Thus was
brought to completion the interesting research which demonstrated the
true relation of the meteor swarm to the solar system.
Besides those memorable scientific labours with which his attention
was so largely engaged, Professor Adams found time for much other
study. He occasionally allowed himself to undertake as a relaxation
some pieces of numerical calculation, so tremendously long that we
can only look on them with astonishment. He has calculated certain
important mathematical constants accurately to more than two hundred
places of decimals. He was a diligent reader of works on history,
geology, and botany, and his arduous labours were often beguiled by
novels, of which, like many other great men, he was very fond. He
had also the taste of a collector, and he brought together about
eight hundred volumes of early printed works, many of considerable
rarity and value. As to his personal character, I may quote the
words of Dr. Glaisher when he says, "Strangers who first met him were
invariably struck by his simple and unaffected manner. He was a
delightful companion, always cheerful and genial, showing in society
but few traces of his really shy and retiring disposition. His
nature was sympathetic and generous, and in few men have the moral
and intellectual qualities been more perfectly balanced.
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