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Contents
Astronomy , Lecture on the Moon , Edinburgh , Old friends , Visit to the
Continent - Paris, Chartres, Nismes, Chamounix , Art of photography , Sir John Herschel , Spots on the sun's surface , E.J. Stone , De la Rue , Visit from Sir John Herschel , Cracking glass globe ,
A million
spots and letters , Geological diagram , Father Secchi at Rome
, Lord
Lyndhurst , Visit to Herschel , His last letter , Publication of The
Moon , Philip H. Calderon , Cardinal Manning , Miss Herschel , William Lassell , Windmill grinding of
speculum , The dial of life , End of recollections ,
WHEN James Watt
retired from business towards the close of his useful and
admirable life, he spoke to his friends of occupying himself with
"ingenious trifles," and of turning "some of his
idle thoughts" upon the invention of an arithmetical machine
and a machine for copying sculpture. These and other useful works
occupied his attention for many years.
It was the same with
myself. I had good health (which Watt had not) and abundant
energy. When I retired from business I was only forty-eight years
old, which may be considered the prime of life. But I had plenty
of hobbies, perhaps the chief of which was Astronomy. No sooner
had I settled at Hammerfield than I had my telescopes brought out
and mounted. The fine clear skies with which we were favoured,
furnished me with abundant opportunities for the use of my
instruments. I began again my investigations on the Sun and the
Moon, and made some original discoveries, of which more anon.
Early in the year
1858 I received a pressing invitation from the Council of the
Edinburgh Philosophical Society to give a lecture before their
members on the Structure of the Lunar Surface. As the subject was
a favourite one with me, and as I had continued my investigations
and increased my store of drawings since I had last appeared
before an Edinburgh audience, I cheerfully complied with their
request. I accordingly gave my lecture before a crowded meeting
in the Queen Street Lecture Hall.
The audience appeared
to be so earnestly interested by the subject that I offered to
appear before them on two successive evenings and give any viva
voce explanations about the drawings which those present
might desire. This deviation from the formality of a regular
lecture was attended with the happiest results. Edinburgh always
supplies a highly-intelligent audience, and the cleverest and
brightest were ready with their questions. I was thus enabled to
elucidate the lecture and to expand many of the most interesting
points connected with the moon's surface, such as might formerly
have appeared obscure. These questioning lectures gave the
highest satisfaction. They satisfied myself as well as the
audience, who went away filled with the most graphic information
I could give them on the subject.
But not the least
interesting part of my visit to Edinburgh on this occasion was
the renewed intercourse which I enjoyed with many of my old
friends. Among these were my venerable friend Professor Pillans,
Charles Maclaren (editor of the Scotsman), and Robert
Chambers. We had a long dander # together through
the Old Town, our talk being in broad Scotch. Pillans was one of
the fine old Edinburgh Liberals, who stuck to his principles
through good report and through evil. In his position as Rector
of the High School, he had given rare evidence of his excellence
as a classical scholar. He was afterwards promoted to be a
Professor in the University. He had as his pupils some of the
most excellent men of my time. Amongst his intimate friends were
Sydney Smith, Brougham, Jeffrey, Cockburn -- men who gave so
special a character to the Edinburgh society of that time.
We had a delightful
stroll through some of the most remarkable parts of the Old Town,
with Robert Chambers as our guide. We next mounted Arthur's Seat
to observe some of the manifestations of volcanic action, which
had given such a remarkable structure to the mountain. On this
subject, Charles Maclaren was one of the best living expounders.
He was an admirable geologist, and had closely observed the
features of volcanic action round his native city. Robert
Chambers then took us to see the glacial grooved rocks on another
part of the mountain. On this subject he was a master. It was a
vast treat to me to see those distinct evidences of actions so
remotely separated in point of geological time -- in respect to
which even a million of years is a humble approximate unit[note:
"It is to our ever-dropping climate, with its hundred and
fifty-two days of annual rain, that we owe our vegetable mould
with its rich and beauteous mantle of sward and foliage. And
next, stripping from off the landscape its sands and gravels, we
see its underlying boulder-clays, dingy and gray, and here
presenting their vast ice-borne stones, and there its iceberg
pavements. And these clays in turn stripped away, the bare rocks
appear, various in colour and uneven in surface, but everywhere
grooved and polished, from the sea level and beneath it, to the
height of more than a thousand feet, by evidently the same agent
that careered along the pavements and transported the great
stones.
