  vol.  xii.  pp.  105-113.  In  explanation  and  justification  of  this  discouraging 
judgment  from  so  high  an  authority  in  magnetics,  it  must  be  remembered  that  both 
in  the  galvanometer  and  in  the  electro-magnet,  the  coil  best  calculated  to  produce 
large  effects,  was  that  of  least  resistance;  which  unfortunately  was  not  that  best 
adapted  to  a  long  circuit.  On  the  other  hand,  the  most  efficient  magnet  or  galva- 
nometer was  not  found  to  be  improved  in  result  by  increasing  the  number  of  gal- 
vanic elements.  BARLOW  in  his  inquiry  as  to  the  "law  of  diminution"  was  led 
(erroneously)  to  regard  the  resistance  of  the  conducting  wire  as  increasing  in  the 
ratio  of  the  square  root  of  its  length,  (pp.  110,  111.) 


DISCOURSE  OF  W.  B.  TAYLOR.  225 

a  small  galvanic  pair  2  inches  square,  acting  through  the  same 
length  of  wire  (over  1000  feet,)  "the  magnetism  was  scarcely  ob- 
servable in  the  horse-shoe."  Employing  next  a  trough  battery  of 
25  pairs,  having  the  same  zinc  surface  as  previously,  the  magnet  in 
direct  connection,  (which  before  had  supported  four  and  a  half 
pounds,)  now  lifted  but  seven  ounces; — not  quite  half  a  pound. 
But  with  the  1 060  feet  of  copper  wire  (a  little  more  than  one-fifth 
of  a  mile)  suspended  several  times  across  the  large  room  of  the 
Academy,  and  placed  in  the  galvanic  circuit,  the  same  magnet  sus- 
tained eight  ounces :  that  is  to  say,  the  current  from  the  galvanic 
trough  produced  greater  magnetic  effect  after  traversing  this  length 
cf  wire,  than  it  did  without  it. 

"  From  this  experiment  it  appears  that  the  current  from  a  gal- 
vanic trough  is  capable  of  producing  greater  magnetic  effect  on 
soft  iron  after  traversing  more  than  one-fifth  of  a  mile  of  inter- 
vening wire  than  when  it  passes  only  through  the  wire  surrounding 
the  magnet.  It  is  possible  that  the  different  states  of  the  trough 
with  respect  to  dry  ness  may  have  exerted  some  influence  on  this 
•emarkable  result;  but  that  the  effect  of  a  current  from  a  trough  if 
not  increased  is  but  slightly  diminished  in  passing  through  a  long 
wire  is  certain.7'  And  after  speculating  on  this  new  and  at  the 
time  somewhat  paradoxical  result,  suggesting  that  "a  current  from 
a  trough  possesses  more  ' projectile'  force  (to  use  Professor  Hare's 
expression,)  and  approximates  somewhat  in  i intensity'  to  the  elec- 
tricity from  the  common  machine,"  Henry  concludes:  "But  be 
this  as  it  may,  the  fact  that  the  magnetic  action  of  a  current  from 
a  trough  is  at  least  not  sensibly  diminished  by  passing  through  a  long 
wire,  is  directly  applicable  to  Mr.  Barlow's  project  of  forming  an 
electro-magnetic  telegraph ;  *  and  it  is  also  of  material  consequence 
in  the  construction  of  the  galvanic  coil.  From  these  experiments 
it  is  evident  that  in  forming  the  coil  we  may  either  use  one  very 
long  wire,  or  several  shorter  ones,  as  the  circumstances  may  require : 
in  the  first  case,  our  galvanic  combination  must  consist  of  a  num- 

*[ Really  AMPERE'S  project,  not  BARLOW'S.    In  a  subsequent  paper  HENRY  cor- 
rected this  allusion  by  saying,  "I  called  it  'Barlow's  project,'  when  I  ought  to 
have  stated  that  Mr.  Barlow's  investigation  merely  tended  to  disprove  the  'possi- 
bility of  a  telegraph."] 
15 


226  MEMORIAL   OF    JOSEPH    HENRY. 

ber  of  plates  so  as  to  give  ' projectile7  force;  in  the  second,  it  must 
be  formed  of  a  single  pair."  * 

The  importance  of  this  discovery  can  hardly  be  overestimated. 
The  magnetic  "spool"  of  fine  wire,  of  a  length  —  tens  and  even 
hundreds  of  times  that  ever  before  employed  for  this  purpose, — 
was  in  itself  a  gift  to  science,  which  really  forms  an  epoch  in  the 
history  of  electro-magnetism.  It  is  not  too  much  to  say  that 
almost  every  advancement  which  has  been  made  in  this  fruitful 
branch  of  physics  since  the  time  of  Sturgeon's  happy  improve- 
ment, from  the  earliest  researches  of  Faraday  downward,  has 
been  directly  indebted  to  Henry's  magnets.  By  means  of  the 
Henry  " spool"  the  magnet  almost  at  a  bound  was  developed  from 
a  feeble  childhood  to  a  vigorous  manhood.  And  so  rapidly  and 
generally  was  the  new  form  introduced  abroad  among  experimen- 
ters, few  of  whom  had  ever  seen  the  papers  of  Henry,  that  proba- 
bly very  few  indeed  have  been  aware  to  whom  they  were  really 
indebted  for  this  familiar  and  powerful  instrumentality.  But  the 
historic  fact  remains,  that  prior  to  Henry's  experiments  in  1829, 
no  one  on  either  hemisphere  had  ever  thought  of  winding  the  lim^s 
of  an  electro-magnet  on  the  principle  of  the  "  bobbin,"  and  not  till 
after  the  publication  of  Henry's  method  in  January  of  1831,  was 
it  ever  employed  by  any  European  physicist,  "j" 

But  in  addition  to  this  large  gift  to  science,  Henry  (as  we  have 
seen)  has  the  pre-eminent  claim  to  popular  gratitude  of  having 
first  practically  worked  out  the  differing  functions  of  two  entirely 
different  kinds  of  electro-magnet :  the  one  surrounded  with  numer- 
ous coils  of  no  great  length,  designated  by  him  the  "quantity" 
magnet,  the  other  surrounded  with  a  continuous  coil  of  very  great 
length,  designated  by  him  the  "intensity"  magnet. J  The  latter 

*Silliman's  Am.  Jour.  Sci.  Jan.  1831,  vol.  xix.  pp.  403,  404. 

•(•HENRY'S  "spool"  magnet  appears  to  have  been  introduced  into  France  by 
POUILL-ET  in  1832.  Nouveau  Bulletin  den  Sciences:  publie  par  la  Societe"  Philoma- 
tique  de  Paris.  S6ance  of  23d  June,  1832,  p.  127.  In  Pouillet's  Elements  de  Phy- 
sique Exptrimentale,  third  edition,  published  in  1837,  (vol.  i.  p.  572,)  the  date  of  this 
magnet  is  inadvertently  given  as  1831;  an  inaccuracy  which  though  unimportant, 
is  perpetuated  in  every  subsequent  edition  of  that  popular  text-book.  In  the 
second  edition,  published  in  1832,  no  allusion  to  the  magnet  occurs. 

J"In  describing  the  results  of  my  experiments  the  terms  'intensity'  and 
'quantity'  magnets  were  introduced  to  avoid  circumlocution,  and  were  intended 
to  be  used  merely  in  a  technical  sense.  By  the  intensity  magnet  I  designated  a 


DISCOURSE  OF  W.  B.  TAYLOR.  .       227 

and  feebler  system  (requiring  for  its  action  a  battery  of  numerous 
elements,)  was  shown  to  have  the  singular  capability  (never  before 
suspected  nor  imagined)  of  subtile  excitation  from  a  distant  source. 
Here  for  the  first  time  is  experimentally  established  the  important 
principle  that  there  must  be  a  proportion  between  the  aggregate 
internal  resistance  of  the  battery  and  the  whole  external  resistance 
of  the  conjunctive  wire  or  conducting  circuit;  with  the  very  impor- 
tant practical  consequence,  that  by  combining  with  an  "intensity77 
magnet  of  a  single  extended  fine  coil  an  t( intensity77  battery  of 
many  small  pairs,  its  electro-motive  force  enables  a  very  long  con- 
ductor to  be  employed  without  sensible  diminution  of  the  effect.* 
.  This  was  a  very  important  though  unconscious  experimental  con- 
firmation of  the  mathematical  theory  of  Ohm,  embodied  in  his 
formula  expressing  the  relation  between  electric  flow  and  electric 
resistance,  which  though  propounded  two  or  three  years  previously, 
failed  for  a  long  time  to  attract  any  attention  from  the  scientific 
world,  f 

Never  should  ifbe  forgotten  that  he  who  first  exalted  the  "  quan- 
tity77 magnet  of  Sturgeon  from  a  power  of  twenty  pounds  to  a 
power  of  twenty  hundred  pounds,  was  the  absolute  CREATOR  of  the 
"intensity"  magnet;  and  that  the  principles  involved  in  this  crea- 
tion, constitute  the  indispensable  basis  of  every  form  of  the  electro- 
piece  of  soft  iron  so  surrounded  with  wire  that  its  magnetic  power  could  be 
called  into  operation  by  an  'intensity'  battery;  and  by  a,  quantity  magnet,  a  piece 
of  iron  so  surrounded  by  a  number  of  separate  coils  that  its  magnetism  could  be 
fully  developed  by  a  'quantity'  battery."  (Smithsonian  Report  for  1857,  p.  103.) 
These  terms  though  somewhat  antiquated  and  generally  discarded  by  recent 
writers,  are  still  very  convenient  designations  of  the  two  classes  of  action,  both 
in  the  battery  and  in  the  magnet.  See  "Supplement,"  NOTE  B. 

*  Beyond  a  certain  maximum  length  there  is  of  course,  a  decrease  of  power  for 
each  particular  coil  of  the  "intensity"  magnet,  proportioned  to  the  increased 
resistance  of  a  long  conductor ;  but  the  magnetizing  effect  has  not  been  found  to 
be  diminished  in  the  ratio  of  its  length.  In  a  very  long  wire,  the  magnetizing 
influence  (with  a  suitable  "  intensity  "  battery)  appears  to  be  inversely  proportioned 
to  the  square  of  the  length  of  the  conductor. 

IGEORG  SIMOX  OHM,  professor  in  physics  at  Munich,  published  at  Berlin,  in 
1827,  his  "Galvanische  Kette,  mathematisch  bearbeitet:"  and  in  the  following 
year,  he  published  a  supplementary  paper  entitled  "Nachtrage  zu  seiner  mathe- 
matischen  Bearbeitung  der  galvanischen  Kette ;"  in  Kastner's  Archiv  fur  gesammte 
NaturleTire'.  (8vo.  Niirnberg:)  1828,  vol.  xiv.  pp.  475-493.  Fourteen  years  after  the 
publication  of  the  former  memoir,  this  elaborate  discussion  was  for  the  first  time 
translated  into  English,  by  Mr.  William  Francis.  ("The  Galvanic  Circuit  inves- 
tigated mathematically."  Taylor's  Scientific  Memoirs,  etc.  London,  1841,  vol.  ii. 
pp.  401-506.) 


228  MEMORIAL   OF   JOSEPH    HENRY. 

magnetic  telegraph  since  invented.  They  settled  satisfactorily  (in 
Barlow's  phrase)  the  "only  question  which  could  render  the  result 
doubtful;7'  and  though  derived  from  the  magnet,  were  obviously 
as  applicable  to  the  galvanometer  needle.*  Professor  Moll,  the 
foremost  of  Europeans  in  the  electro-magnetic  chase,  and  close 
upon  the  heels  of  Henry  in  one  portion  of  his  researches,  pro- 
duced a  powerful  "quantity"  magnet,  but  one  hopelessly  and  radi- 
cally incapacitated  from  any  such  application. 

It  is  idle  to  say  in  disparagement  of  these  successes,  that  in  the 
competitive  race  of  numerous  distinguished  investigators  in  the  field, 
diligently  searching  into  the  conditions  of  the  new-found  agency, 
the  same  results  would  sooner  or  later  have  been  reached  by  others. 
For  of  what  discovery  or  invention  may  not  the  same  be  said? 
Only  those  who  have  sought  in  the  twilight  of  uncertainty,  can 
appreciate  the  vast  economy  of  effort  by  prompt  directions  to  the 
path  from  one  who  has  gained  an  advance.  Not  for  what  might  be, 
but  for  the  actual  bestowal,  does  he  who  first  grasps  a  valuable  truth 
merit  the  return  of  at  least  a  grateful  recognition. 

If  these  results  apparently  so  simple  when  announced  by  Henry, 
have  never  been  justly  appreciated  either  at  home  or  abroad,  no 
such  complaint  ever  escaped  their  author. .  No  such  thought  seems 
ever  to  have  occurred  to  his  artless  nature.  For  him  the  one  suffi- 
cient incentive  and  recompense  was  the  advancement  of  himself  and 
others  in  the  knowledge  of  nature's  laws.  With  the  telegraph  con- 
sciously within  his  grasp,  he  was  well  content  to  leave  to  others  the 
glory  and  the  emoluments  of  its  realization. 

At  the  beginning  of  the  year  1831,  Henry  had  suspended  around 
the  walls  of  one  of  the  upper  rooms  in  the  Albany  Academy,  a  mile 
of  copper  bell-wire  interposed  in  a  circuit  between  a  small  Cruick- 
shanks  battery  and  an  "intensity"  magnet  of  continuous  fine  coil.  A 
narrow  steel  rod  (a  permanent  magnet)  pivoted  to  swing  horizontally 
like  the  compass  needle,  was  arranged  so  that  one  end  remained  in 

*"For  circuits  of  small  resistance,  galvanometers  of  small  resistance  must  be 
used.  For  circuits  of  large  resistance,  galvanometers  of  large  resistance  must  also 
be  used;  not  that  their  resistance  is  any  advantage,  but  because  we  cannot  have  a 
galvanometer  adapted  to  indicate  very  small  currents  without  having  a  very  large 
number  of  turns  in  the  coil,  and  this  involves  necessarily  a  large  resistance." 
Professor  F.  Jenkin,  Electricity  and  Magnetism,  12mo.  London,  and  New  York,  1873, 
chap.  iv.  sect.  8,  p.  89. 


DISCOURSE  OF  W.  B.  TAYLOR.  229 

contact  with  a  leg  of  the  soft  iron  core,  while  near  the  opposite  end 
of  the  compass  rod,  a  small  stationary  office-bell  was  placed.  At 
each  excitation  of  the  electro-magnet,  the  compass  rod  or  needle  was 
repelled  from  one  leg  (by  its  similar  magnetism)  and  attracted  by 
the  other  leg,  so  that  its  free  end  tapped  the  bell.  On  a  reversal  of 
the  current,  the  compass  rod  moved  back  to  the  opposite  leg  of  the 
electro-magnet.  This  simple  device  the  Professor  was  accustomed 
to  exhibit  to  his  classes,  during  the  years  1831  and  1832,  in  illus- 
tration of  the  facility  of  transmitting  signals  to  a  distance  by  the 
swift  action  of  electro-magnetism.* 

Henry  regarded  his  "quantity"  magnet  as  being  scientifieally 
more  important  than  his  "intensity"  magnet;  and  his  success  in 
constructing  such,  of  almost  incredible  power,  caused  numerous 
requisitions  on  his  skill.  In  April,  1831,  Professor  Silliman  pub- 
lished in  his  Journal  "An  Account  of  a  large  Electro-Magnet  made 
for  the  Laboratory  of  Yale  College,"  under  his  charge.  The  iron 
horseshoe  about  one  foot  high  was  made  from  a  three-inch  octagonal 
bar  30  inches  long ;  and  was  wrapped  with  26  strands  of  copper 
wire  each  about  28  feet  long.  When  duly  excited  by  a  single 
galvanic  element  consisting  of  concentric  cylinders  of  copper  and 
zinc,  presenting  about  five  square  feet  of  active  surface,  the  magnet 
lifted  2,300  pounds,  more  than  a  ton  weight.  For  reversing  the 
polarity  of  the  magnet,  a  duplicate  battery  was  oppositely  connected 
with  extensions  of  the  ends  of  the  coils,  so  that  either  battery  could 
be  alternately  dipped.  With  a  load  of  56  pounds  suspended  from 
the  armature,  the  poles  of  the  magnet  could  be  so  rapidly  reversed, 
that  the  weight  would  not  fall  during  the  interval  of  inversion. 
Professor  Silliman  remarks  of  the  maker :  "  He  has  the  honor  of 
having  constructed  by  far  the  most  powerful  magnets  that  have  ever 
been  known ;  and  his  last,  weighing  (armature  and  all)  but  82  J 
pounds,  sustains  over  a  ton; — which  is  eight  times  more  powerful 
than  any  magnet  hitherto  known  in  Europe."  f  And  Sturgeon 

*For  an  account  of  HENRY'S  relation  to  the  electro-magnetic  Telegraph,  see  "Sup- 
plement," NOTE  C. 

fSilliman's  Am.  Jour.  Sci.  April,  1831,  vol.  xx.  p.  201.  Relatively,  some  of  HENRY'S 
smaller  magnets  were  many  times  more  powerful  than  this.  A  miniature  one  made 
by  Dr.  Ten-Eyck  under  his  direction,  sustained  200  times  its  own  weight ;  and  one 
still  smaller,  sustained  more  than  400  times  its  own  weight!  (Sill.  Am.  Jour.  Sci. 
vol.  xix.  p.  407.) 


230  MEMORIAL,   OF   JOSEPH    HENRY. 

(the  true  foster-father  of  the  magnet)  thus  heralds  the  Yale  College 
triumph:  "By  dividing  about  800  feet  of  conducting  wire  into  26 
strands  and  forming  it  into  as  many  separate  coils  around  a  bar  of 
soft  iron  about  60  pounds  in  weight  and  properly  bent  into  a  horse- 
shoe form,  Professor  Henry  has  been  enabled  to  produce  a 
magnetic  force  which  completely  eclipses  every  other  in  the  whole 
annals  of  magnetism;  and  no  parallel  is  to  be  found  since  the 
miraculous  suspension  of  the  celebrated  oriental  impostor  in  his  iron 
coffin."  * 

The  first  Electro-magnetic  Engine. — Among  his  ingenious  applica- 
tions of  the  new  power,  Henry's  invention  of  the  Electro-magnetic 
Engine  should  here  be  noticed.  In  a  letter  to  his  friend  Professor 
Silliman,  he  says :  "  I  have  lately  succeeded  in  producing  motion 
in  a  little  machine,  by  a  power  which  I  believe  has  never  before 
been  applied  in  mechanics,  —  by  magnetic  attraction  and  repulsion/' 
The  device  consisted  of  a  horizontal  soft  iron  bar,  about  seven 
inches  long,  pivoted  at  its  middle  to  oscillate  vertically,  and  closely 
wrapped  with  three  strands  of  insulated  copper  wire,  whose  ends 
were  made  by  suitable  extensions  to  project  and  bend  downward  at 
either  end  of  the  beam  in  reversed  pairs,  so  as  conveniently  to  dip 
into  mercury  thimbles  in  connection  with  the  plates  of  the  battery. 
Two  upright  permanent  magnets  having  the  same  polarity,  were 
secured  immediately  under  the  two  ends  of  the  oscillating  bar, 
but  separated  from  them  by  about  an  inch.  So  soon  as  the  circuit 
was  completed  by  the  depression  of  one  end  of  the  oscillating  electro- 
magnetic bar,  a  repulsion  at  this  end  co-operating  with  an  attraction 
at  the  opposite  end,  caused  immediately  a  contrary  dip  of  the  bar, 
which  by  reversing  the  polarity  of  this  magnetic  beam,  thus  pro- 
duced a  constant  reciprocating  action  and  movement.  The  engine 
beam  oscillated  at  the  rate  of  75  vibrations  per  minute  for  more 
than  an  hour,  or  as  long  as  the  battery  current  was  maintained.f 
This  simple  but  original  device  comprised  the  first  automatic  pole- 

*  Philosoph.  Magazine;  and  Annals,  March,  1832,  vol.  xi.  p.  199.  HENRY'S  "quantity" 
magnet  was  at  once  adopted  by  FARADAY  in  his  researches,  as  well  as  by  the  conti- 
nental electricians;  and  his  device  of  multiple  coils  is  still  recognized  as  the  system 
best  adapted  for  powerful  magnetization.  See  "  Supplement,"  NOTE  D. 

fSilliman's  Am,  Jour.  Sci.  July,  1831,  vol.  xx.  pp.  340-343. 


DISCOURSE  OF  W.  B.  TAYLOR.  231 

4 

changer  or  commutator  ever  applied  to  the  galvanic  battery, — an' 
essential  element  not  merely  in  every  variety  of  the  electro-magnetic 
machine,  but  in  every  variety  of  magneto-electric  apparatus,  and  in 
every  variety  of  the  highly  useful  induction  apparatus. 

In  an  interesting  "Historical  Sketch  of  the  rise  and  progress 
of  Electro-magnetic  Engines  for  propelling  machinery ;"  by  the 
distinguished  philosopher  James  P.  Joule,  he  remarks:  "Mr. 
Sturgeon's  discovery  of  magnetizing  bars  of  soft  iron  to  a  con- 
siderable power,  and  rapidly  changing  their  polarity  by  miniature 
voltaic  batteries,  and  the  subsequent  improved  plan  by  Professor 
Henry  of  raising  the  magnetic  action  of  soft  iron, — developed 
new  and  inexhaustible  sources  of  force  which  appeared  easily  and 
extensively  available  as  a  mechanical  agent;  and  it  is  to  the  ingen- 
ious American  philosopher  above  named,  that  we  are  indebted  for 
the  first  form  of  a  working  model  of  an  engine  upon  the  principle 
of  reciprocating  polarity  of  soft  iron  by  electro-dynamic  agency."  * 

In  Henry's  deliberate  contemplation  of  his  own  achievement, 
his  remarkable  sagacity  and  sobriety  of  judgment  were  conspicu- 
ously displayed.  Unperturbed  by  the  enthusiasm  so  natural  to  the 
successful  inventor,  he  carefully  scanned  the  capabilities  of  this  new 
dynamic  agent.  Considering  the  source  of  the  power,  he  arrived 
at  the  conclusion  that  the  de-oxidation  of  metal  necessary  for  the 
battery,  would  require  the  expenditure  of  at  least  as  much  power 
as  its  combustion  in  the  battery  could  refund;  and  that  the  coal 
consumed  in  such  de-oxidation  could  be  much  more  economically 
employed  directly  in  the  work  to  be  done.f  As  the  battery  con- 
sumption moreover  was  found  to  increase  more  rapidly  than  the 
magnetic  power  produced,  he  was  at  once  convinced  that  it  could 

*  Sturgeon's  Annals  of  Electricity,  etc.  March,  1839,  vol.  iii.  p.  430.  STURGEON 
himself  the  first  to  devise  a  rotary  electro-magnetic  engine,  deserves  honorable 
mention  for  correcting  the  statement  of  an  American  writer,  and  declining  his 
mistaken  award  by  frankly  recognizing  HENRY'S  right  to  priority.  (Annals  of 
Electricity,  April,  1839,  vol.  iii.  p.  554.) 

t  These  considerations  have  been  more  than  justified  by  later  comparative 
investigations.  RANKINE  estimates  that  the  consumption  of  one  pound  of  zinc 
will  not  produce  more  than  one-tenth  the  energy  that  one  pound  of  coal  will ; 
and  that  though  in  the  efficient  utilization  of  this  energy  it  is  four  times  superior, 
its  useful  work  is  therefore  less  than  half  that  of  coal;  while  its  cost  is  from  forty 
to  fifty  times  greater.  (The  Steam  Engine  and  other  Prime  Movers,  By  W.  J.  M. 
Rankine.  London  and  Glasgow,  1859,  part  iv.  art.  395,  p.  541.) 


232  MEMORIAL    OF   JOSEPH    HENRY. 

never  supersede  or  compete  with  steam.  *  He  believed  however 
that  the  engine  had  a  useful  future  in  many  minor  applications 
where  economy  was  not  the  most  important  consideration. 

When  sometime  afterward,  a  friend  urged  him  to  secure  patents 
on  his  inventions, — the  " intensity"  electro-magnet  with  its  combi- 
nations, and  the  magnetic  engine  with  its  automatic  pole-changer, 
earnestly  assuring  him  that  either  one  with  proper  management 
would  secure  an  ample  fortune  to  its  owner,  he  firmly  resisted  every 
importunity;  declaring  that  he  would  feel  humilitated  by  any 
attempt  at  monopolizing  the  fruits  of  science,  which  he  thought 
belonged  to  the  world.  And  this  aversion  to  self-aggrandizement 
by  researches  undertaken  for  truth,  was  carried  with  him  through 
life.f 

While  such  disinterestedness  cannot  fail  to  excite  our  admiration, 
it  may  perhaps  be  questioned  whether  in  these  cases  it  did  not  from 
a  practical  point  of  view,  amount  to  an  over-fastidiousness: — 
whether  such  legal  establishment  of  ownership,  shielding  the  pos- 
sessor from  the.  occasional  depreciations  of  the  envious,  and  securing 
by  its  more  tangible  remunerations  the  leisure  and  the  means  for 
more  extended  researches,  would  not  have  been  to  science  more 
than  a  compensation  for  the  suppbsed  sacrifice  of  dignity  by  the 
philosopher.  J 

Nor  did  this  repugnance  to  patenting  arise  (as  it  sometimes  does) 
from  any  theoretical  disapproval  of  the  system.  On  the  contrary, 

*  JAMES  P.  JOULE  (himself  an  inventor  of  an  electro-magnetic  engine)  in  a 
letter  dated  May  28, 1839,  said :  "  I  can  scarcely  doubt  that  electro-magnetism  will 
eventually  be  substituted  for  steam  in  propelling  machinery."  (Sturgeon's 
Annals  of  Electricity,  vol.  iv.  p.  135.)  This  was  some  years  before  he  commenced  his 
investigations  on  the  mechanical  equivalent  of  heat  and  other  motors.  He  sub- 
sequently estimated  that  the  consumption  of  a  grain  of  zinc  though  forty  times 
more  costly  than  a  grain  of  coal,  produces  only  about  one-eighth  of  the  same 
mechanical  effect. 

t  This  trait  calls  to  mind  Faraday's  avowal  made  nearly  thirty  years  later, 
when  in  a  letter  to  Messrs.  Smith  &  Bentley,  dated  January  3,  1859,  (declining 
their  offer  for  the  publication  of  his  "  Juvenile  Lectures,")  he  said:  "In  fact  I 
have  always  loved  science  more  than  money;  and  because  my  occupation  is 
almost  entirely  personal,  I  cannot  afford  to  get  rich."  (Bence  Jones'  Life  of 
Faraday,  vol.  ii.  p.  423.) 

%  Several  hundred  patents  have  since  been  granted  in  this  country  for  ingen- 
ious modifications  of — or  improvements  upon  the  electro-magnetic  telegraph;  and 
probably  a  hundred  for  equally  ingenious  varieties  of  the  electro-magnetic  engine; 
all  of  which  would  have  been  tributary  to  HENRY  as  an  original  patentee. 


DISCOURSE   OF  W.  B.  TAYLOR.  233 

he  frequently  expressed  his  strong  conviction  that  a  judicious  code 
of  patent  laws  —  if  faithfully  administered  —  furnishes  the  most 
equitable  method  of  recompensing  meritorious  inventors.  The 
institution  was  a  good  one  —  for  others. 

The  discovery  of  Magneto-electricity.  —  From  the  magnetizing 
influence  of  the  galvanic  current,  physicists  were  almost  inevitably 
led  to  expect  the  converse  reaction ;  and  this  anticipation  appears  to 
have  been  co-eval  with  electro-magnetism.  As  early  as  1820,  the 
illustrious  Augustin  Fresnel  remarked:  "It  is  natural  to  try 
whether  a  magnetic  bar  will  not  produce  a  galvanic  current  in  a 
helical  wire  surrounding  it;"  and  he  made  various  experiments  to 
determine  a  question  which  was  supposed  to  involve  the  soundness 
of  Ampere's  theory.  In  November,  1820,  he  announced  that 
though  he  at  first  supposed  his  attempt  at  the  magneto-electric 
decomposition  of  water  was  partially  successful,  he  was  finally 
satisfied  that  no  decisive  result  was  obtained.* 

Five  years  later,  Faraday  attempted  the  same  experimental 
inquiry ;  and  among  his  earliest  publications  gave  an  account  of  his 
unsuccessful  trials.  After  describing  his  arrangements  he  says: 
"The  magnet  was  then  put  in  various  positions  and  to  different 
extents  into  the  helix,  and  the  needle  of  the  galvanometer  noticed : 
no  effect  however  upon  it  could  be  observed.  The  circuit  was  made 
very  long,  very  short,  of  wires  of  "different  metals  and  different 
diameters,  down  to  extreme  fineness,  but  the  results  were  always 
the  same.  Magnets  more  and  less  powerful  were  used,  some  so  strong 
as  to  bend  the  wire  in  its  endeavors  to  pass  round  it.  Hence  it 
appears  that  however  powerful  the  action  of  an  electric  current  may 
be  upon  a  magnet,  the  latter  has  no  tendency  by  re-action  to  diminish 
or  increase  the  intensity  of  the  former ;  a  fact  which  though  of  a 
negative  kind,  appears  to  me  to  be  of  some  importance."f 

Nor  were  American  physicists  discouraged  by  the  records  of  re- 
peated failures :  and  when  the  great  Henry  magnet  was  received 
at  Yale  College,  Professor  C.  U.  Shepard  (chemical  assistant  to 
Professor  Silliman)  at  once  attacked  the  problem  with  this  new 

*Annales  de  Chimie  et  de  Physique,  1820,  vol.  xv.  pp.  219-222. 

t  Quarterly  Journal  of  Science,  etc.  of  the  Royal  Institution  of  Great  Britain,  July, 
1825,  vol.  xix.  p.  338.  This  well  shows  the  danger  of  generalizing  too  broadly  from 
negative  results. 


234  MEMORIAL    OF   JOSEPH    HENRY. 

equipment.  He  remarks :  "As  its  magnetic  flow  was  so  powerful, 
I  had  strong  hopes  of  being  able  to  accomplish  the  decomposition 
of  water  by  its  means.  My  experiment  however  proved  unsuccess- 
ful. -  -  -  I  hope  however  to  resume  the  research  hereafter, 
under  more  favorable  circumstances."* 

Henry,  unsatisfied  with  past  efforts,  determined  to  pursue  the 
subject  in  an  exhaustive  series  of  experiments;  and  had  reached 
some  momentary  indications  of  the  galvanometer,  when  his  experi- 
ments were  temporarily  interrupted.  Meanwhile  it  was  announced 
in  May,  1832,  that  Faraday  had  secured  the  long  sought  prize; 
though  the  announcement  was  brief,  and  to  those  eager  for  particu- 
lars, somewhat  disappointing.  Henry  was  accordingly  induced  to 
publish  in  the  following  number  of  Silliman's  Journal  (that  for 
July)  a  sketch  of  his  own  trials  both  before  and  after  the  announced 
discovery.  With  reference  to  Faraday's  discovery  he  remarks: 
"  No  detail  is  given  of  the  experiments,  and  it  is  somewhat  sur- 
prising that  results  so  interesting,  and  which  certainly  form  a  new 
era  in  the  history  of  electricity  and  magnetism,  should  not  have 
been  more  fully  described  before  this  time  in  some  of  the  English 
publications.  The  only  mention  I  have  found  of  them  is  the  fol- 
lowing short  account  from  the  'Annals  of  Philosophy'  for  April, 
under  the  head  of  Proceedings  of  the  Eoyal  Institution. — 'Feb.  17. 
Mr.  Faraday  gave  an  account  of  the  first  two  parts  of  his  researches 
in  electricity ;  namely  volta-electric  induction,  and  magneto-electric 
induction.  -  -  -  If  a  wire  connected  at  both  extremities  with 
a  galvanometer,  be  coiled  in  the  form  of  a  helix  around  a  magnet, 
no  current  of  electricity  takes  place  in  it.  This  is  an  experiment 
which  has  been  made  by  various  persons  hundreds  of  times,  in  the 
hope  of  evolving  electricity  from  magnetism.  But  if  the  magnet 
be  withdrawn  from  or  introduced  into  such  a  helix,  a  current  of 
electricity  is  produced  while  the  magnet  is  in  motion,  and  is  rendered 
evident  by  the  deflection  of  the  galvanometer.  If  a  single  wire  be 
passed  by  a  magnetic  pole,  a  current  of  electricity  is  induced  through 
it  which  can  be  rendered  sensible/  f 

*Silliman's  Am.  Jour.  Sci.  April,  1831,  vol.  xx.  p.  201,  foot-note. 

\Philosoph.  Mag.  and  Annals  of  Phil.  April,  1832,  vol.  xi.  pp.  300,  301.  [Although 
FARADAY'S  first  communication  on  galvanic  induction,  and  on  magneto-elec- 
tricity, was  read  before  the  Royal  Society  November  24,  1831,  the  published  Trans- 


DISCOURSE  OF  W.  B.  TAYLOR.  235 

"  Before  having  any  knowledge  of  the  method  given  in  the  above 
account,  I  had  succeeded  in  producing  electrical  effects  in  the  fol- 
lowing manner,  which  differs  from  that  employed  by  Mr.  Faraday, 
and  which  appears  to  me  to  develop  some  new  and  interesting  facts. 
A  piece  of  copper  wire  about  thirty  feet  long  and  covered  with 
elastic  varnish,  was  closely  coiled  around  the  middle  of  the  soft  iron 
armature  of  the  galvanic  magnet  described  in  vol.  xix  of  the  Ameri- 
can Journal  of  Science,  and  which  when  excited  will  readily  sustain 
between  six  hundred  and  seven  hundred  pounds.  The  wire  was 
wound  upon  itself  so  as  to  occupy  only  about  one  inch  of  the  length 
of  the  armature,  which  is  seven  inches  in  all.  The  armature  thus 
furnished  with  the  wire,  was  placed  in  its  proper  position  across 
the  ends  of  the  galvanic  magnet,  and  there  fastened  so  that  no 
motion  could  take  place.  The  two  projecting  ends  of  the  helix 
were  dipped  into  two  cups  of  mercury,  and  these  connected  with  a 
distant  galvanometer  by  means  of  two  copper  wires  each  about  forty 
feet  long.  This  arrangement  being  completed,  I  stationed  myself 
near  the  galvanometer  and  directed  an  assistant  at  a  given  word  to 
immerse  suddenly  in  a  vessel  of  dilute  acid,  the  galvanic  battery 
attached  to  the  magnet.  At  the  instant  of  immersion  the  north  end 
of  the  needle  was  deflected  30°  to  the  west,  indicating  a  current  of 
electricity  from  the  helix  surrounding  the  armature.  The  effect 
however,  appeared  only  as  a  single  impulse,  for  the  needle  after  a 
few  oscillations  resumed  its  former  undisturbed  position  in  the  mag- 
netic meridian,  although  the  galvanic  action  of  the  battery,  and 
consequently  the  magnetic  power  still  continued.  I  was  however 
much  surprised  to  see  the  needle  suddenly  deflected  from  a  state  of 
rest  to  about  20°  to  the  east,  or  in  a  contrary  direction,  when  the 
battery  was  withdrawn  from  the  acid, — and  again  deflected  to  the 
west  when  it  was  re-immersed.  This  operation  was  repeated  many 
times  in  succession,  and  uniformly  with  the  same  result,  the  arma- 
ture the  whole  time  remaining  immovably  attached  to  the  poles  of 
the  magnet,  no  motion  being  required  to  produce  the  effect,  as  it  ap- 
peared to  take  place  only  in  consequence  of  the  instantaneous  devel- 

actions  for  1832,  containing  this  memoir,  did  not  reach  this  country  till  more  than  a 
year  later:  so  that  the  meager  abstract  of  the  Royal  Institution  Proceedings  above 
given,  was  the  only  notice  of  this  important  discovery,  here  accessible  for  many 
months.] 


236  MEMORIAL,   OF   JOSEPH    HENRY. 

opment  of  the  magnetic  action  in  one  case  and  the  sudden  cessation 
of  it  in  the  other.  -  -  -  From  the  foregoing  facts  it  appears  that 
a  current  of  electricity  is  produced  for  an  instant  in  a  helix  of  copper 
wire  surrounding  a  piece  of  soft  iron  whenever  magnetism  is  in- 
duced in  the  iron  ;  and  a  current  in  an  opposite  direction  when  the 
magnetic  action  ceases ;  also  that  an  instantaneous  current  in  one  or 
the  other  direction  accompanies  every  change  in  the  magnetic  in- 
tensity of  the  iron. 

"Since  reading  the  account  before  given  of  Mr.  Faraday's 
method  of  producing  electrical  currents,  I  have  attempted  to  com- 
bine the  effects  of  motion  and  induction."  No  increase  of  effect 
was  however  observable.  On  comparing  the  two  methods  sepa- 
rately it  was  found  that  while  the  sudden  introduction  of  the  end 
of  a  magnetized  bar  within  the  helix  connected  with  the  galva- 
nometer, deflected  the  needle  seven  degrees,  the  sudden  magnetiza- 
tion of  the  bar  when  within  the  helix  deflected  the  needle  thirty 
degrees.  A  cylindrical  iron  bar  was  made  to  rotate  rapidly  on  its 
axis  within  a  stationary  helix,  by  means  of  a  turning  lathe,  but  no 
result  followed. 

.  In  the  following  month  (June)  by  employing  an  armature  of 
horse-shoe  form  (admitting  longer  coils),  Henry  succeeded  in  ob- 
taining vivid  sparks  from  the  magnet.  "The  poles  of  the  magnet 
were  connected  by  a  single  rod  of  iron  bent  into  the  form  of  a 
horse-shoe,  and  its  extremities  filed  perfectly  flat  so  as  to  come  in 
perfect  contact  with  the  faces  of  the  poles :  around  the  middle  of 
the  arch  of  this  horse-shoe,  two  strands  of  copper  wire  were  tightly 
coiled  one  over  the  other.  A  current  from  one  of  these  helices 
deflected  the  needle  one  hundred  degrees,  and  when  both  were  used, 
the  needle  was  deflected  with  such  force  as  to  make  a  complete 
circuit.  But  the  most  surprising  effect  was  produced  when  instead 
of  passing  the  current  through  the  long  wires  to  the  galvanometer, 
the  opposite  ends  of  the  helices  were  held  nearly  in  contact  with 
each  other,  and  the  magnet  suddenly  excited :  in  this  case  a  small 
but  vivid  spark  was  seen  to  pass  between  the  ends  of  the  wires,  and 
this  effect  was  repeated  as  often  as  the  state  of  intensity  of  the 
magnet  was  changed.  -  -  -  It  appears  from  the  May  number 
of  the  l  Annals  of  Philosophy/  that  I  have  been  anticipated  in  this 


DISCOURSE  OF  W.  B.  TAYLOR.  237 

experiment  of  drawing  sparks  from  the  magnet  by  Mr.  James  D. 
Forbes  of  Edinburgh,  who  obtained  a  spark  on  the  30th  of  March  :* 
my  experiments  being  made  during  the  last  two  weeks  of  June. 
A  simple  notification  of  his  result  is  given,  without  any  account  of 
the  experiment,  which  is  reserved  for  a  communication  to  the  Royal 
Society  of  Edinburgh.  My  result  is  therefore  entirely  independent 
of  his,  and  was  undoubtedly  obtained  by  a  different  process."  f 

Henry's  gratification  at  the  acquisition  of  the  new  insight  into 
natural  law,  quite  absorbed  all  sentiment  of  personal  pride  in  its 
independent  attainment;  and  his  appreciation  and  congratulation 
of  Faraday  as  the  first  discoverer  of  magneto-electricity,  were 
hearty  and  unreserved.  He  was  also  particular  always  to  assign  to 
Faraday  the  first  observation  of  the  curious  phenomena  of  mo- 
mentary galvanic  induction;  although  himself  an  independent 
discoverer  of  the  fact. 

Discovery  pf  the  "Extra  Current." — In  the  course  of  these  experi- 
ments he  made  a  very  important  original  observation  on  a  peculiar 
case  of  self-induction,  whereby  he  was  enabled  to  convert  a  galvanic 
current  of  "quantity"  into  one  of  "intensity."  This  entirely  new 
result  seemed  to  contradict  all  previous  experience.  He  thus  con- 
cludes his  paper: 

"  I  may  however  mention  one  fact  which  I  have  not  seen  noticed 
in  any  work,  and  which  appears  to  me  to  belong  to  the  same  class  of 
phenomena  as  those  above  described.  It  is  this: — .when  a  small 
battery  is  moderately  excited  by  diluted  acid  and  its  poles  (which 
should  be  terminated  by  cups  of  mercury)  are  connected  by  a  cop- 
per wire  not  more  than  a  foot  in  length,  no  spark  is  perceived  when 
the  connection  is  either  formed  or  broken :  but  if  a  wire  thirty  or 
forty  feet  long  be  used  (instead  of  the  short  wire),  though  no  spark 
will  be  perceptible  when  the  connection  is  made,  yet  when  it  is 
broken  by  drawing  one  end  of  the  wire  from  its  cup  of  mercury,  a 
vivid  spark  is  produced.  -  -  -  The  effect  appears  somewhat 
increased  by  coiling  the  wire  into  a  helix :  it  seems  also  to  depend 
in  some  measure  on  the  length  and  thickness  of  the  wire.  I  can 

*  Philosoph.  Mag.  and  Annals,  May,  1832,  vol.  xi.  pp.  35Q,  360. 
fSilliman's  Am.  Jour.  Sri.  July,  1832,  vol.  xxii.  pp.  403-408. 


238  MEMORIAL   OF   JOSEPH    HENRY. 

account  for  these  phenomena  only  by  supposing  the  long  wire  to 
become  charged  with  electricity  which  by  its  reaction  on  itself  pro- 
jects a  spark  when  the  connection  is  broken/'*  This  is  the  earliest 
notice  of  the  curious  phenomenon  of  self-induction  in  an  electric 
discharge. 

Election  as  Professor  at  Princeton. — The  Trustees  of  the  College 
of  New  Jersey  at  Princeton,  were  about  this  time  in  search  of  a  Pro- 
fessor to  fill  the  chair  of  Natural  Philosophy  in  that  College,  made 
vacant  by  the  resignation  of  Professor  Henry  Vethake,  who  had 
accepted  a  Professorship  of  Natural  Philosophy  in  the  recently 
established  University  of  the  City  of  New  York.  Professor  Henry 
had  already  won  considerable  reputation  as  a  lecturer  and  teacher, 
no  less  than  as  an  experimental  physicist.  Professor  Benjamin 
Silliman  of  Yale  College,  urging  his  appointment,  wrote:  "Henry 
has  no  superior  among  the  scientific  men  of  the  country."  And 
Professor  James  Ren  wick  of  Columbia  College  (New  York)  still 
more  emphatically  added :  "  He  has  no  equal." 

Professor  Henry  was  unanimously  elected  by  the  Trustees;")" 
and  he  accepted  the  appointment :  although  strongly  attached  to  his 
first  Academy,  endeared  to  him  by  early  memories,  by  six  years  of 
successful  labors,  and  by  the  warm  regard  of  all  his  associates.  May 
it  not  be  added  that  his  residence  at  the  capital  of  the  State  of  New 
York  was  further  endeared  to  him  by  life's  romance, — a  most  con- 
genial and  happy  marriage  contracted  in.  18 30. 

ELECTRICAL   RESEARCHES  AT  PRINCETON:   FROM   1833   TO    1842. 

In  November,  1832,  Henry  left  the  scene  of  his  early  scientific 
triumphs,  the  Albany  Academy,  and  removed  to  Princeton  with 
his, family.  For  a  year  or  two  he  gave  his  whole  attention  and 
exertions  to  the  duties  of  exposition  and  instruction ;  and  during  Dr. 
Torrey's  visit  to  Europe  in  1833,  at  the  Doctor's  request,  Profes- 
sor Henry  filled  ad  interim  his  chair  of  Chemistry,  Mineralogy, 

*  Silliman's  Am.  Jour.  Sci.  July,  1832,  vol.  xxii.p.  408. 

t  Dr.  MACLEAN,  connected  with  the  Faculty  of  the  College  of  New  Jersey  at  Prince- 
ton for  fifty  years,  and  for  fourteen  years  its  venerable  president,  in  his  History  of 
the  College  (2  vols.Svo.  Philadelphia,  1877,)- gives  a  very  interesting  account  of  the 
appointment  and  election  of  JOSEPH  HENRY  as  Professor  of  Natural  Philosophy  in 
1832,  vol.  ii.  pp.  288-291. 


DISCOURSE  OF  W.  B.  TAYLOR.  239 

and  Geology.  These  occupations  left  him  no  leisure  for  the  pursuit 
of  original  research.  He  subsequently  gave  lectures  on  Astronomy, 
and  also  on  Architecture. 

In  1 834,  Henry  constructed  for  the  Laboratory  of  his  College 
an  original  form  of  galvanic  battery;  so  arranged  as  to  bring  into 
action  any  desired  number  of  elements,  from  a  single  pair  to  eighty- 
eight.  Each  zinc  plate  9  inches  wide  and  12  inches  deep  was  sur- 
rounded by  a  copper  case  open  at  top  and  bottom,  and  giving  thus 
one  and  a  half  square  feet  of  efficient  surface.  Eleven  of  these,  in 
eleven  separate  cells,  formed  a  sub-battery;  and  eight  of  these  were 
grouped  together  by  means  of  adjustable  conductors,  so  as  to  form 
from  the  whole  a  single  battery.  By  means  of  a  crank  and  windlass 
shaft  in  proper  connection,  any  one  or  more  of  the  eight  sub-batteries 
could  be  immersed  or  disengaged,  and  if  desired,  a  single  cell  alone 
could  be  charged.  By  another  arrangement  of  adjustable  conduct- 
ors, all  the  zinc  plates  could  be  directly  connected  together,  and  all 
the  copper  plates  together,  after  the  plan  of  Dr.  Hare's  "calori- 
motor"  battery;  thus  giving  the  " quantity "  effect  due  to  a  single 
element  of  132  square  feet  of  zinc  surface,  or  of  any  smaller  area 
desired.  As  the  author  remarks  concerning  its  various  arrange- 
ments, "they  have  been  adopted  in  most  cases  after  several  experi- 
ments and  much  personal  labor."  A  detailed  account  of  this  battery 
was  given  in  a  communication  read  January  16th,  1835,  before  the 
American  Philosophical  Society  (of  which  he  had  recently  been 
elected  a  member),  and  was  published  in  its  Transactions.* 

Electrical  Self-induction. —  Meanwhile  he  had  been  engaged  in 
his  brief  intervals  of  relaxation  from  his  exacting  professional  cares 
during  the  past  year,  in  repeating  and  extending  his  interesting  obser- 
vations (commenced  at  Albany  in  1832),  on  the  remarkable  intensi- 
fying influence  of  a  long  conductor,  and  especially  of  a  spiral  one, 
when  interposed  in  a  galvanic  circuit  of  a  single  pair,  or  a  battery 
of  low  "intensity."  A  verbal  communication  on  this  curious  form 
of  "  induction,"  was  made  to  the  Society  on  the  same  occasion  as 
the  description  of  his  battery,  and  was  illustrated  by  experiments 
exhibited  before  the  Society. 

*  Trans.  Am.  Philos.  Soc.  vol.  v.  (n.  s.)  art.  ix.  pp.  217-222. 


240  MEMORIAL   OF   JOSEPH    HENRY. 

Faraday  in  his  "eighth  series  of  Researches"  (read  before  the 
Royal  Society  June  5th,  1834),  pointed  out  very  fully  the  differing 
actions  of  a  single  galvanic  element  giving  a  "quantity"  current, 
and  of  a  series  of  elements  giving  an  "  intensity "  current :  *  thus 
entirely  confirming  the  results  obtained  by  Henry  more  than  three 
years  previously. 

In  the  Philosophical  Magazine  for  November,  1834,  appeared  a 
paper  by  Faraday,  "  On  a  peculiar  condition  of  electric  and 
magneto-electric  Induction :"  in  which  he  notices  as  a  remarkable 
fact,  that  while  a  short  circuit  wire  from  a  single  galvanic  element, 
gives  little  or  no  visible  spark,  a  long  conductor  gives  a  very  sen- 
sible spark.  "If  the  connecting  wire  be  much  lengthened,  then 
the  spark  is  much  increased."  f  In  his  interesting  research,  Faraday 
appears  to  have  entirely  overlooked  Henry's  earlier  labors  in  the 
same  field; — as  contrary  to  his  usual  custom,  he  makes  no  allusion 
to  the  same  results  having  been  obtained,  and  published  in  Silliman's 
Journal  two  years  and  a  half  before.  J 

These  observations  were  made  by  Faraday  the  subject  of  his 
"ninth  series  of  Researches,"  in  a  communication  "On  the  influence 
by  induction  of  an  electric  current  on  itself:"  read  before  the  Royal 
Society  January  29th,  1835.  In  this  paper  he  states:  "The  inquiry 
arose  out  of  a  fact  communicated  to  me  by  Mr.  Jenkin, —  which  is 
as  follows:  If  an  ordinary  wire  of  short  length  be  used  as  the 
medium  of  communication  between  two  plates  of  an  electro-motor 
consisting  of  a  single  pair  of  metals,  no  management  will  enable 
the  experimenter  to  obtain  an  electric  shock  from  this  wire :  but  if 
the  wire  which  surrounds  an  electro-magnet  be  used,  a  shock  is  felt 
each  time  the  contact  with  the  electro-motor  is  broken."  Having 
varied  the  experiment,  Faraday  adds :  "  There  was  no  sensible  spark 
on  making  contact,  but  on  breaking  contact  there  was  a  very  large 
and  bright  spark,  with  considerable  combustion  of  the  mercury." 
He  found  a  similar  result  with  the  wire  helix  alone, — without  its 
'  magnetic  core.  "The  power  of  producing  these  phenomena  exists 
therefore  in  the  simple  helix,  as  well  as  in  the  electro-magnet, 

*Phil.  Tram.  Roy.  Soc.  June  5, 1834,  vol.  cxxiv.  arts.  990-994,  pp.  455,456.  Experi- 
mental Researches  in  Electricity,  vol.  i.  pp.  301,  302. 

^L.&E.  Philosoph.  Mag.  Nov.  1834,  vol.  v.  pp.  351,  352. 

J  Silliman's  Am.  Jour.  Sci.  July,  1832,  vol.  xxii.  p.  408,  above  quoted. 


DISCOURSE  OF  W.  B.  TAYLOR.  241 

although  by  no  means  in  the  same  high  degree."  With  continuous 
straight  wire  of  the  same  length,  he  obtained  a  similar  effect, —  "yet 
not  so  bright  as  that  from  the  helix."  "  When  a  short  wire  is  used, 
all  these  effects  disappear ;"  although  there  is  undoubtedly  a  greater 
"  quantity  "  of  electric  current  in  the  shorter  wire ;  thus  giving  "  the 
strange  result  of  a  diminished  spark  and  shock  from  the  strong 
current,  and  increased  effects  from  the  weak  one."  * 

While  Henry  derived  only  satisfaction  from  these  extended 
verifications  of  his  own  observations,  by  one  whom  he  had  accus- 
tomed himself  to  look  up  to  with  admiration  and  regard,  Dr.  A. 
Dallas  Bache,  his  attached  friend,  then  Professor  of  Natural 
Philosophy  in  the  University  of  Pennsylvania, — more  jealous  than 
himself  of  his  scientific  fame,  strongly  urged  and  insisted  that  he 
should  immediately  publish  an  account  of  his  later  researches. 
Henry  accordingly  sent  to  the  American  Philosophical  Society  a 
memoir  (comprising  the  details  of  his  recent  verbal  communication) 
"On  the  Influence  of  a  Spiral  Conductor  in  increasing  the  Inten- 
sity of  Electricity  from  a  galvanic  arrangement  of  a  Single  pair, 
etc.,"  which  was  read  before  the  Society,  February  6th,  1835. 

After  citing  his  former  paper  of  July,  1832,  the  writer  remarks 
that  he  had  been  able  during  the  past  year  to  extend  his  experi- 
ments on  the  curious  phenomenon.  "These  though  not  so  complete 
as  I  could  wish,  are  now  presented  to  the  Society  with  the  belief 
that  they  will  be  interesting  at  this  time  on  account  of  the  recent 
publication  of  Mr.  Faraday  on  the  same  subject."  He  then 
relates  that  employing  a  single  pair  of  his  battery  (comprising  one 
and  a  half  square  feet  of  zinc  surface),  he  found  as  in  his  earlier 
experiment  in  1832,  that  the  poles  being  connected  by  a  piece  of 
copper  bell-wire  five  inches  long,  no  spark  was  given  on  making  or 
breaking  contact.  Fifteen  feet  of  interposed  wire  gave  a  very 
feeble  spark;  and  with  successive  additions  of  fifteen  feet,  the  effect 
increased  until  with  120  feet  the  maximum  spark  appeared  to  be 
reached,  and  beyond  this  there  was  no  perceptible  increase;  while 
with  double  this  length  (or  240  feet)  there  seemed  to  be  a  diminu- 

*Phil.  Trans.  Roy.  Soc.  Jan.  29, 1835,  vol.  cxxv.  articles  1061-1067,  and  1073,  pp.  41-45. 
Experimental  Researches  in  Electricity,  vol.  i.  pp.  324-328.  This  memoir  did  not  reach 
this  country,  of  course,  till  a  year  later. 

16 


242  MEMORIAL   OF   JOSEPH   HENRY. 

tion  of  intensity.  From  various  trials  the  inference  was  drawn 
that  the  length  required  for  maximum  effect  varied  with  the  size  of 
the  galvanic  element.  Thicker  wires  of  the  same  length  produced 
greater  effect,  depending  in  some  degree  on  the  size  of  the  battery. 
A  wire  of  forty  feet  when  coiled  into  a  cylindrical  helix  "gave  a 
more  intense  spark  than  the  same  wire  uncoiled."  A  ribbon  of 
sheet  copper  about  an  inch  wide  and  twenty-eight  feet  long,  being 
covered  with  silk  and  coiled  into  a  flat  spiral — like  a  watch 
spring — (after  the  plan  of  Dr.  Ritchie)  gave  a  vivid  spark  with  a 
loud  snap.  When  uncoiled,  it  produced  a  much  feebler  spark. 
With  the  insulated  copper  ribbon  folded  in  its  middle,  and  the 
double  thickness  coiled  into  a  flat  spiral,  there  was  no  spark  what- 
ever, although  the  same  ribbon  unrolled  gave  a  feeble  spark :  thus 
showing  that  the  induction  of  the  current  upon  itself  was  neutral- 
ized by  flowing  equally  in  opposite  directions  in  the  double  spiral. 
With  a  larger  copper  ribbon  one  inch  and  a  half  wide,  and  96  feet 
long  (weighing  15  pounds),  spirally  coiled,  the  snap  of  the  spark 
could  be  heard  in  an  adjoining  room  with  the  door  closed.  Want 
of  material  prevented  the  result  being  pushed  further,  so  as  to 
ascertain  the  range  of  maximum  effect  with  this  form  of  conductor. 
With  increased  battery  surface,  the  effect  was  also  increased ;  so  that 
with  eight  elements  of  his  battery  arranged  as  a  single  pair  (of  12 
square  feet)  the  spark  on  breaking  contact  "resembled  the  discharge 
of  a  small  Leyden  jar  highly  charged."  With  the  flat  spiral,  no 
increase  of  effect  was  observable  on  the  introduction  of  a  soft  iron 
core  into  the  axis  of  the  spiral,  forming  a  magnet.  With  a  helical 
or  cylindrical  coil  about  nine  inches  long,  enclosing  an  iron  core, 
"the  spark  appeared  a  little  more  intense  than  without  the  iron." 
The  inference  is  also  drawn  "  from  these  experiments,  that  some  of 
the  effects  heretofore  attributed  to  magneto-electric  action  are 
chiefly  due  to  the  reaction  on  each  other  of  the  several  spirals  of 
the  coil  which  surround  the  magnet." 

In  these  researches  it  was  found  that  when  the  two  plates  of  a 
single  pair  were  placed  even  fourteen  inches  apart  in  an  open  trough 
of  diluted  acid,  "although  the  electrical  intensity  in  this  case  must 
have  been  very  low,  yet  there  was  but  little  reduction  in  the  appar- 
ent intensity  of  the  spark."  It  was  also  shown  that  "the  spiral 


DISCOURSE   OF  W.  B.  TAYLOR.  243 

conductor  produces  however,  little  or  no  increase  of  effect  when 
introduced  into  a  galvanic  circuit  of  considerable  intensity."  When 
for  example  an  "  intensity "  battery  of  two  Cruickshanks  troughs, 
each  containing  fifty-six  elements  was  employed  with  the  larger 
copper  spiral,  "no  greater  effect  was  perceived  than  with  a  short 
thick  wire:"  in  either  case,  only  a  feeble  spark  being  given.*  An 
abstract  of  the  results  thus  announced,  (and  which  were  obtained 
by  Henry  during  the  summer  of  1834,)  was  communicated  by 
Dr.  A.  D.  Bache,  as  a  Secretary  of  the  American  Philosophical 
Society,  to  the  Franklin  Journal,  in  order  to  give  these  interesting 
facts  an  earlier  currency,  f  The  date  of  original  discovery  was 
however  so  well  established,  that  this  friendly  effort  was  scarcely 
necessary.  J 

Combined  Circuits. — In  1835,  wires  had  been  extended  across 
the  front  campus  of  the  college  grounds  at  Princeton  from  the  upper 
story  of  the  library  building  to  the  Philosophical  Hall  on  the  oppo- 
site side,  through  which  signals  were  occasionally  sent,  distinguished 
by  the  number  of  taps  of  the  electro-magnetic  bell,  as  first  exhib- 
ited five  years  previously  in  the  hall  of  the  Albany  Academy.  It 
has  already  been  noticed,  that  contrary  to  all  the  antecedent  expec- 
tations of  physicists,  Henry  had  established  the  fact  that  the  most 
powerful  form  of  magnet  (designated  by  him  the  "quantity" 
magnet)  is  not  the  form  best  adapted  to  distant  action  through 
an  extended  circuit.  The  ingenious  idea  occurred  to  him  that 
notwithstanding  this  fundamental  fact,  it  would  be  quite  easy  to 
combine  the  two  systems  so  as  to  enable  an  operator  to  produce  the 
most  energetic  mechanical  effects,  at  almost  any  required  distance. 
It  is  simply  necessary  to  employ  with  the  distant  "intensity" 
magnet  an  oscillating  armature  with  a  suitable  prolongation  so 
arranged  as  to  open  and  close  the  short  circuit  of  an  adjoining 

*  Trans.  Am.  Phil.  Soc.  vol.  v.  (n.  s.)  art.  x.  pp.  223-231. 

t  Journal  of  the  Franklin  Institute,  March,  1835,  vol.  xv.  pp.  169, 170.  See  "Supple- 
ment," NOTE  E. 

JM.  BECQTJEREL  in  his  elaborate  Treatise  on  Electricity,  in  the  chapter  on  "The 
influence  of  an  electric  current  on  itself  by  induction,"  says  with  regard  to  the 
increase  of  tension  in  a  feeble  current  when  passing  through  a  long  spiral  conductor, 
"  The  effects  observed  in  these  circumstances  appear  to  have  been  noticed  for  the 
first  time  by  Professor  HENRY."  (Traite  experimental  de  V  £lecti~icite  et  du  Magn&isme, 
8vo.  7  vols.  Paris,  1824-1840,  vol.  v.  art.  1261,  p.  231.) 


244  MEMORIAL   OF   JOSEPH    HENRY. 

"quantity"  magnet  of  any  practicable  power: — a  work  which 
indeed  could  be  accomplished  by  the  mere  swing  of  the  most  deli- 
cate galvanometer  needle.  Professor  Henry  had  constructed  for 
his  own  laboratory  a  large  electro-magnet  designed  to  surpass  the 
celebrated  magnet  made  for  Yale  College;  and  with  it  he  was  ena- 
bled to  exhibit  to  his  class,  by  employing  a  small  portion  of  his 
"quantity"  battery,  an  easy  lifting  power  of  more  than  three  thou- 
sand pounds.*  Such  was  the  mechanical  agency  he  called  into  action 
through  his  telegraphic  circuit,  by  simply  lifting  its  galvanic  wire 
from  a  mercury  thimble,  or  by  again  dipping  it  into  the  same.  This 
combination  has  since  found  an  important  application ;  its  principle 
underlying  all  the  various  forms  and  uses  of  the  "relay"  magnet, 
and  of  the  "receiving"  magnet  and  local  battery,  since  employed. 

