9 8 



Mr. Henry Wilde on a 



Bode's Numbers. 



Astronomical Units. 

 Earth = 1. 



Observation 

 Distances. 



Differences. 



Diff. + -024. 



0-387 



-0-OI3 



-0-037 



0723 



+ 0*023 



- o - ooi 



I'OOO 



O'OOO 



- 0-024 



I- 5 2 3 



- 0-077 



— O'lOI 



2750 



-0-050 



-0-074 



5-202 



+ 0-002 



— 0'022 



9"539 



- O-461 



-0-485 



19-183 



-0-417 



- 0-441 



30-036 



-8-764 



-8788 



Mercury ... 



Venus 



Earth 



Mars 



Minor Planets 



Jupiter 



Saturn 



Uranus ... 

 Neptune ... 



+ 4= 4 



3 + 4= 7 



6 + 4= 10 



12 + 4 = 16 



24 + 4= 28 



48 + 4= 52 



96 + 4 = 100 



192 + 4= 196 



384 + 4 = 388 



o'o + -4= 0*400 

 0-3 + '4= 0-700 

 o'6 + "4= rooo 

 1 "2 + '4= 1 "6oo 

 2-4 + -4= 2-800 

 4-8 + -4= 5-200 

 96 + '4= io-coo 

 19-2 4- -4 = 19-600 

 38-4 + - 4 = 38-800 



At the time when the multiple proportions of the 

 planetary distances were discovered, all the minor planets 

 were unknown, when Bode, having noticed the void between 

 the distances 16 and 52, ventured to predict the discovery 

 of a new planet with a distance of 28. Such was the con- 

 fidence in the existence of this body that a number of 

 German astronomers formed themselves into a society for 

 the express purpose of searching for it. The discoveries of 

 Ceres by Piazzi, Pallas and Vesta by Olbers, and of other 

 minor planets were, doubtless, due to the well-grounded 

 conviction of the existence of a planet between the orbits 

 of Mars and Jupiter, as predicted by Bode. 



Another important application of Bode's law was made 

 by Adams and Leverrier in their first determinations of the 

 elements of the unknown planet Neptune. The late 

 Astronomer Royal (Sir George B. Airy), in his historical 

 review of the circumstances connected with the discovery 

 of this planet, says that, "if the mathematicians, whose 



