But to point out Leverrier's poverty-stricken average--or discovering
planets upon a fifty per cent. basis--would be to point out the low
percentage of realness in the quasi-myth-stuff of which the whole system
is composed. We do not accuse the text-books of omitting this fiasco,
but we do note that theirs is the conventional adaptation here of all
beguilers who are in difficulties--
The diverting of attention.
It wouldn't be possible in a real existence, with real mentality, to
deal with, but I suppose it's good enough for the quasi-intellects that
stupefy themselves with text-books. The trick here is to gloss over
Leverrier's mistake, and blame Lescarbault--he was only an amateur--had
delusions. The reader's attention is led against Lescarbault by a report
from M. Lias, director of the Brazilian Coast Survey, who, at the time
of Lescarbault's "supposed" observation had been watching the sun in
Brazil, and, instead of seeing even ordinary sun spots, had noted that
the region of the "supposed transit" was of "uniform intensity."