The President and Council of the Royal Society applied to the President and Managers of the Royal Institution for leave to erect on their premises an experimental room with a furnace, for the purpose of continuing the investigation on the manufacture of optical glass. They were guided in this by the desire which the Royal Institution has always evinced to assist in the advancement of science; and the readiness with which the application was granted showed that no mistaken notion had been formed in this respect. As a member of both bodies, I felt much anxiety that the investigation should be successful. A room and furnaces were built at the Royal Institution in September, 1827, and an assistant was engaged, Sergeant Anderson, of the Royal Artillery. He came on the 3rd of December. Anderson, who was thus made assistant to Faraday, remained in that capacity till his death in 1866. He was a most devoted servant. In a footnote to the “Experimental Researches” (vol. iii. p. 3) Faraday in 1845 wrote of him:-- I cannot resist the occasion that is thus offered me of mentioning the name of Mr. Anderson, who came to me as an assistant in the glass experiments, and has remained ever since in the laboratory of the Royal Institution. He assisted me in all the researches into which I have entered since that time; and to his care, steadiness, exactitude, and faithfulness in the performance of all that has been committed to his charge, I am much indebted.--M. F. Tyndall, who had a great admiration for Anderson, declared that his merits as an assistant might be summed up in one phrase--blind obedience. The story is told of him by Benjamin Abbott:-- [Sidenote: ANDERSON’S OBEDIENCE.] Sergeant Anderson ... was chosen simply because of the habits of strict obedience his military training had given him. His duty was to keep the furnaces always at the same heat, and the water in the ashpit always at the same level. In the evening he was released, but one night Faraday forgot to tell Anderson he could go home, and early next morning he found his faithful servant still stoking the glowing furnace, as he had been doing all night long. The research on optical glass was viewed askance by several parties. The expenditure of money which it involved was one of the “charges” hurled against the Council of the Royal Society by Sir James South in 1830. Nevertheless it was deemed sufficiently important to receive powerful support, as the following letter shows:-- Admiralty, 20 Dec., 1827. SIR, I hereby request, on behalf of the Board of Longitude, that you will continue, in the furnace built at the Royal Institution, the experiments on glass, directed by the joint Committee of the Royal Society and the Board of Longitude and already sanctioned by the Treasury and the Board of Excise.