FIRST PAPERS FOR ROYAL SOCIETY 51 



Possibly, Dr. Watson shared the opinion of Franklin's 

 friend, who wrote the epigram 



"While you, great George, for knowledge hunt, 

 And sharp conductors change for blunt, 



The nation's out of joint : 

 Franklin a wiser course pursues, 

 And all your thunder useless views 



By keeping to the point." l 



Dr. Watson's discovery soon bore fruit. Herschel 

 had been carefully studying the planet Saturn since 

 the spring of 1774. He had also been observing 

 the mountains on the moon's face and making calcu- 

 lations of their height. Besides, he had been watching 

 a variable star in the neck of the constellation called 

 The Whale. Four months after his introduction to 

 Dr. Watson, he communicated to the Royal Society 

 through him two papers, which were read on May 11, 

 1780, and modestly described as by Mr. William 

 Herschel of Bath. The first of the two was " On the 

 Periodical Star in Collo Ceti" The paper in itself was 

 not of much consequence, and it was on an old and 

 well-worn subject; 2 but it showed the books which 

 had influenced him in his astronomical studies, as his 

 sister had found by experience, and the carefulness 

 with which he had for years been making observa- 

 tions on the stars. He had no desire to be considered 

 an amateur. He was in thorough earnest, keeping a 

 journal of what he saw in the skies, and carefully 

 noting every change for future reference. On this 

 Stella Mira, or Wonderful Star, as it was called from 

 the " surprising appearances " it was known to present, 



1 Weld, Hist, of the Royal Society, ii. 7, 94-101, 392. 



2 See Lalande, i. 314 (edition 1771). 



