Page:Popular Science Monthly Volume 44.djvu/527

Rh express a determination to devote their lives to this work. "My desire would be that each pupil should spend four years at a German university, three of those to be devoted to the acquisition of knowledge, and the fourth to original investigation." The plan for carrying out this purpose was fully set forth in the deed of trust, but it did not work well in practice. Several students were aided, with satisfactory results, but the selection of young men with suitable qualifications was found to be more of a task than had been anticipated. The trustees were scattered, were busy men with little time for correspondence, and the employment of a paid secretary was deemed impracticable. As a consequence the income accrued faster than it was expended, the fund having been so well invested that in thirteen years it amounted to $32,400. Prof. Tyndall then decided to divide this sum into three equal amounts, to be given, one to Columbia College, one to Harvard University, and one to the University of Pennsylvania, for the founding of three permanent fellowships in physical science. These fellowships were designed for the benefit of students desiring to prepare themselves for the work of original research, and the incumbents might study at home or abroad, as the authorities of the respective institutions should decide.

There was a widespread feeling that in giving his genius, time, and labor to advance the cause of science in this country. Prof. Tyndall had earned the gratitude of all the friends of science and education in the country; and when it became known that he would also devote his money to the same end, this feeling was deepened and it was thought by many that there should be some form of acknowledgment of the great value of these gifts to the American public. So a meeting was called, and it was there resolved to honor Prof. Tyndall with a public banquet to give expression to the general feeling and bid him farewell. This took place the evening before his departure. About two hundred guests were present, and numerous letters were received from persons unable to attend, the list embracing the leading men of science, the professions, and public life in the country.

The following letters, written after Prof. Tyndall's return to England, and containing some interesting allusions to his American experience, may fitly close this account of his visit:

March 11, 1873.

Many thanks to you, my dear Youmans, and many thanks to the Tribune for the cordial expression of good will contained in the number which you have just sent me.

Two hundred thousand copies! It is certainly a most extraordinary phenomenon, and one which the English public will probably take to heart. Nothing could be more gratifying.