184 M. Encke on the Neuoly discovered Planet. 



would indicate that tliis planet is the last of the solar system, 

 which there is no reason whatever to suppose." 



Moreover, this name [Neptune] has been widely bruited ; 

 for in a letter which I have received from Gauss, our first 

 German authority in astronomy, dated Oct. 7, he says, " I con- 

 sider the name Neptune chosen by M. Le Verrier to be very 

 appropriate ; perhaps a trident might be selected as the sign if 

 it were not improper in any way to interfere with the rights of 

 the discoverer." 



Now in a letter which I have received from M. Le Verrier, 

 dated Oct. 6, he states, " I requested my illustrious friend, 

 M. Arago, to choose a name for the planet. I was somewhat 

 startled at the decision {j'ai ete tin pen coiifus) which he made 

 at a sitting of the Academy." This confirms the information 

 we have received through other channels, that the name Le 

 Verrier had been proposed by M. Arago. 



Fortified by the high authority of Gauss, and the Bureau 

 dcs Lo7igitudes of Paris, I shall, under these circumstances, 

 retain for the next year the name Neptune, and the sign of 

 the trident, until public opinion in Germany has become suffi- 

 ciently consolidated to establish a definitive appellation. Our 

 German custom has prevailed in the case of four, we may 

 even say five new planets, as Herschel was a German by birth ; 

 and as it cannot be in the least my intention to undervalue the 

 great merits of M. Le Verrier, which I have most cordially 

 admitted, so it is my opinion that his name will ever remain 

 so firmly connected with Neptune, that it is not necessary, in 

 order to keep up the recollection of the discovery, to introduce 

 the somewhat incongruous collocation of the heathen gods 

 with a modern name. Besides, in the present case, a German 

 has the essential merit of having discovered the planet. 



In letters which 1 have since received from Sir John Her- 

 schel, the planet is also called Neptune ; and Struve, in Pul- 

 kowa, has pronounced decidedly for retaining this name. The 

 first astronomical authorities, therefore, in Germany, France, 

 England and Russia, have pronounced in favour of Neptune. 



Nole. — A paper received by the Astronomer Royal from 

 M. Struve, and inserted in the A thensum for Feb, 20, assigns 

 similar leasons for adopting the proposed name. We subjoin 

 the following passage : — 



" Far be it from us to have any intention of withholding our 

 entire admiration from the eminent merit of M. Le Verrier. 

 But impartial history will, in the future, make honourable 

 mention also of the name of Mr. Adams, and recognise two 

 individuals as having, independently of one another, discovered 

 the planet beyond Uranus. In the same way, it attributes 



