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The Royal Society: Science in the Making

Unpublished letter, regarding 'A curious fact' from J H Cliff to the Secretary of the Royal Society

Reference number: AP/10/46

Date: 11 October 1833

Description

Letter received by the Royal Society as a result of a statement, titled 'A Curious Fact' (see AP/10 for description). Cliff explains that he read the Society's problem in Drakard's Stamford News, after which he carried out the experiment as described, deducing that the air must become rarefied when passing quickly through the tube, causing the phenomenon.

Subject: Physics

Written by Cliff in Gosberton, West Spalding, Lincolnshire [England] and addressed to the Secretary of the Royal Society at Somerset Place, London.

Reference number
AP/10/46
Earliest possible date
11 October 1833
Physical description
Ink on paper
Page extent
4 pages
Format
Manuscript

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Citation

Unpublished letter, regarding 'A curious fact' from J H Cliff to the Secretary of the Royal Society, 11 October 1833, AP/10/46, The Royal Society Archives, London, https://makingscience.royalsociety.org/items/ap_10_46/unpublished-letter-regarding-a-curious-fact-from-j-h-cliff-to-the-secretary-of-the-royal-society, accessed on 19 November 2025

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https://makingscience.royalsociety.org/items/ap_10_46/unpublished-letter-regarding-a-curious-fact-from-j-h-cliff-to-the-secretary-of-the-royal-society

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  • Archived Papers

    The 'Archived Papers' collection is comprised of original manuscript scientific papers and letters submitted to the Royal Society which remained unpublished or were abstracted in the journal 'Proceedings of the Royal Society' published from 1830 onwards.

    Dates: 1768 - 1989

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