, 1875-09-13
Ia complete and tf.a prcdictonn are made, only
lc1nali,lpn 10 be verified by aot.ias experience.
WishuG to obtain


A eo,Exr,rtc orts.os
lrou the Tico theort, TnE IntHGSE rorronenta-
ttyo called npor A1s Elas Colbert. wl,tso jndy-
nlcbt IN astronomical matters Ii widaY known.
Mr.. Cub, ri pait, high compliment 20 Prof.
Ilco for tho ehtcrtaiiIi1fR And lurld dsylc in
Nlii1t hia book had heen wrileon. lie coHld not,
however reconcile tho theories therein esrretB-
celestial bodies, In tho ltst hlace, ht htimA'cd
lint psof. Tieo bad brought tho planet |uicau
into hts calculations simply iu ofLcr to hctuunt
for The nnno,ous rcrsIrtatoHB which t,u Ind
sottA III tho co'.tsc Of l,ia historical ityesslga-
tons. Fufcnn ind only a Hypothetical e&tst-
cncc having perhaps only been sceu hut twice,
once BY LcHcarba'stt. French physician, sumo
years ngo, mud 4 Ai!ort time aftel watds by POL.
mhts had failed 10 dI=eovef tho oxlstol,so of that
planet, though It Ind beon Holislt fot lahotl-
otiRIy under tic most favorable circumstances.
viz: during total cclipses u Tho aull. mr: !!ce
n.stnlea to have 1txed tho reFioI Ut revolution
Of Vulcan. and tho poss'iou Of tho c1uinoc1at
noir1,B In its orbit to within elngts deRsoe, but
bo honoatIv copfeeseB that tll:e ia tho weak
point IN bis ttcnry. . II ncotls, housvet.. sasst
hIr, Colbert, *'hut littlo acquaintance will a8-
trououy to SGD that tl,n in
rot the UxIf wEAK POINT
In theory which must ho admitted to ho g1anb'y
beautiful md comprehensive. II only true
Further, Mr.. Colbert objected 10 Tho ,inwar"
rau,cd drasglna Of Venus into shc I!co''hoofy n 7;
orbit OF Venua &te not known, and 80 mahy dlffl-
cultiea lilo in Tho way Of Nndlng the difactioh
In arace uf the axis Of revolution or that planet
that 1t may bo satno centuries yet betnre man
will know anything about H.. Tho dit1icu!ly 10
still greater III The casc Of Mercury. It amounts.
then, to an absolute lnposslaility. Tha Rbsence
OF apparent markings ou fho slfieeo OF toe lhst-
nan,nd planet prevent us from b6lnE able "a
on III axis. The rotation OF Mercury ii accepted
by astronomers 2s fact chiefly because Il fol
lows from analogy, but tho direction which II
occupies III 8pacU Ualnut bo reasoned out III That
TAy. .
that l1o has the right 70 iocato The o1uno1es OF
Vonus nosrlY at right angles to The aps1aI 'i,ie
Of lar orbit, simply becauss thai Ia appeoxt-
matety tho position Of tho earth's elnnox9s un
to ecllpt,u; but 1t should not he forgotten that
ills fa not only All accidental ool.,cilenco, but II
fs also only ttsnsieAt ono. IAa lllto Of tflc
carth's equiro1es IL uonetsntly falling baox,
while tllc llne of llor apsldcs Ia moving forward
Thoao lines wefo 1t right angics about t',e mil.
tlle Of the thnrseonth century. and G,000 years
ago tt,oy coinc[ded. Tho mutton Of tts aphtdes
OF Venus orbit 10 not Affected by portnrbattont
ln The earno way AZ that Of tho earlh'a, wh,1t
i.er Oquinoxes must fail hack III tho same dtec.
as wo arc &oio to rcaAon Oh the subject, ws have
grounds for concluding that tho position Of the
eauinoxos Of ycous la not determined by refcs.
c,ice to tf1oss Of tho earth and tho assumption
Of tliat poaiton by Prof. Iice is purely arbl
trary.
1'no reasoning employed ii the rtdfcsaorl
work is ufoaely logical aud tLe author is Cutiklct
10 tlla credit Of being evidently imbued wish I
b,ucafe desire to discover the truth. and willing
hess to mako labo1ioun roscearch fof It. Thih,
however, d0os not altet tito fxct that tho fchsoh
Ing is unsatisfactory bccauna based on l'ypolh
eseB WHICH arc not yot proven. Tho f1rst as
eutnFtlon that tne planetB cause electrical per
turbattons in the carths atmospheric ID entirely