7i8 THE POPULAR SCIENCE MONTHLY. 



Mr. Watson did not announce his observation of the second star till 

 three weeks after the eclipse, and after he had revised in detail the con- 

 ditions of his observation. Here is proof that this star had made a less 

 impression on him than the first. But now the first is between the 

 fourth and fifth magnitudes, and the second only between the fifth and 

 the sixth. 



In any case, we can not but hold that the positions given are highly 

 doubtful and can not be seriously assumed as a basis for calculating 

 orbits, as has been done at the observatory. 



Mr. Swift writes, " I have no doubt that one of the two stars was 

 Theta Caneri, and the other the intra-Mercurial planet." 



But if one of the two stars seen by Professor Watson is Theta 

 Caneri, the other, whose difference from the former is, according to him, 

 IS"- 57'- more to the west, and 13' more to the south, comes exceedingly 

 near to Zeta Caneri, whose difference from Theta is 19"^ 25'- also to the 

 west, and 30' also to the south. If this star were a planet it would 

 not have been possible to see it without at the same time seeing Zeta, 

 which would have been quite near ; but of Zeta our American astrono- 

 mers do not speak. 



Mr. Swift, however, answers this objection by saying that he saw 

 simultaneously Theta and the planet, and states the difference between 

 them as follows : 



Eight ascension. Declination. 

 Star Theta, 8"- 24-"- 40'- + 18° 30' 20" 

 Planet, 8"- 26"'- 40'- + 18° 30' 25" 



