1 00:00:02,440 --> 00:00:06,600 Speaker 1: Happy Saturday. Our classic today has connections to two things 2 00:00:06,640 --> 00:00:09,520 Speaker 1: that we mentioned on the show this week, Richard Owen 3 00:00:09,640 --> 00:00:12,800 Speaker 1: and the Great Exhibition at the Crystal Palace. It's Andrew 4 00:00:12,880 --> 00:00:16,400 Speaker 1: Cross who did some goofy stuff with electricity at crystals 5 00:00:16,680 --> 00:00:19,560 Speaker 1: in the nineteenth century. We have a couple of little 6 00:00:19,640 --> 00:00:24,000 Speaker 1: updates not directly related to Andrew Cross. In this episode. 7 00:00:24,079 --> 00:00:27,760 Speaker 1: We have a whole conversation about comments on our website 8 00:00:27,800 --> 00:00:31,800 Speaker 1: at mysonhistory dot com. The website no longer has comments 9 00:00:31,840 --> 00:00:33,800 Speaker 1: on it. If you go running to there to leave 10 00:00:33,880 --> 00:00:36,600 Speaker 1: us a comment, there will not be an option to 11 00:00:36,600 --> 00:00:41,160 Speaker 1: do that. We also talk about Cross's home of Fine Court, 12 00:00:41,280 --> 00:00:44,680 Speaker 1: which is a National Trust property today. We say in 13 00:00:44,680 --> 00:00:47,239 Speaker 1: the episode that the cafe is takeout only due to 14 00:00:47,400 --> 00:00:50,640 Speaker 1: COVID precautions. That is, of course not the case, and 15 00:00:50,720 --> 00:00:54,360 Speaker 1: it's also now home to a used bookstore that I 16 00:00:54,400 --> 00:00:58,880 Speaker 1: don't recall being mentioned when I first researched this episode. 17 00:00:58,920 --> 00:01:02,520 Speaker 1: This originally came out on January twenty seventh, twenty twenty one. 18 00:01:02,920 --> 00:01:09,360 Speaker 1: Enjoy Welcome to Stuff You Missed in History Class, a 19 00:01:09,400 --> 00:01:19,720 Speaker 1: production of iHeartRadio. Hello and welcome to the podcast. I'm 20 00:01:19,760 --> 00:01:23,320 Speaker 1: Tracy V. Wilson and I'm Holly Frye. After we did 21 00:01:23,360 --> 00:01:26,840 Speaker 1: our episode on John Cleves Simms and his ideas of 22 00:01:26,880 --> 00:01:30,039 Speaker 1: the Earth being hollow, somebody suggested that we do an 23 00:01:30,080 --> 00:01:33,920 Speaker 1: episode on Andrew Cross. And I wrote all this down, 24 00:01:34,319 --> 00:01:38,120 Speaker 1: including the fact that he thought he invented life from crystals. 25 00:01:39,200 --> 00:01:42,320 Speaker 1: And now I'm going to totally depart from the document 26 00:01:42,400 --> 00:01:44,440 Speaker 1: that I gave Holly for our outline to come in 27 00:01:44,480 --> 00:01:49,400 Speaker 1: here because I just figured out who who suggested this. 28 00:01:49,680 --> 00:01:52,520 Speaker 1: What was originally written in this outline was that I 29 00:01:52,560 --> 00:01:56,200 Speaker 1: had gone looking in our email and our Facebook comments 30 00:01:56,320 --> 00:02:00,760 Speaker 1: and our our Twitter mentions, being like, who's just this? 31 00:02:00,920 --> 00:02:02,760 Speaker 1: I wrote all this down and I did not write 32 00:02:02,800 --> 00:02:06,320 Speaker 1: down their name. Literally sitting in this studio, I was like, 33 00:02:06,480 --> 00:02:10,920 Speaker 1: maybe it was a comment on our website. It was 34 00:02:11,240 --> 00:02:16,160 Speaker 1: a comment on our website from Kumari. I hope I 35 00:02:16,160 --> 00:02:19,280 Speaker 1: have said your name correctly. I'm so sorry if I 36 00:02:19,320 --> 00:02:22,040 Speaker 1: did not who left the comment? How about a podcast 37 00:02:22,080 --> 00:02:24,720 Speaker 1: on Andrew Cross who thought he created life in eighteen 38 00:02:24,800 --> 00:02:27,920 Speaker 1: thirty six with his crystals and electricity. Because it's goofy, 39 00:02:28,880 --> 00:02:34,320 Speaker 1: it is goofy. This was a joy to work on day. 40 00:02:34,360 --> 00:02:37,160 Speaker 1: It also just came together with remarkable ease which was 41 00:02:37,200 --> 00:02:40,200 Speaker 1: great because I was taken a long weekend then I 42 00:02:40,240 --> 00:02:43,000 Speaker 1: wanted I needed to get all my stuff done. No 43 00:02:43,240 --> 00:02:47,880 Speaker 1: shade at all to kumarif we're having left this comment 44 00:02:47,919 --> 00:02:51,079 Speaker 1: on our on our website, but I will note we 45 00:02:51,160 --> 00:02:56,000 Speaker 1: do not get notification of comments on the website at 46 00:02:56,000 --> 00:02:59,880 Speaker 1: mistonhistory dot com. It is often weeks or longer before 47 00:02:59,880 --> 00:03:02,600 Speaker 1: we ever see anything on there, and we also do 48 00:03:02,680 --> 00:03:06,880 Speaker 1: not have the ability to turn the comments off because 49 00:03:06,880 --> 00:03:09,120 Speaker 1: it's like a whole company wide thing to have the 50 00:03:09,160 --> 00:03:12,840 Speaker 1: comments on there. So if you are going to leave 51 00:03:12,840 --> 00:03:14,760 Speaker 1: a comment on our website, we're probably not going to 52 00:03:14,800 --> 00:03:16,720 Speaker 1: see it in a timely manner and we may never 53 00:03:16,760 --> 00:03:20,639 Speaker 1: respond to it. But my last minute, literally sitting here 54 00:03:20,639 --> 00:03:22,880 Speaker 1: in the studio, oh maybe it was a comment on 55 00:03:22,919 --> 00:03:28,000 Speaker 1: the website. It was. It was Cross's account of what 56 00:03:28,160 --> 00:03:31,160 Speaker 1: really happened. Is a little bit more down to earth 57 00:03:31,240 --> 00:03:34,320 Speaker 1: than thinking that he invented life, or not invented life, 58 00:03:34,320 --> 00:03:36,800 Speaker 1: but created life with crystals and electricity. But it's still 59 00:03:36,800 --> 00:03:39,960 Speaker 1: a delightful story. It's a lot of fun to work on. 60 00:03:40,080 --> 00:03:43,000 Speaker 1: So thank you Kumari again. I hope I have said 61 00:03:43,000 --> 00:03:46,040 Speaker 1: your name right. I have a good check because I 62 00:03:46,080 --> 00:03:49,880 Speaker 1: literally made the connection just now dun dun dum uh. Yeah, 63 00:03:49,920 --> 00:03:55,200 Speaker 1: thank you for suggesting this. So. Andrew Cross was born 64 00:03:55,240 --> 00:04:00,680 Speaker 1: on June seventeenth, seventeen eighty four, at Fine Court in Broomfield, Summer, England, 65 00:04:01,120 --> 00:04:03,480 Speaker 1: and the manor house at fine Court was first built 66 00:04:03,480 --> 00:04:05,880 Speaker 1: in the early seventeenth century, and then it was added 67 00:04:05,920 --> 00:04:08,800 Speaker 1: onto over the years, so by the time Cross was 68 00:04:08,840 --> 00:04:11,320 Speaker 1: born it had been his family's home for well over 69 00:04:11,360 --> 00:04:15,120 Speaker 1: one hundred years. Andrew's mother was named Susannah and his 70 00:04:15,240 --> 00:04:19,320 Speaker 1: father was Richard Cross, High Sheriff of Somerset. When Andrew 71 00:04:19,440 --> 00:04:21,880 Speaker 1: was four, the family moved to France and they stayed 72 00:04:21,920 --> 00:04:25,839 Speaker 1: there for the next four years. Andrew spoke both French 73 00:04:25,960 --> 00:04:28,000 Speaker 1: and English by the time he got back home, but 74 00:04:28,120 --> 00:04:30,640 Speaker 1: after that he really did not keep up with the 75 00:04:30,640 --> 00:04:34,360 Speaker 1: French and he eventually lost it all. Although he studied 76 00:04:34,440 --> 00:04:37,400 Speaker 1: Latin and Greek in school, he didn't really think he 77 00:04:37,480 --> 00:04:41,440 Speaker 1: had much of an aptitude for languages. However, he did 78 00:04:41,640 --> 00:04:44,880 Speaker 1: invent a new language with his younger brother Richard, and 79 00:04:44,920 --> 00:04:46,680 Speaker 1: the two of them made up a world that was 80 00:04:46,720 --> 00:04:50,320 Speaker 1: populated by beings they called either Hobblege's or hobble Geese. 