4 A CENTURY'S PROGRESS IN ASTRONOMY. 



translating a certain passage, which leaves the 

 erroneous impression that Herschel believed the 

 Universe to be infinite a mistake which would 

 not have arisen had he written in German. 



The student of Herschel should also be careful 

 in quoting the views of the great astronomer. 

 Had Herschel at the close of his life written 

 a volume containing his final views on the con- 

 struction of the heavens, this would not have 

 been necessary ; but Herschel did not write such 

 a volume. His researches were embodied in a 

 series of papers communicated to the Royal 

 Society from 1780 to 1818. As. he observed 

 the heavens his opinions progressed, so that 

 a statement of his views at any given time was 

 by no means a statement of his final opinions. 

 The late R. A. Proctor, who was the first great 

 exponent of Herschel in England, has well said : 

 " It seems to have been supposed that his papers 

 could be treated as we might treat such a work 

 as Sir J. Herschel's ' Outlines of Astronomy ' ; 

 that extracts might be made from any part of 

 any paper without reference to the position 

 which the paper chanced to occupy in the 

 entire series." 



Herschel, like the true student of nature, held 

 theories very lightly. They were to him but 

 roads to the truth. Unlike many scientists, 



