238 Intelligence and Miscellaneous Articles. 



class which I believe to be far more numerous than is generally sup- 

 posed. But, on employing the wire micrometer we were enabled in 

 less than half an hour to establish its motion, and thus to convince 

 ourselves that I had been fortunate enough to discover a new mem- 

 ber of the planetary system. It may appear to many of your readers 

 rather bold to announce the existence of a new planet from the de- 

 tection of so small an amount of motion as 2 s. 5 in. R.A. ; but such 

 is the firm mounting of the large refracting telescope, and the per- 

 fection ofthe micrometers (for which wehaveto thank Mr. Dollond), 

 that a far smaller change would have been sufficient to convince us 

 as to the nature of the object in question. Mr. Bishop has fixed 

 upon Iris as an appropriate name for the new planet ; and we hope 

 that astronomers generally will join with us in its adoption. The 

 following are all the observations we have yet made : — 



0. M. T. K.A. oflris. 



h. m. s. h. m. s. o / // 



Aug. 13, 9 39 46 19 57 30-38 13 37 21-5 



~ 13, 10 37 24 19 57 28-41 13 27 27-6 



— 14, 9 23 58 19 56 38-30 13 29 14-0 



— 15, 9 39 19 55 4764 13 31 4-3 



I remain. Sir, your most obedient Servant, 



Mr. Bishop's Observatory, Regent's Park, J. R. Hind. 



Aug. 17. 



We have been favoured with the following additional information 

 by Mr. Hind : — 



The planet was observed by Mr. Riimker at Hamburg, on Aug. 

 20, and by Prof. Gauss at Gottingen and Prof. Encke at Berlin, on 

 Aug. 21. M. Leverrier announced the discoveiy to the Paris Aca- 

 demy of Sciences on Aug. 16, giving at the same time a general 

 view of the various hypotheses which have been started respecting 

 the group of small planets. The orbit of Iris appears to be very 

 excentrical, and the period longer than that of any other asteroid ; 

 but further observations are required for the accurate determination 

 of the elements. 



Prof. Schumacher's " Planeten-Circular" was despatched from 

 Altona on August 20, so that we may expect a general series of 

 meridian observations at the various European observatories during 

 the present apparition of the planet. 



SUGGESTIONS FOR PROMOTING THE SCIENCE OF METEOROLOGY. 



To the Editors of the Philosophical Magazine and Journal, 

 Gentlemen, 

 As I find the Meteorological Society is defunct, I beg leave to 

 suggest that in order that the science of meteorology may be im- 

 proved and promoted, and not left to chance, and in order that uni- 

 formity in the observations may be obtained, I propose that at the 

 several railway stations, the head clerk, or the cleverest man on the 

 premises, be supplied gratis with proper instruments, and that these 

 instruments should all be supplied by the same maker ; then will 

 they all start fair, upon certain data, which by the present system can- 

 not be done. And as my friend Mr. Luke Howard has suggested to 



