514 L. Swift—Intra-Mercurial Planets. 
sun, I do not know. I saw them three times, and attempted, 
at the last moment, to get another observation, but at the crit- 
ical moment, a little cloud passed over the sun, and I hastened 
to observe again the sun for the third contact and attending 
phenomena. At each of the observations, by careful compari- 
son, they appeared exactly of the same magnitude, and both as 
red as Mars. I looked closely for twinkling, but they were as 
free from it as the planet Saturn. They both, at the time, 
seemed to my eye and mind to have a small round disk about 
like the planet Uranus. Whether the disks were imaginary or 
real, I cannot tell, but every time I saw them (the stars) the 
disks attracted my attention. Immediately after totality I 
recorded the following in my note-book. “Saw two stars 
about 8° southwest of sun, apparently of the fifth magnitude, 
some 12’ apart, pointing toward the sun. Both red.” 
Last evening I experimented with my telescope with the 
same aperture and eyepiece, to verify or to change my estimate 
as to distance apart, and I find that they appeared a little 
farther apart than half the distance between Mizar and Alcor, 
or, say, about 7’ instead of 10’ or 12’ as estimated at the time. 
Though at the time I estimated the direction of the stars as 
southwest of the sun, I am inclined by reflection to change it 
to south of west. 
ne of the stars may have been Theta Cancri, and yet there 
are several chances against a planet being exactly of the same 
itude, color and appearance, as a star; and it appears to 
me that Theta is most too far north. I would not be surprised, 
if the truth were known, if both were planets. 
Prof. Watson, who claims to have seen a new star 24° south- 
west of the sun and of the 45 magnitude, may, when he pub- 
lishes his observations, throw a little light on the subject. 
Should he have seen the same, of course the priority of discov- 
ery belongs to him by about two minutes. That one or both 
are intra-Mercurial planets, I have no doubt whatever. 
It may not be out of place here to say that I was led to the 
discovery by an accident, the result of carelessness. A strong 
and fitful breeze was blowing from the southeast which shook 
across the tube near the eye-end, the other resting on the 
ground to the west of the telescope. Then, for fear it would 
fall against my head, I tied it to the tube with a string. As 
followed the sun, the pole would easily drag along the ground. 
I intended to remove the pole at the commencement of totality, 
but in the excitement I forgot it. When I began to swee 
along the ecliptic for Vulean, I found to my horror, that if 
