Page:Lectures on Ten British Physicists of the Nineteenth Century.djvu/142

 interwoven mass the elements of all our knowledge and that it is the business of the philosopher to disentangle, to arrange, and to present them in a separate and distinct state. In the works of these great scientists there is abundant evidence that this Discourse formed a guide arid inspiration, as indeed it did to all the British scientists of the nineteenth century. The Discourse was translated into French, German and Italian, and was reprinted in 1851.

After his mother's death Herschel prepared to carry out a long cherished project—a survey of the heavens in the southern hemisphere. The Government offered Mm a free passage in a ship-of-war; he preferred to pay his own way. On the 13th of November, 1833, he set sail with his family and instruments for the Cape of Good Hope, and arrived in the course of two months. He secured a house at Feldhausen, six miles from Cape Town, and there he erected his 20-foot reflector and 7-foot refractor, and applied them to the double stars and nebulae. He constructed a scale of brightness by fixing the relative brightness of nearly 500 stars, using for this purpose "the method of sequences." He made comparisons not only at the Cape, but on the voyage out and back. With an actinometer of his own invention he made the first satisfactory measures of direct solar radiation.

While Herschel was busy at the Cape, an article appeared day by day in the New York Sun pretending to give an account of some great astronomical discoveries he had made. It announced that he had discovered men, animals, etc., in the Moon, and gave much detail. The paper by this enterprise, increased its circulation five fold, and secured a permanent footing. The article printed separately had a large sale, and was translated into various languages. The author was R. A. Locke, the editor of the newspaper; but De Morgan thought it had been written by a professional astronomer.

While engaged with the stars, Herschel had also time to help the development of the educational system of the colony. He was instrumental in initiating an excellent system of national education. Consulted on the course of study for a South