HUGH MILLER'S
Geological Features of Edinburgh and its Neighbourhood.]
What a fine subject
for a picture the group would have made! with the great volcanic
summit of the mountain behind, the noble romantic city in the
near distance, and the animated intelligent countenaces of the
demonstrators, with the venerable Pillans eagerly listening --
for the Professor was then in his eighty-eighth year. I had the
happiness of receiving a visit from him at Hammerfield in the
following year. He was still hale and active; and although I was
comparatively a boy to him, he was as bright and clear-headed as
he had been forty years before.
In the course of the
same year I accompanied my wife and my sister Charlotte on a
visit to the Continent. It was their first sojourn in foreign
parts. I was able, in some respects, to act as their guide. Our
visit to Paris was most agreeable. During the three weeks we were
there, we visited the Louvre, the Luxembourg, Versailles, and the
parts round about. We made many visits to the Hôtel Cluny, and
inspected its most interesting contents, as well as the Roman
baths and that part of the building devoted to Roman antiquities.
We were especially delighted with the apartments of the
Archbishop of Paris, now hung with fine old tapestry and provided
with authentic specimens of mediaeval furniture. The quaint old
cabinets were beautiful studies; and many artists were at work
painting them in oil. Everything was in harmony. When the sun
shone in through the windows in long beams of coloured light,
illuminating portions of the antique furniture, the pictures were
perfect. We were much interested also by the chapel in which Mary
Queen of Scots was married to the Dauphin. It is still in
complete preservation. The Gothic details of the chapel are quite
a study; and the whole of these and the contents of this
interesting Museum form a school of art of the best kind.
From Paris we paid a
visit to Chartres, which contains one of the most magnificent
cathedrals in France. Its dimensions are vast, its proportions
are elegant, and its painted glass is unequalled. Nothing can be
more beautiful than its three rose-windows. But I am not writing
a guide-book, and I must forbear. After a few days more at Paris
we proceeded south, and visited Lyons, Avignon, and Nismes, on
our way to Marseilles. I have already described Nismes in my
previous visit to France. I revisited the Roman amphitheatre, the
Maison Quarreé, that perfect Roman temple, which, standing as it
does in an open square, is seen to full advantage. We also went
to see the magnificent Roman aqueduct at Pont du Gard. The sight
of the noble structure well repays a visit. It consists of three
tiers of arches. Its magnitude, the skilful fitting of its
enormous blocks, makes a powerful impression on the mind. It has
stood there, in that solitary wooded valley, for upwards of
sixteen centuries; and it is still as well fitted for conveying
its aqueduct of water as ever. I have seen nothing to compare
with it, even at Rome. It throws all our architectural buildings
into the shade. On our way back from Marseilles to Paris we
visited Grenoble and its surrounding beautiful Alpine scenery.
Then to Chambery, and afterwards to Chamounix, where we obtained
a splendid view of Mont Blanc. We returned home by way of Geneva
and Paris, vastly delighted with our most enjoyable journey.
I return to another
of my hobbies. I had an earnest desire to acquire the art and
mystery of practical photography. I bought the necessary
apparatus, together with the chemicals; and before long I became
an expert in the use of the positive and negative collodion
process, including the printing from negatives, in all the
details of that wonderful and delightful art. To any one who has
some artistic taste, photography, both in its interesting
processes and glorious results, becomes a most attractive and
almost engrossing pursuit. It is a delightful means of educating
the eye for artistic feeling, as well as of educating the hands
in delicate manipulation. I know of nothing equal to photography
as a means of advancing one's knowledge in these respects. I had
long meditated a work "On the Moon," and it was for
this purpose more especially that I was earnest in endeavouring
to acquire the necessary practical skill. I was soon enabled to
obtain photographic copies of the elaborate models of parts of
the moon's, surface, which I had long before prepared. These
copies were hailed by the highest authorities in this special
department of astronomical research as the best examples of the
moon's surface which had yet been produced.
In reference to this
subject, as well as to my researches into the structure of the
sun's surface, I had the inestimable happiness of securing the
friendship of that noble philosopher, Sir John Herschel. His
visits to me, and my visits to him, have left in my memory the
most cherished and happy recollections. Of all the scientific men
I have had the happiness of meeting, Sir John stands supremely at
the head of the list. He combined profound knowledge with perfect
humility. He was simple, earnest, and companionable, He was
entirely free from assumptions of superiority, and, still
learning, would listen attentively to the humblest student. He
was ready to counsel and instruct, as well as to receive
information. He would sit down in my workshop, and see me go
through the various technical processes of casting, grinding, and
polishing specula for reflecting telescopes. That was a pleasure
to him, and a vast treat to me.
