contact. I remember one of the attendants telling me that on one
occasion he had the misfortune to let fall and break one of the small
mirrors on which Lord Rosse had himself expended many hours of hard
personal labour. The only remark of his lordship was that "accidents
will happen."

The latter years of his life Lord Rosse passed in comparative
seclusion; he occasionally went to London for a brief sojourn during
the season, and he occasionally went for a cruise in his yacht; but
the greater part of the year he spent at Birr Castle, devoting
himself largely to the study of political and social questions, and
rarely going outside the walls of his demesne, except to church on
Sunday mornings. He died on October 31, 1867.

He was succeeded by his eldest son, the present Earl of Rosse, who
has inherited his father's scientific abilities, and done much
notable work with the great telescope.




AIRY.



In our sketch of the life of Flamsteed, we have referred to the
circumstances under which the famous Observatory that crowns
Greenwich Hill was founded. We have also had occasion to mention
that among the illustrious successors of Flamsteed both Halley and
Bradley are to be included. But a remarkable development of