81 00:04:50,360 --> 00:04:52,479 Speaker 1: We don't know for sure, which they made out of 82 00:04:52,560 --> 00:04:55,320 Speaker 1: fur cones. And they imagined a whole society for the 83 00:04:55,360 --> 00:04:58,760 Speaker 1: hobble Geese, complete with its own legal system and a 84 00:04:58,800 --> 00:05:01,280 Speaker 1: system of government, which about as charming as you can 85 00:05:01,320 --> 00:05:05,039 Speaker 1: get in my opinion. In his own words, Andrew was 86 00:05:05,120 --> 00:05:09,520 Speaker 1: quote a very happy boy, careless, and extravagantly fond of fun, 87 00:05:10,000 --> 00:05:12,760 Speaker 1: and both boys were somewhat eccentric as they grew up. 88 00:05:13,080 --> 00:05:15,919 Speaker 1: We're gonna get into Andrew's eccentricities in more detail. But 89 00:05:15,960 --> 00:05:19,080 Speaker 1: as for Richard, as one example, he was really really 90 00:05:19,120 --> 00:05:22,440 Speaker 1: into the metric system, so much so that his clocks 91 00:05:22,440 --> 00:05:26,279 Speaker 1: were divided into ten hours instead of twelve. I have 92 00:05:26,360 --> 00:05:29,040 Speaker 1: a number of questions about this, like, if you're running 93 00:05:29,040 --> 00:05:32,200 Speaker 1: your household on ten hour clocks, do you just translate 94 00:05:32,240 --> 00:05:34,080 Speaker 1: in your head to make sure you're on time for 95 00:05:34,160 --> 00:05:37,119 Speaker 1: your engagements or all? Are you always not on time? 96 00:05:37,520 --> 00:05:40,160 Speaker 1: We're gonna have a talk about this in our Friday 97 00:05:40,240 --> 00:05:46,520 Speaker 1: episode Super because your foolish co host may have tried 98 00:05:46,560 --> 00:05:52,440 Speaker 1: something similar as an adult. Oh, I'm so excited. After 99 00:05:52,480 --> 00:05:55,719 Speaker 1: the Cross family got back from France, Andrew was enrolled 100 00:05:55,760 --> 00:05:58,159 Speaker 1: in a school in Dorchester that was run by a 101 00:05:58,279 --> 00:06:01,960 Speaker 1: reverend Mister White, and Then in seventeen ninety three, when 102 00:06:02,000 --> 00:06:04,440 Speaker 1: he was nine, he moved to a school in Bristol 103 00:06:04,600 --> 00:06:08,000 Speaker 1: run by the reverend mister Samuel Sayer. In addition to 104 00:06:08,040 --> 00:06:11,800 Speaker 1: his work as a teacher, Sayer wrote memoirs historical and 105 00:06:11,880 --> 00:06:15,480 Speaker 1: topographical of Bristol in its neighborhood from the earliest period 106 00:06:15,560 --> 00:06:18,799 Speaker 1: down to the present time. Andrew did not really enjoy 107 00:06:18,839 --> 00:06:21,159 Speaker 1: his time at this school. He never felt like he 108 00:06:21,200 --> 00:06:23,320 Speaker 1: had enough to eat, and he thought the food that 109 00:06:23,360 --> 00:06:26,640 Speaker 1: they did have was terrible. He also didn't get along 110 00:06:26,680 --> 00:06:30,200 Speaker 1: with Sayer or some of the other teachers. Plus, being 111 00:06:30,360 --> 00:06:34,279 Speaker 1: extravagantly fond of fun included getting into mischief and playing 112 00:06:34,400 --> 00:06:37,880 Speaker 1: jokes and pranks on people, Like when a classmate asked 113 00:06:37,920 --> 00:06:41,400 Speaker 1: him for help translating some Latin, Andrew told him that 114 00:06:41,440 --> 00:06:44,440 Speaker 1: what he wanted translated meant the stork is safest in 115 00:06:44,480 --> 00:06:47,039 Speaker 1: the middle of the pond, when it really meant the 116 00:06:47,040 --> 00:06:51,279 Speaker 1: middle course is safest. And Sayer apparently did not appreciate 117 00:06:51,320 --> 00:06:54,359 Speaker 1: this particular brand of silliness. Some of the trouble that 118 00:06:54,400 --> 00:06:57,839 Speaker 1: Andrew got into at school was also more serious than that. 119 00:06:58,839 --> 00:07:02,000 Speaker 1: Andrew liked to make his own own fireworks, and that's 120 00:07:02,000 --> 00:07:03,960 Speaker 1: what he was doing. One day, while he was also 121 00:07:04,080 --> 00:07:08,200 Speaker 1: studying his Virgil Sayer came and caught him and took 122 00:07:08,200 --> 00:07:12,320 Speaker 1: what he was working on a way. In Andrew's words quote, 123 00:07:12,360 --> 00:07:14,320 Speaker 1: I watched where he put it. It was on the 124 00:07:14,360 --> 00:07:17,440 Speaker 1: window sill of a room which was always kept locked. 125 00:07:17,960 --> 00:07:21,920 Speaker 1: The window, though not glazed, had close iron bars through 126 00:07:22,000 --> 00:07:25,440 Speaker 1: which nothing could pass. The case was hopeless. I could 127 00:07:25,520 --> 00:07:29,120 Speaker 1: not recover my rocket mixture, but a happy thought struck me. 128 00:07:29,560 --> 00:07:32,720 Speaker 1: I was resolved that no one else should enjoy the spoil, 129 00:07:32,840 --> 00:07:36,320 Speaker 1: which I regarded as so valuable. I had a burning 130 00:07:36,440 --> 00:07:39,600 Speaker 1: glass in my pocket, and I thought of Archimedes and 131 00:07:39,640 --> 00:07:43,000 Speaker 1: the Roman fleet. The sun was shining, and I soon 132 00:07:43,080 --> 00:07:46,640 Speaker 1: drew a focus on the gunpowder, which immediately blew up. 133 00:07:47,360 --> 00:07:50,160 Speaker 1: It was well that the house was not set on fire. 134 00:07:50,520 --> 00:07:54,040 Speaker 1: As for me, I was reckless of all consequences. At 135 00:07:54,040 --> 00:07:56,480 Speaker 1: one point, some of the boys at school decided to 136 00:07:56,520 --> 00:07:59,320 Speaker 1: go on strike to try to get longer holiday breaks. 137 00:08:00,040 --> 00:08:02,440 Speaker 1: But beyond just refusing to go to class, they were 138 00:08:02,480 --> 00:08:06,080 Speaker 1: inspired by the British troops fighting in the French Revolutionary Wars, 139 00:08:06,120 --> 00:08:09,520 Speaker 1: so they also planned to take over the school armed 140 00:08:09,600 --> 00:08:13,800 Speaker 1: with muskets. This plan was discovered and thwarted, thankfully before 141 00:08:13,800 --> 00:08:16,880 Speaker 1: anybody carried it out, and although the ringleaders were expelled 142 00:08:17,280 --> 00:08:23,000 Speaker 1: and other participants were flogged, Andrew somehow escaped notice. Aside 143 00:08:23,120 --> 00:08:26,640 Speaker 1: from all of that, though, Andrew's love of science, and 144 00:08:26,720 --> 00:08:30,720 Speaker 1: particularly of electricity, really blossomed while he was at mister 145 00:08:30,800 --> 00:08:33,920 Speaker 1: Sayer's school. This might have had roots back in his 146 00:08:33,960 --> 00:08:37,479 Speaker 1: home life. His father was actually friends with Benjamin Franklin. 