ceremonies. The Flamines were distinguished by a peculiar | feet of the Flamingoes appear to be given them to enable pileus, or hat, of a conical shape, which was fastened under them to sustain themselves on the slimy bottoms of rivers the chin. Their number, which was originally only three, and creeks into which they wade as far as their long legs was increased afterwards as new gods were introduced, and will allow them, and to walk thereon. As they fly in flocks at last even the emperors, being deified after death, had a they make an angle like the Geese. In walking they often Flamen appointed for them. The Flamines were chosen apply their upper mandible to the ground, and lean on it both from among the patricians and the plebeians. as a point of support. FLAMINGO, Flammant of the French, Phoenicopterus of the antients and moderns, a genus of birds whose natural position seems to be between the Waders (Grallatores) and the Anatidae. The form approaches in some points to Recurvirostra [AvoSET] and Platalea (the Spoonbills), and in others comes nearest to the Anserince (Geese). C. L. Bonaparte places it in a family, Hygrobate, with Recurvirostra and Platalea, between his family Pinnatipedes (Phalaropes, &c.) on the one side and the Anserine on the other. Mr. Vigors, in his paper On the natural affinities that connect the orders and families of birds,' thus marks its position among the Grallatores: • Intermediate between Ardea and Ciconia appear those forms which display so remarkable a dilatation of the bill, the Cancroma [BOAT-BILL] Phoenicopterus, and Platalea of Linnæus. The two last of these groups are equally distinguished by a greater development of the membrane that connects the toes than is observable in the other Waders which join them on each side; and in one of them, the Phoenicopterus, this character is carried so far to the extreme as to have occasioned some systematists to place the birds of this genus among the Natatores (swimmers). But the whole of the family have a membrane, more or less extensive, at the base of the toes; and if we compare the feet of the common Ciconia alba (Stork), of the Platalea, and the Phoenicopterus together, we shall see a gradual increase of this membrane in extent, until it reaches the extreme in the latter genus.' Mr. Swainson appears to be one of those who place the Flamingo among the swimmers. In his Natural History and Classification of Birds' (1836), he says, the Flamingo, which has the longest legs in the Natatorial order, is so good a walker that it only swims occasionally.' The close correspondence of many parts of the organization of the bird with the same parts in the Anatidae will be remarked by the reader when le comes to the anatomical description hereinafter stated. Generic Character.-Bill strong, higher than it is large, dentilated, conical towards the point, naked at the base; upper mandible suddenly bent, curved at its point on the lower mandible, which is larger than the upper. Nostrils longitudinal in the middle of the bill, pierced through and through near the dome of the upper arête, covered beneath by a membrane. Feet very long; three toes in front, hind toe very short, articulated high up on the tarsus; anterior toes united to the nails by a linated membrane (membrane découpée). Nails short, flat. Wings moderate; first and second quills longest. Temminck, whose generic character we have given, says that the Flamingoes live on the sea-beach or in marshes formed by salt lakes, where their food consists of testaceous mollusks, marine insects (crustaceans?), and the spawn of fish, which they collect by plunging their long neck into the water and turning the head upside down, so as to employ with greater advantage the bend of their bill. They join in large troops and live in societies. Their nest is made in the marshes, and consists of earth piled up, and upon this nest the birds sit astride, because their length of limb hinders them from incubating otherwise. Whether they are reposing or fishing, sentinels are appointed which keep a sort of guard. If anything alarms the védette he utters a trumpeting kind of cry, and the whole flock follow him into the air. They rarely take their repose in any other than open places; and it is asserted that their sense of smelling is so acute that they scent from afar the hunter and fire-arms. Their moult appears to be simple and ordinary, but the young birds differ much from their parents. The red or rosy plumage which covers the adult shows itself gradually, after many moults and a period of about four years. The females are less than the males, and the colours of the former want the purity which distinguish the latter; the young, at their departure from the nest, are white. The body of the Flamingo has hardly a greater covering of down than that of the other Waders, the Avosets alone excepted; and accordingly they do not swim habitually, like the latter birds, when they wish to go from one bank to another in deep water. The palmated M. Temminck positively asserts that the Flamingo of Europe and that spread over the warm climates of America are different. He states that he knows the plumage of the American Flamingo from its youth to its adult state, and declares that they are all different from the various states of the Flamingo of the antient continent. The orange-red which pervades the whole of the plumage of the American species when it has arrived at its complete state of development is sufficient to distinguish that bird from our European Flamingo, which is of a rose-colour, with wings of purplered The young of the latter (Phoenicopterus Antiquorum) has the plumage whitish, covered with brown streaks (mèches), very distinctly marked and long, principally on the greater wing-coverts; the American Flamingo (Phœnicopterus ruber) is covered in its youth with a dull whitish-gray plumage. Three species then are recorded by M. Temminck. 