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impossible for the orbit of each planet not to be affected in some degree by the attraction of
the other planet. The general law of nature asserts that every body in space attracts every
other body. So long as there is only a single planet, it is the single attraction between the sun
and that planet which is the sole controlling principle of the movement, and in consequence of
it the ellipse is described. But when a second planet is introduced, each of the two bodies is
not only subject to the attraction of the sun, but each one of the planets attracts the other. It
is true that this mutual attraction is but small, but, nevertheless, it produces some effect. It
"disturbs," as the astronomer says, the elliptic orbit which would otherwise have been
pursued. Hence it follows that in the actual planetary system where there are several planets
disturbing each other, it is not true to say that the orbits are absolutely elliptic.
At the same time in any single revolution a planet may for most practical purposes be said to
be actually moving in an ellipse. As, however, time goes on, the ellipse gradually varies. It
alters its shape, it alters its plane, and it alters its position in that plane. If, therefore, we want
to study the movements of the planets, when great intervals of time are concerned, it is
necessary to have the means of learning the nature of the movement of the orbit in
consequence of the disturbances it has experienced.
We may illustrate the matter by supposing the planet to be running like a railway engine on a
track which has been laid in a long elliptic path. We may suppose that while the planet is
coursing along, the shape of the track is gradually altering. But this alteration may be so slow,
that it does not appreciably affect the movement of the engine in a single revolution. We can
also suppose that the plane in which the rails have been laid has a slow oscillation in level,
and that the whole orbit is with more or less uniformity moved slowly about in the plane.
In short periods of time the changes in the shapes and positions of the planetary orbits, in
consequence of their mutual attractions, are of no great consequence. When, however, we
bring thousands of years into consideration, then the displacements of the planetary orbits
attain considerable dimensions, and have, in fact, produced a profound effect on the system.
It is of the utmost interest to investigate the extent to which one planet can affect another in
virtue of their mutual attractions. Such investigations demand the exercise of the highest
mathematical gifts. But not alone is intellectual ability necessary for success in such inquiries.
It must be united with a patient capacity for calculations of an arduous type, protracted, as
they frequently have to be, through many years of labour. Le Verrier soon found in these
profound inquiries adequate scope for the exercise of his peculiar gifts. His first important
astronomical publication contained an investigation of the changes which the orbits of several
of the planets, including the earth, have undergone in times past, and which they will undergo
in times to come.
As an illustration of these researches, we may take the case of the planet in which we are, of
course, especially interested, namely, the earth, and we can investigate the changes which, in
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the lapse of time, the earth's orbit has undergone, in consequence of the disturbance to which
it has been subjected by the other planets. In a century, or even in a thousand years, there is
but little recognisable difference in the shape of the track pursued by the earth. Vast periods
of time are required for the development of the large consequences of planetary perturbation.
Le Verrier has, however, given us the particulars of what the earth's journey through space
has been at intervals of 20,000 years back from the present date. His furthest calculation
throws our glance back to the state of the earth's track 100,000 years ago, while, with a
bound forward, he shows us what the earth's orbit is to be in the future, at successive
intervals of 20,000 years, till a date is reached which is 100,000 years in advance Of A.D.
1800.
The talent which these researches displayed brought Le Verrier into notice. At that time the
Paris Observatory was presided over by Arago, a SAVANT who occupies a distinguished
position in French scientific annals. Arago at once perceived that Le Verrier was just the man
who possessed the qualifications suitable for undertaking a problem of great importance and
difficulty that had begun to force itself on the attention of astronomers. What this great
problem was, and how astonishing was the solution it received, must now be considered.
Ever since Herschel brought himself into fame by his superb discovery of the great planet
Uranus, the movements of this new addition to the solar system were scrutinized with care
and attention. The position of Uranus was thus accurately determined from time to time. At
length, when sufficient observations of this remote planet had been brought together, the
route which the newly-discovered body pursued through the heavens was ascertained by
those calculations with which astronomers are familiar. It happens, however, that Uranus
possesses a superficial resemblance to a star. Indeed the resemblance is so often deceptive
that long ere its detection as a planet by Herschel, it had been observed time after time by
skilful astronomers, who little thought that the star-like point at which they looked was
anything but a star. From these early observations it was possible to determine the track of
Uranus, and it was found that the great planet takes a period of no less than eighty-four years
to accomplish a circuit. Calculations were made of the shape of the orbit in which it revolved
before its discovery by Herschel, and these were compared with the orbit which observations
showed the same body to pursue in those later years when its planetary character was known.
It could not, of course, be expected that the orbit should remain unaltered; the fact that the
great planets Jupiter and Saturn revolve in the vicinity of Uranus must necessarily imply that
the orbit of the latter undergoes considerable changes. When, however, due allowance has
been made for whatever influence the attraction of Jupiter and Saturn, and we may add of the
earth and all the other Planets, could possibly produce, the movements of Uranus were still
inexplicable. It was perfectly obvious that there must be some other influence at work besides
that which could be attributed to the planets already known.
Astronomers could only recognise one solution of such a difficulty. It was impossible to doubt
that there must be some other planet in addition to the bodies at that time known, and that
the perturbations of Uranus hitherto unaccounted for, were due to the disturbances caused by
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the action of this unknown planet. Arago urged Le Verrier to undertake the great problem of
searching for this body, whose theoretical existence seemed demonstrated. But the conditions
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