Visit  to  Europe. — In  order  to  give  Professor  Henry  a  much- 
needed  rest  from  his  diligent  services  and  close  application  during 
the  last  four  years,  the  Trustees  of  his  College  liberally  allowed 
him  a  year's  absence  with  full  salary:  thus  affording  him  for  the 
first  time  a  long  coveted  opportunity  of  visiting  Europe. 

In  February  of  1837,  in  company  with  his  valued  and  faithful 
friend,  Professor  Bache,  he  arrived  in  England;  where  the  two 
American  physicists  formed  ready  and  lasting  intimacies  with  some 
of  the  most  distinguished  worthies  of  Great  Britain.  Everywhere 
received  with  courteous  and  cordial  consideration,  they  both  ever 
carried  with  them  agreeable  memories  of  their  holiday  sojourn  abroad. 

In  London,  many  pleasant  interviews  with  Faraday,  formed  a 
memorable  circumstance.  Wheatstone,  then  Professor  of  Experi- 
mental Philosophy  in  King's  College,  was  engaged  in  developing  his 
system  of  needle  telegraph,  and  he  unfolded  freely  to  his  visitors 
his  numerous  projects;  and  particularly  his  arrangement  of  sup- 
plementary local  circuit  from  an  additional  baltery,  for  sounding 
an  electro-magnetic  signal,  by  being  brought  into  action  by  a  move- 
ment from  the  main  line  circuit,  f  Henry  had  then  the  pleasure 

*It  is  said  that  this  magnet  has  been  made  to  sustain  3,500  pounds.  (Turnbull's 
Electro-Magnetic  Telegraph,  2nd  ed.  1853,  p  49.) 

t  This  was  early  in  April,  1837.  (Smithsonian  Report  for  1857,  p.  111.)  Two  months 
later,  or  June  12th,  1837,  WHEATSTONE  in  conjunction  with  W.  F.  COOKE  had  secured 
a  patent  on  his  system  of  telegraph,  including  the  combination  of  circuits. 


DISCOURSE  OF  W.  B.  TAYLOR.  245 

of  detailing  to  him  his  own  similar  combination  of  two  electro- 
magnetic circuits,  experimentally  tried  more  than  a  year  previously.* 

Nearly  a  year  was  employed  in  foreign  travel,  most  pleasantly 
and  beneficially  both  for  mind  and  body:  the  greater  portion  of  the 
time  however  being  spent  in  London,  in  Paris,  (where  Henry 
formed  the  acquaintance  of  Arago,  Becquerel,' De  la  Eive,  Biot, 
Gay-Lussac,  and  other  celebrities,)  and  in  Edinburgh,  where  he  also 
found  a  galaxy  of  eminent  and  congenial  minds. 

In  September  of  the  same  year  (1837)  he  attended  the  meeting 
of  the  British  Association  at  Liverpool ;  where  being  invited  to 
speak,  he  made  a  brief  communication  on  some  electrical  researches 
in  regard  to  the  phenomenon  known  as  the  "  lateral  discharge :"  — a 
study  to  which  he  had  been  led  by  some  remarks  of  Dr.  Roget  on 
the  subject.  "The  result  of  the  analysis  was  in  accordance  with  an 
opinion  of  Biot — that  the  lateral  discharge  is  due  only  to  the  escape 
of  the  small  quantity  of  redundant  electricity  which  always  exists 
on  one  side  or  the  other  of  a  jar,  and  not  to  the  whole  discharge." 
Hence  we  could  increase  or  diminish  the  lateral  action  by  any  means 
which  affect  the  quantity  of  free  electricity :  —  as  by  "  an  increase 
of  the  thickness  of  the  glass,  or  by  substituting  for  the  small  knob 
of  the  jar,  a  large  ball.  But  the  arrangement  which  produces  the 
greatest  effect  is  that  of  a  long  fine  copper  wire  insulated, — parallel 
to  the  horizon,  and  terminated  at  each  end  by  a  small  ball.  When 
sparks  are  thrown  on  this  from  a  globe  of  about  a  foot  in  diameter, 
the  wire  at  each  discharge  becomes  beautifully  luminous  from  one 
end  to  the  other,  even  if  it  be  a  hundred  feet  long :  rays  are  given 
off  on  all  sides  perpendicular  to  the  axis  of  the  wire :" — forming  a 
continuous  electrical  brush.  It  was  also  stated  "that  the  same 
quantity  of  electricity  could  be  made  to  remain  on  the  wire,  if  grad- 
ually communicated  [by  a  point]  ;  but  when  thrown  on  in  the  form 
of  a  spark,  it  is  dissipated  as  before  described :" — as  though  possess- 
ing a  kind  of  momentum.  When  two  or  more  wires  are  arranged 
in  parallel  lines  (in  electrical  connection),  only  the  outer  sides  of  the 

*"  I  informed  him  that  I  had  devised  another  method  of  producing  effects  some- 
what similar:  this  consisted  in  opening  the  circuit  of  my  large  quantity  magnet  at 
Princeton,  when  loaded  with  many  hundred  pounds  weight,  by  attracting  upward 
a  small  piece  of  movable  wire  with  a  small  intensity  magnet  connected  with  a  long 
wire  circuit."  (HENRY'S  Deposition  in  the  case  of  O'Rielly  and  Morse,  September 
7, 1849.) 


246  MEMORIAL   OF   JOSEPH    HENRY. 

exposed  wires  become  luminous :  and  "  when  the  wire  is  formed  into 
a  flat  spiral,  the  outer  spiral  alone  exhibits  the  lateral  discharge,  but 
the  light  in  this  case  is  very  brilliant:  the  inner  spirals  appear  to 
increase  the  effect  by  induction."  In  like  manner  when  a  ball  was 
attached  to  the  middle  of  a  vertical  lightning-rod  having  a  good 
earth-connection,  "when  sparks  of  about  an  inch  and  a  half  were 
thrown  on  the  ball,  corresponding  lateral  sparks  could  be  drawn 
not  only  from  the  parts  of  the  rod  between  the  ground  and  the  ball, 
but  from,  the  part  above,  even  to  the  top  of  the  rod."  * 

At  the  same  meeting,  before  the  section  on  Mechanics  and  Engi- 
neering, Henry  gave  by  request  an  account  of  the  great  extension 
of  the  Railway  and  Canal  systems  in  the  United  States  :  which  was 
listened  to  with  great  attention  and  interest.  He  also  referred  to 
the  inland  or  river  navigation  in  our  country,  describing  the  im- 
provements introduced  into  our  large  river  steamboats,  especially  on 
the  Hudson  river  in  New  York  State;  where  the  usual  speed  was 
fifteen  miles  per  hour  or  more,  f 

In  November,  1837,  Henry  returned  from  his  foreign  tour 
greatly  invigorated, — bringing  with  him  some  new  apparatus:  and 
with  increased  zest  he  re-embarked  upon  the  duties  of  his  pro- 
fessorship. Continuing  his  studies  of  electrical  action,  he  presented 
verbally  to  the  American  Philosophical  Society,  February  16th, 
1838,  a  notice  of  further  observations  on  the  "lateral  discharge" 
of  electricity  while  passing  along  a  wire,  going  to  show  that  even 
with  good  earth  connection,  free  electricity  is  not  conducted  silently 
to  the  ground.  J 

In  May,  1838,  he  announced  to  the  Society  the  production  of 
currents  by  induction  from  ordinary  or  mechanical  electricity, 
analogous  to  that  first  obtained  by  Faraday  from  galvanism  in 
1831:  and  the  further  curious  fact  that  on  the  discharge  from  a 
Leyden  jar  through  a  good  conductor,  a  secondary  shock  from  a 

*  Report  of  Brit.  Association,  for  1837,  pp.  22-24,  of  Abstracts. 

t  Same  Report,  Abstracts,  p.  135.  It  was  on  this  occasion  that  Dr.  LAKDNEK,  gen- 
eralizing probably  from  his  observations  on  the  Thames,  ventured  (not  very  courte- 
ously) to  doubt  whether  any  such  speed  as  fifteen  miles  per  hour  on  water,  could 
ordinarily  be  effected.  (Sill.  Am.  Jour.  Mci.  Jan.  1838,  vol.  xxxiii.  p.  296.)  The  same 
authority  affirmed  the  futility  of  attempting  oceanic  steam  navigation. 

I  Proceedings  Am.  Phil.  Soc.  Feb.  16, 1838,  vol.  i.  p.  6. 


DISCOURSE  OF  W.  B.  TAYLOR.  247 

perfectly  insulated  near  conductor  could  be  obtained  —  more  intense 
than  the  primary  shock  directly  from  the  jar.  * 

These  investigations  having  in  view  the  discovery  of  "  inductive 
actions  in  common  electricity  analogous  to  those  found  in  galvanism" 
(commenced  in  the  spring  of  1836),  led  to  renewed  examination  of 
the  secondary  galvanic  current,  which  since  November  24th,  1831, 
(or  for  seven  years,)  had  received  no  special  attention.  Henry's 
very  interesting  series  of  experiments  were  detailed  in  a  somewhat 
elaborate  memoir  read  before  the  American  Philosophical  Society, 
November  2nd,  1 838.  Employing  five  different  sized  annular  spools 
of  fine  wire  (about  one-fiftieth  of  an  inch  thick)  varying  from  one- 
fifth  of  a  mile  to  nearly  a  mile  in  length  (which  might  be  called 
"intensity"  helices);  and  six  flat  spiral  coils  of  copper  ribbon  vary- 
ing from  three-quarters  of  an  inch  to  one  inch  and  a  half  in  width, 
and  from  60  to  93  feet  in  length  (which  might  be  called  "quantity" 
coils),  he  was  able  to  combine  them  in  various  ways  both  in  con- 
nection and  in  parallelism.  A  cylindrical  battery  of  one  and  three- 
quarters  square  feet  of  zinc  surface  was  principally  used;  and  the 
galvanic  circuit  was  interrupted  by  drawing  one  end  of  the  copper 
ribbon  or  wire  over  a  rasp  in  good  metallic  contact  with  the  other 
pole  of  the  battery. 

From  the  energetic  action  of  the  flat  ribbon  coil  in  producing 
the  induction  of  a  current  on  itself,  it  was  inferred  that  the  second- 
ary current  would  also  be  best  induced  by  it.  With  the  single 
larger  ribbon  coil  in  connection  with  the  battery,  and  another  ribbon 
coil  placed  over  it  resting  on  an  interposed  glass  plate,  at  every 
interruption  of  the  primary  circuit  an  induction  spark  was  obtained 
at  the  rubbed  ends  of  the  second  coil;  though  the  shock  was  feeble. 
With  a  double  wire  spool  (one  within  the  other)  of  2650  yards, 
placed  above  the  primary  coil  (having  about  the  same  weight  as  the 
copper  ribbon)  the  magnetizing  eifects  disappeared,  the  sparks  were 
much  smaller,  "  but  the  shock  was  almost  too  intense  to  be  received 
with  impunity."  The  secondary  current  in  this  case  was  one  of 
small  " quantity"  but  of  great  "intensity."  With  a  single  break 
of  circuit  in  the  primary,  it  was  passed  through  a  circle  of  56  stu- 
dents of  his  senior  class,  with  the  effect  of  a  moderate  charge  from 

*  Proceedings  Am.  Phil.  Soc.  May  4,  1838,  vol.  i.  p.  U. 


248  MEMORIAL    OF    JOSEPH    HENRY. 

a  Leyden  jar.  From  various  experiments,  the  limit  of  efficient 
length  for  a  given  galvanic  power  was  ascertained;  beyond  which 
the  induced  current  was  diminished.  Employing  a  Cruickshanks 
battery  of  60  small  elements  (4  inches  square)  he  found  with  the 
ribbon  coil  that  the  induced  currents  were  exceedingly  feeble,  but 
with  the  long  wire  helix  as  the  primary  circuit  that  strong  indica- 
tions were  produced.  By  the  alternations  of  the  ribbon  and  wire 
coils,  the  fact  was  established  "  that  an  intensity  current  can  induce 
one  of  quantity,  and  by  the  preceding  experiments  the  converse  has 
also  been  shown  that  a  quantity  current  can  induce  one  of  intensity;" 
a  result  which  has  had  an  important  bearing  on  the  subsequent 
development  of  the  electro-magnetic  "Induction-Coil."  With  a 
long  ribbon  coil  receiving  the  galvanic  current  from  35  feet  of  zinc 
surface,  sensible  induction  shocks  could  be  felt  from  a  large  annular 
coil  of  four  feet  diameter  (containing  five  miles  of  wire)  when  placed 
in  parallelism  at  a  distance  of  four  feet  from  the  primary  coil ;  while 
at  the  distance  of  one  foot  the  shock  became  too  severe  to  be  taken. 
With  this  arrangement  an  induction  shock  was  given  from  one 
apartment  to  another,  through  the  intervening  partition. 

Successive  orders  of  Induction. — When  it  is  considered  that  the 
primary  current  in  such  cases  has  a  considerable  duration,  while 
the  secondary  current  is  but  momentary,  being  developed  only  at 
the  instant  of  change  in  the  primary,  it  could  certainly  not  have 
been  expected  that  this  single  instantaneous  electrical  impulse  of 
reaction  would  be  capable  of  acting  as  a  primary  current,  and  of 
similarly  inducing  an  action  on  a  .third  independent  circuit:  and 
during  the  seven  years  in  which  galvanic  induction  had  been  known, 
no  physicist  ever  thought  of  making  the  trial.  Theoretically  it 
might  perhaps  have  been  inferred,  if  such  tertiary  induction  had 
any  existence,  as  it  would  be  coincident  not  with  the  instantaneous 
secondary  induction,  but  with  the  initiation  and  termination  of  such 
momentary  current,  and  hence  in  opposite  signs — separated  by  an 
inappreciable  interval  of  time,  that  the  whole  phenomenon  would 
probably  be  entirely  masked  by  a  practical  neutralization. 

The  experiments  of  Henry  fully  established  however  the  new  and 
remarkable  result  —  of  a  very  appreciable  tertiary  current.  By  con- 


DISCOURSE  OF  W.  B.  TAYLOR.  249 

necting  the  secondary  coil  with  another  at  some  distance  from  the 
primary  so  as  not  to  be  influenced  by  it  directly,  but  forming  with 
the  secondary  a  single  closed  circuit,  not  only  was  the  distant  coil 
capable  of  producing  in  an  insulated  wire  helix  placed  over  it,  a 
distinct  current  of  induction  at  the  interruption  of  the  primary, 
but  sensible  shocks  were  obtained  from  it.  The  experiment  was 
pushed  still  further;  and  inductive  currents  of  a  fourtK  degree 
were  obtained.  "By  a  similar  but  more  extended  arrangement, 
shocks  were  received  from  currents  of  a  fourth  and  a  fifth  order: 
and  with  a  more  powerful  primary  current,  and  additional  coils,  a 
still  greater  number  of  successive  inductions  might  be  obtained. 
-  -  -  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.  s.)  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.  xlvii.  pp.  55-76.) 

f  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  an  important  memoir  communicated  to  the  Paris  Academy  of  Sciences 
July  31, 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  Edinburgh  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  ai;d  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. f 

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  DanielPs  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.t  vol.  vi.  (n.  s.)  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 HENRY  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.  i.  pp.  54-56.) 

t  Traits  experimental  de  V HZectricite  et  du  Magnetisme,  vol.  v.  pp.  87-107. 


252  MEMORIAL    OF   JOSEPH    HENRY. 

as  much  as  the  terminal  induction,)  most  of  the  results  previously 
obtained  (such  as  the  detection  of  successive  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  diminishing  within  certain  limits  the  length 
of  the  primary  coil. 

"  With  the  current  from  one  element,  the  shock  at  breaking  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  determine  the  influence  of  a  variation  in 
the  length  of  the  coil,  the  intensity  of  the  battery  remaining  the 
same."  For  this  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  result."  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.  253 

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 
anticipated,  with  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  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  to  a  line  join- 
ing the  two  poles,  a  shock  is  felt  through  the  arms." 

The  former  experiment  of  obtaining  an  induction  shock  from 
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  from  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  zinc 
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  occupied  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 "intensity;" — magnetizing  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  initial  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,  f 

*  Trans.  Am.  Phil.  Soc.  June  1840,  vol.  viii.  (n.  so  art.  i.  pp.  1-18. 
t  Proceedings  Am.  Phil.  Soc.  Nov.  20, 1840,  vol.  i.  p.  301. 


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. 

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  condition ;  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  L. 
F.  HELMHOLTZ  sqme  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,  ed.ited  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,  1853,  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  following  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  experiments  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  writhin  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  the  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  setherial  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.  ii.  p.  229.  It  is  barely  possible  that 
the  primary  current  might  have  returned  through  the  second  wire. 

fin  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  to  a  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. — From  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  series  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  "aurora77  on  the  19th  of  April,  1831.  At 
noon  of  the  19th  the  oscillations  were  found  to  be  perfectly  accord- 
ant with  previous  ones,  but  at  6  o'clock  p.  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  Haiisteen  in  a  small 
mahogany  box,  by  a  single  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  time  of  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  Keport  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.1' 
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  portion  of  the  northern 
hemisphere."  f 

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  boreal £s  begins,  in  proportion  as  its  force 
increases,  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.) 

f  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  rnagnetical  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  led  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."  f 

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. 

t  Proceed.  Am.  Phil.  Soc.  vol.  iv.  p.  22. 

I  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  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  Yice-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. 

t  This  very  important  question  cannot  be  regarded  as  even  yet  decisively 
settled:— eminent  authorities  maintaining  that  electricity  in  flow— 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. 
RITCHIE  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  is  considerably  diminished."  (Journal  of  the  Royal  Institution 
of  Great  Britain,  Oct.  1830,  vol.  i.  (n.  s.)  p.  37.) 


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,  f 

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. 

fPrescott.  Electricity  and  the  Electric  Telegraph,  8vo.  N.  York,  1877,  chap,  xxiii. 
pp.  296  and  411. 


264  MEMORIAL   OF    JOSEPH    HENRY. 

In  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 
amalgam  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  ^very  short  and  toler- 
ably uniform  distance  below  the  original  surface,  f 

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. 

t Proceed.  Am.  Phil.  Soc.  June  20, 1845,  vol.  iv.  p.  177. 


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,  f  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.  J 

*  Young's  Lectures  on  Nat.  Philos.  Lect.50,  vol.  i.  p.  627. 

t  "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.) 

%  Proceed.  Am.  Phil.  Soc.  April  5  and  May  17, 1844,  vol.  i  v.  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:'7  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  setherial  medium  formed  of  atoms  which  are  endowed  with 
precisely  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  setherial,  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.] 

"In  conclusion,  it  should  be  remembered  that  the  legitimate  use  of 
speculations  of  this  kind,  is  not  to  furnish  plausible  explanations 
of  known  phenomena,  or  to  present  old  knowledge  in  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  nature  of  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  friction  less  mo- 
bility, our  present  science  affords  us  no  intimation. 

*T\yo  hundred  years  ago,  NEWTON  speculating  on  the  unity  of  matter,  ventured 
the  suggestion,  "Thus  perhaps  may  all  things  be  originated  from  aether." — 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.  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.'7  * 

Light  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  ;f  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. 

t  Dr.  Young's  Lectures  on  Nat.  Phil.  lect.  xxxvi.  vol.  i.  p.  426.  The  equatorial  helio- 
stat appears  to  have  been  first  suggested  by  FAHRENHEIT. 

J  Proceed.  Am.  Phil.  Soc.  Sept.  17, 1841,  vol.  ii.  p.  97. 

\  Proceed.  Am.  Phil.  Soc.  April  16,  1841,  vol.  ii.  p.  46. 

||  HOMBERG'S  phosphorus  is  a  calcium  chloride  prepared  by  melting  one  part  of 
sal  ammoniac  (ammonic  chloride)  with  two  parts  of  slaked  lime.  CANTON'S  phos- 
phorus is  a  calcium  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  a  strong 
heat. 


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  setherial  medium  formed  of  atoms  which  are  endowed  with 
precisely  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  setherial,  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.] 

"In  conclusion,  it  should  be  remembered  that  the  legitimate  use  of 
speculations  of  this  kind,  is  not  to  furnish  plausible  explanations 
of  known  phenomena,  or  to  present  old  knowledge  in  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  nature  of  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\yo  hundred  years  ago,  NEWTON  speculating  on  the  unity  of  matter,  ventured 
the  suggestion,  "Thus  perhaps  may  all  things  be  originated  from  aether."— 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.  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."  * 

Light  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  ;f  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.  J 

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. 

t  Dr.  Young's  Lectures  on  Nat.  Phil.  lect.  xxxvi.  vol.  i.  p.  426.  The  equatorial  helio- 
stat appears  to  have  been  first  suggested  by  FAHRENHEIT. 

I  Proceed.  Am.  Phil.  Soc.  Sept.  17, 1841,  vol.  ii.  p.  97. 

I  Proceed.  Am.  Phil.  Soc.  April  16,  1841,  vol.  ii.  p.  46. 

||  HOMBERG'S  phosphorus  is  a  calcium  chloride  prepared  by  melting  one  part  of 
sal  ammoniac  (ammonic  chloride)  with  two  parts  of  slaked  lime.  CANTON'S  phos- 
phorus is  a  calcium  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  a  strong 
heat. 


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.f 
The  determinations  arrived  at  have  been  fully  confirmed  by  the 
later  observations  of  Secchi  and  others.  J 

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."  §  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. 

t  Report  Brit.  Assoc.  1845,  part  ii.  p.  6. 

JP.  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. 

g  Trans.  Albany  Institute,  vol.  i.  pp.  87-112. 

J " HENRY  was  then  Dr.  BECK'S  chemical  assistant,  and  already  an  admirable 
experimentalist."  Address  before  the  Albany  Institute,  by  Dr.  O.  Meads,  May  25, 
1871.  (Trans.  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  Bache, 
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,  f 

In  1840,  Henry  gave  an  account  of  "electricity  obtained  from  a 
small  ball  partly  filled  with  water,  and  heated  by  a  lamp."! 

*"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.  (L.  E.  D.  Phil.  Mag.  1841,  vol.  xix.  p.  554.) 

t 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." (L.  E.  D.  Phil.  Mag.  1841,  vol.  xix.  p.  553.)  Several  years  later  (in  1838) 
similar  meteoric  observations  were  made  between  Altona  and  Breslau;  and  also 
between  Rome  and  Naples. 

%  Proceed.  Am.  Phil.  Soc.  Dec.  18, 1840,  vol.  i.  p.  323. 


272  MEMORIAL   OF   JOSEPH    HENRY. 

In  1843,  he  read  a  communication  to  the  Society,  "On  a  new 
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  galvanometer  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,  f 

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 

*It  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,"  NOTE  G. 

t  Proceed.  Am.  Phil.  Soc.  May  30, 1843,  vol.  iii.  pp.  165-167. 


DISCOURSE  OF  W.  B.  TAYLOR.  273 

assistance  to  the  performer.  In  remarking  the  impression  of  being 
moved,  while  steadily  watching  a  series  of  passing  canal  boats,  he 
referred  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  Philosbphical  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  Ibe  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/7  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    OP   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,  f  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  qbjects  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.  xl.  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.) 

fThe  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  possible 
diffusion  among  mankind.* 

These  wise  and  far-reaching  views  exerted  a  marked  influence; 
and  though  hardly  then  in  accord  with  the- opinion  of  the  majority, 
yet  led  to  his  election  December  3d,  1846,  as  the  "Secretary"  and 
actual  Director  of  the  infant  institution,  f  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  research,  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," NOTE  H. 

•fSee  "Supplement,"  NOTE  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 
eifort  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. f 

*See  "Supplement,"  NOTE  J. 

t 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.  277 

Of  the  two  distinct  objects  of  endowment  specified  by  Smithson's 
Will,  —  "the  increase — and  the  diffusion  —  of  knowledge/7  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.f  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- 
tific knowledge."  (Discourse  on  the  Study  of  Natural  History,  Cabinet  Cyclopaedia, 
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.)  ] 

t[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) directed  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 
to  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. 
viii.  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.  f 

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  a  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 
feelings;  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.  ii.  p.  336.) 

f'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,  a  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  1853,  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/7  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 


DISCOUBSE   OF  W.  B.  TAYLOR.  281 

assured  success ;  the  vindication  and  the  unpretentious  triumph  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  encyclopaedic  or  a  literary  character, 
should  be  mainly  supplementary  to  the  large  National  Library 
already  established  at  the  Capital. f  "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."  J 

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,"  NOTE  K. 

f'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.) 

I  Smithsonian  Report  for  1851,  p.  224  (of  Sen.  ed.)— p.  216  (of  H.  Rep.  ed.) 

g"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  Museum. — 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/7*  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."f  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 : 
"If  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  Museum  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. 
-  -  -  The  small  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."J  "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.  173,  174  (of  H.  Rep.  ed.) 
t  Smithsonian  Report  for  1851,  p.  227  (of  Sen.  ed.)— p.  219  (of  H.  Rep.  ed.) 
J  Smithsonian  Report  for  1852,  p.  253  (of  Sen.  ed.)— p.  245  (of  H.  Rep.  ed.) 


DISCOURSE  OF  W.  B.  TAYLOR.  285 

and  ethnology,  of  the  United  States,  cannot  be  too  highly  estimated: 
but  the  support  of  such  a  collection  ought  not  to  be  a  burden  upon 
the  Smithsonian  fund."  * 

The  popular  mind  did  not  however  appear  to  be  prepared  to 
accept  these  earnest  presentations;  and  in  1858,  the  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  archaeology,  f  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 :J  and  to-day  a  large  Government  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  1853,  p.  11  (of  Sen.  ed.)— p.  9  (of  H.  Rep.  ed.) 

t  See  "Supplement,"  NOTE  L. 

J  From  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."  (SmitJisonian  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. 

§See  "Supplement,"  NOTE  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  uselessness.  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  of 
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  research 
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  ovep  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,  f  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."  J 

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,  139  (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.) 

f  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. 

%  Smithsonian  Report  for  1864,  p.  44.  An  interesting  and  instructive  resume  of 
results  accomplished  within  fifteen  years  was  given  in  this  Report,  pp.  42-45 :  and 
continued  in  the  succeeding  Report  for  1865,  pp.  50-59. 


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.7"* 

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  orgamzation.f  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. 

t  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  sixteen  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  sys- 
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  having  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  Cyclopaedia.  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,  f 

Archaeological  Work. —  One  of  the  earliest  subjects  taken  up  for 
investigation  by  the  Institution,  was  that  of  American  Archaeology; 
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;) 

t  Journal  of  the  American  Electrical  Society,  1878,  vol.  ii.  pp.  37-44.  The  communica- 
tion is  dated  Oct.  13, 1877;  though  not  published  till  during  the  author's  last  illness. 


DISCOUESE  OF  W.  B.  TAYLOR.  291 

their  stages  of  development.  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  archaeology,  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  archaeological  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  archaeology 
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  deduction,  the  history  of  the  past 
in  its  relation  to  the  present."  f 

*  Smithsonian  Report  for  1860,  p.  38. 

t  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.7'  * 

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  archaeological  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 

* SmitJisonian  Report  for  1870,  pp.  35,  36. 


DISCOURSE  OF  W.  B.  TAYLOR.  293 

Institution  to  this  branch  of  knowledge.  -  -  -  The  collection  of 
the  archaeology  and  ethnology  of  Amwica,  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  efficient  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,  23.  Circulars  broadly  distributed  by  the 
Institution,  have  served  to  give  desired  direction  to  popular  attention  and  activity 
in  this  field  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  even  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," 

*"It  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 
the  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.  TAYLOK.  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  laborious  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  1351,  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. 


I 

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 
the  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.  Ixvi. 


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.  -  -  - 
"The  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  communication  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."f 

*  Report  Brit.  Assoc.  Cheltenham,  Aug.  1856,  pp.  463,  461. 

t  Preface  to  Catalogue  of  Scientific  Papers,  (1800-1863)  vol.  i.  1867,  pp.  iii.  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  among 
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,  f  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  Smithsonian 
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.) 

f  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  ocean 
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."f  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  several  other  lines  have 
been  added  to  the  number  in  the  course  of  the  year."  (Smithsonian  Report  for 
1867,  p.  39.)  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. 

t  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  1 873, 
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 

*  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  have  been  observed  in 
Europe  on  the  evening  following  the  receipt  of  the  telegram,  or 
within  two  or  three  days  of  their  discovery.7  "* 

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  their  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,  riot  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  whom  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 

*Smit7isonian  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  hav- 
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.  Hav- 
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.  39,  40. 


DISCOURSE  OF  W.  B.  TAYLOR.  305 

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, f  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. — Early  in  the  year  1865,  (on  the  24th  day  of  Jan- 
uary,) the  central  portion  of  the  Smithsonian  Building  suffered 
from  a  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. 

fBrewster's  Edinburgh  Jour.  Sci.  April,  1832,  vol.  vi.  pp.  334-340.— Smithsonian 
Report  for  1856,  pp.  289-302. 

J  The  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  (supposing  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.77  *  This  truly  "  irreparable  loss 77  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  Europe. — 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  Resolved,  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,  and  two  thousand  dollars  for 
travelling  expenses  for  this  purpose."  f 

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  oifered  with  a  grateful  appreciation  of  the  kindness 

*  Smithsonian  Report  for  1866,  p.  14. 
t  Smithsonian  Report  for  1869,  p.  89. 


308  MEMORIAL    OF   JOSEPH    HENKY. 

iutended.  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.f 


*  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  FRESNEI,,  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  much  energy  and  activity  were  necessary  to 
bring  to  this  degree  of  perfection,  the  light-house  service  of  such  a  vast  expanse 
of  coast,  as  well  on  the  Pacific,  as  on  the  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- 
lem 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.  I^ard  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  lard  oil 
increased  more  rapidly  than  those  of  the  sperm  oil,  until  at  about 
250°  F.  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,"  NOTE  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  the  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,  f 

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,  2f  inches 

*  Report  of  Light-House  Board  for  1874,  p.  83. 

t  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  vain  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  comparatively  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.  311 

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  steel  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  the  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.  Henry'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  justified,  on  the 
score  of  economy.  J  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  reserved  for  a  con- 
cluding section. 

t  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  advan- 
tage, while  there  are  many  in  which  we  excel.  Our  shore  fog-signals  particularly, 
are  vastly  superior  both  in  number  and  power."  (Report  on  European  Light-houses, 
p.  12.)  "To  the  careful  and  laborious  Investigations  and  experiments  of  the  dis- 
tinguished Chairman  of  the  Light-House  Board,  prolonged  through  a  series  of 
years,  and  prosecuted  under  a  great  variety  of  conditions,  is  largely  to  be  at- 
tributed the  acknowledged  superiority  of  our  fog-signal  service."  (Journal  of 
Franklin  Institute,  Jan.  1876,  vol.  Ixxi.  p.  43.) 

J  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  have  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.  i 


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."  f  "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."  J 

*"It  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 
devised  for  testing  the  oil  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.) 

t  Report  of  L.  H.  Board,  1875,  p.  6. 

t  Report  of  L.  If.  Board,  1877,  p.  4. 


314  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  5,000  miles;  on  the 
Pacific  coast,  a  length  of  about  1,500  miles;  on  the  great  northern  Lakes,  about 
3,000  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.) 

f  Report  of  L.  H.  Board,  1874,  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  immense  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.  His  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  Government. — The  value  of  Henry's 
services  to  the  various  Executive  Departments  of  our  Government, 
faithfully  and  unostentatiously  performed  through  a  long  senies  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- 

*  Executive  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  hundred 
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. 

From  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.  Wliereupon  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 
satisfied  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 
light  shone  from  the  lantern  of  ah  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  hand,  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  resume  of  the  electrical  phenomena  exhibited  by  the  Leyden  jar, 
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  diifer  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  field,  its 
animal  heat  concentrated  on  the  pile,  was  distinctly  made  manifest 
on  the  galvanometer  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.f  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.  378. 
fSilliman's  Am.  Jour.  Sci.  Jan.  1848,  vol.  v.  pp.  113,  114. 


DISCOTJKSE  OF  W.  B.  TAYLOR.  S21 

Henry  showed  by  experiment,  that  ice  could  be  employed  both 
as  a  convex  lens  for  converging  heat  to  a  focus,  and  also  as  a  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  nebulae  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.f  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,  lie  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." 


v      DISCOURSE  OF  W.  B.  TAYLOR.  323 

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  arty 
pronounced  at  the  close  of  the  Exhibition  of  the  Metropolitan 
Mechanics'  Institute,  in  Washington,  on  the  evening  of  March  1 9th, 
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."  f 

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/7  as  its  retiring 
President.  In  this,  he  maintained  that  inasmuch  as  "the  several 
faculties  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. 

f  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  rno'ral  training  of  youth,  he 
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.  TAYLOE.  325 

mated)  is  less  the  parent  of  manhood,  than  of  age :  the  special  vices 
of  the  individual  child  though  long  subdued,  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  the  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.  327 

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  metal  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."  f 

*  Proceed.  Am.  Assoc.  Providence,  Aug.  1855,  pp.  102-112. 

t  This  conclusion  is  not  at  all  in  opposition  to  the  ascertained  fact  of  the 
Increased  strength  imparted  to  an  iron  rod  by  "thermo-tension,"  discovered  by 
Professor  WALTER  R.  JOHNSON,  in  1838.  (Journal  of  Franklin  Institute,  Oct.  1839,  vol. 
xxiv.  n.  s.  pp.  232-236.) 


o'JS  MEMORIAL  OF   JOSEPH   HENRY. 

Ifi/dromctric-  Krpcrhncnf. — A  novel  project  lor  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  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.* 

A  patent  was  obtained :  affidavits  and  samples  fully  attested  the 
wonderful  efficiency  of  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."  t 

*  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.  Assoe.  Providence,  Aug.  1855,  pp.  142, 143. 


DISCOURSE  OF  W.  B.  TAYLOR.  329 

8ulphuric-atid  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 
18 J  feet)  gave  correspondingly  enlarged  and  sensitive  indications. 
Water  barometers  with  cisterns  protected  by  oil,  (as  that  constructed 
by  Daniel  1  for  the  Royal  Society,)  have  always  proved  instable. 
With  reference  to  sulphuric  acid,  "The  advantages  of  this  liquid 
are :  1st  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:  1st  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.  To  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.  38. 


DISCOURSE  OF  W.  B.  TAYLOR.  331 

report  of  the  Secretary,  namely  of  encouraging  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 ;  f  and 
the  unflagging  interest  eve«  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.  i.  pp.  181-212.  Republished  in  the 
Smithsonian  Report  for  1870,  pp.  91-116.  The  father  of  Professor  BACHE— Richard 
Bache,  was  a  son  of  the  only  daughter  of  the  illustrious  BENJAMIN  FRANKLIN. 

t  The  Philosophical  Society  of  Washington. 


332  MEMORIAL   OF   JOSEPH   HENRY. 

Range  of  information.  —  It  was  not  alone  in  those  physical 
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."  (SmitTisonian  Report 
for  1859,  p.  15.) 


DISCOURSE  OF  W.  B.  TAYLOR.  333 

As  intimated  in  touching  upon  the  stimulus  given  to  "archae- 
ological work"  by  the  Smithsonian  publications,  (ante,  p.  290,) 
Henry  ever  displayed  a  warm  sympathy  with  researches  in  Anthro- 
pology;  and  he  would  pleasantly  justify  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  Economy,  he  had  by  obser- 
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.  Striking  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  aesthetic  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 
"knowledge  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  awaken  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.) 


DISCOUKSE  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. 

The  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/7  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  animals  consist  princi- 

*  Agricultural  Report  Com.  Pat.  for  1855,  pp.  a57, 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,  Durnas,  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.  vSbc.  Dec.  1844,  vol.  iv.  p.  129.  The  admirable  treatise  of 
Dr.  JULIUS  B.  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.  BUMFOBD  nearly  half  a  century  earlier,  had  a  partial 
grasp  of  the  same  truth.  (Phil.  Trans.  R.  S.  Jan.  25,  1798,  vol.  Ixxxviii.  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/7  * 

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  leaves  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  J857,  pp.  440-444.  In  May,  1842,  Dr.  JULIUS  R.  MAYER 
published  in  Liebig's  Annalen  der  Chemie  etc.  his  first  remarkable  paper  ori 
"The  Forces  of  Inorganic  Nature,"  constituting  the  earliest  scientific  enunciation 
of  the  correlation  of  the  physical  forces;  and  (if  we  except  the  work  of  SEGUIN  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."  (Report  Brit.  Assoc.  1849,  part  ii.  pp.  77,  78.)  In  June,  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.  8.  vol.  cxl.  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  minutes.  "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  setherial  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  \vhich  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  has  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.  pp.  187-203:  and  Sill.  Am.  Jour.  Sci.  Nov. 
1859,  vol.  xxviii.  pp.  305-319,)  as  well  as  Dr.  CARPENTE-R'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 

*  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  palaeontology 
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 — seemingly  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. 

*"In  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.  Report,  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  at  a  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.) 

t  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  our 
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  blend  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  travel,)  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.  On  a  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. 

t  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  case  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  resume  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."  f  A  rough  attempt  was 
made  in  the  course  of  these  observations  (which  were  undertaken 
at  the  Light-house  near  ^ew  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."  J 

*  Report  Brit.  Assoc.  Dublin,  1857,  vol.  xxvii.  2d  part,  pp.  22,  23. 
f  Report  of  Light-House  Board  for  1874,  p.  92. 

JThis  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.  (Travels  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 
ali  observations  made  both  in  mountains  and  in  balloons,  that  the  force  of  the 
wind  increases  considerably  as  we  ascend  in  the  atmosphere."  (Bulletin  Inter- 
national de  I'Observ.  de  Paris  et  de  rObserv.  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  moving  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  air,  as  indicated  by  the  course  of  the  clouds, 
is  in  an  opposite  or  different  direction  from  the  lower  or  sensible 
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  approaching 
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 
1 5  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/7  One 
of  the  vessels  being  then  anchored  at  a  distance  from  land,  the  two 


350  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  anemometer 
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.  On  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  time>  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  w,hole  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,  he 
continued  his  observations  on  sound;  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  187f>,  p.  107. 


DISCOURSE  OF  W.  B.  TAYLOR.  353 

side  of  the  small  island,  by  directing  the  coarse  of  the  steamer 
northward ;  and  in  this  case  the  shore  signal  was  distinctly  heard 
throughout  the  tfip,  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:  1st.  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  sometime? 
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  fiat  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  wrere  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)  f  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  to  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 
research,  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.) 

t"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  as  if  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  American  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  conr 
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  Dwell- 
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  hi 
Stateii  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."  f 

*  Bulletin  Phil.  8oc.  Washington,  Nov.  24,  1877,  vol.  ii.  pp.  165,  166. 

t  Opening  Address,  written  for  the  meeting  of  the  National  Academy  of  Sci- 
ences, April  16th,  1878.  (Proceed.  Nat.  Aead.  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 
vario'us  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  uraemia  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, 

V  "With  grave  aspect  he  rose,  and  in  his  rising  seemed 
A  pillar  of  state:  deep  on  his  front  engraven 
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 

1 

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  offspring  as  much  of  a  moral  as  of  a  mental 
purpose. 

His  mind  was  eminently  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    HEtfRY. 

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  enlisied  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: 

"His  life  was  gentle;  and  the  elements 
So  mixed  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/7  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,  the  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  gratitude,  for  the  teachings  of  his  high  and 
noble  life. 


LIST  OF  THE 

SCIENTIFIC  PAPERS  OF  JOSEPH  HENRY. 


1825.  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. 

1827.  On  some  Modifications  of  the  Electro-magnetic  Apparatus.     (Read  Oct.  10. ) 

Trans.  Albany  Inst.  vol.  i.  pp.  22-24. 

1829.  Topographical  Sketch  of  the  State  of  New  York ;  designed  chiefly  to  show 
the  General  Elevations  and  Depressions  of  its  Surface.  (Read  Oct.  28.) 
Trans.  Albany  Inst.  vol.  i.  pp.  87-112. 

1828.  First  Abstract  of  Meteorological  Records  of  the  State  of  New  York,  for  1828. 

(In  conjunction  with  Dr.  T.  Romeyn  Beck.)  Annual  Eeport  of  Regents  of 
University,  to  the  Legislature  of  New  York. — Albany,  1829. 

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.)  firew- 
ater's Edinburgh  Jour.  Science,  Oct.  1829,  vol.  i.  n.  s.  pp.  249-259. 

1830.  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. 

1831.  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. 

1831.  Tabular  Statement  of  the  Latitudes,  Longitudes,  and  Elevations,  of  42  Mete- 
orological Stations  in  New  York.  Annual  Report  Regents  of  University  to 
Legislature  N.  Y.  1831. 

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. 

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. 

1831.  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  MEMORIAL   OF    JOSEPH    HENRY. 

1832.  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. 

1832.  Fourth  Abstract  of  Meteorological  Records  of  the  State  of  New  York  for  1831. 
(In  conjunction  with  Dr.  T.  Eomeyn  Beck.)  Annual  Report  of  Regents  of 
University,  to  the  Legislature  of  New  York. — Albany,  1831. 

1832.  On  the  Production  of  Currents  and  Sparks  of  Electricity  from  Magnetism. 
Silliman's  Am.  Jour.  Sci.  July,  1832,  vol.  xxii.  pp.  403-408. 

1832.  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.  Becquerel's  Traite"  experimen- 
tal de  V Electricity  etc.  1837,  vol.  v.  pp.  231,  232. 

1833.  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. 

1835.  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.  s.  pp.  217-222.  Stur- 
geon's Annals  of  Electricity,  etc.  vol.  i.  pp.  277-281. 

1835.  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,  etc.  (Read  Feb.  6.)  Trans.  Amer.  Phil.  Soc. 
vol.  v.  n.  s.  pp.  223-232.  Sturgeon's  Annals  of  Electricity,  etc.  vol.  i.  pp. 
282-290.  Taylor's  Scientific  Memoirs,  vol.  i.  pp.  540-547. 

1835.  Facts  in  reference  to  the  Spark,  etc.  from  a  long  Conductor  uniting  the  polea 
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. 

1837.  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  Am.  Jour.  Sci. 
April,  1838,  vol.  xxxiv.  pp.  16-19. 

1838.  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. 
1838.  Contributions  to  Electricity  and  Magnetism.  No.  III.  On  Electro-dynamic 
Induction.  (Read  Nov.  2.)  Trans.  Am.  Phil.  Soc.  vol.  vi.  n.  s.  pp.  303- 
337.  Silliman's  Am.  Jour.  Sci.  Jan.  1840,  vol.  xxxviii.  pp.  209-243.  Stur- 
geon's Annals  of  Electricity,  etc.  vol.  iv.  pp.  281-310.  L.  E.  D.  Phil.  Mag. 
Mar.  1840,  vol.  xvi.  pp.  200-210:  pp.  254-265:  pp.  551-562.  Becquerel's 
Traite  experimental  de  VElectricite,  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.  (Xach  Band  li.) 
1842,  pp.  282-312. 


SCIENTIFIC    PAPERS   OF   HENRY.  367 

1839.  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. 
1839.  A  Letter  on  two  distinct  kinds  of  dynamic  Induction  by  a  Galvanic  current. 

(Read  to  Phil.  Soc.  Oct.  18.)  -  Proceedings  Am.  Phil.  Soc.  vol.  i.  pp.  134- 

136. 

1839.  Observations  of  Meteors  made  Nov.  25,  1835,  simultaneously  at  Princeton  and 

at  Philadelphia,  for  determining  their  difference  of  Longitude.  (In  con- 
junction with  Professors  A.  D.  Bache,  S.  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. 

1840.  Contributions  to  Electricity  and  Magnetism.     No.  IV.     On  Electro-dynamic 

Induction.  (Read  June  19.)  Trans.  Am.  Phil.  Soc.  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.  E.  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. 

1840.  Contributions  to  Electricity  and  Magnetism.  No.  IV, — continued.  Theoret- 
ical Considerations  relating  to  Electro-dynamic  Induction.  (Read  Nov.  20.) 
Trans.  Ami  Phil.  Soc.  vol.  viii.  n.  s.  pp.  18-35. 

1840.  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. 

1840.  Electricity  from  heated  Water.     (Read  Dec.  18. )     Proceedings  Am.  Phil.  Soc. 

vol.  i.  pp.  322-324. 

1841.  Report  of  the  Tenth  Meeting  of  the  British  Association,  etc.     Princeton  Review, 

Jan.  1841,  vol.  xiii.  pp.  132-149. 

1841.  Description  of  a  simple  and  inexpensive  form  of  Heliostat.  (Read  Sept.  17.) 
Proceedings  Am.  Phil.  Soc.  vol.  ii.  pp.  97,  98. 

1841.  Observations  on  the  effects  of  a  Thunderstorm  which  visited  Princeton  on  the 

evening  of  the  14th  of  July ,x  1841.  (Read  Nov.  5.)  Proceedings  Am.  Phil. 
Soc.  vol.  ii.  pp.  111-116. 

1842.  Re"sum6  des  Recherches  faits  sur  les  Courants  d'Induction.    Archives  de  I'Elec- 

trititt,  1842,  vol.  ii.  pp.  348-392. 

1842.  Contributions  to  Electricity  and  Magnetism.      No.  V.     On  Electro- dynamic 

Induction:  and  on  the  oscillatory  discharge.  (Read  June  17.)  Proceed- 
ings Am.  Phil.  Soc.  vol.  ii.  pp.  193-196. 

1843.  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. 
1843.  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  MEMORIAL   OF   JOSEPH    HENRY. 

1843.  Nouvelles  Experiences  sur  1'Induction  ddveloppe'e  par  1'Electricite*  ordinaire. 

(Translated.)      Archives  de  I'Electricite,  1843,  vol.  in.  pp.  484-488. 
1843.  On  the  application  of  Melloni's  thermo-electric  apparatus  to  Meteorological 

purposes.     (Presented  orally  Nov.  3.)     Proceedings  Am.  Phil.  Soc.  vol.  iv. 

p.  22. 

1843.  Theory  of  the  discharge  of  the  Leyden  jar.     (Presented  Nov.  3.)     Proceed- 

ings Am  Phil.  Soc.  vol.  iv.  pp.  22,  23. 

1844.  On  the  Cohesion  of  Liquids.     (Read  April  5.)     Proceedings  Am.  Phil.  Soc. 

vol.  iv.  pp.  56,  57.     Silliman's  Am.  Jour.  Sci.  Oct.  1844,  vol.  xlviii.  pp. 

215,  216. 
1844.  On  the  Cohesion  of  Liquids, — continued.     (Read  May  17.)     Proceedings  Am. 

Phil.  Soc.  vol.  iv.  pp.  84,  85.     Silliman's  Am.  Jour.  Sci.  Oct.  1844,  vol. 

xlviii.  pp.  216,  217.     L.  E.  D.  Phil.  Mag.  June,  1845,  vol.  xxvi.  pp.  541- 

543. 
1844.  Syllabus  of  Lectures  on  Physics.     Princeton,  8vo.  1844.     Republished  in  part 

in  Smithsonian  Report,  1856,  pp.  187-220. 

1844.  Classification  and  Sources  of  Mechanical  Power.     (Read  Dec.  20.)     Proceed- 

ings. Am.  Phil.  Soc.  vol.  iv.  pp.  127-129. 

1845.  On  the  Coast  Survey.     Princeton  Review,  April,  1845,  vol.  xvii.  pp.  321-344. 

1845.  On  the  relative  Radiation  of  Heat  by  the  Solar  Spots.  (Read  June  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.  Froriep's  Neue  Notizen,  etc.  No.  826,  1846,  vol.  xxxviii.  col. 
179-182.  Poggendorff's  Annalen  der  Physik  und  Chemie,  1846,  vol.  Ixviii. 
pp.  102-104. 

1845.  On  the  Capillarity  of  Metals.  (Read  June  20.)  Proceedings  Am.  Phil.  Soc. 
vol.  iv.  pp.  176-178.  Froriep's  Neue  Notizen,  etc.  No.  855,  1846,  vol. 
xxxviii.  col.  167-169.  PoggendorfFs  Annalen  der  Physik  und  Chemie.  2d 
supplemental  vol.  (Nach  Band  Ixxii.)  1848,  pp.  358-361. 

1845.  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.  324-  326.  Froriep's 
Neue  Notizen,  etc.  No.  823, 1846,  vol.  xxxviii.  col.  133, 134. 

1845.  An  account  of  peculiar  effects  on  a  house  struck  by  Lightning.  (Read  June 
20.)  Proceedings  Am.  Phil.  Soc.  vol.  iv.  p.  180. 

1845.  On  Color  Blindness.  Princeton  Review,  July,  1845,  vol.  xvii.  pp.  483-489. 
Smithsonian  Report,  1877,  pp.  196-200. 

1845.  On  the  discharge  of  Electricity  through  a  long  wire,  etc.     (Read  Nov.  7.) 

Proceedings  Am.  Phil.  Soc.  vol.  iv.  pp.  208, 209. 

1846.  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. 

1846.  Extrait  d'une  Lettre  a  M.  de  la  Rive,  sur  les  T^ldgraphes  Electriques  dans  les 
Etats-Unis  de  1'Amerique.  Biblioth.  Universelle.  Archives,  1846,  vol.  ii. 
p.  178. 


SCIENTIFIC    PAPERS   OF   HENRY.  369 

1846.  Report  on  the  action  of  Electricity  on  the  Telegraph  Wires :  and  Telegraph- 
poles  struck  by  Lightning.  (Read  June  19.)  Proceedings  Am.  PhiL  Soc. 
vol.  iv.  pp.  260-263.  Silliman's  Am.  Jour.  Sci.  1847,  vol.  iii.  pp.  25-32. 
L.  E.  D.  Phil.  May.  1847,  vol.  xxx.  pp.  186-194.  Agricultural  Report, 
Comrar.  Pats.  1859,  pp.  509-511. 

1846.  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. 

1846.  On  the  corpuscular  hypothesis  of  the  constitution  of  Matter.  (Read  Nov.  6.) 
Proceedings  Am.  Phil.  Soc.  vol.  iv.  pp.  287-290. 

1846.  On  the  Height  of  Aurora.     (Read  Dec.  3.)     Proceedings  Am.  PhiL  Soc.  vol. 

iv.  p.  370. 

1847.  Programme    of  Organization   of  the   Smithsonian   Institution.      (Presented 

to  the  Board  of  Regents,  Dec.  8,  1847.)  Smithsonian  Report,  1847,  pp. 
120-132. 

1847.  Article  on    "Magnetism"  for  the  Encyclopaedia  Americana.      Encycl.  Amer. 

1847,  vol.  xiv.  pp.  412-426. 

1848.  On  Heat  —A  Thermal  Telescope.     Silliman's  Am.  Jour.  Sci.  Jan.  1848,  vol.  v. 

pp.  113,  114. 

1848.  Explanations  and  Illustrations  of  the  Plan  of  the  Smithsonian  Institution. 

Silliman's  Am.  Jour.  Sci.  Nov.  1848,  vol.  vi.  pp.  305-317. 

1849.  On  the  Radiation  of  Heat.     (Read  Oct.  19.)     Proceedings  Am.  Phi/.  Soc.  vol.  v. 

p.  108. 

1850.  Analysis  of  the  dynamic  phenomena  of  the  Leyden  jar.     Proceedings  Amer. 

Association,  Aug.  1850,  pp.  377,  378. 

1851.  On  the  Limit  of  Perceptibility  of  a  direct  and  reflected  Sound.     Proceedings 

Amer.  Association,  May,  1851,  pp.  42,  43 

1851.  On  the  Theory  of  the  so-called  Imponderables.  Proceedings  Amer.  Association, 
Aug.  1851,  pp.  84-91. 

1853.  Address  before  the  Metropolitan  Mechanics'  Institute,  Washington.     (Deliv- 

ered March  19.)     8vo.  Washington,  1853,  19  pp. 

1854.  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. 

1854.  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. 

1855.  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- 
33 ;  Smithsonian  Report,  1853,  pp.  303-310. 

1855.  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  MEMORIAL   OF   JOSEPH    HENRY. 

1855.  Account  of  Experiments  on  the  alleged  spontaneous  separation  of  Alcohol  and 

Water.     Proceed.  Am.  Assoc.  Aug.  1855,  pp.  140—144. 
1855.  On  the  Induction  of  Electrical  Currents.     (Read  Sept.  11.)     Proceedings  Am. 

Academy  of  Arts,  etc.  vol.  iii.  p.  198. 

1855.  Note  on  the  Gyroscope.    Appendix  to  Lecture  by  Professor  E.  S.  Snell.    Smith- 
sonian Report,  1855,  p.  190. 
1855.  Remarks  on  Rain-fall  at  varying  elevations.     Smithsonian  Report,  1855,  pp. 

213,  214. 
1855.  Directions  for  Meteorological  Observations.     (In  conjunction  with  Professor 

A,  Guyot.)     Smithsonian  Report,  1855,  pp.  215-244. 
1855.  Circular  of  Inquiries   relative   to  Earthquakes.      Smithsonian  Report,  1855, 

p.  245. 
1855.  Instructions  for  Observations  of  the  Aurora.     Smithsonian  Report,  1855,  pp. 

247-250. 
1855.  On  Green's  Standard  Barometer  for  the  Smithsonian  Institution.    Smithsonian 

Report,  1855,  pp.  251-258. 
1855.  Circular  of  Instructions  on  Registering  the  periodical  phenomena  of  animal 

and  vegetable  life.     Smithsonian  Report,  1855,  pp.  259-263. 

1855.  Meteorology  in  its  connection  with  Agriculture,  Part  I.     Agricultural  Report 

of  Commr.  Pats.  1855,  pp.  357-394. 

1856.  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.  s.  pp.  130-140. 

1856.  Account  of  a  large  Sulphuric-acid  Barometer  in  the  Hall  of  the  Smithsonian 
Institution  Building.  Proceedings  Am.  Assoc.  Aug.  1856,  pp.  135-138. 

1856.  Meteorology  in  its  connection  with  Agriculture,  Part  II.      General  Atmos- 

pheric Conditions.    Agricultural  Report  of   Commr.  Pats.  1856,  pp.  455- 
492. 

1857.  Communication  to  the  Board  of  Regents  of  the  Smithsonian  Institution,  rela- 

tive to  a  publication  by  Professor  Morse.      Smithsonian  Report,  1857,  pp. 
85-88. 

1857.  Statement  in  relation  to  the  history  of  the  Electro-magnetic  Telegraph.  Smith- 
sonian Report,  1857,  pp.  99-106. 

1857.  Meteorology  in  its  connection  with  Agriculture,  Part  III.    Terrestrial  Physics, 

and  Temperature.      Agricultural  Report  of  Commr.  Pats.  1857,  pp.  419- 
506. 

1858.  Meteorology  in  its  connection  with  Agriculture,  Part  IV.    Atmospheric  Vapor, 

and  Currents.     Agricultural  Report  of  Commr.  Pats.  1858,  pp.  429-493. 

1859.  On  Meteorology.     Canadian  Naturalist  and  Geologist,  Aug.  1859,  vol.  iv.  pp. 

289-291. 

1859.  Application  of  the  Telegraph  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. 


SCIENTIFIC    PAPERS    OF    HENRY.  371 

1859.  On  the  Protection  of  Buildings  from  the  effects  of  Lightning.    Agricult.  Report, 

Com.  Pat.  1859,  pp.  511-524. 

1£60.  On  the  Conservation  of  Force.     Silliman's  Am.  Jour.  Sci.  July,  1860,  vol.  xxx. 
pp.  32-41. 

1860.  Circular  to  Officers   of  Hudson's  Bay  Company  (April  20.)      Smithsonian 

MiscelL  Collections,  No.  137,  vol.  viii.  pp.  1-4. 

1860.  Description    of   Smithsonian  Anemometer.      Smithsonian  Report,   1860,  pp. 

414-416. 

1861.  Letter  on  Aeronautics  to  Mr.  T.  S.  C.  Lowe.     (March  11.)     Smithsonian  Re- 

port, 1860,  pp.  118,  119. 

1861.  Article  on   "Magnetism"  for  the  American  Cyclopaedia.     Edited  by  Ripley 
and  Dana.     Am.  Cycl.  1861,  vol.  xi.  pp.  61-63. 

1861.  Article  on  "Meteorology"  for  the  American  Cyclopaedia.     Edited  by  Ripley 

and  Dana.     Am.  Cycl.  1861,  vol.  xi.  pp.  414-420. 

1862.  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. 

1863.  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. 

1863.  Introduction  to  Memoir  by  Professor  J.  Plateau.     On  the  Figures  of  Equili- 

brium of  a  Liquid  Mass,  etc.     Smithsonian  Report,  1863,  pp.  207,  208. 

1864.  On  Materials  for  Combustion  in  Lamps  of  Light-Houses.     (Read  Jan.  12, 

before  the  National  Academy  of  Sciences.)    [Not  published  in  Proceed- 
ings.] 

1865.  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. 
1865.  Queries  relative  to  Tornadoes  :  directions  to  observers.     Smithsonian  MiscelL 

Collections,  No.  190,  vol.  x.  pp.  1-4. 
1855.  Remarks  on  the  Meteorology  of  the  United  States.     Smithsonian  Report,  1865, 

pp.  50^59. 

1865.  Remarks  on  Ventilation :  especially  with  reference  to  the  U.  S.  Capitol.    Smith- 

sonian Report,  1865,  pp.  67,  68. 

1866.  Report  on  the  Warming  and  Ventilating  of  the  U.  S.  Capitol.      (May  4.) 

Exec.  Doc.  No.  100.     H.  of  Rep.  39th  Cong.  1st  Sess.  pp.  4-6. 
1866.  Report  of  Building  Committee  on  Repairs  to  Sm.  Inst.  building  from  Fire. 

(In  conjunction  with  Genl.  Richard  Delafield,  and  Mayor  Richard  Wallach.) 

Presented  to  Regents  April  28.     Smithsonian  Report,  1865,  pp.  111-114. 
1866.  On  the  aboriginal  Migration  of  the  American  races.     Appendix  to  paper  by 

F.  Von  Hellwald.  Smithsonian  Report,  1866,  pp.  344,  345. 
1866.  Remarks  on  Vitality.  Smithsonian  Report,  1866,  pp.  386-388. 
1866.  Meteorological  Notes.  To  Correspondents.  Smithsonian  Report,  1866,  pp. 

403-412. 


372  MEMORIAL    OF    JOSEPH    HENRY. 

1868.  Investigations  in  regard  tq  Sound.  (Read  Aug.  10,  before  the  National  Acad- 
emy of  Sciences.)  [Not  published  in  Proceedings.] 

1867.  Circular  relating  to  Collections  in  Archaeology  and  Ethnology.  (Jan.  15.) 
Smithsonian  MiscelL  Collections,  No.  205,  vol.  viii.  pp.  1, 2. 

1867.  Circular  relative  to  Exchanges.  (May  16.)  Smithsonian  Report,  1867, 
p.  71. 

1867.  Suggestions  relative  to  Objects  of  Scientific  Investigation  in  Russian  America. 
(May  27.)  Smithsonian  MiscelL  Collections,  No.  207,  vol.  viii.  pp.  1-7. 

1867.  Notice  of  Peltier.     Smithsonian  Report,  1867,  p.  158. 

1867.  Notes  on  Atmospheric  Electricity.  To  Correspondents.  Smithsonian  Report, 
1867,  pp.  320-323. 

1867.  On  the  Penetration  of  Sound.     (Read  Jan.  24,  before  the  National  Academy 

of  Sciences.    [Not  published  in  Proceedings.] 

1868.  Appendix  to  a  Notice  of  Schoenbein.     Smithsonian  Report,  1868,  pp.  189-192. 

1868.  On  the  Rain-fall  of  the  United  States.     (Read  Aug.  25,  before  the  National 

Academy  of  Sciences.)     [Not  published  in  Proceedings.] 

1869.  Memoir  of  Alexander  Dallas  Bache.     (Read  April  16.)    Biographical  Memoirs 

ofNat.Acad.  Sci.  vol.  i.  pp.  181-212.     Smithsonian  Report,  1870,  pp.  91- 
116. 

1870.  Letter.     On  a  Physical  Observatory.     (Dec.  29.)     Smithsonian  Report,  1870, 

pp.  141-144. 

1871.  Observations  on  the  Rain-fall  of  the  United  States.     Proceedings  California 

Academy  of  Sciences,  vol.  iv.  p.  185. 

1871.  Instructions  for  Observations  of  Thunder  Storms.  Smithsonian  MiscelL  Col- 
lections, No.  235,  vol.  x.  p.  1. 

