232 IN STARRY REALMS. 



I was in charge of it was devoted to the observation of 

 the nebulae, a branch of astronomical work for which the 

 vast size of the great reflector made it eminently suited. 

 In clear weather it was my duty, and I may truly add, 

 my delight, to scan the heavens during the long winter 

 nights, for the purpose of sketching and of measuring those 

 dim, faint nebulae which seem to lie on the confines of the 

 visible universe. The giant telescope is in the open air ; 

 it swings between two walls of castellated masonry, and 

 by ladders and galleries of ingenious construction the 

 observer is enabled to reach the mouth of the telescope in 

 all its positions. I say mouth of the telescope, for a 

 reflector of this description is not employed like the ordi- 

 nary telescope, through which we look. In the reflector 

 we must get access to the top and gaze down on the 

 reflections of the stars in the great mirror below. As the 

 telescope is sixty feet long it thus follows that the ob- 

 servers are sometimes sixty feet high in the air, and as 

 the telescope is placed in a very open situation in Lord 

 Rosse's beautiful demesne at Parsonstown, the position for 

 observing the shooting star shower was an exceptionally 

 favourable one. Beside the observer an attendant stands, 

 whose duty it is to move the gallery backwards and for- 

 wards, so as to keep the observer conveniently placed near 

 the eye-piece of the telescope. 



The memorable night between November 13th and 

 14th, 1866, was a very fine one ; the moon was absent, a 

 very important consideration in regard to the effective- 

 ness of the display. The stars shone out clearly, and 

 I was diligently examining some faint nebulae in the 

 eye-piece of the great telescope when a sudden exclama- 



