xix 



delayed by the amount of time and attention given to work connected 

 with the verification of Lacaille's arc, so that it has happened that the 

 present astronomer is now engaged npon the formation of a catalogue 

 from them for the epoch 1850. 



In 1859, Maclear visited England for a few months. He returned 

 to the Cape in the following year, and after this time his attention 

 was mainly directed to the reduction of his previous observations. 

 He reduced the series made in the interval 1835-40, which, after 

 revision by his successor, Mr. E. J. Stone, has been formed into a 

 catalogue for 1840, containing 2,892 stars. He also partly reduced 

 the observations in the years 1856-60, a work completed by Mr. Stone, 

 and published as the " Cape Catalogue for 1860," which contains 

 1,159 stars. Amongst his miscellaneous astronomical work was the 

 determination of the parallaxes of a and (3 Centauri, confirming for 

 the first of these stars the result of his predecessor, Henderson. 



Maclear continued closely occupied with his astronomical duties 

 until 1870, when he retired from the direction of the Cape Observa- 

 tory,, still continuing to reside in the vicinity, and taking a very lively 

 and active interest, as he had previously done, in every matter tending 

 to promote the well-being of the colony, in which he was greatly 

 esteemed and respected. Latterly, his sight failed him, and for several 

 years before his death he was quite blind. He was much interested in 

 the exploration of South Africa ; and the last occasion on which he 

 left his house was to. attend a meeting in Cape Town, when Stanley 

 visited the colony. He died at his residence, Grey Villa, Mowbray, 

 Cape of Good Hope, on July 14, 1879. He was elected a Eellow of 

 the Royal Society in 1831, Member of the Academy of Sciences of 

 Palermo in 1835, and a Correspondent of the Institute of Erance in 

 1863. Eor his verification and extension of Lacaille's arc, he received 

 the Lalande Prize from the Erench Academy of Sciences in 1867, and 

 a Royal Medal in 1869 from the Royal Society. Maclear was knighted 

 in 1860. 



In proof of the estimation in which Sir Thomas Maclear was held in 

 the Cape Colony, it may be mentioned that the following resolution 

 was agreed to in the House of Assembly on the 17th of July last: — 

 " That this House desires to express its deep sense of the signal ser- 

 vices rendered by the late Sir Thomas Maclear, Knt., F.R.S., E.R.A.S., 

 to the general cause of Astronomical and Geographical Science while 

 in charge of the Royal Observatory, Cape Town, and also to the 

 material interests of the colony in the practical application of his 

 researches ; and, furthermore, its high appreciation of his devotion for 

 a long period of years to the cause of South African exploration and 

 civilization; and that this Resolution be recorded in the journals of 

 the House." 



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