214 MATHEMATICS, ETC. 
stranger still, the finder is not an Astronomer, but a physician, Dr. Lescarbault 
by name, living at Orgeres (Kure et Loir.) The facts are simply these: on the 
26th March last, the sky was overcast in many parts of France, but the Sun shone 
bright on the plateau of Orgeres. Dr. Lescarbault, happening at the time to have 
a little leisure, took an observation of the San thr ough his telescope, and saw to 
his surprise a small round black spot pass over the Sun’s disk. He carefully noted 
down the time, and afterwards calculated that the chord described by the planet 
subtended an are of about 9 m.13s, M. te Verrier having published the result 
of his calculations in September last, the Doctor wrote to him to acquaint him with 
the above fact. ‘This was sufficient reason for M. Le Verrier to set out for Orgeres. 
Here he learned that Dr. Lescarbault was a man of great learning and universally 
respected, and that he had but one fault—that of troubling himself too much about 
the stars. On arriving at Dr. Lescarbault’s abode, M. Le Verrier was astonished 
to find a regular Observatory there, with instruments chiefly contrived by the 
Doctor himself, in consequence of his very limited financial means The worthy 
physician not having a chronometer has nevertheless male himself a pendulum 
striking seconds, by means of an ivory ball and a bit of string. M. le Verrier 
asked him many questions on his observations—and his manner of acquiring the 
data relating to the new planet, and received the most satisfactory answers. 
According to M. Le Verrier’s calculations, the chord described by the planet must 
have subtended an are of 9m.17s. So that the Doctor with his clumsy appara- 
tus was only 4s. wrong. The Doctor estimates the diameter of the new planet at 
810 leagues, and the inclination of its orbit to the ecliptic at 12 degrees. If such 
are its dimensions, it is likely that there are more planets still in that region. The 
revolution round the Sun is performed in 19 days and 17 hours; in its greatest 
elongations, its distance from the Sun does not exceed 7 degrees, while Mereury’s 
maximum elongation is 25 degrees. It was lucky that M. Le Verrier had resolved. 
upon going in person; for, the Doctor’s observatory being strangely deficient in 
paper, his calculations were generally written in charcoal on a deai-board, and when 
it was full, the Doctor used to plane it down by way of cleaning it. This precious 
deal-board, charged with all the calculations relating to the planet, has been 
obtained by M. Le Verrier, and presented to the Academy.” 
The preceding will make a capital page in the Romance of Science. Mr. Scott, 
the Chamberlain of the City of London, writes to the Times, claiming that he 
also saw this (or another) planet about Midsummer, 1847, crossing the sun’s disk 
at sunset, seeming, by a hasty calculation, to be of the same size as Venus, or 
- about 4,000 miles in diameter. No transit of Venus or Mercury occurred at the 
time; and Mr. Scott thinks he could not have mistaken a spot of the sun, as the 
image was “ perfectly circular, and its outline was as sharply defiaed as a blot of 
the darkest ink on the whitest of paper,’ and, moreover, it had disappeared at 
sunrise; whereas, had it been a spot, its position would have required six or 
seven days before it would have been carried out of sight. Mr. Seott communi- 
cated his observation to several persons, but had not sufficient confilenee to pub- 
lish so startling a fact. Dr. Dick, however, on becoming aware of it, referred him 
to a passage in one of his works, where, with the doctor’s well-known facility of 
conjecture, he had speculated on the possibility of the existence of such planets, 
