Every evening, Wilmington daily commercial., 1906-02-19
A PHANTOM PLANET.
Heavenly Body Which May Exist Only
in Imagination.


in Imagination.
One of the interesting problems which
astronomers hoped TO solve during the
recent eclipse OF the sun was to deter
mine whether there exists small planet
known as Vulcan. by some supposed to
be circlng about between Mercury and
the sun. Leverriero believed in its eX-
istence. but the majority Of present-day
astronomers think him mistaken on this
point.
The problem Of Vulcan. as it may be
called. is certainly old enough to com
mand respect. for il has existed for nearly
half century says the Pail Mall Ga
zette 10 was IN 1859 that Leverrier,
detecting certain irregular movements
in the orbit Of the planet Mercury, sug-
gested that the disturbance might be
due TO another planet or "a ring OF planets
between Mercury and the sun. In the
same year this theory received un-
expected support from a country doctor
named Lescarbault. living about hun
dred miles from Paris, who declared that
he had seen the planet, as small black
ball. pass across the sun S face. There
was nothing left for Ieverrier but an
immediate interview with the astrono-
mer doctor. Their meeting is certainly
one Of the most amusing incidents IN
the sober history OF science. On the
one hand the master scientist tall, blunt,
domineenng; on the other, a simple,
timid. little country doctor.
1T is you, then, hlurted ont the great
man, "who pretend to have observed the
intra-mercurial planet and who has
committed the grave offence of keeping
your observations secret for nine months.
! warn you that | have come here with
the intention Of doing justice TO your
.pretensions, and of demonstrating either
that you have been dishonest or de-
ceived"
In a short time Lescarbault had proved
! his case to Leverriers satisfaction,
although the great man was hard to
convince that accurate astronomical work
/ could be accomplished with an old watch
| that showed only the minutes, a pen
dulum consisting Of an ivory ball hung
| on a thread, an ancient telescope, and
a few rough calculations on a book
marker. Leverrier, however, made
amends for his rough treatment in the
early stages of the interview, and, once
convinced of the reality of Lescarbault s
! discovery, procured for him a reward in
the shape of the Cross OF the Legion OF
honor.
Nealy 20 years passed before the
little stranger was "seen" again. II
was as though Vulcan, disguised at the
coldness Of his reception from official
astronomers, had recited from active
celestial operations. But in August
1876, German astronomer named
Weber, stationed at Pechil, in China
saw a small black spot on the sun s face
which quickly vanished, and he imme
diately flashed the news to Europe that
Vulcan had appeared again; but OBJ
servations made at Greenwich and Mad
rid supported the view that the BLACK
ball was nothing more than a sun spol
which had slipped round the edge o
the sun. Leverrier, however, strong il
his early faith, actually circularized the
astronomers in England, India, Aus
tralia and New Zealand on the subject
and a watch was kept for many hour
on certain date to see il anything ap
preaching a planet actually crossed tn,
sun S face. Nothing whatever was seen
Vulcan's absence from all photographs
taken during eclipses, and also from al
observations Of the regions near the sun
tended TO confirm astronomers in tn,
view that both Leverrier and Lercar
bault were mistaken.