147 00:08:38,200 --> 00:08:41,200 Speaker 1: But while he was at Sayer's school, Andrews saw an 148 00:08:41,320 --> 00:08:45,240 Speaker 1: advertisement for a lecture series, with the first installment being 149 00:08:45,280 --> 00:08:49,120 Speaker 1: about optics and the second about electricity. He asked for 150 00:08:49,160 --> 00:08:52,240 Speaker 1: permission to go, and that was granted and things really 151 00:08:52,280 --> 00:08:56,160 Speaker 1: took off from there. Soon he and some schoolmates were 152 00:08:56,200 --> 00:08:58,640 Speaker 1: shocking people with a Leyden jar that they made from 153 00:08:58,679 --> 00:09:02,000 Speaker 1: an apothecary's bottle. So a leyden jar is a vessel 154 00:09:02,040 --> 00:09:05,800 Speaker 1: that stores static electricity, in this case probably a stoppered 155 00:09:05,880 --> 00:09:09,360 Speaker 1: vial filled partway with water with a wire through the stopper, 156 00:09:09,640 --> 00:09:12,520 Speaker 1: which you charge by touching the wire to something staticky. 157 00:09:13,440 --> 00:09:16,720 Speaker 1: Before long, Andrew was writing home to ask for money 158 00:09:16,760 --> 00:09:20,439 Speaker 1: to buy various electrical gadgetry. To be clear, this Leyden 159 00:09:20,520 --> 00:09:23,400 Speaker 1: jar shocking would not have been dangerous, but it would 160 00:09:23,440 --> 00:09:29,800 Speaker 1: have been annoying. Andrew's father died in eighteen hundred when 161 00:09:29,800 --> 00:09:32,560 Speaker 1: he was sixteen, and about that time he started to 162 00:09:32,600 --> 00:09:36,679 Speaker 1: experience what he described as nervous attacks, and they would 163 00:09:36,720 --> 00:09:40,280 Speaker 1: recur regularly for the rest of his life. While he 164 00:09:40,320 --> 00:09:43,760 Speaker 1: had described himself in childhood as happy and careless, he 165 00:09:43,840 --> 00:09:47,040 Speaker 1: grew up to be kind of a generally anxious person, 166 00:09:47,600 --> 00:09:50,600 Speaker 1: with these attacks coming on suddenly and lasting for as 167 00:09:50,679 --> 00:09:53,640 Speaker 1: long as thirty minutes at a time. In eighteen oh two, 168 00:09:53,920 --> 00:09:57,240 Speaker 1: Cross entered Brasenose College at Oxford, which he called quote 169 00:09:57,520 --> 00:10:01,080 Speaker 1: a perfect hell on earth. Wine seemed to be the 170 00:10:01,160 --> 00:10:03,320 Speaker 1: focal point of social life at the college, and he 171 00:10:03,440 --> 00:10:08,120 Speaker 1: hated wine. He also hated his classmates, snobbery and classism, 172 00:10:08,320 --> 00:10:10,760 Speaker 1: and later on he said, quote I was less liberal 173 00:10:10,840 --> 00:10:13,000 Speaker 1: at this time than at any other of my life. 174 00:10:13,480 --> 00:10:15,839 Speaker 1: It took some years to rub off the prejudices of 175 00:10:15,920 --> 00:10:19,240 Speaker 1: class which I had acquired At Oxford. Cross earned his 176 00:10:19,360 --> 00:10:22,400 Speaker 1: degree in law in eighteen oh five, and he also 177 00:10:22,559 --> 00:10:26,240 Speaker 1: inherited fine Court after his mother's death on July third 178 00:10:26,280 --> 00:10:29,240 Speaker 1: of that same year. This was one of a long 179 00:10:29,440 --> 00:10:32,640 Speaker 1: series of losses over a period of about five years. 180 00:10:32,720 --> 00:10:36,200 Speaker 1: He lost both of his parents, a sister, an uncle, 181 00:10:36,800 --> 00:10:40,280 Speaker 1: two close friends, and one of his household staff, who 182 00:10:40,360 --> 00:10:43,720 Speaker 1: he described as quote a most faithful and attached servant. 183 00:10:44,679 --> 00:10:47,720 Speaker 1: It's not really clear whether the grief over all of 184 00:10:47,760 --> 00:10:50,640 Speaker 1: this led him to abandon law, but he did. He 185 00:10:50,679 --> 00:10:54,480 Speaker 1: gave up law after two or three years. Instead, he 186 00:10:54,640 --> 00:10:58,440 Speaker 1: established himself as a country gentleman at fine court, becoming 187 00:10:58,480 --> 00:11:03,240 Speaker 1: absorbed in studying electricity, mineralogy, and chemistry. He also served 188 00:11:03,240 --> 00:11:06,000 Speaker 1: as a magistrate, where he developed a reputation for being 189 00:11:06,080 --> 00:11:10,640 Speaker 1: quite liberal, and he wrote a lot of poetry. Cross 190 00:11:10,640 --> 00:11:14,640 Speaker 1: became friends with George John Singer, author of Elements of 191 00:11:14,679 --> 00:11:20,240 Speaker 1: Electricity and Electrochemistry. Like Cross, Singer was an amateur scientist 192 00:11:20,240 --> 00:11:25,440 Speaker 1: whose family business involved making artificial feathers and flowers, but 193 00:11:25,720 --> 00:11:29,360 Speaker 1: he was knowledgeable on the subject of electricity and held public 194 00:11:29,480 --> 00:11:33,520 Speaker 1: lectures and demonstrations that were attended by people like Michael Faraday. 195 00:11:34,360 --> 00:11:37,880 Speaker 1: Cross and Singer did experiments together until Singer's death from 196 00:11:37,960 --> 00:11:43,120 Speaker 1: tuberculosis in eighteen seventeen at the age of only thirty one. 197 00:11:43,240 --> 00:11:46,320 Speaker 1: George John Singer had built a laboratory and lecture hall 198 00:11:46,400 --> 00:11:49,840 Speaker 1: at his own home, but Andrew Cross's efforts to devote 199 00:11:49,880 --> 00:11:53,040 Speaker 1: his home to research went even farther. We'll talk more 200 00:11:53,080 --> 00:12:05,440 Speaker 1: about that after we paused for a sponsor break. In 201 00:12:05,480 --> 00:12:10,160 Speaker 1: eighteen o seven, Andrew Cross became fascinated with crystal formations 202 00:12:10,200 --> 00:12:14,760 Speaker 1: in Holwell Cavern, which is a limestone crevice in Broomfield, 203 00:12:14,840 --> 00:12:17,720 Speaker 1: not far from where he lived. The entrance to this 204 00:12:17,880 --> 00:12:22,600 Speaker 1: cavern has since been filled in, and in Cross's words quote, 205 00:12:22,640 --> 00:12:25,640 Speaker 1: I felt convinced at an early period that the formation 206 00:12:25,840 --> 00:12:29,320 Speaker 1: and constant growth of the crystalline matter which lined the 207 00:12:29,400 --> 00:12:33,840 Speaker 1: roof of this cave was caused by some peculiar upward attraction, 208 00:12:34,520 --> 00:12:37,080 Speaker 1: and reasoning more on the subject, I felt assured that 209 00:12:37,160 --> 00:12:41,240 Speaker 1: it was electric attraction. Cross got a tumbler of water 210 00:12:41,360 --> 00:12:43,360 Speaker 1: out of the stream that ran through the cavern, and 211 00:12:43,360 --> 00:12:46,560 Speaker 1: he ran a current through it on wires, and eventually 212 00:12:46,600 --> 00:12:49,920 Speaker 1: some crystals did start to form. This was the first 213 00:12:50,000 --> 00:12:53,800 Speaker 1: of many experiments that he conducted in electrocrystallization, which is 214 00:12:53,840 --> 00:12:58,920 Speaker 1: when metals are deposited onto electrodes, eventually forming crystals. He 215 00:12:58,920 --> 00:13:02,840 Speaker 1: would eventually start to experiment with electro refining, or extracting 216 00:13:02,880 --> 00:13:06,080 Speaker 1: metals from their oars with electricity, which is also called 217 00:13:06,200 --> 00:13:10,280 Speaker 1: electro winning electrowinning, which by the way, sounds like a 218 00:13:10,280 --> 00:13:13,600 Speaker 1: great band name, was first developed by Sir Humphrey Davy, 219 00:13:14,080 --> 00:13:17,320 Speaker 1: who came up in our John Cleves Simms episode Everything 220 00:13:17,360 --> 00:13:20,240 Speaker 1: Connects in History. Yeah, Davy was one of the people 221 00:13:20,320 --> 00:13:23,400 Speaker 1: who thought John Cleeve Simms did not know what he 222 00:13:23,440 --> 00:13:29,480 Speaker 1: was talking about, because he didn't. As Cross experimented, though, 223 00:13:29,600 --> 00:13:32,839 Speaker 1: more and more of his home became devoted to this 224 00:13:33,000 --> 00:13:36,400 Speaker 1: work over the next few decades. He installed six or 225 00:13:36,480 --> 00:13:41,640 Speaker 1: seven furnaces for purifying metals. The estates, glassware, and china 226 00:13:41,720 --> 00:13:45,760 Speaker 1: became laboratory vessels, and he purified the household silver for 227 00:13:45,920 --> 00:13:49,800 Speaker 1: use in his experiments. He also strung up about a 228 00:13:49,880 --> 00:13:53,200 Speaker 1: third of a mile of copper wire from poles and 229 00:13:53,280 --> 00:13:56,360 Speaker 1: the tallest trees on the grounds, and he connected all 230 00:13:56,360 --> 00:13:59,559 Speaker 1: that to about fifty laden jars in the organ loft 231 00:13:59,559 --> 00:14:04,160 Speaker 1: of the museom. This setup became particularly dramatic in foggy 232 00:14:04,200 --> 00:14:07,920 Speaker 1: or stormy weather. Sir Richard Phillips visited Fine Core and 233 00:14:07,960 --> 00:14:11,080 Speaker 1: relate a conversation with Cross quote. He told me that 234 00:14:11,160 --> 00:14:13,720 Speaker 1: sometimes the current was so great as to charge and 235 00:14:13,800 --> 00:14:17,080 Speaker 1: discharge the great battery twenty times in a minute, with 236 00:14:17,280 --> 00:14:21,120 Speaker 1: reports as loud as a cannon, which, being continuous, were 237 00:14:21,200 --> 00:14:24,680 Speaker 1: so terrible to strangers that they always fled, while everyone 238 00:14:24,720 --> 00:14:28,760 Speaker 1: expected the destruction of himself and premises. If the weather 239 00:14:28,920 --> 00:14:32,520 Speaker 1: wasn't cooperating. Cross could also manually charge the laden jars 240 00:14:32,560 --> 00:14:36,000 Speaker 1: by turning a device with a crank. Here is how 241 00:14:36,040 --> 00:14:40,080 Speaker 1: a visitor described fine Court. During all this quote, here 242 00:14:40,160 --> 00:14:44,400 Speaker 1: was an immense number of jars and gallipots containing fluids 243 00:14:44,400 --> 00:14:48,040 Speaker 1: on which electricity was operating for the production of crystals. 244 00:14:48,520 --> 00:14:51,560 Speaker 1: But you were startled in the midst of your observations 245 00:14:51,600 --> 00:14:54,760 Speaker 1: by the smart crackling sound that attends the passage of 246 00:14:54,760 --> 00:14:59,080 Speaker 1: the electrical spark. You hear also the rumblings of distant thunder. 247 00:14:59,520 --> 00:15:03,280 Speaker 1: The rain is already splashing and great drops against the glass, 248 00:15:03,280 --> 00:15:06,520 Speaker 1: and the sound of the passing sparks continues to startle 249 00:15:06,560 --> 00:15:10,480 Speaker 1: your ear. Your host is in high glee, for a 250 00:15:10,560 --> 00:15:13,640 Speaker 1: battery of electricity is about to come within his reach, 251 00:15:14,080 --> 00:15:18,520 Speaker 1: a thousandfold more powerful than all those the rooms strung together. 252 00:15:19,040 --> 00:15:22,240 Speaker 1: You follow his hasty steps to the organ gallery and 253 00:15:22,360 --> 00:15:25,480 Speaker 1: curiously approach the spot. Once the noise that has attracted 254 00:15:25,520 --> 00:15:29,120 Speaker 1: your notice, you see at the window a huge brass 255 00:15:29,160 --> 00:15:32,800 Speaker 1: conductor with a discharging rod near it, passing into the floor, 256 00:15:33,280 --> 00:15:36,400 Speaker 1: and from what knob to the other sparks are leaping 257 00:15:36,480 --> 00:15:43,120 Speaker 1: with increasing rapidity and noise, rap rap rap, bang bang bang. Nonetheless, 258 00:15:43,600 --> 00:15:46,920 Speaker 1: your host does not fear. He approaches as boldly as 259 00:15:46,920 --> 00:15:50,160 Speaker 1: if the flowing stream of fire were a harmless spark. 260 00:15:50,600 --> 00:15:53,760 Speaker 1: Here comes the big no surprise moment. Many of his 261 00:15:53,840 --> 00:15:57,880 Speaker 1: neighbors did not particularly care for all of this. Cross 262 00:15:58,000 --> 00:16:01,080 Speaker 1: was nicknamed the Wizard of Broomfield, and at one point 263 00:16:01,120 --> 00:16:03,040 Speaker 1: he was speaking at a meeting ahead of an election 264 00:16:03,560 --> 00:16:07,560 Speaker 1: and local farmers were booing him. When an outsider asked 265 00:16:07,560 --> 00:16:10,560 Speaker 1: what was wrong, someone replied, quote, why don't you know him? 266 00:16:10,640 --> 00:16:14,200 Speaker 1: That's Cross of Broomfield, the thunder and lightning man. You 267 00:16:14,240 --> 00:16:16,800 Speaker 1: can't go near his kurshed house at night without danger 268 00:16:16,840 --> 00:16:19,440 Speaker 1: of your life. Them as have been there have seen 269 00:16:19,480 --> 00:16:22,840 Speaker 1: devils all surrounded by lightning, dancing on the wires that 270 00:16:22,880 --> 00:16:26,600 Speaker 1: he has put up round his grounds. At the same time, though, 271 00:16:26,640 --> 00:16:30,920 Speaker 1: there were local people who thought his experiments had curative properties. 272 00:16:31,680 --> 00:16:33,920 Speaker 1: In her account of his life and work, Cross, his 273 00:16:34,040 --> 00:16:37,600 Speaker 1: second wife, Cornelia, described the case of a local man 274 00:16:37,680 --> 00:16:40,120 Speaker 1: who was paralyzed on one side of his body and 275 00:16:40,200 --> 00:16:45,120 Speaker 1: also had a salivary gland issue quote. After being electrified 276 00:16:45,160 --> 00:16:47,440 Speaker 1: twice a week for six weeks, he was so much 277 00:16:47,440 --> 00:16:50,080 Speaker 1: better that he could walk to find court and the 278 00:16:50,160 --> 00:16:54,240 Speaker 1: complaint in the throat was entirely removed. I'm making a 279 00:16:54,240 --> 00:17:01,080 Speaker 1: grimacing face. Another gem from Cornelia about their booming flashing quote, 280 00:17:01,200 --> 00:17:04,600 Speaker 1: we were never troubled with burglars at fine Court. We 281 00:17:04,680 --> 00:17:07,119 Speaker 1: will get back to Cornelia in a bit, since they 282 00:17:07,160 --> 00:17:11,400 Speaker 1: got married later on in Andrew's life. His first wife 283 00:17:11,480 --> 00:17:15,720 Speaker 1: was Marian Hamilton, daughter of Captain John Hamilton. They got 284 00:17:15,720 --> 00:17:19,080 Speaker 1: married in eighteen oh nine, relatively early into cross His 285 00:17:19,240 --> 00:17:22,359 Speaker 1: time as a gentleman scientist. They would go on to 286 00:17:22,400 --> 00:17:26,000 Speaker 1: have seven children together over the next ten years, although 287 00:17:26,080 --> 00:17:28,720 Speaker 1: three of those children died when they were still children. 