Part 4 (2/2)

CHAPTER III

LIFE AT DATCHET, CLAY HALL, AND SLOUGH; 1782-1822

The new house at Datchet, which was occupied from 1782 till 1785, was a source of despair to CAROLINA HERSCHEL, who looked upon its desolate and isolated condition with a housekeeper's eyes This was nothing to her brother, who gayly consented to live upon ”eggs and bacon,” now that he was free at last to mind the heavens The ruinous state of the place had no terrors in his eyes, for was there not a laundry which would serve as a library, a large stable which was just the place for the grinding of rass-plat for the small twenty-foot reflector?

Here they set to work at astrono hi for comets In the course of her life she discovered no less than eight, and five of these were first seen by her

In 1787 HERSCHEL wrote his paper ”On three Volcanoes in the Moon,”

which he had observed in April of that year In this he mentions previous observations of the sa account of these has ever been put on record in English

Baron VON ZACH writes from London to BODE:[18]

”Probably you have heard also of the volcanoes in the ive you an account of it as I heard it from his own lips Dr LIND, a worthy physician in Windsor, who has h his two journeys in China, and who is a friend of our HERSCHEL'S, ith his wife one evening on a visit to HERSCHEL in Datchet [1783, May 4] On this evening there was to be an occultation of a star at the moon's dark limb This was observed by HERSCHEL and Doctor LIND Mrs LIND wished also to see as occurring, and placed herself at a telescope and watched attentively

”Scarcely had the star disappeared before Mrs LIND thought she saw it again, and exclaione in front of, and not behind the moon This provoked a short astronomical lecture on the question, but still she would not credit it, because she _saw_ differently Finally HERSCHEL stepped to the telescope, and in fact he saw a bright point on the dark disc of the radually became fainter and finally vanished”

The life at Datchet was not free from its annoyances

”Much of s were clear, to the queen's lodge, to show the king, etc, objects through the seven-foot But when the days began to shorten, this was found impossible, for the telescope was often (at no sed to be transported in the dark back to Datchet, for the purpose of spending the rest of the night with observations on double stars for a second catalogue My brother was, besides, obliged to be absent for a week or ten days, for the purpose of bringing home thematerials from his work-room Before the furnace was taken down at Bath, a second twenty-foot mirror, twelve inches diameter, was cast, which happened to be very fortunate, for on the 1st of January, 1783, a very fine one cracked by frost in the tube

”In my brother's absence from home I was, of course, left alone to a but cheerful I found I was to be trained for an assistant astronoe of a tube with two glasses, such as are coiven me I was 'to sweep for coust 22d, 1782, to write down and describe all remarkable appearances I saw in my 'sweeps,' which were horizontal But it was not till the last two erass-plot covered with dew or hoar-frost, without a huh to be within call I knew too little of the real heavens to be able to point out every object so as to find it again, without losingthe Atlas But all these troubles were re observations, with his various instruments, on double stars, planets, etc, and when I could have his assistance immediately if I found a nebula or cluster of stars, of which I intended to give a catalogue; but, at the end of 1783, I had onlyee twenty-foot

I had, however, the comfort to see that my brother was satisfied with my endeavors to assist him when he wanted another person either to run to the clocks, write down a round with poles, etc, etc, of which so of the kind every moment would occur For the assiduity hich the ium Sidus_, and observations of other planets, double stars, etc, etc, were made, was incredible, as iven to the Royal Society in 1783, which papers ritten in the daytihts interfered Besides this, the twelve-inch speculu, and ht clear enough for observing ever passed but that so and motions of the various instruments then in use, or some trials were made of new constructed eye-pieces, which wereto save his tian to have some work of that kind done by a watchmaker who had retired from business and lived on Datchet Coes so unreasonable, that he could not be employed It was not till sos of the Royal Society (hts), that he had an opportunity of looking about for mathematical workmen, opticians, and founders But the work seldom answered expectation, and it was kept, to be executed with i the few months he spent with us

”The suetting the large twenty-foot ready against the next winter The carpenters and smiths of Datchet were in daily requisition, and, as soon as patterns for tools and mirrors were ready,the three or four months ALEXANDER could be absent from Bath, the mirrors and optical parts were nearly cohts after a day of toil were not given to rest, may be seen by the observations on _Mars_, of which a paper, dated Deceiven to the Royal Society Sohts, in the attempt to teach me to remeasure double stars with the same micrometers hich foriven me for that purposeI had also to ascertain their places by a transit instrument lent for that purpose by Mr DALRYMPLE; but, after many fruitless attempts, it was seen that the instrument was, perhaps, as much in fault as my observations”

In 1783 HERSCHEL says:

”I have now finished my third review of the heavens The first wasless than seven feet focal length, a power of 222, and an aperture of four and a half inches

It extended only to stars of the first, second, third, and fourth nitudes My second revieas made with an instrument much superior to the other, of 852 inches focus, 62 inches aperture, and power 227 It extended to all the stars of HARRIS'S hth ue of Double Stars and the discovery of the _Georgium Sidus_, were the results of that review The third ith the same instrument and aperture, but with a power of 460 This review extended to all the stars of FLAMSTEED'S Catalogue, together with every sreat ht, in the course of eleven or twelve hours of observation, carefully and singly exaa particular star for half an hour together”

The fourth review began with the twenty-foot, in 1784

”My brother began his series of sweeps when the instrus were not very comfortable when everyhim to be elevated fifteen feet or allery The ladders had not even their braces at the bottoh wind, he had hardly touched the ground before the whole apparatus cathe mirror, which was, fortunately, uninjured, but ive a pretty long list of accidents which were near proving fatal to my brother as well as e machinery, where all around is in darkness, is not unattended with danger, especially when personal safety is the last thing hich the etting broken shi+ns by falling over the rack-bar

”In the long days of the summer months many ten and seven footand polishi+ng to be seen For ten-foot, several had been cast with ribbed backs, by way of experie round seven-foot and plain ed_ with polishi+ng and the last finishi+ng of a very beautiful mirror for Sir WILLIAM WATSON

”An account of the discoveries made with the twenty-foot and the i the winter of 1785 is given with the catalogue of the first 1,000 new nebulae By which account it must plainly appear that the expenses of these improvements, and those which were yet to be made in the apparatus of the twenty-foot (which, in fact, proved to be a er instrument), could not be supplied out of a salary of 200 a year, especially asthe six months before he received his _first_ quarterly payment of _fifty pounds_ (which was Michael from Bath to London, Greenwich, Windsor, backwards and forwards, transporting the telescope, etc, breaking up his establish a new one near the court, all this, even leaving such personal conveniences as he had for many years been used to, out of the question, could not be obtained for a trifle; a good large piece of ground was required for the use of the instruments, and a habitation in which he could receive and offer a bed to an astronoht's observation

”It seeh had been done when ht have ti ordered four ten-foot himself, and many seven-foot besides had been bespoke, andthethe work of a thirty or forty foot instrument, which it was my brother's chief object to obtain as soon as possible; for he was then on the wrong side of forty-five, and felt how great an injustice he would be doing to hi up his ti telescopes for other observers

”Sir WILLIAM WATSON, who often in the lifetime of his father came to make some stay with us at Datchet, saw reat dissatisfaction On his return to Bath heto the court, to who his friend and his situation very freely In consequence of this, h Sir J BANKS, the pro him to make himself an instrument