is a noble simile, were it only true to the facts. But new planets do not swim around promiscuously in this fashion; and in the case of Uranus, which more nearly realizes the thought of Keats than any other in the history of astronomy, the 'watcher of the skies' felt probably more puzzlement than anything else. Herschel was far from realizing that he had found a new planet. When unmistakable evidence was forthcoming that the newly discovered body was not a fixed star, he merely felt confirmed in the first conjecture which had been suggested by the size of its disc--namely, that he had discovered a new comet; and it was as a new comet that Uranus was first announced to the astronomical world. It quickly became evident, however, that the new discovery moved in no cometary orbit, but in one which marked it out as a regular member of the solar system. A search was then instituted for earlier observations of the planet, and it was found to have been observed and mistaken for a fixed star on twenty previous occasions! One astronomer, Lemonnier, had actually observed it no fewer than twelve times, several of them within a few weeks of one another, and, had he but reduced and compared his observations, could scarcely have failed to have anticipated Herschel's discovery. But perhaps an astronomer who, like Lemonnier, noted some of his observations on a paper-bag which had formerly contained hair-powder, and whose astronomical papers have been described as 'the image of Chaos,' scarcely deserved the honour of such a discovery! When it became known that this new addition to our knowledge of the solar system had been made by the self-taught astronomer at Bath, Herschel was summoned to Court by George III., and enabled to devote himself entirely to his favourite study by the bestowal of the not very magnificent pension of £200 a year, probably the best investment that has ever been made in the interests of astronomical science. In gratitude to the penurious monarch who had bestowed on him this meagre competence, Herschel wished to call his planet the Georgium Sidus--the Georgian Star, and this title, shortened in some instances to the Georgian, is still to be found in some ancient volumes on astronomy. The astronomers of the Continent, however, did not feel in the least inclined to elevate Farmer George to the skies before his due time, and for awhile the name of Herschel was given to the new planet, which still bears as its symbol the first letter of its discoverer's name with a globe attached to the cross-bar [Uranus]. Finally, the name Urᾰnus ('a' short) prevailed, and has for long been in universal use.