208 
POPULAR SCIENCE REVIEW. 
The detection of Uranus seems, indeed, to have been tbe pre- 
lude to many similar discoveries, and to have offered the incen- 
tive to greater diligence and energy on the part of observers in 
various partg of the world. 
Many great discoveries have resulted from accident ; and 
the leading facts attending that of Uranus prove that in a 
large measure the result was brought about in a similar way. 
llerschel, as he unwearyingly swept the heavens night after 
night, was in quest of sidereal wonders — such as double stars 
and nebulae, and he happened to alight upon the new planet 
in a purely chance way. He had no expectation of finding such 
a remarkable object, and indeed, when he had found it, wholly 
mistook its character. There could be no doubt that it was a 
body wholly dissimilar to the fixed stars, and it was equally 
certain that it could not be a nebula. It had a perceptible 
disc, for when it had first come under the critical eye of its 
discoverer he had noticed immediately that its appearance 
differed widely from the multitude of objects which crossed 
the field of his telescope. He had been accustomed to see hosts 
of stars pass in review, and their aspect was in one respect 
similar, namely, they were invariably presented as points of 
light incapable of being sensibly magnified, even with the 
highest powers. True there was a great variety of apparent 
brightness in these objects, and a singular diversity of con- 
figuration, but there was no exception to the invariable feature 
referred to. The point of light was constant, and no striking 
exception was anticipated until one night — March 13, 1781 — 
llerschel being intently engaged in the examination of some 
small stars in the region of Gemini , brought an object under 
the range of his telescope, which his eye at once selected as 
one of anomalous character. Applying a higher power, he 
noticed that it exhibited a planetary disc, but his instrument 
failed to define it with sufficient distinctness, and hence he 
became doubtful as to its real nature. The object was found to 
be in motion, and subsequent observations led him to the 
assumption that it must be a comet of rather exceptional type. 
This appeared to be the best explanation of the strange body, 
for history contained many records of curious comets, some of 
which were observed as nearly circular patches of nebulous 
light, and probably of similar aspect to the object then visible ; 
and apart from this, it must be remembered that the idea of a 
large planet exterior to Saturn was a fact of such momentous 
import, that llerschel, with a due regard to that modesty which 
accompanies true genius, refrained from attaching such an inter- 
pretation to his observations. He was content to direct the 
notice of astronomers to it as a phenomenon requiring close 
attention, and- suggested that it might be a comet in conse- 
