ADAMS AND LEVERRIER. 133 



time, and in order to secure the certainty of merit in the J 847. 

 candidate, this could not be adjudged by a smaller ma- xeptune! et 

 jority than three to one on the Council. On the present The Astro- 

 occasion the Council, which for the adjudication of the Society's 

 medal met always in January, was so divided in opinion 

 on the question that the requisite majority was not ob- 

 tained. It was felt that although M. Leverrier's claim 

 was unquestionable, the acknowledgment of it in this form 

 would be a manifest injustice to Mr. Adams, whose claim 

 in one way was possibly greater, though it failed in the 

 requisite element of success that of its being publicly 

 made known. On this arose a great difference of opinion 

 among members as to the right steps to be taken. All 

 were anxious that full justice should be done to both dis- 

 coverers, and all were naturally desirous that the Astro- 

 nomical Society should not be behindhand in its acknow- 

 ledgment of the great gain to Science of the discovery, 

 made, as it had been, by Mathematical calculation. 



No decision was come to, though the discussion had 

 been long and anxiously carried on in the Council, and 

 the time for the award went by. But the great body of 

 the members could not readily submit to leave things as 

 they were without further explanation, and a special 

 general meeting was called to consider the propriety of 

 suspending the by-laws and of reconsidering the whole 

 question. 



There were some members of the Society who took no 

 part in the usual work, but attended meetings on great 

 occasions, when it might be expected that their names 

 would give weight to their opinion. One of these was 

 Mr. Babbage, who was known to have a strong predilec- 

 tion for French science, and as strong a feeling against 

 that which had any connection with Cambridge. He also 

 attached much importance to the distinction of a medal, 

 and thus was led strongly to support the claim of M. 

 Leverrier, to the exclusion of that of Mr. Adams. Not 

 succeeding in his efforts to reverse the decision, or rather 



