HERSCHEL. 201 



and that great discoveries would also honor his career . No prediction 

 of the illustrious astronomer has been more completelj^ verified. 



In the English journals an account is given of the interestingmeans 

 adopted by the family of Sir William Herschel for preserving the remains 

 of the great telescope of thirty -niue feet focus, constructed by that cele- 

 brated astronomer. 



The metal tube of the instrument, carrying at one end the recently 

 cleaned mirror of four feett^n inches in diameter, has been placed hori- 

 zontally in the meridian on solid piers of masonry, in the midst of the 

 circle where formerly stood the mechanism requisite for maneuvering 

 the telescope. The 1st of January, 1840, Sir John Herschel, his wife, 

 their children, seven in number, and some old family-servants assembled 

 at Slough. Exactly at noon the party walked several times in proc(;s- 

 sion around the instrument : they then entered the tube of the telescope, 

 seated themselves on benches that had been prepared for the ])urpose, 

 and sung a requiem, with English words, composed by Sir John Herschel 

 himself. After tlieir exit, the illustrious family ranged themselves around 

 the great tube, tlie opening of which was then hermetically sealed. The 

 day concluded with a party of intimate friends. 



I know not whether those persons who can only apprecijite things 

 from the peculiar point of view from which they have been accustomed 

 to look, may think there was something strange in several of the details 

 of the ceremony that I have just described. I affirm, however, that the 

 whole world will applaud the pious feeling which actuated Sir John 

 Herschel, and that all the friends of science will thank him for having 

 consecrated the humble garden where his father achieved such immortal 

 labors by a monument more expressive in its simplicity than pyramids 

 or statues. 



CHEONOLOGICAL TABLE OF THE MEMOIRS OF WILLIAM HERSCHEL.* 



1780. PMlosojylncal Transactions, vol. Ixx. — Aslronomical observations on the periodical 

 star in the neck of the Whale. — Astronomical observations relative to the lunar 

 mountains. 



1781. Phil. Trans., vol. Ixxi. — Astronomical observations on the rotation of the planets 

 on their axes, made with a view to decide whether the daily rotation of the earth be 

 always the same. — On the comet of 1781, afterward called the Gcorgium Si'^-'s. 



1782. Phil. Trans., vol. Ixxii. — On the parallax of the fixed stars.— Catalogne of double 

 stars.— Description of a lamp micrometer, and the method of using it. — Answers to the 

 doubts that might be raised to the high magnifying powers used by Herschel. • 



1783. Pliil. Trans., vol. Ixxiii. — Letter to Sir Joseph Banks on the name to be given 

 to the new planet. — On the diameter of the Georgium Sidus, follov.'cd by the description 

 of .1 micrometer with luminous or dark disks. — On the proper motion of the solar system, 

 and the various changes that have occurred among the fixed stars since the time of 

 Flamsteed. 



1784. Pliif. Trans., vol. Ixxiv. — On some remarkable appearances in the polar regions 

 of Mars, the inclination of its axis, the position of its poles, and its spheroidal form.— 



* These titles are copied direct from the Philosophical Transactions, instead of being re-translated.— 

 TRAASLAtoK's Note. 



