History of the Discovery of the Planet Neptune. 193 
the opportunity of being first to announce the discovery, by de- 
ferring too long the discussion of his observations. — 
The news of this capital discovery was brought to this coun- 
try by the steamer of October 4th, and every telescope was im- 
mediately turned upon the planet. It was observed at Cambridge 
by Mr. Bond, Oct. 21st; it was seen at Washington, Oct. 23d 
at once an enviable reputation. He has been literally over- 
whelmed with honors received from the sovereigns and acade- 
mies of Europe. He has been created an officer of the Legion 
of Honor by the King of France, and a special chair of Celestial 
Mechanics has been established for him at the Faculty of Sci- 
ences. From the King of Denmark he has received the title of 
Commander of the Royal Order of Dannebroga; and the Royal 
Society of London conferred on him the Copley Medal. The 
Academy of St. Petersburg resolved to offer him the first vacancy 
in their body; and the Royal Society of Gottingen elected him 
to the rank of Foreign Associate. 
Thus have the predictions of Adams and Le Verrier, with re- 
'd to the place of the planet at the present time, been wonder- 
fully fulfilled; but is this body pursuing the orbit which these 
mathematicians had prescribed for it? Since its first discovery, 
the planet has advanced but three or four degrees in its orbit» 
We have less than two years’ observations to determine an orbit 
which it requires more than a century to complete. ‘The com- 
putation has been made; but a result derived from so short a pe- 
tiod must be received with some distrust, on account of the una- 
voidable imperfection of all observations. ‘The best observations 
are liable to small errors; and a slight error in the measurement of 
@ minute portion of the orbit, would lead to a much larger error 
in the computed length of the remainder of the path. We must 
have observations for a long series of years, to furnish the orbit 
with all desirable precision. Under these circumstances, it | 
Comes a question of the highest interest, whether this body may 
not have been observed by astronomers of former years, and mis- 
taken for a fixed star. If we could obtain one good observation, 
made sometime in the last century, it would enable us at once to 
determine the orbit with nearly the same precision as that of Ju- 
piter itself, It will then be presumed that astronomers have not 
neglected to explore the records of the past, to discover if pos- 
sible some chance observation of the new planet. 
Mr. Hind of London, adopting the predicted elements of Le Ver- 
rier, examined Lalande’s and other observations for this purpose, 
and satisfied himself that the new planet was not there to be 
found. An American Astronomer, Mr. Sears C. Walker, was 