I had been busily
occupied for some time in making careful investigations into the
dark spots upon the Sun's surface. These spots are of
extraordinary dimensions, sometimes more than 10,000 miles in
diameter. Our world might be dropped into them. I observed that
the spots were sometimes bridged over by a streak of light,
formed of willow-leaf-shaped objects. They were apparently
possessed of voluntary motion, and moved from one side of the
spot to the other. These flakes were evidently the immediate
sources of the solar light and heat. I wrote a paper on the
subject, which I sent to the Literary and Philosophical Society
of Manchester.[note: Memoirs of the Literary and
Philosophical Society of Manchester, 3d series, vol. i. p. 407.
My first discovery of the "Willow-leaf" objects on the
Sun's surface was made in June 1860. I afterwards obtained
several glimpses of them from time to time. But the occasions are
very rare when the bright sun can be seen in a tranquil
atmosphere free from vibrations, and when the delicate objects on
its surface can be clearly defined. It was not until the 5th of
June 1864 that I obtained the finest sight of the Sun's spots and
the Willow-leaf objects; it was then that I made a careful
drawing of them, from which the annexed faithful engraving has
been produced. Indeed I never had a better sight of this
extraordinary aspect of the Sun than on that day.]
The results of my
observations were of so novel a character that astronomers for
some time hesitated to accept them as facts. Yet Sir John
Herschel, the chief of astronomers, declared them to be "a
most wonderful discovery"
Group of
sun spots as seen by James Nasmyth, 5th June 1864.
I received a letter
from Sir John, dated Collingwood, 2lst of May 1861, in which he
said:
"I am very much
obliged to you for your note, and by the sight of your drawings,
which Mr. Maclaren was so kind as to bring over here the other
day. I suppose there can be no doubt as to the reality of the
willow-leaved flakes, and in that case they certainly are the
most marvellous phenomena that have yet turned up -- had almost
said in all Nature -- certainly in all Astronomy.
"What can they be?
Are they huge phosphorised fishes? If so, what monsters! Or are
they crystals? a kind of igneous snow-flakes? floating in a fluid
of their own, or very nearly their own, specific gravity? Some
kind of solidity or coherence they must have, or they would not
retain their shape in the violent movements of the atmosphere
which the change of the spots indicate.
"I observe that in
the bridges all their axes have an approximate parallelism, and
that in the penumbra they are dispersed, radiating from the
inside and the outside of the spot, giving rise to that striated
appearance which is familiar to all observers of the spots.
"I am very glad
that you have pitched your tent in this part of the world, and I
only wish it were a little nearer. You will anyhow have the
advantage at Penshurst of a much clearer atmosphere than in the
north; but here, nearer the coast, I think we are still better
off. "Mr. Maclaren holds out the prospect of our meeting you
at Pachley at no distant period, and I hope you will find your
way ere long to Collingwood. I have no instruments or
astronomical apparatus to show you, but a remarkably pretty
country, which is beginning to put on (rather late) its gala
dress of spring?'
Sir John afterwards
requested my permission to insert in his Outlines of
Astronomy, of which a new edition was about to appear, a
representation of "the willow-leaved structure of the Sun's
surface," -- which had been published in the Manchester
transactions, -- to which I gladly gave my assent. Sir John thus
expresses himself on the subject: -"The curious appearance
of the 'pores' of the Sun's surface has lately received a most
singular and unexpected interpretation from the remarkable
discovery of Mr. J. Nasmyth, who, from a series of observations
made with a reflecting telescope of his own construction under
very high magnifying powers, and under exceptional circumstances
of tranquillity and definition, has come to the conclusion that
these pores are the polygonal interstices between certain
luminous objects of an exceedingly definite shape and general
uniformity of size, whose form (at least as seen in projection in
the central portions of the disc) is that of the oblong leaves of
a willow tree. These cover the whole disc of the Sun (except in
the space occupied by spots) in countless millions, and lie
crossing each other in every imaginable direction. . . . This
most astonishing revelation has been confirmed to a certain
considerable extent, and with some modifications as to the form
of the objects, their exact uniformity of size and resemblance of
figure, by Messrs. De la Rue, Pritchard and Stone in England, and
M. Secchi in Rome."
On the 25th of February
1864, I received a communication from Mr. E. J. Stone, first
assistant at the Royal Observatory, Greenwich.
