opes, to which he was so much attached,
that at the theatre he used frequently to run from the harpsichord
to look at the stars, during the time between the acts."

In an extract from his _Journal No. 1_, now at the rooms of the Royal
Society, may be seen a copy of his first observation of the Nebula of
_Orion_, on March 4, 1774. This was made with his five-and-a-half-foot
Gregorian reflector.

It was at this time (1775), between the acts of the theatre, that he
made his first review of the heavens, with a Newtonian telescope, of an
aperture of four and a half inches and a magnifying power of 222 times.
This telescope was one of the first made by himself. The review
consisted of the examination of every star in the sky of the first,
second, third, and fourth magnitudes, and of all planets visible. There
are no records of these observations now extant, and they are noteworthy
only as a preparation for more serious work.

He was carrying out his resolve to see everything for himself. His
assiduity may be judged of by the fact that between 1774 and 1781
HERSCHEL had observed a single object--the Nebula of _Orion_--no less
than fourteen times.

The success of his first telescopes incited him to new efforts. His
house became a complete _atelier_, where everything that could tend to
excellence in this manufacture was tried and re-tried a hundred
different ways. When a difficulty arose, experiments were begun which
continued till it was conquered. When a success was gained, it was
prosecuted to the utmost.

In 1775 the first seven-foot reflector was made, in 1777 a ten-foot was
finished, in 1778 a "very good" ten-foot took its place. It must not be
thought that the telescopes mentioned were the only ones completed. On
the contrary, they were but the best ones selected out of many.

In 1774 a new house had been engaged, which had "more room for
workshops," and whose roof gave space for observing. The grass-plat near
it was soon utilized to hold the stand of a twenty-foot telescope, which
he had even then projected. His projects were unending, no success was
final; his mind was at the height of activity; his whole effort was
thrown into every undertaking.

The mirrors for all these telescopes were made by hand. Every portion
of the grinding down to rough dimensions, the shaping to something near
the correct form, the polishing till the accurately exact curves were
obtained, all this must be done by hand. The mach