604 A new Binary Progression of the Planetary Distances. 



of the distance of Neptune is the outermost position of the 

 planet in relation to the other members of the system, with 

 the consequent conjoint attractions of all the planets, acting 

 through every part of their orbits, to contract continuously 

 and permanently his radius vector to the amount shown in 

 the observations. The large amount of this contraction is 

 strong presumptive evidence against the existence of a 

 planetary body beyond the prbit of Neptune. 



25. A further consequence of the outermost position of 

 Neptune is the small amount of the eccentricity of his orbit, 

 0'009, or nearly six times less than the eccentricities of 

 Uranus, Saturn, and Jupiter, which, excepting Venus, 0'007, 

 is ihe nearest approach to a circular orbit of any member of 

 the system. 



26. It is not a little remarkable that the inevitable effect 

 of the outermost position of a planet, to contract continuously 

 its radius vector, has never presented itself to Lagrange, 

 Laplace, and other writers on celestial mechanics, who have 

 elaborated the doctrine of the absolute stability of the solar 

 system . The effect of the conjoint attractions of all the planets 

 upon Neptune is clearly demonstrated by the diagram, whereon, 

 from the exigencies of space, the intra-Jovian planets are not 

 included. 



27. Reverting to the small amount of the difference 

 between the sums of the binary progression in column 4, 

 Table I., and the observation distances in column 5, it will 

 be seen that the latter is a plus quantity, as 104*162 — 

 103*25 = 0*912. Now as the amount of the contraction of 

 the radius vector of Neptune is 19*410 Mercurian units 

 (696,000,000 miles), as shown in column 6, the plus difference, 

 0-912, between the two sums of the binary progression and 

 the observation distances may well be accounted for as being 

 the amount of the reciprocal attractions of all the planets upon 

 Neptune in accordance with Newton's third law of motion, 

 acting through periods of time too immense for calculation in 

 the present state of our knowledge. 



28. Assuming the future contraction of the orbit of 

 Neptune to be continuous, his radius vector will ultimately 

 coincide with that of Uranus, when the two bodies would 

 either revolve together about their common centre of gravity 

 in the same orbit, or coalesce to form a single self-luminous 

 planet, when the same operation would be repeated in 

 succession with other members of the system. 



29. It is further postulated that all the planets would 

 ultimately coalesce to form one or more self-luminous bodies 

 revolving round the Sun, as one of the binary or ternary 



