134 SIR JOHN P^REDERICK WILLIAM HERSCHEL. 



tliat vast universe, and so ou an infinitum^ and that in that universe there 

 niaj' exist multitudes of other systems on a scale as vast as our galaxy, 

 the analogues of those other nebulous and clustering forms which are 

 not miniatures of our galaxy'?" 



As an illustration of his power of tracing- the chain that binds cause 

 and effect, we may refer to a passage in bis Treaties ou Astronomy. 

 Tracing- the connection between the central luminary of our system and 

 terrestrial phenomena. Sir John remarks that "the sun's rays are the 

 ultimate source of almost every motion that takes place on the surface of 

 the earth. By its heat are produced the winds and those disturbances ou 

 the electric equilibrium of the atmosphere which give rise to the 

 phenomena of lightning, antl probably also to those of terrestrial 

 magnetism and the aurora. By their vivifying action vegetables are 

 enabled to draw support from inorganic matter, and become in their 

 turn the support of animals and man, and the sources of those great 

 deposits of dynamical efficiency which are laid up for human use in our 

 coal strata. By them the waters <yi the sea are made to circulate in 

 vapors through the air and irrigate the land, producing springs and 

 rivers. By them are produced all disturbances of the chemical equi- 

 librium of the elements of nature, which by a series of compositions and 

 decompositions give rise to new products and originate transfers of 

 material. Even the slow degradation of the solid constituents of the 

 surface, in which its chief geological changes consist, is almost entirely 

 due, on the one hand to the abrasion of Avind and rain, and the alterna- 

 tion of heat and frost, and ou the other hand to the continual beating 

 of sea- waves, the result of solar radiation." 



He was an admirable expounder of scientific principles. His style of 

 writing is perhaps cumbrous, and his sentences are often long- and in- 

 volved. But the thought he would express, like a thread of silver 

 running through a web of purple, is always clear. The popular taste for 

 astronomical studies is due to his writings more than to those of all other 

 men. 



He, of all others, held mastery over pride of self-opinion. His own 

 errors he admitted instantly they Avere discovered. Upon theories of 

 others he worked as fairly and patiently as upon his own. He never 

 struggled for a known error nor declined to accept aproven truth. With 

 untiring ])atience, observing skill, and ingenious device, he sought earn- 

 estly to detect IVdsehood in his own opinions, and to discover truth in the 

 opinions of others. It is said that he had a feeble grasp upon facts ; that 

 while his father clung with vise-like grip to the sure and the known, he 

 at times allowed them to slip from his grasp. " If so, it were a grievous 

 iault." But so few are the instances — not above two or three — cited by 

 those who allege this, so unimportant are the facts named, so apparent is 

 the motive, iniconscious it nuiy be to themselves, of the theorizers who 

 urge the objection, that it would seem probable that his opinions upon the 

 facts had been misinterpreted or his statemei^s of them misunderstood. 



