If we assume an equable distribution of their orbits, and the limits of their Perihelia, or greatest proximities to the Sun, and the possibility of their remaining invisible to the inhabitants of the Earth, and base our estimates on the rules of the calculus of probabilities, we shall obtain as the result an amount of myriads perfectly astonishing.
"COSMOS: A Sketch of the Physical Description of the Universe, Vol. 1"
Alexander von Humboldt
Perihelia occurring beyond the orbit of Mars can seldom be observed by the inhabitants of the Earth, owing to the faintness of the light of distant comets; and among those already calculated the comet of 1729 is the only one which has its perihelion between the orbits of Pallas and Jupiter; it was even observed beyond the latter.
"COSMOS: A Sketch of the Physical Description of the Universe, Vol. 1"
Alexander von Humboldt