The New York herald., 1876-09-29
Leverrier's Profound Researches
into the Planetary Paths.
HIS FAMOUS PREDICTIONS.
The Calculations and Prophecy Concerning
Neplune's Discovery.
vULCAN'S PROBABLE TRANSIT.

Tells recall the famous prediction the same Illus
trous astronomer thirty years France that at
given hour, in certain point of the heavcns the then
unknown world. Neptune. would loom into view. The
marvellous ulhlment Of that prophecy inspires conn.,
denco that his new prediction will be verified in
not less remarkable than the first The transit of
Vulcan WILL to ordinary observer be unntcrest-
ing II not an imperceptible event There will be
iakening OF the solar lumnary when he undersoes
IN eclipse, turning day INTO night and filing untutored
tribes with astoushment ana awe II will not be as
grateful TO the eye as an unknown comet swoop-
Ing down upon the solnr system and
threatening collision with the earth itself
1t will not be important the world OF SCI
ence as the eventful transit ofVcnus, which affords
the best opportunity for measuring tho true distance
between the earth and the sun. well AS the DIS
tauces OF all the planets and stars 1t will Simply be
the appearance oil the wonderful little planet stealing
gently toward the eastern edge OF the sun and stroll
ing IN the shape of black speck westward across his
faring surface. And yet this simple occurrence will
be classed by OF science with the important
OF ofastronomical events. 1t will be scanned through
hundred parallel telescopes its position from moment
TO moment on the sans disk will be mapped with the
greatest possible care, and for years the
rene, mathemstlcans will be busily engaged In calcu-
atons respecting its s.zc its distance aud po.
sition and path among the planetary spheres.
Astronomy has justly been termed the queen OF all
the physical sciences and from the days when shcp-
herds and chcftans alike in early Greece, Egypt and
Rome contemplated the heavens from their rude
watch towers down to our own age cfbrilant achieve
ments, astronomy has had for her votarcs OF
The greatest minds in history. Scholars OF every
grade, and The less cultured class of men, have
taken the deepest interest in matters pertanrg to the
wonders of the heavens This especially notice
able during tho and lunar pses OF the past
few years and the winter OF 1874, when the long
wished transit OF Venus took place. IL this
versal longing to unfold The mysterious vaults OF tho
heavens--the home OF gods and happy mortas-that
iu carrier years gave to this noble impetus
whose force is ot modern days The writer of this
article will endeayor to satisfy the popular desire TO
understand something OF the wonderful process by
which Lcverrier to declare the existence Of n
new and far distant planetary world
NATURE OF LEvERRiER's CALCULATIONS
When the paths of the planets are well known IL is
easy matter to predict transts and cclipscs 1t
also easy affair Tor the ancicnts to be familiar with
all the planets lar out us Saturn Tor these bodies
visible TO the naked eye. Nor it cxtraord
nary feat for Herschel discover Uranus casually with
lhc aid of his immense rejecting telescope. In FACT
eli the discoveries OF planets and prior TO Lever
ricr's day casual. But the keen astronomer OF
France, before Neptune WAS dreamed Of by process
of profound reasoning and laborious calculation and
research, actually demonstrated that such planet
must exist and must appear in certain direction at
gwen date. Tho reason why Neptune is treated OF In
,hc present article because the calculations OF Lever
tier In proguostcating Neptunes appearance pre-
:scly analogous those which have led his latest
prediction concerning Vulcan HIS mode OF PROCEDURE
been alike in both IT, therefore, his specua-
lions and reasoning in reference TO
NhPrrSE's DISCOVERY
be once understood It VIII he easy to comprehend the
whole story of his present CONCLUSIONS respecting Vu
We have IN the HERALD Of the eth inst.
