The Royal Institution: Its Founder and First ProfessorsJones, Bence
History
The Royal Institution: Its Founder and First Professors
Jones, Bence
Davy, Humphry, Sir, 1778-1829; Royal Institution of Great Britain; Rumford, Benjamin, Graf von, 1753-1814; Young, Thomas, 1773-1829
I am very sorry to find, on making inquiry of Doctor Garnett,
that your information was accurate respecting his having ascribed
the late discoveries of our friend Volta to the French. Had I
been apprised of his intention to mention this discovery at his
lectures, I should certainly have taken care that he should have
mentioned it in a proper manner; but I knew nothing of the matter
until it was too late to prevent the mistake. I have, however,
insisted on its being rectified as far as it is possible in some
future lecture, and I am promised that it will be done. I know
not from whom the Doctor procured his information respecting his
discovery, but I learnt by accident late last evening that he
borrowed the apparatus with which he exhibited the experiments at
the lecture from Mr. Howard. I dined out and did not come home till
his lecture was nearly over.
The next day Rumford wrote again:
Royal Institution, May 30, 1800.
Doctor Garnett is perfectly ready to make the following public
declaration this evening at his lecture at the Institution, or he
will say anything else on the subject in question which you may
think will be more proper for him to say to atone for his mistake
and to make amends to Professor Volta:
‘Having by mistake on Wednesday, in the course of my public
lecture, ascribed to the French philosophers a new and interesting
discovery relative to galvanism, which, on inquiry, I find belongs
to Professor Volta, of Milan, I feel it to be my duty to state this
fact in a public manner, in order that Professor Volta may not be
deprived in any degree of the honour of a discovery which so justly
belongs to him and to him alone. The first news of this discovery,
which arrived in this country in the beginning of last month, was
communicated in a letter from Professor Volta to the President of
the Royal Society, and it was in consequence of the information
contained in that letter that Dr. Carlisle, Mr. Nicholson, Mr.
Howard, and others have been enabled to construct the necessary
apparatus, and to repeat the ingenious Professor’s very interesting
experiments.’
Any alterations you may wish in the above shall be made, if you
will point them out.
In June Count Rumford reported that, in consequence of the request of
the managers, he had transmitted through the envoy of the United States
of North America to each of the philosophical societies, academies,
universities, &c., in that country a copy of the prospectus, charter,
ordinances, bye-laws, and regulations of the Royal Institution of Great
Britain.
Copies were sent to different public institutions abroad.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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