In last April I had the honour of presenting to the Society a paper containing expressions for the variations of the elliptic constants in the theory of the motions of the planets. The stability of the solar system is established by means of these expressions, if the planets move in a space absolutely devoid of any resistance*, for it results from their form that however far the approximation be carried, the eccentricity, the major axis, and the tangent of the inclination of the orbit to a fixed plane, contain only periodic inequalities, each of the three other constants, namely, the longitude of the node, the longitude of the perihelion, and the longitude of the epoch, contains a term which varies with the time, and hence the line of apsides and the line of nodes revolve continually in space. The stability of the system may therefore be inferred, which would not be the case if the eccentricity, the major axis, or the tangent of the inclination of the orbit to a fixed plane contained a term varying with the time, however slowly. The problem of the precession of the equinoxes admits of a similar solution; of the six constants which determine the position of the revolving body, and the axis of instantaneous rotation at any moment, three have only periodic inequalities, while each of the other three has a term which varies with the time. From the manner in which these constants enter into the results, the equilibrium of the system may be inferred to be stable, as in the former case. Of the constants in the latter problem, the mean angular velocity of rotation may be considered analogous to the mean motion of a planet, or its major axis ; the geographical longitude, and the cosine of the geographical latitude of the pole of the axis of instantaneous rotation, to the longitude of the perihelion and the eccentricity; the longitude of the first point of Aries and the obliquity of the ecliptic, to the longitude of the node and the inclination of the orbit to a fixed plane; and the longitude of a given line in the body revolving, passing through its centre of gravity, to the longitude of the epoch. By the stability of the system I mean that the pole of the axis of rotation has always nearly the same geographical latitude, and that the angular velocity of rotation, and the obliquity of the ecliptic vary within small limits, and periodically. These questions are considered in the paper I now have the honour of submitting to the Society. It remains to investigate the effect which is produced by the action of a resisting medium; in this case the latitude of the pole of the axis of rotation, the obliquity of the ecliptic, and the angular velocity of rotation might vary considerably, although slowly, and the climates undergo a considerable change.
XXV. Reply to Mr. Airy's Remarks of Professor Challis's Investigation of the motion of a small sphere vibrating in a resisting medium
