BOOK OF THE DAMNED 193 



velocity. The point here is that these other observations are as 

 authentic as those that Leverrier included; that, then, upon data as 

 good as the data of "Vulcan," there must be other "Vulcans" the 

 heroic and defiant disregard, then, of trying to formulate one, omit- 

 ting the others, which, by orthodox doctrine, must have influenced it 

 greatly, if all were in the relatively narrow space between Mercury 

 and the sun. 



Observation upon another such body, of April 4, 1876, by M. 

 Weber, of Berlin. As to this observation, Leverrier was informed by 

 Wolf, in Aug., 1876 (L'Annee Scientifique, 1876-7). It made no 

 difference, so far as can be known, to this notable positivist. 



Two other observations noted by Hind and Denning London 

 Times, Nov. 3, 1871, and March 26, 1873. 



Monthly Notices of the R. A. 5., 20-100: 



Standacher, Feb., 1762; Lichtenberg, Nov. 19, 1762; Hoffman, 

 May. 1764; Dangos, Jan. 18, 1798; Stark, Feb. 12, 1820. An ob- 

 servation by Schmidt, Oct. n, 1847, * s s^d to be doubtful: but, 

 upon page 192, it is said that this doubt had arisen because of a 

 mistaken translation, and two other observations by Schmidt are 

 given: Oct. 14, 1849, an d Feb. 18, 1850 also an observation by 

 Lofft, Jan. 6, 1818. Observation by Steinheibel, at Vienna, April 27, 

 1820 (Monthly Notices, 1862). 



Haase had collected reports of twenty observations like Lescar- 

 bault's. The list was published in 1872, by Wolf. Also there are 

 other instances like Gruthinsen's: 



Amer. Jour. Sci., 2-28-446: 



Report by Pastorff that he had seen twice in 1836, and once in 

 1837, two round spots of unequal size, moving across the sun, chang- 

 ing position relatively to each other, and taking a different course, 

 if not orbit, each time: that, in 1834, he had seen similar bodies pass 

 six times across the disk of the sun, looking very much like Mercury 

 in his transits. 



March 22, 1876 



But to point out Leverrier's poverty-stricken average or discover- 

 ing planets upon a fifty per cent, basis would be to point out the low 

 percentage of realness in the quasi-myth-stuff of which the whole sys- 

 tem is composed. We do not accuse the text-books of omitting this 

 fiasco, but we do note that theirs is the conventional adaptation here 

 of all beguilers who are in difficulties 



The diverting of attention. 



It wouldn't be possible in a real existence, with real mentality, to 



