Cuar. IIL, § 3.] _ ASTRONOMY.—BESSEL—MR AIRY. 847 
the colours of thin plates, but to these he did not 
attach much importance. 
(215.) The philosophical character of Herschel is almost 
Herschel’s included in what precedes; but we will endeavour 
character; to sum it up in a few words. He united in a re- 
markable degree the resolute industry which distin- 
guishes the Germans, with the ardour and constaney 
of purpose which has been thought characteristic 
of the Anglo-Saxon. From his native country he 
brought with him a boldness of speculation which 
has long distinguished it, and it is probable that he 
had also a vigorous and even poetic imagination. 
Yet he was ever impatient until he had brought his 
conjectures to the test of experiment and observation 
of the most uncompromising kind. He delighted to 
give his data a strictly numerical character. Where 
this was (by their nature) impossible, he confirmed 
his descriptions by reiterated observation, in different 
states of weather, with different telescopes, apertures, 
and magnifying powers; and with praiseworthy fide- 
lity he enabled his readers to form their own judgment 
of the character of his results by copious and literal 
transcripts from his journals. On his claims to 
originality we are unable in all cases to decide, owing 
to almost his only literary fault, that of rarely al- 
§ 3. Besset—Mr Arny—Modern Observatories. 
Juding to the writings of his predecessors or con- 
temporaries, even so far as to acknowledge their 
existence. The discovery of binary systems is pro- 
bably that which was most absolutely his own ; but 
even supposing the speculations of Wright, Lambert, 
and Mitchell were not unknown to him, this would 
diminish but little the substantive merit of having 
devised and executed the means of removing them 
from the regions of almost metaphysical abstraction 
to that of concrete reality, 
His long and tranquil but ever active life corre- 
sponded happily to the nature of his pursuits, which his long 
ife, 
required an absolute devotion of his time, and the 
means of instituting comparative observations after 
an interval of many years. There are not many 
philosophers who could have expected within their 
lifetime to see at least one pair of suns complete 
their mutual orbit. 
Herschel’s career at length drew to a close, He 
died peacefully at Slough, near Windsor, where he peel 
had resided throughout the greater part of his 
life, at the age of eighty-three, on the 23d August 
1822, one year only after the publication of his latest 
memoir in the Transactions of the then recently 
formed Astronomical Society, of which he was the 
first President. 
Fined Star Catalogues—Planetary and Lunar 
Observations. 
(218.) As we approach the most recent period of the his- 
Modern as- tory of astronomy, I feel the increasing difficulty of a 
ese due condensation and selection of the interesting mat- 
since 1910, ter which claims our notice, Astronomy has been so 
generally and so zealously cultivated, that it seems 
almost invidious to select a few names and a few lead- 
ing discoveries as the topics of discussion. It is, 
however, necessary to do so, and I shall be guided by 
the single aim of trying to specify impartially those 
individuals who have by their labours given most of 
the impress of the age to the science which they re- 
present. In a subject like this, of almost infinite de- 
tail, the reader is not to expect a list of the names of 
all discoverers and improvers ; it is not our business 
here to dwell upon mere labours of precision, to which 
so large a part of the most useful industry of astro- 
nomers is devoted ; but to show the spirit in which 
these labours must be undertaken, and the general 
results by which they enrich the knowledge of the 
passing generation. 
(219.) Tn the first section of this chapter we have sketched 
Practical (in connection with the name of Maskelyne) the 
coal Ay state of accurate astronomy in fixed observatories, 
gum down to about the year 1810. Since that period the 
multiplication of observatories has been yery great. 
There has been a great improvement in instruments 
and in the methods of using them. But there has been 
an incomparably greater advance in the methods of ex- 
tracting trustworthy results from observations made 
with due care. The art of dividing instruments was 
carried to great perfection in Great Britain by Graham 
and Bird, but their preference of the quadrant to in- 
struments of a circular form (introduced long before 
by Rémer) retarded the progress of astronomy. Fo- 
reign observatories in the early part of this century 
(as in the last) sought their divided instruments from 
London ; Piazzi and Bessel worked with English 
circles. Troughton was as an artist the worthy suc- 
cessor of Ramsden; and even to the present time 
British astronomers, at least, do not admit that the 
nice contrivances and beautiful workmanship of Rep- 
sold and of Merz in Germany, or of Gambey in 
France, have produced instruments worthy of more 
confidence than those which have been constructed 
at home. In the improvement of object-glasses for 
telescopes, however, Germany and France bear away 
the palm, although for many years Dollond supplied 
Europewith his achromatic telescopes. With regard to 
constancy and fidelity of observation, whether in fixed 
observatories or in maritime and geographical expe- 
ditions, English astronomers have never been back- 
ward; and the reputation of Greenwich Observatory 
in this respect (and also in the punctuality of pub- 
lication) has, as we have stated elsewhere, earned the 
approbation and gratitude of all Europe. 
But here our praise of British astronomy must 220.) 
