Mitchell's letter to Mr. Bond of the 3d of October, it seemed worth
while at least to make the attempt to procure the medal for his
daughter. Although the attempt might be unsuccessful, it would at any
rate cause the priority of her discovery to be more authentically
established than it might otherwise have been.
I accordingly wrote to Mr. Mitchell for information on the subject, and
applied for, and obtained from Mr. Bond, Mr. Mitchell's original letter
to him of the 3d of October, with the Nantucket postmark. These papers
were transmitted to Professor Schumacher, with a letter dated 15th and
24th January.
On the 8th of February I wrote a letter to my much esteemed friend,
Captain W.H. Smyth, R.N., formerly president of the Astronomical Society
at London, requesting him to interest himself with Professor Schumacher
to obtain the medal for Miss Mitchell. Captain Smyth entered with great
readiness into the matter, and addressed a note on the subject to Mr.
Airy, the Astronomer Royal, at Greenwich. Mr. Airy kindly wrote to
Professor Schumacher without loss of time; but it was their united
opinion that a compliance with the condition relative to immediate
notice of a discovery was indispensable, and that it was consequently
out of their power to award the medal to Miss Mitchell. Mr. Schumacher
suggested, as the only means by which this difficulty could be overcome,
an application to the Danish government, through the American legation
at Copenhagen.
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