1. The Flamingo of the Antients, Phoenicopterus Antiquorum, Flammant Phoenicoptère, of Buffon, the Flammant and Flamingo of old authors. Locality, south of Europe, Africa, and part of Asia. 2. The American Flamingo, Phoenicopterus ruber, Red Flamingo of Wilson. Locality, South, and part of North, America. 3. Phoenicopterus minor, Flammant Pygmée, previously described by Vieillot as Phoenicopterus parvus. Locality, South Africa. M. Lesson observes that at all events it would be more convenient to retain the original name of Linnæus, Phænicopterus ruber, for the Flamingo of the Old Continent, and to suffer that given by Molina to the American bird, viz., Phoenicopterus Chilensis, to remain, although Wilson, who does not appear to have recognized any specific difference, records the last-mentioned Flamingo under the name of Phoenicopterus ruber. The latter is used by most of the English zoologists to designate the Flamingo of the Old World, and we shall, adhering to the law of priority, and to prevent confusion, adopt the nomenclature suggested by M. Lesson, wishing, at the same time, that Molina's name had not been a name of locality. Before we enter into the history of these several species it will be advisable to inquire into the anatomical structure of the Flamingo, and Mr. Owen has enabled us to do this in his Notes on the Anatomy of the Flamingo, Phoenicop terus ruber of Linnæus, which died in the menagerie of the Zoological Society of London in the summer of 1832. After observing that the anatomical differences observable in the groups of the Wading Birds are so considerable, that we find them generally alluded to by Cuvier in the characters of the Grallatores, in the Règne Animal,' he remarks that, where they are omitted, we may presume that the illustrious author had not had the opportunity of examining the internal structure of the birds in question, and that they either had not before been dissected, or that their anatomy had been described with too little exactness to warrant his giving it on the authority of previous writers. This appears, in his opinion, to have been the case with the three genera which Cuvier has placed at the end of the order, viz., Chionis, Forster; Glareola, Gmel.; and Phoenicop terus, Linn.: and these, observes Mr. Owen, are the most interesting in an anatomical point of view, as being the representatives of as many distinct families. With respect to the Flamingo, Mr. Owen supposes that an opportunity of dissecting it had never occurred to Cuvier, and that probably the absence of any allusion to cæca in Perrault's anatomical description (Mémoires de l'Académie, t. iii, 3 P., p. 462) may have influenced Cuvier's silence regarding the internal structure of a bird which he considers as one of the most extraordinary and most isolated of its class. Cuvier, in allusion to the small tooth-like lamine which are arranged along the margins of the upper mandible, points out the relation which the Flamingo bears, in this particular, to the Anatidæ; and Mr. Owen states that a like correspondence is observable in the rest of the alimentary canal. The horny denticles of the upper mandible,' writes Mr. Owen, and the transverse marginal furrows of the lower hyoides by a shallow ginglymoïd joint allowing of a free motion. Excepting the straight hyoglossi, the muscles all terminate at the base of the tongue. The tendons of the former muscles run along the under part of the lingual cartilage, and expand to be inserted at its extremity, where a few fibres again proceed forwards to the extreme point of the tongue. In the museum of the Royal College of Surgeons in London (Gallery) is a preparation, No. 524 E, of the crop, proventriculus, and gizzard of a Flamingo, Phoenicopterus ruber of Linnæus; and No. 1470 of the same museum is a preparation of the tongue of that bird. Skull and mandibles of the Flamingo. From a specimen in the Royal College of Surgeons. mandible, form together a sort of filter, and, like the plates | "The tongue of the Flamingo is remarkable for its texture, magnitude, and peculiar armature. It is almost cylindrical, but slightly flattened above, and obliquely truncate anteriorly, so as to correspond with the form of the inferior mandible. The lower part of the truncated surface is produced in a pointed form, and is supported beneath by a small horny plate. The whole length of the tongue is 3 inches; its circumference 2 inches. Along the middle of the flattened superior surface there is a moderately deep and wide longitudinal furrow, on either side of which there are from twenty to twenty-five recurved spines, but of a soft and yielding horny texture, measuring from one to three lines in length. These spines are arranged in an irregular alternate series, the outer ones being the smallest, and these, indeed, may be considered a distinct row. At the posterior part of the tongue there are two groups of smaller recumbent spines directed towards the glottis. The substance of the tongue is not muscular, but is chiefly composed of an abundant, yielding, cellular substance, with fat of an almost oily consistence. It is supported by a long and thin concave cartilage articulated to the body of the os SPECIES OF THE OLD CONTINENT. Phoenicopterus ruber (Linn.); Phoenicopterus Antiquorum (Temm.). Description.