288 00:17:29,440 --> 00:17:33,359 Speaker 1: Their oldest child, John, was born in eighteen ten. Cross 289 00:17:33,400 --> 00:17:36,080 Speaker 1: seems to have been really deeply fond of his wife 290 00:17:36,080 --> 00:17:40,080 Speaker 1: and children and very traumatized by those three deaths. At 291 00:17:40,080 --> 00:17:42,719 Speaker 1: the same time, though, in terms of family, he'd been 292 00:17:42,760 --> 00:17:45,159 Speaker 1: on his own aside from a couple of younger siblings 293 00:17:45,160 --> 00:17:47,760 Speaker 1: for four years before he got married, and he just 294 00:17:47,840 --> 00:17:50,879 Speaker 1: wasn't used to having a regular home life, and along 295 00:17:50,920 --> 00:17:53,680 Speaker 1: with all of his experiments, that made things a little 296 00:17:53,720 --> 00:17:58,280 Speaker 1: bit chaotic. Ada Lovelace became friends with both Andrew and 297 00:17:58,359 --> 00:18:02,280 Speaker 1: his son John. John actually had a romantic relationship that 298 00:18:02,400 --> 00:18:06,040 Speaker 1: was also tangled up with her gambling. She summed up 299 00:18:06,080 --> 00:18:08,879 Speaker 1: the atmosphere at fine Court this way, quote the dinner 300 00:18:08,920 --> 00:18:12,679 Speaker 1: hour was an accident in the day's arrangements. Even though 301 00:18:12,720 --> 00:18:16,119 Speaker 1: they were living in a seventeenth century manor house, which 302 00:18:16,160 --> 00:18:20,359 Speaker 1: suggests a lot of wealth, the Cross family's lifestyle wasn't 303 00:18:20,400 --> 00:18:24,480 Speaker 1: particularly extravagant compared to other people in a similar situation. 304 00:18:25,400 --> 00:18:29,520 Speaker 1: They did have problems with cash flow, though, and Cross's 305 00:18:29,520 --> 00:18:33,360 Speaker 1: words quote, my family were learned and honorable men as 306 00:18:33,400 --> 00:18:35,720 Speaker 1: long as I can look back. But they had the 307 00:18:35,800 --> 00:18:39,040 Speaker 1: happy knack of turning a guinea into a shilling, and 308 00:18:39,080 --> 00:18:44,160 Speaker 1: I have inherited that faculty pretty strongly. Cornelia described him 309 00:18:44,240 --> 00:18:50,480 Speaker 1: as quote injudicious in his expenditure. Apart from his friendship 310 00:18:50,520 --> 00:18:55,480 Speaker 1: with George John Singer, Andrew Cross was intellectually actually pretty isolated. 311 00:18:55,760 --> 00:18:58,840 Speaker 1: One of his closest longtime friends was John Kenyon, who 312 00:18:58,840 --> 00:19:01,240 Speaker 1: had been one of his classmates at mister Sayer's school, 313 00:19:02,000 --> 00:19:05,720 Speaker 1: and while Kenyon was interested in Cross's experiments, science was 314 00:19:05,760 --> 00:19:11,040 Speaker 1: really not his calling. Their overlapping interest was poetry. Kenyan 315 00:19:11,080 --> 00:19:13,879 Speaker 1: wrote poetry himself, and he was a distant cousin of 316 00:19:13,920 --> 00:19:17,320 Speaker 1: Elizabeth Barrett Browning. At one point before her marriage, he 317 00:19:17,400 --> 00:19:21,280 Speaker 1: brought Andrew Cross to visit her. He also supplemented Robert 318 00:19:21,320 --> 00:19:24,240 Speaker 1: and Elizabeth Barrett Browning's income and left the money when 319 00:19:24,240 --> 00:19:28,000 Speaker 1: he died in eighteen fifty six. So Cross did talk 320 00:19:28,040 --> 00:19:30,520 Speaker 1: about his work in public, but not really all that 321 00:19:30,640 --> 00:19:35,560 Speaker 1: often and somewhat reluctantly. On December twenty eighth of eighteen fourteen, 322 00:19:35,680 --> 00:19:39,080 Speaker 1: he gave an address at Garnerin's Lecture Hall, and it 323 00:19:39,160 --> 00:19:42,119 Speaker 1: is possible that Mary Shelley, who at the time was 324 00:19:42,160 --> 00:19:46,080 Speaker 1: Mary Godwin, attended this lecture. She references it in her diary, 325 00:19:46,720 --> 00:19:48,960 Speaker 1: but her notes about it are also kind of vague. 326 00:19:49,520 --> 00:19:52,600 Speaker 1: She writes about going from place to place looking for 327 00:19:52,680 --> 00:19:55,720 Speaker 1: Thomas Jefferson Hogg, but not finding him at any of 328 00:19:55,760 --> 00:19:59,800 Speaker 1: those places, before saying quote, go to Garneran's lecture on 329 00:19:59,840 --> 00:20:04,000 Speaker 1: a electricity, the Gases and the phantasmagoria. Return at half 330 00:20:04,040 --> 00:20:07,359 Speaker 1: past nine, Shelley goes to sleep, So it's not one 331 00:20:07,440 --> 00:20:10,680 Speaker 1: hundred percent clear whether Garneran's was one of the places 332 00:20:10,720 --> 00:20:13,360 Speaker 1: she was looking for. Hog and she was just noting 333 00:20:13,400 --> 00:20:15,280 Speaker 1: the topic of the lecture that night, or if she 334 00:20:15,520 --> 00:20:20,480 Speaker 1: actually attended the lecture herself. Either way, though, sometimes people 335 00:20:20,520 --> 00:20:23,919 Speaker 1: point to this diary entry as evidence that Cross was 336 00:20:23,960 --> 00:20:28,480 Speaker 1: an inspiration for Shelley's novel Frankenstein or the Modern Prometheus, 337 00:20:28,480 --> 00:20:32,359 Speaker 1: which was published four years later. In eighteen thirty six, 338 00:20:32,560 --> 00:20:35,520 Speaker 1: Cross reluctantly agreed to speak at the annual meeting of 339 00:20:35,520 --> 00:20:38,840 Speaker 1: the British Association for the Advancement of Science that was 340 00:20:38,880 --> 00:20:41,840 Speaker 1: being held in Bristol. He had intended to go to 341 00:20:41,880 --> 00:20:44,960 Speaker 1: the meeting simply as an observer, but he was persuaded 342 00:20:44,960 --> 00:20:49,200 Speaker 1: to talk about his experiments with electrocrystallization. It turned out 343 00:20:49,240 --> 00:20:53,359 Speaker 1: that people were fascinated. John Dalton, who we just covered 344 00:20:53,400 --> 00:20:55,800 Speaker 1: on the show, was in attendance, and he told Cross 345 00:20:55,840 --> 00:20:59,399 Speaker 1: he had never before listened to anything so interesting. All 346 00:20:59,440 --> 00:21:03,560 Speaker 1: this attention and made Cross fairly uncomfortable, though, and his 347 00:21:03,720 --> 00:21:06,879 Speaker 1: words quote, I slipped away out of it all and 348 00:21:07,000 --> 00:21:09,639 Speaker 1: he went home before the meeting was over. It was 349 00:21:09,720 --> 00:21:12,920 Speaker 1: not long before he was getting even more attention, though, 350 00:21:13,080 --> 00:21:15,560 Speaker 1: and we'll talk more about that after a sponsor break. 