202 



NA TURE 



[January 2, 1896 



mainly rest on his long connection with the Nautical 

 Alumnae, and the steady character for accuracy and 

 efificiency that it maintained under his direction. But 

 to the production of the National Ephemcris, while one 

 is responsible, many contribute, and no one would admit 

 more readily than the late chief of that department, how 

 much he was indebted to the invaluable aid he received 

 from such assistants as Messrs. Richard Farley, Godward, 

 and others, or more willingly share the credit with those 

 less well-known authorities. For these and other reasons, 

 it is not a little difficult to assign to Dr. Hind his proper 

 place among astronomers. He never devoted himself in 

 any way to the higher branches of physical astronomy ; 

 the mathematical training that is sufficient for an engineer 

 is not of that character that is required to advance our 

 knowledge of planetary theories, or to assist their de- 

 velopment by new functions. He will rank rather with 

 the school of Argelander, to whom he was deeply attached, 

 than with that of Bessel or Le Verrier. It is equally 

 true that he never had occasion to employ the newer 

 methods of observation that spectroscopy and photo- 

 graphy demand, or to discuss the results obtained by 

 their means, since the habits of his life and the direction 

 of his work were settled before these methods of investi- 

 gation were generally employed. Looked at, therefore, 

 from the broader ground that astronomy now occupies, 

 his scientific life seems somewhat cramped ; but to con- 

 clude that his career was misspent, would be to read the 

 history of astronomy for the last half-century very in- 

 correctly. He was emphatically a practical astronomer, 

 and whether as an observer or in making the mathe- 

 matical work of others available for practical ends, he 

 had few equals. He knew his capacity very well ; he 

 attempted nothing beyond his powers, and few men have 

 made fewer mistakes. 



As already intimated. Dr. Hind was originally intended 

 for the profession of engineering, a science for which he 

 had little taste, and it was fortunate for his subsequent 

 career that circumstances permitted him to join the staff 

 of the Royal Observatory. He was attached to the mag- 

 netical and meteorological department, at that time not 

 fully organised nor even confidently regarded as a per- 

 manent part of the establishment. In those early days 

 (1840), self-recording instruments were practically un- 

 known, and meteorological readings and general attention 

 to details required all-night sittings from the assistants. 

 It was in these long watches that he acquired the habit 

 of calculating comet and planetary orbits, undertaken at 

 first with the view to keep himself awake, but which grew 

 into a confirmed habit, and laid the foundation of his 

 reputation as a computer. In 1844 he left Greenwich to 

 take charge of Mr. Bishop's private observatory at 

 Regent's Park. At that time Neptune was not discovered, 

 and the first work that he began at that observatory was 

 the formation of ecliptical charts of stars, three degrees 

 each side of the ecliptic, with the view of detecting the 

 object that disturbed the motion of Uranus. The com- 

 parison of these charts with the heavens led to the dis- 

 covery of a number of small planets, which then were 

 objects of interest and importance. Some variable stars, 

 and a few comets of which he was the fortunate discoverer, 

 extended his reputation and attested his zeal as an 

 observer. Meanwhile the habits of calculation that he 

 had acquired at Greenwich, were never allowed to lay 

 ■dormant, and every Nachrichten as it came to England 

 contained the orbit of a comet or a new planet which he 

 had contributed to its columns. The history of ancient 

 comets, the unravelling of the tedious descriptions of old 

 or of Chinese astronomers, was his constant occupation, 

 so that he acquired a masterly knowledge of the history 

 of that portion of astronomy, and at one time we believe 

 he had the intention of publishing an annotated Pingre. 

 That such a work would have enhanced his reputation, 

 and shown him to be the possessor of much curious 



NO. [366, VOL. 53] 



information gleaned from many authorities, cannot be 

 doubted, but the pleasure he derived from clearing up 

 doubtful points, and adding to his own stock of informa- 

 tion, were his only reward. 



His facility as a computer led to his selection for the 

 post of Superintendent of the Nautical Almanac when a 

 vacancy occurred in 1853, through the death of Lieut. 

 Stratford, and it will generally be admitted that he filled 

 the post with credit to himself, and to the extended 

 reputation of the important work of which he had charge. 

 Official duties to some extent interfered with his private 

 researches, but his industry was always very great. The 

 list of papers to which Dr. Hind's name is attached in 

 the Royal Society's " Index," though considerable, does 

 not exhibit the full measure of his computational activity, 

 because he did. not often publish his results. An examin- 

 ation of this "Index" will, however, show the large 

 variety of astronomical topics to which he turned his 

 attention. And to this list we can only refer, without 

 mentioning any particulars. But, in this place it would 

 be ungrateful not to recall the fact that the deceased 

 astronomer was the first contributor to our " Astronomical 

 Column," and for some years the whole of the " Notices " 

 were written by him. Neither can we undertake to give 

 a complete list of the honours and awards that were 

 showered upon him. He received the medals of both 

 the Royal and the Royal Astronomical Society, the 

 Danish Medal for cometary discovery, and the Lalande 

 Medal on more than one occasion. He was made a 

 Corresponding Member of the Institute of France, and 

 many other foreign societies placed his name among 

 their honoured members. The writer of this brief notice 

 trusts that it may not be out of place for him to record 

 his own sense of indebtedness for many acts of kindness 

 and much valuable information that he has received at 

 the hands of Dr. Hind. William E. Plummer. 



NOTES. 



The list of New Year Honours includes the names of two 

 well-known men of science — Sir Joseph Fayrer, K.C.S.I., who 

 has been made a baronet, and Prof. Prestwich, who has been 

 knighted. If long and distinguished services to the cause of 

 science count for anything, both Sir Joseph Fayrer and Prof. 

 Prestwich have well earned the honours conferred upon them. 

 Mr. H. H. Johnston, C.B., has been promoted to the 

 Knighthood of the Bath ; but this is probably more on account 

 of his administrative work in recent years than for his explora- 

 tions in Africa. 



The late Baron Larrey has left a bequest to the Paris 

 Academy of Sciences for an annual prize of 1000 francs for the 

 best treatise by an army doctor on any question of medicine, 

 surgery, or sanitation. 



Prof. A. Arcimis, writing from Madrid, informs us that at 6 

 p.m. on December 25, 1895, an earthquake was felt in some villages 

 of the province of Orenne, Galicia, north-west of Spain. Some 

 walls were cracked, the clocks stopped, and two small houses 

 were thrown down. 



The commercial prospects of Hudson Bay are receiving much 

 attention. Notice has been filed of application to the Canadian 

 Parliament for a charter to construct a railroad from Calgary, on 

 the Canadian Pacific Railroad, to Fort Churchill. 



The inhabitants of Zurich have rejected, by 39,476 votes to 

 17,297, a proposal submitted to them for the absolute prohibi- 

 tion of vivisection. On the other hand, a counter proposal of 

 the Grand Council in favour of the protection of animals with 

 due satisfaction to the demands of science was adopted by 35, 191 

 votes to 19,551. 



It is announced in Science that Miss Helen Culver has signed 

 papers giving 1,000,000 dollars to the University of Chicago, to 



