ROBERT TREAT PAINE. 533 



personality, to which he often referred in his conversation and letters. 

 After graduating at Harvard College in 1822, Mr. Paine studied law, 

 was admitted to the bar, and attained some prominence as a lawyer. 

 He showed no desire for political office, although actively interested in 

 politics and current affairs. He was a member of the Boston Common 

 Council in 1828, 1833, and 1834. 



AVhile adopting the law as a profession, the great interest of his 

 life was iu the direction of astronomy and meteorology. Until his 

 death this was his absorbing study, pursued with the greatest enthu- 

 siasm and occupying a large part of his thoughts and conversa- 

 tion. Without under-estimating the value of theoretical astronomy, 

 Mr. Paine's special interest was in the practical side of this science. 

 Soon after graduating at Cambridge he began a meteorological rec- 

 ord, which lie maintained with great regularity during the remainder 

 of his life. The results for many years were communicated to he 

 public through the columns of the Boston Daily Traveller. This rec- 

 ord was maintained continuously for fifty years at one station, his 

 house in Boston, 



In 1875 Mr. Paine moved to Brookline, where he continued his 

 observations until his death. The total record of nearly sixty years 

 has rarely been equalled by a meteorological observer. Unfortunately, 

 these valuable papers have all disappeared since his death. Mr. Paine's 

 astronomical observations were made with portable instruments. With 

 the sextant he attained extraordinary skill. When a survey of the 

 State of Massachusetts was undertaken, in 1840, Mr. Paine was ap- 

 pointed chief engineer. He soon resigned the position, however, which 

 was afterwards filled by Mr. Borden. All the astronomical work of 

 the survey was done by Mr. Paine. He determined the latitude and 

 longitude of twenty-seven places in the State with his sextant, and the 

 results when compared with the triangulation of Mr. Borden showed a 

 close agreement. The best evidence of the excellence of this work is, 

 that it is still the most accurate determination of a large part of these 

 stations. It is in fact employed as the basis of the new map of the 

 State now being constructed by the United States Geological Survey. 



Mr. Paine was associated with Jared Sparks and Joseph E. Worces- 

 ter in the establishment of the American Almanac. He furnished 

 the astronomical portion of this work from 1830 to 184^. Mr. Paine's 

 greatest interest was in the motion of the moon, as determined by 

 occultations and eclipses. During his life he computed over two 

 thousand occultations. The first of these was the occultation of Ura- 

 nus for Cambridge, September 2, 1824. Besides observing as many 



