LEVITES
206
LEVITES
was to be sought, so that the astronomer Galle of Ber-
lin was able by the aid of his specifications to find the
new planet at once upon looking for it, 2.3 September,
1846. In this way Le Verrier gave the most striking
confirmation of the theory of gravitation propounded
by Newton. He now became a memljer of the Acad-
emy of Sciences, in 1852 wa»s made a senator, and after
Arago's death (1853) was appointed director of the
Paris Observatory, a position he held with a short in-
terruption (1870-73) until his death. Under his skil-
ful and prudent administration the observatory made
important progress both as to equipment in instru-
ments and, mort' particularly, as reganls pre-eminent
scientific achievements of which Le Verrier was the in-
spiration. He was the founder of the International
Meteorological Institute and of the Association Scien-
tifique de Franco, Ixjing tJic pennanent president of
the latter. lie also gave careful attention to tJie geo-
detic work which was iiit(*n<le<i to give the most comr
pletc presentation possil)lo of the configuration of the
earth. The instruments of precision with which, in
order to attain this end, he e(iuippetl the observers
were remarkably complete.
His most important work, however, was the con- struction of tables representing the movements of the sun, moon, and planets: "Tai)les du Soleil" (1S5S); "Tables de Mercure" (1859); "Tables de Venus" (1861); *'Tablosde Mars'* (1801); "Tables de Jupi- ter" (1870); "Tables de Satume" (1870); "Th<5orie d'Uranus" (1S70); "Th^wie de Neptune" (1876); "Tables (I'l'nmus" (1877). All these publications were preceded by theoretical investigations: "Theorie du mouvcment apparent du Soleil" (1858); "Throne de Mercure" (1859); "Th<5orie de V6nus" (1861); "Th(f'orie do Mars" (1861), etc. Considerations simi- lar to those which led to the discover^' of the planet Neptune caused Le Verrier to infer the existence of a planet l)etween Mercury and the sun. But far greater difficulties both were and are here connected with actual discovery than was the case with Neptune. However, Le Verrier on this occa^^ion also showed his masterly skill in handling the various problems of the reciprocal perturbations of the planets and other heavenly bodies, as is shown in his writings on the subject: "Formules propres il simplifier le calcul des perturbations" (1876); "Variations s^culaires des orbitefl" (1876). etc.
With all his erudition Le Verrier was a zealous ad- herent and true son of the Catholic Church; even as deputy of the Assemblv he openly acknowle<lge(i and delended his Catholic faith Ixjfore all the world. He was also a ready speaker, one in no way discomposed by the attacks of opponents, for he knew how l>y pro- found and logical statements to convince his hearers' quickly. When d ving he said in the words of t he aged Simeon: "Nunc cfimittis servum tuum, Domine, in pace". Thase who spoke at the funeral of this re- markable man could tnithfuUy assert that the study of the star-worlds stimulated in him the living l^lief of the Christian to new fervour. Even in the sessions of the Academv he made no concealment of his faith nor of his childfike defXindence on the Catholic Church. When, on 5 June, 1870, he presents! to the Academy his completer! tables for Jupiter, the result of thirty- five years of toil, he emphasized particularly the fact that only the thought of the great Creator of the uni- verse had kept him from flagging, and had main- tained his enthusiasm for his task. He also on this occasion spoke strongly, like his colleague Du- mas, against the materialistic and sceptical tenden- cies of so many scholars. To Lo \ errier is due the organization of the meteorological ser\'ice for France, especially the weather warnings for sea- porU, by which t<Mlay the weather for the follow- ing twenty-four hours can be announced with much pn>bability, a matter of especial importance for agri- eulture and shipping. The "Annales de I'C^bserva-
toire de Paris ", published during the adminiBtratioa
of Le Verrier, consist of thirteen volumes of theoreti-
cal treatises and forty-seven volumes of observations
(180Q-1876) . At the time of his death he was making
plans for equipping the obser\'atoiy with a large new
telescope, and it may be that the stunulating influence
exerteu in this direction contributed not a little tp the
result that everj'where, particularly in North America,
generous-minded patrons appeared who, each in his
own land, gave the money necessary to obtain larger
instruments. On 27 June, 1889, a statue of the dis-
tinguished savant which cost nearly 32,000 francs
($6400), was erected by subscription in front of the
observatory where he had laboured for so many years.
FiQUiER, L'annee acientifiqur tt indiuirieUe, XXI (Paris. 1877); Dknza, CommemoTozione Hi alcuni w^mini iUutiri nelia sciema (Turin, 1877); Heuzeau, Vtidr-mfcum de Vaainmoniir (Bnimeb. 18S2):Annuaire ((or 1K90) published by tho Bureau aes Lon^tudes; Kneller, Dns Chrittentum und die Verireier dtr Naturwissenschaft (2nd ed., Freiburg im Br., 1904).
AdOLPH Mt^LLER.
Levites (D^7, from ^yp, Jycvi, name of the ances- tral patriarch, generally interpreted "joined" or "at- tached to" — ^see Gen., xxix, 84, also Num., xviii, 2. 4, Hebrew text), — the sulx)rdinate ministers appointed in the Mosaic Law for the .stTvice of the TaDcmacle and of the Temple. I-.evi was the third son Iwme to Jacol:) by Lia, and full brother of Ruben, Simeon, and Juda. Togetlier with Simeon he avenged the humilia- tion of their sister Dina by the slaughter of Sichem and his iKJople (Gen., xxxiv), for which deed of violence the two brothers were reproved both in Gen., xxxiv. 30, and in the prophecy attributed to the patriarch in Gen., xlix, 5-7. Waiving all critical discussion con- nected with this incident as also with the other events connected with the history- of the trilx?,.the next point to l>e noticed is the connexion of Levi with the priest- hood. According to the received Biblical account, all the male descendants of the patriarch were set apart by Moses, acting under Divine command, for the ser- vice of the sanctuary, a distinction which may have lx»en due to the religious zoal manifested l>y the tribe on the occasion of the idolatrous worship of the golden calf (Ex., xxxii, 25-29). As it was also the tril>e to which Moses himself belonged, it coidd probably be rclie<l upon mort* than the others to sustain the legis- lator in the establishment and promotion of his reli- gious institutions among the people. The sacred calling of the Levites is mentioned in various passages of the Pentateuch. For instance, the author of the first chapters of Numbers (P), after recalling (iii; cf. Ex., xxviii, xxix; Lev., \nii, ix) the names and sacred func- tions of the sons of Aaron, adds the desi^ation of the entire tribe of Levi who were to *' stand m the sight of Aaron the priest to minister to him. And let them watch, and observe whatsoever appertaineth to the service of the multitude l^efore the tabernacle of the testimony, and let them keep the vessels of the taber- nacle, 8er\'ing in the ministry thereof." Thoujzh in Num., xviii, 23, the special mission of the tnbe is described broadly as a mediation between the Lord and his people, and though the Levite mentioned in the interesting and very ancient passage of Judges (xvii, xviii) is represented as exercising without quali- fication the functions of the priesthood, it is held by many commentators that at an early date a distinc- tion was made between the priests of the familv of Aaron and the simple Levites — a distinction which became ver>' pronounce<l in the later religious history of the Chosen P(K)ple. The ceremonies with which the simple Levites were consecrated to the service of the Lord are descril>e(l in Num., viii, 5-22. Besides their general function of a.<sir<ting the priests, the Levites were assigned to carr>' the Tabernacle and its utensils, to keep watch about the sanctuar>', etc. As most of their duties required a man's full strength, the Levitea did not eiit<T upon their functions before the age of
