l publication by the Danish Academy
of Sciences. This reason, however, did not commend itself to the
impatient astronomers; and suspicions were aroused that something
besides official formalities was behind the delay. It was hinted
that Hell was waiting for the observations made at other stations in
order that he might so manipulate his own that they would fit in with
those made elsewhere. Reports were even circulated that he had not
seen the transit at all, owing to cloudy weather, and that he was
manufacturing observations in Copenhagen. The book was, however,
sent to the printer quite promptly, and the insinuations against its
author remained a mere suspicion for more than sixty years. Then,
about 1833, a little book was published on the subject by Littrow,
Director of the Vienna Observatory, which excited much attention.
Father Hell's original journal had been conveyed to Vienna on his
return, and was still on deposit at the Austrian National Observatory.
Littrow examined it and found, as he supposed, that the suspicions
of alterations in observations were well founded; more especially
that the originals of the all-important figures which recorded the
critical moment of "contact" had been scraped out of the paper,
and new ones inserted in their places. The same was said to be
the case with many other important observations in the journal, and
the conclusion to which his seemingly careful examination led was
that no reliance could be placed on the genuineness of Hell's work.
The doubts thus raised were not dispelled until another half-century
had elapsed.

In 1883 I paid a visit to Vienna for the purpose of examining the
great telescope which had just been mounted in the observatory there
by Grubb, of Dublin. The weather was so unfavorable that it was
necessary to remain two weeks, waiting for an opportunity to see
the stars. One evening I visited the theatre to see Edwin Booth,
in his celebrated tour over the Continent, play King Lear to the
applauding Viennese. But evening amusements cannot be utilized to
kill time during the day. Among the tasks I had projected was that
of rediscussing all the observations made on the transits of Venus
which had occurred in 1761 and 1769, by the light of modern science.
As I have already remarked, Hell's observations were among the most
important made, if they were only genuine. So, during my almost
daily visits to the observatory, I asked permission of Director
Weiss