520 



an aperture of 2 feet, also equatorially mounted, which he had in the 

 mean time constructed ; and he soon announced the very important 

 discovery, on the 10th of October, 1846, of a satellite of Neptune, 

 most important, as affording the means of ascertaining the mass of 

 Neptune. 



Great triumphs, however, were yet to come ; in September 1848 he 

 detected an eighth satellite of Saturn, and by a singular coincidence 

 the same discovery was made simultaneously by Professor Bond in 

 America. 



To these manifold labours we have to add numerous observations 

 of Satellites, and of Comets, Eclipses and other occasional phe- 

 nomena. 



Of this devotion to his favourite science Mr. Lassell has already 

 received a recognition, which astronomers value most highly, viz. the 

 Gold Medal of the Royal Astronomical Society, which was presented 

 to him in February 1849 ; but this seems only to have stimulated his 

 zeal for the further advancement of astronomical science. 



In October 1851 our indefatigable observer established the exist- 

 ence of two satellites of Uranus, nearer to the planet than the first 

 satellite of Sir William Herschel. 



In the autumn of 1852 he conveyed his 20-foot reflector to Malta, 

 principally in order to survey in a clearer atmosphere the systems 

 of the three most distant planets, Saturn, Uranus, and Neptune, 

 with which he has particularly identified himself. To use his own 

 words, "his discoveries abroad were rather negative than otherwise,'* 

 for he was satisfied that without a great increase of optical power, no 

 other satellite of Neptune would be discovered ; and with regard to 

 Uranus, he says, "I am fully persuaded that either he has no other 

 satellites than the four, or if he has, they remain yet to be dis- 

 covered." 



In the summer of 1854, owing to the encroachment of buildings 

 round Starfield, he was compelled to move two miles further into the 

 country to Bradstones, and incur the expense of building a second 

 observatory, and here his instruments are now erected. 



His praiseworthy ambition still impelled him to become a leader, 

 where other men are content to follow. In the prolonged discus- 

 sions which arose relative to the mounting of the great reflector of 4 

 feet aperture for the observation of the Southern Nebulae, Mr. Lassell 



