This historic book may have numerous typos and missing text. Purchasers can download a free scanned copy of the original book (without typos) from the publisher. Not indexed. Not illustrated. 1737 Excerpt: …observed and reckoned from o. Before drawing these consequences, I cleared the observed zenith distances of the star from the small error caused by the dislocation of the centre, of which I shall speak in its place. I did not even neglect the refraction, tho’ less than a second, at 1 deg. iom. from the zenith. See the table. The. instrument remained in the same condition till the other solstice; but as we had experienced the inconveniency of illuminating the threads of so long a telescope, by holding a light near the object glass, we were obliged to take down the telescope, -to make an opening on one side the focus. And the moisture too that had relaxed the silken strings-of the micrometer, forced us to use a remedy thereto, which made a second verification the more indispensably necessary at the ensuing solstice. Having been detained at Lima longer than I expected, for want of a vessel, I was not able to reach Quito before the 20th of June, the day before the solstice: However, I was just soon enough to assist at the fust observation. We continued the 21st, 22d, and 23d, to take the meridian altitudes of the inferior and northern limbos the sun; and the 24th Mr. Bouguer and myself observed the southern limb, which-was likewise observed the 26th end 27th, but either cither too soon or too late, and so we made no use thereof….. If all our observations had been of this limb, which we always observed at the other solstice, we should thereby have gained the advantage of being able to conclude the tropical distances, without having any regard to the sun’s diameters in our computations; since it had been sufficient to have made use of the difference of the semidiametcrs at the two solstices, about which observers differ scarce above a second, whereas they hardly…