The Astronomer-Royal,
he said, "has placed in my hands your letter of February 20.
Your discovery of the 'willow leaves' on the Solar photosphere
having been brought forward at one of the late meetings of the
Royal Astronomical Society, my attention was attracted to the
subject. At my request, the Astronomer-Royal ordered of Mr. J.
Simms a reflecting eye-piece for our great equatorial. The
eye-piece was completed about the end of January last, and at the
first good opportunity I turned the telescope on the Sun.
"I may state that
my impression was, and it appears to have been the impression of
several of the assistants here, that the willow leaves stand out dark
against the luminous photosphere. On looking at the Sun, I was at
once struck with the apparent resolvability of its mottled
appearance. The whole disc of the Sun, so far as I examined it,
appeared to be covered over with relatively bright rice-like
particles, and the mottled appearance seemed to be produced by
the interlacing of these particles.
"I could not
observe any particular arrangement of the particles, but they
appeared to be more numerous in some parts than in others. I have
used the word 'rice-like' merely to convey a rough impression of
their form. I have seen them on two occasions since, but not so
well as on the first day, when the definition was exceedingly
good.
"on the first day
that I saw them I called Mr Dunkin's attention to them. He
appears to have seen them. He says, however, that he should not
have noticed them if his attention had not been called to
them."
The Astronomer Royal,
in his report to the Admiralty on my discovery, said :
"an examination of
the Sun's surface with the South-East Equatorial, under
favourable circumstances, has convinced me of the accuracy of the
description, which compares it with interlacing willow leaves or
rice grains."
In March 1864 I
received a letter from my friend De la Rue, dated from his
observatory at Cranford, Middlesex, in which he said : "I
like good honest doubting. Before I had seen with my own eyes
your willow leaves, I doubted their real existence, but I did not
doubt your having seen what you had drawn. But when I actually
saw them for the first time, I could not restrain the
exclamation, ' Why, here are Nasmyth's willow leaves!' It
requires a very fine state of the atmosphere to permit of their
being seen, as I have seen them on three or four occasions, when
their substantial reality can no longer be doubted."[note:
Let me give another letter from my friend, dated the Observatory,
Cranford, Middlesex, October 26, 1864. He said:- "I am quite
pleased to learn that you like the large photograph. The first
given to my friend was destined for and sent to you. No one has
so great a claim on the fruit of my labours; for you inoculated
me with the love of star-gazing, and gave me invaluable aid and
advice in figuring specula. I daresay you may remember the first
occasion on which I saw a reflecting telescope, which was then
being tried on the sun in a pattern loft at Patricroft. You may
also recall the volumes you wrote in answer to my troublesome
questions. Yours very sincerely WARREN DE LA RUE."]
Sir John Herschel
confirmed this information in a letter which I received from him
in the following May. He said "that Mr. De la Rue and a
foreign gentleman, Hugo Müller, had been very successful in
seeing and delineating the 'willow leaves' They are represented
by Mr. M. as packed together on the edge of a spot, and appear
rather like a bunch of bristles or thorns. In other respects the
individual forms agree very well with your delineations."
Another observer had discovered a marvellous resemblance between
the solar spots and the hollows left by the breaking and
subsidence of bubbles, which rise when oil varnish, which has
moisture in it, is boiled, and the streaky channels are left by
the retiring liquid. "I cannot help," adds Sir John,
"fancying a bare possibility of some upward outbreak,
followed by a retreat of some gaseous matter, or some dilated
portion of the general atmosphere struggling upwards, and at the
same time expanding outwards. I can conceive of an up-surge of
some highly compressed matter, which relieved of pressure, will
dilate laterally and upwards to an enormous extent (as Poullett
Scrope supposes of his lavas full of compressed gases and steam),
producing the spots, and, in that case, the furrows might equally
well arise in the origination as in the closing in of a
spot."
