ch and fearless friend, an able
and incisive writer, and remarkably energetic and diligent in
astronomical investigations. He, or his sister, Miss Sheepshanks, had
a house in London, and Sheepshanks was very much in London, and busied
himself extremely with the work of the Royal Observatory, that of the
Board of Longitude, and miscellaneous astronomical matters. He was
most hospitable to his friends, and while Airy resided at Cambridge
his house was always open to receive him on his frequent visits to
town. In the various polemical discussions on scientific matters in
which Airy was engaged, Sheepshanks was an invaluable ally, and after
Airy's removal to Greenwich had more or less separated him from his
Cambridge friends, Sheepshanks was still associated with him and took
a keen interest in his Greenwich work. And this continued till
Sheepshanks's death. The warmest friendship always subsisted between
the family at the Observatory and Mr and Miss Sheepshanks.

There were many other friends, able and talented men, but these four
were the chief, and it is curious to note that they were all much
older than Airy. It would seem as if Airy's knowledge had matured in
so remarkable a manner, and the original work that he produced was so
brilliant and copious, that by common consent he ranked with men who
were much his seniors: and the natural gravity and decorum of his
manners when quite a young man well supported the idea of an age
considerably greater than was actually the case.

CHAPTER V.

AT GREENWICH OBSERVATORY--1836 TO 1846.

1836

"Through the last quarter of 1835 I had kept everything going on at
the Greenwich Observatory in the same manner in which Mr Pond had
carried it on. With the beginning of 1836 my new system began. I had
already prepared 30 printed skeleton forms (a system totally unknown
to Mr Pond) which were now brought into use. And, having seen the
utility of the Copying Press in merchants' offices, I procured
one. From this time my correspondence, public and private, is
exceedingly perfect.

"At this time the dwelling house was still unconnected with the
Observatory. It had no staircase to the Octagon Room. Four new rooms
had been built for me on the western side of the dwelling house, but
they were not yet habitable. The North-east Dome ground floor was
still a passage room. The North Terrace was the official pass