BAILY. 3 



a considerable share), this science absorbed more and more of his 

 attention. His accounts of the Eclipse of 1820 ; of the Annular 

 Eclipse of 1836, which he observed at Jedburgh ; and the Total 

 Eclipse of July 8, 1842, with its marvellous revelation of the rose- 

 coloured protuberances of the solar atmosphere, since known as 

 ' Baily's Beads,' are among the most interesting and classical of his 

 writings. 



In January, 1823, the Royal Astronomical Society was founded, 

 chiefly through the suggestions of Francis Baily and Dr. Pearson, 

 and for the first three years of its existence Mr. Baily filled the 

 office of Secretary, sparing no exertions on its behalf, watching over 

 its early progress with paternal care, and as the Society grew and 

 prospered, contributing to its transactions many copious and valuable 

 papers. 



In 1825 Baily retired from the Stock Exchange, having acquired 

 a considerable fortune, and shortly afterwards took a house in 

 Tavistock Place, giving his whole attention to the furtherance of 

 astronomical science. Here, he executed that grand series of labours 

 which has perpetuated his name, and the building in which the 

 Cavendish experiment of weighing the earth was repeated, its 

 bulk and figure determined, and the standard of British measure 

 perpetuated, must continue to be a source of interest to scientific 

 men for many generations to come. The chief works to which 

 Mr. Baily devoted himself during this later portion of his life are: 



1 . The Remodelling of the Nautical Almanac. 



2. The Determination of the length of the Seconds Pendulum. 



3. The Fixation of the Standard of Length. 



4. The Determination of the Density of the Earth. 



5. The Revision of the Catalogues of the Stars. 



6. The Reduction of Lacaille's and Lalande's Catalogues ; and 



7. The Formation of a New Standard Catalogue. 



The benefits which not only astronomy but all England have de- 

 rived from these laborious investigations, can hardly be too much 

 appreciated. But a short time elapsed, after Baily had completed 

 his observations on the pendulum, and determined the standard of 

 length, being thereby enabled to compare his new scale with the 

 imperial standard yard, when the conflagration of the Houses of 

 Parliament in 1834 took place, and both the latter standard, and the 

 original one by Bird (that of 1758) were destroyed. When it is 

 considered that Baily's repetition of the Cavendish Experiment in- 

 volved untiring watching for more than 1200 hours, and this, too, 

 by one who in early life seemed only able to find food for his vigor- 

 ous mind amidst the hardships and fatigues of travel, it affords a 

 remarkable instance how a man, active and full of ardour in early 

 youth, can yet be enabled, by the strength of his character, to con- 

 centrate the full force of his powers upon a series of researches ap- 

 parently the most wearying and full of disappointment, an example 



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