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The Royal Society: Science in the Making

Copy letter, from Sir John Herschel to Francis Charles Knowles, dated at Collingwood

Reference number: HS/23/184

Date: 6 December 1856

Description

Copy of a letter, copied as part of the correspondence project led by Colonel John Herschel FRS following the death of his father. Would be inclined to try a combination of cryolite and silex to obtain a glass. Comments on his process for decomposing alumina by cyanide of sodium. Sorry to see that Francis Charles Knowles uses the current forms of chemical notation.

Reference number
HS/23/184
Earliest possible date
6 December 1856
Page extent
4 pages
Format
Manuscript
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Creator name

John Frederick William Herschel

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Citation

John Frederick William Herschel, Copy letter, from Sir John Herschel to Francis Charles Knowles, dated at Collingwood, 6 December 1856, HS/23/184, The Royal Society Archives, London, https://makingscience.royalsociety.org/items/hs_23_184/copy-letter-from-sir-john-herschel-to-francis-charles-knowles-dated-at-collingwood, accessed on 18 January 2026

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  • Herschel Letters

    This collection of nearly 10,900 letters, drafts, copies and notes is the largest repository of scientific correspondence from and to Sir John Herschel, leading figure of Victorian science.

    Dates: 1807 - 1875

    View collection