how the planets are worlds-some smaller, others
vastly larger. than our own-stuatcd at different
distances IRON the sun aud crcling round and round
hun throughout the ages at various rates OF speet
keplcr, of imper,shabie fame, discovered the laws
governing those planetary revolutions Each planet
obeys liked law common to them all insomuca that
distance from the determines the period OF its
revolution. Hence IL the distance OF any
planet the sun, calculate the duration OF
OF lis circuits around The sun, aud by pro-
cess If we ascertain how long 1t takes any planet
TO travel once round The central ium,nary,
its distance readily be found. THIS law
San DO ~ aNS y,r an ssampl0 III, Let
goes round the sun In year. Jupiter takes Twelve
years to go round II We multiply twelve by twelve
and take tho cube root OF the product get Jupers
distance from the The cube OF li4 nvc and
quarter therefore Jupiter FIVE auda quarter times
all the planets SIR Isaac Newton has shown that this
law OF keplcr's not only does apply but must OF neccs
SHY apply, 10 all planets, aud mat 1t is impossible Tor
Eny heavenly OBJECT to revove about another attract
ing body except upon ihis very condition This was
LEvEERIkR GUIDING THOUGHT
throughout his spccuiatons. But the grand principle
which was the source OF so many conlectures In his
mind was the NewIonian law OF attraction This law
demonstrated that not only did mighty attractive
iorcc exist between the sun on tho ono hand
and the planets on the Other but also existed
between the planets themselves, each body tending
pull the others towards iisc with iorce depending
on their proximity and their sizes Hence II may be
perceived that planet pursues Its regular course
around the Sun, but is sometimes pulled and iro.
and disturbed 10y all nciphbors. Astronomers
noih,ng daunted by this Difficulty The amount of
lfstu Is
estimated with precision, aud checked by long obserrs.
ton. insomuch that the positions OF tho various
planets at any period however remote can be mapped
with nlrvellous accuracy, duo allowance being made
and taken for trc 'periurbaiions caused by mutual
attraction For the present 1t Will be sufficient
slider tho disturbances caused by Jupiter,
Saturn and the other planets in the movement
The most distant OF the planetary worlds. 1t being
nearly two billions OF miles away. AZ has bcen
year had been predicted with The aid OF KEEP
lor's laws and Ncwtun's theory. These calculations
Indicated where Uranus should be.
CATCHING INSPIRATION
Lcvcrrcr, on po,nurg his telescope h.a,cnward one
night and bringing Uranus into Mss ncld OF vicw dis
covered that the planet Was not where he should he.
Thiakng 1t might be OF the instrument that
caused tue discrepancy he checked the observation.
with the same rcsuit--the riaLet WIS rine out
oi it, Lcvcrrcr then examined the records OF
the observations o Uranus made about the beginning
OF the prescott century. lie found that the recorded
positions of uraaus did not correspond with the places
calculated. Moreover, there hsd been nineteen OBJ
scrvat,ons of "A taken from 1890 To l.7l hv flatn-
stead Meyer, l;radicy and Lcmonnicr In 1870
there record upward OF forty mcrIdinnsl
OBSERVATIONS O Uranus ana OF The direction and great
nces Of the iorccs disturbing us course. Lcverrcr
overhaulcd those memoranda and found many OF them
erroneous. stiil there renamed ~ Uranus move
ncnts anomalies that coulc not be accounted ior Nc
made known those difficulties TO Araro, who in me.
alstciv impressed on him the necessity oi further
search. Accordingly, IN lsio, Lcycrrcr abandoned
The task X OF cx loriug comets and began grapple
with the difficulty oi Uranus. Al the SESSION ol the
French Academy hcii ~ November, lS4j. tho precise
urbance produced 10y Jupiter and saturn
ulon Uranu. were made known; and IN June OF the
following year lcvefrler rcad before the same body
paper on ihe movements oi Uranus la the course OF
ms commentary be asserted thai IL impossible to
account the aaoma.ou movements oi Jupiter save
by the existence oi another planet TIC launched form
u.s cgLEERArED surPosIfioS
In the following tcrns:--' --'Ibnrruif--on en- renr a
frer point d c,ei oa les nres Trons des osronomes