351 00:21:24,480 --> 00:21:27,800 Speaker 1: After the British Association for the Advancement of Science Meeting 352 00:21:27,800 --> 00:21:30,639 Speaker 1: in eighteen thirty six. A lot of the response to 353 00:21:30,640 --> 00:21:34,440 Speaker 1: Andrew Cross's work was pretty positive, but he did have 354 00:21:34,520 --> 00:21:39,159 Speaker 1: some detractors. On January thirty first of eighteen thirty seven, 355 00:21:39,480 --> 00:21:42,600 Speaker 1: he wrote a letter to a newspaper called The Atlas, 356 00:21:43,000 --> 00:21:46,400 Speaker 1: in which he responded to what he described as an 357 00:21:46,560 --> 00:21:50,280 Speaker 1: attack by a doctor Ritchie. I could not find the 358 00:21:50,359 --> 00:21:55,760 Speaker 1: text of this article, but Ritchie apparently criticized Cross for 359 00:21:55,880 --> 00:22:01,719 Speaker 1: framing his work as discoveries when other people had discovered 360 00:22:01,760 --> 00:22:06,120 Speaker 1: these things many years before. Ritchie also described Cross's work 361 00:22:06,119 --> 00:22:10,080 Speaker 1: in a way that just wasn't very accurate. Cross's tone 362 00:22:10,160 --> 00:22:12,480 Speaker 1: is kind of along the lines of you were there 363 00:22:12,600 --> 00:22:14,800 Speaker 1: at the meeting, doctor Ritchie, and you could have just 364 00:22:15,040 --> 00:22:18,199 Speaker 1: asked me if you had questions, instead of writing this 365 00:22:18,320 --> 00:22:22,440 Speaker 1: incorrect article mischaracterizing me and my experiments, which I do 366 00:22:22,520 --> 00:22:26,119 Speaker 1: because I love them. In this response, Cross framed his 367 00:22:26,200 --> 00:22:30,960 Speaker 1: work as observations, not discoveries. His letter ended quote, ps 368 00:22:31,080 --> 00:22:33,520 Speaker 1: I should have sent this answer long since, but have 369 00:22:33,600 --> 00:22:37,040 Speaker 1: been prevented by severe illness. I must beg in future 370 00:22:37,080 --> 00:22:40,960 Speaker 1: to decline engaging in scientific warfare, with anyone having neither 371 00:22:41,040 --> 00:22:45,119 Speaker 1: inclination nor time for that kind of amusement, but doctor 372 00:22:45,200 --> 00:22:48,000 Speaker 1: Ritchie's article that he was responding to was just the 373 00:22:48,040 --> 00:22:51,119 Speaker 1: tip of the iceberg. Not long after he spoke at 374 00:22:51,119 --> 00:22:54,480 Speaker 1: the British Association for the Advancement of Science, Andrew Cross 375 00:22:54,520 --> 00:22:57,359 Speaker 1: became famous in a way that he really did not 376 00:22:57,560 --> 00:23:01,800 Speaker 1: expect and also really did not want. He had been 377 00:23:01,840 --> 00:23:05,679 Speaker 1: experimenting with a piece of porous volcanic rock, which he 378 00:23:05,840 --> 00:23:08,639 Speaker 1: was using because of its porosity rather than because of 379 00:23:08,680 --> 00:23:13,320 Speaker 1: its composition. He kept this rock electrified with a voltaic battery, 380 00:23:13,720 --> 00:23:16,000 Speaker 1: and he had placed it in a fluid that was 381 00:23:16,040 --> 00:23:21,199 Speaker 1: saturated with black flint and potassium carbonate. In his words quote, 382 00:23:21,320 --> 00:23:24,280 Speaker 1: on the fourteenth day from the commencement of this experiment, 383 00:23:24,400 --> 00:23:28,080 Speaker 1: I observed through a lens a few small whitish excrescenses, 384 00:23:28,200 --> 00:23:32,920 Speaker 1: or nipples, projecting from about the middle of the electrified stone. 385 00:23:33,000 --> 00:23:36,440 Speaker 1: On the eighteenth day, these projections enlarged and struck out 386 00:23:36,520 --> 00:23:39,119 Speaker 1: seven or eight filaments, each of them longer than the 387 00:23:39,119 --> 00:23:42,720 Speaker 1: hemisphere on which they grew. On the twenty sixth day, 388 00:23:42,840 --> 00:23:47,280 Speaker 1: these appearances assumed the form of a perfect insect standing 389 00:23:47,280 --> 00:23:50,960 Speaker 1: erect on a few bristles which formed its tail. Till 390 00:23:51,000 --> 00:23:53,800 Speaker 1: this period I had no notion that these appearances were 391 00:23:53,800 --> 00:23:58,080 Speaker 1: other than an incipient mineral formation. On the twenty eighth day, 392 00:23:58,119 --> 00:24:01,760 Speaker 1: these little creatures moved their life. I must now say 393 00:24:01,800 --> 00:24:05,399 Speaker 1: that I was not a little astonished. After a few days, 394 00:24:05,400 --> 00:24:08,760 Speaker 1: they detached themselves from the stone and moved about at pleasure. 395 00:24:09,640 --> 00:24:11,720 Speaker 1: He went on to write, quote, and the course of 396 00:24:11,760 --> 00:24:14,360 Speaker 1: a few weeks, about a hundred of them made their 397 00:24:14,400 --> 00:24:18,080 Speaker 1: appearance on the stone. I examined them with a microscope 398 00:24:18,119 --> 00:24:20,520 Speaker 1: and observed that the smaller ones appeared to have only 399 00:24:20,600 --> 00:24:24,280 Speaker 1: six legs, the larger ones eight. Cross thought the most 400 00:24:24,440 --> 00:24:28,439 Speaker 1: likely explanation for this startling occurrence was that airborne mites 401 00:24:28,440 --> 00:24:31,600 Speaker 1: had deposited their eggs on his equipment, which was exposed 402 00:24:31,600 --> 00:24:34,840 Speaker 1: to the air, but that didn't explain why the mites 403 00:24:34,840 --> 00:24:37,720 Speaker 1: seemed able to survive in an environment that should have 404 00:24:37,800 --> 00:24:41,440 Speaker 1: killed them. Later on, he also acknowledged that the early 405 00:24:41,520 --> 00:24:44,960 Speaker 1: stage of these creatures formation was nearly indistinguishable from the 406 00:24:45,000 --> 00:24:48,280 Speaker 1: early stages of crystal formation, so he might have just 407 00:24:48,320 --> 00:24:51,800 Speaker 1: been mistaken. Beyond that, he said quote, I have never 408 00:24:51,880 --> 00:24:54,600 Speaker 1: ventured an opinion on the cause of their birth, and 409 00:24:54,640 --> 00:24:57,880 Speaker 1: for a very good reason I was unable to form one. 410 00:24:58,480 --> 00:25:01,520 Speaker 1: He talked over what he had seen with some other scientists, 411 00:25:01,640 --> 00:25:05,159 Speaker 1: and he sent some samples to Richard Owen. Owen was 412 00:25:05,200 --> 00:25:09,399 Speaker 1: a biologist, a comparative, ananimist, and a paleontologist. He's actually 413 00:25:09,440 --> 00:25:13,440 Speaker 1: the person who coined the term dinosauria. He also very 414 00:25:13,520 --> 00:25:18,520 Speaker 1: vocally criticized Charles Darwin's work on evolution. Owen said that 415 00:25:18,600 --> 00:25:23,280 Speaker 1: these were cheese mites, which are arachnids from the genus Acarus. 