-Length from the end of the bill to that of the tail four feet two or three inches, but to the end of the claws sometimes more than six feet. Bill 4 inches long; upper mandible very thin and flat, and somewhat moveable; the under mandible thick, both of them bending downwards from the middle; nostrils linear and placed in a blackish membrane; end of the bill as far as the bend black, from thence to the base reddish-yellow, round the base, quite to the eye, covered with a flesh-coloured cerc; neck slender and of great length; tongue large, fleshy, filling the cavity of the bill, furnished with twelve or more hooked papillæ on each side, turning backwards; the tip a sharp cartilaginous substance. The bird when in full plumage wholly of a most deep scarlet, except the quills, which are black. From the base of the thigh to the claw thirty-two inches, of which the feathered part takes up no more than three; bare part above the knee thirteen inches, and from thence to the claws sixteen; colour of the bare parts red, and toes furnished with a web deeply indented. Legs not straight but slightly bent, the skin rather projecting. (Latham.) Nest formed of earth, and in the shape of a hillock, with a cavity at top; eggs two or three, white, of the size of those of a goose, but more elongated. Utility to man.-Flesh pretty good meat: the young thought by some equal to partridge. The inhabitants of Provence, however, are said to throw away the flesh as fishy and only to use the feathers as an ornament to other birds at particular entertainments. Not so the Roman epicures. Apicius has left receipts for dressing the whole bird with more than the minute accuracy of a modern cookery book, and the 'Phoenicopterus ingens' appears among the luxuries of the table in Juvenal's eleventh satire. The brains and the tongue figure as one of the favourite dishes of Heliogabalus, and the superior excellence of the latter was dwelt upon by the same Apicius and noticed by Pliny where he records the doctrine of that nepotum omnium altissimus gurges. (Lib. x., c. 48.) Neither has it escaped the pointed pen of Martial 6 'Dat mihi penna rubens nomen; sed lingua gulosis The 'garrula lingua' most probably alludes to the tongues and brains of singing birds, which sometimes formed one of the monstrous dishes at the enormously expensive Roman entertainments. Dampier does not forget the delicious tongue of the Flamingo, observing that a dish of these tongues is worthy of a place at a prince's table. The bird itself seems to have been held in high repute by the antients, for it appears to have been one of the victims offered to Caligula,* who is said to have been sprinkled, while sacrificing, with the blood of a Phoenicopter the day before he was murdered. Phoenicopterus ruber. Locality. The European Flamingo is recorded as having been seen everywhere on the African coast and the adjacent islands quite to the Cape of Good Hope. There is a specimen in the South African Museum. Le Vaillant found thousands of Pelicans and Flamingos on the river KleinBrak, where the water is brackish owing to the flowing of the tide. It has been occasionally observed on the coasts of Spain, of Italy, and on those of France which lie on the Mediterranean sea; it has been met with at Marseilles and some way up the Rhone. The prince of Musignano notes it as very rare and accidental in the neighbourhood of Rome. In some seasons it has been remarked at Aleppo and in the parts adjacent. It has been noticed on the Persian side of the Caspian Sea, and thence along the west coast as far as the Wolga, but at uncertain times, and chiefly in considerable flocks, coming from the north coast mostly in October and November. Col. Sykes records it in his catalogue of birds in the Dukhun (Deccan) as the Rajah Huns of the Hindoos. It breeds in the Cape de Verd islands. This species is very shy. Dampier killed fourteen at once by secreting himself and two more; they are not to be approached openly. Kolben speaks of their numbers at the Cape, where by day they resorted to the borders of lakes and rivers, and lodged at night in the long grass on the hills. M. de la Mormora, in his voyage to Sardinia, gives the following interesting account of this species. It quits Sardinia about the end of March to return about the middle of August: then it is that from the bastion which forms the promenade of the inhabitants of Cagliari flights of these magnificent birds may be seen to arrive from Africa. Disposed in a triangular band, they show at first in the heavens like a line of fire. They advance in the most regular order, but, at the sight of the neighbouring lake, there is a ↑ Ibid. 57. Suet. in Calig. 