but Messier had a rival in Méchain who, between 1781 and 1799, discovered 8 comets.
Delambre has preserved the following anecdote of Messier as related by La Harpe:—"Some years ago he lost his wife: looking after her hindered him from seeing a comet for which he was on the watch, and of which Montaigne of Limoges had pilfered him. He was in despair. After a while some one spoke to him of the loss he had sustained; he replied, still thinking of his comet: 'Alas, I have found 12 comets and Montaigne has robbed me of my 13th!' Thereupon tears filled his eyes: then remembering that it was for his wife that he ought to weep, he set to work to do so, saying, 'Ah! Poor woman,' but it was really for the comet that he was weeping."[1]
Fig. 28._on_March_19,_1890.jpg)
DISCOVERY FIELD OF BROOKS'S COMET (1890, ii.) ON MARCH 19, 1890.
After the beginning of the 19th century comet-hunting went out of fashion until about 1880, from which time onwards till the present year several American observers have worked most industriously and successfully in this field. Accordingly in the catalogues of comets discovered during the last 30 years the names of Brooks, Barnard, Perrine and Swift recur with monotonous frequency, and these 4 astronomers have distanced all their rivals in the world; even the Germans, who have done a great deal in connection with comet-hunting, have been distanced. Between 1877 and 1908 inclusive, no fewer than 20 first discoveries stand to the credit of Brooks, 19 to Barnard, 13 to Perrine, and 11 to Swift. These figures compare very favourably with the 13 comets discovered by Messier between 1760 and 1798 and the 27 discovered by Pons between 1803 and 1827. The
- ↑ Histoire de l'Astronomie au dix-huitième siècle, Paris, 1827, p. 770.
