As filed with the Securities and Exchange Commission on April 1, 1999
                                                       Registration No. 333-
================================================================================

                     SECURITIES AND EXCHANGE COMMISSION
                           Washington, D.C.  20549
                              
                              ----------------

                                  FORM S-8
                           REGISTRATION STATEMENT
                                    UNDER
                         THE SECURITIES ACT OF 1933
                                        
                              ----------------

                                VARIAN, INC.
           (Exact Name of Registrant as Specified in Its Charter)
                                        
                              ----------------

              Delaware                                   77-0501995
   (State or Other Jurisdiction of                   (I.R.S. Employer
    Incorporation or Organization)                  Identification No.)

                               3050 Hansen Way
                             Palo Alto, CA 94304
                                        
                  (Address of Principal Executive Offices)
                                        
                              ----------------

                                Varian, Inc.
                             Omnibus Stock Plan
                          (Full Title of the Plan)
                                        
                              ----------------

                               Arthur W. Homan
                                  Secretary
                                Varian, Inc.
                               3050 Hansen Way
                             Palo Alto, CA 94304
                  (Name and Address of Agent  For Service)

                               (650) 493-4000
        (Telephone Number, Including Area Code, of Agent For Service)
                                 
       
                                 Copies to:
                             Leslie P. Jay, Esq.
                          Geoffrey P. Leonard, Esq.
                     Orrick, Herrington & Sutcliffe LLP
                      Old Federal Reserve Bank Building
                             400 Sansome Street
                    San Francisco, California  94111-3143
                               (415) 392-1122

                       CALCULATION OF REGISTRATION FEE
 
 
==========================================================================================================================
                                            Amount              Proposed                 Proposed              Amount of
                                             To Be           Maximum Offering        Maximum Aggregate        Registration
Title of Securities to be Registered       Registered       Price Per Share (1)      Offering Price (1)           Fee
- --------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
                                                                                                 
  Common Stock, (2)
     par value $.01 per share.......   10,000,000 shares          $8.875                 $88,750,000           $24,672.50
==========================================================================================================================


(1)  Pursuant to Rule 457(h)(1), the proposed maximum offering price per share
     and the proposed maximum aggregate offering price have been calculated on
     the basis of $8.875 per share, the average of the high and low price of the
     Common Stock on the Nasdaq National Market on March 29, 1999.
(2)  Includes Preferred Stock Purchase Rights which, prior to the occurrence of
     certain events, will not be exercisable or evidenced separately from the
     Common Stock.
================================================================================

 
                                    PART I

Item 1.  Plan Information *

Item 2.  Registrant Information and Employee Plan Annual Information *


     *   Information required by Part I to be contained in the Section 10(a)
prospectus is omitted from this Registration Statement in accordance with Rule
428 under the Securities Act of 1933 (the "Securities Act") and the Note to Part
I of Form S-8.

                                    PART II

Item 3.  Incorporation of Certain Documents by Reference


  The Registration Statement on Form 10, as amended, previously filed by Varian,
Inc. ("Registrant") with the Securities and Exchange Commission ("Commission")
pursuant to the Securities Exchange Act of 1934, as amended (the "Exchange Act")
is incorporated by reference to this Registration Statement (including the
description of the Registrant's common stock and amendments and reports filed to
update that description).

  All documents subsequently filed by the Registrant pursuant to Sections 13(a),
13(c), 14, and 15(d) of the Exchange Act, prior to the filing of a post-
effective amendment which indicates that all securities offered have been sold
or which deregisters all securities then remaining unsold, shall be deemed to be
incorporated by reference in this Registration Statement and to be a part hereof
from the date of filing of such documents.

Item 4.  Description of Securities


  Inapplicable.

Item 5.  Interests of Named Experts and Counsel


  Inapplicable.

Item 6.  Indemnification of Directors and Officers


  Section 145 of the General Corporation Law of the State of Delaware (the
"Delaware Law") authorizes a Delaware corporation to indemnify officers,
directors, employees and agents of the corporation, in connection with actual or
threatened actions, suits or proceedings provided that such officer, director,
employee or agent acted in good faith and in a manner such officer reasonably
believed to be in or not opposed to the corporation's best interests, and, for
criminal proceedings, had no reasonable cause to believe his or her conduct was
unlawful.  This authority is sufficiently broad to permit indemnification under
certain circumstances for liabilities (including reimbursement for expenses
incurred) arising under the Securities Act.

  The Registrant's Restated Certificate of Incorporation and By-laws provide for
indemnification of officers and directors to the fullest extent permitted by
Delaware Law.  In addition, the Registrant has, and intends in the future to
enter into, agreements to provide indemnification for directors and officers in
addition to that contained in the Restated Certificate of Incorporation and By-
laws.

Item 7.  Exemption From Registration Claimed


  Inapplicable.

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Item 8.  Exhibits

         Exhibit
         Number     Name
         ------     ----

         5.1        Opinion of Orrick, Herrington & Sutcliffe LLP.

         23.1       Consent of PricewaterhouseCoopers LLP.

         23.2       Consent of Orrick, Herrington & Sutcliffe LLP is included in
                    Exhibit 5.1 to this Registration Statement.