I had the honour and
happiness of receiving a visit from Sir John Herschel at my house
at Hammerfield in the summer of 1864. He was accompanied by his
daughter. They spent several days with us. The weather was most
enjoyable. I had much conversation with Sir John as to the Sun
spots and willow-leaf-shaped objects on the Sun's surface, as
well as about my drawings of the Moon. I exhibited to him my
apparatus for obtaining sound castings of specula for reflecting
telescopes. I compounded the alloy, melted it, and cast a 10-inch
speculum on my peculiar common-sense system. I introduced the
molten alloy, chilled it in a metal mould, by which every chance
of flaws and imperfections is obviated. I also showed him the
action and results of my machine, by which I obtained the most
exquisite polish and figure for the speculum. Sir John was in the
highest degree cognisant of the importance of these details, as
contributing to the final excellent result. It was therefore with
great pleasure that I could exhibit these practical details
before so competent a judge.
We had a great set-to
one day in blowing iridescent soap bubbles from a mixture of soap
and glycerine. Some of the bubbles were of about fifteen inches
diameter. By carefully covering them with a bell glass, we kept
them for about thirty-six hours, while they went through their
changes of brilliant colour, ending in deep blue. I contrived
this method of preserving them by placing a dish of water below,
within the covering bell glass, by means of which the dampness of
the air prevented evaporation of the bubble. This dodge of mine
vastly delighted Sir John, as it allowed him to watch the
exquisite series of iridescent tints at his tranquil leisure.
From a photograph of the Moon, exhibiting
the bright radial lines. 
Glass globe
cracked by internal pressure, in illustration of the
cause of the bright radial lines seen on the moon.
I had also the pleasure of showing
him my experiment of cracking a glass globe filled with
water and hermetically sealed. The water was then
slightly expanded, on which the glass cracked. This was
my method of explaining the nature of the action which,
at some previous period of the cosmical history of the
Moon, had produced those bright radiating lines that
diverge from the lunar volcanic craters. Sir John
expressed his delight at witnessing my practical
illustration of this hitherto unexplained subject, and he
considered it quite conclusive. I also produced my
enlarged drawings of the Moon's surface, which I had made
at the side of my telescope. These greatly pleased him
and he earnestly urged me to publish them, accompanied
with a descriptive account of the conclusions I had
arrived at. I then determined to proceed with the
preparations which I had already made for my long
contemplated work.
Among the
many things that I showed Sir John while at Hammerfield,
was a piece of white calico on which I had got printed one
million spots.[note: At a recent meeting of
the Metropolitan Railway Company I exhibited one million
of letters, in order to show the number of passengers
(thirty-seven millions) that had been conveyed during the
previous twelve months. This number was so vast that my
method only helped the meeting to understand what had
been done in the way of conveyance. Mr. Macdonald of the
Times, supplied me with one million type impressions,
contained in sixty average columns of the Times
newspaper. ]
This was for
the purpose of exhibiting one million in visible form. In
astronomical subjects a million is a sort of unit, and it
occurred to me to show what a million really is. Sir John
was delighted and astonished at the sight. He went
carefully over the outstretched piece with his rule,
measured its length and breath, and verified its
correctness.
I also
exhibited to him a diagram, which I had distributed
amongst the geologists at the meeting of the British
Association at Ipswich in 1851, showing a portion of the
earth's curve, to the scale of one-tenth of an inch to a
mile. I set out the height of Mont Blanc, Etna, and also
the depth of the deepest mine, as showing the almost
incredible minimum of knowledge we possess about even the
merest surface of the globe. This diagram was hailed by
many as of much value, as conveying a correct idea of the
relative magnitude of geological phenomena in comparison
with that of the earth itself:
On this subject
Sir Thomas Mitchell, Surveyor-General of Australia, wrote
to me at the time : "I will not obtrude upon you my
crude notions of my own, but merely say that you could
not have sent the 'Geological Standard Scale' to one who
better deserved it, if the claim in such favour is, as I
suppose, to be estimated by the amount of the time of one
whole life, applied to the survey of great mountain
ranges, and coasts, rivers, etc. By this long practice of
mine, you may know how appreciable this satisfactory
standard scale is to your humble servant.
