136 MEMOIR OF AUGUSTUS DE MORGAN. 



1846. to rest where it is, and not compromise the working utility, 

 The planet perhaps the very existence, of their very useful body by persist- 

 ing in demanding a decision from those who have the best 

 possible reasons to know that they cannot agree. 



And afterwards : 



The Society has given to both M. Leverrier and Mr. Adams 

 the full value of twenty medals, or rather, a prize of a higher 

 order than any medal. All the bases of the discussions take for 

 granted that both those gentlemen possess much more than the 

 ordinary share of merit to which, under usual circumstances, 

 medals are awarded. All the varieties of opinion are formed 

 upon this nucleus, and could not have existed without it. In all 

 but the mere gold which goes to the manufacture, the dis- 

 coverers have had their medals over and over again. 



But, as was natural, the Astronomical Society could 

 not feel quite satisfied to do nothing, and though gold 

 medals were not given in the year to the two discoverers, 

 their merits were not long afterwards acknowledged by 

 Testimonials from the Society to each gentleman, ' For 

 his Researches in the Problem of Inverse Perturbations, 

 leading to the Discovery of the Planet Neptune. 9 ' 



I have said more of this discovery than may be thought 

 to belong to my husband's work in the Society. But all 

 that he said and wrote on the question was strongly 

 characteristic, expressing his high estimation for all the 

 intellectual and, I may add, moral qualities of the parties 

 concerned, and his exceeding disregard of distinctions. 

 But besides this I have heard that the way in which 

 many of the impediments were surmounted was due to his 

 . counsel. 



Other questions connected with the Astronomical 

 Society had arisen during the year 1846 in which Mr. 

 De Morgan was involved. 



The old difficulty of organisation was strongly felt at 



1 Testimonials were given in the same year to the Astronomer 

 Royal, Prof. Argelander, Mr. Bishop, Sir J. flerschel, Prof. Haussen, 

 Mr. Hencke, Mr. Hind, Sir J. Lubbock, and Mr. Weisse. 