22. pause in their progression, and they appear for a moment immoveable in the air; then tracing by a slow and circular movement a reversed conical spiral figure they attain the end of their migration. Brilliant in all the splendour of their plumage and ranged in line, these birds offer a new spectacle, and represent a small army ranged in order of battle, the uniformity and symmetry of which leaves nothing to be desired; but the spectator should content himself with observing this peaceful colony from afar. Woe to him if he dare approach the lake at this deadly season. Phoenicopterus parvus, Vieill. Phoenicopterus minor, Flammant Pygmée, Temm. M. Temminck observes that no difference is perceptible between the Flamingo of the Antient Continent and that of the New World in the form of the mandibles; their upper mandible shuts on the lower one, and is so constructed as to offer, when the bill is shut, a very slight difference in the height of the two mandibles. In Phoenicopterus parvus the lower mandible, very deep and strongly arched, is formed to receive, within the space which separates its walls, the whole of the upper mandible, which it entirely hides, so that the upper edges of the lower mandible raise themselves to the height of the surface of the upper jaw. The plumage of the adult is pure rose-colour without spot or streak; the head, the neck, the back, and all the lower parts are of this beautiful tint, which is more lively and pure in the living bird than in the preserved skin, for the fugitive brilliancy of this tint becomes tarnished and passes into whitish from exposure to the light. The great wing-coverts and those of the tail are slightly deeper in colour than the other parts of the plumage. The whole wing is covered with feathers of a brilliant scarlet or purple, surrounded by a wide rosy border; the tail-feathers are black. Base of the bill, cere, and region of the eye deep purple: middle of the lower mandible orange-red, and the point black. Joint of the knee, toes, and their membranes of a fine red: the tarsus has a livid tint. Total length nearly three feet. Young of the year.-White or whitish, marked with small brown streaks (mèches) spread over the head, the neck, the breast, and the coverts of the wings. The first red tints show themselves on the wings. Bill black. Feet of a reddish livid tint. Locality.-Lakes of Africa. Those received by Professor M. Temminck were natives of the Cape of Good Hope. The young bird in the museum at Paris was brought from Senegal. SPECIES OF THE NEW CONTINENT. Phoenicopterus Chilensis (Molina), Phoenicopterus ruber, Red Flamingo (Wilson). This species in its adult state scarcely differs from the European Flamingo: it is perhaps not so bright. Catesby says, When they feed (which is always in shallow water, by bending their necks) they lay the upper part of their bill next the ground, their feet being in continual motion up and down in the mud, by which means they raise a small round sort of grain, resembling millet, which they receive into their bills; and as there is a necessity for their receiving into their mouths some mud, Nature has provided the edges of their bills with a sieve or teeth like a fine comb, with which they retain the food and reject the mud which is taken in with it. This account I had from persons of credit; but I never saw them feeding myself, and therefore cannot absolutely refute the opinion of others, who say they feed on fish, particularly eels, which seem to be the slippery prey Dr. Grew says that the teeth are contrived to hold.' The development of the gizzard in this genus makes it very probable that vegetable substances form part of the diet of the Flamingoes; but it is not likely that large fish, or indeed water animals of any great size, are ordinarily devoured by these birds. The bill is a colander, admirably contrived for separating the nutritious parts, whether animal or vegetable, from the mud and other useless parts. Locality.-Warmer parts of North America, Peru, Chili, Cayenne, coast of Brazil, and the West India Islands, particularly the Bahamas, where they breed. Wilson speaks of it, but he gives Latham's description, &c. The prince of Musignano, in his Specchio Comparativo,' states that it is very rare and accidental in the neighbourhood of Philadelphia. FLAMINI'NUS, TITUS QUINTIUS, was made consul, B.C. 198, before he was 30 years of age, and had the province of Macedonia assigned to him, with the charge of continuing the war against Philip, which had now lasted for two years without any definitive success on the part of the Romans. Flamininus having landed in Epirus, opposite the island of Corcyra, with a reinforcement of 8000 foot and 800 horse, marched up the country, where he found Philip posted in a rugged pass on the banks of the Aous, among the mountains of Eastern Epirus. After some fruitless negotiations with the king of Macedonia, the Romans, under the guidance of an Epirote shepherd, attained by a mountain path the rear of the Macedonian position, and Philip was obliged to make a hurried retreat across the chain of Pindus into Thessaly. He was followed by the Romans and their