         24.1       Powers of Attorney.

Item 9.  Undertakings


    (a)  The undersigned Registrant hereby undertakes:

         (1)  To file, during any period in which offers or sales are being
made, a post-effective amendment to this Registration Statement:

              (i)    to include any prospectus required by Section 10(a)(3) of
the Securities Act;

              (ii)   to reflect in the prospectus any facts or events arising
after the effective date of the Registration Statement (or the most recent post-
effective amendment thereof) which, individually or in the aggregate, represent
a fundamental change in the information set forth in the Registration Statement
Notwithstanding the foregoing, any increase or decrease in volume of securities
offered (if the dollar value of securities offered would not exceed that which
was registered) and any deviation from the low or high end of the estimated
maximum offering range may be reflected in the form of prospectus filed with the
Commission pursuant to Rule 424(b) if, in the aggregate, the changes in volume
and price represent no more than a 20% change in the maximum aggregate offering
price set for the in the "Calculation of Registration Fee" table in the
effective Registration Statement;

              (iii)  to include any material information with respect to the
plan of distribution not previously disclosed in the Registration Statement or
any material change to such information in the Registration Statement;

provided, however, that paragraphs (a)(1)(i) and (a)(1)(ii) do not apply if the
information required to be included in a post-effective amendment by those
paragraphs is contained in periodic reports filed by the Registrant pursuant to
Section 13 or Section 15(d) of the Exchange Act that are incorporated by
reference in the Registration Statement.

         (2)  That, for the purpose of determining any liability under the
Securities Act, each such post-effective amendment shall be deemed to be a new
registration statement relating to the securities offered therein, and the
offering of such securities at that time shall be deemed to be the initial bona
fide offering thereof.

         (3)  To remove from registration by means of a post-effective amendment
any of the securities being registered which remain unsold at the termination of
the offering.

    (b)  The undersigned Registrant hereby undertakes that, for purposes of
determining any liability under the Securities Act, each filing of the
Registrant's annual report pursuant to Section 13(a) or Section 15(d) of the
Exchange Act that is incorporated by reference in the Registration Statement
shall be deemed to be a new Registration Statement relating to the securities
offered therein, and the offering of such securities at that time shall be
deemed to be the initial bona fide offering thereof.

    (c)  Insofar as indemnification for liabilities arising under the Securities
Act may be permitted to directors, officers and controlling persons of the
Registrant pursuant to the foregoing provisions, or otherwise, the Registrant
has been advised that in the opinion of the Commission such indemnification is
against public policy as expressed in the Act and is, therefore, unenforceable.
In the event that a claim for indemnification against such liabilities (other

                                       3

 
than the payment by the Registrant of expenses incurred or paid by a director,
officer or controlling person of the Registrant in the successful defense of any
action, suit or proceeding) is asserted by such director, officer or controlling
person in connection with the securities being registered, the Registrant will,
unless in the opinion of its counsel the matter has been settled by controlling
precedent, submit to a court of appropriate jurisdiction the question whether
such indemnification by it is against public policy as expressed in the
Securities Act and will be governed by the final adjudication of such issue.

                                       4

 
                                  SIGNATURES

  Pursuant to the requirements of the Securities Act of 1933, the Registrant
certifies that it has reasonable grounds to believe that it meets all of the
requirements for filing on Form S-8 and has duly caused this Registration
Statement to be signed on its behalf by the undersigned, thereunto duly
authorized, in the City of Palo Alto, State of California on the 1st of April,
1999.


                                    VARIAN, INC.
                                    (Registrant)


                                         /s/ Arthur W. Homan
                                    By: _____________________________
                                        Arthur W. Homan
                                        Secretary


  Pursuant to the requirements of the Securities Act of 1933, this Registration
Statement has been signed by the following persons in the capacities and on the
dates indicated.




             Signature                             Title                           Date
             ---------                             -----                           ---- 
                                                                   
 
* Allen J. Lauer                          Director, President and             April 1, 1999
                                          Chief Executive Officer
 
/s/ Franco N. Palomba                             Treasurer                   April 1, 1999
- -----------------------------------    (Principal Financial Officer and
Franco N. Palomba                       Principal Accounting Officer)
 
 
* John G. McDonald                                Director                    April 1, 1999
 
* Wayne R. Moon                                   Director                    April 1, 1999
 
* D. E. Mundell                                   Director                    April 1, 1999
 
* Elizabeth E. Tallett                            Director                    April 1, 1999
 
* By /s/ Arthur W. Homan
    --------------------
   Arthur W. Homan
   Attorney-in-fact


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                                 EXHIBIT INDEX

 
       
     Exhibit                                                                                    Page
     Number       Name                                                                          Number
     ------       ----                                                                          ------
                                                                                          
     5.1          Opinion of Orrick, Herrington & Sutcliffe LLP.

     23.1         Consent of PricewaterhouseCoopers LLP.

     23.2         Consent of Orrick, Herrington & Sutcliffe LLP is included in Exhibit 5.1
                  to this Registration Statement.

     24.1         Powers of Attorney.
 

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