1871.  Circular  relative  to  Heights.  For  a  topographic  chart  of  N.  America.  Smith- 
sonian MiscelL  Collections,  No.  236,  vol.  x.  p.  1. 

1871.  Directions  for  constructing  Lightning-Rods.  Smithsonian  MiscelL  Collections, 
No.  237,  vol.  x.  pp.  1-3.  Silliman's  Am.  Jour.  Sci.  Nov.  1871,  vol.  ii.  pp. 
344-346. 

1871.  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. 

1871.  Suggestions  as  to  Meteorological  Observations;  during  the  Expedition  toward 
the  North  Pole.  Smithsonian  Report,  1871,  pp.  372-379. 

1871.  Meteorological  Notes  and  Remarks.  Smithsonian  Report,  1871,  pp.  452,  455, 
456,  459,  461. 

1871.  Effect  of  the  Moon  on  the  Weather.     Smithsonian  Report,  1871,  pp.  460,  461. 

1871.  Anniversary  Address  as  President  of  the  Philosophical  Society  of  Washington. 

(Delivered  Nov.  18.)     Bulletin  Phil.  Soc.  Washington,  vol.  i.  pp.  5-14. 

1872.  Remarks  on  Cosmical  Theories  of  Electricity  and  Magnetism:  an  Appendix 

to  a  Memoir  by  Professor  G.  B.  Donati.     Smithsonian  Report,  1872,  pp. 
307-309. 


SCIENTIFIC    PAPERS   OF    HENRY.  373 

1872.  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. 

1873.  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. 

1873.  On  Telegraphic  Announcements  of  Astronomical  Discoveries.    (May.)    Smith- 
sonian Miscell.  Collections,  No.  263,  vol.  xii.  pp.  1-4. 

1873.  Remarks  on  the  Light-House  Service.     Report  of  Light-House  Board,  1873, 

pp.  3-7. 

1874.  Report   of   Investigations    relative    to   Fog-Signals,    and    certain    abnormal 

phenomena  of  Sound.     Report  of  Light-House  Board,  1874.    Appendix,  pp. 
83-117. 

1874.  Memoir  of  Joseph  Saxton.      (Read  Oct.  4.)     Biographical  Memoirs  of  Nat. 
Acad.  Sci.  vol.  i.  pp.  287-316. 

1874.  Remarks  on  Recent  Earthquakes  in  North  Carolina.      Smithsonian  Report, 

1874,  pp.  259, 260. 

1875.  Remarks  on  the  Light-House  Service.    Report  of  Light-House  Board,  1875, 

pp.  5-8. 

1875.  An  account  of  investigations  relative  to  Illuminating  Materials.      Report  of 
Light-House  Board,  1875.     Appendix,  pp.  86-103. 

1875.  Investigations  relative  to  Sound.    Report  of  Light-House  Board,  1875.    Appen- 
dix, pp.  104-126. 

1875.  On  the  Organization  of  Local  Scientific  Societies.     Smithsonian  Report,  1875, 

pp.  217-219. 

1876.  Article  on  "  Fog/'  for  Johnson's  Universal  Cyclopaedia.     Edited  by  Dr.  Bar- 

nard.    J.  Univ.  Cycl.  vol.  ii.  pp.  187, 188.  •    , 

1876.  Article  on  "Fog-Signals"  for  Johnson's  Universal  Cyclopaedia.     Edited  by 
Dr.  Barnard.     J.  Univ.  Cycl.  vol.  ii.  pp.  188-190. 

1876.  Article  on  "Hygrometry"  for  Johnson's  Universal  Cyclopaedia.     Edited  by 
Dr.  Barnard.     J.  Univ.  Cycl.  volt  ii.  pp.  1072-1074. 

1876.  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. 

1877.  Article  on  "Lightning"  for  Johnson's  Universal  Cyclopaedia.     Edited  by  Dr. 

Barnard.     J.  Univ.  Cycl.  vol.  iii.  pp.  32-36. 

1877.  Article  on  "Lightning-Rods"  for  Johnson's  Universal  Cyclopaedia.     Edited  by 

Dr.  Barnard.     J.  Univ.  Cycl.  vol.  iii.  pp.  35,  37. 
1877.  Remarks  on  the  Light-House  Service.     Report  of  Light-House  Board,  1877, 

pp.  3-7. 
1877.  Report  of  Operations  relative  to  Fog-Signals.     Report  of  Light-House  Board, 

1877.     Appendix,  pp.  61-72. 
1877.  Address  before  the  Philosophical  Society  of  Washington.     Bulletin  Phil.  Soc. 

Washington,  vol.  ii.  pp.  162-174. 


374  MEMORIAL   OF   JOSEPH    HENRY. 

1878.  On  Thunder  Storms.     (Letter  Oct.  13.)     Journal  Am.  Electrical  Society,  1878, 

vol.  ii.  pp.  37-44. 
1878.  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. 
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. 
1878.  Report  on  the  Use  of  the  Polariscope  in  Saccharimetry.     (Feb.  5.)    Mis.  Doc. 

45th  Cong.  2nd  Sess.  H.  R. 
1878.  Opening  Address  before  the  National  Academy  of  Sciences.     (Read  April  16.) 

Proceedings  Nat.  Acad.  Sci.  vol.  i.  part  2,  pp.  127,  128. 
1878.  Closing  Address  before  the  National  Academy  of  Sciences.     (Read  April  19.) 

Proceedings  Nat.  Acad.  Sci.  vol.  i.  part  2,  pp.  129, 130. 


LI  H  R  AR  Y 

I   \  I  VKKSITY   OF 

CALIFORNIA. 

- _— _..^__x 

•/ 


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." 

Orlando  Meads,  LL.D.  in  the  "Annual  Address"  read  before 
the  Albany  Institute,  May  25, 1871,  thus  records  his  early  reminis- 
cences : 

"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  l  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. 

Early  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."  From  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  galvanic  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°  F.)  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: XOTES.  377 

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  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 
oifered  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  retrogra- 
dation.f 

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  in  the  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  arc.  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. 
t  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.77  * 

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  ' currents7  instead  of  to  two 
different  classes  of  circuits.  The  instrument  with  numerous  turns 
of  fine  wire  is  said  to  indicate  l intensity7  currents,  the  other  class 
to  indicate  ' quantity7  currents.  Tliese  two  old  names  survive, 
although .  the  fallacious  theory  which  assumed  that  there  were  two 
kinds  of  currents  is  extinct:  the  term  'intensity  galvanometer7  is 
used  to  signify  an  instrument  with  thousands  of  turns  of  thin  wire 
in  its  coil,  and  ' quantity  galvanometer7 — an  instrument  with  few 
turns  of  thick  wire.  I -shall  name  the  two  varieties  'long  coil7 
and  'short  coil7  galvanometers.77  f 

Admirable  as  the  mathematical  theory  of  galvanic  circuits  has 
proved  itself  in  its  fullness  and  precision,  it  does  n6t  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.  J 

No  one  has  more  clearly  pointed  out  the  almost  constant  an- 
tithesis between  the  actions  of  ''static77  and  "dynamic77  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. 

f  Same  work,  chap.  xiii.  sect.  3,  p.  190. 

J  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.  (Comptes  Rendus,  Oct.  12,  1835,  vol.  i.  pp.  203,  204.) 


DISCOURSE   OF   W.  B.  TAYLOR:  —  NOTES.  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.  Two  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  equilibrium  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  conductors."  f 

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"  electricity.  Indeed  Ohm's  formula  represents  but  a  close 

*  Peltier  first  demonstrated  that  the  electric  capacity  of  the  metals  for  the 
same  kind  from  a  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.  (Oomples  JRendus,  1835,  vol.  i.  pp.  360  and  470.) 

t  Annales  de  Chimie  et  de  Physique,  1838,  vol.  Ixvii.  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  zinc:"  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  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  m-sterious  re-actions  of  electrical 
"induction." 


Note  C.     (From  p. 

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  tp  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- 

*" Historical  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."f 

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 : 

"In  the  year  1835, 1  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  SmitJisonian  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.  -  -  -  Early  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  (of  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  F.  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. 

t  "  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.  8vo.  London,  1843,  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.  -  -  -  Accord- 
ingly I  substituted  the  battery  of  many  cups  for  the  battery  of  one 
cup.  The  remaining  defect  in  the  Morse  machine  as  first  seen  by 
me  was  that  the  coil  of  wire  around  the  poles  of  the  electro-magnet 
consisted  of  but  a  few  turns  only,  while  to  give  the  greatest  projec- 
tile power,  the  number  of  turns  should  be  increased  from  tens  to 
hundreds,  as  shown  by  Professor  Henry  in  his  paper  published  in 
the  American  Journal  of  Science ,  1831.  -  -  -  After  substi- 
tuting the  battery  of  twenty  cups  for  that  of  a  single  cup,  we 
added  some  hundred  or  more  turns  to  the  coil  of  wire  around  the 
poles  of  the  magnet,  and  sent  a  message  through  200  feet  of  con- 
ductors; then  through  1,000  feet."* 

After  many  trials  at  recording  numbers  by  zig-zag  markings 
counted  in  groups  separated  by  a  space,  a  continuous  dispatch  was 
for  the  first  time  effected  on  the  2d  and  4th  of  September,  1837,  in 
the  form  of  V-shaped  lines  inscribed  on  the  paper  fillet,  to  the  fol- 
lowing effect:  "215—36  —  2—58  —  112—04—01837:"  which 
message  as  interpreted  by  a  numbered  vocabulary  from  which  it  was 
compiled,  expressed  the  phrase  "successful  experiment  with  tele- 
graph, September  4,  1837."f 

About  a  month  later,  Professor  Morse  filed  in  the  United  States 
Patent  Office  a  "Caveat,"  signed  October  3d,  1837,  comprising: 
"  1st,  a  system  of  signs  by  which  numbers  and  consequently  words 
and  sentences  are  signified;  2d,  a  set  of  type  adapted  to  regulate 
and  communicate  the  signs,  with  cases  for  convenient  keeping  of 
the  type,  and  rules  in  which  to  set  up  the  type ;  3d,  an  apparatus 
called  a  port-rule  for  regulating  the  movement  of  the  type-rules, 
which  rules  by  means  of  the  type  in  their  turn  regulate  the  times 
and ' intervals  of  the  passage  of  electricity;  4th,  a  register  which 
records  the  signs  permanently;  5th,  a  dictionary  or  vocabulary  of 

*  Memorial  of  S.  F.  B.  Morse.    8vo.    "Washington,  1875,  pp.  15-17. 

f  A  fac-simile  of  this  first  "successful  experiment  ""was  published  in  the  New 
York  Journal  of  Commerce,  for  Thursday,  Sept.  7th,  1837;  and  was  reproduced  in 
Vail's  American  Electro-Magnetic  Telegraph.  8vo.  Philadelphia,  1845,  p.  75.  The 
date,  September,  1837,  is  accordingly  that  of  the  reduction  of  Morse's  telegraph  to 
a  practical  operation. 


384  MEMORIAL   OF    JOSEPH    HENRY. 

words  numbered  and  adapted  to  this  system  of  telegraph;  6th, 
modes  of  laying  the  conductors  to  preserve  them  from  injury." 

A  new  and  improved  transmitting  and  recording  apparatus  was 
completed  for  Professor  Morse,  by  his  partner,  Mr.  Alfred  Vail,  of 
the  (Speedwell  Iron-works,  near  Morristown,  N.  J.  at  the  close  of 
the  year  1837;  and  early  in  January,  1838,  Professor  Morse  first 
discarded  the  numeral  signs  for  words,  and  employed  a  true  alpha- 
bet of  "dots  and  dashes."  The  first  exhibition  of  an  alphabetic 
record  of  words  ajjd  sentences  took  place  in  the  New  York  City 
University,  January  24th,  1838,  through  ten  miles  of  wire  wound 
on  reels.  The  New  York  Journal  of  Commerce,  in  a  notice  of  this 
performance,  remarked :  "  Professor  Morse  has  recently  improved 
on  his  mode  of  marking,  by  which  he  can  dispense  altogether  with 
the  telegraphic  dictionary,  using  letters  instead  of  numbers." :  The 
biographer  of  Morse  designates  the  dispatch  transmitted  through 
the  wires  on  this  occasion,  "the  first  sentence  that  was  ever  recorded 
by  the  telegraph. "f 

An  application  for  a  patent  (signed  by  Professor  Morse,  April 
7th,  1838,)  was  filed  in  the  Patent  Office;  and  in  addition  to  the 
several  parts  described  in  the  earlier  Caveat,  this  application  included 
the  new  system  of  alphabetic  symbols,  and  the  "relay"  of  successive 
electro-magnetic  circuits.  At  his  own  request,  the  grant  of  the 
patent  was  suspended  until  he  should  have  made  a  visit  to  Europe : 
and  it  was  not  issued  till  June  20th,  1840.  On  his  return  from  his 
European  tour,  Professor  Morse,  in  May,  1839,  sought  an  interview 
with  Henry  at  Princeton,  from  which  he  received  much  encourage- 
ment: having  the  differences  between  the  "quantity"  and  "intensity" 
magnets  fully  explained  to  him,  and  learning  from  that  cautious 
investigator  that  he  was  aware  of  no  obstacle  to  the  magnetization 
of  soft  iron  "at  the  distance  of  a  hundred  miles  or  more"  from  the 
battery.  J 

During  the  long  and  weary  interval  in  which  Professor  Morse — 
with  hope  deferred — was  unavailingly  prosecuting  his  memorial  to 
Congress  for  assistance,  he  received  from  Henry  the  following 
frieudlv  and  inspiriting  letter: 

"PRINCETON  COLLEGE,  Feb.  24,  1842. 

"  MY  DEAR  SIR  :  I  am  pleased  to  learn  that  you  have  again  peti- 
tioned Congress  in  reference  to  your  telegraph ;  and  I  most  sincerely 
hope  you  will  succeed  in  convincing  our  Representatives  of  the 
importance  of  the  invention.  -  -  -  Science  is  now  fully  ripe 

*  New  York  Journal  of  Commerce  of  January  29th,  1838. 
"  Prime's  Life  of  Morse,  8vo.    New  York,  1875,  p.  331. 
J  Prime's  Life  of  Morse,  chap.  x.  pp.  421,  422. 


DISCOURSE    OF    W.  B.  TAYLOR: NOTES.  385 

for  this  application,  and  I  have  not  the  least  doubt,  if  proper  means 
be  afforded,  of  the  perfect  success  of  the  invention.  The  idea  of 
transmitting  intelligence  to  a  distance  by  means  of  electrical  action 
has  been  suggested  by  various  persons,  from  the  time  of  Franklin 
to  the  present;  but  until  within  the  last  few  years,  or  since  the 
principal  discoveries  in  electro-magnetism,  all  attempts  to  reduce  it 
to  practice  were  necessarily  unsuccessful.  The  mere  suggestion 
however  of  a  scheme  of  this  kind,  is  a  matter  for  which  little 
credit  can  be  claimed,  since  it  is  one  which  would  naturally  arise  in 
the  mind  of  almost  any  person  familiar  with  the  phenomena  of 
electricity :  but  the  bringing  it  forward  at  the  proper  moment  when 
the  developments  of  science  are  able  to  furnish  the  means  of  certain 
success,  and  the  devising  a  plan  for  carrying  it  into  practical  oper- 
ation, are  the  grounds  of  a  just  claim  to  scientific  reputation  as  well, 
as  to  public  patronage.  About  the  same  time  with  yourself,  Pro- 
fessor Wheatstone  of  London,  and  Dr.  Steinheil  of  Germany,  pro- 
posed plans  of  the  electro-magnetic  telegraph;  but  these  differ  as 
much  from  yours  as  the  nature  of  the  common  principle  would  well 
permit;  and  unless  some  essential  improvements  have  lately  been 
made  in  these  European  plans,  I  should  prefer  the  one  invented  by 
yourself. 

"With  my  best  wishes  for  your  success,  I  remain  with  much 
esteem, 

"Yours,  truly, 

"JOSEPH  HENRY." 

"This"  says  Morse's  biographer,  "was  the  most  encouraging 
communication  Professor  Morse  received  during  the  dark  ages 
between  1839  and  1843."  *  And  appended  to  his  memorial,  it  was 
undoubtedly  influential  in  enlisting  a  more  favorable  attention  to 
the  unfamiliar  project  of  an  electro-magnetic  telegraph.  In  Decem- 
ber of  the  same  year  a  bill  appropriating  thirty  thousand  dollars 
for  testing  the  system  invented  by  S.  F.  B.  Morse,  was  reported 
in  the  House  of  Representatives  by  the  Hon.  C.  G.  Ferris  of 
New  York;  passing  that  body  February  23rd,  and  the  Senate 
about  a  week  later — March  3d,  1843,  on  the  eve  of  the  close  of  its 
session. 

Under  the  appropriation  thus  secured,  a  line  of  four  wires  was 
extended  from  Washington  to  Baltimore,  a  distance  of  40  miles; 
and  on  the  24th  of  May,  1844,  the  first  message  was  satisfactorily 
transmitted  between  the  two  cities.  The  rapid  success  of  the  tele- 
graph soon  stimulated  competition ;  and  before  many  years  elapsed, 
a  series  of  resisting  litigations  was  the  natural  consequence. 

*  Prime's  Life  of  Morse,  chap.  x.  p.  423. 
25 


386  MEMORIAL    OF    JOSEPH    HENRY. 

Henry  summoned  to  testify  as  to  the  condition  of  telegraphic 
science,  as  well  as  to  his  own  experimental  researches,  previous  to 
Morse's  invention,  was  compelled  to  give  evidence  which  did  not 
sustain  entirely  the  theory  of  the  complainants,  and  therefore  did 
not  satisfy  their  very  broad  pretensions;  though  it  did  tend  to 
establish  Professor  Morse's  just  claims  to  originality.  This  account 
can  best  be  given  in  Henry's  own  statement : 

"A  series  of  controversies  and  lawsuits  having  arisen .  between 
rival  claimants  for  telegraphic  patents,  I  was  repeatedly  appealed 
to,  to  act  as  expert  and  witness  in  such  cases.  This  I  uniformly 
declined  to  do,  not  wishing  to  be  in  any  manner  involved  in  these 
litigations,  but  was  finally  compelled,  under  legal  process,  to  return 
to  Boston  from  Maine,  whither  I  had  gone  on  a  visit,  and  to  give 
evidence  on  the  subject.  My  testimony  was  given  with  the  state- 
ment that  I  was  not  a  willing  witness,  and  that  I  labored  under  the 
disadvantage  of  not  having  access  to  my  notes  and  papers,  which 
were  in  Washington.  That  testimony  however  I  now  reaffirm  to  be 
true  in  eyery  essential  particular.  It  was  unimpeached  before  the 
court,  and  exercised  an  influence  on  the  final  decision  of  the  ques- 
tion at  issue.  I  was  called  upon  on  that  occasion  to  state,  not  only 
what  I  had  published,  but  what  I  had  done,  and  what  I  had  shown 
to  others  in  regard  to  the  telegraph.  It  was  my  wish,  in  every 
statement,  to  render  Mr.  Morse  full  and  scrupulous  justice.  While 
I  was  constrained  therefore  to  state  that  he  had  made  no  discove- 
ries in  science,  I  distinctly  declared  that  he  was  entitled  to  the  merit 
of  combining  and  applying  the  discoveries  of  others,  in  the  inven- 
tion of  the  best  practical  form  of  the  magnetic  telegraph.  My 
testimony  tended  to  establish  the  fact  that  though  not  entitled  to 
the  exclusive  use  of  the  electro-magnet  for  telegraphic  purposes,  he 
was  entitled  to  his  particular  machine,  register,  alphabet,  &c.  As 
this  however  did  not  meet  the  full  requirements  of  Mr.  Morse's 
comprehensive  claim,  I  could  not  but  be  aware  that,  while  aiming 
to  depose  nothing  but  truth  and  the  whole  truth,  -  -  -  I  might 
expose  myself  to  the  possible,  and  as  it  has  proved,  the  actual, 
danger  of  having  my  motives  misconstrued  and  my  testimony  mis- 
represented. But  I  can  truly  aver  that  I  had  no  desire  to  arrogate 
to  myself  undue  merit,  or  to  detract  from  the  just  claims  of  Mr. 
Morse."  * 

From  this  time,  Professor  Morse  seemed  to  regard  Henry  with 
the  jealous  eye  of  a  rival,  as  if  holding  him  disposed  for  purposes 
of  self-aggrandizement  to  detract  from  his  own  merit  as  projector 
of  the  telegraph.  After  years  of  preparation,  he  had  completed 

*  Smithsonian  Report  for  1857,  pp.  87,  88. 


DISCOURSE   OF   W.  B.  TAYLOR :  — NOTES.  387 

and  signed  in  December,  1853,  and  in  January  of  1855,  under 
the  ill-advised  promptings  of  interested  supporters,  caused  to  be 
published  in  a  pamphlet  of  96  pages,  an  elaborate  and  artfully 
contrived  attack  upon  Henry's  character  as  a  scientific  explorer,  and 
as  a  trustworthy  man ;  undertaking  the  hazardous  task  of  exposing 
"the  utter  non-reliability  of  Henry's  testimony."  In  this  assault — 
so  unfortunate  for  his  own  reputation,  (if  not  for  candor,  at  least 
for  intelligence,)  he  announced: 

"  1st.  I  certainly  shall  show  that  I  have  not  only  manifested  every 
disposition  to  give  due  credit  to  Professor  Henry,  but  under  the 
hasty  impression  that  he  deserved  credit  for  discoveries  in  science 
bearing  upon'  the  telegraph,  I  did  actually  give  him  a  degree  of 
credit  not  only  beyond  what  he  had  received  at  that  time  from  the 
scientific  world,  but  a  degree  of  credit  to  which  subsequent  research 
has  proved  him  not  to  be  entitled.  2d.  I  shall  show  that  I  am  not 
indebted  to  him  for  any  discovery  in  science  bearing  on  the  tele- 
graph, and  that  all  discoveries  of  principles  having  this  bearing 
were  made  not  by  Professor  Henry,  but  by  others  and  prior  to  any 
experiments  of  Professor  Henry  in  the  science  of  electro-magnetism. 
3d.  I  shall  further  show  that  the  claim  set  up  for  Professor  Henry 
to  the  invention  of  an  important  part  of  my  telegraph  system,  has 
no  validity  in  fact."  * 

Neglecting  entirely  the  first  allegation, —  as  a  sufficient  answer  to 
the  second,  Henry  simply  appealed  to  the  unimpeachable  testimony 
of  Dr.  Gale,  who  certainly  had  a  much  more  precise  knowledge  of 
Professor  Morse's  early  experiments  and  apparatus  than  the  inventor 
himself.  And  in  reply  to  the  third  allegation,  driven  in  self-defence 
to  the  unusual  step  of  self-assertion,  Henry  presented  to  the  Regents 
for  their  adjudication,  the  evidences  of  his  discoveries  and  of  their 
respective  dates  of  application  and  promulgation,  f 

Professor  Gale,  who  still  preserved  a  faithful  friendship  for  his 
former  colleague,  yet  in  the  interests  of  truth  did  not  hesitate  to 
renew  his  former  testimony  to  the  vital  bearing  of  Henry's  researches 

*  A.  Defence  against  the  injurious  deductions  drawn  from  the  Deposition  of  Professor 
Henry.  New  York,  1855,  p.  8. 

t  A  select  committee  appointed  by  the  Board  of  Regents  to  investigate  the 
imputations  made  by  this  remarkable  assault— against  the  truthfulness  of  their 
Secretary,  after  a  careful  examination  of  all  the  evidences  presented  or  accessible, 
submitted  through  its  chairman,  President  Felton  of  Harvard  University,  a  very 
able  and  exhaustive  report,  in  which  the  tenor  of  the  pamphlet  is  characterized 
as  "a  disingenuous  piece  of  sophistical  argument,"  and  the  conclusion  is 
announced,  "  that  Mr.  Morse  has  failed  to  substantiate  any  one  of  the  charges  he 
has  made  against  Professor  Henry,  although  the  burden  of  proof  lay  upon  him; 
and  that  all  the  evidence  — including  the  unbiased  admissions  of  Mr.  Morse  him- 
self, is  on  the  other  >side?  Mr.  Morse's  charges  not  only  remain  unproved,  but 
they  are  positively  disproved."  (Smithsonian  Report  for  1857,  pp.  88-98.) 


388  MEMORIAL    OF    JOSEPH    HENRY. 

on  the  success  of  the  telegraph ;  and  he  frankly  responded  to  Henry's 
inquiry  in  the  following  letter  : 

"WASHINGTON,  D.  C.,  April  7,  1856. 

"  SIR  :  In  reply  to  your  note  of  the  3d  instant,  respecting  the 
Morse  telegraph,  asking  me  to  state  definitely  the  condition  of  the 
invention  when  I  first  saw  {he  apparatus  in  the  winter  of  1836,  I 
answer:  This  apparatus  was  Morse's  original  instrument,  usually 
known  as  the  type  apparatus,  in  which  the  types,  set  up  in  a  com- 
posing stick,  were  run  through  a  circuit  breaker,  and  in  which  the 
battery  was  the  cylinder  battery,  with  a  single  pair  of  plates.  This 
arrangement  also  had  another  peculiarity,  namely,  it  was  the  electro- 
magnet used  by  Moll,*  and  shown  in  drawings  of  the  older  works  on 
that  subject,  having  only  a  few  turns  of  wire  in  the  coil  which  sur- 
rounded the  poles  or  arms  of  the  magnet.  The  sparceness  of  the  wires 
in  the  magnet  coils  and  the  use  of  the  single  cup  battery  were  to  me, 
on  the  first  look  at  the  instrument,  obvious  marks  of  defect,  and  I 
accordingly  suggested  to  the  Professor,  without  giving  my  reasons  for 
so  doing,  that  a  battery  of  many  pairs  should  be  substituted  for  that 
of  a  single  pair,  and  that  the  coil  on  each  arm  of  the  magnet  should 
be  increased  to  many  hundred  turns  each ;  which  experiment,  if  I 
remember  aright,  was  made  on  the  same  day  with  a  battery  and 
wire  on  hand,  furnished  I  believe  by  myself,  and  it  was  found  that 
while  the  original  arrangement  would  only  send  the  electric  current 
through  a  few  feet  of  wire,  say  15  to  40,  the  modified  arrangement 
would  send  it  through  as  many  hundred.  Although  I  gave  no 
reasons  at  the  time  to  Professor  Morse  for  the  suggestions  I  had 
proposed  in  modifying  the  arrangement  of  the  machine,  I  did  so 
afterwards,  and  referred  in  my  explanations  to  the  paper  of  Pro- 
fessor Henry,  in  the  1 9th  volume  of  the  American  Journal  of  Sci- 
ence, page  400  and  onward. 

"At  the  time  I  gave  the  suggestions  above  named,  Professor 
Morse  was  not  familiar  with  the  then  existing  state  of  the  science 
of  electro-magnetism.  Had  he  been  so,  or  had  he  read  and  appre- 
ciated the  paper  of  Henry,  the  suggestions  made  by  me  would 
naturally  have  occurred  to  his  mind  as  they  did  to  my  own.  But 
the  principal  part  of  Morse's  great  invention  lay  in  the  mechanical 
adaptation  of  a  power  to  produce  motion,  and  to  increase  or  relax 
at  will.  It  was  only  necessary  for  him  to  know  that  such  a  power 
existed  for  him  to  adapt  mechanism  to  direct  and  control  it.  My 
suggestions  were  made  to  Professor  Morse  from  inferences  drawn  by 
reading  Professor  Henry's  paper  above  alluded  to.  Professor  Morse 

*[More  correctly,  the  magnet  of  STURGEON.] 


DISCOURSE   OF   W.  B.  TAYLOR: NOTES.  389 

professed  great  surprise  at  the  contents  of  the  paper  when  I  showed 
it  to  him,  but  especially  at  the  remarks  on  Dr.  Barlow's  results 
respecting  telegraphing,  which  were  new  to  him,  and  he  stated  at 
the  time  that  he  was  not  aware  that  any  one  had  even  conceived 
the  idea  of  using  the  magnet  for  such  purposes. 

"With  sentiments  of  esteem,  I  remain,  yours  truly, 

"L.  D.  GALE. 
"  Prof.  Jos.  HENRY,  Secretary  of  the  Smithsonian  Institution." 

A  simple  reference  to  published  documents,  abundantly  estab- 
lished the  indisputable  originality  and  priority  of  Henry's  successful 
researches;  and  conclusively  exposed  the  falsity  of  Professor  Morse's 
remaining  allegations.  The  following  summary  from  the  historic 
evidence,  as  stated  by  Henry  himself,  is  certainly  (in  the  language 
of  the  committee  of  the  Regents)  "within  what  he  might  fairly 
have  claimed : " 

"  From  a  careful  investigation  of  the  history  of  electro-magnet- 
ism in  its  connection  with  the  telegraph,  the  following  facts  may  be 
established : 

"1.  Previous  to  my  investigations  the  means  of  developing 
magnetism  in  soft  iron  were  imperfectly  understood,  and  the  electro- 
magnet which  then  existed  was  inapplicable  to  the  transmission  of 
power  to  a  distance. 

"2.  I  was  the  first  to  prove  by  actual  experiment  that  in  order 
to  develop  magnetic  power  at  a  distance,  a  galvanic  battery  of  inten- 
sity must  be  employed  to  project  the  current  through  the  long  con- 
ductor, and  that  a  magnet  surrounded  by  many  turns  of  one  long 
wire  may  be  used  to  receive  this  current. 

"3.  I  was  the  first  actually  to  magnetize  a  piece  of  iron  at  a 
distance,  and  to  call  attention  to  the  fact  of  the  applicability  of  my 
experiments  to  the  telegraph. 

"4.  I  was  the  first  to  actually  sound  a  bell  at  a  distance  by  means 
of  the  electro-magnet. 

"5.  The  principles  I  had  developed  were  applied  by  Dr.  Gale 
to  render  Morse's  machine  effective  at  a  distance. 

"The  results  here  given  were  among  my  earliest  experiments;  in 
a  scientific  point  of  view  I  considered  them  of  much  less  impor- 
tance than  what  I  subsequently  accomplished ;  and  had  I  not  been 
called  upon  to  give  my  testimony  in  regard  to  them,  I  would  have 
suffered  them  to  remain  without  calling  public  attention  to  them,  a 
part  of  the  History  of  science  to  be  judged  of  by  scientific  men  who 
are  the  best  qualified  to  pronounce  upon  their  merits."  * 

*  Smithsonian  Report  for  1857,  p.  106. 


390  MEMORIAL   OF   JOSEPH    HENRY. 

Note  D.     (From  p. 


Professor  M.  Faraday,  in  the  first  series  of  his  "Experimental 
Researches  in  Electricity,"  commencing  in  the  latter  part  of  1831, 
employed  for  the  magnet  by  which  he  made  his  most  important  dis- 
covery—  that  of  magneto-electricity, — the  multiple  coil  of  Henry. 
He  thus  describes  it :  "A  welded  ring  was  made  of  soft  round  bar- 
iron,  the  metal  being  seven-eighths  of  an  inch  in  thickness,  and  the 
ring  six  inches  in  external  diameter.  Three  helices  were  put  around 
one  part  of  this  ring,  each  containing  about  twenty-four  feet  of 
copper  wire  one-twentieth  of  an  inch  thick :  they  were  insulated 
from  the  iron  and  each  other,  and  superposed  in  the  manner  before 
described.*  They  could  be  used  separately  or  arranged  together. 
On  the  other  part  of  the  ring  about  sixty  feet  of  similar  copper  wire 
in  two  pieces  were  applied  in  the  same  manner.  -  -  -  There  is 
no  doubt  that  arrangments  like  the  magnets  of  Professors  Moll, 
Henry,  Ten-Eyck,  and  others,  in  which  as  many  as  2,000  pounds 
have  been  lifted,  may  be  used  for  these  experiments."  f 

Henry's  warm  friend  —  Dr.  Robert  Hare  of  Philadelphia,  (Pro- 
fessor of  Chemistry  in  the  University  of  Pennsylvania,)  who  early 
repeated  his  magnetic  experiments,  says  in  a  letter  to  Mr.  Sturgeon, 
dated  April  5,  1832:  "As  soon  as  I  heard  of  the  wonderful  mag- 
net of  Professor  Henry,  I  repeated  his  experiments  with  copper 
wire  varnished  as  above  described;  and  I  have  recently  made  a 
magnet  by  means  of  copper  wire,  shellac  varnish,  and  paper  sur- 
rounding the  iron, — which  in  proportion  to  its  weight,  holds  more 
than  his.  It  weighs  17  pounds,  and  has  held  783  pounds.  It  is 
furnished  with  fourteen  coils,  of  sixty  feet  each."J 

Professor  N.  J.  Callan,  of  the  College  of  Maynooth,  Ireland,  in 
1836,  giving  an  account  of  his  "new  galvanic  battery" Temarks 

*  [In  his  preceding  electrical  induction  coils,  Professor  Faraday  employed 
"twelve  helices  superposed,  each  containing  an  average  length  of  wire  of  27  feet, 
and  all  in  the  same  direction."  Of  these,  six  were  connected  by  their  extremities 
with  the  battery  — for  the  primary  current,  and  the  alternate  six  were  gathered 
by  their  extremities,  for  testing  the  secondary  or  induced  current.] 

f  Phil.  Trans.  Roy.  Soc.  Nov.  24, 1831,  vol.  cxxii.  sects.  27  and  57;  pp.  131, 138.— Also 
Experimental  Researches,  etc.  8vo.  London,  1839,  vol.  i.  pp.  7,  15.  At  the  time  this 
was  written,  the  only  electro-magnet  in  existence — even  approaching  the  lifting 
power  stated,  was  the  Yale  College  magnet  of  HENRY.  Nor  had  any  other  experi- 
menter approximated  within  a  tenth  of  this  magnetic  attraction.  And  it  is  note- 
worthy that  Professor  Faraday  adopted  very  precisely  the  character  of  coil 
originated  and  recommended  by  Henry,  and  did  not  adopt  the  single  coil 
employed  by  Professor  Moll. 

J  Sturgeon's  Annals  of  Electricity,  etc.  Oct.  1836,  vol.  i.,p.  10. 


DISCOURSE   OF   W.  B.  TAYLOR:  —  NOTES.  391 

that  "it  rendered  powerfully  magnetic  an  electro-magnet  on  which 
were  coiled  39  thick  copper  wires,  each  about  35  feet  long."  * 

The  only  subsequent  extension  of  Henry's  results  worthy  of 
note,  is  that  made  by  the  ingenious  English  physicist  Joule.  It 
had  been  found  that  the  maximum  attractive  force  of  the  electro- 
magnet is  exhibited  near  its  surface,  and  that  an  enlargement  of 
the  iron  does  not  correspondingly  enhance  its  magnetic  power,  f  If 
we  adopt  the  conception  of  Coulomb  and  of  Weber  that  the  con- 
stituent molecules  of  the  iron  are  each  independent  permanent  mag- 
nets, this  variation  of  magnetic  force  in  a  large  iron  bar,  receives 
an  easy  explanation ;  since  the  middle  portion  of  the  bar  is  not  only 
less  coerced  by  the  surrounding  coil,J  but  is  powerfully  impressed 
by  the  opposite  induction  of  the  outer  belt  of  polarized  molecules. 
While  therefore  we  should  a  priori  expect  the  aggregate  attractive 
force  to  increase  with  the  size  of  the  bar,  (i.  e.  the  cross-section  or 
end -surface  of  the  poles,)  we  find  that  this  very  extension  occasions 
a  large  amount  of  neutralization  by  the  interior  opposite  magnet- 
ism; such  depolarization  being  obviously  the  condition  of  least 
constraint.§ 

Acting  on  the  theory  that  the  power  of  the  magnet  would  depend 
on  the  extent  of  efficient  polar  surface,  and  at  the  same  time  on  the 
propinquity  of  the  electric  coil,  Joule's  highest  magnetic  triumph 
consisted  in  giving  a  greatly  increased  depth  to  the  horse-shoe,  (as 
though  a  vast  number  of  small  horse-shoes  were  laid  side  to  side 
and  cemented  together,)  without  an  increase  of  its  width;  the  former 
dimension  exceeding  the  latter  many  times :  so  that  the  two  poles 
presented  a  pair,  of  long  narrow  parallel  surfaces  close  together, 
bounding  a  long  trough  or  gutter.  And  the  addition  of  the  oblong 
armature  gave  the  whole  the  general  appearance  of  a  tube.  The 
author  thus  describes  its  construction:  "A  piece  of  cylindrical 
wrought-iron,  eight  inches  long,  had  a  hole  one  inch  in  diameter 
bored  the  whole  length  of  its  axis;  one  side  was  then  planed  until 

*L.&E.  Phil.  Mag.  Dec.  1836,  vol.  ix.  p.  475. 

t  Barlow  had  drawn  the  conclusion  from  his  own  experiments,  that  the  mag- 
netic power  of  iron  resides  entirely  at  the  surface,  and  is  irrespective  of  mass. 

%  The  direct  action  of  the  electric  circuit  in  the  coil  would  probably  not  be 
sensibly  less  on  the  interior  than  on  the  exterior  of  a  large  iron  core;  but  its 
polarizing  energy  must  necessarily  be  largely  expended  in  coercing  the  homolo- 
gous direction  of  the  nearest  outer  layers  of  molecules,  leaving  the  interior  mass 
more  under  the  immediate  inductive  influence  of  its  girdle  of  magnets. 

§  Having  this  in  view  Joule  (in  imitation  of  Coulomb's  faggot  of  thin  magnets) 
employed  with  success  a  bundle  of  wires  for  the  electro-magnetic  core.  (Stur- 
geon's Annals,  etc.  July,  1839,  vol.  iv.  pp.  58-61.)  It  is  evident  also  from  the  above, 
that  the  removal  of  the  central  portion  of  the  inner  core,  in  other  words  the 
employment  of  a  tube  of  certain  thickness,  in  place  of  the  solid  bar,  would  actu- 
ally increase  the  resultant  power  of  the  magnet,  with  a  diminished  mass  of  iron. 


392  MEMORIAL   OF    JOSEPH    HENRY. 

the  hole  was  exposed  sufficiently  to  separate  the  'poles7  one-third 
of  an  inch.  Another  piece  of  iron  also  eight  inches  long  was  then 
planed,  and  being  secured  with  its  face  in  contact  with  the  other 
planed  surface,  the  whole  was  turned  into  a  cylinder  eight  inches 
long,  three  inches  and  three-quarters  in  exterior  —  and  one  inch 
interior  diameter.  The  larger  piece  was  then  covered  with  calico, 
and  wound  with  four  copper  wires  (covered  with  silk)  each  23  feet 
long  and  one-eleventh  of  an  inch  in  diameter; — a  quantity  which 
was  just  sufficient  to  hide  the  exterior  surface,  and  entirely  to  fill 
the  inside  hole."*  This  magnet  weighing  without  wire  but  15 
pounds,  lifted  2,090  pounds. 

Joule  subsequently  made  another  magnet  still  deeper,  or  longer  in 
its  tubular  extent ;  the  grooved  iron  with  its  closed  armature  being 
not  unlike  a  gun-barrel.  The  length  of  this  soft-iron  cylinder  was 
two  feet;  its  external  diameter  about  one  inch  and  a  half,  and  its 
internal  diameter  a  half  inch:  the  weight  of  the  grooved  magnet 
being  6  pounds  11  ounces,  and  that  of  its  armature,  3  pounds  7 
ounces.  A  copper  rod  three-eighths  of  an  inch  thick  was  bent  once 
around  each  side  of  the  tube,  or  elongated  pole.  With  a  battery  of 
8  cells  of  two  square  feet  each  (16  square  feet)  arranged  as  a  single 
pair,  a  lifting  power  of  1,350  pounds  was  induced.  The  single  thick 
copper  rod  having  then  been  replaced  with  a  bundle  of  60  copper 
wires,  each  one-twenty-fifth  of  an  inch  thick,  the  magnet  lifted 
1,856  pounds.  This  remarkable  success  of  the  "multiple  coil"  led 
Joule  to  increase  the  number  of  coils  in  the  former  tube-like  magnet. 
The  four  wires  each  one-eleventh  of  an  inch  thick  were  replaced  by 
twenty-one  wires  of  the  same  length,  each  one-twenty-fifth  of  an 
inch  thick,  the  whole  being  bound  together  by  cotton  tape.  "  Six- 
teen cast-iron  cells  of  the  same  size  as  those  previously  described, 
[each  of  two  square  feet,]  were  then  arranged  in  a  series  of  four, 
and  connected  by  sufficiently  good  conductors  to  the  electro-magnet. 
The  power  which  was  then  necessary  to  break  it  from  its  armature, 
was  2,775  pounds,  or  nearly  a  ton  and  a  quarter.  An  immense 
weight,  when  it  is  considered  that  the  whole  apparatus — magnet 
armature  and  coils — weighs  less  than  26  pounds."  f 

*  Sturgeon's  Annals  of  Electricity,  etc.  Sept.  1840,  vol.  v.  pp.  190,  191.  A  gecond 
much  smaller  magnet  of  similar  form,  being  2.7  inches  long,  and  half  an  inch  in 
diameter,  wrapped  with  7  feet  of  insulated  copper  wire  one-twentieth  of  an  inch 
thick,  and  weighing  1,057  grains,  (somewhat  over  two  ounces,)  lifted  49  pounds.  A 
third  magnet  elliptical  in  form  (0.37  inch  broad  and  0.15  inch  thick)  0.7  inch  long, 
covered  with  19  inches  of  copper  wire  one-fortieth  of  an  inch  thick,  and  weighing 
65.3  grains,  lifted  12  pounds.  And  a  fourth  magnet  one  twenty-fifth  of  an  inch 
thick  and  one-quarter  of  an  inch  long,  with  three  turns  of  fine  copper  wire, 
weighing  half  a  grain,  lifted  1,417  grains. 

f  Sturgeon's  Annals  of  Electricity,  Dec.  1840,  vol.  v.  pp.  471,  472. 


DISCOURSE   OF    W.  B.  TAYLOR: NOTES.  393 

Stimulated  by  Joule's  successes,  several  attempts  were  made  by 
others,  embodying  the  same  principle  of  narrow  but  greatly  ex- 
tended poles.  Mr.  Richard  Roberts  constructed  what  may  be  called 
a  "  disk "  magnet^  the  square  plate  of  iron  being  nearly  two  and  a 
half  inches  thick,  with  a  planed  face  six  and  five-eighths  inches  on 
the  sides,  and  having  a  supporting*  eye  formed  on  its  back.  Four 
equidistant  parallel  grooves  each  three-eighths  of  an  inch  wide  and 
one  inch  and  a  quarter  deep,  divided  the  square  face  into  five  equal 
oblong  "poles."  A  bundle  of  36  copper  wires  (No.  18)  was  coiled 
in  and  out  about  these  five  poles,  in  three  turns.  The  magnet  with 
its  coils  weighed  35  pounds.  The  armature,  a  similar  square  plate 
one  inch  and  a  half  thick,  (without  grooves,)  weighed  23  pounds. 
With  a  battery  of  eight  pairs,  (each  about  100  square  inches,  or 
five-sevenths  of  a  square  foot,)  the  magnet  sustained  2,950  pounds; 
about  one  ton  and  a  third.*  This  magnet  is  obviously  equivalent 
to  two  or  more  of  Joule's,  placed  side  by  side.  Mr.  Joseph  Rad- 
ford,  about  the  same  time,  devised  another  form  of  "disk"  magnet 
much  more  novel  in  construction.  In  this  case  a  circular  plate  9 
inches  in  diameter  and  about  an  inch  thick,  (provided  with  a  sup- 
porting eye  at  the  middle  of  its  back,)  had  a  spiral  groove  cut  in 
its  planed  face,  one-quarter  of  an  inch  wide  and  three-eighths  of 
an  inch  deep,  making  from  the  center  about  six  turns,  and  leaving 
a  spiral  ridge  of  metal  at  the  face  about  half  an  inch  thick.  Its 
weight  (without  wire)  was  16  pounds  2  ounces,  or  with  the  wire 
coil  1 8  pounds  4  ounces.  The  armature,  a  similar  smooth  disk  of 
about  two-thirds  the  thickness  of  the  magnet,  weighed  14  pounds 
14  ounces.  The  coil,  a  bundle  of  23  small  copper  wires  entering 
from  the  back  through  a  hole  at  the  center  of  the  disk  and  follow- 
ing the  spiral  groove,  (which  it  filled,)  passed  out  at  the  edge  of  the 
disk.  By  this  singular  disposition  of  the  coil,  the  single  spiral 
"pole"  or  narrow  ridge  (half  an  inch  in  thickness)  had  a  continu- 
ous north  polarity  on  the  one  side  and  a  continuous  adjacent  south 
polarity  on  its  other  side :  being  in  the  same  condition  as  a  long 
narrow  bar  of  soft  iron  having  a  galvanic  current  passing  longitu- 
dinally along  its  opposite  sides  in  the  same  direction.  With  a  bat- 
tery of  twelve  pairs  this  spiral  disk  magnet  sustained  2,500  pounds ; 
about  one  ton  and  one-eighth,  f 

Another  variety  of  the  disk  magnet  devised  by  Joule,  presented 
an  annular  face  of  about  12  inches  exterior  diameter  and  about  8 
inches  interior  diameter,  having  48  radial  grooves  separating  48 
radial  poles.  A  bundle  of  16  copper  wires  bent  alternately  in  and 
out  about  these  48  lateral  ridges  or  face  cogs,  produced  a  series  of 

*  Sturgeon's  Annals  of  Electricity,  Feb.  1841,  vol.  vi.  pp.  167, 168. 
f  Sturgeon's  Annals  of  Electricity,  March,  1841,  vol.  vi.  p.  231. 


394  MEMORIAL    OF    JOSEPH    HENRV. 

alternate  poles.  This  was  virtually  an  extension  of  the  Roberts 
series  of  magnetic  poles,  equivalent  to  a  series  of  24  of  Joule's 
riarrow  magnets  placed  side  by  side  and  arranged  radially  in  a 
ring.  This  circular  battery  of  magnets,  excited  by  16  cups  arranged 
in  a  series  of  four,  lifted  2,710  pounds.* 

It  will  be  noticed  that  in  each  of  these  interesting  improvements 
on  the  simple  horse-shoe  "quantity "  magnet,  the  highest  efficiency 
was  obtained  by  adopting  Henry's  system  of  "multiple  coils." 

This  system  has  also  been  most  successfully  applied  by  Z.  T. 
Gramme,  of  Paris,  to  the  revolving  annular  inductor  of  his  very 
ingenious  and  powerful  form  of  magneto-electric  machine. 


Nate  E.     (From  p.  % 

ABSTRACT   OF   PAPER   ON    SELF-INDUCTION. 

Professor  Bache,  as  a  Secretary  of  the  American  Philosophical 
Society,  (knowing  that  the  "Transactions"  of  the  Body,  containing 
Henry's  important  Memoir,  would  not  be  formally  published  for  a 
year  or  more,)  with  that  energetic  zeal  of  friendship  so  characteristic 
of  the  man,  obtained  permission  to  publish  an  abstract  of  the  pre- 
vious verbal  communication;  which  he  accordingly  proceeded  to 
have  at  once  inserted  in  the  forthcoming  number  of  the  Franklin 
Institute  "Journal,"  with  the  following  prefatory  letter  addressed 
"To  the  Committee  of  Publication"  of  that  Journal: 

GENTLEMEN:  —  The  American  Philosophical  Society,  at  their 
last  stated  meeting,  authorized  the  publication  of  the  following 
abstract  of  a  verbal  communication  made  to  the  Society,  by  Pro- 
fessor Henry,  on  the  16th  of  January  last.  A  memoir  on  this  sub- 
ject has  been  since  submitted  to  the  Society,  containing  an  extension 
of  the  subject,  the  primary  fact  in  relation  to  which  was  observed 
by  Professor  Henry  as  early  as  1832,  and  announced  by  him  in  the 
American  Journal  of  Science.  Mr.  Faraday  having  recently  entered 
upon  a  similar  train  of  observations,  the  immediate  publication  of 
the  accompanying  is  important,  that  the  prior  claims  of  our  fellow 
countryman  may  not  be  overlooked. 

Very  respectfully  yours, 

A.  D.  BACHE, 

One  of  the  Secretaries  Am.  Philos.  Soc. 
Philadelphia,  Feb.  7th,  1835. 

*  Sturgeon's  Annals  of  Electricity,  June,  1841,  vol.  vi.  p.  432. 


DISCOUBSE    OF    W.  B.  TAYLOR: NOTES.  395 

"  Extract  from  the  proceedings  of  the  stated  meeting  of  the  American 
Philosophical  Society,  January  16,  1835. 

"  The  following  facts  in  reference  to  the  spark,  shock,  &c.  from 
a  galvanic  battery,  when  the  poles  are  united  by  a  long  conductor, 
were  communicated  by  Professor  Joseph  Henry,  and  those  relating 
to  the  spark  were  illustrated  experimentally : 

"  1 .  A  long  wire  gives  a  more  intense  spark  than  a  short  one. 
There  is,  however,  a  length  beyond  which  the  effect  is  not  increased; 
a  wire  of  120  feet  gave  about  the  same  intensity  of  spark  as  one  of 
240  feet. 

"  2.  A  thick  wire  gives  a  larger  spark  than  a  smaller  one  of  the 
same  length. 

"3.  A  wire  coiled  into  a  helix,  gives  a  more  vivid  spark  than 
the  same  wire  when  uncoiled. 

"4.  A  ribbon  of  copper,  coiled  into  a  flat  spiral,  gives  a  more 
intense  spark  than  any  other  arrangement  yet  tried. 

"  5.  The  effect  is  increased,  by  using  a  longer  and  wider  ribbon, 
to  an  extent  not  yet  determined.  The  greatest  effect  has  been  pro- 
duced by  a  coil  96  feet  long,  and  weighing  15  pounds;  a  larger 
conductor  has  not  been  received. 

"6.  A  ribbon  of  copper,  first  doubled  into  two  strands,  and  then 
coiled  into  a  flat  spiral,  gives  no  spark,  or  a  very  feeble  one. 

"  7.  Large  copper  handles,  soldered  to  the  ends  of  the  coil  of  96 
feet,  and  these  both  grasped,  one  by  each  hand,  a  shock  is  felt  at 
the  elbows,  when  the  contact  is  broken  in  a  battery  with  one  and  a 
half  feet  of  zinc  surface. 

"  8.  A  shock  is  also  felt  when  the  copper  of  the  battery  is  grasped 
with  one  hand,  and  one  of  the  handles  with  the  other;  the  inten- 
sity however  is  not  as  great  as  in  the  last  case.  This  method  of 
receiving  the  shock  may  be  called  the  direct  method,  the  other  the 
lateral  one. 

"  9.  The  decomposition  of  a  liquid  is  effected  by  the  use  of  the 
coil  from  a  single  pair,  by  intermitting  the  current,  and  introducing 
a  pair  of  decomposing  wires. 

"10.  A  mixture  of  oxygen  and  hydrogen  is  also  exploded  by 
using  the  coil,  and  breaking  the  contact,  in  a  bladder  containing  the 
mixture. 

"11.  The  property  of  producing  an  intense  spark  is  induced,  on 
a  short  wire,  by  introducing,  at  any  point  of  a  compound  galvanic 
current,  a  large  flat  spiral. 

"12.  A  spark  is  produced  even  when  the  plates  of  a  single  bat- 
tery are  separated  by  a  foot  or  more  of  diluted  acid. 


396  MEMORIAL   OF    JOSEPH    HENRY. 

"13.  Little  or  no  increase  in  the  effect  is  produced  by  inserting  a 
piece  of  soft  iron  into  the  center  of  a  flat  spiral. 

"14.  The  effect  produced  by  an  electro-magnet,  in  giving  the 
shock,  is  due  principally  to  the  coiling  of  the  long  wire  which  sur- 
rounds the  soft  iron."  * 


Note  F.     (From  p.  %55.} 

OSCILLATION    OF   ELECTRICAL   DISCHARGE. 

Sir  William  Thomson,  in  1853,  indicated  the  probability  of  an 
oscillatory  character  in  the  electrical  discharge;  remarking:  "It 
appears  to  me  not  improbable  that  double,  triple,  and  quadruple 
flashes  of  lightning  which  I  have  frequently  seen  on  the  continent 
of  Europe,  and  sometimes  though  not  so  frequently  in  this  country, 
'(lasting  generally  long  enough  to  allow  an  observer  after  his  atten- 
tion is  drawn  by  the  first  light  of  the  flash,  to  turn  his  head  around 
and  see  distinctly  the  course  of  the  lightning  in  the  sky,)  result  from 
the  discharge  possessing  this  oscillatory  character.  -  -  -  The 
decomposition  of  water  by  electricity  from  an  ordinary  electrical 
machine,  in  which,  as  has  been  shown  by  Faraday,  more  than  the 
electro-chemical  equivalent  of  the  whole  electricity  that  passes, 
appears  in  oxygen  and  hydrogen  rising  mixed  from  each  pole,  is 
probably  due  to  electrical  oscillations  in  the  discharges  consequent 
on  the  successive  sparks."  f 

In  a  foot-note  at  this  point  of  the  paper,  the  eminent  physicist 
adds:  "This  explanation  occurred  to  me  about  a'  year  and  a  half 
ago,  in  consequence  of  the  conclusions  regarding  the  oscillatory 
nature  of  the  discharge  in  certain  circumstances,  drawn  from  mathe- 
matical investigation.  I  afterward  found  that  it  had  been  sug- 
gested as  a  conjecture  by  Helmholtz  in  his  ErTialtung  der  Kraft, 
(Berlin,  1847,)  in  the  following  terms:  'It  is  easy  to  explain  this 
law,  if  we  assume  that  the  discharge  of  a  battery  is  not  a  simple 
motion  of  the  electricity  in  one  direction,  but  a  backward  and  for- 
ward motion  between  the  coatings,  in  oscillations  which  become 
continually  smaller  until  the  entire  vis  viva  is  destroyed  by  the  sum 
of  the  resistances.  The  notion  that  the  current  of  discharge  con- 
sists of  alternately  opposed  currents  is  favored  by  the  alternately 
opposed  magnetic  actions  of  the  same;  and  secondly  by  the  phe- 
nomena observed  by  Wollaston  while  attempting  to  decompose 

*  Journal  of  the  Franklin  Institute,  March,  1835,  vol.  xv.  pp.  169, 170. 
t  L.  E.  D.  Phil.  Mag.  June,  1853,  vol.  v.  pp.  400,  401. 


DISCOURSE   OF    W.  B.  TAYLOR: NOTES.  397 

water  by  electric  shocks,  that  both  descriptions  of  gases  are  exhibited 
at  both  electrodes.' "  * 

Seventeen  years  after  Henry's  experimental  determination,  Mr. 
W.  Feddersen,  in  1859,  observed  the  oscillatory  nature  of  the  elec- 
trical discharge,  by  employing  the  revolving  mirror  of  Wheatstone, 
as  first  suggested  by  Sir  William  Thomson. f 

It  is  remarkable  however  that  very  early  in  the  century,  the 
return  discharge  of  electricity  appears  to  have  been  distinctly  noted. 
In  Gilbert's  Annalen  for  1806,  the  phenomenon  of  a  "back-stroke" 
is  spoken  of  as  being  "  not  uncommon  in  thunder-storms."  f  And 
twenty  years  before  the  conjecture  by  Helmholtz,  or  in  1827,  the 
same  suspicion  or  rather  conviction  of  an  oscillatory  discharge  was 
distinctly  expressed  by  Felix  Savary,  who  perplexed  by  the  irregu- 
larity of  magnetization  in  small  needles,  when  effected  by  the  Ley- 
den  jar,  thus  comments  on  the  problem : 

"An  electrical  discharge  is  a  phenomenon  of  motion.  Is  this 
motion  a  translation  of  matter — continuous — in  a  fixed  direction? 
If  so,  the  alternations  of  opposite  magnetisms  observed  at  various 
distances  from  a  rectilinear  conductor,  or  in  a  helix  for  gradually 
increasing  discharges,  would  be  due  solely  to  the  mutual  re-actions 
of  the  magnetic  particles  in  the  steel  needles.  The  manner  in  whicji 
the  behavior  of  a  wire  changes  with  its  length,  appears  to  me  to 
exclude  this  supposition.  Does  the  electric  flow  during  a  discharge 
consist  on  the  contrary  of  a  series  of  oscillations  transmitted  from 
the  wire  to  the  surrounding  mediums,  and  speedily  enfeebled  by 
resistances  which  increase  rapidly  with  the  absolute  velocity  of  the 
agitated  particles?  All  the  phenomena  lead  to  this  hypothesis; 
which  assumes  that  not  only  the  intensity,  but  the  direction  of  the 
magnetism,  depends  on  the  laws  according  to  which  the  minute 
motions  die  away  in  the  wire,  in  the  medium  surrounding  it,  and  in 
the  substance  which  receives  and  preserves  the  magnetism.  The 
oscillations  in  the  wire  would  have  an  absolute  velocity  so  much  the 
less,  and  would  subside  so  much  the  more  rapidly,  accordingly  as 
the  wire  were  longer,  as  it  were  finer,  and  as  the  resistance  belong- 
ing to  its  constitution  were  greater.  It  may  thus  be  explained  how 
there  is  for  a  rectilinear  conductor  and  a  given  discharge,  a  length 
of  wire  which  will  produce  the  strongest  magnetization;  if  the 

*  Quoted  from  a  memoir  "  On  the  Conservation  of  Force,"  by  "Dr.  H.  Helm- 
holtz. Read  before  the  Physical  Society  of  Berlin,  on  the  23d  of  July,  1847.  The 
memoir  was  translated  by  Dr.  J.  Tyndall,  and  published  in  his  selection  of  "Sci- 
entific Memoirs,"  London,  1853,  vol.  i.  p.  143.  This  interesting  collection  of  foreign 
papers  forms  a  continuation  of  Taylor's  "Scientific  Memoirs,"  in  five  volumes. 

f  Poggendorff  's  Annalen  der  Physik,  1859,  vol.  cviii.  p.  499. 

%  Gilbert's  Annalen  der  Physik,  1806,  vol.  xxiv.  p.  3ol. 


398  MEMORIAL    OF    JOSEPH    HENRY. 

length  is  less,  the  minute  motions  diminish  too  slowly;  if  greater, 
their  intensity  is  too  much  enfeebled."  * 


Note  G.     (From  p. 


WHEATSTONE'S  CHRONOSCOPE. 


For  the  purpose  of  measuring  and  registering  extremely  short 
intervals  of  time,  Professor  Charles  Wheatstone,  extending  his  earlier 
experiments  of  1834,  on  the  velocity  of  electricity  by  means  of  a 
revolving  mirror,  projected  a  "  chronoscope  "  based  on  the  automatic 
agency  of  electro-magnetism.  Among  the  applications  in  view 
were  the  determination  of  the  exact  times  of  falling  bodies,  the 
duration  of  an  explosion  of  gunpowder,  etc.  At  what  time  this 
ingenious  device  was  practically  developed,  it  is  difficult  to  say  ; 
but  we  learn  that  M.  Konstantinoif,  an  accomplished  Russian  Artil- 
lery Officer,  visiting  England  in  1842,  had  this  project  shown  or 
explained  to  him  by  Professor  Wheatstone.  Looking  at  the  possi- 
bilities of  this  suggestion  from  his  professional  stand-point,  M. 
Konstantinoff  at  once  directed  his  attention  to  the  contrivance  of  a 
modification  of  the  arrangement,  adapted  to  measure  the  velocity 
of  a  projectile  at  various  points  of  its  flight.  Invoking  the  well- 
known  electrical  knowledge  and  skill  of  his  friend  Mons.  L.  Bre- 
guet  of  Paris  in  1843,  the  two  commenced  in  June  of  that  year  the 
construction  of  a  machine  which  should  indicate  and  record  30  or 
40  successive  observations  within  the  few  seconds  of  a  projectile's 
flight.  The  apparatus  was  successfully  completed  May  29,  1844; 
and  an  account  of  it  was  read  before  the  French  Academy,  January 
20th,  1845.  f  In  this  instrument,  the  various  records  were  made  on 
a  timed  revolving  cylinder,  by  styles  or  pencils,  actuated  by  electro- 
magnetic motions  at  the  several  moments  of  breaking  successive 
circuits.  Wheatstoue's  reclamation,  and  account  of  his  own  inven- 
tion, were  published  four  months  later,  through  the  same  channel.  J 

The  two  chronoscopes  were  undoubtedly  the  same  in  principle, 
although  Wheatstone's  gave  but  two  records;  —  an  initial  one  by 
the  falling  or  projected  ball  breaking  the  galvanic  circuit,  and  a 
terminal  one  by  a  re-establishment  of  the  circuit  on  the  ball  striking 
a  horizontal  or  a  vertical  spring  plate  and  thus  causing  a  metallic 
contact  to  be  made.  For  measuring  the  interval,  Wheatstone  em- 

*  Annales  de  Chimie  et  de  Physique,  1827,  vol.  xxxiv.  pp.  54,  55. 

t  Oomptes  Rendus,  Jan.  1845,  vol.  xx.  pp.  157-162. 

t  Oomptes  Rendus,  May  26,  1845,  vol.  xx.  pp.  1554-1561. 