allies, the Etolians and the Athamanians, who overran and ravaged the country. Meantime L. Quintius Flamininus, the brother of the consul, sailed with a fleet to the eastern coast of Greece, where, being joined by the ships of the Rhodians and of Attalus of Pergamus, he scoured the coasts of Euboea, Corinth, and other districts which were allied or subject to the king of Macedonia. The consul himself marched into Phocis, where he took Elatea, and having there fixed his winter-quarters, he succeeded in detaching the Achæans from the Macedonian alliance. In the following year Flamininus, being confirmed by the senate in his command as proconsul, before beginning hostilities afresh held a conference with Philip on the coast of the Maliac gulf, and allowed him to send legates to Rome to negotiate a peace. The senate however having required the king to evacuate all the towns of Greece which he had occupied, including Demetrias in Thessaly, Chalcis in Eubæa, and Corinth, the negotiations were broken off and Flamininus resumed military operations. He marched from Phocis into Thessaly, where Philip was stationed near Larissa with a body of 16,000 phalanx men, 2000 peltastæ, and 5000 Thracian and other auxiliaries. After some previous demonstrations and partial attacks, the two armies met between Phere and Larissa, in a country broken by small hills called Cynoscephala, or Dogs' Heads. The Macedonians had at first some advantage, especially on the right wing where the king commanded in person, and where he had formed his phalanx on a hill, but Flamininus observing the left wing moving in column with a narrow front to their assigned post, attacked it with his elephants and threw them into confusion before they had time to form. In the pursuit of this body a tribune of the victorious legion being led beyond the flank of the right wing, ventured to attack it on the rear, and he succeeded in spreading dis order into the ranks of the close and cumbersome phalanx. Panic pervaded the Macedonians; many threw down their arms and fled, and Philip himself, seeing the rout becoming general, left the field, and rode off towards Tempe. The Macedonians lost 8000 killed and 5000 prisoners on that day. Soon afterwards the king asked for a truce, which was granted by Flamininus, in order that messengers might be sent to Rome to treat of peace. The senate appointed ten legates, who, in concert with Flamininus, drew up the conditions, which were that Philip should evacuate every Grecian town and fortress beyond the limits of his paternal kingdom, that he should give up all his ships of war, reduce his military establishment, and pay 1000 talents for the expenses of the war. Flamininus was then continued in his command for another year, 196 B.C., to see these conditions executed. In that year, at the meeting of the Isthmian games, where multitudes had assembled from every part of Greece, Flamininus caused a crier to proclaim that the senate and people of Rome and their commander Titus Quintius, having subdued Philip and the Macedonians, restored the Corinthians, Phocæans, Locrians, Eubeans, Thessalians, Phthiotæ, Magnetæ, Perrhabi, and Achæans to their freedom and independence, and to the enjoyment of their own laws.' Bursts of acclamation followed this proclamation, and the crowd pressed forward to express their gratitude to Flamininus, whose conduct throughout those memorable transactions was marked with a wisdom, moderation, and liberality seldom found united in a victorious Roman general. He checked by his firmness the turbulence of his Etolian allies, who vociferated for the entire destruction of Philip, while he satisfied all just claims of the rest; and although his Macedonian expedition led ultimately to the entire subjugation of both Macedonia and Greece, yet he was at the time the means of restoring peace to both countries, and of protracting the independence of the Greek states for half a century longer. In the following year, 195 B.C., Flamininus was entrusted with the war against Nabis, tyrant of Lacedæmon, who had treacherously seized the city of Argos. Flamininus advanced into Laconia and laid siege to Sparta, but he met with a brave resistance, and at last agreed to grant peace to Nabis on condition that he should give up Argos and all the other places which he had usurped, and restore the descendants of the Messenians to their lands. His motives for granting peace to Nabis were, he said, partly to prevent the destruction of one of the most illustrious of the Greek cities, and partly because of the great preparations which Antiochus, king of Syria, was then making on the coast of Asia. Livy suggests, as another probable reason, that Flamininus wished to terminate the war himself, and not to give time to a new consul to supersede him in his command and reap the honours of the victory. The senate confirmed the peace with Nabis, and in the following year, 194 B.C., Flamininus having settled the affairs of Greece prepared to return to Italy. Having re paired to Corinth, where deputations from all the Grecian cities had assembled, he took a friendly leave of them, signifying to them that he was going to withdraw all his army and garrisons, and leave them to themselves; advising them at the same time to make a