Note 368 — Chapter V · Jesuit Colleges and their Work before the Suppression of the Society (1540–1773).

Bibliogr. Astron., 1792, p. 722; see Maynard, p. 205.—For many decades it was suspected that Father Hell had tampered with the figures of his observations after others had been published, so as to make his square with the rest. In the Atlantic Monthly, Nov. 1900, Professor Simon Newcomb, of the Washington Naval Observatory, completely exonerates Father Hell from this malicious charge. The distinguished American Astronomer, who professes in his article a personal affection for the Jesuit scientist, has examined the manuscripts of Father Hell, in Vienna, and found that the accusation was groundless, and based on the assertion of a man whose sight was defective. Professor Newcomb further affirms that Father Hell’s observations gave figures somewhat different from those of other astronomers, but that recent discoveries have proved the Jesuit’s observations to have been the more correct ones.