DISCOURSE   OF    W.  B.  TAYLOR:  —  NOTES.  399 

ployed  a  revolving  time  index  on  a  dial,  arrested  by  the  armature 
of  an  electro-magnet.  The  arrangement  adopted  by  Breguet  and 
Konstantinoff  in  1844,  resembled  much  more  closely  that  described 
and  published  by  Henry  in  1843,  than  that  devised  by  Wheatstone 
and  published  in  1845;  and  both  were  really  more  complete  for  the 
specific  purpose  of  measuring  the  velocity  of  projectiles,  than  the 
last-named,  and  first  invented.  Moreover,  while  the  latter  was  a 
"  chronoscope,"  the  two  former  were  really  "  chronographs." 

Henry's  second  plan  of  registering  by  the  induction  spark,  was 
far  more  delicate  and  exact  than  either;  as  it  dispensed  with  the 
inertia  of  a  moving  galvanometer  needle,  or  magnetic  armature. 


NoteH.    (From  p.  275.) 


The  plan  for  the  organization  and  conduct  of  the  Smithsonian 
Institution,  as  more  fully  presented  by  the  Secretary  in  his  first 
annual  report  made  December  8th,  1 847,  and  adopted  by  the  Board 
of  Regents  December  13th,  1847,  is  regarded  as  sufficiently  inter- 
esting and  important  to  be  here  given  at  length  : 

"  INTRODUCTION. 

General  considerations  which  should  serve  as  a  guide  in  adopting 
a  Plan  of  Organization. 

1.  Will  of  Smithson.     The  property  is  bequeathed  to  the  United 
States  of  America,  "to  found  at  Washington,  under  the  name  of 
the  SMITHSONIAN  INSTITUTION,  an  establishment  for  the  increase 
and  diffusion  of  knowledge  among  men." 

2.  The  bequest  is  for  the  benefit  of  mankind.    The  Government 
of  the  United  States  is  merely  a  trustee  to  carry  out  the  design  of 
the  testator. 

3.  The  Institution  is  not  a  national  establishment,  as  is  frequently 
supposed,  but  the  establishment  of  an  individual,  and  is  to  bear  and 
perpetuate  his  name. 

4.  The  objects  of  the  Institution  are,  1st,  to  increase,  and  2d,  to 
diffuse  knowledge  among  men. 

5.  These  two  objects  should  not  be  confounded  with  one  another. 
The  first  is  to  enlarge  the  existing  stock  of  knowledge  by  the  addi- 
tion of  new  truths ;  and  the  second,  to  disseminate  knowledge,  thus 
increased,  among  men. 


400  MEMORIAL    OF    JOSEPH    HENRY. 

6.  The  will  makes  no  restriction  in  favor  of  any  particular  kind 
of  knowledge;  hence  all  branches  are  entitled  to  a  share  of  atten- 
tion. 

7.  Knowledge  can  be  increased  by  different  methods  of  facilita- 
ting and  promoting  the  discovery  of  new  truths;  and  can  be  most 
extensively  diffused  among  men  by  means  of  the  press. 

8.  To  effect  the  greatest  amount  of  good,  the  organization  should 
be  such  as  to  enable  the  Institution  to  produce  results,  in  the  way  of 
increasing  and  diffusing  knowledge,  which  cannot  be  produced  either 
at  all  or  so  efficiently  by  the  existing  institutions  in  our  country. 

9.  The  organization  should  also  be  such  as  can  be  adopted  provi- 
sionally; can  be  easily  reduced  to  practice,  receive  modifications,  or 
be  abandoned,  in  whole  or  in  part,  without  a  sacrifice  of  the  funds. 

1 0.  In  order  to  compensate,  in  some  measure,  for  the  loss  of  time 
occasioned  by  the  delay  of  eight  years  in  establishing  the  Institution, 
a  considerable  portion  of  the  interest  which  has  accrued  should  be 
added  to  the  principal. 

11.  In  proportion  to  the  wide  field  of  knowledge  to  be  cultivated, 
the  funds  are  small.     Economy  should  therefore  be  consulted  in 
the  construction  of  the  building;  and  not  only  the  first  cost  of  the 
edifice  should  be  considered,  but  also  the  continual  expense  of  keep- 
ing it  in  repair,  and  of  the  support  of  the  establishment  necessarily 
connected  with  it.     There  should  also  be  but  few  individuals  per- 
manently supported  by  the  Institution. 

12.  The  plan  and  dimensions  of  the  building  should  be  deter- 
mined by  the  plan  of  the  organization,  and  not  the  converse. 

1 3.  It  should  be  recollected  that  mankind  in  general  are  to  be 
benefitted  by  the  bequest,  and  that  therefore  all  unnecessary  expen- 
diture on  local  objects  would  be  a  perversion  of  the  trust. 

14.  Besides  the  foregoing  considerations,  deduced  immediately 
from  the  will  of  Smithson,  regard  must  be  had  to  certain  require- 
ments of  the  act  of  Congress  establishing  the  Institution.     These 
are,xa  library,  a  museum,  and  a  gallery  of  art,  with  a  building  on 
a  liberal  scale  to  contain  them. 

SECTION  I. 

Plan  of   Organization   of  the  Institution  in   accordance  with   the 
foregoing  deductions  from  the  Will  of  Smithson. 

To  INCREASE  KNOWLEDGE.  It  is  proposed  —  1.  To  stimulate 
men  of  talent  to  make  original  researches,  by  offering  suitable 
rewards  for  memoirs  containing  new  truths;  and,  —  2.  To  appro- 
priate annually  a  portion  of  the  income  for  particular  researches, 
under  the  direction  of  suitable  persons. 


DISCOUESE   OF   W.  B.  TAYLOR: — NOTES.  401 

To  DIFFUSE  KNOWLEDGE.  It  is  proposed  — 1.  To  publish  a 
series  of  periodical  reports  on  the  progress  of  the  different  branches 
of  knowledge;  and,  —  2.  To  publish  occasionally  separate  treatises 
on  subjects  of  general  interest. 

DETAILS   OF   THE   PLAN   TO   INCREASE    KNOWLEDGE. 

I.  Ey  stimulating  researches. — 1.  Facilities  afforded  for  the  pro- 
duction of  original  memoirs  on  all  branches  of  knowledge.     2.  The 
memoirs  thus  obtained  to  be  published  in  a  series  of  volumes,  in  a 
quarto  form,  and  entitled  Smithsonian  Contributions  to  Knowledge. 

3.  No  memoir  on  subjects  of  physical  science  to  be  accepted  for 
publication  which  does  not  furnish  a  positive  addition  to  human 
knowledge,  resting  on  original  research ;  and  all  unverified  specula- 
tions to  be  rejected.  *     4.  Each  memoir  presented  to  the  Institution 
to  be  submitted  for  examination  to  a  commission  of  persons  of 
reputation  for  learning  in  the  branch  to  which  the  memoir  pertains; 
and  to  be  accepted  for  publication  only  in  case  the  report  of  this 
commission  is  favorable.     5.  The  commission  to  be  chosen  by  the 
officers  of  the  Institution,  and  the  name  of  the  author  (as  far  as 
practicable)  concealed,  unless  a  favorable  decision  be  made.     6.  The 
volumes  of  the  memoirs  to  be  exchanged  for  the  Transactions  of 
literary  and  scientific  societies,  and  copies  to  be  given  to  all  the 
colleges  and  principal  libraries  in  this  country.     One  part  of  the 
remaining  copies  may  be  offered  for  sale;  and  the  other  carefully 
preserved,  to  form  complete  sets  of  the  work,  to  supply  the  demand 
from  new  institutions.     7.  An  abstract  or  popular  account  of  the 
contents  of  these  memoirs  to  be  given  to  the  public  through  the 
annual  report  of  the  Regents  to  Congress. 

II.  By  appropriating  a  part  of  the  income,  annually,  to  special 
objects  of  research,  under  the  direction  of  suitable  persons. — 1.  The 
objects  and  the  amount  appropriated,  to  be  recommended  by  coun- 
sellors of  the  Institution.     2.  Appropriations  in  different  years  to 
different  objects;  so  that  in  course  of  time  each  branch  of  knowl- 
edge may  receive  a  share.      3.   The  results  obtained  from  these 
appropriations  to  be  published,  with  the  memoirs  before  mentioned, 
in  the  volumes  of  the  Smithsonian  Contributions  to  Knowledge. 

4.  Examples  of  objects  for  which  appropriations  may  be  made : 

*  "  It  has  been  supposed  from  the  adoption  of  this  proposition,  that  we  are  dis- 
posed to  undervalue  abstract  speculation :  on  the  contrary,  we  know  that  all  the 
advances  in  true  science,  (namely  a  knowledge  of  the  laws  of  phenomena,)  are 
made  by  provisionally  adopting  well-conditioned  hypotheses,  the  product  of  the 
imagination,  and  subsequently  verifying  them  by  an  appeal  to  experiment  and 
observation."  (Explanations  of  the  programme.) 
26 


402  MEMORIAL   OF   JOSEPH    HENRY. 

(a.)  System  of  extended  meteorological  observations  for  solving 
the  problem  of  American  storms.  (6.)  Explorations  in  descriptive 
natural  history,  and  geological,  magnetical,  and  topographical  sur- 
veys, to  collect  materials  for  the  formation  of  a  Physical  Atlas  of 
the  United  States,  (c.)  Solution  of  experimental  problems,  such  as 
a  new  determination  of  the  weight  of  the  earth,  of  the  velocity  of 
electricity,  and  of  light;  chemical  analyses  of  soils  and  plants; 
collection  and  publication  of  scientific  facts,  accumulated  in  the 
offices  of  Government,  (d.)  Institution  of  statistical  inquiries  with 
reference  to  physical,  moral,  and  political  subjects,  (e.)  Historical 
researches,  and  accurate  surveys  of  places  celebrated  in  American 
history.  (/.)  Ethnological  researches,  particularly  with  reference 
to  the  different  races  of  men  in  North  America;  also,  explorations 
and  accurate  surveys  of  the  mounds  and  other  remains  of  the 
ancient  people  of  our  country. 

DETAILS  OF  THE   PLAN   FOR   DIFFUSING  KNOWLEDGE. 

I.  By  the  publication  of  a  series  of  reports,  giving  an  account  of 
the  new  discoveries  in  science,  and  of  the  changes  made  from  year 
to  year  in  all  branches  of  knowledge  not  strictly  professional.* — 
1.  These  reports  will  diifuse  a  kind  of  knowledge  generally  in- 
teresting; but  which  at  present  is  inaccessible  to  the  public.  Some 
of  the  reports  may  be  published  annually,  others  at  longer  intervals, 
as  the  income  of  the  Institution  or  the  changes  in  the  branches  of 
knowledge  may  indicate.  2.  The  reports  are  to  be  prepared  by 
collaborators  eminent  in  the  different  branches  of  knowledge. 
3.  Each  collaborator  to  be  furnished  with  the  journals  and  publi- 
cations, domestic  and  foreign,  necessary  to  the  compilation  of  his 
report;  to  be  paid  a  certain  sum  for  his  labors,  and  to  be  named  on 
the  title-page  of  the  report.  4.  The  reports  to  be  published  in 
separate  parts,  so  that  persons  interested  in  a  particular  branch  can 
procure  the  parts  relating  to  it  without  purchasing  the  whole. 
5.  These  reports  may  be  presented  to  Congress,  for  partial  distri- 
bution, the  remaining  copies  to  be  given  to  literary  and  scientific 
institutions,  and  sold  to  individuals  for  a  moderate  price,  f 

*  This  part  of  the  plan  has  been  but  partially  carried  out. 

t  The  following  are  some  of  the  subjects  which  may  be  embraced  in  the  reports: 

I.  PHYSICAL  CLASS.— 1.  Physics,  including  astronomy,  natural  philosophy,  chem- 
istry, and  meteorology.    2.  Natural  history,  including  botany,  zoology,  geology,  &c. 
3.  Agriculture.    4.  Application  of  science  to  arts. 

II.  MORAL   AND   POLITICAL   CLASS.— 5.   Ethnology,   including   particular  his-, 
tory,  comparative  philology,  antiquities,  &c.    6.  Statistics  and  political  economy. 
7.  Mental  and  moral  philosophy.    8.  A  survey  of  the  political  events  of  the  world; 
penal  reform,  &c. 

III.  LITERATURE  AND  THE  FINE  ARTS.— 9.  Modern  literature.  10.  The  fine  arts, 
and  their  application  to  the  useful  arts.  11.  Bibliography.  12.  Obituary  notices  of 
distinguished  individuals. 


DISCOURSE   OF   W.  B.  TAYLOR:  —  NOTES.  403 

II.  By  the  publication  of  separate  treatises  on  subjects  of  general 
interest. — 1.  These  treatises  may  occasionally  consist  of  valuable 
memoirs  translated  from  foreign  languages,  or  of  articles  prepared 
under  the  direction  of  the  Institution,  or  procured  by  offering  pre- 
miums for  the  best  exposition  of  a  given  subject.  2.  The  treatises 
should  in  all  cases  be  submitted  to  a  commission  of  competent 
judges,  previous  to  their  publication.  3.  As  examples  of  these 
treatises,  expositions  may  be  obtained  of  the  present  state  of  the 
several  branches  of  knowledge  mentioned  in  the  table  of  reports. 

SECTION  II. 

Plan  of  Organization,  in  accordance  with  the  terms  of  the  resolutions 
of  the  Board  of  Regents  providing  for  the  two  modes  of  increasing 
and  diffusing  knowledge. 

1 .  The  act  of  Congress  establishing  the  Institution  contemplated 
the  formation  of  a  library  and  a  museum;  and  the  Board  of  Regents, 
including  these  objects  in  the  plan  of  organization,  resolved  to  divide 
the  income  *  into  two  equal  parts. 

2.  One  part  to  be  appropriated  to  increase  and  diffuse  knowledge 
by  means  of  publications  and  researches,  agreeably  to  the  scheme 
before  given.     The  other  part  to  be  appropriated  to  the  formation 
of  a  library  and  a  collection  of  objects  of  nature  and  of  art. 

3.  These  two  plans  are  not  incompatible  with  one  another. 

4.  To  carry  out  the  plan  before  described,  a  library  will  be  re- 
quired, consisting,  1st,  of  a  complete  collection  of  the  transactions 
and  proceedings  of  all  the  learned  societies  in  the  world ;  2d,  of  the 
more  important  current  periodical  publications,  and  other  works 
necessary  in  preparing  the  periodical  reports. 

5.  The  Institution  should  make  special  collections,  particularly 
of  objects  to  illustrate  and  verify  its  own  publications. 

6.  Also,  a  collection  of  instruments  of  research  in  all  branches 
of  experimental  science. 

7.  With  reference  to  the  collection  of  books,  other  than  those  men- 
tioned above,  catalogues  of  all  the  different  libraries  in  the  United 
States  should  be  procured,  in  order  that  the  valuable  books  first 
purchased  may  be  such  as  are  not  to  be  found  in  the  United  States. 

*  The  amount  of  the  Smithsonian  bequest  received  into  the  Treasury 

of  the  United  States  is $515, 169  00 

Interest  on  the  same  to  July  1, 1846,  (devoted  to  the  erection  of  the 

building) 242. 129  00 

Annual  income  from  the  bequest 30, 910  14 

[The  expedient  of  devoting  one-half  the  income  to  the  Congressional  pro- 
gramme, was  by  the  urgency  and  influence  of  Henry,  some  years  afterward  re- 
voked: though  not  without  a  violent  opposition  by  the  Library  advocates.] 


404  MEMORIAL   OF   JOSEPH    HENRY. 

8.  Also,  catalogues  of  memoirs,  and  of  books  and  other  materials, 
should  be  collected  for  rendering  the  Institution  a  centre  of  biblio- 
graphical knowledge,  whence  the  student  may  be  directed  to  any 
work  which  he  may  require. 

9.  It  is  believed  that  the  collections  in  natural  history  will  in- 
crease by  donation  as  rapidly  as  the  income  of  the  Institution  can 
make  provision  for  their  reception,  and  therefore  it  will  seldom  be 
necessary  to  purchase  articles  of  this  kind. 

10.  Attempts  should  be  made  to  procure  for  the  gallery  of  art 
casts  of  the  most  celebrated  articles  of  ancient  and  modern  sculp- 
ture. 

11.  The  arts  may  be  encouraged  by  providing  a  room,  free  of 
expense,  for  the  exhibition  of  the  objects  of  the  Art-Union  and 
other  similar  societies. 

12.  A  small  appropriation  should  annually  be  made  for  models 
of  antiquities,  such  as  those  of  the  remains  of  ancient  temples,  &c. 

13.  For  the  present,  or  until  the  building  1s  fully  completed, 
besides  the  Secretary,  no  permanent  assistant  will  be  required,  except 
one,  to  act  as  librarian. 

14.  The  Secretary,  by  the  law  of  Congress,  is  alone  responsible  to 
the  Regents.     He  shall  take  charge  of  the  building  and  property, 
keep  a  record  of  proceedings,  discharge  the  duties  of  librarian  and 
keeper  of  the  museum,  and  may,  with  the  consent  of  the  Regents, 
employ  assistants. 

15.  The  Secretary  and  his  assistants  (during  the  session  of  Con- 
gress) will  be  required  to  illustrate  new  discoveries  in  science,  and 
to. exhibit  new  objects  of  art.     Distinguished  individuals  should 
also  be  invited  to  give  lectures  on  subjects  of  general  interest." 

In  his  "Explanations  and  illustrations  of  the  programme"  pre- 
sented to  the  Regents  at  the  same  time  with  the  foregoing,  Henry 
remarked:  uThe  plan  of  increasing  and  diffusing  knowledge,  pre- 
sented in  the  first  section  of  the  programme,  will  be  found  in  strict 
accordance  with  the  several  propositions  deduced  from  the  Will  of 
Smithson,  and  given  in  the  introduction.  It  embraces — as  a 
leading  feature,  the  design  of  interesting  the  greatest  number  of 
individuals  in  the  operations  of  the  Institution,  and  of  spreading 
its  influence  as  widely  as  possible.  It  forms  an  active  organization, 
exciting  all  to  make  original  researches  who  are  gifted  with  the 
necessary  power,  and  diffusing  a  kind  of  knowledge  now  only 
accessible  to  the  few,  among  all  those  who  are  willing  to  receive  it. 
In  this  country,  though  many  excel  in  the  application  of  science  to 
the  practical  arts  of  life,  few  devote  themselves  to  the  continued 
labor  and  patient  thought  necessary  to  the  discovery  and  develop- 
ment of  new  truths.  -  -  -  The  second  section  of  the  programme 


DISCOURSE   OF   W.  B.  TAYLOR: — NOTES.  405 

gives — so  far  as  they  have  been  made  out,  the  details  of  the  part 
of  the  plan  of  organization  directed  by  the  act  of  Congress  estab- 
lishing the  Institution.  The  two  plans,  namely  that  of  publication 
and  original  research,  and  that  of  collections  of  objects  of  nature 
and  art,  are  not  incompatible,  and  may  be  carried  on  harmoniously 
with  each  other.  The  only  effect  which  they  will  have  on  one 
another  is  that  of  limiting  the  operation  of  each,  on  account  of  the 
funds  given  to  the  other."  * 

That  the  fundamental  assumption  of  this  plan  as  to  the  true  and 
just  interpretation  of  Smithson's  Will,  was  not  however  peculiar  to 
Henry,  is  abundantly  shown  by  many  utterances  of  the  thoughtful, 
and  judicious. 

In  an  appreciative  memoir  on  the  scientific  work  of  Smithson, 
written  by  Professor  Walter  R.  Johnson  of  Philadelphia,  in  1844, 
he  speaks  in  his  introductory  remarks  of  the  gratitude  due  to  the 
public  benefactor,  "  whether  with  Franklin  he  found  a  library,  with 
Maclure  endow  an  academy  for  researches  in  natural  science,  or 
with  Smithson  seek  to  stimulate  into  activity  the  spirit  of  philo- 
sophical research,  to  '  increase 7  by  deepening  the  sources,  and  '  dif- 
fuse7 by  multiplying  the  channels  of  knowledge."  And  after 
recounting  the  various  investigations  of  Smithson,  the  writer  con- 
cludes his  review  by  asking:  "  What  would  have  been  the  purposes 
of  an  institution  founded  by  Smithson  in  his  life-time?  To  this 
his  life-time  is  a  sufficient  answer.  Researches  to  ' increase'  positive 
knowledge,  and  publications  to  ' diffuse7  and  make  that  knowledge 
available  to  mankind, — such  were  the  great  objects  of  his  own  con- 
stant praiseworthy  and  laborious  efforts."  f 

The  first  Chancellor  of  the  Institution — George  M.  Dallas, 
(Vice-President  of  the  United  States,)  in  his  address  on  the  occa- 
sion of  laying  the  corner-stone  of  the  building,  May  1,  1847, 
remarked  that  ,the  foundation  was  designed  by  Smithson  to  be 
aan  institution  not  merely  for  disseminating,  spreading,  teaching 
knowledge,  but  also  and  foremost — for  creating,  originating,  '  in- 
creasing7 it.77 

A  committee  of  the  American  Academy  of  Arts  and  Sciences, 
appointed  to  examine  the  "programme  of  organization77  submitted 
by  Henry  to  that  body  for  its  consideration,  in  a  very  full  report 
presented  to — and  unanimously  adopted  by — the  Academy  at  Bos- 
ton, December  7, 1847,  expressed  an  entire  concurrence  in  the  views 

» Programme,  and  Explanations.  Smithsonian  Report  for  1847,  pp.  128-139,  of  Sen. 
ed.— pp.  120-131,  of  H.  R.  ed.  Also  Smithsonian  Report  for  1855,  pp.  7-12. 

t  A  Memoir  on  the  Scientific  Character  and  Researches  of  James  Smithson.  By 
Professor  Walter  R.  Johnson.  Read  before  the  National  Institute,  Washington, 
April  6, 1844. 


406  MEMORIAL    OF   JOSEPH    HENRY. 

indicated,  and  a  warm  approval  of  the  establishment  proposed. 
After  a  recapitulation  and  analysis  of  the  several  details,  the  com- 
mittee pronounced  the  opinion  that  "The  most  novel  and  important 
feature  of  the  plan,  is  that  which  proposes  to  insure  the  publication 
of  memoirs  and  treatises  on  important  subjects  of  investigation,  and 
to  offer  pecuniary  encouragement  to  men  of  talent  and  attainment 
to  engage  in  scientific  research.  It  is  believed  that  no  institution  in 
the  country  effects  either  of  these  objects  to  any  great  extent.  The 
nearest  approach  to  it  is  the  practice  of  the  Academy  and  other 
Philosophical  Societies,  of  publishing  the  memoirs  accepted  by  them. 
These  however  can  rarely  be  works  of  great  compass.  No  system- 
atic plan  of  compensation  for  the  preparation  of  works  of  scien- 
tific research,  is  known  by  the  committee  to  have  been  attempted 
in  this  or  any  other  country.  It  can  scarcely  be  doubted  that  an 
important  impulse  would  be  given  by  the  Institution  in  this  way 
to  the  cultivation  of  scientific  pursuits:  while  the  extensive  and 
widely  ramified  system  of  distribution  and  exchange  by  which  the 
publications  are  to  be  distributed  throughout  the  United  States  and 
the  world,  would  secure  them  a  circulation  which  works  of  science 
could  scarcely  attain  in  any  other  way.  It  is  an  obvious  charac- 
teristic of  this  mode  of  applying  the  funds  of  the  Institution,  that 
its  influence  would  operate  most  widely  throughout  the  country; 
that  locality  would  be  of  comparatively  little  importance  as  far  as 
this  influence  is  concerned;  and  that  the  Union  would  become  (so 
to  say)  in  this  respect  a  great  school  of  mutual  instruction."  * 


Note  I.     (From  p. 


A  special  Committee  of  the  Board  of  Regents  appointed  Septem- 
ber 8th,  1846,  "to  digest  a  plan  to  carry  out  the  provisions  of  the 
Act  to  establish  the  Smithsonian  Institution,"  presented  a  somewhat 
elaborate  report  December  1st,  1846;  in  which  they  thus  express 
themselves : 

"Before  concluding  their  report,  your  committee  desire  to  add  a 
few  words  touching  the  duty  and  qualifications  of  one  of  the  officers 
of  the  Institution.  Inasmuch  as  the  Chancellor  of  the  Smithsonian 
Institution  being  a  regent,  can  receive  no  salary  for  his  services,  it 
results  almost  necessarily  that  the  Secretary  should  become  its  chief 

*  This  Report,  dated  Dec.  4,  1847,  was  signed  by  Edward  Everett,  Jared  Sparks, 
Benjamin  Pierce,  Henry  "W.  Longfellow,  and  Asa  Gray.  (Smithsonian  Report  for 
1817,  pp.154,  155.— Sen.  ed.) 


DISCOURSE   OF   W.  B.  TAYLOR:  —  NOTES.  407 

executive  officer.  The  charter  seems  to  have  intended  that  he 
should  occupy  a  very  responsible  position.  -  Your  com- 

mittee will  not  withhold  their  opinion  that  upon  the  choice  of  this 
single  officer  more  probably  than  on  any  one  other  act  of  the  Board, 
will  depend  the  future  good  name  and  success  and  usefulness  of  the 
Smithsonian  Institution." 

The  Board  of  Regents  two  days '  later  proceeded  to  the  election 
of  this  officer :  and  the  result  was  announced  in  the  National  Intel- 
ligencer of  the  following  day — December  4th.  In  the  Intelligencer 
for  Saturday,  December  5th,  1846,  the  following  editorial  notice  of 
this  important  proceeding  was  given : 

aln  a  brief  paragraph  yesterday  we  announced  that  the  Regents 
of  the  Smithsonian  Institution  had  fixed  their  choice  of  Secretary, 
on  Joseph  Henry,  LL.  D.  of  Princeton  College,  New  Jersey.  The 
appointment  of  this  officer  was  one  of  their  most  important  and 
responsible  duties.  There  has  perhaps  never  been  an  occasion  in 
the  literary  history  of  our  country  when  so  much  depended  upon 
the  decision  of  so  small  a  number  of  men.  The  success  of  one  of 
the  most  liberal  institutions  in  the  world,  depends  much  on  the  per- 
sonal influence  of  the  Secretary  to  be  chosen  by  the  Regents.  Men 
of  the  highest  literary  distinction  as  well  as  personal  merit  in  the 
nation  were  numbered  among  the  candidates.  It  is  no  disparage- 
ment to  their  attainments  to  point  out  some  of  the  circumstances 
which  sanction  the  decision  just  made;  for  the  statement  of  which, 
and  the  reference  which  it  embraces  to  Professor  Henry,  we  are 
indebted  to  the  pen  of  a  scientific  friend. 

"  Foremost  among  American  savans  stands  the  name  of  FRANK- 
LIN ; — a  name  which  belongs  to  the  science  of  the  world,  and  can 
hardly  be  said  to  have  a  locality.  ^  Second  perhaps  to  Franklin  only, 
stands  the  name  of  the  philosopher  of  Princeton.  It  is  not  now 
the  time  nor  place  to  enter  into  an  enumeration  of  the  extensive 
advances  made  in  physical  science  by  his  researches.  The  brilliant 
discovery  of  Franklin  of  the  identity  of  lightning  and  the  electrical 
fluid,  might  have  been  supposed  hardly  to  have  left  room  for  a 
gleaner  in  the  field.  Yet  we  venture  the  opinion  that  if  Franklin's 
favorite  aspiration  could  have  been  realized  —  if  he  could  have  been 
permitted  to  revisit  after  a  lapse  of  half  a  century,  the  busy  scenes 
of  human  life,  he  would  have  found  himself  a  novice  in  his  favorite 
science.  A  whole  science — that  of  galvanism,  (voltaic  electricity,) 
electro-magnetism,  magneto-electricity,  thermo-electricity,  etc.  has 
been  created  since  the  time  of  Franklin.  If  the  discovery  of 
Franklin  enables  us  to  make  the  lightning  harmless,  that  of  the 
recent  school  of  philosophers  enables  us  to  turn  it  in  various  ways 
to  practical  account  in  the  business  purposes  of  life.  If  we  ask  who 


408  MEMORIAL    OF    JOSEPH    HENRY. 

gave  to  the  electro-magnet  of  soft  iron,  now  used  for  the  telegraph, 
its  present  form,  and  discovered  the  laws  by  which  its  effective  power 
could  be  made  active,  the  answer  is  Joseph  Henry.  The  discovery 
was  first  published  in  the  proceedings  of  the  Albany  Institute. 
This  was  the  earliest  contribution  to  the  progress  of  discovery  made 
by  the  individual  whom  the  choice  of  the  Regents  has  elevated  to  the 
first  literary  station  in  the  United  States.  Soon  after  this  discovery 
Henry  was  called  to  the  Chair  of  Experimental  Philosophy  at 
Princeton,  where  for  the  last  fifteen  years  or  more,  he  has  filled  the 
duties  of  his  office  in  such  a  manner  as  to  win  for  him  the  general 
esteem  of  the  literary  community  of  that  time-honored  seat  of 
'learning. 

"With  the  relations  between  Professor  Henry  and  his  pupils 
we  have  no  concern  at  present.  It  is  of  other  relations  in  which 
he  has  stood  toward  the  general  cultivators  of  physical  science 
throughout  the  world,  that  we  propose  to  speak.  One  of  the 
most  important  discoveries  of  recent  date,  that  of  the  identity  of 
the  laws  which  regulate  electric  and  magnetic,  and  electro-magnetic 
induction,  was  among  the  early  fruits  of  his  researches  at  Princeton. 
If  Franklin  discovered  the  identity  between  lightning  and  elec- 
tricity, Henry  has  gone  further,  and  reduced  electric  and  magnetic 
action  to  the  same  laws.  It  is  impossible  in  a  short  compass  to  do 
justice  to  the  beauty  and  simplicity  of  Henry's  laws  of  the  action 
of  the  imponderable  agents.  Whoever  will  read  the  progress  of  his 
discoveries  as  published  in  the  Transactions  of  the  American  Philo- 
sophical Society,  will  learn  something  of  the  spirit  of  inductive 
reasoning  of  which  Henry's  researches  furnish  one  of  the  happiest 
illustrations.  These  discoveries  are  not  confined  in  their  sphere  of 
utility  to  the  limited  circulation  of  the  volumes  of  that  Society. 
The  student  of  physical  science  may  read  the  reprints  of  them  and 
the  encomiums  pronounced  upon  them  in  every  language  of  civil- 
ized man  throughout  the  globe.  It  was  doubtless  a  knowledge  of 
the  extensive  reputation  which  these  and  other  discoveries  have  con- 
ferred on  so  young  a  man,  which  influenced  the  Regents  in  their 
selection  of  a  Secretary.  It  is  the  man  that  gives  dignity  to  the 
office,  and  not  the  office  to  the  man.  In  his  new  sphere,  Professor 
Henry  will  have  advantages  for  the  personal  cultivation  and  ad- 
vancement of  science  which  the  limited  means  of  the  Princeton 
College  too  frequently  circumscribed.  Men  of  science  throughout 
the  Union  will  find  a  central  point  for  correspondence,  and  will  pay 
to  the  individual  that  tribute  of  respect  which  among  freemen 
would  never  be  given  to  men  of  less  attainments.  We  doubt  not 
that  the  members  of  the  republic  of  letters  throughout  the  United 
States  will  applaud  the  choice,  and  give  to  the  Regents  their  cordial 


DISCOURSE    OF    W.  B.  TAYLOR: NOTES.  409 

support.  It  is  not  our  purpose  to  enumerate  all  the  claims  which 
the  Secretary  elect  has  on  the  literary  community.  We  have  said 
enough  to  show  that  in  discharging  the  responsible  duty  of  this 
appointment,  the  Regents  have  looked  with  a  single  eye  to  the 
purposes  of  the  munificent  testator,  the  advancement  of  knowledge 
among  men."  * 


Note  J.     (From  p.  276.} 

HENRY'S  PURPOSE  OF  ADMINISTRATION. 

• 

Perhaps  no  better  inside  view  of  Henry's  primitive  purpose  can 
be  obtained,  than  from  the  following  private  and  unpublished  letter 
to  his  personal  friend  President  Nott,  of  Union  College,  Schenec- 
tady,  N.  Y.  written  during  a  visit  to  Princeton,  very  shortly  -after 
his  election  and  removal  to  Washington : 

"PRINCETON,  December  26th,  1846. 

"MY  DEAR  SIR: — Your  favor  of  the  9th  came  to  Princeton 
while  I  was  at  Washington,  and  I  now  answer  it  as  soon  as  possible 
after  my  return.  Please  accept  my  thanks  for  your  kind  congratu- 
lations on  my  appointment  to  the  office  of  Secretary  of  the  Smith- 
sonian Institution.  I  am  not  sure  however  that  my  appointment 
will  prove  a  subject  of  congratulation.  The  office  is  one  which  I 
have  by  no  means  coveted,  and  which  I  have  accepted  at  the  earnest 
solicitation  of  some  of  the  friends  of  science  in  our  country,  to  pre- 
vent its  falling  into  worse  hands,  and  with  the  hope  of  saving  the 
noble  bequest  of  Smithson  from  being  squandered  on  chimerical  or 
unworthy  projects.  My  first  object  is  to  urge  on  the  Regents  the 
adoption  of  a  simple  practical  plan  of  carrying  out  the  design  of 
the  Testator,  viz:  the  " increase  and  diffusion  of  knowledge  among 
men."  For  this  purpose  in  my  opinion  the  organization  of  the 
Institution  should  be  such  as  to  stimulate  original  research  in  all 
branches  of  knowledge,  in  every  part  of  our  country  and  through- 
out the  world,  and  also  to  provide  the  means  of  diffusing  at  stated 
periods  an  account  of  the  progress  of  general  knowledge  compiled 
from  the  Journals  of  all  languages.  To  establish  such  an  organi- 
zation, I  must  endeavor  to  prevent  expenditure  of  a  large  portion 
of  the  funds  of  the  Smithsonian  bequest  on  a  pile  of  brick  and 
mortar,  filled  with  objects  of  curiosity,  intended  for  the  embel- 
lishment of  Washington,  and  the  amusement  of  those  who  visit 
that  city.  My  object  at  present,  is  to  prevent  the  adoption  of  plans 

*  National  Intelligencer,  Washington,  Dec.  5,  1846,  vol.  xxxiv.  no.  10,541. 


410  MEMORIAL    OF    JOSEPH    HENRY. 

which  may  tend  to  embarrass  the  future  usefulness  of  the  Institu- 
tion, and  for  this  purpose  I  do  not  intend  to  make  any  appointments 
unless  expressly  directed  to  do  so  by  the  Regents,  until  the  organi- 
zation is  definitely  settled. 

"  The  income  of  the  Institution  is  not  sufficient  to  carry  out  a 
fourth  part  of  the  plans  mentioned  in  the  Act  of  Congress,  and  con- 
templated in  the  Report  of  the  Regents.  For  example,  to  support 
the  expense  of  the  Museum  of  the  Exploring  Expedition  presented 
by  Government  to  the  Smithsonian  Institution,  will  require  in 
interest  on  building  and  expense  of  attendance  upward  of  10,000 
dollars  annually.  A  corps  of  Professors  with  necessary  assistants 
will  amount  to  from  12,000  to  15,000  dollars.  From  these  facts 
you  will  readily  perceive  that  unless  the  Institution  is  started  with 
great  caution  there  is  danger  of  absorbing  all  the  income  in  a  few 
objects,  which  in  themselves  may  not  be  the  best  means  of  carrying 
out  the  design  of  the  Testator.  I  have  elaborated  a  simple  plan  of 
organization,  which  I  intend  to  press  with  all  my  energy.  If  this 
is  adopted,  I  am  confident  the  name  of  Smithson  will  become 
familiar  to  every  part  of  the  civilized  world.  If  I  cannot  succeed 
in  carrying  out  my  plans — at  least  in  a  considerable  degree,  I  shall 
withdraw  from  the  Institution. 

"  With  much  respect  and  esteem,  I  remain 
"Your  obedient  servant, 

"JOSEPH  HENRY. 
"  Rev.  Dr.  ELIPHALET  NOTT, 

" President  of  Union  College,  &c.  &c" 


Note  K.     (From  p< 

STRUGGLE   WITH   THE   LIBRARY  SCHEME, 

From  the  first  organization  of  the  Smithsonian  Institution,  or 
indeed  from  the  still  earlier  times  of  its  discussion  on  the  floors  of 
Congress,  the  great  need  of  a  general  library  of  reference,  on  a  scale 
comparable  to  that  of  the  large  European  establishments,  felt  by 
every  historical  and  literary  student,  naturally  led  such  readers  to 
look  eagerly  to  the  endowment  of  Smithson  for  the  attainment  of 
this  desirable  end.  On  December  15,  1843,  the  Hon.  Rufus 
Choate — chairman  of  the  Senate  committee  on  the  library,  obtained 
the  reference  of  the  matter  of  Srnithson's  bequest  to  his  own  com- 
mittee: and  when  on  June  6,  and  again  on  December  12,  1844, 
Senator  Benjamin  Tappan,  a  member  of  the  same  committee  intro- 
duced a  bill  establishing  on  the  Smithson  fund,  an  agricultural 


>       DISCOURSE   OF    W.  B.  TAYLOR: NOTES.  411 

institution  with  a  botanical  garden,  natural-history  cabinet,  library, 
laboratory,  lecture-rooms  and  professorships,  Mr.  Choate  in  oppo- 
sition to  the  plan,  on  January  8,  1845,  contended  that  "we  cannot 
do  a  safer,  surer,  more  unexceptionable  thing  with  the  income,  or 
with  a  portion  of  the  income — (perhaps  twenty  thousand  dollars 
a  year  for  a  few  years,)  than  to  expend  it  in  accumulating  a  grand 
and  noble  public  library ;  one  which  for  variety,  extent,  and  wealth, 
shall  be  confessed  to  be  equal  to  any  now  in  the  world.  Twenty 
thousand  dollars  a  year  for  twenty-five  years,  are  five  hundred 
thousand  dollars/'  And  he  offered  as  a  substitute  section,  "  that  a 
sum  not  less  than  20,000  dollars  be  annually  expended  of  the 
interest  of  the  fund  aforesaid,  in  the  purchase  of  books."  *  This 
proposition  however  was  not  adopted. 

In  the  House  of  Representatives,  the  Hon.  Robert  Dale  Owen  — 
chairman  of  a  special  committee  on  the  subject,  presented  a  bill 
February  28,  and  April  22, 1 846,  establishing  a  normal  educational 
institution;  a  feature  strongly  opposed  by  Hon.  John  Q.  Adams, 
and  on  the  29th  of  April,  1846,  stricken  out.  On  the  same  day, 
Hon.  Bradford  R.  Wood  moved  as  an  amendment  "that  the  sum 
of  20,000  dollars  of  the  interest  of  said  fund  be  and  is  hereby 
appropriated  annually  for  the  purchase  or  publication  of  a  library." 
A  substitute  bill  presented  by  Hon.  William  J.  Hough  on  the  same 
day,  provided  among  various  specifications,  for  an  appropriation  from 
the  interest  of  the  fund— "not  exceeding  an  average  of  25,000 
dollars  annually  for  the  gradual  formation  of  a  library."  Which 
bill  was  adopted,  f  This  act  passed  the  Senate,  and  became  a  law, 
August  10,  1846, 

This  organic  Act  of  Congress  provided  (in  sect.  3)  a  directorship 
for  the  Institution,  to  consist  of  fifteen  Regents, — six  of  whom 
should  be  members  of  Congress,  selected  equally  from  the  two 
chambers;  and  (in  sect.  9)  authorized  the  said  managers  "to  make 
such  disposal  as  they  shall  deem  best  suited  for  the  promotion  of 
the  purposes  of  the  testator," — of  any  income  not  appropriated  or 
required  by  the  provisions  of  the  act. 

The  Board  of  Regents,  after  considerable  discussion,  by  resolu- 
tion adopted  January  26,  1847,  apportioned  one-half  of  the  annual 
income  (exclusive  of  building  expenses)  to  the  purpose  of  forming 
a  library  and  museum,  and  one-half  for  the  publication  of  original 
researches  and  for  the  support  of  public  lectures.  This  .compromise 
between  contending  parties,  by  no  means  satisfied  the  judgment  of 
the  Secretary.  In  his  first  report  to  the  Regents,  presented  Decem- 

*  The  Smithsonian  Institution:  Documents  relative   to  its  Origin  and  History. 
Edited  by  William  J.  Rhees.    (Smith.  Mis.  Coll.  No.  328,)  pp.  262,  312,  and  320. 
t  The  Smithsonian  Institution.    By  W.  J.  Rhees.    Pp.  355,  366,  462-'4,  469-473. 


412  MEMORIAL   OF   JOSEPH    HENRY. 

ber  8,  1847,  Henry  strongly  urged  that  "In  carrying  out  the  spirit 
of  the  plan  adopted,  namely  that  of  affecting  men  in  general  by  the 
operations  of  the  Institution,  it  is  evident  that  the  principal  means 
of  ' diffusing  knowledge'  must  be  the  Press"*  In  his  second 
report  he  sets  forth  that  "The  Institution  is  not  for  a  day,  but  is 
designed  to  endure  as  long  as  our  Government  shall  exist ;  and  it  is 
therefore  peculiarly  important  that  in  the  beginning  we  should  pro- 
ceed carefully  and  not  attempt  to  produce  immediate  effects  at  the 
expense  of  permanent  usefulness.  The  process  of  '  increasing 
knowledge'  is  an  extremely  slow  one,  and  the  value  of  the  results 
of  this  part  of  the  plan,  cannot  be  properly  realized  until  some 
years  have  elapsed."  f  In  his  fourth  report  he  recapitulates :  "  To 
carry  out  the  design  of  the  testator,  various  plans  were  proposed; 
but  most  of  these  were  founded  on  an  imperfect  apprehension  of 
the  terms  of  the  will.  The  great  majority  of  them  contemplated 
merely  the  'diffusion'  of  popular  information,  and  neglected  the 
first  and  the  most  prominent  requisition  of  the  bequest,  namely  the 
'  increase  of  knowledge.'  The  only  plan  in  strict  conformity  with 
the  terms  of  the  will,  and  which  especially  commended  itself  to  men 
of  science,  a  class  to  which  Smithson  himself  belonged,  was  that  of 
an  active  living  organization,  intended  principally  to  promote  the 
discovery  and  diffusion  of  new  truths.  -  -  -  It  was  with  the 
hope  of  being  able  to  assist  in  the  practical  development  of  this 
plan  that  I  was  induced  to  accept  the  appointment  of  principal 
executive  officer  of  the  Institution.  Many  unforeseen  obstacles 
however  presented  themselves  to  its  full  adoption ;  and  its  advocates 
soon  found  in  contending  with  opposing  views  and  adverse  interests,  a 
wide  difference  between  what  in  their  opinion  ought  to  be  done,  and 
what  they  could  actually  accomplish.  -  -  -  After  much  discussion 
it  was  finally  concluded  to  divide  the  income  (after  deducting  the 
general  expenses)  into  two  equal  parts,  and  to  devote  one  part  to  the 
active  operations  set  forth  in  the  plan  just  described,  and  the  other 
to  the  formation  of  a  library,  a  museum,  and  a  gallery  of  art.  It 
was  evident  however  that  the  small  income  of  the  original  bequest 
—  though  in  itself  sufficient  to  do  much  good  in  the  way  of  active 
operations,  was  inadequate  to  carry  out  this  more  extended  plan. 
-  -  -  Though  one-half  of  the  annual  interest  is  to  be  expended 
on  the  library  and  the  museum,  the  portion  of  the  income  which 
can  be  thus  devoted  to  the  former,  will  in  my  opinion  never  be 
sufficient  without  extraneous  aid  to  collect  and  support  a  miscella- 
neous library  of  the  first  class.  Indeed,  all  the  income  would 

*  Smithsonian  Report  for  1847,  p.  133  (Sen.  ed.)— p.  130  (H.  R.  ed.) 
t  Smithsonian  Report  for  1848,  p.  156  (Sen.  ed.)— p.  148  (H.  R.  ed.) 


DISCOURSE   OF    W.  B.  TAYLOR: — NOTES.  413 

scarcely  suffice  for  this  purpose."  *  In  his  fifth  annual  report  he 
maintains  that  "the  idea  ought  never  to  be  entertained  that  the 
portion  of  the  limited  income  of  the  Smithsonian  fund  which  can 
be  devoted  to  the  purchase  of  books,  will  ever  be  sufficient  to  meet 
the  wants  of  the  American  scholar."  f  In  his  sixth  annual  report, 
exhibiting  the  valuable  contributions  to  knowledge  which  the  Insti- 
tution had  already  effected  in  the  few  years  of  its  existence,  he 
remarks :  "  All  the  anticipations  indulged  with  regard  to  it  have 
been  fully  realized ;  and  after  an  experience  of  six  years,  there  can 
now  be  no  doubt  of  the  true  policy  of  the  Regents  in  regard  to  it. 
I  am  well  aware  however  that  the  idea  is  entertained  by  some  that 
the  system  of  active  operations  though  at  present  in  a  flourishing 
condition,  cannot  continue  to  be  the  prominent  object  of  attention; 
and  that  under  another  set  of  directors  other  counsels  will  prevail 
and  other  measures  be  adopted,  and  what  has  been  done  in  establish- 
ing this  system  will  ultimately  be  undone."  He  presents  however 
the  inspiriting  and  consoling  reflection :  "  But  if  notwithstanding 
all  this,  the  Institution  is  destined  to  a  change  of  policy,  what  has 
been  well  done  in  the  line  we  are  advocating,  can  never  be  undone. 
The  new  truths  developed  by  the  researches  originated  by  the  Insti- 
tution and  recorded  in  its  publications,  the  effect  of  its  exchanges 
with  foreign  countries,  and  the  results  of  its  cataloguing  system,  can 
never  be  obliterated :  they  will  endure  through  all  coming  time. 
Should  the  Government  of  the  United  States  be  dissolved,  and  the 
Smithsonian  fund  dissipated  to  the  winds, — the  '  Smithsonian  Con- 
tributions to  Knowledge'  will  still  be  found  in  the  principal  libraries 
of  the  world,  a  perpetual  monument  of  the  wisdom  and  liberality 
of  the  founder  of  the  Institution,  and  of  the  faithfulness  of  those 
who  first  directed  its  affairs.  Whatever  therefore  may  be  the  future 
condition  of  the  Institution,  the  true  policy  for  the  present,  is  to 
devote  its  energies  to  the  system  of  active  operations.  All  other 
objects  should  be  subordinate  to  this,  and  in  no  wise  be  suffered  to 
diminish  the  good  which  it  is  capable  of  producing.-  It  should  be 
prosecuted  with  discretion,  but  with  vigor:  the  results  will  be  its 
vindication."  |  In  his  next  annual  report  he  reiterates:  "A  mis- 
cellaneous and  general  library,  museum,  and  gallery  of  art,  (though 
important  in  themselves,)  have^from  the  first  been  considered  by 
those  who  have  critically  examined  the 'Will  of  Smithson,  to  be 
too  restricted  in  their  operations  and  too  local  in  their  influence,  to 
meet  the  comprehensive  intentions  of  the  testator;  and  the  hope 

*  Smithsonian  Report   for  1850,  pp.  186,  187,  and  205  (Sen.  ed.)— pp.  178,  179,  and 
197  (H.  B.  ed.) 

t  Smithsonian  Report  for  1851,  p.  224  (Sen.  ed.)— p.  216  (H.  R.  ed.) 

t  Smithsonian  Report  for  1852,  pp.233,  234  (Sen.  ed.)— pp.225,  226  (H.  R.  ed.) 


414  MEMORIAL   OF   JOSEPH    HENRY. 

has  been  cherished  that  other  means  may  ultimately  be  provided  for 
the  support  of  those  objects,  and  that  the  whole  income  of  the 
Smithsonian  fund  may  be  devoted  to  the  more  legitimate  objects  of 
the  noble  bequest. "  * 

At  a  meeting  of  the  Board  of  Regents  held  March  12,  1853, 
a  committee  of  seven  was  appointed  to  consider  and  report  upon 
"the  subject  of  the  distribution  of  the  income  of  the  Institution,  in 
the  manner  contemplated  by  the  original  plan  of  organization/7 
Hon.  R.  Choate,  a  member  of  this  committee,  being  unable  to  attend 
its  meetings,  (having  returned  to  Boston  at  the  end  of  his  Senatorial 
term  in  1846,)  Hon.  James  Meacham  (of  the  House  of  Representa- 
tives) was  appointed  to  take  his  place,  February  18,  1854.  At  a 
meeting  of  the  Regents  held  May  20, 1854,  Hon.  James  A.  Pearce, 
chairman  of  the  committee,  submitted  its  report,  presenting  a  very 
full  discussion  of  the  legal  questions — as  to  the  discretionary  power 
of  the  Regents,  and  the  true  policy  of  the  Institution.  On  the  first 
point,  after  showing  how  faithfully  the  specific  requirements  of  the 
organic  Act  had  been  executed,  the  committee  in  referring  to  the 
clause  that  the  annual  expenditure  for  the  library  should  not  exceed 
25,000  dollars  in  the  average,  maintained  that  "this  is  nothing  but 
a  limitation  upon  the  discretion  of  the  Regents,  and  can  by  no  rule 
of  construction  be  considered  as  intimating  the  desire  of  Congress 
that  such  sum  should  be  annually  appropriated.  The  limitation 
while  it  prevented  the  Regents  from  exceeding  that  sum,  left  them 
full  discretion  as  to  any  amount  within  that  limit."  On  the  second 
point,  the  committee  say:  "What  then  are  the  considerations  which 
should  govern  them  in  rejecting  the  plan  which  proposes  a  great 
library  as  the  best  and  chief — if  not  th,e  only  means  of  executing 
the  trust  created  by  the  Will  of  Smithson,  and  fulfilling  their  own 
duty  under  the  law?  The  ' increase  and  diffusion  of  knowledge 
among  men/  are  the  great  purposes  of  this  munificent  trust.  To 
increase  knowledge  implies  research,  or  new  and  active  investigation 
in  some  one  or  more  of  the  departments  of  learning.  To  diffuse 
knowledge  among  men,  implies  active  measures  for  its  distribution 
so  far  as  may  be,  among  mankind.  Neither  of  these  purposes  could 
]be  accomplished  or  materially  advanced  by  the  accumulation  of  a 
great  library  at  the  city  of  .Washington.  -  -  -  The  application 
of  25,000  dollars  annually ^ (five-sixths  of  the  whole  income  at  the 
date  of  the  Act)  to  the  purchase  of  books,  would  be  inconsistent 
with  and  subversive  of  the  whole  tenor  of  all  that  precedes  the  8th 
section.f  -  -  The  committee  need  not  repeat  in  detail  all  the 

*  Smithsonian  Report  for  1853,  pp.  10,  11  (Sen.  ed.) 

[fThe  residue  of  the  income  would  indeed  have  been  wholly  insufficient  even 
for  the  necessary  salaries  and  incidental  expenses  of  the  library  itself, —  to  say 
nothing  pf  the  other  interests  specifically  provided  for  by  the  5th  section  of  the  act.] 


DISCOURSE   OF   W.  B.  TAYLOK: — NOTES.  415 

parts  of  the  plan  of  organization,  but  may  mention  that  it  included 
the  exchange  of  the  published  transactions  of  the  Institution  with 
those  of  literary  and  scientific  societies  and  establishments,  and  pro- 
vided for  a  museum,  and  library,  to  consist  of  a  complete  collec- 
tion of  the  transactions  and  proceedings  of  all  the  learned  societies 
in  the  world,  of  the  more  important  current  periodical  publications 
and  other  works  necessary  to  scientific  investigations ;  thus  employ- 
ing the  instrumentalities  pointed  out  in  the  law,  as  means  of  in- 
creasing and  diffusing  knowledge,  entirely  consistent  with  and 
necessary  to  the  plan  of  research  and  publication.  This  plan  is  no 
longer  experimental ;  it  has  been  tested  by  experience ;  its  success  is 
acknowledged  by  all  who  are  capable  of  forming  a  correct  estimate 
of  its  results ;  and  the  Institution  has  every  encouragement  to  pur- 
sue steadily  its  system  of  stimulating,  assisting,  and  publishing 
research.  -  -  -  The  committee  submit  to  the  Board  the  follow- 
ing resolutions :  Resolved,  That  the  seventh  resolution  passed  by  the 
Board  of  Regents  on  the  26th  of  January,  1847,  requiring  an 
equal  division  of  the  income  between  the  active  operations,  and  the 
museum  and  library,  (when  the  buildings  are  completed,)  be  and  it 
is  hereby  repealed.  Resolved,  That  hereafter  the  annual  appropri- 
ations shall  be  apportioned  specifically  among  the  different  objects 
and  operations  of  the  Institution  in  such  manner  as  may  in  the 
judgment  of  the  Regents  be  necessary  and  proper  for  each,  accord- 
ing to  its  intrinsic  importance  and  a  compliance  in  good  faith  with 
the  law."  *  This  report  was  signed  by  six  of  the  committee :  Mr, 
Meacham  the  last  appointed  member  dissenting,  and  submitting  ai* 
elaborate  minority  report,  which  comprised  a  very  able  and  inge- 
nious argument  in  defence  of  the  library  plan,  f  The  resolutions 
offered  by  the  committee  were  adopted  by  the  Board  of  Regents 
January  15,  1855. 

As  six  of  the  fifteen  Regents  were  by  law  selected  from  senators 
and  representatives,  a  very  obvious  resort  for  a  member  dissatisfied 
with  the  action  of  a  majority,  was  a  motion  in  Congress  for  the 
familiar  "committee  of  inquiry."  Accordingly  Hon.  James  Mea- 
cham moved  in  the  House,  January  17, 1855,  that  a  select  commit- 
tee of  five  be  appointed,  "and  that  said  committee  be  directed  to 
inquire  and  report  to  the  House  whether  the  Smithsonian  Institu- 
tion has  been  managed,  and  its  funds  expended  in  accordance  with 
the  law  establishing  the  Institution;  and  whether  any  additional 
legislation  be  necessary  to  carry  out  the  designs  of  its  founders : 
and  that  said  committee  have  power  to  send  for  persons  and  papers." 
The  resolution  was  adopted  by  a  vote  of  93  to  91  <J 

*  Smithsonian  Report  for  1853,  pp.  81-97  (Sen.  ed.) 

f  Smithsonian  Report  for  1853,  (appendix  to  H.  R.  ed.)  pp.  247-296. 

J  The  Smithsonian  Institution,    By  W.  J.  Rhees,  pp.  569-572. 


416  MEMORIAL    OF   JOSEPH    HENRY. 

On  the  3d  of  March,  1855,  Hon.  Charles  W.  Upham,  chairman 
of  the  select  committee,  submitted  to  the  House  what  must  be 
regarded  as  a  minority  report;  declaring  "No  doubt  we  think 
can  be  entertained  that  the  framers  and  enactors  of  the  law  expected 
that  about  200,000  dollars  would  be  expended  'for  the  formation 
of  a  library  composed  of  valuable  works  pertaining  to  all  depart- 
ments of  knowledge/  in  eight  years."  After  criticising  the  system 
approved  by  the  Regents,  of  devoting  a  large  portion  of  the  Smith- 
sonian income  to  the  promotion  of  original  research,  the  report 
states :  "At  the  same  time  they  do  not  cast  blame  or  censure  of  any 
sort  upon  those  who  suggested  and  have  labored  to  carry  out  that 
system.  The  design  was  in  itself  commendable  and  elevated.  It 
has  unquestionably  been  pursued  with  zeal,  sincerity,  integrity,  and 
high  motives  and  aims :  but  it  is  we  think  necessarily  surrounded 
with  very  great  difficulties.  -  -  But  a  few  words  are  needed 

to  do  justice  to  the  value  of  a  great  universal  library  at  the  metrop- 
olis of  the  Union :"  &c.  -  -  -  The  report  concludes  with  the 
judgment  that  as  a  measure  of  mutual  concession,  "the  compromise 
adopted  at  an  early  day  by  the  Board  of  Regents,  ought  to  be 
restored,  and  that  all  desirable  ends  may  be  ultimately  secured  by 
dividing  the  income  equally  between  the  library  and  museum  on 
one  part,  and  the  active  operations  on  the  other."  This  report  was 
signed  by  the  chairman,  Mr.  Upham,  alone; — two  of  the  commit- 
tee (Messrs.  William  H.  Witte  and  Nathaniel  G.  Taylor)  presenting 
a  dissenting  report,  and  the  remaining  two  (Messrs.  Richard  C. 
Puryear  and  Daniel  Wells)  declining  to  sign  either.  The  report 
submitted  by  Mr.  Witte  (no  less  elaborate  than  that  by  the  chair- 
man) concluded :  "  They  believe  that  the  Regents  and  the  Secretary 
have  managed  the  aifairs  of  the  Institution  wisely,  faithfully,  and 
judiciously;  that  there  is  no  necessity  for  further  legislation  on  the 
subject;  and  that  if  the  Institution  be  allowed  to  continue  the  plan 
which  has  been  adopted  and  so  far  pursued  with  unquestionable 
success,  it  will  satisfy  all  the  requirements  of  the  law,  and  the  pur- 
poses of  Smithson's  Will,  by  ( increasing  and  diffusing  knowledge 
among  men/ "  *  Uppn  these  conflicting  and  balanced  reports  no 
action  was  taken  by  the  House. 

Simultaneously  in  the  Senate,  Hon.  John  M.  Clayton,  January 
17,  1855,  introduced  a  resolution  "that  the  Committee  on  the 
Judiciary  inquire  whether  any,  and  if  any — what  action  of  the 
Senate  is  necessary  and  proper  in  regard  to  the  Smithsonian  Insti- 
tution?" On  the  6th  of  February,  1855,  Hon.  Andrew  P.  Butler, 
chairman  of  the  Judiciary  Committee,  submitted  to  the  Senate  a 
report  completely  vindicating  the  course  pursued  by  the  Regents; 

*  The  Smithsonian  Institution.    By  W.  J.  Bhees,  pp.  589-628. 


