1S05.] 



I^iftory of JJlronomy for JS04. 



129 



To the Editor of the Monthly Magazine. 



SIR, 



MUCH hns been faid on the fubjeft 

 of macliines for threfliingcorn, pur- 

 ticulaily in fome of the revifed county- 

 reports, but in general in fuch vague 

 terms as to convey httle information (lar- 

 ther than a mere notice of the fa6l) to 

 perfons defuous of adopting them, who 

 refide at great diftances from the fitua- 

 tions in which ihefe inachines are ufed, 

 and out of the reach of obtaining the ne- 

 ceffary information from the mechanics 

 who conftiuft them. 



I am aifo not perfectly fatisfitd from the 

 accounts I have received, that a threfliing- 

 mill calculated for general teception and 

 utility is yet invented. It appears to me, 

 that the machine wanted (hould be cheap, 

 rot cofting more (buildings for containing 

 it alone excepted) than fifty guineas ; 

 that it fnould be moved by a power not 

 exceeding the llrength of two horfes ; and 

 that its capacity tor woik, both as to 

 quantity and quality, {hould give it a de- 

 cided claim of fuperiorlty over manual 

 labour. A ihre fliing-mill combining thefe 

 advantages would be an acquifition of 

 immenfe importance to the country ; and 

 any of your ingenious Correfpondents, 

 vvho, tl.roiigh the channel of your widely- 

 circulating Magazine, would inform the 

 agricultural woild of fuch an invention, 

 with the name and addrefs of the inventor, 

 particulars, from praHice, of its confor- 

 mity to the foregoing fpecifications, and 

 references to perfons who have ufed it, 

 would confer a benefit on fociety, and an 

 obligation on, Sir, your mcft obedient 

 fervant, John H. Moggridge. 



IbeBoyce, May lo, 1805. 



Tor the Monthly Magazine. 



HISTORY (?/■ ASTRONOMY /or I 804 



By JEROME DE LA LANUE. 



THIS year is as remarkable as 1801 

 and i8oa, fince it prefents us with 

 the difcovery of a new planet. The cir- 

 cumftar.ce was accidental, it is true ; but 

 it was prepared and direiSed by the la- 

 bours of an able and indefatigable ob- 

 ferver. M. Harding wrote to me as fol- 

 lows, on the io;li of November, from Li- 

 lienthal, near Brtmen. 



" I had engaged ir> an undertaking, in 

 which I had been occupied above a year. 

 Every favourable night I conipofid a 

 fmall atlas to reprefcnt the zodiac of the 

 two planets recently difcovered by MefTrs. 

 Piazzi and Others. The fmallnefs of thefe 



Monthly Mag. No. 133. 



two planets, which, in mod of their po- 

 fitions, are only of the eighth or ninth 

 magnitude, requires a perfeft knowledgs 

 of all the fmall liars that are in this zodiac 

 The celeftial charts hitherto publilhed are 

 not fufficiently detailed, and cannot con- 

 vey a knowledge, at the firft fight, of thofe 

 two fmall planets, becaufe they reprefent 

 no ftars but what aie of the feventh or 

 eighrh magnitude. Tnis confideration 

 induced me to compofe more dctaded 

 charts, to contain all the ftars down to 

 the ninth and tenth magnitude ; an un- 

 dertaking which would formerly have 

 been immenfe, but is now greatly facili- 

 tated, fince you have made aftronomers 

 acquainted with fifty thoufand ftars' 

 which are in your " Hiftory of the Hea- 

 vens." 



" This enterprize, which procured me a 

 minu'e knowledge of the ftarry firma- 

 ment, furnifhed with the opportunity of 

 difcovering the new planet. On the ift 

 of September, comparing the ftitet ot my 

 little atlas with the heavens, I found, be- 

 tween No. 3 in Mayer's Catalogue, and 

 a ftar mentioned in your Hiftory, another 

 unknown ftar, which I had never before 

 feen in that place. I marked it in my 

 chart as a ftar having 2® 25' right-afcen- 

 fion, and 36' of northern-declination, 

 without fufpePiing any fingulaiity. On 

 the 4th of September this ftar was gone, 

 but at 2" of right-afcenlion and 1' of 

 northern-declination, I obfcrved another 

 ftar, which I had not perceived three days 

 before. 1 began to lufptft a motion in 

 the uiiknown ftar, and the more llrongly, 

 as I found neither of the tv/o ftars marked 

 in a chart drawn laft year, tliough I had in- 

 troduced into it ftars of a much feebler light, 

 I therefore haftened to obferve it with the 

 micrometer, to determine its pofition ; but 

 a fog intervened, at the moment when I 

 had brought the ttar to the field of my te- 

 lefcope. 1 waited with impatience till 

 the following day, and found that the ftar 

 had chariged its place confiderably. The 

 micrometer gave me its pofition for iih. 

 12' 45" mean-time, 1° 51' ji" right- 

 afcenlion, and 11' 26" fouth-declination. 

 After iliis obfervation \ no longer doubt- 

 ed that it was a moveableitur, and per- 

 haps a planet ; becaulis, when i'een by 

 our largeft telelcopt-s, it had neither tail 

 nor nebulofity, fo that it could not be a 

 comet. I haliened to apprize Mcftis. 

 Olbeis, GauCs, Bode, and Baion von 

 Zach, of the circumftance. The firft com- 

 menced his obfervations the 7th of Sep- 

 tennber. I profecute4 mine till the 271b, 

 K wkea 



