CHAPTER XL 



STELLAR SYSTEMS AND NEBULJE. 



THE study of double stars, commenced by 

 Herschel, was taken up after his death by 

 several of the foremost astronomers, and has 

 since been pursued by quite a number of ob- 

 servers and computers. Herschel's immediate 

 successor in the study of double stars was his 

 son, who ranks only second to his father as a 

 student of stellar systems. Born at Slough on 

 March 7, 1792, John Frederick William Herschel 

 passed his childhood " within the shadow of 

 the great telescope." Although his early life 

 was spent with his father and aunt, astronomy 

 does not appear to have taken up his attention 

 as a boy. Chemistry, however, always inter- 

 ested him, and, as his aunt recorded, even while 

 a child he was fond of making experiments. 

 He was educated at Hitcham, and afterwards 

 at Eton. He was delicate, however, so his 

 mother removed him from school, and he was 