DISCOURSE   OF    W.  B.  TAYLOR: — NOTES.  417 

in  which  it  is  maintained  that  "any  increase  of  knowledge  that 
might  be  acquired  was  not  to  be  locked  up  in  the  Institution  or  pre- 
served only  for  the  citizens  of  Washington  or  persons  who  might  visit 
the  Institution.  It  was  by  the  express  terms  of  the  trust,  (which 
the  United  States  was  pledged  to  execute,)  to  be  'diffused  among 
men.'  This  could  be  done  in  no  other  way  than  by  publications  at 
the  expense  of  the  Institution.  Nor  has  Congress  prescribed  the 
sums  which  shall  be  appropriated  to  these  different  objects.  It  is 
left  to  the  discretion  and  judgment  of  the  Regents.  -  -  -  These 
operations  appear  to  have  been  carried  out  by  the  Regents  under 
the  immediate  superintendence  of  Professor  Henry,  with  zeal, 
energy,  and  discretion,  and  with  the  strictest  regard  to  economy  in 
the  expenditure  of  the  funds.  Nor  does  there  seem  to  be  any  other 
mode  which  Congress  could  prescribe  or  the  Regents  adopt,  which 
w^ould  better  fulfill  the  high  trust  which  the  United  States  have 
undertaken  to  perform.  -  -  -  The  committee  see  nothing  there- 
fore in  their  conduct  which  calls  for  any  new  legislation,  or  any 
change  in  the  powers  now  exercised  by  the  Regents."  And  the 
report  concludes  in  "  the  language  of  the  resolution,  that  '  no  action 
of  the  Senate  is  necessary  and  proper  in  regard  to  the  Smithsonian 
Institution :'  and  this  is  the  unanimous  opinion  of  the  committee."  * 

And  thus  ended  an  earnest  struggle  of  many  years  between 
Science  and  Literature  for  the  possession  of  Smithson's  endowment : 
and  though  the  interest  in  the  controversy  has  long  since  passed 
away  in  the  permanent  establishment  of  Henry's  far-reaching 
policy,  its  history  is  suggestive  and  instructive.  No  better  conclud- 
ing summary  can  be  presented,  than  by  an  extract  from  a  quite  recent 
judicious  and  dispassionate  recapitulation  of  the  discussion  and  its 
results,  writte'n  for  The  International  Review,  by  Mr.  A.  R.  Spofford, 
the  scholarly  librarian  of  the  Government  Library  at  Washington : 

"The  net  result  of  the  protracted  controversy  was  to  leave  the 
Regents  to  put  their  own  interpretation  upon  the  law,  and  every 
step  since  taken  in  the  management  of  the  Smithsonian  bequest, 
has  been  in  the  direction  of  curtailing  every  expenditure  for  other 
objects  than  the  procuring,  publishing,  and  distributing  of  what 
were  deemed  valuable  original  contributions  to  human  knowledge. 
In  strict  accordance  with  this  theory,  the  library  gathered  by  the 
purchases  and  exchanges  of  twenty  years,  was  transferred  to  the 
Capitol  in -1866,  and  became  a  part  of  the  library  of  the,Govern- 
ment.  This  large  addition  formed  a  most  valuable  complement  to 
the  collection  already  gathered  at  the  Capitol.  It  embraced  the 
largest  assemblage  of  transactions  and  other  publications  of  learned 

*  Smitfisonian  Report  for  1855,  pp.  83-86—  Rhees'  Smithsonian  Institution,  pp.  562-567. 
27 


418  MEMORIAL    OF    JOSEPH    HENRY. 

societies  in  all  parts  of  the  globe  and  in  nearly  all  the  modern  lan- 
guages, which  is  to  be  found  in  the  country.  -  -  -  The  Smith- 
sonian deposit,  kept  up  as  it  is  from  year  to  year  by  additions  of 
new  contributions  in  every  department  of  scientific  literature,  sup- 
plies—  in  connection  with  the  extensive  Library  of  Congress,  a  larger 
collection  of  scientific  books  for  use  and  reference,  than  is  to  be 
found  in  any  one  body  elsewhere  in  the  United  States.  The  waste 
of  means  incident  to  the  duplication  of  two  extensive  libraries  at 
the  seat  of  Government  is  thus  obviated,  while  the  convenience  and 
interests  of  scholars  pursuing  their  researches,  are  in  the  highest 
degree  promoted  by  the  consolidation."  * 


Note  L.     (From  p.  285.} 

DISTRIBUTION   OF    SMITHSONIAN    MATERIAL. 

For  the  great  organic  purpose  of  furthering  scientific  research, 
not  only  have  vast  numbers  of  duplicate  specimens  been  liberally 
distributed,  but  even  reserved  specimens  of  special  interest  or  rarity 
have  been  loaned  under  proper  conditions  to  original  workers. 
Perhaps  the  review  of  a  single  year's  application  of  such  material, 
will  best  convey  an  idea  of  its  general  character : 

"  It  has  always  been  the  policy  of  the  Institution  to  furnish  speci- 
mens for  special  study  and  investigation  to  naturalists  of  established 
reputation,  either  in  this  country  or  abroad.  The  use  of  these 
specimens  is  granted  under  the  express  condition  that  they  are  to 
form  the  subject  of  investigation,  the  results  of  which  are  to  be 
published  by  the  Institution  or  some  other  establishment,  and  that 
in  all  cases  full  credit  is  to  be  given  to  the  Institution  for  the  assist- 
ance it  has  rendered.  'Furthermore,  in  the  case  of  the  preparation 
of  a  monograph,  a  full  set  of  the  type  specimens  correctly  labeled 
is  to  be  put  aside  for  the  National  Museum,  and  the  remainder  of 
the  specimens  made  up  into  sets  for  distribution.  The  following 
list  presents  the  more  important  cases  of  the  loan  or  assignment  of 
materials  during  the  past  year.  Some  of  the  specimens  have  already 
been  returned,  while  the  remainder  are  still  in  the  hands  of  the 
parties  to  whom  they  were  intrusted : 

"  Crania  of  the  recent  and  fossil  bison,  musk-ox,  &c.  to  Professor 
L.  Agassiz,  of  Cambridge,  Mass :  —  land  shells  of  Central  and  South 
America  to  Thomas  Bland,  of  New  York :  —  land  and  fresh- water 
shells  of  North  America  to  W.  G.  Binney,  Burlington,  N.  J. — nests 
and  eggs  of  North  American  birds  to  Dr.  T.  M.  Brewer,  Boston :  — 

*  The  International  Review  for  November,  1878,  vol.  v.  pp.  762-764. 


DISCOURSE   OF   W.  B.  TAYLOR: NOTES.  419 

birds  of  South  America  and  Alaska  to  John  Cassin,  Philadelphia:  — 
Alcadse  of  North  America  to  Dr.  Elliott  Coues,  U.  S.  Army: — col- 
lections of  American  and  foreign  reptiles  to  Professor  E.  D.  Cope, 
Philadelphia:  —  fungi  from  the  Indian  Territory  to  the  Rev.  M.  A. 
Curtis,  Hillsborough,  N.  C.  —  unfigured  species  of  North  American 
birds  to  D.  G.  Elliott,  New  York: — diatomaceous  earths  and  deep- 
sea  soundings  to  Arthur  M.  Edwards,  New  York:  —  Lepidoptera 
from  various  North  American  localities  to  W.  H.  Edwards,  Coalburg, 
Va. — seeds  of  Boehmeria  received  from  the  Department  of  Agricul- 
ture, to  Dr.  Earl  Flint,  Nicaragua: — plants  collected  in  Ecuador  by 
the  expedition  under  Professor  Orton,  to  Dr.  Asa  Gray,  Cambridge, 
Mass.  —  miscellaneous  specimens  of  North  American  insects  to  Pro- 
fessor T.  Glover,  Department t)f  Agriculture,  Washington:  —  gen- 
eral collection  of  birds  of  Costa  Rica  and  Yucatan  to  George  N. 
Lawrence,  New  York :  — American  Unionidse  to  Isaac  Lea,  Phila- 
delphia:— series  of  North  American  salamanders  to  St.  George 
Mivart,  London: — American  Diptera  to  Baron  R.  Osten-Sacken, 
New  York: — Lepidoptera  of  Ecuador  and  Yucatan  to  Tryon  Rea- 
kirt,  Philadelphia:  —  plants  collected  in  Alaska  by  various  expe- 
ditions to  Dr.  J.  T.  Rothrock,  McVeytown,  Pa. — birds  of  Buenos 
Ayres  received  from  W.  H.  Hudson,  and  a  series  of  small  Ameri- 
can owls,  to  Dr.  P.  L.  Sclater  and  Osbert  Salvin,  London: — mis- 
cellaneous collections  of  American  Orthoptera  to  S.  H.  Scudder, 
Boston :  — collections  of  American  Hemiptera  to  P.  R.  Uhler,  Bal- 
timore:—  American  myriapods  and  spiders  to  Dr.  H.  C.  Wood, 
Philadelphia: — human  crania  from  northwestern  America  and  the 
ancient  mounds  of  Kentucky,  also  collections  from  the  ancient  shell- 
heaps  of  Massachusetts  and  New  Brunswick,  to  Dr.  Jeffreys  Wyman, 
Cambridge,  Mass. 

"  Eew  persons  are  aware  of  the  great  extent  to  which  this  Smith- 
sonian material  has  been  used  by  American  and  foreign  naturalists, 
or  the  number  of  new  facts  and  new  species  which  have  been  con- 
tributed to  natural  history  through  its  means."  * 


Note  M.     (From  p. 

OVERFLOWING   CONDITION   OF   THE   MUSEUM. 

"It  is  a  question  whether  any  museum  in  the  world  is  in  receipt 
of  so  great  an  amount  of  material  as  the  National  Museum  at 
Washington ;  and  were  the  rule  of  the  British  Museum  to  prevail, 
it  would  be  crushed  by  the  weight  of  its  own  riches.  The  constant 

*  Smithsonian  Report  for  1868,  pp.  36,  37. 


420  MEMORIAL    OF   JOSEPH    HENRY. 

effort  however  on  the  part  of  the  Smithsonian  Institution  to  utilize 
this  material  in  the  interest  of  science  and  education,  tends  to  keep 
down  the  mass,  though  it  is  only  at  the  expense  of  the  incessant 
activity  and  constant  labor  of  the  Museum  force  that  this  object  is 
in  any  measure  accomplished.  -  -  -  It  may  be  proper  to  state 
that  for  the  exhibition  of  the  full  series  of  objects  now  in  possession 
of  the  Institution,  and  not  including  any  unnecessary  duplicates, 
much  ampler  accommodations  will  be  needed  than  can  be  had  in 
the  building ;  and  if  these  are  to  be  displayed  as  they  should  be,  it 
will  be  necessary  at  no  distant  day  to  provide  means  for  extending 
the  space,  either  by  a  transfer  of  the  entire  collection  to  new  build- 
ings, or  by  making  additions  to  that  of  the  Smithsonian  Institution. 
In  illustration  of  this  statement  it  may  be  remarked  that  of  sixty- 
seven  thousand  specimens  of  birds  entered  in  the  catalogues  of  the 
museum,  and  of  which  more  than  forty  thousand  are  on  hand, — 
(the  remainder  having  been  distributed,)  less  than  five  thousand  are 
mounted  and  on  exhibition,  these  occupying  fully  two-fifths  of  the 
present  hall :  the  rest  are  preserved  as  skins,  in  chests,  drawers,  and 
boxes,  and  of  them  fifteen  thousand  —  or  three  times  the  number  at 
present  on  exhibition,  require  to  be  displayed  for  the  proper  illus- 
tration of  even  American  ornithology.  The  urgency  for  additional 
room  is  still  greater  for  the  mammals.  Here,  out  of  some  five  or 
six  thousand  specimens,  less  than  so  many  hundred  are  exhibited, 
the  remainder  alone  being  almost  sufficient  to  occupy  half  of  the 
hall.  Of  many  thousands  of  skeletons  of  mammals,  birds,  reptiles, 
and  fishes,  a  very  small  percentage  is  shown  to  the  public,  while 
exhibition-room  to  the  amount  of  thousands  of  square  feet  is 
required  for  specimens  that  now  occupy  drawers  in  side  apartments. 
Of  the  very  large  collection  of  alcoholic  specimens  which  constitute 
the  most  important  material  in  every  public  museum,  scarcely  any- 
thing is  on  exhibition,  although  the  selection  of  a  single  series  for 
this  purpose  is  very  desirable."  * 

"  The  Museum  portion  of  the  Smithsonian  edifice  consists  of  two 
rooms  of  about  10,000  square  feet  area  each,  with  a  connecting 
range  and  gallery  of  about  5,000  square  feet.  The  specimens  in 
cases  are  at  present  very  much  crowded,  while  very  many  others  are 
in  boxes  occupying  the  passages  and  intermediate  spaces.  The 
basement  of  the  Institutioxi,  nearly  400  feet  long,  is  a  series  of 
store-rooms  for  the  reception  of  portions  of  the  collection  not  yet 
exhibited  in  the  upper  halls,  and  thus  without  benefit  to  the  gen- 
eral public.  -  -  -  An  estimate  of  25,000  square  feet,  or  a  space 
equal  to  that  of  the  upper  halls,  is  by  no  means  extravagant  for  the 
proper  display  of  the  specimens  thus  excluded. 

*  Smithsonian  Report  for  1873,  pp.  49,  50. 


DISCOURSE   OF   W.  B.  TAYLOR:  —  NOTES.  421 

"Anticipating  the  necessity  of  increased  accommodations  for  the 
Centennial  collections  and  accessions,  the  Smithsonian  Institution 
in  1875  made  application  to  Congress  for  the  use  of  the  Armory 
building  in  the  square  between  Sixth  and  Seventh  streets, — an 
edifice  100  feet  by  50,  having  four  floors.  This  it  was  supposed 
would  be  adequate  at  the  close  of  the  Centennial,  for  the  reception 
and  exhibition  of  at  least  the  fishery  exhibit  and  that  of  economical 
mineralogy.  So  great  however  was  the  surplus  of  Centennial 
material  to  be  provided  for,  that  the  building  is  now  filled  with 
boxed  specimens,  occupying  for  the  most  part  the  entire  space  from 
floor  to  ceiling  of  each  room.  The  building  is  not  fire-proof,  and 
although  the  specimens  in  it  represent  some  of  the  most  valuable 
and  important  of  the  series,  there  is  nothing  to  prevent  their  destruc- 
tion by  fire,  or  their  injury  from  damp,  vermin,  or  other  causes;  — 
a  result  which  would  constitute  an  irreparable  loss.  As  the  four 
floors  of  the  Armory  referred  to,  present  20,000  feet  of  area,  an 
estimate  of  50,000  feet  for  the  proper  display  of  the  specimens  now 
stored  in  them  cannot  be  considered  extravagant;  thus  making  the 
entire  additional  space  required, —  75,000  square  feet.  Only  one- 
fourth  of  the  specimens  in  charge  of  the  Institution  are  at  present 
on  exhibition,  the  remainder  being  entirely  withdrawn  from  public 
inspection;  so  that  the  necessity  for  prompt  effort  to  secure  the 
proper  accommodations  will  be  readily  understood.  -  -  -  In 
view  of  the  fact  that  the  collections  for  which  provision  is  needed 
represent  a  bulk  of  at  least  three  times  the  present  capacity  of  the 
Smithsonian  building,  it  is  evident  that  to  accommodate  these,  and 
to  make  reasonable  provision  for  probable  increase  in  the  future,  a 
building  of  great  magnitude  will  be  required."  * 


Note  N.     (From  p.  309.} 

INVESTIGATION   OF   ILLTJMINANTS. 

"At  the  commencement  of  the  operations  of  the  Light-House 
Board  in  1852,  sperm  oil  was  generally  employed  for  the  purpose 
of  illumination.  This  was  an  excellent  illuminant;  but  as  its  price 
continued  to  advance  from  year  to  year,  it  was  thought  proper  to 
attempt  the  introduction  of  some  other  material.  The  first  attempt 
of  this  kind  was  that  of  the  introduction  of  colza  oil,  which  was 
generally  used  in  the  light-houses  of  Europe,  and  is  extracted  from 
the  seed  of  a  species  of  wild  cabbage  —  known  in  this  country  as 
rape,  and  in  France  as  colza.  For  this  purpose  a  quantity  of  rape- 

*  Smithsonian  Report  for  1876,  pp.  45,  50. 


422  MEMORIAL    OF    JOSEPH    HENRY. 

seed  was  imported  from  France  and  distributed  through  the  agri- 
cultural department  of  the  Patent  Office  to  different  parts  of  the 
country,  with  the  hope  that  our  farmers  would  be  induced  to  attempt 
its  cultivation.  Although  the  climate  of  the  country  appeared 
favorable  to  its  growth,  and  special  instructions  were  prepared  and 
distributed  by  the  Light-House  Board  for  its  culture  and  the  means 
of  producing  oil  from  it,  yet  the  enterprise  was  not  undertaken  with 
any  approximation  to  success,  except  in  Wisconsin,  where  a  manu- 
factory of  rape-seed  oil  was  established  by  Colonel  C.  S.  Hamilton, 
formerly  of  the  United  States  Army.  To  this  manufactory  the 
Light-House  Board  gave  special  encouragement  and  purchased  at 
a  liberal  price  all  the  oil  that  could  be  supplied.  The  quantity 
however  which  could  be  procured  was  but  a  small  part  of  the  illumi- 
nating material  required  for  the  annual  consumption  of  the  Light- 
House  Establishment." 

After  referring  to  some  investigations  made  for  the  Board  by 
Professor  J.  H.  Alexander,  of  Baltimore,  the  Report  quoted  pro- 
ceeds :  "  The  chairman  of  the  committee  on  experiments  commenced 
himself  to  investigate  the  qualities  of  different  kinds  of  oil,  and 
was  soon  led  to  direct  his  attention  to  the  comparative  value  of 
sperm  and  lard  oils.  The  experiments  made  by  Mr.  Alexander 
were  with  small  lamps,  and  the  comparison  in  this  case  (as  will  be 
shown)  was  much  against  the  lard  oil.  The  first  experiment  of  the 
new  series,  consisted  in  charging  two  small  conical  lamps  of  the 
capacity  of  about  a  half  pint,  one  with  pure  sperm  oil  and  the  other 
with  lard  oil.  These  lamps  were  of  single-rope  wicks  each  contain- 
ing the  same  number  of  strands :  they  were  lighted  at  the  same 
time,  and  the  photometrical  power  ascertained  by  the  method  of 
shadows.  At  first  the  two  were  nearly  equal  in  brilliancy,  but  after 
burning  about  three  hours,  the  flame  of  the  lard  had  declined  in 
photometric  power  to  about  one-fifth  of  that  of  the  flame  of  the 
sperm.  The  question  then  occurred  as  to  the  cause  of  this  decline, 
and  it  was  suggested  that  it  might  be  due —  first,  to  a  greater  specific 
gravity  in  the  lard  oil,  which  would  retard  the  ascent  of  it  in  the 
wick  after  the  level  of  the  oil  had  been  reduced  by  burning  in  the 
lamp ;  or  second,  to  a  want  of  a  sufficient  attraction  between  the 
oil  and  the  wick  to  furnish  the  requisite  supply  as  the  oil  descended 
in  the  lamp ;  or  third,  it  might  be  due  in  part  to  the  imperfect 
liquidity  of  the  oil,  which  would  also  militate  against  its  use  in 
mechanical  lamps. 

"The  lard  oil  was  subjected  to  experiments  in  regard  to  each  of 
these  points.  It  was  found  by  the  usual  method  of  weighing  equal 
quantities  of  the  two  fluids,  that  the  specific  gravity  of  the  lard  was 
greater  than  that  of  the  sperm;  and  also  by  dipping  two  portions 


DISCOURSE   OF   W.  B.  TAYLOR:  —  NOTES.  423 

of  the  same  wick  into  the  two  liquids  and  noting  the  height  to 
which  each  ascended  in  a  given  time,  that  the  surface  attraction  of 
the  sperm  was  greater  than  that  of  the  lard,  or  in  other  words  that 
the  ascensional  power  of  sperm  was  much  greater  than  that  of  lard  at 
ordinary  temperatures.  This  method  was  also  employed  in  obtain- 
ing the  relative  surface  attraction  of  various  other  liquids;  we  say 
surface  attraction  instead  of  capillarity,  because  it  was  found  in  the 
course  of  these  investigations  that  substances  which  had  less  capil- 
larity (that  is  less  elevating  power  in  a  fine  tube)  had  greater  power 
in  ascending  in  the  meshes  of  a  wick.  The  relative  fluidity  of  the 
different  oils  was  obtained  by  filling  in  succession  a  pear-shaped 
vessel  with  a  narrow  neck,  of  about  the  capacity  of  a  pint,  having 
a  hole  in  the  lowest  part  of  the  bottom,  of  about  a  tenth  of  an  inch 
in  diameter.  Such  a  vessel  filled  with  any  number  of  perfect 
liquids,  would  be  emptied  in  the  same  time — whatever  their  specific 
gravity.  As  at  any  given  horizon,  inertia  is  directly  proportional 
to  gravity,  the  heavier  the  liquid  the  greater  would  be  'the  power 
required  to  move  it;  but  the  motive  power  would  be  in  proportion 
to  the  pressure,  or  in  other  words  to  the  weight,  and  therefore  all 
perfect  liquids  should  issue  from  the  same  orifice  with  the  same 
velocity.  To  test  this  proposition,  eight  fluid  ounces  of  clean  mer- 
cury and  then  the  same  bulk  of  distilled  water,  were  allowed  to  run 
out  of  the  vessel  above  mentioned :  the  time  observed  was  the  same 
within  the  nearest  second.  It  was  found  in  repeating  this  experi- 
ment with  sperm  and  lard  oils  that  the  rapidity  of  the  flow  of  the 
former  exceeded  considerably  that  of  the  latter ;  the  ratio  of  time 
being  100  to  167. 

"The  results  thus  far  in  these  investigations  were  apparently 
against  the  use  of  lard  oil :  it  was  observed  however  that  in  the 
experiments  on  the  flow  of  the  two  oils,  a  variation  in  the  time 
occurred,  which  could  only  be  attributed  to  a  variation  in  the  tem- 
perature at  which  the  experiments  were  made.  In  relation  to  this 
point,  the  effect  of  an  increase  of  the  temperature  above  that  of  the 
atmosphere,  on  the  flowing  of  the  two  oils  was  observed.  By  this 
means  the  important  fact  was  elicited  that  as  the  temperature  was 
increased,  the  liquidity  of  the  lard  increased  in  a  more  rapid  degree 
than  that  of  the  sperm,  and  that  at  the  temperature  of  about  250°  F. 
the  liquidity  of  the  former  exceeded  that  of  the  latter.  A  similar 
series  of  experiments  wa$  made  in  regard  to  the  rapidity  of  ascent 
of  the  oil  in  the  wick,  and  with  a  similar  result.  At  about  the 
temperature  of  that  before  mentioned,  the  ascensional  power  of  the 
lard  was  greater  than  that  of  the  sperm.  These  results  were  recog- 
nized as  having  an  important  bearing  on  the  question  of  the  appli- 
cation of  lard  oil  as  a  light-house  illuminant.  It  only  required  to 


424  MEMORIAL   OF   JOSEPH    HENRY. 

be  burned  at  a  high  temperature  ;  and  as  this  could  be  readily 
obtained  in  the  case  of  larger  lamps,  there  appeared  to  be  no 
difficulty  in  its  application. 

"  The  previous  trials  had  been  with  small  lamps  with  single  solid 
wicks  instead  of  the  Fresnel  lamp  with  hollow  burners.  After 
these  preliminary  experiments,  two  light-houses  of  the  first  order, 
at  Cape  Ann,  Massachusetts,  separated  by  a  distance  of  only  900 
feet,  were  selected  as  affording  excellent  facilities  for  trying  in 
actual  burning,  the  correctness  of  the  conclusions  which  had  pre- 
viously been  arrived  at.  One  of  these  light-houses  was  supplied 
with  sperm  and  the  other  with  lard  oil,  each  lamp  being  so  trimmed 
as  to  exhibit  its  greatest  capacity.  It  was  found  by  photometrical 
trial  that  the  lamp  supplied  with  lard,  exceeded  in  intensity  of 
light  that  of  the  one  furnished  with  sperm.  The  experiment  was 
continued  for  several  months,  and  the  relative  volume  of  the  two 
materials  carefully  observed.  The  quantity  of  sperm  burned  dur-' 
ing  the  continuance  of  the  experiment,  was  to  that  of  the  lard,  as 
100  is  to  104."  * 

This  remarkable  success  in  elevating  the  disparaged  lard  oil  to 
the  highest  rank  as  an  illuminant,  was  of  course  very  damaging  to 
the  new  manufacture  of  colza  oil  ;  and  no  more  characteristic  tribute 
to  the  energetic  skill  of  Henry  could  be  offered,  than  that  contained 
in  the  following  frank  and  manly  letter  by  Colonel  C.  S.  Hamilton, 
the  manufacturer,  (who  by  special  invitation  had  been  present  at 
several  competitive  photometric  trials,)  addressed  to  the  Naval  Sec- 
retary of  the  Light-House  Board,  Commodore  Andrew  A.  Harwood  : 


DU  LAC,  Wis.  May  16,  1868. 

"  DEAR  COMMODORE  :  I  must  confess  my  great  disappointment  at 
the  result  of  the  experiments  at  Staten  Island.  It  is  however  not 
really  so  much  the  failure  of  rape-seed  oil,  as  the  undeniable  excel- 
lence of  lard  oil  as  a  burner.  I  am  satisfied  now  that  for  self-heat- 
ing lamps  there  is  no  oil  that  will  bear  comparison  with  lard,  but  I 
am  equally  satisfied  that  no  colza  oil  will  yield  a  better  result  than 
ours,  under  exactly  the  same  tests.  We  have  but  one  more  experi- 
ment to  make  with  colza  ;  it  is  its  extraction  by  chemical  displace- 
ment. If  this  fails  we  shall  abandon  the  whole  business. 

"If  all  things  are  put  together,  I  think  the  following  statement 
will  be  allowed,  to  wit  :  Our  colza  oil  of  this  year  is  equal  to  any 
foreign  colza.  It  is  better  than  any  we  have  heretofore  made.  It 
is  better  than  sperm,  or  any  other  burner,  excepting  only  lard  oil. 
Our  failure  then  is  owing  to  the  superior  excellence  of  lard  oil, 
which  under  the  persistent  investigation  of  the  Board,  has  been 

*  Report  of  the  Light-House  Board  for  1875,  pp.  86-88. 


DISCOURSE   OF   W.  B.  TAYLOR: — NOTES.  425 

shown  to  be  the  best  and  cheapest  safe  illuminator  available.  The 
Board  are  entitled  to  great  credit  in  producing  this  result.  It  will 
be  remembered  that  but  a  few  years  since,  lard  oil  was  pronounced 
unsuitable  for  light-house  purposes;  but  the  perseverance  of  the 
Board  has  brought  out  the  fact  that  it  is  much  the  best  and  cheapest 
oil,  and  that  the  expenses  of  lighting  the  coast  and  harbors  have 
been  thereby  greatly  reduced.  Surely  the  country  at  large  should 
acknowledge  this,  and  give  due  credit  to  the  Board.  We  have 
endeavored  to  do  with  colza  what  the  Board  have  effected  with  lard 
oil,  and  we  have  been  unsuccessful  both  for  ourselves  and  the  light- 
house interest.  -  -  - 

"  We  are  grateful  to  each  member  of  the  Board  for  the  interest 
they  have  always  shown  in  our  undertaking,  and  for  their  uniform 
kindness  and  courtesy.  Accept,  my  dear  Commodore,  for  yourself 
and  your  associates  in  the  Board,  my  warmest  thanks  for  your  many 
kind  expressions  of  interest,  and  believe  me 

1  ,  "Truly  and  gratefully,  yours, 

"C.  S.  HAMILTON." 


L< 


i-t  A  R 


OBITUAET    MEMOIE* 


BY 


PROF.  JOSEPH  LOVERING, 

VICE-PRESIDENT   OF   THE    AMERICAN  ACADEMY   OF   ARTS  AND   SCIENCES. 


JOSEPH  HENRY,  who  was  united  with  this  Academy  as  an 
Associate  Fellow  on  May  26,  1840,  was  born  in  Albany,  N.  Y.  on 
December  17,  1799,  and  died  in  Washington,  D.  C.  on  May  13, 
1878,  in  the  plenitude  of  his  years,  his  labors,  and  his  honors. 
The  child  is  always  father  to  the  man:  but  there  was  nothing  in 
the  childhood  or  youth  of  Henry  to  proclaim  the  advent  of  one 
whose  life  would  be  a  blessing  to  mankind,  and  whose  death  would 
be  felt  as  a  nation's  loss.  Descended  from  Scotch  ancestors,  who 
had  recently  immigrated  to  this  country,  and  losing  his  father  at  an 
early  age,  he  passed  a  large  part  of  his  youth  under  the  care  of  his 
maternal  grandmother,  at  Galway,  in  Saratoga  County.  Here  he 
attended  the  district  school  until  he  was  ten  years  old.  Then  he 
was  taken  into  a  store,  where  he  was  treated  kindly  and  allowed  to 
be  present  at  the  afternoon  session  of  the  school.  Obtaining  access 
to  the  village  library,  at  first  by  accident,  afterwards  by  stealth,  and 
finally  by  permission,  he  revelled  .in  an  ideal  world  of  fiction,  and 
perhaps  cultivated,  unconsciously,  that  faculty  of  imagination  which 
served  him  as  the  interpreter  of  Nature. 

At  the  age  of  about  fifteen  Henry  returned  to  Albany  and  entered 
a  watchmaker's  shop  as  an  apprentice.  Whatever  knowledge  of 
mechanism  and  delicacy  of  touch  were  thus  acquired  were  not 
thrown  away  upon  one  destined  to  plan  and  handle  the  nice  appli- 
ances of  physical  research.  And  yet  his  heart  was  not  in  the  new 
occupation.  The  stage,  before  the  scenes  and  behind  the  scenes ; 
private  theatricals;  a  club  of  amateurs  of  which  he  was  president, 

[*  Report  of  the  Council  of  the  Am.  Academy  of  Arts  and  Sciences,  May  27, 1879.] 

(427) 


428  MEMORIAL  OF   JOSEPH    HENRY. 

and  for  which  he  wrote  and  acted  tragedy  and  comedy, — absorbed 
his  time  and  thoughts.  All  who  have  seen  and  admired  the  refined, 
intellectual  face,  and  the  erect,  dignified  form  of  the  ripe  philoso- 
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  reverently  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  man  himself." 

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.  LOYERING.  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  Ampere.  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 
applause;  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  last-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  extra-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  electricity  in  general,  by  means  of 
tandem-kites  and  lightning-rods. 

Nobili  and  Melloni  had  widened  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  galvanometer.  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,  at 
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. 

More  than  fifty  years  ago,  a  little  book  was  published  under  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  total  loss  of  eyesight:  finding  by  the  way  a 
beautiful  experimental  illustration  of  the  cosmogony  of  La  Place, 
and  building  architectural  forms  out  of  liquid  films  as  if  they  had 
the  cohesion  of  marble. 

When,  at  the  close  of  1846,  Professor  Henry  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,  his  discoveries  will 
not  be  counted,  but  weighed. 

On  the  other  hand,  no  friend  of  science  can  contemplate  with 
complacency  the  possible  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  truth  or  the  discovery  of  new  truth;  a  national 
library,  a  national  university,  or  a  national  museum, — each  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  took  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. 

Experience  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   Oi?   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  have  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  public  spirit.  The  hard-workers  must  also  do  all 
the  extra  work.  Professor  Henry  was  no  exception  to  this  rule. 
To  the  day  of  his  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  Acadeiny  of  Sciences  in  I860,  succeeded 
Dr.  Bache  as  President  in  1868,  and  died  in  office. 

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,  is  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 


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.  But  a  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   PEOF.  J.  LOVERING.  439 

physical  research  are  numerous  and  delicate ;  but  useless  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  January  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 
spontaneous  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? 


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  honored  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  reswm£  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. 


THE  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 
HENRY'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 
x)f  mind,  and  seemed  to  live  in  the  ideal  world  of  the  fairies. 

*This  uncertainty  appears  to  have  resulted  frpm  the  difficulty  of  deciphering  the 
faded  record  of  date  in  the  old  family  Bible. 


ADDRESS   OF   PROF.  S.  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  direction. 
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  Mecanique  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  experiment^.  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  1 831,  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/7  while  when  several  larger 
wires  are  used  the  battery  must  consist  of  a  single  pair.  A  great 


ADDRESS   OF   PROF.  S.  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 
to  a  useful  purpose. 

In  1830,  at  the  request  of  Professor  Ren  wick,  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.  S.  NEWCOMB. 

to  the  east.     The  conclusions  of  these  experiments  are  now 
familiar  to  need  discussion.     We  can  only  regret  that  the  American    *  1 
physicist  did  not  immediately  publish  his  first  experiments.  >l, 

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.^  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 
direction  indicated  in  the  title. 

Among  the  least  known  works  of  Professor  Henry  during  this 
period  are  his  researches  upon  solar  radiation  and  the  heat  of  the 

*  American  Journal  of  Science,  Series  I,  Volume  xxn,  1832,  page  408. 

t  Transactions  of  the  American  Philosophical  Society,  Volume  vi,  page  308. 


448  MEMORIAL   OF   JOSEPH    HENRY. 

solar  spots.  In  connection  with  his  relative,  Professor  Alexander, 
he  may  be  said  to  have  commenced  a  branch  of  modern  solar 
physics  which  has  since  grown  to  large  proportions,  by  comparing 
the  temperature  of  the  solar  spots  with  that  of  other  parts  of  the 
photosphere.  The  first  experiments  were  made  on  January  4, 
1845.  A  very  large  spot  was  then  visible  upon  the  sun,  the  image 
of  which  was  formed  by  a  four-inch  telescope  upon  a  screen  in  a 
dark  room.  A  thermopile  was  placed  in  such  a  position  that  the 
image  of  the  spot  and  of  the  neighboring  parts  of  the  solar  disk 
could  be  thrown  upon  it  in  quick  succession.  The  result  of  obser- 
vations extending  through  several  days  was  that  decidedly  less  heat 
was  received  from  the  spot  than  from  the  brilliant  part  of  the 
photosphere.  It  is  believed  that  it  was  these  experiments  which 
started  Secchi  on  the  brilliant  investigations  in  solar  physics  which 
he  carried  on  in  subsequent  years. 

Among  Professor  Henry's  latest  electrical  researches  was  his 
analysis  of  the  dynamic  phenomena  of  the  Leyden  jar.  The  one 
of  his  discoveries  which  he  most  often  referred  to  in  later  years 
was  that  the  discharge  of  a  Leyden  jar  did  not  consist  of  a  single 
restoration  of  the  equilibrium,  but  of  a  rapid  succession  of  libra- 
tions  back  and  forth,  gradually  diminishing  to  zero.  This  was 
proved  by  passing  the  discharge  through  a  coil  of  wire  containing 
needles  of  different  degrees  of  magnetic  force.  After  the  discharge 
these  needles  were  found  to  be  magnetized  in  different  directions, 
according  to  their  size  and  hardness. 

In  one  of  his  numerous  communications  presented  to  the  Philo- 
sophical Society  he  appears  as  one  of  the  inventors  of  the  electro- 
chronograph.  On  May  30,  1843,  he  presented  and  read  a  com- 
munication on  a  new  method  of  determining  the  velocity  of 
projectiles.  It  was  in  its  essential  parts  identical  with  that  now 
generally  adopted.  It  consisted,  he  says,  in  applying  the  instan- 
taneous 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  on  the  path  of  the  projectile.  For  this 
purpose  the  observer  is  provided  with  a  revolving  cylinder,  moved 
by  clock-work  at  the  rate  of  at  least  ten  turns  in  a  second,  and  of 
which  the  convex  surface  is  divided  into  a  hundred  equal  parts, 


ADDRESS   OF    PBOF.  S.  NEWCOMB.  449 

each  part  therefore  indicating  in  the  revolution  the  thousandth  part 
of  a  second.  Close  to  the  surface  of  this  cylinder,  which  revolves 
horizontally,  are  placed  two  galvanometers,  one  at  each  extremity 
of  a  diameter ;  the  needles  of  these  being  furnished  at  one  end  with 
a  pen  for  making  a  dot  with  printer's  ink  on  the  revolving  surface. 
In  the  appendix  to  the  paper  he  proposes  to  dispense  with  the  gal- 
vanometer and  produce  the  marks  by  direct  electrical  action,  as  is 
now  done  in  the  usual  astronomical  chronograph. 

While  at  Princeton  a  number  of  researches  on  other  branches  of 
experimental  physics  were  published.  It  is  not  however  necessary 
to  describe  them  at  length,  because  they  are  most  exhaustively  dis- 
cussed in  the  memoir  of  Mr.  Taylor  before  referred  to.  Whether 
they  pertain  to  the  most  familiar  phenomena  of  everyday  life  or 
the  most  complex  combinations  in  the  laboratory,  they  are  all 
marked  by  the  qualities  of  the  author's  mind, — acuteness  in  cross- 
examining  nature,  a  clear  appreciation  of  the  logic  of  science,  and 
an  enthusiasm  for  truth  irrespective  of  its  utilitarian  results. 
Reserving  for  the  future  some  general  remarks  on  the  scope  of 
Professor  Henry's  scientific  work,  the  qualities  which  it  displays, 
and  its  relation  to  the  progress  of  our  country,  we  may  pass  at  once 
to  his  connection  with  the  Smithsonian  Institution. 

The  origin  of  the  Smithsonian  Institution  is  so  remarkable  and 
many  features  of  its  early  history  so  instructive  that  it  must  long 
continue  to  be  a  theme  of  interest  to  the  historian  of  our  intellectual 
development.  The  writer  may  therefore  be  excused  for  touching 
upon  a  threadbare  subject  by  repeating  the  story  of  the  origin  and 
early  difficulties  of  this  establishment.  He  does  so  the  more  will- 
ingly because  he  believes  some  features  connected  with  it  have  not 
been  fully  brought  out.  9 

James  Smithson,  a  private  English  gentleman  of  fortune  and 
scientific  tastes,  a  chemist  of  sufficient  note  to  be  elected  a  Fellow 
of  the  Royal  Society,  led  a  comparatively  retired  life,  and  died, 
unmarried,  in  1829.  He  does  not  seem  to  have  left  any  near 
relatives  except  a  nephew.  On  opening  his  will  it  was  found  to  be 
short  and  simple.  Except  an  annuity  to  his  servant,  he  left  the 
nephew,  for  his  life,  the  whole  income  from  his  property,  and  the 


450  MEMORIAL    OF   JOSEPH    HENRY. 

property  itself  to  the  nephew's  children  should  he  leave  any.  In 
case  of  the  death  of  the  nephew  without  leaving  a  child  or  'chil- 
dren, the  whole  property  was  bequeathed  "  to  the  United  States  of 
America,  to  found  at  Washington,  under  the  name  of  the  Smith- 
sonian Institution,  an  establishment  for  the  increase  and  diffusion  of 
knowledge  among  men." 

Probably  few  men  have  ever  written  a  clause  so  well  fitted  as 
this  to  excite  a  curiosity  which  can  never  be  gratified.  The  views 
and  motives  of  the  writer  in  making  this  provision  are  involved  in 
impenetrable  obscurity.  The  first  idea  to  strike  a  reader  would  be 
that  Smithson  had  some  especially  kindly  feelings  toward  either 
the  United  States  or  its  form  of  government.  But  no  evidence  of 
this  has  ever  been  discovered.  He  is  not  known  to  have  had  the 
personal  acquaintance  of  an  American,  and  his  tastes  were  supposed 
to  have  been  aristocratic  rather  than  democratic. 

It  would  also  have  been  supposed  that  the  organization  of  an 
institution  which  was  to  carry  his  name  down  to  posterity  would 
have  been  a  subject  of  long  and  careful  thought,  and  of  conversa- 
tion with  friends,  and  would  have  been  prescribed  in  more  definite 
language  than  that  used  in  the  will.  Some  note,  some  appended 
paper  would  certainly  be  found  communicating  his  views.  But 
nothing  of  the  sort  has  ever  come  to  light. 

The  next  explanation  to  suggest  itself  would  be  that  the  death  of 
his  nephew  without  children  was  a  contingency  so  remote  that  very 
little  thought  was  given  to  what  might  happen  in  that  event.  But 
it  is  said  that  on  the  contrary  Hungerford,  the  nephew,  was  un- 
married and  in  infirm  health,  and  that  his  death  without  children 
might  naturally  have  been  expected. 

We  thus  have  the  curious  spectacle  of  a  retired  English  gentle- 
man, probably  unacquainted  with  a  single  American  citizen, 
bequeathing  the  whole  of  his  large  fortune  to  our  Government  to 
found  an  establishment  which  was  described  in  ten  words,  without 
a  memorandum  of  any  kind  by  which  his  intentions  could  be  divined 
or  the  recipient  of  the  gift  guided  in  applying  it. 

Hungerford  died  in  1835.  An  amicable  suit  in  chancery  was 
instituted  by  our  Government,  through  the  Honorable  Richard 
Rush  as  its  agent,  the  defendant  being  the  Messrs.  Drummond, 


ADDRESS   OF    PROF.  S.  NEWCOMB.  451 

executors  of  Smithson.  Although  there  was  no  contest  at  any 
point,  the  suit  occupied  three  years.  On  May  9th,  1838,  the  prop- 
erty was  adjudged  to  the  United  States,  and  during  the  next  few 
months  disposed  of  by  Mr.  Rush  for  about  £105,000.  The  money 
was  deposited  in  the  Treasury  in  the  following  autumn. 

The  problem  now  presented  to  Congress  was  to  organize  the  Insti- 
tution described  by  Smithson.  The  writer  must  confess  that  he  does 
not  share  the  views  of  those  who  maintain  that  the  intent  of  SMITH- 
SON  was  too  clear  and  definite  to  be  mistaken,  and  that  the  difficulty 
which  our  legislators  found  in  deciding  upon  a  plan  shows  their  lack 
of  intellectual  appreciation.  It  is  very  much  easier  to  see  the  right 
solution  of  a  problem  after  it  is  obtained  than  before.  It  ought  to 
be  a  subject  of  gratitude  rather  than  of  criticism  that  it  took  the 
country  eight  years  to  reach  a  conclusion.  The  plan  at  length 
adopted  was  better  than  any  of  those  previously  proposed,  and  the 
form  into  which  the  Institution  grew  was  still  in  advance  of  the 
plan  which  at  length  passed  Congress. 

Whatever  view  we  may  take  of  this  point,  the  diversity  of 
projects  considered  by  Congress  shows  that  the  meaning  of  the  will 
was  not  made  clear  to  our  legislators.  First  of  all  there  was  a 
body  of  strict  constructionists  who  maintained  that  our  Government 
had  no  power  to  accept  a  bequest  of  the  kind,  and  that  the  money 
should  be  returned  to  the  English  Court  of  Chancery.  One 
Fleischmann,  an  employe*  of  the  Patent  Office,  petitioned  for  the 
establishment  of  an  agricultural  school,  and  his  memorial  seems  to 
have  received  much  attention.  Another  memorialist  prayed  for  the 
establishment  of  an  institution  for  prosecuting  physical  experiments, 
and  a  third  that  the  fund  might  be  applied  to  the  instruction  of 
females.  A  vigorous  effort  was  made  by  the  Columbian  College 
to  obtain  assistance  from  the  fund.  Mr.  John  Quincy  Adams 
desired  to  appropriate  a  considerable  amount  to  the  establishment 
of  a  great  astronomical  observatory.  Mr.  F.  A.  Hassler,  Superin- 
tendent of  the  Coast  Survey,  desired  the  establishment  of  an 
astronomical  school  before  the  erection  of  Mr.  Adams's  observatory. 
A  strong  move  was  made  by  Mr.  Poinsett  to  place  the  whole  fund 
at  the  disposal  of  the  National  Institute  for  the  Promotion  of  Litera- 
ture and  Science.  Mr.  James  P.  Espy,  the  meteorologist,  proposed 


452  MEMORIAL    OF    JOSEPH    HENRY. 

that  a  portion  of  the  fund  should  be  devoted  to  meteorological 
observations  all  over  the  Union.  Mr.  Franklin  Knight  wished  the 
whole  fund  applied  to  the  establishment  of  a  farm  school. 

After  a  seven  years'  discussion  of  these  and  other  projects  and 
combinations,  the  act  under  which  the  Institution  was  at  last  organ- 
ized became  a  law  in  August,  1846.  This  law  provided  that  the 
business  of  the  Institution  should  be  conducted  by  a  Board  of  Regents, 
who  should  choose  a  suitable  person  as  Secretary  of  the  Institution. 
It  also  provided  for  the  erection  of  a  suitable  building  of  plain  and 
durable  materials  and  structure,  without  unnecessary  ornament,  for 
the  reception  of  objects  of  Natural  History,  a  Chemical  Laboratory, 
a  Library  and  Gallery  of  Art,  and  the  necessary  lecture  rooms. 
The  Secretary  had  charge  of  the  building  and  property  of  the  Insti- 
tution, and  was  also  to  discharge  the  duties  of  librarian  and  keeper 
of  the  museum,  and,  with  the  consent  of  the  Board  of  Regents,  to 
employ  the  necessary  assistants.  All  the  officers  were  removable 
by  the  Board  of  Regents  whenever  in  their  judgment  the  interests 
of  the  Institution  required  them  to  be  changed. 

The  Board  of  Regents  created  by  the  act  immediately  commenced 
active  operations.  In  December,  1846,  a  committee  of  the  Board, 
consisting  of  Mr.  Robert  Dale  Owen,  Mr.  Henry  N.  Hilliard, 
Professor  A.  D.  Bache,  Mr.  Rufus  Choate,  and  Mr.  Pennybacker, 
made  a  report  on  the  plan  of  organization.  Among  the  recommen- 
dations of  this  report  the  qualifications  desired  in  the  Secretary  are 
of  interest  to  us.  It  was  pointed  out  as  an  almost  necessary  con- 
dition that  the  Secretary  should  become  the  chief  executive  officer  of 
the  Institution.  After  some  general  remarks  respecting  the  qualifi- 
cations of  Secretary  the  report  proceeds : 

"Your  committee  think  it  would  be  an  advantage  if  a  competent 
Secretary  could  be  found,  combining  also  the  qualifications  of  a  pro- 
fessor of  the  highest  standing  in  some  branch  of  science.  If  to 
these  be  added  efficiency  as  an  executive  officer  and  a  knowledge  of 
the  world,  we  may  hope  to  see  filling  this  distinguished  post  a  man 
who,  when  brought  into  communication  with  distinguished  men  and 
societies  in  this  and  other  countries,  shall  be  capable,  as  representa- 
tive of  the  Smithsonian  Institution,  to  reflect  honor  on  the  office, 
not  requiring  to  borrow  distinction  from  it. 


ADDRESS   OF    PROF.  S.  NEWCOMB.  453 

"Your  committee  will  not  withhold  their  opinion  that  upon  the 
choice  of  this  single  officer,  more  probably  than  on  any  other  act 
of  the  Board,  will  depend  the  future  good  name  nd  success  and 
usefulness  of  the  Smithsonian  Institution." 

Previous  to  the  election  of  Secretary  the  following  resolution, 
from  the  same  committee,  was  adopted  by  the  Board : 

"  Resolved ,  That  it  is  essential,  for  the  advancement  of  the  proper 
interests  of  the  trust,  that  the  Secretary  of  the  Smithsonian  Insti- 
tution be  a  man  possessing  weight  of  character,  and  a  high  grade  of 
talent;  and  that  it  is  further  desirable  that  he  possess  eminent 
scientific  and  general  acquirements;  that  he  be  a  man  capable  of 
advancing  science  and  promoting  letters  by  original  research  and 
effort,  well  qualified  to  act  as  a  respected  channel  of  communication 
between  the  Institution  and  scientific  and  literary  individuals  and 
societies  in  this  and  foreign  countries;  and,  in  a  word,  a  man 
worthy  to  represent  before  the  world  of  science  and  of  letters  the 
Institution  over  which  this  Board  presides." 

Although  couched  in  general  terms  it  may  be  supposed  that  these 
expressions  had  direct  reference  to  the  subject  of  our  notice,  and  were 
meant  to  justify  the  Board  in  selecting  a  scientific  investigator  of  so 
much  eminence  to  take  charge  of  the  establishment.  Professor  Henry 
was  elected  on  December  3, 1846,  and  signified  his  acceptance  a  few 
days  later.  It  was  a  frequent -remark  of  his  in  after  years  that  he 
had  never  sought  a  position,  and  had  never  accepted  one  without 
fear  and  trembling.  Of  the  few  positions  he  ever  accepted  we 
might  well  suppose  that  this  was  the  one  on  which  he  entered  with 
most  hesitation.  His  position  at  Princeton  was  in  every  respect 
most  agreeable.  His  enthusiasm  as  a  teacher  could  not  fail  to  bring 
around  him  an  appreciative  body  of  pupils.  He  was  not  moved 
by  any  merely  worldly  ambition  to  seek  a  larger  and  more  promi- 
nent field  of  activity,  and  was  held  in  the  highest  esteem  by  the 
authorities  of  the  college.  He  thus  enjoyed  what  is  almost  the 
happiest  lot  of  man,  that  of  living  in  a  community  suited  to  his 
tastes  and  pursuits,  and  of  being  held  in  consideration  by  all  with 
whom  he  came  into  contact.  He  was  now  to  take  a  position  around 
which  had  raged  for  eight  years  a  conflict  of  opinion,  which  might 
at  any  time  break  out  anew.  That  all  parties  could  be  satisfied  was 


454       ,  MEMORIAL    OF    JOSEPH    HENRY. 

out  of  the  question,  and  his  aversion  to  engaging  in  anything  which 
would  lead  to  controversy  was  so  great  that  he  would  hardly  have 
accepted  had  it  not  been  for  the  urgent  solicitation  of  Professor 
Bache.  The  latter  pointed  out  to  him  that  the  proper  adminis- 
tration of  Smithson's  munificent  bequest  was  at  stake,  and  that 
he,  Henry,  was  the  only  man  available  to  whom  all  parties  could 
turn  with  the  assurance  that  the  Institution  would  be  carried 
through  its  difficulties.  This  was  an  appeal  which  he  could  not 
withstand ;  he  therefore  determined  at  least  to  make  the  attempt,  and 
entered  upon  his  duties  with  the  assurance  from  the  college  authori- 
ties that,  should  he  fail,  his  position  at  Princeton  would  always  be 
open  to  him,  and  the  college  authorities  ever  ready  to  welcome  him 
back. 

After  two  or  three  years  the  divergent  views  respecting  the 
proper  direction  to  be  given  to  the  activities  of  the  Smithsonian 
Institution  gradually  began  to  aggregate  themselves  into  two  groups 
and  thus  to  assume  a  partisan  aspect.  Many  of  the  projects  which, 
during  the  eight  years  of  discussion,  had  found  supporters,  were 
entirely  given  up,  such,  for  instance,  as  the  agricultural  college,  a 
great  observatory,  the  instruction  of  women,  and  the  establishment 
of  a  school  of  science.  The  act  of  Congress  provided,  as  already 
stated,  for  a  library,  a  museum,  a  gallery  of  art,  and  courses  of 
lectures.  Henry,  while  yielding  to  the  necessity  imposed  upon  the 
Institution  of  complying  with  the  law  directing  the  establishment 
of  these  accessories,  was  in  the  main  opposed  on  principle  to  their 
permanent  support  by  the  Institution.  The  position  he  took  was 
that  as  Smithson  was  a  scientific  investigator,  the  terms  of  his 
endowment  should  be  construed  in  accordance  with  the  interpreta- 
tion which  he  himself  would  have  put  upon  his  words.  The 
increase  of  knowledge  would  mean  the  discovery  of  new  truths  of 
any  sort,  especially  the  truths  of  nature.  The  only  way  in  which 
an  extended  diffusion  of  increased  knowledge  among  men  at  large 
could  be  effected  was  by  publication. 

The  departments  of  exploration,  research,  and  publication  were 
therefore  those  to  which  Henry  was  most  inclined  to  devote  the 
energies  of  the  Institution.  While  he  made  no  factious  opposition 
to  the  collection  of  a  library,  he  did  not  consider  it  as  increas- 


ADDRESS   OF   PROF.  S.  NEWCOMB.  455 

ing  knowledge  or  contributing  to  that  wide  diffusion  of  it  which 
Smithson  provided  for.  True,  it  might  indirectly  contribute  to 
such  diffusion  by  giving  authors  the  means  of  preparing  books: 
but  this  assistance  was  of  too  indirect  a  character  to  justify  the 
appropriation  of  a  large  proportion  of  the  Smithson  funds  to  it. 
Nearly  the  same  objections  applied  to  the  museum.  The  objects 
therein  preserved  were  at  first  the  property  of  the  Government, 
and  the  contributions  to  its  increase  would  naturally  come,  for  the 
most  part,  from  Government  explorations.  The  explorations  under- 
taken on  behalf  of  the  Institution  would  naturally  be  only  such 
as,  from  their  nature,  would  not  be  undertaken  by  the  Govern- 
ment, or  such  as  were  necessary  to  supplement  the  governmental 
collections. 

That  a  gallery  of  art  would  neither  increase  nor  diniise  knowledge 
on  the  plan  required  by  Smithson  hardly  needed  argument.  It 
does  not  seem  that  any  serious  attempt  was  ever  made  to  carry  out 
this  part  of  the  project  on  any  considerable  scale.  The  Indian 
portraits  which  constituted  the  principal  part  of  the  collection  of 
paintings  were,  the  writer  believes,  the  private  property  of  Mr. 
Stanley,  the  artist.  • 

Perhaps  the  project  on  which  the  Secretary  looked  with  most  dis- 
favor was  the  building.  The  system  of  operations  which  he  would 
have  preferred  required  little  more  than  a  modest  suite  of  office 
rooms.  The  expenditure  of  several  hundred  thousand  dollars  on 
an  architectural  structure  seemed  to  him  an  appropriation  of  the 
funds  to  which  he  could  give  no  active  encouragement.  In  later 
years  one  of  the  warnings  he  often  gave  to  incipient  institutions  of 
learning  was  not  to  spend  more  money  in  bricks  and  mortar  than 
was  absolutely  necessary  for  the  commencement  of  operations,  and 
it  can  hardly  be  doubted  that  his  sentiments  in  this  direction  had 
their  origin  in  his  dissatisfaction  with  the  large  expenditure  upon 
the  Smithsonian  building. 

We  must  not  be  understood  as  saying  that  Henry  antagonized 
all  these  objects,  considered  them  unworthy  of  any  support  from  the 
Smithsonian  fund,  or  had  any  lack  of  appreciation  of  their  intellec- 
tual value.  His  own  culture  and  mental  activities  had  been  of  too 
varied  a  character  to  admit  of  his  forming  any  narrow  view  of  the 


456  MEMORIAL   OF   JOSEPH    HENRY. 

proper  administration  of  the  establishment.  The  general  tenor  of 
his  views  may  be  summed  up  in  two  practical  propositions : 

(1.)  The  Institution  should  undertake  nothing  which  could  be 
done  by  other  agencies.  A  paper  or  report  which  would  naturally 
find  its  outlet  in  some  other  channel  was  never  to  be  published  by 
the  Institution.  A  research  made  for  a  commercial  object  would 
find  plenty  to  engage  in  it  without  his  encouragement.  It  was  the 
duty  of  the  Government  to  provide  room  for  its  own  collections  and 
to  make  them  accessible  to  investigators,  rather  than  to  draw  upon 
the  Smithson  fund  for  this  purpose.  As  a  natural  corollary  of  these 
views  the  Institution  should  not  engage  in  competition  with  other 
organizations  in  any  enterprise  whatever. 

(2.)  Objects  of  merely  local  benefit,  which  no  one  could  avail 
himself  of  except  by  a  visit  to  Washington,  were  to  be  regarded  as 
of  subsidiary  importance,  as  not  well  fitted  to  carry  out  the  views 
of  Smithson  to  the  wide  extent  he  would  have  desired,  and  as 
properly  belonging  to  the  local  authorities. 

Putting  both  these  principles  together,  the  library,  the  museum, 
the  art  gallery,  the  courses  of  lectures  and  the  Smithsonian  building 
were  looked  upon  as  things  only  temporarily  undertaken  by  the 
Institution,  to  be  turned  over  to  other  agencies  whenever  such  could 
be  found  ready  to  assume  the  responsibility  of  the  operations  con- 
nected with  them. 

The  affairs  of  the  Institution  went  on  for  several  years  without 
any  interruption.  The  general  policy  of  the  Secretary  was  to  keep 
the  expenditure  upon  those  objects  which  he  considered  least  'germane 
down  to  the  lowest  limit  consistent  with  the  law  and  with  the  reso- 
tions  of  the  Board  of  Regents,  hoping  gradually  to  win  the  Board 
over  to  his  views.  Among  the  accessories  on  which  he  wished  to 
retrench,  the  library  was  the  only  one  which  gave  serious  trouble. 
In  the  act  organizing  the  establishment,  the  Regents  were  authorized 
to  make  an  annual  expenditure,  not  exceeding  an  average  of  $25,000, 
"for  the  gradual  formation  of  a  library  composed  of  valuable  works 
pertaining  to  all  departments  of  human  knowledge."  This  sum  was 
two-thirds  of  the  whole  annual  income,  and  had  the  provision  been 
mandatory,  would  have  left  little  for  any  active  operations.  At  a 
meeting  of  the  Board  the  day  after  the  election  of  Professor  Henry 


ADDRESS   OF   PROF.  S.  NEWCOMB.  457 

the  sum  of  $20,OCO  had  been  appropriated  for  the  purchase  of  books 
and  the  fitting  up  of  the  library.  Amendments  reducing  the  sum 
to  $12,000  and  $15,000  were  successively  voted  down.  At  another 
meeting  a  more  definite  plan  of  operations  was  agreed  upon,  to  take 
effect  after  the  completion  of  the  building.  This  was  a  compromise, 
under  which  one-half  of  the  annual  income  should  be  devoted  to 
the  library,  the  museum  and  the  gallery  of  art,  and  one-half  to  the 
transactions,  reports,  publications,  lectures,  and  original  researches. 
The  library  project  thus  commenced  as  the  leading  feature  of  the 
Institution.  It  was  greatly  strengthened  by  the  character  of  the 
assistant  whom  Professor  Henry  called  to  its  charge,  Mr.  C.  C. 
Jewett,  formerly  librarian  of  Brown  University,  a  gentleman  whose 
high  character  and  professional  ability  marked  him  as  well  fitted  to 
undertake  the  work  of  collecting  and  arranging  a  great  library. 
Mr.  Jewett  very  naturally  desired  to  expend  the  full  admissible 
amount  upon  his  department,  and  thus  a  difference  gradually  arose 
between  him  and  r  's  chief,  which  widened  as  the  building  approached 
completion.  He  began  to  assert  his  claims  to  an  extent  which 
met  with  the  strong  disapproval  of  the  Secretary,  and  in  1854  the 
difference  culminated  in  an  appeal  to  the  Board  of  Regents. 

The  question  was  first  brought  before  the  Board  in  the  form  of  a 
resolution  respecting  the  proper  division  of  the  fund.  In  April, 
1854,  the  executive  committee  recommended  an  appropriation  in 
which  only  $6,000  was  devoted  to  the  library,  more  than  half 
of  which  was  for  the  salary  of  librarian  and  assistants.  The. 
appropriation  for  the  purchase  of  books  was  only  $1,800.  In 
presenting  this  recommendation  the  committee  say  that  they  have 
not  recommended  an  equal  distribution  between  the  active  opera- 
tions on  the  one  hand,  and  the  library,  museum,  &c.,  on  the  other, 
because  the  compromise  resolutions  which  required  such  equality 
of  distribution  do  not  go  into  effect  until  after  the  completion  of 
the  building. 

This  reduction  was  opposed  by  the  other  party  on  both  legal  and 
political  grounds.  Two  members  of  the  Board  presented  resolu- 
tions relative  to  the  distribution  of  the  income,  which  were  referred 
to  a  sub-committee.  This  committee,  through  Hon.  J.  A.  Pearce, 
its  chairman,  made  a  very  elaborate  report  on  May  25th  following, 


458  MEMORIAL   OF   JOSEPH    HENRY. 

reviewing  the  whole  subject  at  great  length,  reciting  what  the  Institu- 
tion had  done,  and  justifying  the  small  appropriation  for  the  library. 
The  report  closed  with  resolutions  repealing  the  compromise  arrange- 
ment, and  leaving  the  apportionment  among  the  different  objects  to 
the  judgment  of  the  Regents. 

In  the  meantime  the  difference  between  the  Secretary  and  the 
Librarian  reached  a  stage  at  which  the  further  co-operation  of  both 
in  the  affairs  of  the  Institution  was  no  longer  practicable.  The 
Secretary  made  known  his  intention  of  removing  the  Librarian, 
taking  the  ground  that  while  the  Board  of  Regents  had  power  to 
remove  either  the  Secretary  or  his  assistants,  the  Secretary  himself 
could  remove  the  latter  without  reference  to  the  Board.  A  resolu- 
tion to  this  effect  was  introduced  by  Mr.  James  M.  Mason,  of 
Virginia.  The  question  was,  in  principle,  the  same  which  has  been 
raised  from  time  to  time  since  the  foundation  of  our  Government 
relative  to  the  general  power  of  superior  officers  over  their  subordi- 
nates in  cases  where  the  law  makes  no  express  provision.  Under 
the  terms  of  the  organic  act  the  Secretary  and  the  Board  of  Regents, 
so  far  as  the  assistants  were  concerned,  stood  in  nearly  the  same 
relation  to  each  other  that  the  President  and  Senate  stand  under 
the  National  Constitution.  The  Secretary,  as  executive,  had  the 
power  of  appointment,  with  the  consent  of  the  Board  of  Regents, 
but  the  law  was  silent  on  the  subject  of  removal.  Mr.  Mason's 
resolution,  after  several  amendments  had  been  voted  down,  was 
adopted  by  a  vote  of  6  to  4,  and  the  position  of  the  Secretary  as  the 
responsible  head  of  the  Institution  was  thus  fully  defined. 

