Astronomy. 287 
defect in the material or workmanship would be very sure to cause a 
dispersion of light which would be fatal to its visibility. 
It remains to be seen whether this will prove to be the hitherto invisi- 
ble body disturbing the motions of Sirius, the existence of which has 
on n i 
pleted and published by Mr. Safford. The following passage is extracted 
a i ege. Al- 
uding to the operations at the Observatory, the Report gives, as the con- 
clusion of this discussion, “an interesting confirmation of Bessel’s hy 
@ observations made by 
College, published in Bri 7, p. 20. 
The first three of these, namely, those for May 9, 11 and 12, were found 
4gree with the nearly cotemporaneous ones made here, but the re- 
Maiuder presented an unaccountable discrepancy. ; 
A comparison with Mr. Hall’s ephemeris of Maja, published in the 
Astronomische Nachrichten, No. 1315, showed that the Cambridge se-" 
Nes entire, and the first three of the Hamilton Col lege positions, belonged 
Maja; but the remaining eight, from May 29th to June 18th, differed 
— from the ephemeris. That the latter was not at fault, was proved 
Y its accordance with all the Cambridge positions. : 
@ systematic character of the differences, suggested, as a possible 
*xplanation, that Dr. Peters had, in the interval between May 12th and 
, left the track of Maja, and fallen upon a new planet. Mr. Saffo 
proceeded to verify this conjecture by computing from Dr. Peters’ pub- 
ished observations of May 29th, June 7th and 13th, the following ele- 
Ments, which have a decidedly asteroidal character :— 
1861. May 293851 Wash. m. t. 
, M 221° 24’ 456 
7 350 28 3 
Q 208 37 a 
> 8 21 498 
The observ. ; ee imate positions, for 
a ations, as printed, furnished only approxima i , 
Mb of accurate ng a comparison i. Oe latter have since 
supplied from the Harvard Zones. ‘The elements representing the 
*orrected places are as follows :-— 
