V 



deficiencies of a limited education, arid ultimately acquired a know- 

 ledge of mathematics which, was of much service to him in his 

 scientific investigations. 



Mr. Baxendell was what this training made him. He became 

 a thoughtful and retiring student of nature rather than one who cared 

 to take a prominent place in general scientific society. But he was 

 much esteemed by those whose tastes were similar to his own, and a 

 meeting of such students usually took place once a fortnight during 

 the winter months at the rooms of the Manchester Literary and 

 Philosophical Society. At first Mr. Baxendell was a regular attendant 

 at these meetings, and ultimately he was chosen to be Secretary of the 

 Society and Editor of its publications. The duties of these offices 

 were discharged by Mr. Baxendell in a very intelligent and con- 

 scientious manner. 



In astronomy Mr. Baxendell contributed observations of various 

 kinds. Of these perhaps the most important are embodied in his 

 Catalogue of Variable Stars, a work which is highly esteemed by all 

 astronomers. 



In meteorology his contributions are of conspicuous importance, 

 and in one branch of this science he may claim to be the pioneer. 



In 1871, after having? (^isthissed eleven years' observations of the 

 Radcliffe Observatory, Oxford, he came to the conclusion that the 

 forces which produce the movements of the earth's atmosphere are 

 most energetic in those years when there are numerous spots on the 

 surface of the sun. This conclusion was, like that of many similar 

 pioneers, derived from perhaps a somewhat limited series of observa- 

 tions, but the sagacity of Mr. Baxendell is justified by the fact 

 that many other men of science have since followed in his foot- 

 steps. 



Mr. Baxendell was likewise an independent discoverer of the fact 

 that the faculae which accompany sun-spots are thrown more behind 

 them than before — the word behind having reference to the direction 

 of rotation of the sun upon its axis. 



Again he entertained the opinion, which has since spread, that the 

 behaviour of sun-spots is connected in an intimate manner with that 

 of meteoric matter round the sun. 



Mr. Baxendell foretold the long drought of 1868, and persuaded 

 the city of Manchester to take precautionary measures which had 

 the effect of mitigating the inconvenience arising from want of 

 water. 



He was a Fellow of the Royal Astronomical Society, a correspond- 

 ing member of the Royal Society of Konigsberg, of the Scientific and 

 Literary Academy of Palermo, and of the National Observatories of 

 France, Germany, and Italy. 



He held for many years the office of Astronomer to the Manchester 



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