In the winter
of 1865 I visited Italy. While at Rome, in April, I had
the pleasure of meeting Otto W. von Struve, the
celebrated Russian astronomer. He invited me to accompany
him on a visit to Father Secchi at his fine observatory
of the Collegio Romano . I accepted the invitation with
pleasure. We duly reached the Observatory when Struve
introduced me to the Father. Secchi gave me a most
cordial and unlooked-for welcome. "This," he
said, "is a most extraordinary interview; as I am at
this moment making a representation of your
willow-leaf-shaped constituents of the Solar
surface!" He then pointed to a large black board,
which he had daubed over with glue and was sprinkling
over ( when we came in) with rice grains
"That," said he, "is what I feel to be a
most excellent representation of your discovery as I
see it, verified by the aid of my telescope." It
appeared to Father Secchi so singular a circumstance that
I should come upon him in this sudden manner, while he
was for the first time engaged in representing what I had
(on the spur of the moment when first seeing them)
described as willow-leaf-shaped objects. I thought that
his representation of them, by scattering rice grains
over his glue-covered black board, was apt and admirable;
and so did Otto Struve. This chance meeting with these
two admirable astronomers was one of the little bits of
romance in my life.
I returned to
England shortly after. Among our visitors at Hammerfield
was Lord Lyndhurst. He was in his ninetieth year when he
paid a visit to Tunbridge Wells. Charles Greville,
Secretary to the Privy Council, wrote to me, saying that
his Lordship complained much of the want of society, and
asked me to call upon him. I did so, and found him
cheerful and happy.
I afterwards
sent him a present of some of my drawings. He answered:
"A thousand thanks for the charming etchings. I am
especially interested in Robinson Crusoe. He looks very
comfortable, but I can't see his bed, which troubles me.
The election ('Everybody for ever!') is wonderful. I
should not like to be there. I hope we shall go to you
again one of these days, and have another peep into that
wonderful telescope."
To return to
Sir John Herschel, We returned his visit at his house at
Collingwood, near Hawkhurst. I found him in the garden,
down upon his knees, collecting crocus bulbs for next
year's planting. Like myself, he loved gardening, and was
never tired of it. I mention this as an instance of his
simple zeal in entering practically into all that
interested him. At home he was the happy father and lover
of his family. One of his favourite pastimes, when
surrounded by his children in the evening, was telling
them stories. He was most happy and entertaining in this
tranquil occupation. His masterly intellect could grasp
the world and all its visible contents, and yet descend
to entertain his children with extemporised tales. He
possessed information of the most varied kind, which he
communicated with perfect simplicity and artlessness! His
profound astronomical knowledge was combined with a rich
store of mechanical and manipulative faculty, which
enabled him to take a keen interest in all the technical
arts which so materially aid in the progress of science.
I shall never forget the happy days that he spent with me
in my workshop. His visits have left in my mind the most
cherished recollections. Our friendly intercourse
continued unbroken to the day of his death. The following
is the last letter I received from him :
COLLINGWOOD,
March 10, 1871. "MY DEAR SIR -- A great many thanks
for the opportunity of seeing your most exquisite
photographs from models of lunar mountains. I hope you
will publish them. They will create quite an electric
sensation. Would not one or two specimens of the
apparently nonvolcanic mountain ranges, bordering on the
great plains, add to the interest? Excuse my writing
more, as I pen this lying on my back in bed, to which a
fierce attack of bronchitis condemns me. With best
regards to Mrs. Nasmyth, believe me yours very truly,
" J. F.
W. HERSCHEL."
Scientific
knowledge seems to travel slowly, It was not until the
year 1875, more than fourteen years after my discovery of
the willow-leaved bridges over the Sun's spots that I
understood they had been accepted in America. I learned
this from my dear friend William Lassell. His letter was
as follows:-- "I see the Americans are appreciating
your solar observations. A communication I have lately
received from the Alleghany Observatory remarks 'that he
(Mr. Nasmyth) appears to have been the first to
distinctly call attention to the singular individuality
of the minute components of the photosphere; and this
seems in fairness to entitle him to the credit of an
important discovery, with which his name should remain
associated.'"
I proceeded
to do that which Sir John Herschel had so earnestly
recommended, that is, to write out my observations on the
Moon. It was a very serious matter, for I had never
written a book before. It occupied me many years, though
I had the kind assistance of my friend James Carpenter,
then of the Royal Observatory, Greenwich. The volcanoes
and craters, and general landscape scenery of the Moon,
had to be photographed and engraved, and this caused
great labour.