It  would  however  appear  that  Mr.  Jewett  continued  his  efforts 
to  secure  a  larger  appropriation  for  the  library  than  the  Secretary 
or  the  executive  committee  considered  desirable,  and  carried  his  oppo- 
sition to  such  a  point  that  the  Secretary  removed  him  from  office  on 
the  12th  of  January  following. 

The  resolution  of  the  executive  committee  repealing  the  compro- 
mise and  leaving  future  annual  apportionments  to  the  judgment  of 
the  Regents  was  then  passed  by  a  vote  of  9  to  5.  A  further  reso- 
lution to  the  effect  that  a  compliance  in  good  faith  with  the  letter 
and  spirit  of  the  charter  required  a  large  proportion  of  the  income 
of  the  Institution  to  be  appropriated  for  a  library  was  lost. 


ADDRESS    OF    PROF.  S.  NEWCOMB.  459 

Mr.  Kufus  Choate,  who  had  been  the  most  active  supporter  of 
Mr.  Jewett  and  the  library  scheme,  now  resigned  his  position  as 
Regent,  and  accompanied  his  resignation  with  a  letter  addressed  to 
the  Senate  and  House  of  Representatives,  stating  his  reasons  for 
the  course  he  had  taken,  and  expressing  the  opinion  that  the  Smith- 
sonian fund  was  being  managed  on  a  system  not  in  accordance  with 
the  provisions  of  the  organic  act.  In  the  Senate  the  subject  was 
referred  to  the  Committee  on  the  Judiciary,  which  made  a  unani- 
mous report  in  favor  of  the  majority  of  the  Board  of  Regents.  In 
the  House  there  was  a  more  serious  contest.  Mr.  Choate's  letter 
was  referred  to  a  select  committee  of  five,  appointed  to  inquire  and 
report  to  the  House  whether  the  Smithsonian  Institution  had  been 
managed  and  its  funds  expended  in  accordance  with  law,  and 
whether  any  additional  legislation  was  necessary.  After  a  careful 
examination,  extending  through  a  period  of  six  weeks,  the  com- 
mittee seems  to  have  been  unable  to  agree  upon  a  report.  Two 
reports  were,  in  fact,  made.  One,  signed  only  by  Mr.  Upham,  the 
chairman,  took  ground  against  the  power  of  removal  by  the  Secre- 
tary of  the  Institution,  and  against  the  restriction  of  the  increase 
of  the  library  as  contemplated.  Another  very  elaborate  report, 
signed  by  two  members,  sustained  the  Secretary  and  the  majority 
of  the  Board.  The  remaining  two  members  of  the  committee 
signed  neither  report ;  nor  did  either  report  propose  any  action  on 
the  part  of  Congress  except  the  payment  of  the  clerk  of  the  com- 
mittee. 

The  contest  which  had  been  going  on  for  a  period  of  seventeen 
years  thus  ended  in  a  complete  vindication  of  Professor  Henry 
and  the  position  he  had  assumed.  During  the  remainder  of  his  life 
he  had  the  great  satisfaction  of  feeling  that  he  was  held  in  con- 
stantly increasing  esteem  both  by  the  Regents  and  the  public.* 

In  January,  1865,  an  event  occurred  which,  though  an  almost 
irreparable  calamity,  tended  materially  toward  the  appropriation  of 
the  Smithsonian  income  toward  those  objects  which  the  Secretary 
thought  most  proper.  A  considerable  portion  of  the  upper  story 

*  As  an  expression  of  Professor  HENRY'S  views  in  his  own  language  we  append 
to  this  address  an  extract  from  his  examination  before  the  English  Government 
Scientific  Commission. 


460  MEMORIAL   OP   JOSEPH    HENRY. 

of  the  main  building  and  a  part  of  the  lower  story  were  burned. 
The  incipient  art  gallery,  the  chemical  laboratory,  and  the  lecture 
room  were  all  involved  in  the  destruction.  Happily  the  library 
and  the  museum  remained  nearly  intact.  An  opportunity  thus 
offered  itself  to  have  some  of  the  trusts  imposed  upon  the  fund 
undertaken  by  other  agencies.  The  library  of  Congress  was  rapidly 
growing  into  a  great  national  institution,  so  that  there  was  no  longer 
any  sound  reason  for  collecting  a  separate  Smithsonian  library. 
An  act  was  therefore  passed  by  Congress  providing  for  the  deposit  of 
the  Smithsonian  books  in  the  library  of  Congress,  so  that  all  could 
be  consolidated  together  and  the  Institution  at  the  same  time  be 
relieved  from  their  care.  The  necessity  for  reconstructing  the  art 
gallery  was  obviated  by  the  prospective  establishment  of  the  Cor- 
coran Art  Gallery  in  a  neighboring  part  of  the  city.  The  erection 
of  Lincoln  Hall  and  the  establishment  of  courses  of  lectures, 
sometimes  of  a  high  intellectual  character,  by  the  Young  Men's 
Christian  Association,  did  away  with  the  necessity  of  reconstructing 
the  lecture  room.  The  principal  immediate  drawback  was  that  the 
building  had  to  be  reconstructed  at  the  expense  of  the  Smithsonian 
fund,  although  Professor  Henry  was  not  entirely  satisfied  that  so 
large  a  building  was  necessary  for  the  Institution. 

The  only  serious  burden  which  remained  upon  the  Institution 
was  the  National  Museum ;  but  the  expense  of  its  support  was  now 
undertaken  by  the  Government,  and  it  therefore  ceased  to  be  a 
charge  upon  the  Smithsonian  fund  except  in  this  indirect  way  that 
the  building  which  housed  it  had  been  paid  for  out  of  that  fund. 
No  advantage  would  therefore  have  been  gained  by  removing  the 
museum  unless  the  building  was  purchased  by  the  Government. 
The  Secretary  was  therefore  desirous  of  effecting  such  a  sale,  but 
his  views  do  not  appear  to  have  met  with  the  entire  concurrence  of 
the  Board  of  Regents.  The  latter  were  not  unnaturally  averse  to 
seeing  the  Institution  surrender  its  imposing  habitation  and  the 
associations  which  clustered  around  it.  A  very  natural  compromise 
would  have  been  for  the  Government  to  pay  the  Institution  a  suit- 
able moderate  rent  for  those  portions  of  the  building  devoted  to 
the  care  of  Government  property,  but  it  does  not  appear  that  this 
measure  was  ever  proposed. 


ADDRESS    OF    PROF.  S.  NEWCOMB.  461 

The  position  of  the  Smithsonian  building  in  the  public  grounds 
led  Professor  Henry  to  take  an  active  interest  in  measures  for  the 
improvement  of  the  city.  Among  his  latest  eiforts  in  this  direction 
were  those  made  with  the  object  of  having  the  old  canal  which 
bounded  the  Mall  filled  up.  Some  of  us  may  remember  a  witty 
argument  with  which  he  urged  this  measure  upon  the  Board  of 
Public  Works.  "  The  great  inefficiency  of  the  Smithsonian  had  been 
said  by  its  opponents  to  be  illustrated  by  the  fact  that,  although 
formed  to  diffuse  knowledge  over  the  whole  world,  it  had  not 
diffused  knowledge  enough  among  the  local  authorities  where  it 
was  situated  to  make  them  see  the  necessity  of  abating  the  pesti- 
lential nuisance  of  this  obsolete  canal."  The  work  of  filling  up 
was  immediately  commenced  by  the  board  to  which  the  argument 
was  addressed. 

The  following  extract  from  one  of  Professor  HENRY'S  early 
journals  will  be  of  interest  as  showing  the  character  of  his  early 
efforts  for  the  improvement  of  the  Smithsonian  grounds: 

"NOVEMBER  25,  1850. 

"  Occupied  this  morning  examining  the  public  grounds  between 
the  Capitol  and  the  Monument.  I  have  been  impressed  since  my 
connection  with  the  Smithsonian  Institution  with  the  importance  of 
improving  the  public  grounds  on  which'  the  Smithsonian  is  placed 
in  accordance  with  a  general  plan,  and  I  have  taken  every  oppor- 
tunity of  expatiating  on  the  capacity  of  the  Mall  to  be  made  one 
of  the  most  beautiful  drives  in  the  world.  My  enthusiasm  on  this 
point  was  much  dampened  a  few  months  ago,  when  it  was  proposed 
to  place  the  Botanic  Garden  on  the  Mall  near  the  Smithsonian. 
The  site  was  chosen  and,  as  I  supposed,  all  things  settled,  when  to 
my  surprise  some  influence  at  once  changed  the  location. 

"My  interest  in  the  project  was  again  awakened  by  a  movement 
on  the  part  of  Mr.  Corcoran.  An  appropriation  was  made  to 
improve  the  grounds  around  the  President's  House.  Mr.  Cor- 
coran was  interested  in  the  square  opposite  his  residence.  He 
requested  me  to  go  with  him  to  the  President  to  ask  him  to  inter- 
fere. We  called  on  the  President,  who  manifested  an  interest  in 
the  subject  but  said  he  had  no  power  to  act,  but  if  we  would  show 
him  the  authority  he  would  do  what  he  could  to  forward  the  object. 
On  this  assurance  Mr.  Corcoran  and  myself  left  the  President, 
and  I  was  requested  to  search  for  the  law  authorizing  the  action  of 
the  President.  For  this  purpose  I  called  upon  Peter  Force, 


462  MEMORIAL    OF    JOSEPH    HENRY. 

who,  after  a  search  of  some  time,  found  the  law,  gave  me  a  copy, 
which  I  afterwards  presented  to  the  President.  The  same  evening 
I  called  a  meeting  at  the  office  of  the  mayor,  of  Mr.  Mudd,  the 
commissioner  of  public  buildings,  and  the  mayor.  After  some 
conversation  it  was  at  length  concluded  to  send  for  some  competent 
landscape  gardener  to  give  a  general  plan  of  the  improvements, 
and,  on  the  suggestion  of  the  mayor,  it  was  resolved  to  request  the 
President  to  direct  that  Mr.  Downing,  from  Newburgh,  be  re- 
quested to  examine  the  grounds  and  report  a  plan  of  improvement. 
We  (the  mayor,  Mr.  Mudd,  and  myself)  called  next  day  on  the 
President,  presented  the  matter,  and  received  from  hi*n  the  sanction 
for  writing  to  Mr.  Downing.  A  few  days  after  this  I  started  for 
New  Jersey  and  was  absent  several  days,  and  when  I  returned  I 
found  that  nothing  had  been  done, —  Mr.  Downing  had  not  been 
written  to.  I  therefore  drew  up  a  form  of  a  letter  of  invitation  in 
accordance  with  my  views  of  the  manner  in  which  the  invitation 
should  be  worded,  and  sent  this  to  the  commissioner.  This  letter 
was  sent,  and  in  conformity  with  this  invitation  Mr.  Downing  has 
come  on.  I  called  with  Mr.  Downing  on  the  President,  who  gave 
us  a  very  pleasant  reception  and  entered  with  much  interest  into  the 
plans  of  Mr.  Downing.  This  morning  Mr.  Mudd,  Mr.  Downing, 
and  myself  have  examined  all  the  ground  between  the  Capitol  and 
the  river,  and  found  it  admirably  adapted  to  the  formation  of  a 
landscape  garden  and  a  drive." 

The  administration  of  the  Smithsonian  Institution  does  not 
appear  to  have  been  compatible  with  the  continuance  of  the  experi- 
mental researches  in  which  our  colleague  was  so  eminently  suc- 
cessful during  the  earlier  years  of  his  life.  The  fact  is  that  the 
general  science  of  electricity  was  passing  almost  beyond  the  experi- 
mental and  into  the  mathematical  stage,  so  that  little  of  real  value 
could  be  effected  by  mere  experimentation  without  reference  to 
purely  mathematical  theories.  But  it  would  be  altogether  a  mistake 
to  suppose  that  his  scientific  activity  was  diminished  or  that  his 
contributions  to  knowledge  were  confined  to  his  earlier  days.  The 
talent  which  had  before  been  directed  to  investigations  of  a  purely 
scientific  character,  (understanding  by  this  term  such  as  were  designed 
only  to  improve  the  theories  of  natural  phenomena,)  was  now  turned 
to  practical  application  of  scientific  principles.  Whether  such  appli- 
cations are  less  worthy  of  the  investigator  than  the  advancement  of 
purely  theoretical  notions,  we  shall  not  attempt  to  discuss,  but  shall 


ADDRESS   OF    PROF.  S.  NEWCOMB.  463 

only  remark  that  our  colleague  brought  into  his  new  field  that  same 
unselfish  devotion  to  the  intellectual  interests  of  mankind  which 
marks  the  purely  scientific  investigator.  Whatever  utilitarian 
objects  he  may  have  aimed  at,  they  had  no  personal  reference  to 
himself.  He  never  engaged  in  an  investigation  or  an  enterprise 
which  was  to  put  a  dollar  into  his  own  pocket,  but  aimed  only  at 
the  general  good  of  the  world. 

One  of  the  earliest  of  his  new  enterprises  was  that  of  receiving 
notices  of  the  weather  by  telegraph  and  exhibiting  them  upon  a 
map,  thus  laying  the  foundation  of  our  present  meteorological 
system.  In  1847  he  called  the  attention  of  the  Board  of  Eegents 
to  the  facilities  which  lines  of  telegraph  would  afford  for  warning 
observers  to  be  on  the  watch  for  the  approach  of  a  storm.  As  a 
part  of  the  system  of  meteorology,  the  telegraph  was  to  be  employed 
in  the  investigation  of  atmospheric  phenomena.  The  advantage  to 
agriculture  and  commerce  to  be  derived  from  a  knowledge  of 
the  approach  of  a  storm  was  recommended  as  a  subject  deserving 
the  attention  of  Government.  About  1850  the  plan  of  mapping 
the  weather  was  instituted.  Many  of  us  remember  the  large  maps 
of  the  country  suspended  in  the  entrance  to  the  Institution,  on  which 
the  state  of  the  weather  in  different  regions  was  indicated  by  mova- 
ble signs.  This  system  continued  until  1861,  when  the  breaking 
out  of  the  civil  war  prevented  its  further  continuance.* 

After  the  close  of  the  war  a  renewal  of  the  system  was  proposed 
and  some  efforts  made  for  the  attainment  of  this  object.  But  with 
this  as  with  every  other  enterprise,  Professor  Henry  would  never 
go  on  with  it  after  any  one  else  was  found  ready  to  take  it  up.  In 
1869  our  colleague,  Professor  Abbe,  commenced  the  issue  of  regular 
weather  bulletins  from  the  Cincinnati  Observatory,  showing  the  state 
of  the  weather  at  a  number  of  telegraphic  stations,  followed  by  a  brief 
forecast  of  the  weather  which  would  probably  be  experienced  at 
Cincinnati  during  the  next  twenty-four  hours.  About  the  same 
time  provision  was  made  by  Congress  for  the  national  system  now 
so  thoroughly  organized  by  the  Chief  Signal  Officer  of  the  Army. 
This  system  received  the  cordial  support  of  Professor  Henry,  who 

*See  Historical  Notes  on  the  System  of  Weather  Telegraphy,  by  CLEVELAND 
ABBE,  American  Journal  of  Science  and  Arts,  Volume  n,  1871,  page  81. 


464  MEMORIAL   OF   JOSEPH    HENRY. 

gave  every  facility  at  the  disposal  of  the  Institution  to  General  Myer 
for  the  completion  of  the  organization,  and  indeed  turned  over  the 
whole  practical  part  of  the  subject  to  him. 

Among  the  services  of  Professor  Henry  outside  of  the  field  of 
pure  science  and  of  the  administration  of  the  Smithsonian  Institu- 
tion the  first  place  is  due  to  those  rendered  in  connection  with  the 
Light-House  Board.  This  Board  was  organized  by  act  of  Congress 
in  1852  to  discharge  all  administrative  duties  relating  to  the  light- 
house establishment  on  the  American  coasts.  The  duties  assigned 
to  Professor  Henry  in  this  connection  included  experiments  of  all 
kinds  pertaining  to  lights  and  signals.  The  illuminating  power  of 
various  oils  was  made  the  subject  of  exact  photometric  experiments, 
and  large  sums  were  thus  saved  to  the  Government  by  the  adoption 
of  those  illuminators  which  gave  most  light  in  proportion  to  cost. 
The  necessity  of  fog-signals  led  to  what  are,  for  our  present  purpose, 
the  most  important  researches  in  this  connection,  namely,  his  investi- 
gations into  the  phenomena  of  sound.  Acoustics  had  always  been 
one  of  his  favorite  subjects.  As  early  as  1856  he  published  a  care- 
fully prepared  paper  on  the  acoustics  of  public  buildings,  and  he 
frequently  criticised  the  inattention  of  architects  to  this  subject. 
His  regular  investigations  of  sound  in  connection  with  the  Light- 
House  Board  were  commenced  in  1865.  It  had  long  been  known 
that  the  audibility  of  sounds  at  considerable  distances,  and  especially 
at  sea,  varies  in  a  manner  which  has  seemed  quite  unaccountable. 
There  were  numerous  instances  of  a  sound  not  becoming  audible 
until  the  hearer  was  immediately  in  its  neighborhood,  and  others 
of  its  being  audible  at  extraordinary  distances.  Very  often  a  sound 
was  audible  at  a  great  distance  and  was  lost  as  the  hearer  approached 
its  source.  The  frequency  of  fogs  on  our  eastern  coasts  and  the 
important  part  played  by  sound  signals  in  warning  vessels  of  danger 
rendered  it  necessary  to  investigate  the  whole  theory  of  the  subject. 

One  of  the  first  conclusions  reached  related  to  the  influence  of 
reflectors  and  of  intervening  obstacles.  That  a  sound  in  the  focus 
of  a  parabolic  reflector  is  thrown  forward  and  intensified  in  the 
manner  of  light  has  long  been  a  well-known  fact.  The  logical  con- 
sequence of  this  is  that  the  sound  is  cut  off  behind  such  a  reflector, 


ADDRESS    OF   PROF.  S.  NEWCOMB.  465 

so  that  at  snort  distances  it  is  many  times  louder  in  front  of  the 
reflector  than  behind  it.  In  the  case  of  light,  which  moves  in  right 
lines,  it  is  well  known  that  such  an  increased  volume  of  light  thrown 
in  one  direction  will  go  on  indefinitely.  But  in  the  case  of  sound 
the  law  was  found  to  be  altogether  different  —  the  farther  the 
observer  went  away  from  the  source,  the  less  the  influence  of  the 
reflector,  and  at  the  distance  of  two  or  three  miles  the  latter  was 
without  effect, —  the  sound  being  about  equally  audible  in  whatever 
direction  the  reflector  might  be  turned.  Another  important  dis- 
covery, made  the  following  year,  was  that  when  a  sound  was  moving 
against  the  wind  it  might  be  heard  at  an  elevation  when  it  was 
inaudible  near  the  surface  of  the  water. 

These  observations  were  continued  from  time  to  time  during  the 
summer  season  until  1877.  They  resulted  in  collecting  an  immense 
mass  of  facts,  including  many  curious  abnormal  phenomena,  descrip- 
tions of  which  are  found  in  the  annual  Reports  of  the  Light-House 
Board.  Our  president  was  extremely  cautious  in  formulating  theories 
of  the  subject,  and  had  no  ambition  of  associating  his  name  with  a 
generalization  which  future  researches  might  disprove.  The  result 
of  his  observations  however  was  to  show  that  there  were  none  of 
these  curious  phenomena  which  might  not  be  accounted  for  by 
a  species  of  refraction  arising  from  varying  atmospheric  cur- 
rents. The  possible  effects  of  this  cause  had  been  pointed  out  by 
Professor  Stokes,  of  England,  in  1857,  and  the  views  of  the  latter 
seem  to  have  been  adopted  by  Henry.  One  of  the  generaliza- 
tions is  very  clearly  explained  on  this  theory :  A  current  of  air  is 
more  rapid  at  a  short  height  above  the  water  than  at  its  immediate 
surface.  If  a  sound-wave  is  moving  with  such  a  current  its  upper 
part  will  be  carried  forward  more  rapidly  than  its  lower  part ;  its 
front  will  thus  be  presented  downward  and  it  will  tend  to  strike 
the  water.  If  moving  in  an  opposite  direction  against  the  wind, 
the  greater  velocity  of  the  latter  above  the  water  will  cause  the 
upper  part  of  the  sound-wave  to  be  retarded.  The  wave  will  thus 
be  thrown  upward,  and  the  course  of  the  sound  will  be  a  curved 
line  convex  to  the  water.  Thus  an  observer  at  the  surface  may  be 
in  a  region  of  comparative  silence,  when  by  ascending  a  few  yards 
he  will  reach  the  region  of  sound  vibration.  A  corresponding  effect 
30 


466  MEMORIAL   OF   JOSEPH    HENRY. 

would  be  produced  by  a  difference  in  the  motions  of  two  contiguous 
bodies  of  air,  whether  the  line  of  change  was  vertical  or  horizontal. 
As  we  know  very  well  that  the  motion,  of  the  air  is  by  no  means 
uniform,  and  that  eddies,  gusts,  and  whiifs  prevail  nearly  every- 
where, it  is  to  be  expected  that  sound  will  not  always  move  uni- 
formly in  a  direct  line,  but  will  be  turned  from  its  direct  course  by 
the  sort  of  refraction  that  we  have  described.  It  is  however  im- 
possible to  prove  by  observation  that  this  is  the  only  cause  of  the 
abnormal  phenomena  referred  to,  because  the  exact  velocity  of  local 
currents  within  a  space  over  which  the  sound  extends  cannot  be  a 
subject  of  observation.  Professor  Henry  was  however  disposed 
to  claim  that,  having  a  sufficiently  general  known  cause  to  account 
for  the  phenomena,  it  was  not  philosophical  to  assume  other  causes 
in  the  absence  of  decisive  proof. 

It  was  at  the  light-house  station  in  the  month  of  December, 
1877,  that  Professor  Henry  noticed  the  first  symptom  of  the 
disease  which  terminated  his  life  a  few  months  later.  After  passing 
a  restless  and  uncomfortable  night,  he  arose  in  the  morning,  finding 
his  hand  partially  paralyzed.  A  neighboring  physician,  being  sent 
for,  gave  a  prognosis  of  a  very  serious  character.  A  more  detailed 
subsequent  examination  by  two  members  of  our  Academy  led  to  the 
conclusion  that  he  was  affected  with  an  incipient  nephritis.  Although 
no  prospect  of  recovery  could  be  held  out,  it  was  hoped  that  the 
progress  of  the  disease  would  be  so  slow  that,  with  his  healthy  con- 
stitution, he  might  still  endure  for  a  considerable  period.  This 
hope  however  rapidly  faded.  During  the  winter  the  disease 
assumed  so  decided  a  form  as  to  show  that  his  active  work  was  done 
and  that  we  could  have  him  with  us  but  a  few  months  longer.  But 
beyond  a  cessation  of  his  active  administrative  duties  there  was  no 
change  in  his  daily  life.  He  received  his  friends,  discussed  scientific 
matters,  and  took  the  most  active  interest  in  the  affairs  of  the  world 
so  long  as  his  strength  held  out.  It  was  a  source  of  great  consola- 
tion to  his  family  and  friends  that  his  intellect  was  not  clouded  nor 
his  nervous  system  shattered  by  the  disease.  One  of  the  impressive 
recollections  of  the  writer's  life  is  that  of  an  interview  with  him  the 
day  before  his  death,  when  he  was  sustained  only  by  the  most  pow- 
erful restoratives.  He  was  at  first  in  a  state  of  slumber,  but,  on 


ADDRESS    OF   PROF.  S.  NEWCOMB.  467 

opening  his  eyes,  among  the  first  questions  he  asked  was  whether 
the  transit  of  Mercury  had  been  successfully  observed  and  the  appro- 
priation for  observing  the  coming  total  eclipse  secured.  He  was 
then  gradually  sinking,  and  died  at  noon  on  May  13,  1878. 

A  mere  sketch,  like  the  foregoing,  of  the  lines  of  activity  followed 
out  by  our  late  President,  gives  no  adequate  idea  either  of  his  mental 
force  or  of  his  public  services.  The  contributions  to  science  of  an 
American  of  the  last  few  generations  afford  an  entirely  insufficient 
standard  of  judgment,  though  it  is  a  standard  which  writers  are 
prone  to  adopt  as  if  it  were  the  only  one.  We  are  apt  to  forget  that 
science  is  a  plant  of  cultivation  which  rarely  or  never  flourishes  in 
a  state  of  isolation,  and  reaches  full  fruition  only  when  it  can  absorb 
into  its  own  growth  the  fertile  ideas  of  many  associated  minds. 
Leaving  out  a  few  powerful  intellects  who  started  our  modern  system 
of  investigating  nature,  a  high  development  of  the  scientific  spirit 
has  been  attained  only  by  a  communion  of  ideas  through  the  medium 
of  academies,  institutions,  and  journals.  We  may  pronounce  it  an 
entire  illusion  to  suppose  that  a  professor  in  one  of  our  ordinary 
American  colleges,  without  personal  contact  with  men  engaged  in 
similar  pursuits,  and  without  access  to  the  publications  in  which 
foreign  investigators  publish  their  researches,  can  permanently  take 
a  leading  position  in  any  branch  of  investigation.  If  it  shall  appear 
that  Henry's  contributions  to  electricity  were  less  numerous  and 
brilliant  than  those  of  Faraday,  let  us  consider  not  simply  the 
immensely  wider  field  of  Henry's  intellectual  and  public  activity, 
but  the  different  situations  of  the  two  men.  The  one  occupied  the 
focus  of  the  intellectual  metropolis  of  the  world,  commanding  at 
pleasure  of  every  sort  of  apparatus  which  money  could  purchase  or 
art  produce,  and  was  surrounded  by  an  admiring  crowd  of  the  $lite 
of  society,  eagerly  hearing  of  his  every  discovery  and  listening 
attentively  to  all  his  utterances.  The  other  was,  during  his  early 
prime,  an  overworked  instructor,  almost  out  of  the  reach  of  the 
great  treasures  of  foreign  scientific  literature,  and  with  none  of  the 
advantages  enjoyed  by  his  great  competitor. 

Another  circumstance  not  to  be  lost  sight  of  is  that  Henry,  in 
obedience  to  one  of  the  great  principles  of  his  life,  voluntarily 


468  MEMORIAL   OF   JOSEPH    HENRY. 

relinquished  to  others  each  field  of  investigation  at  the  very  time 
when  he  had  it  so  far  cultivated  as  to  yield  most  fame  and  profit 
to  himself.  It  is  an  unfortunate  fact  that  the  world,  in  awarding 
its  laurels,  is  prone  to  overlook  the  sometimes  long  list  of  those 
whose  labors  have  rendered  a  result  possible,  and  to  remember  only 
the  one  who  gave  the  finishing  stroke,  or  applied  previously  known 
principles  to  some  useful  result.  There  are  few  investigators  to 
whom  the  criterion  in  question  would  do  less  justice  than  to  the 
subject  of  our  notice.  In  his  unselfish  devotion  to  knowledge 
he  sowed  that  others  might  reap  on  the  broad  humanitarian 
ground  that  a  valuable  harvest  would  be  sure  to  find  a  reaper 
while  the  seed  might  wait  in  vain  for  a  sower.  Had  this  been 
done  solely  in  his  individual  character  we  should  have  looked 
upon  his  course  with  admiration ;  but  in  bringing  the  principle  into 
the  administration  of  the  Smithsonian  Institution  he  avoided  a 
danger  and  rendered  a  benefit  for  which  we  cannot  be  too  grateful. 
To  this  principle  is  due  the  fact  that  the  Institution  never  appeared 
as  a  competitor,  seeking  an  advantage  for  itself,  but  always  as  the 
active  co-operator  in  every  enterprise  tending  to  carry  out  the  object 
prescribed  by  its  founder. 

Notwithstanding  a  uniform  adherence  to  this  course  through  his 
whole  life  it  would  be  difficult  to  find  a  physicist  of  our  time  whose 
researches  cover  more  ground  than  his  do.  Any  adequate  analysis 
of  his  published  papers  and  notices  would  have  transcended  the  limits 
of  the  present  memoir.  Besides  his  electrical  researches,  they  include 
meteorology  in  almost  all  its  phases,  the  physical  geography  of  his 
native  State,  terrestrial  magnetism,  capillarity,  molecular  physics, 
observations  of  meteors,  phosphorescence,  solar  physics,  protection 
from  lightning,  observations  of  the  aurora,  the  radiation  of  heat, 
the  strength  of  building  materials,  experiments  on  an  alleged  spon- 
taneous separation  of  alcohol  and  water,  aeronautics,  the  ventilation 
of  buildings,  the  phenomena  of  sound,  and  various  other  subjects 
hardly  admitting  of  classification. 

Notwithstanding  his  literary  productiveness,  he  rarely  if  ever 
wrote  a  paper  to  yield  him  the  honorarium  of  a  magazine  contrib- 
utor. Nor  did  he  ever  seek  a  source  of  income  beyond  the  modest 
salary  paid  him  for  administering  the  Smithsonian  Institution. 


ADDRESS    OF   PROF.  S.  XEWCOMB.  469 

This  sufficed,  not  only  to  satisfy  the  wants  of  a  simple  mode  of  life, 
but,  with  the  aid  of  the  accommodations  allowed  him  in  the  build- 
ing, to  dispense  a  hospitality  to  a  wide  circle  of  friends  and  admirers 
as  pleasant  to  the  recipients  as  if  it  had  won  the  title  of  princely. 
Although  not  drawing  a  salary  from  the  Government,  and  entitled 
therefore  to  compensation  for  any  services  rendered,  his  numerous 
public  services  were  entirely  gratuitous.  It  must  however  be  said 
to  the  credit  of  our  Government  that  after  his  death  Congress  voted 
his  family  a  small  compensation  for  his  twenty-five  years  of  admin- 
istrative service  in  the  offices  of  member  and  president  of  the  Light- 
House  Board. 

One  of  his  interesting  traits  of  character,  and  one  which  power- 
fully tended  to  make  the  Smithsonian  Institution  popular  and 
useful,  was  a  certain  intellectual  philanthropy  which  showed  itself 
in  ceaseless  efforts  to  make  others  enjoy  the  same  wide  views  of 
nature  which  he  himself  did.  He  was  accessible  to  a  fault,  and 
ever  ready  to  persuade  any  honest  propounder  of  a  new  theory  that 
he  was  wrong.  The  only  subject  on  which  the  writer  ever  had  to 
express  to  him  strong  dissent  from  his  views  was  that  of  the  practi- 
cability of  convincing  "universe-makers"  of  their  errors.  They 
always  answered  with  opposing  arguments,  generally  in  a  tone  of 
arrogance  or  querulousness  which  deterred  even  the  modest  Henry 
from  replying  further;  but  he  still  considered  it  a  duty  to  do  what 
he  could  toward  imbuing  the  next  one  of  the  class  who  addressed 
him,  with  correct  notions  of  the  objects  of  scientific  theories. 

It  is  hardly  necessary  to  say  that  in  Professor  Henry's  mental 
composition  were  included  a  breadth  of  intellect,  clearness  of  philo- 
sophic insight,  and  strength  of  judgment,  without  which  he  could 
never  have  carried  out  the  difficult  task  which  his  official  position 
imposed  upon  him.  His  mental  fiber  was  well  seen  in  the  stand 
which  he  took  against  the  delusions  of  spiritualism.  On  no  subject 
was  he  more  decided  than  on  that  of  the  impossibility  and  absurdity 
of  the  pseudo-miracles  of  the  mediums,  who  seemed  to  him  to 
claim  no  less  a  power  than  that  of  overruling  the  laws  of  nature. 
An  intellectual  person  yielding  credence  to  their  pretensions 
seemed  to  him  to  be  in  great  danger  of  insanity.  An  old  and 
respected  friend,  who  had  held  a  prominent  position  in  the 


470  MEMORIAL    OF    JOSEPH    HENRY. 

Government  service,  in  speaking  to  him  on  the  subject,  once 
described  how  he  had  actually  seen  a  spiritual  medium  rise  in  the 
air  and  waft  himself  out  of  the  window.  "  Judge,"  answered  the 
Professor,  "  you  never  saw  that,  and,  if  you  think  you  did,  you  are 
in  a  dangerous  mental  condition.  If  you  do  not  give  this  delusion 
up  you  will  be  in  the  insane  asylum  before  you  know  it.  As  a 
loving  friend  I  beseech  you  to  take  warning  of  what  I  say,  and  to 
reflect  that  what  you  think  you  saw  is  a  mental  delusion  which 
requires  the  most  careful  treatment." 

He  used  frequently  to  relate  a  curious  circumstance  as  an  illustra- 
tion of  the  character  of  this  legerdemain  A  noted  spiritualist  had 
visited  Washington  during  Mr.  Lincoln's  administration,  and  held 
several  seances  with  the  President  himself.  The  latter  was  ex- 
tremely desirous  that  Professor  Henry  should  see  the  medium, 
and  give  his  opinion  as  to  how  he  performed  his  wonderful  feats. 
Although  Henry  generally  avoided  all  contact  with  such  men,  he 
consented  to  receive  him  at  the  Smithsonian  Institution.  Among 
the  acts  proposed  was  that  of  making  sounds  in  various  quarters 
of  the  room.  This  was  something  which  the  keen  senses  and 
ready  experimental  faculty  of  the  Professor  were  well  qualified  to 
investigate.  He  turned  his  head  in  various  positions  while  the 
sounds  were  being  emitted.  He  then  turned  toward  the  man  with 
the  utmost  firmness  and  said,  "  I  do  not  know  how  you  make  the 
sounds,  but  this  I  perceive  very  clearly:  they  do  not  come  from 
the  room  but  from  your  person."  It  was  in  vain  that  the  operator 
protested  that  they  did  not,  and  that  he  had  no  knowledge  how 
they  were  produced.  The  keen  ear  of  his  examiner  could  not  be 
deceived. 

Sometime  afterward  the  Professor  was  traveling  in  the  east,  and 
took  a  seat  in  a  railway  car  beside  a  young  man  who,  finding  who 
his  companion  was,  entered  into  conversation  with  him,  and  in- 
formed him  that  he  was  a  maker  of  telegraph  instruments.  His 
advances  were  received  in  so  friendly  a  manner  that  he  went  further 
yet,  and  confided  to  him  that  his  ingenuity  had  been  called  into  requi- 
sition by  spiritual  mediums,  to  whom  he  furnished  the  apparatus 
necessary  for  the  manifestations.  Henry  asked  him  by  what  medi- 
ums he  had  been  thus  engaged,  and  was  interested  to  find  that  among 


ADDRESS   OF   PROF.  S.  NEWCOMB.  471 

them  was  the  very  man  he  had  met  at  the  Smithsonian.  The 
sounds  which  the  medium  had  emitted  were  then  described  to  the 
young  man,  who  in  reply  explained  the  structure  of  the  apparatus 
by  which  they  were  produced,  which  apparatus  had  been  constructed 
by  himself.  The  apparatus  was  fastened  around  the  muscular  part 
of  the  upper  arm,  and  was  so  arranged  that  the  sounds  would  be 
produced  by  a  simple  contraction  of  the  muscle,  unaccompanied  by 
any  motion  of  the  joints  of  the  arm,  and  therefore  entirely  invisible 
to  a  bystander. 

A  trait  of  Professor  Henry's  character  which  contributed  pow- 
erfully to  his  success  and  usefulness  was  the  many-sidedness  of  both 
his  intellect  and  his  taste.  The  great  development  of  the  imagina- 
tive and  aBsthetic  faculties  which  led  to  the  precocious  dramatic 
activity  of  his  boyhood  made  itself  felt  throughout  his  life. 
Although  he  did  not  seek  to  beautify  his  public  addresses  or  com- 
munications with  ornaments  drawn  from  foreign  sources,  he  was 
always  ready  with  an  apt  quotation  to  clothe  a  sentiment.  Apart 
from  all  intellectual  and  scientific  claims,  American  science  could 
not  have  desired  a  more  fitting  representative  and  leader  at  the 
National  Capital,  or  found  one  whose  physical  and  mental  constitu- 
tion afforded  so  little  ground  for  adverse  criticism.  His  principles 
kept  him  outside  of  all  competition,  jealousies,  and  cross  purposes, 
and  all  combined  gave  his  recommendations  a  force,  founded  on  the 
assurance  of  their  entire  disinterestedness,  which  they  otherwise 
could  not  have  commanded.  If  he  had  any  eccentricities  or  preju- 
dices they  were  those  of  the  philosopher.  The  mental  qualities  so 
well. fitted  to  secure  the  affection  as  well  as  the  respect  of  all  with 
whom  he  became  intimately  acquainted,  were  supplemented  by  a 
healthy  constitution,  a  well-built  person,  and  a  commanding  yet 
modest  presence",  finely  calculated  to  win  confidence. 

In  conclusion,  we  believe  that  we  but  feebly  express  the  senti- 
ment of  every  member  of  the  Academy,  in  saying  that  our  late 
President  will  be  entitled  to  the  gratitude  of  posterity  as  the 
leader  of  that  intellectual  band  of  the  last  generation,  to  whom  is 
due  the  great  advance  in  the  national  appreciation  of  scientific 
research  which  has  been  witnessed  during  the  last  thirty  years ;  and 
the  state  of  society  of  which  he  would  not  be  an  ornament  is  still 
beyond  our  intellectual  vision. 


472  MEMORIAL  OF  JOSEPH  HENRY. 

SUPPLEMENTAL  NOTE. 

[From  page  459.] 

The  following  statement  by  Professor  Henry  was  made  at  the 
request  of  the  English  Government  Scientific  Commission,  June 
28,  1870,  during  his  visit  to  London.  To  the  request  that  he 
would  give  the  Commission  a  general  idea  of  the  character  of  the 
Smithsonian  Institution,  Professor  Henry  replied : 

"  There  was  at  first  a  great  diversity  of  opinion  as  to  the  manner 
in  which .  the  income  should  be  applied  to  realize  the  design  of  the 
testator,  as  expressed  in  the  brief  but  comprehensive  terms  of  the 
bequest.  The  distinction  at  that  time  between  an  Institution  for 
the  advancement  of  knowledge  by  the  discovery  of  new  truths,  and 
one  for  the  teaching  of  the  knowledge  already  in  existence,  was  not 
so  generally  recognized  as  it  is  at  present,  and  Congress,  after  several 
years  of  delay,  placed  the  expenditures  of  the  income  under  the 
care  of  a  Board  of  Regents,  and  directed  that  they  should  make 
provision,  by  the  erection  of  a  building  and  otherwise,  for  the  for- 
mation of  a  library,  a  museum,  and  a  gallery.  It  also  gave  fifty 
acres  of  unimproved  ground,  surrounding  the  site  for  the  building, 
with  indications  that  it  should  be  planted  with  trees.  Afterward 
however,  though  not  without  much  opposition,  it  was  concluded  by 
the  directors  that  those  objects,  although  very  important  in  them- 
selves, were  too  local  in  their  influence  to  come  up  to  the  liberal 
spirit  of  the  bequest,  which  was  intended  not  merely  to  benefit  the 
citizens  of  Washington,  nor  even  exclusively  those  of  the  United 
States,  but  mankind  in  general ;  and  that  the  efforts  of  the  direct- 
ors should  be  to  induce  Congress  to  make  a  separate  appropriation, 
from  the  public  treasury,  for  the  support  of  the  objects  just  men- 
tioned, and  to  devote,  as  far  as  possible,  the  income  of  the  Smith- 
sonian fund  to  the  direct  increase  and  diffusion  of  knowledge,  by 
promoting  original  researches,  and  by  distributing  accounts  of  the 
results  of  these  to  every  part  of  the  civilized  world.  In  this  the 
directors  have  been  in  a  great  measure  successful,  though  time  and 
much  persevering  labor  have  been  required  to  produce  a  change  in 
the  policy  originally  contemplated.  A  large  portion  of  the  income 
of  the  funds  has  been  expended  on  the  building.  A  library,  prin- 
cipally consisting  of  nearly  a  full  series  of  the  proceedings  and 
transactions  of  the  existing  learned  societies  of  the  world,  has  been 
accumulated,  the  expense  of  the  care  of  which  has  absorbed  another 
portion  of  the  income;  a  museum  has  been  collected,  consisting 
principally  of  specimens  to  illustrate  the  natural  history  and  ethnol- 
ogy of  America,  and  also  a  collection  of  engravings  and  plaster 
casts  to  meet  the  original  requirements  of  Congress  as  to  a  gallery 


ADDRESS    OF   PROF.  S.  NEWCOMB.  473 

of  art;  but  experience  has  abundantly  proved  that  any  one  of  the 
specified  objects,  if  properly  sustained,  would  soon  absorb  all  the 
income  of  the  bequest,  and  vindicated  the  policy  of  transferring  the 
support  of  them  to  other  funds.  In  accordance  with  this,  Congress 
was  first  induced  to  take  charge  of  the  grounds  and  take  the  stepfe 
necessary  for  their  improvement.  It  next  took  charge  of  the  books 
which  had  been  collected  and  incorporated  them  with  the  national 
library,  giving  the  Institution  and  its  collaborators  the  free  use  of 
the  books  of  both  collections.  By  this  transfer  the  Institution  is 
saved,  in  the  expense  of  binding,  cataloguing,  and  attendance, 
nearly  $10,000  annually,  while  it  has  the  same  use  of  its  books 
as  before  the  arrangement  was  made.  Again,  the  Agricultural 
Department  has  taken  charge  of  the  plants  of  the  Institution,  and 
the  osteological  specimens  have  been  transferred  to  the  Army  Med- 
ical Museum.  Furthermore,  a  wealthy  citizen  of  Washington  has 
made  a  large  appropriation  of  money  to  establish  and  support  a 
gallery  of  art,  and  it  is  proposed  to  transfer  to  this  the  articles 
which  the  Institution  has  accumulated  in  the  line  of  art.  The 
object  of  this  policy  is  to  establish  at  Washington  a  collection  of 
objects  of  nature  and  art,  without  trenching  on  the  Smithsonian 
fund,  -which  shall  be  worthy  the  capital  of  the  nation.  As  a  step 
towards  this  desirable  end,  Congress,  at  its  present  session,  has 
appropriated  $10,000  towards  the  support  of  the  museum,  under 
the  care  of  the  Institution,  and  also  $10,000  for  the  commencement 
of  the  fitting  up  of  the  upper  story  of  the  Smithson  building  for 
the  better  display  of  the  collections.  The  $10,000  for  the  care  of 
the  museum  will,  for  the  present,  be  an  annual  appropriation." 

Q.  " What  does  the  building  itself  represent?"  A.  "Externally 
a  Norman  castle,  and  it  has  cost  a  very  large  sum.  Unfortunately, 
architecture  is  frequently  in  antagonism  with  science,  and,  too  often, 
when  an  architect  gets  his  hand  into  the  purse  of  an  establishment 
everything  else  must  stand  aside.  Much  trouble  has  resulted  from 
this  building;  it  has  been  a  source  of  constant  anxiety  and  ex- 
pense, —  the  cost  having  greatly  exceeded  the  original  estimate." 

Q.  "What  was  the  original  object  of  the  building?"  A.  "It 
was  intended  to  accommodate  a  library,  a  museum,  and  a  gallery 
of  art;  but, inasmuch  as  the  Institution  has  turned  over  the  library 
and  the  gallery  of  art  to  other  establishments,  the  building  will  now 
be  devoted  entirely  to  the  museum.  The  upper  part  of  it  was  burnt, 
and  it  remains  unfinished ;  and  if  Congress  would  accept  the  build- 
ing as  a  gift,  allowing  one  of  the  wings  for  the  use  of  the  Institu- 
tion, and  devoting  the  main  portion  to  the  museum,  it  would  be  a 
gain  to  the  Institution." 


LI   1^  K  A  !v   V 

r  N  i  v  K  K  s  i  T  v  <  >  I-' 


CALIFORNIA. 


HENEY  AS  A  DISCOVEEEE.* 

BY 

ALFRED  M.  MAYER. 


AT  the  meeting  of  this  Association  in  1878  a  committee,  com- 
posed of  Professors  Baird,  Newcomb,  and  myself,  was  appointed  to 
prepare  a  eulogy  on  our  revered  and  lamented  colleague  and  former 
President,  Joseph  Henry. 

This,  I  will  not  say  labor,  but  duty  of  affection,  has  devolved 
on  me  alone.  I  would  that  the  other  members  of  this  committee 
had  laid  before  you  their  tributes  to  his  memory,  because  for  years 
they  had  been  closely  associated  with  him  in  his  social  and  profes- 
sional life  in  Washington.  Yet,  while  Professor  Henry  had  been 
the  friend  of  their  manhood  he  was  the  friend  of  my  boyhood; 
and  during  25  years  he  ever  regarded  me — as  was  his  wont  to  say 
— -with  "a  paternal  interest."  To  his.  disinterested  kindness  and 
wise  counsels  is  due  much,  very  much,  of  whatever  usefulness  there 
is  in  me.  Hence,  I  have  said  that  it  is  a  duty  of  affection  for  me 
to  speak  to  you  about  one  who  was  my  beloved  friend. 

I  shall  not  however  attempt  a  biography  of  Joseph  Henry,  nor 
will  I  speak  of  his  administrative  life  as  Director  of  the  Smith- 
sonian Institution,  for  this  is  known  and  valued  by  the  whole  world. 
His  best  eulogy  is  an  account  of  his  discoveries;  for  a  man  of 
science,  as  such,  lives  in  what  he  has  done,  and  not  in  what  he  has 
said;  nor  will  he  be  remembered  in  what  he  proposed  to  do.  I 
will  therefore  with  your  permission,  confine  myself  chiefly  to 
HENRY^OS  the  Discoverer;  and  I  do  this  the  more  willingly  because 
I  am  familiar  with  his  researches,  and  also  because  Professor  Henry, 
from  time  to  time,  took  pleasure  in  giving  me  accounts  of  those 
mental  conceptions  which  preceded  his  work,  led  him  to  it,  and 
guided  him  in  it. 

*  A  Memorial  Address  read  before  the  Meeting  of  the  American  Association  at 
Boston,  August  26,  1880. 

(475) 


476  MEMORIAL   OF   JOSEPH    HENRY. 

To  rightly  appreciate  a  discoverer  we  should  not  look  at  his 
work  from  our  time,  but  go  back  and  regard  it  from  his  time ;  we 
should  not  judge  his  work  in  the  fullness  of  the  light  of  present 
knowledge,  but  in  the  dim  twilight  which  alone  illuminated  him  to 
then  unknown — but  now  well  known — facts  and  laws.  I  will  there- 
fore endeavor  first  to  present  you  with  a  clear  but  necessarily  very 
concise  view  of  the  state  of  our  knowledge  of  electricity  when 
Henry  began  his  original  researches  in  that  branch  of  science,  and 
then  point  out  the  value  of  his  discoveries  by  showing  what  they 
added  to  knowledge  and  how  they  instigated  and  influenced  the  dis- 
coveries and  inventions  of  other  men. 

Henry  began  his  electrical  researches  at  the  age  of  28,  in  the 
year  1827,  while  he  was  Professor  of  Mathematics  and  Natural 
Philosophy  in  the  Albany  Academy.  At  these  he  continuously 
worked  till  1832,  when,  at  the  age  of  33,  he  moved  to  the  College 
of  New  Jersey  (Princeton).  After  a  year's  break  in  his  work, 
caused  by  the  preparation  of  his  course  of  lectures  for  the  college, 
he  is  again  at  original  research,  and  continues  his  contributions  to 
electrical  discoveries  till  1842.  Thus,  during  14  years,  while  be- 
tween the  ages  of  28  and  43,  he  was  a  constant  and  fertile  worker. 
What  he  did  in  these  years  will  be  given  after  a  review  of  what 
had  been  already  discovered  up  to  the  time  he  began  his  original 
experiments. 

Through  the  labors  of  Gilbert,  Boyle,  Otto  von  Guericke,  New- 
ton, Wall,  Gray,  Franklin,  JEpinus,  and  Yolta,  it  had  been  dis- 
covered that  all  matter  could  be  electrically  excited,  and  that  bodies 
differed  greatly  in  permitting  the  diffusion  of  electricity  over  their 
surfaces;  the  facts  of  electric  attraction  and  repulsion,  of  electric 
induction,  the  action  of  points,  and  the  identity  of  lightning  and 
electricity  had  been  discovered;  and  these  facts  had  been  explained 
and  bound  together  in  a  body  of  doctrine  by  the  hypothesis  of 
Dufay  or  by  that  of  Franklin;  while  Coulomb  and  Poisson,  in  a 
series  of  beautiful  experimental  and  mathematical  labors,  had  given 
us  the  knowledge  of  the  laws  of  the  actions  at  a  distance  of  electric 
attraction  and  repulsion,  and  had  shown  in  what  manner  electricity 
diffuses  itself  over  conductors  of  various  forms. 


ADDRESS    OF    PROF.  A.   M.   MAYER.  477 

About  1820,  men  of  science  spoke  of  electrical  knowledge  as 
almost  complete.  The  mathematical  consequences  of  the  laws  dis- 
covered by  Coulomb  and  others  having  been,  they  thought,  fully 
developed;  electricity  was  hardly  to  be  regarded  as  an  experi- 
mental science,  but  henceforth  might  be  grouped  with  mechanics. 
Si/ch  opinion  was  so  general  that  Faraday  (in  1831),  when  he  began 
his  ever  remarkable  series  of  discoveries,  was  influenced  by  this 
prevailing  feeling  to  style  his  papers  "Experimental  Researches  in 
Electricity." 

It  seemed  almost  impossible  that  any  discovery  could  again  give 
an  impulse  to  electrical  studies  equal  to  that  produced  by  the  bril- 
liant and  most  fertile  researches  of  Volta;  yet  to  the  universal 
surprise  of  the  scientific  world  this  happened.  In  the  winter  of 
1819  Oersted  announced  that  he  had  at  last  discovered  a  correlation 
of  actions  between  electricity  and  magnetism  in  his  celebrated 
experiment  of  the  deflection  of  a  magnet  athwart  the  conjunctive 
wire  of  a  battery  when  the  latter  was  laid  parallel  to  the  direction 
of  the  magnet. 

During  the  month  of  July,  1820,  the  news  of  Oersted's  discovery 
reached  Paris.  It  at  once  excited  profoundly  the  ever  active  and 
versatile  mind  of  Ampere.  This  man,  already  celebrated  as  a 
mathematician,  was  now  destined  to  show  greater  genius  as  an 
experimenter.  He  at  once  began  a  series  of  researches  in  the  field 
opened  by  the  discovery  of  Oersted ;  and  with  astonishing  rapidity 
reached  results  of  such  importance  that  they  gained  him  the  title 
of  the  Newton  of  electro-dynamics ;  and  justly,  for  he  did  for  this 
branch  of  science  even  more  than  Coulomb  had  previously  done 
for  electro-statics. 

On  the  1 8th  of  September,  18  20,  Ampere  read  before  the  Academy 
of  Sciences  of  Paris  his  first  paper  on  electro-dynamics.  In  this 
he  shows  that  the  battery  exerts  an  electro-magnetic  action  as  well 
as  its  conjunctive  wire,  and  he  gives  a  rule  by  which  one  can  readily 
predict  the  direction  in  which  a  magnet  will  be  deflected  by  a  voltaic 
current.  He  supposes  a  current  to  flow  from  the  copper  to  the 
zinc  plate  of  the  battery ;  then,  says  he,  if  you  imagine  yourself  at 
full  length  and  facing  the  wire,  the  current  entering  your  heels  and 
passing  out  at  your  head,  the  north  pole  of  the  magnet  is  always 


478  MEMORIAL   OF   JOSEPH    HENRY. 

deflected  toward  your  left  hand.  In  the  same  paper,  he  says  that 
he  will  soon  experiment  with  spirals  and  helices  of  wire  which,  he 
predicts,  will  have  the  same  properties  as  magnets  as  long  as  a  cur- 
rent of  electricity  flows  through  them.  He  then  gives  his  well- 
known  hypothesis  of  the  nature  of  a  magnet.  He  says  that  if 
we  assume  a  magnet  to  consist  of  an  assemblage  of  minute  currents 
of  electricity  whirling  all  with  the  same  direction  of  rotation  around 
the  steel  molecules  and  in  planes  at  right  angles  to  the  axis  of  the 
bar,  we  will  have  an  hypothesis  which  will  account  for  all  the 
known  properties  of  a  magnet.  Ampere  constructed  his  spirals 
and  helices,  and  to  the  astonishment  of  the  scientific  world  made 
magnets  formed  only  of  spools  of  copper  wire  traversed  by  electric 
currents.  We  can  readily  imagine  the  intense  interest  awakened 
by  this  discovery;  a  discovery  which  caused  Arago  to  exclaim: 
"What  would  Newton,  Halley,  Dufay,  ^Epinus,  Franklin,  and 
Coulomb  have  said  if  one  had  told  them  that  the  day  would  come 
when  a  navigator  would  be  able  to  lay  the  course  of  his  vessel 
without  a  magnetic  needle  and  solely  by  means  of  electric  currents?" 

"  For  several  weeks  physicists  of  France  and  from  abroad  crowded 
Ampere's  humble  study  in  Rue  Fossae  Saint  Victor,  to  see  with  aston- 
ishment a  suspended  loop  of  wire,  in  the  circuit  of  a  battery,  take  a 
definite  position  through  the  directive  magnetic  action  of  the  earth." 

This  hypothesis  of  Ampere  had  a  powerful  hold  on  Henry's  mind, 
and  as  I  know  that  he  used  it  as  a  guiding  light  in  his  researches,  it 
may  here  be  well  to  give  Arago's  account  of  how  Ampere  was  led  to 
its  conceptiop : 

"  Thanks  to  the  profound  researches  of  Ampere,  the  law  which 
governs  celestial  movements,  the  law,  extended  by  Coulomb  to  the 
phenomena  of  electricity  at  rest  or  in  tension,  and  then,  though  with 
less  certainty,  to  magnetic  phenomena,  becomes  one  of  the  character- 
istic features  of  the  powers  exercised  by  electricity  in  motion.  The 
general  formula  which  gives  the  value  of  the  mutual  actions  of  the 
infinitely  small  elements  of  currents  once  understood,  the  determi- 
nation of  the  combined  actions  of  limited  currents  of  different  forms 
becomes  a  simple  problem  of  integral  analysis.  Ampere  did  not  fail 
to  follow  out  these  applications  of  his  discoveries.  He  first  tried  to 
discover  how  a  rectilinear  current  acts  on  a  system  of  circular  closed 


ADDRESS   OF    PROF.  A.   M.   MAYER.  479 

currents,  contained  in  planes  perpendicular  to  the  rectilinear  current. 
The  result  of  the  calculation,  confirmed  by  experiment,  was  that  the 
planes  of  the  circular  currents  would,  supposing  them  movable, 
arrange  themselves  parallel  to  the  rectilinear  current.  If  like  trans- 
verse currents  pass  over  the  whole  length  of  a  magnetic  needle, 
the  cross  direction  which,  in  the  experiment  of  Oersted,  seemed  an 
inexplicable  anomaly,  would  become  a  natural  and  necessary  fact. 
Is  it  not  then  evident  to  all  how  memorable  would  that  discovery 
be  that  would  rigorously  establish  the  fact  that  to  magnetize  a 
needle  is  to  excite,  to  put  in  motion  around  each  molecule  of  the 
steel,  a  small  circular,  electrical  vortex  ?  Ampere  fully  realized  the 
wide  reach  of  the  ingenious  generalization  that  had  taken  possession 
of  his  mind;  and  he  hastened  to  submit  it  to  experimental  proofs 
and  numerical  verifications,  which,  in  our  day,  are  the  only  processes 
considered  entirely  demonstrative/7 

About  this  time  Arago  found  that  the  conjunctive  wire  of  the 
battery  had  the  property  of  causing  iron  filings  to  arrange  them- 
selves around  it  in  concentric  rings.  Guided  by  Ampere's  discovery 
that  a  helix  conducting  a  voltaic  current  had  properties  similar  to 
those  of  a  magnet,  Arago  inferred  that  these  properties  could  be 
given  to  iron  and  steel  by  placing  wires  or  bars  of  these  substances 
in  the  interior  of  one  of  Ampere's  helices.  Experiment  showed  that 
his  inference  was  correct.  The  same  effects  he  obtained  by  passing 
electrical  discharges  from  an  ordinary  frictional  electrical  machine  or 
from  a  Ley  den  jar  through  a  helix  inclosing  a  steel  needle. 

In  subsequent  memoirs,  exhibiting  great  philosophic  acumen  and 
marked  ability  in  the  application  of  mathematical  analysis  to  the 
elucidation  of  physical  phenomena,  Ampere  developed  the  conse- 
quences of  the  general  laws  he  had  previously  discovered. 

In  1821,  six  years  before  Henry  began  his  work,  Faraday — then 
30  years  of  age,  and  as  yet  an  assistant  of  Davy — published  his  first 
paper  on  electrical  research.  In  this  he  shows  that  a  wire  conveying 
an  electrical  current  can  be  made  to  rotate  around  the  pole  of  a 
magnet.  He  then  reverses  the  action,  and  holding  the  wire  at  rest 
makes  the  magnetic  pole  rotate  around  the  wire.  These  phenomena 
were  shown  by  Ampere  to  be  entirely  conformable  to  his  hypothesis 
of  the  electro-dynamic  nature  of  a  magnet. 


480  MEMORIAL    OF    JOSEPH    HENRY. 

While  Ampere,  in  1820,  was  pursuing  his  researches,  Schweigger, 
of  Halle,  invented  his  galvanometer.  This  he  formed  by  wrapping 
an  insulated  wire  in  several  turns  and  layers  around  a  suspended 
magnetic  needle.  This  instrument  excited  a  powerful  influence  in 
electrical  researches,  and  the  contemplation  of  its  action  led  Henry 
to  make  his  first  trials  as  an  original  experimenter. 

The  history  of  another  research  is  now  in  order  as  bearing  directly 
on  one  of  Henry's  investigations — and  one  which  he  ever  regarded 
with  considerable  pride.  In  1827  Savary  began  experiments  on 
the  magnetizing  actions  of  the  discharge  of  the  Leyden  jar  on  steel 
needles.  These  needles,  of  various  lengths,  diameters,  and  degrees 
of  hardness,  were  placed  at  right  angles  to  the  wire  conveying  the 
electric  discharge.  They  were  also  put  in  the  interior  of  Ampere's 
helices,  after  the  manner  of  Arago's  original  experiments.  The 
phenomena  thus  observed  were  found  to  be  of  the  most  complex 
characters.  It  was  found  that  the  direction  of  the  polarity  in  the 
needle  and  the  intensity  of  its  magnetization  depended  on  its  distance 
from  the  wire,  on  the  diameter  of  the  needle,  on  the  potentiality  of 
the  discharge,  and  on  the  resistance  of  the  wire  through  which  the 
discharge  took  place.  Similar  phenomena  were  observed  when  the 
needles  were  placed  in  one  of  Ampere's  helices,  through  which  the 
discharge  was  thrown.  After  a  long  and  tedious  research  Savary 
concluded  that  these  facts  could  only  be  explained  by  the  supposition 
that  the  discharge  of  a  Leyden  jar  was  not  continuous,  but  consisted 
of  a  series  of  rebounds  or  reflections  to  and  from  the  two  coatings 
of  the  jar.  In  1842,  Henry,  apparently  ignorant  of  this  research 
of  Savary,  went  over  the  same  ground,  and  arrived  independently 
at  the  same  inference  which  Savary  had  formed  fifteen  years  before — 
an  inference  directly  confirmed  by  the  experiments  of  Feddersen, 
who,  in  1862,  got  the  life  history  of  the  electric  spark  of  the  Leyden 
jar  by  photographing  its  image  reflected  from  a  concave  mirror 
revolving  800  to  1 ,000  times  in  a  second. 

Two  years  previous  to  Savary's  work,  i.  e.  in  1825,  William 
Sturgeon,  of  Woolwich,  England,  improved  on  Arago's  experiment 
of  magnetizing  steel  and  iron  with  the  voltaic  current.  Sturgeon's 
improvement  consisted  in  bending  the  straight  rods  used  by  Arago 
into  U-shaped  pieces,  and  then,  coating  them  with  shellac  varnish, 


ADDRESS   OF   PROF.  A.   M.   MAYER.  481 

he  wound  them  with  uncovered  copper  wire.  The  coils  of  the  wire 
were  separated,  so  that  the  current  flowed  through  the  wire  around 
the  surface  of  the  iron.  This  magnet,  in  proportion  to  its  weight, 
was  the  most  powerful  made  up  to  this  date.  It  certainly  did  not 
require  great  mental  effort  or  acumen  on  the  part  of  Sturgeon  to 
bend  a  straight  bar  magnet  into  the  then  common  U  form  of  the 
permanent  steel  magnet  known  as  the  horse-shoe  magnet;  yet  his 
experiments  with  this  magnet  mark  an  important  point  of  departure 
in  electric  science,  and  evidently  led  Henry  to  his  first  and  his  most 
important  scientific  research. 

