115 



cuted. To have obtained some new and valuable results in such 

 an inquiry, was certainly an important achievement ; the value, how- 

 ever, has been enhanced by your deductions, which are cautious and 

 wary, as well as interesting and new. Allow me to express a hope 

 that your success may be a stimulus to farther e{Forts, to be rewarded 

 by discoveries honourable to you, to this Society, and to EngHsh 

 Science. 



The President then called upon Mr. Christie to read the biogra- 

 phical notices of some of the deceased Members, which he handed 

 to him. 



By the death of Henry Christian Schumacher, on the 28th of 

 last December, at the age of 70 years, the Society has lost a valuable 

 and amiable associate ; one who became the personal friend of all 

 the scientific men with whom he had anything to do. He was born 

 in Holstein in 1780, of highly respectable parents; but losing his 

 father early, he was placed under the care of the Pastor Dorfer, until 

 his mother removed to Altona for the sake of educating her two 

 sons. The Gymnasium to which he was now sent was fortunately 

 presided over by Jacob Struve, father of the zealous Pulkova astro- 

 nomer, who earnestly instructed his promising pupil both in classics 

 and mathematics ; but being of a delicate constitution, young Schu- 

 macher sought sedentary amusements, and was indulged in his par- 

 tiality for mechanics, which he specially applied himself to in order 

 to satisfy his mind on the action of various instruments connected 

 with astronomy. Having gained the highest honours of the Gym- 

 nasium, he now thought of studying the law, for which purpose he 

 repaired to Kiel; but in 1804, being recommended as tutor to a 

 noble family residing near Dorpat, his passion for mathematics 

 returned under the encouragement of Professor PfafF, of the Uni- 

 versity of that city, whom he assisted during the short duration 

 of a work called the ' Astronomische Beytrage.' In 1807, he took 

 his Doctor's Degree, and returned to Altona, two years after which 

 he obtained the Danish Government's permission to com^plete his 

 studies at Gottingen under the celebrated Gaiiss, whose friendship 

 he enjoyed to his death.' But the year following he was appointed 

 Professor of Astronomy at Copenhagen; and in 1813, he had the 

 satisfaction of having an Observatory placed under his direction at 

 Mannheim. In a couple of years more, however, he was promoted to 

 that of Copenhagen, to fill the vacancy occasioned by the death of 

 Professor Bugge. 



Schumacher's active intelligence now led him to look around, in 

 order to ascertain what was transacting in other countries ; — and he 

 accordingly obtained permission to visit France and England in 1819, 

 with his intimate friend Repsold of Hamburg, the eminent mecha- 

 nician ; and benefiting by our great trigonometrical survey, even to 

 obtaining the loan of Ramsden's Zenith-sector from the English 

 Government, he commenced measuring the Danish arc of the meri- 

 dian, from Lauenburg in Holstein northwards. This service requi- 



