ASTRONOMY AND METEOROLOGY. 869 



days. The asteroid most remote from the sun is Maximiliana (mean 

 distance 3.45), with a period of 2343 days; so that the extreme aste- 

 roids differ more between themselves than the orbit of the earth does 

 from that of Venus or Mars. 



The asteroid whose orbit has the least eccentricity is Concordia 

 (eccentricity 0.04) ; that which has the greatest eccentricity is Poly- 

 hymnia (eccentricity 0.337). The orbit of Faye's comet has an 

 eccentricity of only 0.556 ; so that in respect of eccentricity, the as- 

 teroids differ more among themselves than they do from the comets. 



The asteroid whose orbit is least inclined to the ecliptic is Massil- 

 lia (inclination 4 1/) ; that whose orbit is most inclined to the eclip- 

 tic is Pallas (inclination 34 42'). 



Re-discovery of Pseudo-Daphne. August 27, 1861, M. Gold- 

 schmidt, of Paris, re-discovered the planet which he discovered Sept. 

 9, 1857, and which has received the name of Pseudo-Daphne. The 

 history of this planet is very remarkable. On the 22d of May, 1856, 

 M. Goldschmidt, discovered a new planet of the eleventh or twelfth 

 magnitude. He observed it again on the 25th; but on neither 

 occasion was he able to locate the planet accurately, for want of 

 suitable instruments. On the 31st it was observed at Marseilles: 

 it was observed at Berlin, June 1st, 2d, and 3d, and it was observed at 

 Vienna, June 2d and 4th. The planet, being now quite faint and 

 difficult to observe, was no longer followed ; so that the reliable obser- 

 vations only embrace an interval of four days, and the arc de- 

 scribed in this interval was but little more than one degree. From 

 this small arc it was required to deduce the elements and compute an 

 ephemeris for the planet's return to opposition in Sept. 1857. 



M. Pape, of the Altona Observatory, computed the best orbit he 

 was able from these observations, and published an ephemeris for the 

 approaching opposition. Anticipating the difficulty of finding the 

 planet, the astronomers at Oxford, Paris, Berlin, Vienna, Altojia, and 

 Bilk agreed upon a joint search, each observer selecting a portion of 

 the heavens which he would specially explore. 



Sept. 9th, 1857, M. Goldschmidt, of Paris, announced that he had 

 re-discovered Daphne, only about two degrees from the place assigned 

 by the elements of Pape. The planet was afterwards observed at 

 Bilk, Leyden, Bonn, Berlin, and Cambridge, and was followed till 

 Sept 30th. On computing the orbit from the observations of 1857, it 

 was found that the elements differed very materially from those which 

 M. Pape had obtained ; and indeed these new elements would not 

 represent the places of Daphne in 1856 within more than twelve de- 

 grees. This discrepancy was first announced by M. Schubert, in 

 Sept., 1858 ; and he, of course, concluded that the planet discovered by 

 Goldschmidt Sept. 9th, 1857, and which was supposed to be Daphne, 

 was not Daphne, but a new planet. M. Goldschmidt accordingly 

 gave the new planet the name of Pseudo-Daphne. 



M. Luther, at Bilk, made a careful computation of the orbit of 

 Pseudo-Daphne, and published an ephemeris for the next opposition 

 in December, 1858, but the planet. \oas not found. 



M. Luther again computed the planet's place for the succeeding 

 opposition in March, 1860; but as, on account of its distance, its 

 brightness should be only one-fourth of its brightness in Sept. 1857, 