I  have  now  given  as  much  of  the  history  of  electrical  research  as 
is  requisite  to  the  understanding  of  Henry's  position  as  a  discoverer 
in  this  branch  of  knowledge  when,  in  1827,  he  began  to  make 
original  experiments,  in  electricity. 

As  with  many  other  men  of  originality,  Henry's  first  essays  were 
in  the  direction  of  improving  the  means  of  illustrating  well-estab- 
lished scientific  facts  and  principles.  His  first  paper,  of  October, 
1827,  is  interesting  because  it  was  his  first.  In  it  he  improves  on 
the  usual  apparatus  which  had  been  used  by  Ampere  and  others  to 
show  electro-dynamic  actions,  by  employing  several  turns  of  insulated 
wire  instead  of  one,  as  had  previously  been  the  practice.  Thus,  for 
example,  to  show  the  directive  action  of  the  earth's  magnetism  on  a 
freely-moving  closed  circuit,  Henry  covered  copper  wire  with  silk 
and  then  made  out  of  it  a  ring  about  20  inches  in  diameter,  formed 
of  several  turns  of  the  wire.  The  extremities  of  this  wire  were 
soldered  to  zinc  and  copper  plates.  The  coil  was  then  suspended 
by  silk  filaments.  On  -plunging  the  metal  plates  into  a  glass  of 
dilute  acid  the  ring  rotated  around  its  point  of  suspension  till  its 
plane  took  a  permanent  position  at  right  angles  to  the  magnetic 
meridian.  By  a  similar  arrangement  of  two  concentric  coils,  one 
suspended  within  the  other,  he  neatly  showed  the  mutual  actions  of 
voltaic  currents  flowing  in  the  same  or  in  opposite  directions ;  which 
facts  are  the  foundations  of  Ampere's  celebrated  law. 

We  now  reach  a  period  when  Henry  appears  as  a  discoverer,  and 

truly  one  of  no  mean  order.     As  I  remember  his  narration  to  me  in 

the  year  1859,  it  was  as  follows:  He  said  that  one  evening  he  was 

sitting  in  his  study  in  Albany  with  a  friend,  when,  after  a  few 

31 


482  MEMORIAL   OF   JOSEPH    HENRY. 

moments  of  reverie,  he  arose  and  exclaimed,  "  To-morrow  I  shall 
make  a  famous  experiment."  For  several  months  he  had  been 
brooding  over  AmpSre's  electro-dynamic  theory  of  .magnetism,  and 
he  was  then  deeply  interested  in  the  phenomena  of  the  develop- 
ment of  magnetism  in  soft  iron  as  shown  in  the  experiments  of 
Arago  and  Sturgeon.  At  the  moment  he  had  arisen  from  his  chair 
it  had  occurred  to  him  that  the  requirements  of  the  theory  of 
Ampere  were  not  fulfilled  in  the  electro-magnets  of  Arago  and 
of  Sturgeon,  but  that  he  could  get  those  conditions  which  the 
theory  required  by  covering  the  enveloping  wire  with  a  non-con- 
ductor like  silk,  and  then  wrapping  it  closely  around  the  soft  iron 
bar  in  several  layers ;  for  the  successive  layers  of  wire  coiling  first 
in  one  direction  and  then  in  the  other  would  tend  to  produce  a 
resultant  action  of  the  current  at  right  angles  to  the  axis  of  the  bar ; 
and  furthermore,  the  great  number  of  convolutions  thus  obtained 
would  act  on  a  greater  number  of  molecules  of  the  bar  and  thereby 
exalt  its  magnetism.  "  When  this  conception,"  said  Henry,  "  came 
into  my  brain  I  was  so  pleased  with  it  that  I  could  not  help  rising 
to  my  feet  and  giving  it  my  hearty  approbation." 

Henry  did  go  to  work  the  next  day,  and  to  his  great  delight  and 
encouragement  discoveries  of  the  highest  interest  and  importance 
revealed  themselves  to  him  week  after  week.  When  he  had  finished 
his  newly-conceived  magnet  he  found  that  it  supported  several  times 
more  weight  than  did  Sturgeon's  magnet  of  equal  size  and  weight. 
This  was  his  first  original  discovery. 

I  will  now  give,  as  far  as  possible,  Henry's  own  words  in  narrating 
his  subsequent  investigations  of  these  very  interesting  phenomena : 

"The  maximum  effect  however  with  this  arrangement  and  a 
single  battery  was  not  yet  obtained.  After  a  certain  length  of  wire 
had  been  coiled  upon  the  iron,  the  power  diminished  with  a  further 
increase  of  the  number  of  turns.  This  was  due  to  the  increased 
resistance  which  the  longer  wire  offered  to  the  conduction  of  elec- 
tricity. Two  methods  of  improvement  therefore  suggested  them- 
selves. The  first  consisted,  not  in  increasing  the  length  of  the  coil, 
but  in  using  a  number  of  separate  coils  on  the  same  piece  of  iron. 
By  this  arrangement  the  resistance  to  the  conduction  of  the  electricity 
was  diminished  and  a  greater  quantity  made  to  circulate  around  the 


ADDRESS   OF   PROF.  A.  M.  MAYER.  483 

iron  from  the  same  battery.  The  second  method  of  producing  a 
similar  result  consisted  in  increasing  the  number  of  elements  of  the 
battery,  or,  in  other  words,  the  projectile  force  of  the  electricity, 
which  enabled  it  to  pass  through  an  increased  number  of  turns  of 
wire,  and  thus,  by  increasing  the  length  of  the  wire,  to  develop  the 
maximum  power  of  the  iron. 

"  To  test  these  principles  on  a  larger  scale,  an  experimental  magnet 
was  constructed.  In  this  a  number  of  compound  helices  were  placed 
on  the  same  bar,  their  ends  left  projecting,  and  so  numbered  that 
they  could  be  all  united  into  one  long  helix,  or  variously  combined 
in  sets  of  lesser  length. 

"  From  a  series  of  experiments  with  this  and  other  magnets  it  was 
proved  that,  in  order  to  produce  the  greatest  amount  of  magnetism 
from  a  battery  of  a  single  cup,  a  number  of  helices  is  required ;  but 
when  a  compound  battery  is  used,  then  one  long  wire  must  be 
employed,  making  many  turns  around  the  iron,  the  length  of  wire, 
and  consequently  the  number  of  turns,  being  commensurate  with  the 
projectile  power  of  the  battery. 

"In  describing  the  results  of  my  experiments  the  terms  intensity 
and  quantity  magnets  were  introduced  to  avoid  circumlocution,  and 
were  intended  to  be  used  merely  in  a  technical  sense.  By  the 
intensity  magnet  I  designated  a  piece  of  soft  iron,  so  surrounded  with 
wire  that  its  magnetic  power  could  be  called  into  operation  by  an 
intensity  battery ;  and  by  a  quantity  magnet  a  piece  of  iron  so  sur- 
rounded by  a  number  of  separate  coils  that-  its  magnetism  could  be 
fully  developed  by  a  quantity  battery. 

"  I  was,"  says  Henry,  "  the  first  to  point  out  this  connection  of 
the  two  kinds  of  the  battery  with  the  two  forms  of  the  magnet,  in 
my  paper  in  Sittiman's  Journal,  January,  1831,  and  clearly  to  state 
that  when  magnetism  was  to  be  developed  by  means  of  a  compound 
battery,  one  long  coil  was  to  be  employed,  and  when  the  maximum 
effect  was  to  be  produced  by  a  single  battery,  a  number  of  strands 
were  to  be  used." 

Here  is  Henry's  description  of  one  of  his  quantity  magnets :  "  A 
bar  of  iron  21  inches  long  and  2  inches  square  with  rounded  corners 
was  bent  into  a  U  form,  having  legs  about  9  inches  long.  This  bar 
weighed  21  pounds.  Its  armature  was  formed  of  a  piece  of  a  similar 


484  MEMORIAL   OF    JOSEPH    HENRY. 

bar  and  weighed  7  pounds.  Nine  coils  of  copper  bell-wire,  each  60 
feet  in  length,  were  wrapped  in  sections  on  the  iron.  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  wire  were  left  projecting  and 
all  numbered,  so  that  the  first  and  last  end  of  each  strand  might  be 
readily  distinguished.  In  this  manner  was  formed  an  experimental 
magnet  on  a  larger  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,  etc.  The  horse-shoe  was  sus- 
pended in  a  rectangular  wooden  frame  3  feet  9  inches  high  and  20 
inches  wide. 

"  In  order  to  ascertain  the  effect  of  a  very  small  galvanic  element 
on  this  large  quantity  of  iron,  a  pair  of  plates  exactly  one  square 
inch,  was  attached  to  all  the  wires:  the  weight  lifted  was  85  pounds. 
To  find  out  the  greatest  supporting  power  of  the  magnet,  with  all 
of  its  9  coils  in  circuit,  a  small  battery  formed  of  a  plate  of  zinc 
12  inches  long  and  6  inches  wide,  and  surrounded  by  copper,  was 
substituted  for  the  galvanic  element  used  in  the  former  experiments : 
the  weight  lifted  was  750  pounds." 

The  most  powerful  of  Henry's  magnets  was  constructed  while  he 
was  at  Princeton,  and  is  thus  described  by  his  successor  in  the  chair 
of  Natural  Philosophy,  Professor  Richard  S.  McCulloh :  "  It  is 
formed  of  a  bar  of  rounded  iron  nearly  4  inches  in  diameter, 
weighing  about  100  pounds,  and  surrounded  with  30  strands  of 
copper  bell -wire,  each  about  40  feet  long.  With  a  calorimotor  on 
Dr.  Hare's  plan,  consisting  of  22  plates  of  zinc  each  9  inches  by 
12,  alternating  with  plates  of  copper  of  the  same  size,  it  supports 
3,500  pounds,  or  more  than  a  ton  and  a  half. 

"After  the  connection  with  the  battery  is  broken,  this  magnet 
supports  a  thousand  pounds  for  several  minutes,  and  from  year  to 
year  the  lifter  adheres  with  a  force  which  is  overcome  only  by  a 


ADDRESS   OF   PROF.  A.  M.  MAYER.  485 

weight  of  several  hundred  pounds.  When  the  lifter  however  is 
detached,  nearly  all  the  magnetism  disappears/' 

On  a  recent  visit  to  the  College  of  New  Jersey  by  the  electrician 
Mr.  Frank  L.  Pope,  he  examined  this  magnet.  "There,"  he  says 
in  his  admirable  and  justly  appreciative  eulogy  on  Henry,  "there, 
too,  was  the  reversing  commutator  or  pole-changer,  a  device  first 
invented  by  Professor  Henry,  with  which  he  was  accustomed  to 
delight  and  astonish  his  pupils,  by  suddenly  reversing  the  polarity 
of  his  large  magnet,  causing  it  to  drop  its  armature  and  seize  it 
again  before  it  had  passed  beyond  the  sphere  of  attraction,  a  prin- 
ciple which  we  see  exemplified  in  every  stroke  of  the  neutral  relay 
of  the  quadruplex  telegraph  of  to-day." 

We  will  now  return  to  Henry's  study  of  the  properties  of  his 
intensity  magnet.  This  magnet  was  formed  of  a  piece  of  iron  one- 
fourth  of  an  inch  in  diameter,  bent  into  the  U  form  and  wound  with 
8  feet  of  insulated  wire.  His  batteries  were  two, — one  formed  of  a 
single  element  with  a  zinc  plate  4  inches  by  7,  surrounded  by  copper 
and  immersed  in  dilute  acid ;  the  other,  a  Cruikshank's  battery,  or 
trough,  with  25  double  plates.  The  plates  of  this  battery  were 
joined  in  series  and  altogether  had  exactly  the  same  surface  of  zinc 
as  that  in  the  single-cell  battery. 

The  magnet  was  now  connected  directly  to  the  single  cell.  The 
magnet  held  up  72  ounces.  Then  530  feet  of  number  18  copper 
wire  led  the  current  from  the  cell  to  the  magnet;  it  now  sup- 
ported only  two  ounces.  Five  hundred  and  thirty  feet  more  of  the 
wire  were  introduced  into  the  circuit  and  then  the  magnet  held  but 
one  ounce.  In  these  facts  Henry  faced  the  same  results  as  con- 
fronted Barlow  five  years  before,  and  caused  Barlow  then  to  say : 
"  In  a  very  early  stage  of  electro-magnetic  experiments,  it  had  been 
suggested  [by  Laplace,  Ampere,  and  others]  that  an  instantaneous 
telegraph  might  be  established  by  means  of  conducting-wires  and 
compasses ;  -  -  •-  but  I  found  such  a  sensible  diminution  with 
only  200  feet  of  wire,  as  at  once  to  convince  me  of  the  impractica- 
bility of  the  scheme:"  and  such,  at  that  day,  seemed  to  be  the 
common  opinion  of  men  of  science.  But  this  opinion  is  presently, 
to  be  shown  by  Henry  to  be  ill  founded,  by  reason  of  the  ignorance 
of  the  relations  which  have  of  necessity  to  exist  between  the  kind  of 


486  MEMORIAL   OF    JOSEPH    HENRY. 

battery  and  the  kind  of  magnet  in  order  to  produce  electro-magnetic 
action  at  a  distance :  relations  which  Henry  was  the  first  to  dis- 
cover. This  accomplishment  justly  entitles  him  to  be  regarded  as 
a  man  of  genius  and  a  discoverer  of  no  mean  order.  This  dis- 
covery will  always  remain  the  one  important  fact .  that  was  to  be 
known,  to  be  understood,  and  to  be  applied,  before  it  was  possible  to 
have  constructed  any  form  of  electro-magnetic  telegraph. 

Let  us  see  how  Henry  made  this  discovery.  After  ending  the 
experiments  with  the  one-cell  battery  and  reaching  results  which 
seemed  to  confirm  the  opinion  of  Barlow  as  to  "the  impracticability 
of  the  scheme"  of  an  electro-magnetic  telegraph,  Henry  attached 
his  magnet  to  the  second  battery  formed  of  25  cells,  arranged  in 
series.  The  current  from  this  battery  was  sent  to  the  magnet 
through  1,060  feet  of  the  same  wire  as  had  been  used  in  the  experi- 
ments with  the  first  battery  of  one  cell.  The  magnet  now  lifted 
eight  ounces.  It  had  held  up  only  one  ounce  when  with  the  same 
length  of  interposed  wire  the  battery  of  one  cell  was  used. 

He  now  attached  his  electro-magnet  directly  to  the  poles  of  the 
25-cell  battery,  when,  to  his  astonishment,  it  only  held  7  ounces. 
The  same  magnet,  it  will  be  remembered,  when  attached  to  the  one- 
cell  battery  supported  72  ounces. 

•  Here  were  facts  of  the  highest  significance,  and  Henry  was  not 
slow  to  seize  them  in  all  their  bearings.  Referring  to  these  experi- 
ments he  says :  "  It  is  possible  that  the  different  states  of  the  trough, 
with  respect  to  dryness,  may  have  exerted  some  influence  on  this 
remarkable  result;  but  that  the  effect  of  a  current  from  a  trough 
(i.  e.  a  series  of  cells)  is  at  least  not  sensibly  diminished  by  passing 
through  a  long  wire,  is  directly  applicable  to  Mr.  Barlow's  project 
of  forming  an  electro-magnetic  telegraph,  and  it  is  also  of  material 
consequence  in  the  construction  of  the  galvanic  coil." 

Henry  speaking,  in  1857,  of  these,  his  first  gatherings  into  the 
garner  of  science,  says:  "These  steps  in  the  advance  of  electro- 
magnetism,  though  small,  were  such  as  to  interest  and  astonish  the 
scientific  world.  With  the  same  battery  used  by  Mr.  Sturgeon,  at 
least  a  hundred  times  more  magnetism  was  produced  than  could 
have  been  obtained  by  his  experiment.  These  developments  were 
considered  at  the  time  of  much  importance  in  a  scientific  point  of 


ADDRESS   OF   PROF.  A.  M.  MAYER.  487 

view,  and  they  subsequently  furnished  the  means  by  which  magneto- 
electricity,  the  phenomena  of  xlia-magnetism,  and  the  magnetic  effects 
in  polarized  light  were  discovered.  They  gave  rise  to  the  various 
forms  of  electro-magnetic  machines  which  have  exercised  the  inge- 
nuity of  inventors  in  every  part  of  the  world,  and  were  of  immediate 
applicability  in  the  introduction  of  the  magnet  to  telegraphic  pur- 
poses. Neither  the  electro-magnet  of  Sturgeon  nor  any  electro- 
magnet ever  made  previous  to  my  investigations  was  applicable  to 
transmitting  power  to  a  distance." 

Henry  however  was  not  satisfied  with  the  mere  statement  that 
his  discovery  was  "directly  applicable  to  Mr.  Barlow's  project  of 
forming  an  electro-magnetic  telegraph ;"  he  actually  constructed  an 
electro-magnetic  telegraph.  Sometime  during  the  year  1831,  "I 
arranged,"  says  he,  "around  one  of  the  upper  rooms  of  the  Albany 
Academy  a  wire  of  more  than  a  mile  in  length,  through  which  I 
was  enabled  to  make  signals  by  sounding  a  bell.  The  mechanical 
arrangement  for  effecting  this  object  was  simply  a  steel  bar,  perma- 
nently magnetized,  of  about  ten  inches  in  length,  supported  on  a 
pivot,  and  placed  with  its  north  end  between  the  two  arms  of  a 
horse-shoe  magnet.  When  the  latter  was  excited  by  the  current,  the 
end  of  the  bar  thus  placed  was  attracted  by  one  arm  of  the  horse-shoe 
and  repelled  by  the  other,  and  was  thus  caused  to  move  in  a  hori- 
zontal plane  and  its  further  end  to  strike  a  bell  suitably  adjusted." 

This  was  the  first  electro-magnetic  telegraph  which  had  worked 
through  so  great  a  length  of  wire ;  it  was  the  first  electro-magnetic 
telegraph  in  which  an  electro-magnet  had  worked  successfully;  it 
was  the  first  "sounding"  electro-magnetic  telegraph. 

On  this  occasion  we  have  not  the  time  to  enter  into  a  discussion 
of  the  relative  parts  played  by  Henry  and  Morse  in  the  invention  of 
the  electro-magnetic  telegraph ;  nor  do  I  think  such  a  course  neces- 
sary. Henry's  own  words  as  given  in  his  "Statement  in  relation 
to  the  history  of  the  electro-magnetic  telegraph,"  and  published  by 
the  Regents  of  the  Smithsonian  Institution  in  1857,  give  all  that  is 
required  to  a  just  understanding  of  the  relations  of  these  two  dis- 
tinguished men  to  this  invention. 

"The  principles,"  says  Henry,  (referring  to  his  discoveries  in 
electro-magnetism  of  which  I  have  just  given  an  account,)  "I  had 


488  MEMORIAL    OF    JOSEPH    HENRY. 

developed  were  applied  by  Dr.  Gale  to  render  Morse's  machine 
effective  at  a  distance."  This  statement  seems  to  me  to  be  as  direct, 
as  clear,  as  truthful,  and  as  comprehensive  as  one  can  desire.  They 
are  Henry's  own  words,  and  we  all  receive  them  as  entirely  satis- 
factory. "The  principles  I  had  developed  were  applied  by  Dr. 
Gale  to  render  Morse's  machine  effective  at  a  distance."  Observe, 
Henry  does  not  claim  to  have  had  any  part  in  rendering  Morse's 
machine  effective  when  near  the  battery;  no,  because  that  was  the 
condition  of  the  machine  before  Morse  called  in  the  assistance  of 
Dr.  Gale  in  the  winter  of  1836-'37;  but  Henry  does  claim  this: 
by  his  discoveries  to  have  given  Dr.  Gale  the  principles  which  Dr. 
Gale  applied  to  Morse's  machine  and  rendered  it  effective  at  a  dis- 
tance; nor  does  Henry  claim  Morse's  ingenious  marking  machine — 
a  lever,  one  of  whose  ends  is  attracted  by  the  electro-magnet  against 
an  opposing  spring,  while  the  other  end  of  the  lever  makes  a  mark 
on  a  moving  surface.  Nor  does  Henry  claim  any  of  the  other 
ingenious  mechanical  combinations  invented  by  Morse.  Henry's 
claim  is  the  claim  of  a  discoverer  not  of  an  inventor;  for  he  says: 
"The  principles  I  had  developed  were  applied  by  Dr.  Gale  to  render 
Morse's  instrument  effective  at  a  distance." 

Henry  does  not  claim  that  his  own  telegraphic  machine  (which 
was  undoubtedly  an  original  invention)  had  been  appropriated  by 
Mr.  Morse ;  certainly  not,  because  it  is  an  entirely  different  inven- 
tion. And  here  let  me  call  your  attention  to  an  important  fact,  viz : 
Neither  Henry  nor  Morse  could  lay  claim  to  having  originated  the 
idea  of  causing  a  voltaic  current  to  produce  electro-magnetic  actions 
at  a  distance ;  yet  the  majority  of  persons,  who  have  not  examined 
into  the  history  of  telegraphy,  think  that  this  is  the  very  point  at 
issue  between  Henry  and  Morse. 

Finally,  I  will  take  the  liberty  of  remarking  that  had  Henry 
taken  out  a  patent  in  which  he  claimed  as  his  invention  an  electro- 
magnet formed  of  two  or  more  layers  of  insulated  wire,  Morse's  patent 
would  not  have  been  so  valuable.  Remember,  I  speak  not  of  the 
merit  of  the  invention,  but  of  the  merit  of  the  patent;  for  the 
invention,  so  far  as  Morse  is  concerned,  would  have  remained  the 
same,  because  one  essential  part  of  a  Morse  telegraph  is  Henry's 
intensity  magnet,  and  certainly  Morse  never  invented  that. 


ADDRESS   OF   PROF.  A.   M.  MAYER.  489 

Let  us  pause  here  awhile  from  following  Henry  in  his  career  of 
discoverer  and  examine  a  little  more  curiously  into  what  he  has  just 
done.  I  said,  in  the  beginning  of  this  discourse,  that  to  judge 
rightly  of  a  discoverer's  achievements  we  should  view  them  in  the 
light  of  the  knowledge  of  his  time.  What  was  that  knowledge? 
I  have  already  sketched  it  sufficiently  to  show  how  much  Henry 
was  indebted  to  knowledge  then  existing,  at  least  in  so  far  as  he  was 
guided  thereby  in  his  work.  In  this  light  his  achievements  appear 
indeed  remarkable,  and  as  admirable  as  those  of 'any  philosopher  of 
his  time. 

Simultaneously  with  Henry's  first  publication  in  1827,  on  the 
improvement  of  electro-magnetic  apparatus  by  increasing  the  length 
of  the  galvanic  conductor  and  the  number  of  its  coils,  Ohm  published 
at  Berlin,  his  mathematical  law  of  galvanic  circuits,  in  a  book  entitled 
Galvanische  Kette,  mathematisch  bearbeitet.  This  publication  was 
not  only  received  with  indifference,  but  almost  with  contempt  by  his 
countrymen.  Professor  H.  W.  Dove,  of  Berlin,  says  that  "  In  the 
Berlin  Jahrbucher  fur  wissenschaftliche  Kritik,  Ohm's  theory  was 
named  a  web  of  naked  fancies,  which  can  never  find  the  semblance  of 
support  from  even  the  most  superficial  observation  of  facts ;  '  he  who 
looks  on  the  world/  proceeds  the  writer,  'with  the  eye  of  reverence 
must  turn  aside  from  this  book  as  the  result  of  an  incurable  delusion, 
whose  sole  effort  is  to  detract  from  the  dignity  of  nature.' " 

Henry's  researches  were  based  avowedly  on  a  thoughtful  study 
of  the  work  and  theory  of  Ampere  in  1820-'21,  and  of  the  galvan- 
ometer of  Schweigger,  (of  the  same  date,)  as  applicable  to  the  electro- 
magnet of  Sturgeon  in  1825 ;  and  his  series  of  ingenious  experi- 
ments during  the  years  1828-'30,  were  then  completed  by  the  full 
announcement  of  his  discoveries,  January  1,  1831.  At  that  time, 
no  writer  or  physicist  appears  to  have  had  any  just  conception  of 
the  consequences  flowing  from  Ohm's  announcement, — particularly 
of  that  most  important  deduction,  viz :  that  the  interpolar  resist- 
ance should  equal  the  internal  resistance  of  the  battery,  in  order  to 
obtain  the  maxima  of  electro-magnetic  effects.  This  theory  or 
law  of  Ohm, —  utterly  neglected  at  home, — unknown  to  Wheat- 
stone,  to  Faraday,  or  to  Roget, —  could  hardly  make  its  way  abroad 
in  the  garb  of  a  foreign  tongue,  and  reach  Henry  in  Albany.  Henry 


490  MEMORIAL   OF   JOSEPH    HENRY. 

could  not  read  German,  and  Ohm's  papers  were  first  published  in 
English  in  Taylor's  Scientific  Memoirs,  vol.  ii,  London,  1 841 .  From 
the  very  manner  in  which  Henry  worked  at  his  problems  and 
viewed  the  results  of  his  experimenting  it  is  evident  that,  at  that 
date,  he  had  no  knowledge  of  Ohm's  law ;  otherwise,  he  would  not 
have  been  so  astonished  at  the  results  when  his  "intensity  magnet" 
was  connected  with  his  "intensity  battery." 

Henry,  now  in  possession  of  the  powerful  magnets  of  his  own 
creation,  turned  his  thoughts  to  the  uses  to  which  he  might  putr 
these  instruments  as  aids  in  making  other  discoveries.  He  began 
with  work  on  a  problem  which  had  baffled  many  able  men  before 
him.  He  tried  to  do  the  reverse  of  what  he  had  already  done.  He 
had  made  his  great  magnet  by  the  action  of  the  electric  current,  he 
now  tried  to  obtain  an  electric  current  from  the  magnetism  of  his 
great  magnet, — and  he  succeeded. 

It  is  not  generally  known  or  appreciated  that  Henry  and  Faraday 
independently  discovered  the  means  of  producing  the  electric  current 
and  the  electric  spark  from  a  magnet.  Tyndall,  in  speaking  of  this 
great  discovery  of  Faraday's,  says :  "I  cannot  help  thinking  while 
I  dwell  upon  them  that  this  discovery  of  magneto-electricity  is  the 
greatest  experimental  result  ever  obtained  by  an  investigator.  It 
is  the  Mont  Blanc  of  Faraday's  own  achievements.  He  always 
worked  at  great  elevations,  but  higher  than  this  he  never  subse- 
quently attained." 

The  history  of  Henry's  connection  with  this  notable  discovery  is, 
I  think,  best  given  in  Henry's  own  words,  which  I  take  from 
SUtiman's  Journal  of  July,  1832.  Referring  to  Faraday's  discov- 
ery, he  says:  "No  detail  is  given  of  the  experiments,  and  it  is 
somewhat  surprising  that  results  so  interesting,  and  which  certainly 
form  a  new  era  in  the  history  of  electricity  and  magnetism,  should 
not  have  been  more  fully  described  before  this  time  in  some  of  the 
English  publications.  The  only  mention  I  have  found  of  them  is 
the  following  short  account  from  the  Annals  of  Philosophy  for  April, 
under  the  head  of  Proceedings  of  the  Royal  Institution  :  'Feb.  17. 
Mr.  Faraday  gave  an  account  of  the  first  two  parts  of  his  researches 
in  electricity,  namely,  volta-electric  induction  and  magneto-electric 
induction.  -  -  -  If  a  wire,  connected  at  both  extremities  with 


ADDRESS   OF   PROF.   A.  M.   MAYER.  491 

a  galvanometer,  be  coiled  ill  the  form  of  a  helix  around  a  magnet, 
no  current  of  electricity  takes  place  in  it.  This  is  an  experiment 
which  has  been  made  by  various  persons  hundreds  of  times,  in  the 
hope  of  evolving  electricity  from  magnetism.  But  if  the  magnet 
be  withdrawn  from  or  introduced  into  such  a  helix,  a  current  of 
electricity  is  produced  while  the  magnet  is  in  motion,  and  is  rendered 
evident  by  the  deflection  of  the  galvanometer.  If  a  single  wire  be 
passed  by  a  magnetic  pole  a  current  of  electricity  is  induced  through 
it  which  can  be  rendered  sensible.'  [Henry  continues :] 

"Before  having  any  knowledge  of  the  method  given  in  the  above 
account,  I  had  succeeded  in  producing  electrical  effects  in  the  follow- 
ing manner,  which  differs  from  that  developed  by  Mr.  Faraday,  and 
which  appears  to  me  to  develop  some  new  and  interesting  facts :  A 
piece  of  copper  wire  about  thirty  feet  long,  and  covered  with  elastic 
varnish,  was  closely  coiled  around  the  middle  of  the  soft-iron  arma- 
ture of  the  galvanic  magnet  described  in  vol.  xix  of  the  American 
Journal  of  Science,  and  which,  when  excited,  will  readily  sustain 
between  six  hundred  and  seven  hundred  pounds.  The  wire  was 
wound  upon  itself  so  as  to  occupy  only  about  one  inch  of  the  length 
of  the  armature,  which  is  seven  inches  in  all.  The  armature  thus 
furnished  with  the  wire  was  placed  in  its  proper  position  across  the 
ends  of  the  galvanic  magnet,  and  there  fastened  so  that  no  motion 
could  take  place.  The  two  projecting  ends  of  the  helix  were  dipped 
into  two  cups  of  mercury,  and  these  connected  with  a  distant  galva- 
nometer by  means  of  two  copper  wires  each  about  forty  feet  long. 
This  arrangement  being  completed,  I  stationed  myself  near  the  gal- 
vanometer, and  directed  an  assistant  at  a  given  word  to  immerse 
suddenly  in  a  vessel  of  dilute  acid  the  galvanic  battery  attached  to 
the  magnet.  At  the  instant  of  immersion  the  north  end  of  the 
needle  was  deflected  30°  to  the  west,  indicating  a  current  of  elec- 
tricity from  the  helix  surrounding  the  armature.  The  effect  how- 
ever appeared  only  as  a  single  impulse,  for  the  needle,  after  a  few 
oscillations,  resumed  its  former  undisturbed  position  in  the  magnetic 
meridian,  although  the  galvanic  action  of  the  battery,  and  conse- 
quently the  magnetic  power,  still  continued.  I  was  however  much 
surprised  to  see  the  needle  suddenly  deflected  from  a  state  of  rest  to 
about  20°  to  the  east,  or  in  a  contrary  direction,  when  the  battery 


492  MEMORIAL    OF    JOSEPH    HENRY. 

was  withdrawn  from  the  acid,  and  again  deflected  to  the  west  when 
it  was  re-immersed.  This  operation  was  repeated  many  times  in  suc- 
cession, and  uniformly  with  the  same  result,  the  armature  the  whole 
time  remaining  immovably  attached  to  the  poles  of  the  magnet,  no 
motion  being  required  to  produce  the  effect,  as  it  appeared  to  take 
place  only  in  consequence  of  the  instantaneous  development  of  the 
magnetic  action  in  one  and  the  sudden  cessation  of  it  in  the  other. 
-  -  -  From  the  foregoing  facts  it  appears  that  a  current  of 
electricity  is  produced  for  an  instant  in  a  helix  of  copper  wire  sur- 
rounding a  piece  of  soft  iron  whenever  magnetism  is  induced  in  the 
iron;  and  a  current  in  an  opposite  direction  when  the  magnetic 
action  ceases ;  also  that  an  instantaneous  current  in  one  or  the  other 
direction  accompanies  every  change  in  the  magnetic  intensity  of  the 
iron." 

I  will  now  give  Henry's  account  of  the  experiment  by  which  he 
obtained  a  spark  from  the  magneto-electric  current — certainly  the 
first  flash  of  a  magneto-electric  current  ever  seen  in  this  country: 
"  The  poles  of  the  magnet,"  says  Henry,  "  were  connected  by  a  single 
rod  of  iron  bent  into  the  form  of  a  horse-shoe,  and  its  extremities 
filed  perfectly  flat  so  as  to  come  in  perfect  contact  with  the  faces  of 
the  poles:  around  the  middle  of  the  arch  of  this  horse-shoe  two 
strands  of  copper  wire  were  tightly  coiled,  one  over  the  other.  A 
current  from  one  of  these  helices  deflected  the  needle  one  hundred 
degrees,  and  when  both  were  used,  the  needle  was  deflected  with  such 
force  as  to  make  a  complete  circuit.  But  the  most  surprising  effect 
was  produced  when  instead  of  passing  the  current  through  the  long 
wires  to  the  galvanometer,  the  opposite  ends  of  the  helices  were  held 
nearly  in  contact  with  each  other  and  the  magnet  suddenly  excited : 
in  this  case  a  small  but  vivid  spark  was  seen  to  pass  between  the 
ends  of  the  wires,  and  this  effect  was  repeated  as  often  as  the  state 
of  intensity  of  the  magnet  was  changed.  -  -  It  appears 

from  the  May  number  of  the  Annals  of  Philosophy,  that  I  have 
been  anticipated  in  this  experiment  of  drawing  sparks  from  the 
magnet  by  Mr.  James  D.  Forbes,  of  Edinburgh,  who  obtained  a 
spark  on  the  30th  of  March,  my  experiments  being  made  during  the 
last  two  weeks  of  June.  A  simple  notification  of  his  result  is  given, 
without  any  account  of  the  experiment,  which  is  reserved  for  a 


ADDRESS    OF    PROF.  A.   M.   MAYER.  493 

communication  to  the  Royal  Society  of  Edinburgh.  My  result  is 
therefore  entirely  independent  of  his,  and  was  undoubtedly  obtained 
by  a  different  process." 

A  few  words  now  will  place  Henry  in  his  proper  and  just  relation 
to  these  important  discoveries.  We  have  seen  that  all  the  informa- 
tion he  had  received  about  Faraday's  discovery  was  the  account  of 
Faraday's  production  of  magneto-electricity  by  the  sudden  insertion 
of  a  magnet  into  a  helix  and  by  its  sudden  withdrawal  therefrom. 
This  is  the  experiment  described  in  section  No.  39  of  Faraday's 
paper  of  November,  1831.  Henry's  experiment  is  entirely  different, 
and  certainly  was  entirely  original  with  him,  but  it  is  essentially 
Faraday's  experiment  described  in  sections  27,  28,  29,  30  and  31  of 
the  same  paper,  and  is  the  first  in  the  order  of  those  which  Faraday 
gives  of  his  various  methods  of  evolving  electricity  from  magnetism. 
Of  this  experiment  Henry  had  no  knowledge  when  he  obtained  the 
electric  current  from  the  magnet,  no  more  than  he  had  of  the  other 
experiment  in  which  Faraday  moved  a  permanent  steel  magnet  in  a 
helix.  Thus  it  clearly  appears  that  though  Henry  cannot  be  placed 
on  record  as  the  first  discoverer  of  the  magneto-electric  current,  yet 
it  can  be  claimed  that  he  stands  alone  as  its  second  independent 
discoverer. 

As  to  the  production  of  the  electric  spark  from  the  magneto- 
electric  current,  both  Henry  and  Forbes  were  anticipated  by  Faraday, 
who  describes  an  experiment,  which  in  all  essentials  is  the  same  as 
Henry's,  in  section  No.  32  of  the  same  paper  of  November,  1831. 

I  may  have  been  somewhat  tedious  in  these  long  quotations  and 
minute  narrations  of  dates,  but  my  object  is  to  place  Henry  before 
you  as  a  discoverer  and  make  you  appreciate  him,  and  that  justly; — 
not  to  ask  too  much  for  him,  for  that  would  injure  his  fair  name. 

Henry's  next  discovery  was  that  of  the  induction  of  a  current  on 
itself,  or  of  the  "extra  current,"  as  it  is  sometimes  called.  Here 
he  had  the  good  luck  to  anticipate  Faraday  by  nearly  two  years  and 
a  half  in  the  observation  of  the  fundamental  facts  of  this  discovery, 
Henry  publishing  his  observations  in  July,  1832,  while  Faraday's 
first  appear  in  the  Philosophical  Magazine  for  November,  1834. 
Therefore,  to  Henry  should  be  given  the  honor  of  having  made  the 
first  observations  of  these  phenomena ;  but  not  in  opposition  to  any 


494  MEMORIAL    OF    JOSEPH    HENRY. 

claim  set  up  for  Faraday,  because  Faraday  expressly  states  in  his 
paper  read  before  the  Royal  Society  on  January  29,  1835,  that 
"  The  inquiry  arose  out  of  a  fact  communicated  to  me  by  Mr.  Jenkin, 
which  is  as  follows :  If  an  ordinary  wire  of  short  length  be  used  as 
the  medium  of  communication  between  the  two  plates  of  an  elec- 
tromotor consisting  of  a  single  pair  of  metals,  no  management  will 
enable  the  experimenter  to  obtain  an  electric  shock  from  this  wire; 
but  if  the  wire  which  surrounds  an  electro-magnet  be  used,  a  shock 
is  felt  each  time  the  contact  with  the  electro-motor  is  broken,  provided 
the  ends  of  the  wire  be  grasped  one  in  each  hand."  Notwithstand- 
ing this  explicit  statement  of  Faraday's,  neither  to  Henry  nor  to 
Jenkin  is  generally  accorded  the  credit  for  the  original  observations, 
but  it  is  given  to  Faraday.  This  is  accounted  for  by  the  fact  that 
although  Henry  had  the  good  fortune  to  anticipate  others  in  the 
observations,  he  had  not  the  leisure  to  follow  up  these  observations 
to  their  full  explanation  till  after  Faraday  had  completely  unravelled 
their  nature.  This  was  owing  to  the  removal  of  Henry  to  Princeton 
in  November  of  1 832,  shortly  after  he  had  made  his  few  preliminary 
experiments ;  and  he  did  not  resume  and  finish  this  research  till  1834 ; 
and  in  1835  he  gave  the  results  of  his  work  to  the  American  Philo- 
sophical Society  in  a  paper  "On  the  Influence  of  a  Spiral  Conductor 
in  Increasing  the  Intensity  of  Electricity  from  a  Galvanic  Arrange- 
ment of  a  Single  Pair,  etc."  , 

In  1838,  after  Henry's  return  from  his  first  visit  to  Europe,  he 
discovered  an  entirely  new  class  of  phenomena  in  electrical  induc- 
tion ;  and  as  the  field  was  entirely  his  own  he  entered  into  this  work 
with  great  enthusiasm.  In  these  researches  he  extends  greatly  our 
knowledge  of  electrical  induction.  He  first  showed  that  an  induced 
current  may  excite  a  second  induced  current  in  a  neighboring  closed 
conductor,  and  this  last  may  induce  a  third  current  in  another 
neighboring  closed  circuit,  and  so  on.  These  various  induced  cur- 
rents Henry  styled  currents  of  the  first,  second,  third,  fourth,  fifth, 
&c.,  orders.  He  shows  that  these  currents  alternate  in  their  direc- 
tions in  the  successive  orders, — at  least  when  these  currents  are 
induced  by  the  discharge  of  a  voltaic  battery.  He  investigates  the 
differences  in  the  properties  of  these  currents  according  as  they  flow 
through  conductors  formed  of  few  convolutions  of  low  resistance  or 


ADDRESS   OF   PROF.  A.  M.  MAYER.  495 

through  many  convolutions  of  high  resistance.  He  shows  that  plates 
of  metal,  when  their  surfaces  are  continuous,  screen  the  inductive 
action  of  a  current  of  one  order  on  the  succeeding  order,  but  that 
when  a  sector  is  cut  out  of  the  metal  plate  the  screening  effect  dis- 
appears. The  same  phenomena  of  induced  currents  of  different 
orders  he  tracks  through  the  inductive  actions  of  the  discharge  of 
the  Leyden  jar  and  of  the  ordinary  frictional  electrical  machine  in 
the  most  skillful  manner,  and  shows  in  what  these  phenomena  differ 
from  those  produced  by  the  inductive  actions  of  the  discharges  of 
the  voltaic  battery. 

In  the  time  allotted  us  it  is  impossible  to  give  even  the  most  con- 
cise abstract  of  these  beautiful  investigations.  They  are  however 
known  to  you  all.  They  form  part  of  the  doctrine  of  modern  physics. 
These  researches  into  the  nature  and  laws  of  the  induced  currents 
of  different  orders  are  the  most  finished  of  Henry's  works  and  will 
ever  be  regarded  as  models  of  careful  and  thorough  scientific  work. 

We  here  leave  Henry's  researches  in  electricity  with  the  regret 
that  we  have  been  able  only  to  give  but  meagre  and  imperfect 
accounts  of  them;  and  that  the  occasion  does  not  permit  me  to 
mention  even  by  their  titles  several  of  his  investigations  in  this 
department  of  knowledge. 

Henry  had  a  versatile  mind,  and  did  not  confine  his  attention  to 
the  study  of  electricity.  His  genius  has  adorned  all  departments 
of  Physics.  His  researches  in  molecular  physics,  though  not  exten- 
sive, are  remarkable.  Here  his  fertile  suggestions  and  original 
methods  of  research  have  instigated  others  to  follow  out  the  paths 
which  he  has  pointed  out. 

In  1839  Henry  made  a  very  curious  discovery  as  to  the  permea- 
bility of  lead  to  mercury.  So  permeable  indeed  is  this  metal  to  the 
fluid  that  he  found  mercury  would  ascend  a  lead  wire  to  the  height  of 
a  yard  in  a  few  days.  He  even  made  what  might  be  called,  so  far 
as  their  forms  are  concerned,  syphons  of  lead  which  would  nearly 
empty  a  vessel  of  mercury  by  gradually  drawing  the  fluid  over  its 
sides.  Subsequently,  in  1845,  with  the  assistance  of  Mr.  Cornelius, 
of  Philadelphia,  he  succeeded  in  showing  that  copper  when  heated 
to  the  melting  point  of  silver  would  absorb  the  latter  metal.  This 
he  distinctly  proved  by  subsequently  dissolving  off  the  surface  of 


496  MEMORIAL   OF   JOSEPH    HENRY. 

the  copper  plate  with  zinc  chloride,  when  the  absorbed  silver  made 
its  appearance,  having  penetrated  to  a  slight  distance  into  the  copper. 

In  1844  Henry  is  again  at  work  in  molecular  physics,  investigat- 
ing the  nature  of  the  forces  acting  in  liquid  films.  This  investi- 
gation was  duly  valued  by  Plateau,  who  has  given  us  his  beautiful 
researches  into  the  conditions  of  equilibrium  of  polyhedra  with 
surfaces  formed  of  films  of  water,  and  Plateau  chided  Henry  for 
having  neglected  to  investigate  further  into  phenomena  which  he 
was  the  first  to  discover.  Of  Henry's  work  in  this  direction  there 
only  remains  the  record  of  a  scanty  verbal  communication  which  he 
he  made  to  the  American  Philosophical  Society  in  1844.  From 
this  I  make  following  abstract:  "The  passage  of  a  body  from  a 
solid  to  a  liquid  state  is  generally  attributed  to  the  neutralization 
of  the  attraction  of  cohesion  by  the  repulsion  of  the  increased 
quantity  of  heat ;  the  liquid  being  supposed  to  retain  a  small  por- 
tion of  its  original  attraction,  which  is  shown  by  the  force  necessary 
to  separate  a  surface  of  water  from  water, — in  the  well-known 
experiment  of  a  plate  suspended  from  a  scale  beam  over  a  vessel  of 
the  liquid.  It  is  however  more  in  accordance  with  all  the  phe- 
nomena of  cohesion  to  suppose,  instead  of  the  attraction  of  the 
liquid  being  neutralized  by  the  heat,  that  the  effect  of  this  agent  is 
merely  to  neutralize  the  polarity  of  the  molecules  so  as  to  give 
them  perfect  freedom  of  motion  around  every  imaginable  axis. 
The  small  amount  of  cohesion,  (52  grains  to  the  square  inch,)  ex- 
hibited in  the  foregoing  experiment,  is  due,  according  to  the  theory 
of  capillarity  of  Young  and  Poisson,  to  the  tension  of  the  exterior 
film  of  the  surface  of  water  drawn  up  by  the  elevation  of  the 
plate.  This  film  gives  way  first,  and  the  strain  is  thrown  on  an 
inner  film,  which,  in  turn  is  ruptured ;  and  so  on  until  the  plate  is 
entirely  separated;  the  whole  effect  being  similar  to  tearing  the 
water  apart  atom  by  atom. 

"  Reflecting  on  the  subject,  the  author  has  thought  that  a  more 
correct  idea  of  the  magnitude  of  the  molecular  attraction  might  be 
obtained  by  studying  the  tenacity  of  a  more  viscid  liquid  than 
water.  For  this  purpose  he  had  recourse  to  soap-water,  and 
attempted  to  measure  the  tenacity  of  this  liquid  by  means  of 
weighing  the  quantity  of  water  which  adhered  to  a  bubble  of  this 


ADDRESS   OF   PROF.  A.  M.   MAYER.  497 

substance  just  before  it  burst,  and  by  determining  the  thickness  of 
the  film  from  an  observation  of  the  color  it  exhibited  in  comparison 
with  Newton's  scale  of  thin  plates.  Although  experiments  of  this 
kind  could  only  furnish  approximate  results,  yet  they  show  that  the 
molecular  attraction  of  water  for  water  instead  of  being  only  about 
52  grains  to  the  square  inch,  is  really  several  hundred  pounds,  and 
is  probably  equal  to  that  of  the  attraction  of  ice  for  ice.  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  and  thus  render  the  liquid  more  viscid. 

"According  to  the  theory  of  Young  and  Poisson,  many  of  the 
phenomena  of  liquid  cohesion,  and  all  those  of  capillarity,  are  due 
to  a  contractile  force  existing  at  the  free  surface  of  the  liquid,  and 
which  tends  in  all  cases  to  urge  the  liquid  in  the  direction  of  the 
radius  of  curvature  towards  the  centre,  with  a  force  inversely  as  the 
radius. 

"According  to  this  theory  the  spherical  form  of  a  dew-drop  is 
not  the  effect  of  the  attraction  of  each  molecule  of  the  water  on 
any  other,  as  in  the  action  of  gravitation  in  producing  the  globular 
form  of  the  planets,  (since  the  attraction  of  cohesion  only  extends 
to  an  inappreciable  distance,)  but  is  due  to  the  contractile  force 
which  tends  constantly  to  enclose  the  given  quantity  of  water  within 
the  smallest  surface,  namely  that  of  a  sphere.  The  author  finds  a 
contractile  force  similar  to  that  assumed  by  this  theory,  in  the  sur- 
face of  the  soap-bubble;  indeed,  the  bubble  may  be  considered  a 
drop  of  water  with  the  internal  liquid  removed  and  its  place  sup- 
plied by  air.  The  spherical  form  in  the  two  cases  is  produced  by 
the  operations  of  the  same  cause.  The  contractile  force  in  the  sur- 
face of  the  bubble  is  easily  shown  by  blowing  a  large  bubble  on 
the  end  of  a  wide  tube — say  an  inch  in  diameter;  as  soon  as  the 
mouth  is  removed  the  bubble  will  be  seen  to  diminish  rapidly,  and 
at  the  same  time  quite  a  forcible  current  of  air  will  be  blown 
through  the  tube  against  the  face.  This  effect  is  not  due  to  the 
ascent  of  the  heated  air  from  the  lungs  with  which  t^e  bubble  was 
inflated,  for  the  same  effect  is  produced  by  inflating  with  cold  air, 
and  also  when  the  bubble  is  held  perpendicularly  above  the  face, 
so  that  the  current  is  downward. 
3-2 


498  MEMORIAL    OF    JOSEPH    HENRY. 

"  Many  experiments  were  made  to  determine  the  amount  of  this 
force,  by  blowing  a  bubble  on  the  larger  end  of  a  glass  tube  in  the 
form  of  a  letter  U,  and  partially  filled  with  water;  the  contractile 
force  of  the  bubble,  transmitted  through  the  enclosed  air,  forced 
down  the  water  in  the  larger  leg  of  the  tube  and  caused  it  to  rise  in 
the  smaller.  The  difference  of  level  observed  by  means  of  a  micro- 
scope gave  the  force  in  grains  per  square  inch,  derived  from  the 
known  pressure  of  a  given  height  of  water.  The  thickness  of  the 
film  of  soap-water  which  formed  the  envelope  of  the  bubble  was 
estimated  as  before,  by  the  color  exhibited  just  before  bursting.  The 
results  of  these  experiments  agree  with  those  of  weighing  the  bubble, 
in  giving  a  great  intensity  to  the  molecular  attraction  of  the  liquid; 
equal  at  least  to  several  hundred  pounds  to  the  square  inch.  Sev- 
eral other  methods  were  employed  to  measure  the  tenacity  of  the 
film,  the  general  results  of  which  were  the  same ;  the  numerical 
detail  of  them  are  reserved  however  until  the  experiments  can  be 
repeated  with  a  more  delicate  balance. 

"The  comparative  cohesion  of  pure  water  and  soap- water  was 
determined  by  the  weight  necessary  to  detach  the  same  plate  from 
each ;  and  in  all  cases  the  pure  water  was  found  to  exhibit  nearly 
double  the  tenacity  of  soap-water.  The  want  of  permanency  in  the 
bubble  of  pure  water  is  therefore  not  due  to  feeble  attraction,  but  to 
the  perfect  mobility  of  the  molecules,  which  causes  the  equilibrium, 
as  in  the  case  of  the  arch,  without  friction  of  parts,  to  be  destroyed 
by  the  slightest  extraneous  force." 

Another  of  Henry's  investigations  in  molecular  physics,  having 
important  practical  bearings,  should  be  more  generally  known  than 
it  is.  Among  his  other  duties  as  chairman  of  the  United  States 
Light-House  Board  was  the  testing  of  the  various  physical  properties 
of  the  oils  submitted  to  the  Government  for  purchase.  Fluidity 
was  one  of  these  properties  of  which  it  seemed  most  difficult  to  get 
reliable  comparative  tests.  Henry  discarded  all  the  crude  instru- 
ments and  methods  which  give  results  in  which  the  different  degrees 
of  fluidity  of  |he  oils  are  masked  by  their  various  powers  of  adhesion 
to  the  surface  over  which  they  flow  during  the  process  of  testing. 
Henry  very  ingeniously  applied  the  theorem  of  Torricelli,  which 
shows  that  equal  quantities  of  all  liquids — supposing  them  to  be  all 


ADDRESS    OF    PROF.  A.   M.  MAYER.  499 

alike  in  fluidity — will  in  equal  times  flow  out  of  an  orifice  in  the 
bottom  of  a  vessel.  Henry  found  that  equal  quantities  of  mercury 
and  water  flowed  out  of  the  vessel  in  equal  times;  but  with 
different  oils  the  times  of  flow  of  equal  quantities  were  different. 
Thus  the  rapidity  of  flow  of  sperm  oil  exceeded  that  of  lard  oil  in 
the  ratio  of  100  to  167.  I  think  that  this  method  of  experimenting 
suggested  itself  to  Henry  about  fifteen  years  ago.  I  remember 
when  he  was  working  with  this  apparatus,  and  of  his  telling  me  that 
to  his  surprise  he  found  that  alcohol  was  less  fluid  than  water. 

Henry  always  took  a  deep  interest  in  the  study  of  acoustics.  His 
additions  to  .this  branch  of  knowledge  were  chiefly  the  results  of  his 
experiments  in  connection  with  our  system  of  coast  fog-signals.  He 
made  extensive  experiments  on  various  sound-producing  instru- 
ments, such  as  bells,  cannon,  steam  whistles,  and  steam  reed  and 
syren  fog-horns.  He  eventually  decided  in  favor  of  the  latter  as 
the  most  powerful  and  effective  instrument  yet  invented.  He 
determined  that  these  instruments  send  their  sounds  to  the  greatest 
distances  when  they  emit  a  note  in  the  treble  part  of  the  musical 
scale.  They  are,  in  fact,  tuned  very  near  to  the  treble  C.  Henry 
also  showed  the  uselessness  of  applying  reflectors  to  these  instru- 
ments. But  his  principal  researches  were  in  the  direction  of 
determining  the  influence  of  various  atmospheric  conditions  on  the 
audibility  and  manner  of  propagation  of  the  sounds  of  the  fog-horns 
on  our  northern  coasts.  The  results  which  he  reached,  though  of 
great  importance,  appear  to  bear  a  very  small  relation  to  the  great 
amount  of  time  spent  and  fatigue  and  exposure  endured  in  procuring 
them. 

During  eleven  years  Henry  did  not  cease  to  labor  most  devotedly 
to  do  all  he  could  to  advance  the  efficiency  of  our  fog-signals  by 
studying  the  action  of  these  instruments  in  all  kinds  of  weather. 
Many  facts  were  collected,  and  very  puzzling  were  these  to  explain 
by  any  known  laws  pertaining  to  the  propagation  of  sound.  Thus 
it  was  observed  that  a  sound  coming  to  the  mariner  against  the 
direction  of  the  wind  would  cease  to  be  audible  on  the  deck  of  his 
vessel,  while  it  continued  to  be  heard  to  a  listener  on  the  mast-head. 
An  observation  made  at  Block  Island  showed  this  fact  in  a  marked 
manner.  The  lens  of  this  light  is  about  200  feet  above  the  beach 


500  MEMORIAL    OF   JOSEPH    HENRY. 

at  the  base  of  the  cliff  on  which  stands  the  light-house.  The  wind 
was  blowing  seven  miles  an  hour.  The  vessel  sounding  its  steam 
whistle  steamed  away  from  the  light,  going  in  the  direction  towards 
which  the  wind  was  blowing.  The  listener  on  the  top  of  the  light- 
house heard  the  sound  four  times  longer  than  the  observer  on  the 
beach ;  but  when  the  vessel  ran  away  from  the  light-house  against 
the  wind,  the  sound  disappeared  first  to  the  observer  on  the  top  of 
the  light-house. 

It  was  also  observed  that  sometimes  on  approaching  a  fog-horn 
from  a  distance  the  intensity  of  its  sound  would  gradually  increase, 
then  die  down  quite  rapidly  and  become  inaudible  through  a  space 
of  from  three  to  four  miles,  and  often  would  not  reappear  till  the 
vessel  was  within  a  mile  of  the  fog-horn.  Often  when  the  sound 
came  to  the  listener  against  a  moderate  wind  the  fog-horn  would 
become  inaudible  at  a  distance  of  three  or  four  miles,  while  on  other 
days,  when  the  wind  was  going  with  the  sound,  the  listener  had  to 
sail  away  25  miles  before  the  horn  ceased  to  be  heard.  Observa- 
tions made  at  Block  Island  and  Point  Judith  showed  this  fact  in 
the  following  manner:  The  distance  between  these  fog-horns  is 
seventeen  miles,  and  the  sound  of  one  can  be  distinctly  heard  at  the 
other  when  the  air  is  quiet  .and  homogeneous ;  but  if  the  wind  blows 
from  one  towards  the  other  the  listener  at  the  station  from  which 
the  wind  blows  is  unable  to  hear  the  other  horn. 

The  most  remarkable  series  of  Henry's  observations  was  made  at 
Whitehead  Station,  Maine,  situate  on  a  small  island  about  one  mile 
and  a  half  off  the  coast.  The  vessel  was  approaching  the  station 
from  the  south  and  with  the  wind.  "The  belt  of  silence"  was 
reached  and  traversed,  and  then  the  sound  reappeared  again.  This 
happened  whether  the  vessel  was  steaming  towards  or  away  from 
the  station,  the  wind  remaining  all  the  while  southerly.  But  during 
these  observations  on  the  vessel  the  sounds  of  the  steamer's  whistle 
were  heard  without  interruption  at  the  station.  Now  the  steamer's 
course  was  directed  to  the  other  side  of  the  station ;  and  steaming 
away  from  the  fog-horn  and  against  the  wind  the  whistle  at  the 
station  was  constantly  heard  by  those  on  the  vessel,  but  those  at  the 
station  now  perceived  the  steamer's  whistle  to  go  into  and  out  of 
"the  belt  of  silence." 


ADDRESS    OF   PROF.  A.  M.  MAYER.  5O1 

These  facts  demanded  explanation,  and  for  a  long  time  remained 
enigmas  to  Henry;  till  one  day  he  met  with  a  short  paper  by  Pro- 
fessor Stokes,  of  Cambridge,  England,  in  the  Proceedings  of  the 
British  Association  for  1857, "  in  which  the  effect  of  an  upper  current 
in  deflecting  the  wave-surface  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."  In  the  Report  of  the  Light-House  Board  for 
1874  Henry  says:  "The  explanation,  [of  these  phenomena,]  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  imme- 
diately above,  and  this  again  than  the  one  above  it,  and  so  on.  The 
effect  of  this  diminution  of  velocity  as  we  descend  towards  the 
earth  is,  in  the  case  of  sound  moving  with  the  current,  to  carry  the 
upper  part  of  the  sound-waves  more  rapidly  forward  than  the  lower 
part,  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.  To  render  this  more  clear,  let  us  recall  the  nature  of  a 
beam  of  sound,  in  still  air,  projected  in  a  horizontal  direction.  It 
consists  of  a  series  of  concentric  waves  perpendicular  to  the  direc- 
tion of  the  beam,  like  the  palings  of  a  fence.  Now,  if  the  upper 
part  of  the  waves  have  a  slightly  greater  velocity  than  the  lower, 
the  beam  will  be  bent  downward  in  a  manner  somewhat  analogous 
to  that  of  a  ray  of  light  in  proceeding  from  a  rarer  to  a  denser 
medium.  The  effect  of  this  deformation  of  the  wave  will  be  cumu- 
lative from  the  sound-centre  outward,  and  hence,  although  the 
velocity  of  the  wind  may  have  no  perceptible  effect  on  the  velocity 
of  sound,  yet  this  bending  of  the  wave  being  continuous  throughout 
its  entire  course,  a  marked  effect  must  be  produced.  A  precisely 
similar  effect  will  be  the  result,  but  perhaps  in  a  considerably 
greater  degree,  in  case  an  upper  current  is  moving  in  an  opposite 
direction  to  the  lower,  when  the  latter  is  adverse  to  the  sound,  and 
in  this  we  have  a  logical  explanation  of  the  phenomenon  observed 


&02  MEMORIAL    OF    JOSEPH    HENRY. 

by  General  Duane,  in  which  a  fog-signal  is  only  heard  during  the 
occurrence  of  a  northeast  snow-storm.  Certainly  this  phenomenon 
cannot  be  explained  by  any  peculiarity  of  the  atmosphere  as  to 
variability  of  density,  or  of  the  amount  of  vapor  which  it  may 
contain." 

Henry's  services  to  the  Light-House  Board  were  of  great  value 
to  the  country.  The  fact  that  his  investigations  showed  that  lard 
oil  when  heated  to  about  250°  Fahrenheit  is  superior  in  fluidity 
and  illuminating  power  to  sperm  oil,  caused  the  substitution  of  the 
former  for  the  latter;  and  thus  was  saved  a  dollar  on  each  gallon 
of  illuminating  material  purchased.  This  amounted  to  about  one 
hundred  thousand  dollars _a  year  in  favor  of  the  Government. 

In  light  and  heat  Henry  made  several  interesting  investigations 
which,  reluctantly,  we  are  obliged  to  pass  over.  One  however 
holds  so  important  a  place  in  the  history  of  science  that  it  cannot  be 
omitted  from  any  discourse  which  would  treat  of  Henry  as  a  dis- 
coverer. I  refer  to  his  application  of  the  thermopile  to  the  deter- 
mination of  the  distribution  of  heat  on  the  optical  images  of  distant 
objects.  It  occurred  to  Henry  that  images  in  the  foci  of  mirrors 
and  lenses  are  formed  not  alone  by  converging  pencils  of  light  coming 
from  corresponding  points  of  the  objects  placed  before  these  mirrors 
and  lenses,  but  that  images  are  also  formed  by  the  convergence  of 
rays  which  have  no  effect  on  the  optic  nerve,  such  as  the  rays  of 
heat.  Indeed  Henry  looked  upon  the  image  as  having,  on  a  small 
scale,  the  same  distribution  of  physical  actions  as  exists  on  the  sur- 
face of  the  large  object,  of  which  this  image  is  the  optical  repro- 
duction. 