416 00:25:23,800 --> 00:25:29,040 Speaker 1: Cross called them Acarus galvanicus. Cross never intended to publicize 417 00:25:29,040 --> 00:25:31,840 Speaker 1: this find anywhere, but at some point he either mentioned 418 00:25:31,880 --> 00:25:34,919 Speaker 1: it to or was overheard by William Bragg of the 419 00:25:34,920 --> 00:25:39,720 Speaker 1: Somerset County Gazette. Bragg published an article on December thirty first, 420 00:25:39,760 --> 00:25:44,880 Speaker 1: eighteen thirty six, titled Extraordinary Experiment. Although Bragg's article did 421 00:25:44,880 --> 00:25:48,320 Speaker 1: not make this claim, soon papers all over Britain and 422 00:25:48,400 --> 00:25:53,040 Speaker 1: Ireland were printing sensationalized reports that Andrew Cross of Somerset 423 00:25:53,119 --> 00:25:57,639 Speaker 1: had used electricity to create life. So to be clear, 424 00:25:58,800 --> 00:26:03,160 Speaker 1: Andrew Cross did make some far fetched claims during his lifetime, 425 00:26:04,200 --> 00:26:06,400 Speaker 1: like he told a story about being bitten by a 426 00:26:06,440 --> 00:26:11,240 Speaker 1: cat that died that day of hydrophobia, which is Rabi's 427 00:26:12,200 --> 00:26:16,119 Speaker 1: About three months later Cross had a worrying combination of symptoms. 428 00:26:16,119 --> 00:26:19,160 Speaker 1: He was thirsty, but his throat spasmed when he tried 429 00:26:19,160 --> 00:26:22,120 Speaker 1: to drink water, and he had a pain that started 430 00:26:22,119 --> 00:26:24,480 Speaker 1: in his hand and worked its way up to his 431 00:26:24,600 --> 00:26:28,200 Speaker 1: elbow and shoulder. Convinced that he was going to die 432 00:26:28,200 --> 00:26:33,040 Speaker 1: of hydrophobia, he went shooting and intentionally exerted himself, and 433 00:26:33,119 --> 00:26:36,480 Speaker 1: thanks to his physical exertion and mental focus, he was 434 00:26:36,560 --> 00:26:40,080 Speaker 1: better in three days. He wrote quote. I mentioned the 435 00:26:40,119 --> 00:26:43,960 Speaker 1: circumstance to doctor Kinglake, and he said he certainly considered 436 00:26:44,160 --> 00:26:47,320 Speaker 1: that I had had an attack of hydrophobia, which would 437 00:26:47,359 --> 00:26:50,520 Speaker 1: possibly have proved fatal had I not struggled against it 438 00:26:50,560 --> 00:26:55,120 Speaker 1: by a strong effort of mind. You cannot cure rabies 439 00:26:55,240 --> 00:26:59,240 Speaker 1: with exercise and positive thinking. It would just never occur 440 00:26:59,280 --> 00:27:01,120 Speaker 1: to me to be like, I think I might have rabies. 441 00:27:01,160 --> 00:27:03,960 Speaker 1: You know what I should do? Go shooting. That's gonna help. 442 00:27:05,680 --> 00:27:09,840 Speaker 1: As an anxious person, I can totally see myself being like, 443 00:27:09,920 --> 00:27:14,200 Speaker 1: oh no, this thing is happening to me. Uh. We 444 00:27:14,720 --> 00:27:17,880 Speaker 1: don't really know if doctor King Lake really did think 445 00:27:17,920 --> 00:27:22,000 Speaker 1: that he had somehow staved off an attack of rabies, 446 00:27:22,119 --> 00:27:25,800 Speaker 1: or if King Lake was humoring him. That's right, dear, 447 00:27:25,880 --> 00:27:30,640 Speaker 1: you cured yourself. But even though he had this whole 448 00:27:30,680 --> 00:27:36,040 Speaker 1: story about the cat and the rabies, he did not 449 00:27:36,560 --> 00:27:40,800 Speaker 1: say that he had used electricity to create life. He 450 00:27:41,080 --> 00:27:45,000 Speaker 1: steadfastly maintained that not only had he never made that claim, 451 00:27:45,160 --> 00:27:48,639 Speaker 1: he had never said anything that a reasonable person could 452 00:27:48,680 --> 00:27:52,640 Speaker 1: interpret that way. He really didn't know for sure why 453 00:27:52,800 --> 00:27:56,040 Speaker 1: mites had hatched in his experiment. I mean, he had 454 00:27:56,040 --> 00:27:58,280 Speaker 1: that kind of best guest of like, maybe some mites 455 00:27:58,359 --> 00:28:01,560 Speaker 1: put their eggs on there, but he he definitely did 456 00:28:01,560 --> 00:28:05,040 Speaker 1: not think he had created them or given life to 457 00:28:05,119 --> 00:28:08,520 Speaker 1: them with electricity. For the next few years, though, Cross 458 00:28:08,560 --> 00:28:12,960 Speaker 1: faced ongoing accusations of blasphemy and atheism. Because of this 459 00:28:13,080 --> 00:28:16,919 Speaker 1: misreporting of his work and the rumors that followed, people 460 00:28:16,960 --> 00:28:20,119 Speaker 1: called him a Frankenstein and a disturber of the peace 461 00:28:20,160 --> 00:28:25,040 Speaker 1: of families. Cornelia Cross later wrote quote, after disavowing all 462 00:28:25,080 --> 00:28:28,600 Speaker 1: intention to raise any questions connected with either natural or 463 00:28:28,680 --> 00:28:31,680 Speaker 1: revealed religion, he went on to observe that he was 464 00:28:31,760 --> 00:28:34,000 Speaker 1: sorry to see that the faith of his neighbors could 465 00:28:34,000 --> 00:28:37,800 Speaker 1: be overset by the claw of a mite. Other people 466 00:28:37,880 --> 00:28:42,880 Speaker 1: tried to replicate Cross's results, but only one, William Henry Weeks, 467 00:28:42,880 --> 00:28:47,200 Speaker 1: of Sandwich had any success, and that happened in eighteen forty. 468 00:28:47,400 --> 00:28:51,000 Speaker 1: Weeks had placed his experiment under a bell jar in 469 00:28:51,160 --> 00:28:54,640 Speaker 1: Mercury to seal it off from the external air, and 470 00:28:54,680 --> 00:28:58,600 Speaker 1: he said that quote five perfect insects formed on November 471 00:28:58,600 --> 00:29:01,720 Speaker 1: twenty fifth, eighteen forty one one, after more than a 472 00:29:01,840 --> 00:29:04,440 Speaker 1: year of the experiment running. So he had started the 473 00:29:04,480 --> 00:29:08,080 Speaker 1: experiment in eighteen forty and then reported this eighteen forty one. 474 00:29:08,240 --> 00:29:13,400 Speaker 1: He named these mites a chrus cross Eye after Andrew Cross. 475 00:29:13,840 --> 00:29:17,040 Speaker 1: Cross and Weeks were both threatened with violence, and they 476 00:29:17,080 --> 00:29:19,800 Speaker 1: were not the only people caught up in this media storm. 