76 Royal Astronomical Society. 



rendered it, in a great measure, unnecessary for him to have recourse 

 to other channels of publicity, he continued, from time to time, to 

 communicate to this Society various observations of phsenomena, 

 either of an occasional nature or having an immediate interest, and 

 notices likely to be useful to practical astronomers. Among these 

 may be mentioned observations of the planets near their oppositions 

 and inferior conjunctions, of moon- culminating stars, of the annular 

 eclipse of the sun on May 15, 1836 ; and, more especially, elements 

 of cometary orbits. Indeed, if he had no other claim on our regard, 

 his care in disseminating the earliest information respecting the 

 orbits of newly-discovered comets would alone have entitled him to 

 the applause due to a useful labourer in the cause of astronomy. 

 Various observations and notices of the kind now referred to were 

 also communicated by him to Professor Schumacher, and published 

 in the Astronomische Nachrichten, whereby they obtained immediate 

 circulation over the continent. 



His attention at Edinburgh was chiefly directed to planetary ob- 

 servations, and the formation of an extensive catalogue of zodiacal 

 stcirs. He had proceeded far in the latter work ; and in one of his 

 last letters, written to an intimate friend, he spoke of being engaged 

 in fixing the positions of some of those stars in Argelander's recent 

 catalogue, which, though visible to the naked eye, had escaped the 

 notice of all former astronomers. 



In recounting Mr. Henderson's labours in the Edinburgh Obser- 

 vatory, we should fail to do justice to his zeal if we omitted all allu- 

 sion to other avocations which occasionally made large demands on 

 his time. His office of professor, though he gave no lectures in his 

 own department, entailed on him various duties. During one whole 

 session (1835-1836) he delivered the mathematical lectures for 

 Professor Wallace, then incapacitated by illness ; and in the last 

 year he undertook, for some time, a similar duty for Professor Forbes, 

 in the class of Natural Philosophy. In short, he was one whose 

 general talents and habits of business, coupled with extreme bene- 

 volence and great good sense, rendered him a most useful coadjutor ; 

 and, accordingly, the largest share of any public business, with which 

 he happened to be connected, -was sure to fall into his hands. 



Having none of the accessory advantages of birth, fortune, or early 

 introduction, Mr. Henderson had to rely on his own energy and 

 talents alone in conquering his way to fame ; and he was only be- 

 ginning to enjoy his well-earned reputation, both in his own country 

 and abroad. He was admitted a Fellow of this Society in 1832, and 

 of the Royal Society in 1 840, and he had been a member of the 

 Royal Society of Edinburgh since 1834, It does not appear that 

 he was a member of any foreign society, but he was in frequent cor- 

 respondence with Schumacher, Bessel, Encke, and other distinguished 

 astronomers on the continent, by whom his talents and opinion on 

 astronomical subjects were held in high estimation. 



In 1836 he married Miss Adie, eldest daughter of the well-known 

 optician and ingenious inventor of the syrapiesometer. The death 

 of this lady in 1842, a few weeks after the birth of their only child. 



