The morning call. [volume] (San Francisco [Calif.]) 1878-1895, 1894-01-28
THE LATE JOHN TYNDALL.

Professor Huxley's article in the Nine
! teenth Century for January on his friend
John Tyndall satisfies the public thirst for
| Information about one of the greatest
philosophers of our day. Huxley was
above all others the fittest to tell the story
of TyndalPs life. for they had been
brothers in noble endeayor for forty years :;
they understood each other as no one else
understood either. They were alike in
that they were true men, honest and brave,
seeking the truth by all means, and fol-
lowing 1t to its inexorabie conclusions at
all costs. Upon what little accidents mems
lives hinge little story of Huxley's tells.
Forty-two years ago the chairs of physics
and Of natural history in the University
OF Toronto became vacant. Huxley and
Tyndall, young men seeking their living,
applied for the posts. but were set aside for
pair OF clergymen who had local lnt1u-
ence. Had they been successful IL is hardly
likely that in that atmosphere they would
have ripened to become the leaders of the
scientific world; but the University of
Toronto might have become one of the
reat scientific schools of the day.
Both were appointed shortly afterward
to profeSsOrships in tie Royal Institution,
and then began the great usefulness of
their lives. Both chafed at the narrow
spirit of the great scientific bodies of the
day. They formed a club of their own,
called the X Club, of which Mr.. Busk,
DR.. Frank land, Sir John Lubbock, DR..
Hirst. Sir Joseph Hooker, Herbert Spencer
and Mr.. Spottiswoode became members.
Mr.. Huxley playfully observed that the
club could have written the scientific
articles for an encyclopedia without books
of reference. Tyndall then began his re-
searches into heat and the cleavage of
slate rocks. which he embodied in the
works which first made him famous. The
University of Oxford conferred upon him
the degree of d. C. L., in spite of a protest
from the professor of divinity denouncing
him as one who had signalized himself by
denying the crediDIity of miracles. BY
that time Faraday'S successor stood so
high that his assaian IS merely broke their
noses against a rock. They were respect
fully advised by the scientific authorities
Of the day to read Tyndall on iight-ihe
thing they most needed.
The charm of Tyndall was that he COM
bined the most profound science with the
playfulness of a child and the genial dis
position Of a well-bred woman, What he
knew he knew thoroughly, so thoroughly
that he could impart it easily in language
a boy could understand. On the occasion
of his first lecture be was accompanied by
a friend. who, noticing his empty hands,
asked: Where are your notes"
'NOtes?" replied the professor. II have
no notes" When he entered the lecture
room he began to talk in an easy, con-
versatiOnal tone, eXpOunding great ana
new truths as if they had been common
places. When he sat down he was the
first lecturer in England. Money was a
thing he could never be taught to care for.
By his lectures in this country he realized
5000. which was a good deal for poor
man. Instead of making it the basis oil
competency for his old age he added
$4,000 of his own to it and founded
scholarships at Harvard, Columbia and
the University of Pennsylvania for STU
dents who devote themselves to original
research" The mans heart was as big as
a house. He was always doing aud say
ing kind things. His friends could always
rely upon him. As the old shikaree de-
scribed a friend, he was a man to go
tiger-hunting with"
The lives of men who devote their minds
to SC ence are rarely laid bare to the pub
lie. Their existence is generally spent in
the seclusion of the library and the labora-
tory. Not many have been so fortunate as
to find a Huxley TO tell the true tale of the
man as he was. This is the sa1der as it is
the tendency of scientific study not only
to soften the heart and refine the instincts
but also to quicken the imagination. Even
in the lifetime of Emerson the brightest
versationalist in Cambridge was Agas-
siZ, and now we hear that the society Tyn-
dali enjoyed most was that of children.
His appearance in group of children was
a signal for shouts Of welcome and gen.
eral scram BILE of boys and girls to clam Der
on his knees and get their arms round
his neck.