uld name her _genuineness_. There was no false note in Maria
Mitchell's thinking or utterance....

"One who has known her kindness to little children, who has watched her
little evidences of thoughtful care for her associates and friends, who
has seen her put aside her own long-cherished rights that she might make
the way of a new and untried officer easier, cannot forget the tenderer
side of her character....

"But if would be vain for me to try to tell just what it was in Miss
Mitchell that attracted us who loved her. It was this combination of
great strength and independence, of deep affection and tenderness,
breathed through and through with the sentiment of a perfectly genuine
life, which has made for us one of the pilgrim-shrines of life the study
in the observatory of Vassar College where we have known her _at home_,
surrounded by the evidences of her honorable professional career. She
has been an impressive figure in our time, and one whose influence
lives."

INTRODUCTORY NOTE

On the 17th of December, 1831, a gold medal of the value of twenty
ducats was founded, at the suggestion of Professor Schumacher, of
Altona, by his Majesty Frederic VI., at that time king of Denmark, to be
awarded to any person who should first discover a telescopic comet. This
foundation and the conditions on which the medal would be awarded were
announced to the public in the "Astronomische Nachrichten" for the 20th
of March, 1832. The regulations underwent a revision after a few years,
and in April, 1840 ("Astronomische Nachrichten," No. 400), were
republished as follows:

"1. The medal will be given to the first discoverer of any comet, which,
at the time of its discovery, is invisible to the naked eye, and whose
periodic time is unknown.

"2. The discoverer, if a resident of any part of Europe except Great
Britain, is to make known his discovery to Mr. Schumacher at Altona. If
a resident in Great Britain, or any other quarter of the globe except
the continent of Europe, he is to make his discovery known directly to
Mr. Francis Baily, London. [Since Mr. Baily's decease, G.B. Airy, Esq.,
Astronomer Royal, has been substituted in this and in the 7th and 8th
articles of the regulations.]

"3. This communication must be made by the _first post_ after the
discovery. If there is no regular mail at the place of discovery, the
first opportunity of any other kind must be made use of, without waiting
for other observations. Exa