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Col. M. com- With the same spirit, it is natural to suspect, Don Rodriguez 

 Don^R* by s P ca ^ s of Colonel Mudge as " a skilful observer," and merely 

 merely as a such j adding, that " one cannot but admire the beauty and 

 skilful observ- perfection of the instruments employed" by him : while, when 

 he characterises the labours of the French measurers, he 

 assures us they " merit the highest degree of confidence," and, 

 " by the sanction of such an union of talents, give such a de- 

 gree of credit and authenticity to their conclusions, as could 

 scarcely be acquired by other means." I shall not animadvert 

 upon this invidious contrast j but simply remark here, that 

 the Don adopts a strange method of verifying his positions. 

 He admits, that Colonel Mudge is a skilful observer, who 

 knows very well how to employ his instruments j and, that 

 there may remain no doubt on that head, publishes a long paper 

 to prove, or at least to show it probable, that he has made a 

 mistake of 4| seconds in the determination of a zenith-distance. 

 This animadverter has, as he assures us, gone through all the 

 Colonel's computations by different processes, and found them 

 correct, or only evincing very trifling discrepancies, such as 

 may naturally arise from the diversity of methods ; yet he 

 cannot find in his heart to drop a single word of commendation 

 on him as a computer or as an investigator. 



The preceding remarks will suffice, 1 apprehend, to render 

 manifest the probable object of Don Rodriguez's paper. I 

 shall now proceed to enquire how far the reasons assigned by 

 this gentlemen bear him out in his attempt to throw suspicion 

 upon the operations of Colonel Mudge, in measuring an arc of 

 the meridian. The Don's paper, it is true, is rather desultory 

 and unconnected ; but, I trust I shall neither misrepresent him, 

 nor do injustice to his arguments, by endeavouring to reduce 

 them to the following order: 

 Don. R. s first * • Colonel Mudge's observations must be wrong somewhere, 

 reason for because his results do not correspond with those of the French 

 thTacairacy nieasurers. This is not positively affirmed, but every where 

 of the Eng- strongly implied : for Don R. assumes his value of the radius 

 tlons^efilted of tne earth's equator from the French measurements and com- 

 putations j and he takes it for granted, that the fraction exhi- 

 biting the ratio of the difference of the earth's axes to the 

 major axis, technically termed the cotripression, lies somewhere 

 between those limits, (. JL- and _i_ ^ which a superficial ob- 



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