At length the
book, entitled The Moon, considered as a Planet, a
World, and a Satellite, appeared in November 1874. It
was received with much favour and passed into a second
edition. A courteous and kind review of the book appeared
in the Edinburgh; and the notices in other
periodicals were equally favourable. I dedicated the
volume to the Duke of Argyll, because I had been so long
associated with him in geological affairs, and also
because of the deep friendship which I entertained for
his Grace. I presented the volume to him as well as to
many other of my astronomical friends. I might quote
their answers at great length, from the Astronomer-Royal
downwards. But I will quote two -- one from a Royal
Academician and another from a Cardinal. The first was
from Philip H. Calderon. He said :
"Let me
thank you many times for your kind letter, and for your
glorious book. It arrived at twelve to-day, and there has
been no painting since. Once having taken it up,
attracted by the illustrations, I could not put it down
again. I forgot everything; and, indeed, I have been up
in the Moon. As soon as these few words of thanks are
given, I am going up into the Moon again. What a comfort
it is to read a scientific work which is quite clear, and
what a gift it is to write thus!
"The
photographs took my breath away. I could not understand
how you did them, and your explanation of how you built
the models from your drawings only changed the wonder
into admiration. Only an artist could have said what you
say about the education of the eye and of the hand. You
may well understand how it went home to me. Ever
gratefully yours,
PHILIP H.
CALDERON."
I now proceed
to the Cardinal. I was present at one of the receptions
of the President of the Royal Society at Burlington
House, when I was introduced to Cardinal Manning as
"The Steam Hammer!" After a cordial reception
he suddenly said, "But are you not also the Man in
the Moon?" Yes, your Eminence . I have written a
book about the Moon, and I shall be glad if you will
accept a copy of it?" "By all means," he
said, "and I thank you for the offer very
much." I accordingly sent the copy, and received the
following answer :
"MY DEAR
MR.NASMYTH -- When I asked you to send me your book on
the Moon, I had no idea of its bulk and value, and I feel
ashamed of my importunity, yet more than half delighted
at my sturdy begging.
"I thank
you for it very sincerely. My life is one of endless
work, leaving me few moments for reading. But such books
as yours refresh me like a clover field.
"I hope
I may have an opportunity of renewing our conversation.
Believe me always truly yours, HENRY, CARDINAL
MANNING."
I may also
mention that I received a charming letter from Miss
Herschel, the daughter of the late Astronomer.
"Is it
possible," she said, "that this beautiful book
is destined by you as a gift to my most unworthy self? I
do not know, indeed, how sufficiently to thank
you, or even to express my delight in being possessed of
so exquisite and valuable a work, made so valuable, too,
by the most kind inscription on the first page! I fear I
shall be very very far from understanding the theories
developed in the book, though we have been endeavouring
to gather some faint notion of them from the reviews we
have seen; but it will be of the greatest interest for us
to try and follow them under your guidance, and with the
help of these perfectly enchanting photographs, which, I
think, one could never be tired of looking at.
"How
well I remember the original photographs, and the oil
painting which you sent for dear papa's inspection, and
which he did so enjoy ! and also the experiment
with the glass globe, in which he was so interested, at
your own house. We cannot but think how he would have
appreciated your researches, and what pleasure this
lovely book would have given him. Indeed, I shall
treasure it especially as a remembrance of that visit,
which is so completely connected in my thoughts with him,
as well as with your cordial kindness, as a precious
souvenir, of which let me once more offer you my
heartfelt thanks. I remain, my dear sir, yours very truly
and gratefully,
"ISABELLA
HERSCHEL."
I cannot
refrain from adding the communication I received from my
dear old friend William Lassell. "I do not
know," he said, "how sufficiently to thank you
for your most kind letter, and the superb present which
almost immediately followed it. My pleasure was greatly
enhanced by the consideration of how far this splendid
work must add to your fame and gratify the scientific
world. The illustrations are magnificent, and I am
persuaded that no book has ever been published before
which gives so faithful, accurate, and comprehensive a
picture of the surface of the Moon. The work must have
cost you much time, thought, and labour, and I doubt not
you will now receive a gratifying, if not an adequate
reward."
After reading
the book Mr. Lassell again wrote to me. "I am
indebted to your beautiful book, "he said, "for
a deeper interest in the Moon than I ever felt before. .
. . I see many of your pictures have been taken when the
Moon was waning, which tells me of many a shivering
exposure you must have had in the early mornings, . . . I
was sorry to find from your letter that you had a severe
cold, which made you very unwell. I hope you have ere
this perfectly recovered. I suppose maladies of this kind
must be expected to take rather severe hold of us now, as
we are both past the meridian of life. I am, however,
very thankful for the measure of health I enjoy, and the
pleasure mechanical pursuits give me. I fully sympathise
with you in the contempt (shall I say?) which you feel
for the taste of so many people who find their chief
pleasure in 'killing something,' and how often their
pleasures are fatal! Two distinguished men killed only
the other day in hunting. For my part I would rather take
to the bicycle and do my seventeen miles within the
hour."