temperate use of that liberty which the Romans had been the means of restoring to them, and above all to preserve concord in their councils, as civil factions would certainly lead to the loss of their independence; for those who find themselves the weaker at home are apt to apply to strangers for support. He accordingly delivered the citadel of Corinth to the Achæans, withdrew his garrisons from Demetrias, Chalcis, and the other towns of Euboea, and having broken up his camp at Elatea in Phocis, he sent the soldiers to embark on the coast of Epirus, whilst he repaired to Thessaly to settle the internal affairs of that country, which were in a state of great confusion. He organized the various towns, choosing the magistrates and senate from among the wealthier class. He then repaired to Oricum, on the coast of Epirus, where he embarked for Brundisium. In Italy both he and his soldiers were received with great demonstrations of joy, and the senate decreed him a triumph of three days. On the first day were displayed the arms and the statues of brass and marble taken from the enemy; on the second the silver and gold, whether coined or in vases, shields, and various ornaments; and on the third the golden crowns, the gift of the liberated cities. Before the car of Flamininus appeared the captives and hostages, and among the latter Demetrius, son of Philip, and Armenes, son of Nabis, and in the rear fol jowed the Roman prisoners who had been sold as slaves to the Greeks by Hannibal during the second Punic war, and whose liberation Flamininus had obtained from the gratitude of the Greek states. The Achæans alone are said to have liberated 1200, for whom they paid 100 talents as compensation money to their masters. Altogether there never was perhaps a Roman triumph so satisfactory as this to all parties, and so little offensive to the feelings of humanity. In the year 183 B.C. Flamininus was sent to Prusias, king of Bithynia, upon the ungracious mission of demanding the person of Hannibal, then, in his old age, a refugee at the court of Prusias. Hannibal, however, by taking poison, avoided being given up. In the year 166 Flamininus was made augur in the room of C. Claudius deceased (Livy, xlv. 44), after which he is no longer mentioned in history. FLAMSTEED, JOHN. The life of the first astronomer royal was known to the world chiefly by the results of his labours, until the year 1832, since which time his private affairs have been brought to light in an unexpected manner, and have excited great interest, not without creating some party feeling among those who cultivate the sciences connected with astronomy. In 1832 Mr. Francis Baily discovered that a considerable collection of Flamsiced's letters was in the hands of a private individual; which, on being examined, was found to contain much that was not generally known. On searching the Observatory at Greenwich, Mr. Baily found a vast mass of MS. observations, letters, and other documents, in the handwriting of Flamsteed and his friends, containing the curious history of which we shall give a brief abstract. The result of this discovery was a representation to the Board of Visitors of the Royal Observatory, who recommended the republication of the British Catalogue, with extracts from the papers of Flamsteed. The Lords of the Admiralty having decided to print this at the public expense, Mr. Baily undertook the preparation of the work, which appeared in 1835, under the title of An Account of the Rev. John Flamsteed, &c., &c., to which is added his British Catalogue of Stars, corrected and enlarged.' From this work, which is certainly the most remarkable scientific biography of the present century, we have entirely drawn the materials of this article. The original account is in part drawn by Mr. Baily from a manuscript by Flamsteed, headed Self Inspections, by J. F.,' which is a very interesting autobiography. John Flamsteed was born at Denby, near Derby, August 19, 1646. His father was in some business, it has been said that of maltster; he lost his mother when very young. At the age of fourteen he caught cold while bathing, which produced a weakness in the joints, from which he never recovered. He began his mathematical and astronomical studies at a very early age, and showed talents for constructing astronomical instruments. In 1665 he visited Ireland for the purpose of consulting a Mr. Greatraks, who professed to cure disorders by the touch, and of whose experiments in London a curious account exists. [BOYLE, ROBERT.] No effect being produced on him by this treatment, he returned to Derby, where his father lived, and where he had received his education. Here he continued his studies till 1669, and with great success. In or before 1667 he discovered the real causes of the equation of time, and wrote a tract on the subject, which was afterwards appended by Dr. Wallis to his edition of the works of Horrox, published in 1673. In 1669 he made an astronomical communication to the Royal Society through Oldenburg, their secretary, concealing his name under the anagram J. Mathesin a Sole fundes, which, being transposed, gives Johannes Flamsteedius: this same anagram appears in the title-page of the tables appended to the doctrine of the sphere in Sir Jonas