in the summer of 1780 to send to the 

 Royal Society two papers in which the 

 results of his first researches were given 1 . 

 These papers revealed to \ne world the 

 advent of a new astronomer of unusual 

 promise. They would probably be kno\vn 

 and appreciated by Michell, for they 

 appeared in the Philosophical "Transactions. 

 But, as already stated (p. 18), they were 

 more pointedly brought to his notice by 

 his friend Dr Watson, who had interested 

 himself at Bath in the work of the pre- 

 cocious astronomical musician. Herschel 

 took advantage of the opening provided by 

 Michell's letter to him of 2 ist January 

 1781. To two of his letters Michell sent 

 him a long reply (i2th April) dealing 

 with the construction of mirrors and the 

 relative merits of different types for large 

 and small apertures. Only a month before 

 this letter was written Herschel had made 

 his great discovery of Uranus, and had 

 thus leaped into a foremost place among 



1 Phil. Trans, vols. 70 and 71. 



93 