He  applied  this  conception  in  a  bold  and  wonderful  experiment; 
which  was  no  other  than  to  study  the  distribution  of  heat  on  the 
surface  of  the  sun.  In  1845,  in  company  with  his  brother-in-law, 
Professor  Stephen  Alexander,  he  formed  an  image  of  the  sun  by 
pointing  a  telescope  to  that  body  and  then  drawing  out  the  eye-tube 
of  the  instrument  till  the  solar  image  was  clearly  defined  on  a  screen. 
In  this  screen  was  cut  a  small  aperature,  closed  by  the  surface  of  a 
thermopile.  By  motion  of  the  telescope  any  part  of  the  solar 
image  could  be  brought  on  to  the  surface  of  the  pile.  A  solar  spot 
of  considerable  magnitude  being  then  present,  he  brought  it  on  to 


' 

ADDRESS   OF   PROF.  A.   M.  MAYER.  503 

the  pile  and  noticed  the  amount  of  deflection  produced  in  the 
needles  of  the  galvanometer  by  the  thermo-electric  current.  Then 
the  parts  of  the  sun's  image  adjacent  to  the  spot  were  brought  to 
the  thermopile;  and  now  he  observed  a  greater  deflection  in  the 
galvanometer  than  in  the  previous  experiment ;  thus  "clearly  prov- 
ing," as  he  says,  "that  the  spot  emitted  less  heat  than  the  surround- 
ing parts  of  the  luminous  disc." 

This  new  method  of  research  originated  with  Henry.  It  was 
shown  to  Secchi  while  he  was  in  this  country  as  Professor  in  the 
College  of  Georgetown.  On  his  return  to  Europe  Secchi  obtained 
no  inconsiderable  repute  by  extending  these  observations — using 
the  methods  of  Henry,  but,  I  fear,  not  giving  sufficient  credit  to 
the  originator  of  them.  But  let  that  pass;  for  the  bread  which 
Henry  cast  upon  the  waters  has  returned  to  our  own  shores — thanks 
to  the  genius  and  perseverance  of  our  colleague  Langley. 

Most  reluctantly  do  I  here  desist  from  citing  further  the  works 
of  Henry.  It  is  impossible  to  crowd  into  one  brief  hour  the 
thoughts  which  were  his  occupation  during  more  than  half  a  cen- 
tury. I  have  at  least  endeavored  to  exhibit  before  you  the  more 
important  of  the  labors  of  his  life.  What  shall  we  think  of  them? 
Surely  they  are  on  as  high  a  plane  as  those  of  any  of  his  contem- 
poraries, and  show  as  much  originality  as  theirs  in  their  conception — 
as  much  skill  in  their  execution.  Yet  it  has  been  said  that  Henry 
was  not  a  man  of  genius.  As  I  have  not  been  able  to  find  that  the 
philosophers,  who  have  the  special  charge  of  giving  from  time  to 
time  definitions  of  genius,  have  been  able  to  come  to  any  satisfactory 
conclusion  among  themselves,  I  will  leave  their  company,  and, 
with  your  liberty,  take  my  definition  from  a  book  which,  if  we 
accredit  Thackeray,  is  one  of  the  very  best  novels  ever  written 
in  English.  After  listening  to  this,  you  may  form  your  own 
opinions  as  to  whether  Henry  did  or  did  not  possess  genius :  "  By 
genius  I  would  understand  that  power,  or  rather  those  powers  of 
the  mind  which  are  capable  of  penetrating  into  all  things  within 
our  reach  and  knowledge,  and  of  distinguishing  their  essential 
differences.,  These  are  no  other  than  invention  and  judgment:  and 
they  are  both  called  by  the  collective  name  of  genius,  as  they  are  of 
those  gifts  of  nature  which  we  bring  with  us  into  the  world.  Con- 


504  MEMORIAL   OF   JOSEPH    HENRY. 

cerning  each  of  which,  many  seem  to  have  fallen  into  very  great 
errors;  for  by  invention,  I  believe,  is  generally  understood  a  crea- 
tive faculty,  which  would  indeed  prove  most  romance  writers  to  have 
the  highest  pretensions  to  it ;  whereas  by  invention  is  meant  no  more 
(and  'so  the  word  signifies)  than  discovery  or  finding  out;  or,  to 
explain  it  at  large,  a  quick  and  sagacious  penetration  into  the  true 
essence  of  all  the  objects  of  our  contemplation.  This,  I  think,  can 
rarely  exist  without  the  concomitancy  of  judgment,  for  how  we  can 
be  said  to  have  discovered  the  true  essence  of  two  things,  without 
discerning  their  difference,  seems  to  me  hard  to  conceive.  Now  this 
last  is  the  undisputed  province  of  judgment;  and  yet  some  few  men 
of  wit  have  agreed  with  all  the  dull  fellows  in  the  world,  in  repre- 
senting these  two  to  have  been  seldom  or  never  the  property  of  one 
and  the  same  person." 

My  own  judgment,  if  of  any  value,  would  rank  the  ability  of 
Henry — I  do  not  say  his  achievements — a  little  below  that  of 
Faraday.  Indeed,  their  lives  and  their  manners  of  working  were 
strangely  alike.  Each  born  in  humble  condition,  without  any  of 
the  adventitious  aids  of  position  or  influence,  was  destined  appa- 
rently to  mechanical  occupation.  Faraday  was  an  apprentice  to  a 
bookbinder.  Henry  served  in  the  same  capacity  under  a  silver- 
smith. Each  started  in  life  with  moral  and  benevolent  habits,  well 
developed  and  healthy  bodies,  quick  and  accurate  perceptions,  calm 
judgment  and  self-reliance  tempered  with  modesty  and  good  man- 
ners,— a  good  ground  surely  in  which  to  plant  the  germs  of  the 
scientific  life.  Each  by  innate  force  of  taste  and  intellect,  was  im- 
pelled to  the  pursuit  of  knowledge  under  obstacles  which  would 
have  damped  the  ardor  of  ordinary  youths.  Each,  endowed  with  a 
lively  imagination,  was  in  his  younger  days  fond  of  romance  and  the 
drama;  and,  by  a  singular  similarity  of  accidents,  each  had  his 
attention  turned  to  science  by  a  book  which  chance  threw  in  his 
way.  This  work  in  the  case  of  Faraday  was  "  Mrs.  Marcet's  Con- 
versations on  Chemistry;"  and  the  book  which  influenced  Henry's 
career  was  "Gregory's  Lectures  on  Experimental  Philosophy, 
Astronomy,  and  Chemistry."  Of  Mrs.  Marcet's  book  Faraday  thus 
writes :  "  My  dear  Friend, — Your  subject  interested  me  deeply  every 
way ;  for  Mrs.  Marcet  was  a  good  friend  to  me,  as  she  must  have 


ADDRESS   OF   PROF.  A.  M.   MAYER.  505 

been  to  many  of  the  human  race.  I  entered  the  shop  of  a  book- 
seller and  bookbinder  at  the  age  of  13,  in  the  year  1804,  remaining 
there  eight  years,  and  during  the  chief  part  of  the  time  bound  books. 
Now  it  was  in  those  books,  in  the  hours  after  work,  that  I  found  the 
beginning  of  my  philosophy.  There  were  two  that  especially  helped 
me,  the  '  Encyclopedia  Britannica/  from  which  I  gained  my  first 
notions  of  electricity,  and  Mrs.  Marcet's  '  Conversations  on  Chem- 
istry/ which  gave  me  my  foundation  in  that  science. 

"  Do  not  suppose  that  I  was  a  very  deep  thinker,  or  was  marked 
as  a  precocious  person.  I  was  a  lively,  imaginative  person,  and 
could  believe  in  the  'Arabian  Nights'  as  easily  as  in  the  'Ency- 
clopedia.' But  facts  were  important  to  me  and  saved  me.  I 
could  trust  a  fact,  and  always  cross-examined  an  assertion.  So 
when  I  questioned  Mrs.  Marcet's  book  by  such  little  experiments 
as  I  could  find  means  to  perform,  and  found  it  true  to  the  facts 
as  I  could  understand  them,  I  felt  that  I  had  got  hold  of  an 
anchor  in  chemical  knowledge,  and  clung  fast  to  it.  Thence  my 
deep  veneration  for  Mrs.  Marcet — first,  as  one  who  had  conferred 
great  personal  good  and  pleasure  on  me;  and  then  as  one  able 
to  convey  the  truth  and  principle  of  those  boundless  fields  of 
knowledge  which  concern  natural  things  to  the  young,  untaught, 
and  inquiring  mind. 

"  You  may  imagine  my  delight  when  I  came  to  know  Mrs.  Marcet 
personally ;  how  often  I  cast  my  thoughts  backward,  delighting  to 
connect  the  past  and  present ;  how  often,  when  sending  a  paper  to 
her  as  a  thank-offering,  I  thought  of  my  first  instructress,  and  such 
thoughts  will  remain  with  me." 

Henry  wrote  on  the  inside  of  the  cover  of  Gregory's  work  the 
following  words :  "  This  book,  although  by  no  means  a  profound 
work,  has,  under  Providence,  exerted  a  remarkable  influence  on  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  acquisition  of  knowledge.  J.  H." 


506  MEMORIAL    OF    JOSEPH    HENRY. 

Each  of  these  philosophers  worked  with  simple  instruments  mostly 
constructed  by  his  own  hands,  and  by  methods  so  direct  that  he 
appeared  to  have  an  almost  intuitive  perception  into  the  workings 
of  nature ;  and  each  gave  great  care  to  the  composition  of  his  writings, 
sending  his  discoveries  into  the  world  clothed  in  simple  and  elegant 
English. 

Finally,  each  loved  science  more  than  money,  and  his  Creator 
more  than  either. 

There  was  sympathy  between  these  men;  and  Henry  loved  to 
dwell  on  the  hours  that  he  and  Bache  had  spent  in  Faraday's  society. 
I  shall  never  forget  Henry's  account  of  his  visit  to  King's  College, 
London,  where  Faraday,  Wheatstone,  Daniell  and  he  had  met  to  try 
and  evolve  the  electric  spark  from  the  thermopile.  Each  in  turn 
attempted  it  and  failed.  Then  came  Henry's  turn.  He  succeeded : 
calling  in  the  aid  of  his  discovery  of  the  effect  of  a  long  interpolar 
wire  wrapped  around  a  piece  of  soft  iron.  Faraday  became  as  wild 
as  a  boy,  and,  jumping  up,  shouted:  "Hurrah  for  the  Yankee 
experiment." 

And  Faraday  and  Wheatstone  reciprocated  the  high  estimation 
in  which  Henry  held  them.  During  a  visit  to  England,  not  long 
before  Wheatstone's  death,  he  told  me  that  Faraday  and  he  had, 
after  Henry's  classical  investigation  of  the  induced  currents  of  dif- 
ferent orders,  written  a  joint  letter  to  the  Council  of  the  Royal 
Society,  urging  that  the  Copley  medal,  that  laurel  wreath  of 
science,  should  be  bestowed  on  Henry.  On  further  consultation 
with  members  of  the  Council  it  was  decided  to  defer  the  honor  till 
it  would  come  with  greater  e"clat,  when  Henry  had  continued  further 
his  researches  in  electricity.  Henry's  removal  to  Washington  inter- 
rupted these  investigations.  Wheatstone  promised  to  give  me  this 
letter,  to  convey  to  Henry  as  an  evidence  of  the  high  appreciation 
which  Faraday  and  he  had  for  his  genius ;  but  Wheatstone's  untimely 
death  prevented  this. 

Both  Faraday  and  Henry  gave  much  thought  to  the  philosophy 
of  education,  and  in  the  main  their  ideas  agreed.  I  may,  in  this 
connection,  be  excused  for  reading  abstracts  from  a  letter  from  Henry 
soon  after  he  had  received  the  news  that  I  had  given  my  son  his 
name.  He  says — what  may  be  news  to  the  most  of  you :  "  I  did 


ADDRESS    OF    PROF.   A.  M.  MAYER.  507 

not  object  to  Henry  as  a  first  name;  although  I  have  been  sorry 
that  my  grandfather,  in  coming  from  Scotland  to  this  country, 
substituted  it  for  Hendrie,  a  much  less  common,  and  therefore  more 
distinctive  name/'  He  then  proceeds :  "  I  hope  that  both  his  body 
and  his  mind  will  be  so  developed  by  proper  'training  and  instruc- 
tion that  he  may  become  an  efficient,  wise,  and  good  man.  I  say 
efficient  and  wise,  because  these  two  characteristics  are  not  always 
united  in  the  same  person.  Indeed,  most  of  the  inefficiency  of  the 
world  is  due  to  their  separation ;  wisdom  may  know  what  ought  to 
be  done,  but  it  requires  the  aid  of  efficiency  to  accomplish  the 
desired  object.  I  hope  that  in  the  education  of  your  son  due  atten- 
tion may  not  only  be  given  to  the  proper  development  of  both  these 
faculties,  but  also  that  they  will  be  cultivated  in  the  order  of  nature : 
that  is,  doing  before  thinking;  art  before  science.  By  invert- 
ing this  order  much  injury  is  frequently  done  to  a  child,  especially 
in  the  case  of  the  only  son  of  a  widowed  mother,  in  which  a  preco- 
cious boy  becomes  an  insignificant  man.  On  examination,  in  such  a 
case,  it  will  be  generally  found  that  the  boy  has  never  been  drilled 
into  expertness  in  the  art  of  language,  of  arithmetic,  or  of  spelling, 
of  attention,  perseverance,  and  order,  or  in  other  words,  of  the  habits 
of  an  active  and  efficient  life." 

Henry  was  a  man  of  extensive  reading,  and  often  surprised  his 
friends  by  the  extent  and  accuracy  of  his  information,  and  by  the 
original  manner  in  which  he  brought  his  knowledge  before  them. 
Not  only  was  he  well  versed  in  those  subjects  in  which  one  might 
naturally  suppose  him  proficient,  but  in  departments  of  knowledge 
entirely  distinct  from  that  in  which  he  gained  his  reputation  as  an 
original  thinker.  Although  without  a  musical  ear,  he  had  a  nice 
feeling  for  the  movement  of  a  poem,  and  was  fond  of  drawing  from 
his  retentive  memory  poetic  quotations  apt  to  the  occasion.  He 
was  a  diligent  student  of  mental  philosophy,  and  also  took  a 
lively  interest  in  the  progress  of  biological  science,  especially  in 
following  the  recent  generalizations  of  Darwin;  while  the  aston- 
ishing development  of  modern  research  in  tracking  the  history  of 
prehistoric  man  had  for  him  a  peculiar  fascination.  Yet  with  all 
his  learning,  reputation,  and  influence,  Henry  was  as  modest  as 
he  was  pure. 


508  MEMORIAL   OF   JOSEPH    HENRY. 

One  day,  on  opening  Henry's  copy  of  Young's  "Lectures  on 
Natural  Philosophy," — a  book  which  he  had  studied  more  than  any 
other  work  of  science, — I  read  on  the  fly-leaf,  written  by  his  own 
hand,  these  words : 

"  In  Nature's  infinite  book  of  secrecy 
A  little  I  can  read. 

Shakespeare.11 ' 

And  did  he  not  read  a  little  "in  Nature's  infinite  book  of  secrecy"? 
and  did  he  not  read  that  little  carefully  and  well?  May  we  all  read 
our  little  in  that  book  as  modestly  and  as  reverently  as  did  JOSEPH 
HENRY. 


APPENDIX. 


PROCEEDINGS  IN  CONGRESS 


RELATIVE   TO 


A  MONUMENT  TO  JOSEPH  HENET. 


IN  THE  SENATE  OF  THE  UNITED  STATES. 
Monday,  May  3,  1880. 

Mr.  MORRILL  (Senator  from  Vermont)  asked,  and  by  unanimous 
consent  obtained,  leave  to  bring  in  the  following  bill;*  which  was 
read  twice  and  referred  to  the  Committee  on  Public  Buildings  and 
Grounds : 

"A  Bill  for  the  erection  of  a  monument,  in  the  city  of  Washington,  to  the  memory 
of  JOSEPH  HENRY,  late  Secretary  of  the  Smithsonian  Institution. 

"Be  it  enacted  by  the  Senate  and  House  of  Representatives  of  the 
United  States  of  America  in  Congress  assembled,  That  the  Regents 
of  the  Smithsonian  Institution  be  and  are  hereby  authorized  to  con- 
tract with  "W.  "W.  Story,  sculptor,  for  a  statue  in  bronze  of  JOSEPH 
HENRY,  late  Secretary  of  the  Smithsonian  Institution,  to  be  erected 
upon  the  grounds  of  said  Institution ;  and  for  this  purpose,  and  for 
the  entire  expense  of  the  foundation  and  pedestal  of  the  monument, 
the  sum  of  fifteen  thousand  dollars  is  hereby  appropriated  out  of 
any  moneys  in  the  Treasury  not  otherwise  appropriated." 

Thursday,  May  6,  1880. 

Mr.  MORRILL  reported  back  to  the  Senate  this  bill,  (S.  No.  1702,) 
with  the  title  amended  so  as  to  read :  "A  Bill  for  the  erection  of  a 
bronze  statue  of  JOSEPH  HENRY,  late  Secretary  of  the  Smithsonian 
Institution." 

*  Senate  bill  No.  1702,  Forty-sixth  Congress,  Second  Session. 

(511) 


512  APPENDIX. 

IN  THE  SENATE. 
Monday,  May  24,  1880. 

Mr.  MORRILL.  "I  ask  the  Senator  from  Kentucky  (Mr.  Beck) 
to  allow  me  to  call  up  a  bill  that  will  receive  (I  have  no  doubt)  the 
unanimous  assent  of  the  Senate.  It  will  not  take  up  five  minutes ; 
and  as  the  bill  the  Senator  proposes  to  take  up  will  probably  occupy 
all  the  morning,  I  ask  him  to  allow  me  to  get  up  the  bill  for  a 
monument  to  JOSEPH  HENRY,  to  be  erected  in  the  Smithsonian 
grounds." 

Mr.  BECK.     "I  hope  I  shall  not  lose  my  place  by  giving  way." 

The  PRESIDENT  pro  tempore.  (Senator  ALLEN  G.  THURMAN,  of 
Ohio.)  "The  Senator  from  Vermont  asks  that  the  Senate  proceed 
to  the  consideration  of  the  bill  (Senate  No.  1702,)  for  the  erection 
of  a  monument,  in  the  city  of  Washington,  to  the  memory  of  Joseph 
Henry,  late  Secretary  of  the  Smithsonian  Institution.  Is  there 
objection  ?" 

Mr.  YOORHEES.  (Senator  from  Indiana.)  "  Let  the  bill  be  read 
for  information." 

The  Chief  Clerk  read  the  bill  (Senate  No.  1702)  entitled  "A  Bill 
for  the  erection  of  a  monument,  in  the  city  of  Washington,  to  the 
memory  of  JOSEPH  HENRY,  late  Secretary  of  the  Smithsonian 
Institution." 

The  PRESIDENT  pro  tempore.  "Is  there  objection  to  proceeding 
to  the  consideration  of  this  bill  ? 

"  The  question  is  on  the  motion  to  proceed  to  the  consideration  of 
the  bill  named  by  the  Senator  from  Vermont,"  (Mr.  MORRILL.) 

The  motion  was  agreed  to ;  and  the  Senate  (as  in  Committee  of 
the  Whole)  proceeded  to  consider  the  bill  (Senate  No.  1702)  for  the 
erection  of  a  monument,  in  the  city  of  Washington,  to  the  memory 
of  JOSEPH  HENRY,  late  Secretary  of  the  Smithsonian  Institution. 
It  authorizes  the  Regents  of  the  Smithsonian  Institution  to  contract 
with  W.  W.  Story,  sculptor,  for  a  statue  in  bronze  of  JOSEPH 
HENRY,  late  Secretary  of  the  Smithsonian  Institution,  to  be  erected 
upon  the  grounds  of  that  institution ;  and  appropriates  fifteen  thou- 
sand dollars  for  this  purpose,  and  for  the  entire  expense  of  the 
foundation  and  pedestal  of  the  monument. 


PROCEEDINGS   IN    CONGRESS.  513 

Mr.  VOORHEES.  "  Mr.  President,  I  am  opposed  to  legislating  a 
contract  into  any  one  man's  hands  on  a  subject  where  competition 
ought  to  take  place.  I  do  not  know  how  often  it  has  been  done 
heretofore,  but  in  every  instance  where  it  has  been  done  it  is  wrong. 
A  work  of  this  kind  ought  to  be  open  to  competition.  Every  artist 
ought  to  be  allowed  to  compete  for  a  work  of  this  character.  The 
Senator  from  Vermont  very  justly  reminds  me  that  Mr.  Story  is  an 
eminent  artist.  I  know  that.  There  are  other  eminent  artists  in 
the  country ;  and  all  of  them  think  they  are.  Every  one  of  them 
desires  to  put  his  skill  on  exhibition,  and  it  is  his  right  to  do  so.  I 
think  that  the  bill  ought  to  be  amended  by  making  this  work  sub- 
ject to  competition,  rather  than  a  direct  contract  with  Mr.  Story." 

Mr.  MORRILL.  "I  hope  my  friend  from  Indiana  will  not  move 
any  amendment.  Mr.  Story  is  the  son  of  the  late  Chief-Justice 
Story,  and  is  one  of  the  most  eminent  artists  of  this  country  or  any 
other,  and  has  never  received  an  order  from  the  Government.  He 
is  eminent  in  very  many  other  respects  than  as  a  sculptor.  I  trust 
there  will  be  no  amendment  offered.  It  is  no  more  than  justice  to 
the  very  eminent  men, — the  living  as  well  as  the  dead, — to  both 
the  philosopher  to  whom  we  propose  to  erect  the  monument,  and  the 
artist  whom  it  is  proposed  to  employ ;  and  the  sum  offered  is  a  very 
small  one  indeed." 

Mr.  VOORHEES.  "  It  is  difficult  for  me  to  withstand  an  appeal 
or  request  preferred  by  the  Senator  from  Vermont,  but  I  am  satis- 
fied that  the  bill  ought  to  be  amended  so  as  to  allow  competition." 

Mr.  MORRILL.     "I  hope  not." 

The  PRESIDENT  pro  tempore.  "  Does  the  Senator  from  Indiana 
move  an  amendment?" 

Mr.  VOORHEES.     "  I  have  not  done  so." 

The  bill  was  reported  to  the  Senate  without  amendment,  ordered 
to  be  engrossed  for  a  third  reading,  read  the  third  time,  and  passed. 

The  title  was  amended  so  as  to  read :  "A  Bill  for  the  erection  of 
a  bronze  statue  of  JOSEPH  HENRY,  late  Secretary  of  the  Smith- 
sonian Institution." 

33  


514  APPENDIX. 

IN  THE  HOUSE  OF  REPRESENTATIVES. 
Tuesday,  May  25,  1880. 

Mr.  CLYMER.  (Member  from  Pennsylvania.)  "Mr.  Speaker, 
I  ask  unanimous  consent  to  take  from  the  Speaker's  table  the  bill 
(Senate  No.  1 702)  and  put  the  same  upon  its  passage." 

The  SPEAKER  pro  tempore.  (Mr.  J.  C.  S.  BLACKBURN.)  "  The 
Clerk  will  read  the  bill,  after  which  the  Chair  will  ask  for  objec- 
tions." 

The  Clerk  read  the  bill  (Senate  No,  1702)  entitled  "A  bill  for 
the  erection  of  a  bronze  statue  of  JOSEPH  HENRY,  late  Secretary  of 
the  Smithsonian  Institution." 

The  SPEAKER  pro  tempore.  "  Is  there  objection  to  the  present 
consideration  of  the  bill  ? 

"There  being  no  objection,  the  question  is  on  the  passage  of  the 
bill— Senate  No.  1702." 

The  bill  was  accordingly  taken  from  the  Speaker's  table,  read 
three  several  times,  and  passed. 

The  following  is  the  Act  as  passed : 

[Public  Acts,  No.  71.] 

AN  ACT  for  the  erection  of  a  bronze  statue  of  JOSEPH  HENRY,  late  Secretary  of  the 
Smithsonian  Institution. 

Be  it  enacted  by  the  Senate  and  House  of  Representatives  of  the 
United  States  of  America  in  Congress  assembled,  That  the  Regents 
of  the  Smithsonian  Institution  be  and  are  hereby  authorized  to  con- 
tract with  W.  W.  Story,  sculptor,  for  a  statue  in  bronze  of  JOSEPH 
HENRY,  late  Secretary  of  the  Smithsonian  Institution,  to  be  erected 
upon  the  grounds  of  said  Institution  ;  and  for  this  purpose,  and  for 
the  entire  expense  of  the  foundation  and  pedestal  of  the  monument, 
the  sum  of  fifteen  thousand  dollars  is  hereby  appropriated  out  of 
any  moneys  in  the  Treasury  not  otherwise  appropriated. 

APPROVED  BY  THE  PRESIDENT,  June  1,  1880. 


INDEX. 


Page 

Academy,  Albany,— Henry  a  pupil  and  teacher  at 57,130,443 

Academy  of  Sciences,  National,— Henry  the  second  president  of 330,436,441 

Acoustic  refraction  by  wind  suggested  by  Prof.  G.  G.  Stokes  in  1857,  and  estab- 
lished by  Henry  in  1872 346,853,465,501 

Acoustics,— investigations  by  Henry  in 343.464,499 

Act  of  Congress  authorizing  a  statue  to  Henry 514 

Actor,— Henry's  youthful  inclination  to  the  career  of 55,180,443 

Address  by  Hon.  Samuel  S.  Cox,  of  the  House  of  Representatives 99 

Address  by  Hon.  James  A.  Garfield,  of  the  House  of  Representatives,  a  Regent—      91 

Address  by  Prof.  Asa  Gray,  a  Regent 53 

Address  by  Hon.  Hannibal  Hamlin,  U.  S.  Senator,  (read  by  the  Vice-President)-     43 

Address  by  Prof.  William  B.  Rogers 77 

Address  by  Gen.  William  T.  Sherman,  a  Regent 117 

Address  by  Hon.  Robert  E.  Withers,  U.  S.  Senator,  a  Regent 49 

Administration  of  the  Smithsonian  Institution 274, 409, 435 

Esthetic  tastes  and  culture  of  Henry 103, 190, 198, 333, 471 

v    Albany  Academy,— Henry  a  pupil  at 57, 130, 208, 443 

Albany  Academy,— Henry  a  teacher  at 57, 130, 211, 443 

Albany  electro-magnet  of  750  pounds  made  by  Henry  in  1830 220 

Albany  Institute, — Henry  active  in  organizing 130,207 

Albany  Institute, — Henry's  papers  before 208,214,444 

Albany  Institute,— memorial  proceedings  of,  on  the  death  of  Joseph  Henry 128 

Albany  Lyceum,— Henry  one  of  the  originators  of 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 309,422 

Alexander,  Prof.  Stephen,— observations  by,  with  Henry,  on  comparative  heat 

of  the  solar  spots 269, 448, 502 

Alexander,  Prof.  Stephen,— observations  by,  with  Henry,  on  determination  of 

longitude  by  meteors 271 

Alexander,  Prof.  Stephen,— observations  by,  with  Henry,  on  terrestrial  mag- 
netism     258 

Allen,  Robin,  Secretary  of  Trinity  House, — letter  from,  on  the  death  of  Henry 137 

Amp6re,  discovery  by,— of  the  magnetic  action  of  galvanic  currents 80,215,478 

Ampere  first  to  suggest  the  electro-magnetic  telegraph 223 

Announcement  of  the  death  of  Joseph  Henry  by  the  Chancellor  of  the  Smith- 
sonian Institution 7 

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- 
President 2 

Anthony,  Hon.  Henry  B.,— resolution  reported  by,  to  the  Senate  to  print  Memo- 
rial 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  815,000  by  Congress,  for  a  statue  of  Henry 514 

Arago  the  first  to  magnetize  a  needle  by  the  galvanic  current 213,479 

Archaeological  work  fostered  by  the  Smithsonian  Institution 290 

Architectural  adaptation,— Henry's  views  of 534,434,455 

(517) 


518  INDEX. 

Page 

Architecture, — lectures  on,  by  Henry 239,334 

Astronomical  discoveries,— the  announcement  of,  by  telegraph 300 

Astronomy,— lectures  on,  by  Henry 239,333 

Aurora  polaris  observed  to  be  related  to  terrestrial  magnetism 259, 445 

Bache,  A.  Dallas,— active  interest  of,  in  Henry's  discovery  of  the  "extra  cur- 
rent"   241, 394 

Bache,  A.  Dallas,— eulogy  of,  by  Henry 330 

Bache,  A.  Dallas,— observations  by,  with  Henry,  on  meteors  for  determining 
longitude 1 271 

Bache,  A.  Dallas,— urgent  solicitation  of  Henry  by,  to  accept  the  Smithsonian 

directorship. 331,454 

Baird,  Prof.  Spencer  F.,  one  of  a  committee  appointed  by  the  Regents  to  arrange 

the  funeral  ceremonies  of  Joseph  Henry 10,11 

Baird,  Prof.  Spencer  F.,  one  of  a  committee  appointed  by  the  Regents  to  prepare 

a  Memorial  Volume 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 

Henry 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 

Henry,  in  1835 239 

Beck,  Dr.  T.  Romeyn,  principal  of  the  Albany  Academy,  the  teacher  and  friend 

of  Henry 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 

-    index 296 

British  Association, — meeting  of,  at  Liverpool,  attended  by  Henry 245 

Bronze  statue  of  Henry,  authorized  by  Congress 514 

Building-stone, — experiments  on,  by  Henry 326 

Cameron,  Prof.  Henry  C. — Reminiscences  of  Joseph  Henry  by 166 

Capillarity  between  liquid  and  solid  metals  observed 263, 495 

Catalogue  of  scientific  papers,  suggested  by  Henry,  and  published  by  the  Royal 

Society  of  London 297 

Chairmanship  of  the  LightrHouse  Board  conferred  on  Henry  in  1871 69, 133, 314, 436 

Chancellor  of  the  Smithsonian  Institution, — announcement  by 7 

Chancellor  of  the  Smithsonian  Institution,— remarks  by,  on  the  death  of  Joseph 

Henry 9 

Character  of  Henry's  mind 73, 191, 361, 469 

Chemical  professorship  in  the  University  of  Pennsylvania  offered  to  Henry 193,278 

Chemical  skill  of  Henry 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  Henry 9 

Childs,  George  W.,  a  pall-bearer  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 273 

Clymer,  Hon.  Hiester,— bill  presented  by,  in  the  House  of  Representatives,  for 

erecting  a  statue  of  Henry 514 

Clymer,  Hon.  Hiester,  of  the  House  of  Representatives,— reading  of  telegrams 

by,  at  the  Memorial  Services 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 2,38 

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 

a  Memorial  Volume 31 

Committee,  executive,  of  the  Board  of  Regents,  directed  to  make  arrangements 

for  a  public  commemoration 1,28 

Congress,  proceedings  in,  relative  to  a  monument  to  Henry 511 

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  Capitol 1, 37 

Contributions  to  scientific  research  by  Henry  at  Washington 319 

Convertible  "  quantity  "  and  "  intensity  "  battery  contrived  by  Henry 239 

Corcoran,  William  W.,  a  pall-bearer  at  the  funeral  of  Joseph  Henry 11 

Correspondence  of  the  Smithsonian  Institution  on  scientific  subjects 72,301 

Cox,  Hon.  Samuel  S.,  of  the  House  of  Representatives,— Address  by 99 

Cox,  Hon.  Samuel  S.,  selected  by  the  Regents  to  deliver  an  Address  at  the  Memo- 
rial Services 29 

Cuthbert,  Rev.  Dr.  James  H.,— offices  by,  at  the  funeral  of  Joseph  Henry 12 

Date  of  Henry's  birth  somewhat  uncertain 54,442 

Death  of  Joseph  Henry 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- 
ington     177 

Discourse  memorial  of  Joseph  Henry,  by  Rev.  Samuel  B.  Dod 139 

Distribution  of  Smithsonian  material,  for  the  promotion  of  science 418 

Dod,  Rev.  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  youthful  addiction  to ^ — 109,179 

Duties  imposed  on  Henry  by  various  Bodies 69,103,436 

Early  experimental  researches  of  Henry 209,375,476,481 

Education,— Henry's  views  on 323, 507 

Education  of  Joseph  Henry 54,56,177,206 

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 T 212,476 


520  INDEX. 

Page 

Electrical  researches  of  Henry  at  Princeton 238,494 

Electrical  self-induction  in  a  long  wire  discovered  by  Henry 237,239,394,447,493 

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 84,111,131,218,444 

Electro-magnet  of  intensity,  first  produced  by  Henry 223,227,488 

Electro-magnetic  action  developed  by  Ampere 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  Ampere 223 

Elevations,  topographical,  of  the  State  of  New  York  tabulated  by  Henry 270,444 

Engineering  survey  in  New  York  State,  by  Henry 57,183,210,428 

Engine  operated  by  electro-magnetism,  the  first 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 L 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  compared 504 

Faraday,— employment  by,  of  Henry's  multiple-coil  magnet 222,230,390 

Faraday,— production  of  electro-magnetic  rotation  by 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-electricity 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  Rev.  Samuel  S.  Mitchell 15 

Funeral  services  at  the  New  York  Avenue  Presbyterian  Church  of  Washington.  12 

Gale,  Dr.  L.  D.,  assistant  to  Professor  Morse  in  his  early  experiments  on  the 

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 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- 
sity" currents 239 

Garfleld,  Gen.  James  A.,  of  the  House  of  Representatives,  a  Regent,— Address 
by,  at  the  Memorial  Services 91 

Garfield,  Gen.  James  A.,  of  the  House  of  Representatives,  a  Regent,— resolutions 

offered  by,  at  meeting  of  the  Regents 30 

Garfield,  Gen.  James  A.,  of  the  House  of  Representatives,  a  Regent,  selected  by 

the  Regents  to  deliver  an  Address 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  a  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- 
pare a  Memorial  Volume 32 

Gray,  Prof.  Asa,  a  Regent,  selected  by  the  Regents  to  deliver  an  Address  at  the 

Memorial  Services 28, 29 

Guyot,  Prof.  Arnold,  a  pall-bearer  at  the  funeral  of  Joseph  Henry 11 

Hall  of  the  House  of  Representatives  assigned  by  Resolution  of  Congress,  for 

the  holding  of  Memorial  Services 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  oils „ _ 424 

Hamlin,  Hon.  Hannibal,  Senator,  a  Regent,— Address  of,  at  the  Memorial  Serv- 
ices, (read  by  the  Vice-President) 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 82,239,370,484 

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 

Henry  as  a  Christian 16,21,33,73,114,134,147,200 

Henry  as  a  discoverer ^______ „ 475 

Henry  as  a  financier ^ 46,51,97 

Henry  as  a  teacher . 62,197,212,362 

Henry, — contributions  to  science  at  Washington  by ^ 319 

Henry,— death  of—  - 7,188,360,467 

Henry,— education  of 54,56,177,206 

Henry  elected  professor  of  mathematics  at  Albany  Academy 57,130,211,443,476 

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 

Hej»ry  inventor  of  the  electro-magnetic  engine 230,445 

Henry  inventor  of  the  magnetic  telegraph 85,131,149,228,380,487 

Henry,— letter  from,  to  Rev.  S.  B.  Dod 149 

Henry,— letter  from,  to  Prof.  S.  F.  B.  Morse 384 

Henry,— letter  from,  to  Dr.  E.  Nott 409 

Henry,— letter  from,  to  Mr.  J.  Patterson 23 

Henry,— marriage  of 61,238 


522  INDEX. 

Page 

Henry,— the  mother  of_ 54 

Henry,—  obsequies  of 11 

Henry,— parentage  and  date  of  birth  of 54,177,427,442 

Henry's  administration  of  the  Smithsonian  Institution 274,409,435 

Henry's  aesthetic  perceptions 190, 333, 437, 471 

Henry's  character 73,191,361^469 

Henry's  early  electro-magnet .. 84, 131, 218, 444, 483 

Henry's  first  attraction  to  books 54, 178 

Henry's  first  introduction  to  scientific  literature ,.55, 167, 180, 207, 428, 443, 505 

Henry's  personal  appearance ^_, 189, 360 

Henry's  researches  on  the  radiation  of  sound - 346,465,500 

Henry's  scientific  papers,—  list  of . — 365 

Henry's  scientific  work 83, 209, 476 

Heliostat  of  simple  form  arranged  by  Henry 267 

Hodge,  Rev.  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  Henry 11 

Hydrometvic  experiment  by  Henry,  on  the  separation  of  liquids 328 

Ilium i nan ts,— investigation  of,  by  Henry 309, 313. 421, 502 

"  Imponderables,"—  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 

London ~ 297 

Induction,  electrical,  of  successive  orders,  discovered  by  Henry 85,248,494 

Induction,  initial  and  terminal,  investigated 251 

Information,— Henry's  wide  range  of 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 298 

Jenkin,  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 

for  the  Memorial  Volume 4 

Joule's  testimony  to  Henry's  original  electro-magnetic  engine 231 

Last  days  of  Joseph  Henry _ 188, 46fi 

Law,  the  domain  of,  recognized  by  Henry 334 

Letter  from  Dr.  L.  D.  Gale,  to  Henry,  on  the  telegraph  of  Prof.  Morse 388 

Letter  from  Col.  C.  S.  Hamilton,  to  the  Light-House  Board,  on  the  success  of 
their  experiments 424 

Letter  from  Henry  to  Rev.  S.  B.  Dod 149 

Letter  from  Henry  to  Prof.  S.  F.  B.  Morse 384 

Letter  from  Henry  to  Dr.  E.  Nott 409 

Letter  from  Henry  to  Mr.  J.  Patterson, 23 

Letter  of  condolence  from  the  Trinity  House,  London 137 

Letter  of  Prof.  James  Hall,  on  the  death  of  Henry 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 308 

Light-House  Board  of  the  United  States,— Henry,  chairman  of- 69,133,314,463 

Light-House  Board  of  the  United  States,— memorial  proceedings  of,  on  the  death 

of  Henry „ 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 97,308,315,436 

Lightning-rods,  observations  on , 261 

Lightning-rods  suggested  for  telegraph  poles.*. 262 

Liquid  cohesion  found  to  be  equal  to  solid  cohesion 265,498 

List  of  Henry's  scientific  papers 365 

Longitude  determination  by  simultaneous  observations  on  meteors 271 

Loss  of  valuable  scientific  papers  by  fire,  in  1865 305 

Levering,  Prof.  Joseph,— obituary  memoir  of  Henry,  by 427 

McCosh,  Rev.  Dr.  J.,  appointed  by  the  Regents  to  offer  introductory  prayer  at  the 

Memorial  Services 29 

McCosh,  Rev.  Dr.  J.— opening  prayer  by,  at  Memorial  Services 39 

Maclean,  Dr.  John,— account  by,  of  Henry's  election  to  Princeton J.68,238 

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- 
pare a  biographical  sketch  of  Henry 28 

Maclean,  Dr.  John,— prayer  offered  by,  at  meeting  of  the  Regents,  on  the  death 

of  Joseph  Henry 27 

Maclean,  Dr.  John,— resolution  of  thanks  presented  by,  at  meeting  of  the 

Regents 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 

New  Jersey 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  Arago 213,479 

Magnetic  telegraph  first  made  possible  by  Henry 93, 225,486 

Magnetic  telegraph  invented  by  Henry _v 85, 131, 149, 228, 380, 487 

Magnetism,  by  means  of  a  galvanic  current,  first  developed  by  Arago 213,479 

Magnetism,  terrestrial, — observations  by  Henry  on  the  intensity  of 258,445 

Magnetizing  "  bobbin  "  first  devised Iby  Henry 217 

Magneto-electricity  first  attempted  by  Fresnel  in  1820 233 

Magneto-electricity  first  discovered  by  Faraday  in  1831 .234,446 

Magneto-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 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 506 

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  Henry 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, 

ordered  by  Congress 4 

Memoir  of  Henry  by  Prof.  Henry  C.  Cameron , 166 

Memoir  of  Henry  by  Rev.  Samuel  B.  Dod 139 

Memoir  of  Henry  by  Prof.  Asa  Gray 53 


524  INDEX. 

Page 

Memoir  of  Henry  by  Prof.  Joseph  Levering 427 

Memoir  of  Henry  by  Prof.  Alfred  M.  Mayer 475 

Memoir  of  Henry  by  Dr.  Orlando  Meads 130 

Memoir  of  Henry  by  Prof.  Simon  Newcomb 441 

Memoir  of  Henry  by  William  B.  Taylor _    205 

Memoir  of  Henry  by  Dr.  James  C.  Welling 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 

Meteorological  work  of  Henry 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 511 

Morrill,  Hon.  J.  S.—  Bill  presented  by,  in  the  U.  S.  Senate  for  erecting  a  statue  of 

Henry 512 

Morse,  Prof.  S.  F.  B.—  experiments  of,  in  electric  telegraphy 50, 150, 381 

Morse,  Prof.  S.  F.  B.—  Henry's  encouraging  letter  to 384 

Mother  of  Joseph  Henry 54 

Motive  powers  discriminated  and  classified 273 

Motor,  electro-magnetic,  first  devised  by  Henry 143,230,445 

Multiple-coil  magnet  of  Henry 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 

Natural  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 n 

New  York  State, — survey  of  a  State  road  through,  by  Henry  in  1826 57, 183, 210, 428 

New  York  State,— topographical  elevations  of,  by  ifenry  in  1829 270,444 

Nott,  Dr.  E. — letter  to,  from  Henry • s  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 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-bearers  at  the  funeral  of  Joseph  Henry 11 

Parentage  of  Joseph  Henry 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,  n 


INDEX.  525 

Page 

Parker,  Dr.  Peter,  one  of  a  committee  appointed  by  the  Regents,  to  prepare  a 
Memorial  Volume 32 

Parker,  Dr.  Peter,— Remarks  by,  before  the  Regents  on  the  character  of  Joseph 

Henry 32 

Parker,  Dr.  Peter,— report  by,  of  arrangements  made  for  a  public  commemo- 
ration       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  " 376 

Peltier,—  eulogistic  tribute  to,  by  Henry 206 

Personal. appearance  of  Joseph  Henry 189,360 

Philosophical  Society  of  Washington,— active  interest  of  Henry  in  organizing 

and  maintaining 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 177 

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 125, 177 

Phosphorescence, —  original  observations  on,  by  Henry 267 

Poe,  Gen.  Orlando  M.,  a  pall-bearer  at  the  funeral  of  Joseph  Henry 11 

Poetry,— Henry's  fondness  for 191, 207, 333, 507 

Pope.  Frank  L.— appreciative  eulogy  of  Henry,  by 485 

Porter,  President  Noah,  one  of  a  committee  appointed  by  the  Regents,  to  pre- 
pare a  biographical  sketch  of  Henry 28 

Porter,  President  Noah,— report  by,  to,  the  Regents  on  the  selection  of  memorial  '' 

biographer  of  Henry 30 

Portrait  of  Joseph  Henry,— joint  resolution  of  Congress  to  engrave  and  print, 

for  the  Memorial  Volume 4 

Pouillet, — introduction  by,  of  Henry's  "bobbin  "  coil  magnet  into  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 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_6l,  131, 238, 431, 447 

Princeton  electro-magnet  of  3,500  pounds  made  by  Henry  in  1835 244,484 

Princeton  Memorial,  of  May  19,1878 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 1 

Proceedings  of  Congress,  relative  to  a  Memorial  Volume 3 

Proceedings  of  Congress,  relative  to  a  monument  to  Henry 511 

Proceedings  of  the  Philosophical  Society  of  Washington,  on  the  death  of  Joseph 

Henry 125 

Proceedings  of  the  Regents  of  the  Smithsonian  Institution  on  the  death  of 

Joseph  Henry 9, 27 

Proceedings  of  the  Regents  of  the  Smithsonian  Institution  relative  to  a  Memo- 
rial Volume 31 

Proceedings  of  the  Regents  of  the  Smithsonian  Institution  relative  to  a  public 

commemoration,  in  honor  of  Joseph  Henry 28 

Proceedings  of  the  U.  S.  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 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  batteries 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 2,38 

Randall,  Hon  Samuel  J.,  Speaker  of  the  House  of  Representatives,— remarks 

by,  at  the  close  of  the  Memorial  Services 3 

Range  of  information  possessed  by  Henry,  very  extended 332, 437, 471, 507 

Reading  of  Henry,  varied  and  extensive 192,507 

" Receiving"  magnet  of  telegraphy,  first  devised  by  Henry 244 

Refraction  of  sound  suggested  by  Prof.  Stokes  in  1857,  and  established  by  Henry 

in  1872 346, 353, 465, 501 

Regents  of  the  Smithsonian  Institution,— proceedings  of,  on  the  death  of  Joseph 

Henry 9,27 

Regents  of  the  Smithsonian  Institution,— proceedings  of,  relative  to  a  Memorial 

Volume 31 

Regents  of  the  Smithsonian  Institution,— proceedings  of,  relative  to  a  public 

commemoration 28 

"  Reign  of  Law," —  Henry's  views  on 334 

Remarks  by  Dr.  Peter  Parker,  on  the  death  of  Joseph  Henry,  before  the  Regents 

of  the  Smithsonian  Institution 32 

Remarks  by  Chief  Justice  M.  R.  "Waite,  on  the  death  of  Joseph  Henry 9 

Remarks  by  Speaker  S.  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  Services 43 

Reminiscences  of  Joseph  Henry  by  Dr.  Henry  C.  Cameron 166 

Renwick,  Prof.  James,— emphatic  testimonial  of,  to  Henry 169,238 

Ren  wick,  Prof.  James,— observations  on  terrestrial  magnetism  for,  by  Henry  _258, 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- 
morial Services 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  S.  I.  to  arrange  a  public  commemoration 28 

Resolutions  of  the  Philosophical  Society  of  Washington,  on  the  death  of  Joseph 

Henry 125 

Resolutions  of  the  Regents  of  S.  I.  on  the  death  of  Joseph  Henry 27 

Resolutions  of  the  Regents  of  S.  I.  relative  to  the  funeral  of  Joseph  Henry 10 

Resolutions  of  U.  S.  Light-House  Board,  on  the  death  of  Joseph  Henry 135 

Rodgers,  Admiral  John,  a  pall-bearer  at  the  funeral  of  Joseph  Henry 11 

Rogers,  Prof.  William  B.— Address  by,  at  the  Memorial  Services 77 

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 

i-  Page 

Scientific  observatories,  projects  of I 304 

Scientific  papers  by  Henry 365 

Scientific  work  commenced  by  Henry 83,209,476 

Secchi,  Prof.  A.— observations  of,  on  solar  spots 270,431,448,503 

Secretary  of  the  Smithsonian  Institution,— Henry  elected  as 6.5, 132, 169, 185, 275, 406 

Self-induction  in  a  long  electrical  wire,  discovered  by  Henry 237,239,394,447,493 

Sermon,  Funeral,  by  Rev.  Samuel  S.  Mitchell,  at  the  New  York  Avenue  Pres- 
byterian Church  in  "Washington 15 

Sermon,  Memorial,  by  Rev.  Samuel  B.  Dod,  at  Princeton,  on  the  death  of  Joseph 

Henry 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 10,11 

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 

Address  at  the  Memorial  Services 29 

Silliman,  Prof.  Benjamin,— account  by,  of  Henry's  Yale  College  magnet 229 

Silliman,  Prof.  Benjamin,— appreciation  of  Henry,  by 169,238 

Singleton,  Hon.  O.  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 57,185,399,433,449 

Solar  spots,— comparative  heat  of,  observed 269,431,448,502 

Sound,— ob'servations  of  Henry  on 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  by 2, 38 

Speaker  of  the  House  of  Representatives,— remarks  by,  at  the  close  of  the  Me- 
morial Services 3 

Speakers  at  the  Memorial  Services,  introduced  by  the  Vice-President 2 

Speakers  for  the  public  commemoration,  appointed  by  the  Regents  of  the  Smith- 
sonian Institution 29 

Species,  organic, — doctrine  of  the  derivation  of 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 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  on 209,375 

Steam-siren  adopted  by  Henry  for  signaling  through  fogs 311 

Stephens,  Hon.  Alexander  H., — resolution  presented  by,  in  the  House  of  Repre- 
sentatives, to  print  Memorial  Volume 3 

Stokes,  Prof.  G.  G.— hypothesis  by,  of  refraction  of  sound  by  wind 346,355,465, 501 

Story,  W.  VV.,  the  sculptor,  selected  to  model  a  statue  of  Henry 514 

Strong,  Mr.  Justice  William,  of  the  Supreme  Court,  a  pall-bearer  at  the  funeral 

of  Joseph  Henry 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. 

Pag. 

Successive  orders  of  electrical  induction  discovered  by  Henry 85,248,494 

Sulphuric-acid  barometer  erected  by  Henry 329 

•Sunderland,  Rev.  Dr.  Byron,  Chaplain  of  the  U.  S.  Senate,  selected  by  the  Regents 

to  offer  prayer  at  the  Memorial  Services 29 

Sunderland,  Rev.  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,— Henry's  skill  and  success  as 62,197,212,362 

Telegram  from  Anglo-American  Telegraph  Company  at  London 75 

Telegram  from  Direct  United  States  Cable  Company  at  London 76 

Telegram  from  Sir  William  Thomson 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-Eyck,  Dr.— assistant  to  Henry  in  constructing  electro-magnets 224 

Theory  of  the  so-called  "  Imponderables  " 322 

Thermal  telescope  devised  by  Henry 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, , 
in  1835 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 7 

Waite,  Chief  Justice  Morrison  R.,  Chancellor  of  the  Smithsonian  Institution,— 

remarks  by,  on  the  death  of  Joseph  Henry 9 

Weather  forecasts  organized  by  Henry 287, 463 

Welling,  Dr.  James  C.— Notes  by,  on  the  life  and  character  of  Joseph  Henry 177 

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 49 

Withers,  Hon.  Robert  E.,  Senator,  a  Regent,  selected  by  the  Regents  to  deliver 

an  Address 29 

Wheeler,  Hon.  William  A.,  the  Vice-President,— presiding  officer  at  the  Memo- 
rial Services 2, 38 

Wheeler,  Hon.  William  A.,  the  Vice-President,— reading  of  Hon.  Mr.  Hamlin's 

Address  by 43 

Wheeler,  Hon.  William  A.,  the  Vice-President,— Remarks  by,  at  the  Memorial 

Services .—  2, 43 

Wollaston's  scale  of  chemical  equivalents,  modified  by  Henry -    271. 

Yale  College  electro-magnet  of  2,300  pounds  made  by  Henry  in  1831 229 


ITS  ITE  RS  IT  Y  OK 

CALIFORNIA. 

REMARKS  OF  ROBERT  E.  C.  STEARNS 


ON      THE      LATE 


PROFESSOR    JOSEPH     HENRY, 

BEFORE      THE 

(EtaUfornro  Academy  uf  j^cieuce& 

MAY    2Ot±L,    1878; 

AND 

RESOLUTIONS   OF    THE   ACADEMY, 
June    17th,    1878. 


MEMBERS  OF  THE  ACADEMY: — Death,  which  hath  all  seasons 
for  its  own,  has  just  stricken  from  the  roll  of  the  living,  one  of 
the  illustrious  names  of  the  century,  a  name  eminent  in  intel- 
lectual, especially  scientific  circles,  throughout  the  world.  I 
refer,  of  course,  to  the  late  Prof.  Joseph  Henry,  whose  long 
life  service  to  his  country  and  to  mankind  as  an  educator  and 
scientific  investigator,  and  as  the  organizer  and  head  of  the 
Smithsonian  Institution,  placed  him  naturally,  and  justly,  at 
the  front,  as  the  representative  of  science  and  scientific  thought 
and  culture  in  America — a  position  which  he  filled  because  of 
his  high  attainments,  and  the  conspicuous  nobility  of  his  char- 
acter, with  exceeding  credit  to  himself  and  to  the  manifest  ad- 
vantage of  science  and  his  country.  A  man  of  great,  yet  un- 
assuming excellence,  whosoever  met  him  was  at  once  impressed 
most  favorably,  by  his  quiet  yet  cordial  greeting,  his  dignified, 
yet  genial  welcome.  His  native  breadth  of  mind,  his  wide  read- 
ing, correlated  with  and  refined  by  an  ample  a'nd  generous 
philosophy,  impelled  him,  even  early  in  life,  to  regard  not 


this  or  that  direction  of  study  or  path  of  knowledge,  only,  as 
worth  the  pursuing,  but  that  the  simple  text  or  legend, 
"  Knowledge  should  be  pursued  for  its  own  sake,"  should 
stand  as  an  axiom,  resting  upon  the  everlasting  foundation  of 
Truth.  This  made  him  appreciative  of  the  special  stud}'  and 
work  of  others,  and  his  friendly  interest  and  sympathetic 
words,  stimulated  and  inspired  the  student,  to  continued  and 
increased  effort. 

I  will  not  recite  by  title  in  long  enumeration,  the  many  re- 
sponsible positions  he  filled — the  experiments,  investigations 
and  discoveries  he  made,  or  enlarge  upon  the  numerous  hon- 
ors conferred  upon  him  by  the  higher  institutions  of  his  own 
country,  or  repeat  the  tributes  paid  to  his  achievements  by  the 
highest  intellectual  and  governmental  authorities  of  foreign 
lands.  Turning  from  these  well-merited  honors,  acknowledge- 
ments not  less  of  eminent  ability  than  of  scientific  integrity 
and  personal  worth,  we  are  led  to  survey  the  completed  life, 
in  its  rounded  term  of  eighty  years,  as  a  whole, — as  we  would 
view  from  afar,  some  stately  tree  whose  lines  are  full  of  strength 
and  beauty, — and  we  are  curious  to  learn  what  benificent  star 
was  in  the  ascendant,  what  occult  charm,  what  power  of  cir- 
cumstance, nurtured  and  protected,  and  led  him  onward  through 
the  days  of  his  youth,  and  lighted  the  path  for  his  later  years. 
In  turning  to  his  early  life,  to  the  time  when  he  first  went  forth 
on  its  now  completed  voyage,  we  find  that  he  was  not  born  a 
favorite  of  fortune,  as  that  term  is  usually  understood,  within 
an  environment  of  luxury  and  ease;  but,  if  we  give  a  loftier 
and  better  definition  to  the  phrase,  we  may  well  regard  it  as 
highly  fortunate  for  him  and  for  the  world  that  he  was  born 
with  a  profound  and  abiding  thirst,  an  irrepressible  longing  for 
knowledge,  which  determined  his  destiny  and  moulded  his 
career — which  led  him  upward  and  onward,  though  by  no 
royal  road  devoid  of  labor. 

Had  his  mind  been  colored  at  all  by  avarice,  or  the  desire 
for  wealth,  or,  if  in  his  earlier  years  it  had  received  the  impress 
of  commercial  bias  through  experience  in  trade,  he  might, 
through  his  numerous  and  important  discoveries,  extended  into 
inventions, — especially  in  electricity  in  its  practical  applica- 
tion,— have  accumulated  wealth  as  did  others  of  less  knowl- 
edge, who  reaped  in  this  productive  field.  His  fortune  so  far 
as  regards  material  wealth,  was  like  that  of  others,of  nearly  all 


of  the  great,  the  earnest  and  sincere  teachers  and  philosophers, 
who  have  labored  faithfully  and  unselfishly  for  the  cause,  who 
have  sought,  only  with  a  single  mind  in  all  its  strength — for 
the  increase  and  diffusion  of  knowledge  among  men. 

During  the  official  term  of  President  Fillmore,  in  addition  to 
other  numerous  duties,  he  was  appointed  to  the  light-house 
board,  a  most  important  service,  and  his  visit  to  this  coast, 
which  occurred  a  few  years  ago  (September,  1871,)  was  in  con- 
nection with  said  position ;  his  presence  at  the  Academy  on  one 
occasion,  during  this  visit,  will  long  be  remembered  by  those 
who  were  present  at  the  time. 

His  life  is  ended,  but  his  memory  will  be  cherished  by  all 
who  knew  him,  and  like  the  usefulness  of  his  labors,  shall 
endure  for  years.  His  career  constitutes  a  monument,  marking 
the  advancement  of  human  thought  and  the  intellectual  pro- 
gress of  the  republic,  in  which  he  was  so  eminent  a  citizen. 

On  motion  duly  seconded,  the  Chair  appointed  a  Special 
Committee  of  three,  consisting  of  Professor  John  LeConte, 
Doctor  A.  Kellogg,  and  Mr.  John  M.  Stillman,  to  which  by 
special  vote  the  Academy  added  the  Chairman,  to  draft  appro- 
priate resolutions  of  appreciation  and  respect,  and  present  the 
same  at  a  future  meeting. 

REGULAR  MEETING,  JUNE  17™,  1878. 

Vice  President  Edwards  in  the  Chair. 

The  Special  Committee  appointed  to  prepare  suitable  Reso- 
lutions expressive  of  the  sentiments  of  this  Academy,  in  rela- 
tion to  the  late  PROFESSOR  JOSEPH  HENRY,  beg  leave  to  submit 
the  following: 

Whereas,  in  the  death  of  our  distinguished  colleague,  PROFES- 
SOR JOSEPH  HENRY,  LL.  D.,  American  science  has  lost  its  Nestor, 
and  this  Academy  one  of  its  most  honored  members : 

Be  it  Resolved ;  That  in  the  scientific  career  of  PROFESSOR 
HENRY,  we  recognize  the  highest  and  purest  type  of  a  man 
whose  long  life  affords  a  beautiful  commentary  on  the  enno- 
bling influences  of  the  cultivation  of  true  science. 

Resolved,  Second;  That  as  an  original  investigator,  we  recog- 
nize the  distinguished  merit  of  PROFESSOR  HENRY  in  the  follow- 
ing respects,  viz  : 

1.     As  being  the   first  to  develop   the  power  of  the  Elec- 


tro  Magnet   as   actuated   by  an  intensity  or  a  quantity  battery. 

2.  As  the  first  to  apply  the  Electro-Magnet  in   the   inven- 
tion of  an  Electro-Magnetic  Telegraph. 

3.  As  the  first  to  invent  a  Machine  to  be  moved  by  Electro- 
Magnetism. 

4.  For  the  application  of  the   Electro-Telegraph   to   fore- 
casting the  Weather. 

5.  For  the  Plan  of  the  "  Smithsonian  Institution"  for  the 
increase  and  diffusion  of  knowledge  among  men,  and  the  suc- 
cessful development  of  this  Plan  during  an  administration  of 
more  than  thirty  years  as  Scientific  Director  of  this  establish- 
lishment. 

6.  For  the  improvement  of  "  Fog  Signals,"  in   connection 
with  the  United  States  Light-house  Board. 

7.  In  addition  to  the  foregoing,  our  colleague  made  impor- 
tant investigations  and  discoveries  in  Acoustics,    in    Capillary 
Attraction,  in  Radiant  Heat,  and  in  many  other  departments  of 
physical  science. 

Resolved,  Third;  That  it  is  a  fortunate  circumstance  for  Amer- 
ican science,  that  a  man  of  PROFESSOR  HENRY'S  pure  and  exalted 
character  was  so  long  in  a  position  in  which,  by  the  force  of 
his  earnest  and  uncompromising  determination,  he  saved 
the  "Smithsonian  Fund"  from  diversion  and  absorption  in  a 
Public  Library,  and  from  various  other  schemes,  and  suc- 
ceeded in  devoting  it  to  the  legitimate  objects  of  the  Testa- 
tator,  viz.  "  to  the  increase  and  diffusion  of  knowledge  among 
mankind." 

Resolved,  Fourth;  That  it  is  equally  fortunate  for  American 
science  that  the  influence  of  the  high  scientific  attainments  no 
less  than  the  rare  personal  qualities  of  our  illustrious  colleague 
at  the  seat  of  government,  has  done  so  much  to  arrest  the  tide 
of  charlatanry  and  superficial  half-knowledge ,  which  threatens 
to  overwhelm  our  country. 

Resolved,  fifth;  That  a  properly  attested  copy  of  these  Res- 
olutions, be  sent  to  the  honored  widow  of  our  deceased  col- 
league. 

JOHN  LECONTE. 

A.  KELLOGG 

J.  M.  STILLMAN. 

R.  E.  C.  STEARNS, 

Of  Special  Committee. 


UNIVERSITY  OF  CALIFORNIA  LIBRARY 
BERKELEY 

Return  to  desk  from  which  borrowed. 
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tECD  CIRC 


5 

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LD  21-100m-9,'481B399sl6)476