102 



SCIENCE 



[N. S. Vol. XXXVI. No. 917 



A dozen years after his establishment at 

 Bath, Herschel began to be well known in 

 the world of science, and many of the most 

 illustrious astronomers came to see him. In 

 1781 he was elected to the Royal Society, 

 and in the same year he discovered the 

 planet Uranus, and called it by the now 

 almost forgotten name of Georgium Sidus, 

 in honor of George III. The magnitude of 

 the discovery may be estimated by the fact 

 that only the five principal planets, familiar 

 to all men for centuries, were then known ; 

 and the asteroids or minor planets had not 

 yet been discovered by Herschel himself. 

 His fame from this and his other dis- 

 coveries led to a command from the King 

 to take his 7-foot telescope to Windsor, and 

 there he was requested to act as celestial 

 showman to the King, the Queen, and the 

 Princess. The expedition put him to much 

 expense, and he was kept hanging about 

 Windsor for months, but at length the 

 King offered him the post of private royal 

 astronomer, with the modest salary of 

 £200 a year. 



Herschel 's friend. Sir William Watson, 

 said that never had a monarch bought 

 honor so cheap, and Caroline pours scorn 

 on the king's meanness; but I think this 

 was hardly fair. It must have been well 

 known that Herschel had deserted from the 

 Hanoverian Guards, and while the King 

 might consent to forget this, it was a 

 strong measure to take the deserter into his 

 service. At a later date, moreover, when 

 the King was informed by Sir Joseph 

 Banks of Herschel 's financial difficulties, 

 he granted him £2,000, afterwards increased 

 to £4,000, for the construction of the great 

 40-ft. telescope, with the condition that he 

 should retain it for his own use. To this 

 was added a further £200 a year for main- 

 tenance, and a pension of £50 a year to 

 Caroline Herschel. And besides he was 

 allowed to make specula for sale, and half 



the observatories of Europe were so fur- 

 nished by him at prices which were then 

 thought considerable. 



At any rate Herschel jumped at the 

 offer, which, by relieving him from his mus- 

 ical slavery, allowed him to follow the wish 

 of his life. The Herschels then came to 

 the neighborhood of Windsor, and after 

 several removals they finally settled at 

 Slough. The change was delightful for 

 him, since he now had space for his tele- 

 scopes and workshops, but the difSculties 

 of housekeeping in a rambling and dilapi- 

 dated house rendered the change somewhat 

 less agreeable to his sister. 



The closeness to Windsor was perhaps 

 a necessity of the ease, but it had its disad- 

 vantages, since he was frequently sum- 

 moned to take his telescope to Windsor, or 

 large parties from the castle would visit 

 him at his house in order to see the wonders 

 of the heavens. When his time had been 

 wasted in this way he would make up for 

 the loss by redoubled labor. 



The fury, as I may call it, with which 

 they worked may be gathered from Caro- 

 line's journal, and the work was not free 

 from danger, because in his eagerness 

 Herschel would not always delay his obser- 

 vations until the telescope was properly 

 fixed. To stand in the dark on a platform 

 without a railing, when your attention is 

 distracted from your position, can not be 

 very safe, and they both met with a good 

 many accidents which might easily have 

 proved fatal. 



The incessant work, together with the 

 interruptions by the visitors from the cas- 

 tle, began at length to tell on Herschel's 

 health. His sister notes that on the 14th 

 of October, 1806, after working all day, he 

 was out from sunset tiU past midnight sur- 

 rounded by fifty or sixty persons, without 

 food or proper clothing, and that he never 



