twenty-foot" was to take its stand? Compared with advantages such as
these, what mattered the scarcity of "butcher's meat"? Herschel
laughingly assured his sister that they could live on eggs and bacon;
which, he confidently asserted, would cost next to nothing, now that
they were really in the country!

And so he settled down to a life of quiet, industry at Datchet; his
admirable sister being formally adopted as his assistant and secretary.
Never had master a more devoted, a more enthusiastic, or a more
intelligent servant! She shared in all his night-watches, with her eye
constantly on the clock, and the pencil in her hand; with unerring
accuracy she made all the complex calculations so frequently required;
she made three or four copies of every observation in separate
registers, co-ordinating, classifying, and analyzing them. If the
scientific world, says Arago, saw with astonishment the unexampled
rapidity with which Herschel's works succeeded one another for many
years, they were greatly indebted for this affluence of production to
the affectionate ardour of his sister Caroline. Her enthusiasm never
failed; her industry knew no check; and her brother's fame was dearer to
her than life.

In one of her letters she describes with graphic simplicity the
"interior" at Datchet:--


"I found that I was to be trained for an assistant-astronomer;
and by way of encouragement, a telescope adapted for 'sweeping'
(or rapidly surveying a wide extent of space), consisting of a
tube with two glasses, was given [to] me. I was to 'sweep for
comets;' and I see by my journal that I began August 22nd,