1826.] Astronomical Societif, 1 297 



of tables of great practical utility. Among these, your Council 

 cannot omit a particular reference to the very important tables, 

 which constitute the second part of his Sammlung von Hulfsta- 

 feln, and which have been prepared for the purpose of reducing 

 the 50,000 stars contained in Lalande's Histoire Celeste: serving 

 indeed to effect the reduction of any one of those stars in the 

 short space of two or three minutes. 



" Thus whilst M. Schumacher has laid all astronomers under 

 considerable obligations by the publication of these tables, he 

 has conferred a peculiar mark of his esteem upon the body now 

 assembled, by dedicating this volume to the Astronomical 

 Society ; a distinction which they who know the talent and zeal 

 of this our eminent associate, will be able to appreciate in aa 

 adequate manner. 



" One of our associates, M. Struve, has devoted himself with 

 great perseverance and success to the observation, and classifi- 

 cation, of double stars ; an important department of astronomical 

 research, which was originally opened and pursued with his 

 wonted assiduity and accuracy by our late revered President, Sir 

 William Herschel. 



" This subject has been still more extensively pursued, and 

 with considerable ardour and zeal, by two of our members, 

 Messrs. Herschel and South ; whose labours on this very inte- 

 resting branch of the science are contained in a paper read, 

 before the Royal Society, and which in itself forms the third 

 part of the Philosophical Transgictions for the Year 1824. 

 Whoever has read that paper with attention must be struck with 

 the vast labour and perseverance, the great accuracy and uniform- 

 ity of result, with which those delicate observations have been 

 made. Such an immense mass of interesting facts cannot fail to 

 open new views to the contemplative philosopher, and extend 

 our knowledge of the true system of the universe : and Mr. 

 Herschel himself, in a communication about to be laid before 

 the Royal Society, has made a happy application thereof, as 

 explanatory of some of the phaenoraena connected with parallax. 

 The indefatigable ardour of Mr. South in the cause of astronomy, 

 induced him to follow up his researches on the same subject 

 whilst he was in France ; and he has recently made a commu- 

 nication to the Royal Society, of some new observations, of 

 equal, if not superior, importance ; and which will appear in a 

 subsequent volume of the Philosophical Transactions. 



" For these laborious and valuable researches and observa- 

 tions relative to double stars, the Coimcil have awarded to each 

 of those distinguished members and associate, Mr. Herschel, 

 Mr. South, and M. Struve, the Gold Medal of the Society, which 

 will be presented to them at a General Meeting expressly called 

 for that purpose, as soon as the medals can be prepared. 



" Sir Thomas Brisbane, Governor of New South Wales, ha* 



