LETTER TO SIR JOSEPH BANKS 73 



HerscheFs sister. Such were some of the fruits of 

 William Herschel's earliest studies among the stars. 



The nature of the wandering stranger discovered on 

 March 13, 1781, was not fully known for some months. 

 Herschel had surrendered the care of his new world to 

 the astronomers of Europe, and they could not make 

 up their minds about it, till Lexell of St. Petersburg led 

 the way by showing that it was an outlying primary 

 planet. A whole year elapsed, and Herschel had 

 resumed his observations on this " singular star " 

 before he thought of giving it a name. Events had 

 happened during the interval which affected his view 

 of the name it should bear: he had become Royal 

 Astronomer to George ill., had received from him a 

 yearly pension, was pursuing a profitable trade as a 

 maker of telescopes under the King's patronage, and 

 was housed under the shelter of Windsor Castle. It 

 should cause no surprise, therefore, that, evidently after 

 long consideration, he addressed the following letter to 

 Sir Joseph Banks, President of the Royal Society : 



"To SIR JOSEPH BANKS, BART., P.R.S. 



"Sin, By the observations of the most eminent 

 astronomers in Europe it appears that the new star, 

 which I had the honour of pointing out to them in 

 March 1781, is a primary planet of our solar system. 

 A body so nearly related to us by its similar condition 

 and situation, in the unbounded expanse of the starry 

 heavens, must often be the subject of the conversation, 

 not only of astronomers, but of every lover of science 

 in general. This consideration then makes it necessary 

 to give it a name, whereby it may be distinguished 

 from the rest of the planets and fixed stars. 