He proceeds:
"I have no doubt your windmill is very nicely
contrived, and has afforded you much pleasure in
constructing it. The only drawback to it is, that in this
variable climate it is apt to strike work, and in the
midst of a job of polishing I fear no increase of wages
would induce it to complete its task! If water were
plentiful, you might make it pump up a quantity when the
wind served, to be used as a motive power when you
chose."
This reference
alludes to a windmill which I erected on the top of my
workshop, to drive the apparatus below. It was the mirror
of a reflecting telescope which was in progress. The
windmill went on night and day, and polished the speculum
while I slept. In the small hours of the morning I keeked
through the corner of the window blinds and saw it hard
at work. I prefer, however, a small steam-engine, which
works much more regularly.
It is time to
come to an end of my Recollections. I have endeavoured to
give a brief résumé of my life and labours. I
hope they may prove interesting as well as useful to
others. Thanks to a good constitution and a frame
invigorated by work, I continue to lead, with my dear
wife, a happy life. I still take a deep interest in
mechanics, in astronomy, and in art. It is a pleasure to
me to run up to London and enjoy the collections at the
National Gallery, South Kensington, and the Royal
Academy. The Crystal Palace continues to attract a share
of my attention, though, since the fire, it has been
greatly altered . I miss, too, many of the dear
accustomed faces of the old friends we used to meet
there. Still we visit it, and leave to memory the filling
up of what is gone. All things change, and we with them.
The following Dial of Life gives a brief summary
of my career. It shows the brevity of life, and indicates
the tale that is soon told. The first part of the
semicircle includes the passage from infancy to boyhood
and manhood. While that period lasts, time seems to pass
very slowly. We long to be men, and doing men's work.
What I have called The Tableland of Life is then
reached. Ordinary observation shows that between thirty
and fifty the full strength of body and mind is reached ;
and at that period we energise our faculties to the
utmost.
The Dial of Life
Those who are blessed with good
health and a sound constitution may prolong the period of
energy to sixty or even seventy; but Nature's laws must
be obeyed, and the period of decline begins, and goes on
with accelerated rapidity. Then comes Old Age; and as we
descend the semicircle towards eighty, we find that the
remnant of life becomes vague and cloudy. By shading off,
as I have done, the portion of the area of the diagram
according to the individual age, every one may see how
much of life is consumed, and what is left -- D.V.. Here
is my brief record:
AGE YEAR.
-- 1808. BORN 19TH AUGUST.
9 1817. WENT TO THE HIGH SCHOOL,
EDINBURGH.
13 1821. ATTENDED THE SCHOOL OF
ARTS.
21 1829. WENT TO LONDON, TO
MAUDSLAY'S.
23 1831. RETURNED TO EDINBURGH,
TO MAKE MY ENGINEERS' TOOLS.
26 1834. WENT TO MANCHESTER, TO
BEGIN BUSINESS.
28 1836. REMOVED TO PATRICROFT,
AND BUILT THE BRIDGEWATER FOUNDRY.
31 1839. INVENTED THE STEAM
HAMMER.
32 1840. MARRIAGE.
34 1842. FIRST VISIT TO FRANCE
AND ITALY.
35 1843. VISIT TO ST.
PETERSBURG, STOCKHOLM, DANNEMORA.
37 1845. APPLICATION OF THE
STEAM HAMMER TO PILE-DRIVING.
48 1856. RETIRED FROM BUSINESS,
TO ENJOY THE REST OF MY LIFE IN THE ACTIVE PURSUIT OF MY
MOST FAVOURITE OCCUPATIONS. I have not in this
list referred to my investigations in connection with
astronomy. All this will be found referred to in the
text. It only remains for me to say that I append a résumé
of my inventions, contrivances, and workshop
"dodges," to give the reader a summary idea of
the Active Life of a working mechanic. And with this I
end my tale.
Go to Chronological list of
Mechanical Inventions and Technical Contrivances
Group of
sun spots as seen by James Nasmyth, 5th June 1864. 
From a photograph of the Moon, exhibiting
the bright radial lines. 
Glass globe
cracked by internal pressure, in illustration of the
cause of the bright radial lines seen on the moon. 
The Dial of Life