Moore's system of mathematics, in the preparation of which Flamsteed had a share. An answer from Oldenburg, addressed to himself, showed him that he was discovered, and from that time, or rather from the date of a visit which he very shortly afterwards paid to London, he was in correspondence with many scientific men, but particularly with Sir Jonas Moore, who, in 1674, proposed to establish Flamsteed in a private observatory, which he intended to build at Chelsea. In the mean time however the fact of the very large errors to which astronomical tables were subject came to the notice of Charles II., on the occasion of a proposal made by a French gentleman for finding the longitude [GREEN WICH OBSERVATORY], and that king determined to establish an observatory. Flamsteed was appointed astronomer royal, or, as the warrant ran, astronomical observator,' and carried on his observations at the queen's house, in Greenwich Park, until the observatory was ready, which was in July, 1676. From this time Mr. Baily dates the commencement of modern astronomy; nor can such chronology be disputed if we consider that we now return to Flamsteed's observations as the earliest with which it is desirable to compare those of our day, and also that Flamsteed's catalogue is the first which attained a precision comparable to that of later times. Flamsteed was in fact Tycho Brahé with a telescope: there was the same capability of adapting instrumental means, the same sense of the inadequacy of existing tables, the same long-continued perseverance in actual observation. But Tycho Brahé, a rich noble, found his exchequer in a king's purse; while Flamsteed, a poor clergyman, defrayed the expenses of his instruments himself, upon an ill-paid salary of one hundred pounds a year. Up to the year 1684 he had imposed on him the task of instructing two boys from Christ's Hospital, as one of the duties of his post; and, besides this, he was obliged to have recourse to private teaching, to meet the charges of carrying on his observations. At the very same time, that part of the public which cared about the matter were beginning to require that he should print his observations. Almost at the outset of his labours he was so well known that Dr. Bernard invited him to become a candidate for the Savilian professorship of geometry at Oxford, which he declined to do. He had at this time nothing but a sextant and clocks of Sir Jonas Moore's, and some instruments of his own. He borrowed some from the Royal Society, and after repeatedly urging the government to provide him with an instrument fixed in the meridian, he caused a mural arc to be constructed at his own expense, which was erected in the year 1683, but proved a failure. In the mean time he had taken orders, in 1675, having in the previous year obtained the degree of Master of Arts from Cambridge. It is not certainly known that he had been a student in that university, though it is certain that he was for some months at Cambridge in 1674. Perhaps he obtained his degree by the celebrity of his name, on condition of a short residence. In 1684 his father died, and he was presented to a small living by the Lord-Keeper North. Both circumstances increasing his means, he resolved to be at the expense of a new mural arc, upon an assurance from the government (which was never fulfilled) that the outlay should be repaid. This instrument was first used in September, 1689, and from that moment everything which Flamsteed did, every observation which he made, assumed a tangible and permanent form, and was available to some useful purpose.' When he died, the government of the day attempted to claim these instruments as public property. The public career of Flamsteed, from this time to the end of his life, is described when we say that he collected that enormous mass of observations which furnished the first trustworthy catalogue of the fixed stars; that he made those lunar observations on which Newton depended for the illustration and verification of his lunar theory; and that he originated and practised methods of observing which may be said to form the basis of those employed at the present time. Were it not for the celebrated quarrel between him on the one side, and Newton and Halley on the other, there would hardly be a life of so much utility as that of Flamsteed, which would afford so little materials for a popular account. It is to be remembered that the following is an ex parte statement; but on the other hand, it is not one formally drawn up for the public, but partly contained in the manuscript autobiography which never was published by Flamsteed, and partly derived from his correspondence with his friends. Many confirmatory circumstances of the general tenor of the facts appear in the letters of Newton himself; and even those who have (since the publication of Mr. Baily's work) defended the character of Newton, have not attempted to invalidate the account, but have mostly confined themselves to an attempt to show that Flamsteed did not appreciate the pursuits of Newton. The following is a sketch of the transaction. Newton had been on terms of cordial intimacy with Flamsteed, but a coolness, the cause of which is not discoverable, had begun to exist in the year 1696. In a letter to D |