477 00:29:20,520 --> 00:29:23,840 Speaker 1: Another was Michael Faraday, who was falsely reported as having 478 00:29:23,920 --> 00:29:28,720 Speaker 1: confirmed Cross's experiment in February of eighteen thirty seven. Not 479 00:29:28,840 --> 00:29:31,240 Speaker 1: only had he not done this, he also had not 480 00:29:31,360 --> 00:29:35,200 Speaker 1: tried to. As all of this was happening, several members 481 00:29:35,240 --> 00:29:39,760 Speaker 1: of Cross's family were seriously ill. His wife Mary Anne 482 00:29:39,800 --> 00:29:42,920 Speaker 1: died in eighteen forty six, and his brother Richard died 483 00:29:43,160 --> 00:29:47,800 Speaker 1: just four days later. Andrew was absolutely bereft, and he 484 00:29:47,840 --> 00:29:50,280 Speaker 1: went to London, where he spent most of the next 485 00:29:50,320 --> 00:29:53,440 Speaker 1: four years. As the house and grounds of Fine Court 486 00:29:53,520 --> 00:29:56,880 Speaker 1: fell into disrepair. While he was in London, he met 487 00:29:56,920 --> 00:30:00,960 Speaker 1: Cornelia Augusta Hewitt Berkeley, who was a fan of his work. 488 00:30:01,560 --> 00:30:04,160 Speaker 1: In her words, quote when young, I had always been 489 00:30:04,200 --> 00:30:08,640 Speaker 1: intensely interested in mister Cross's experiments in electrical science. I 490 00:30:08,680 --> 00:30:11,440 Speaker 1: had cut out scraps from the newspapers that made mention 491 00:30:11,520 --> 00:30:14,400 Speaker 1: of his discoveries, so that it was with no common 492 00:30:14,440 --> 00:30:16,960 Speaker 1: feelings that I looked upon the man whose power, in 493 00:30:17,000 --> 00:30:21,840 Speaker 1: wielding that mysterious agent electricity, had so excited my imagination. 494 00:30:22,920 --> 00:30:25,200 Speaker 1: She goes on to say that she was disappointed that 495 00:30:25,280 --> 00:30:28,800 Speaker 1: at their first meeting he didn't talk about electricity. Perhaps 496 00:30:28,880 --> 00:30:33,760 Speaker 1: he was hungry. I love that. Andrew and Cornelia got 497 00:30:33,760 --> 00:30:36,920 Speaker 1: married in eighteen fifty he was sixty six and she 498 00:30:37,080 --> 00:30:40,320 Speaker 1: was twenty three. They went back to fine Court, where 499 00:30:40,320 --> 00:30:42,960 Speaker 1: they had a son in eighteen fifty two, followed by 500 00:30:43,040 --> 00:30:47,000 Speaker 1: two more children, bringing his total surviving children to ten. 501 00:30:47,600 --> 00:30:51,840 Speaker 1: Cornelia helped Andrew with his experiments and observation. He tried 502 00:30:51,840 --> 00:30:55,960 Speaker 1: to use electricity to purify seawater and restore spoiled foods 503 00:30:55,960 --> 00:30:59,800 Speaker 1: to wholesomeness, and make a hangover cure by electrifying wine 504 00:30:59,840 --> 00:31:02,680 Speaker 1: and beer. When he published his work, he did so 505 00:31:02,840 --> 00:31:07,000 Speaker 1: through the electrical Society, which took a more populist egalitarian 506 00:31:07,040 --> 00:31:11,040 Speaker 1: approach than many of the more formal academic societies. In 507 00:31:11,120 --> 00:31:14,080 Speaker 1: eighteen fifty one, the Crosses went to the Great Exhibition 508 00:31:14,240 --> 00:31:18,480 Speaker 1: in London at Joseph Paxson's Crystal Palace, which we've covered 509 00:31:18,520 --> 00:31:21,720 Speaker 1: previously on the show. They also went on a tour 510 00:31:21,840 --> 00:31:25,200 Speaker 1: of England, coming back to Fine Court in eighteen fifty five. 511 00:31:25,800 --> 00:31:29,560 Speaker 1: On May twenty eighth, eighteen fifty five, Andrew Cross had 512 00:31:29,600 --> 00:31:33,080 Speaker 1: what he called a paralytic seizure. It was probably a 513 00:31:33,080 --> 00:31:36,400 Speaker 1: stroke that paralyzed part of his body. He died on 514 00:31:36,480 --> 00:31:38,920 Speaker 1: July sixth, in the same room where he had been born. 515 00:31:39,640 --> 00:31:42,280 Speaker 1: On his deathbed, he changed his will to leave his 516 00:31:42,360 --> 00:31:45,320 Speaker 1: property to his wife rather than his oldest son, John, 517 00:31:45,960 --> 00:31:48,600 Speaker 1: but she then gave the estate to John and his family. 518 00:31:49,440 --> 00:31:52,040 Speaker 1: Andrew Cross is buried in the churchyard at the Church 519 00:31:52,080 --> 00:31:55,760 Speaker 1: of Saint Mary and All Saints in Broomfield. Cornelia had 520 00:31:55,800 --> 00:31:59,800 Speaker 1: an obelisk erected in his memory there. In eighteen fifty seven, 521 00:32:00,040 --> 00:32:05,040 Speaker 1: Ornelia published Memorials Scientific and Literary of Andrew Cross the Electrician, 522 00:32:05,560 --> 00:32:09,320 Speaker 1: which discussed her late husband's life and work, including many 523 00:32:09,400 --> 00:32:13,120 Speaker 1: of his poems and correspondents, and a complete account of 524 00:32:13,200 --> 00:32:16,680 Speaker 1: the experiment with the mites. In eighteen ninety two, she 525 00:32:16,720 --> 00:32:19,720 Speaker 1: published Red Letter Days of My Life, which included her 526 00:32:19,760 --> 00:32:23,240 Speaker 1: recollections about the scientists and writers and thinkers that she 527 00:32:23,280 --> 00:32:26,360 Speaker 1: had come to know during their marriage. Most of the 528 00:32:26,400 --> 00:32:29,400 Speaker 1: manor house at Fine Court is no longer standing. It 529 00:32:29,480 --> 00:32:32,080 Speaker 1: was largely destroyed in a fire in eighteen ninety four, 530 00:32:32,920 --> 00:32:35,560 Speaker 1: but the library and music room are still there, as 531 00:32:35,600 --> 00:32:38,760 Speaker 1: well as a gardener's cottage and a church. Some of 532 00:32:38,800 --> 00:32:41,360 Speaker 1: the structures still standing on the property are used as 533 00:32:41,400 --> 00:32:46,080 Speaker 1: office space, including for organizations like Somerset Wildlife Trust, and 534 00:32:46,240 --> 00:32:49,960 Speaker 1: visitors can stay at the gardener's cottage. It is primarily 535 00:32:50,000 --> 00:32:53,000 Speaker 1: a nature preserve with walking trails and a tea room 536 00:32:53,400 --> 00:32:56,280 Speaker 1: with a tea room currently only takeout due to the 537 00:32:56,320 --> 00:33:01,960 Speaker 1: COVID nineteen pandemic. We have made some references to Andrew 538 00:33:02,040 --> 00:33:04,560 Speaker 1: Cross's poetry, and I thought we would end on one 539 00:33:04,600 --> 00:33:08,760 Speaker 1: of his poems. This is called the Three Trenches. Three 540 00:33:08,920 --> 00:33:12,480 Speaker 1: circling trenches round my heart. I throw to keep at bay, 541 00:33:12,560 --> 00:33:17,520 Speaker 1: each intermeddling foe within the first the world may enter free, 542 00:33:17,520 --> 00:33:21,960 Speaker 1: whateer their sect, opinion or degree safe or the next 543 00:33:22,040 --> 00:33:25,560 Speaker 1: I greet a fair array, serenely smiling, as a summer's 544 00:33:25,640 --> 00:33:30,600 Speaker 1: day to pass. The third alas how few contrive, and 545 00:33:30,720 --> 00:33:36,920 Speaker 1: of those dearest few, how few survive. That is Andrew Cross. 546 00:33:38,320 --> 00:33:40,440 Speaker 1: This is one of those topics that if I had 547 00:33:40,480 --> 00:33:43,720 Speaker 1: a do over and a time machine, I would have 548 00:33:43,840 --> 00:33:47,960 Speaker 1: saved this for like a tour show, because it's so fun. 549 00:33:48,160 --> 00:33:56,160 Speaker 1: It's very, very fun. Thanks so much for joining us 550 00:33:56,200 --> 00:33:58,920 Speaker 1: on this Saturday. If you'd like to send us a note, 551 00:33:58,960 --> 00:34:03,720 Speaker 1: our email addresses History Podcast at iHeartRadio dot com, and 552 00:34:03,880 --> 00:34:06,440 Speaker 1: you can subscribe to the show on the iHeartRadio app, 553 00:34:06,560 --> 00:34:09,880 Speaker 1: Apple Podcasts, or wherever you listen to your favorite shows