(J2 INTRODUCTION TO THE 



unlearned, will never forget the obligations which it 

 owes to Sir Joseph Banks. 



What real acquisitions have been gained, by this 

 munificent attention to science, cannot be better ex- 

 pressed than in the words of Mr. Wales, who en- 

 gaged in one of these voyages himself, and contri- 

 buted largely to the benefits derived from them. 



" That branch of natural knowledge which may 

 " be called nautical astronomy, was undoubtedly in 

 " its infancy, when these voyages were first under- 

 " taken. Both instruments and observers, which 

 " deserved the name, were very rare ; and so late as 

 " the year 1770, it was found necessary, in the ap- 

 " pendix to Meyer's Tables, published by the Board 

 " of Longitude, to state facts, in contradiction to 

 " the assertions of so celebrated an astronomer as 

 " the Abbe de la Caille, that the altitude of the sun 

 " at noon, the easiest and most simple of all observ- 

 " ations, could not be taken with certainty to a less 

 " quantity than five, six, seven, or even eight mi- 

 " mites. * But those who will give themselves the 

 " trouble to look into the astronomical observations 



* The Abbe's words are, " Si ceux qui promettent une si 

 " grande precision dans ces sortes de methodes, avoient navigue* 

 quelque terns, ils auroient vu souvent, que dans l'observation la 

 plus simple de toutes, qui est celle de la hauteur du soleil a 

 midi, deux observations, munis de bons quartiers de reflexion, 

 bien rectifies, different entr'eux, lorsqu'ils observent chacun a 

 " part, de 5', 6', 7', & 8'." 



Ephemer. 1755 1765- Introduction, p. 32. 

 It must be however mentioned, in justice to M. de la Caille, 

 that he attempted to introduce the lunar method of discovering 

 the longitude, and proposed a plan of calculations of the moon's 

 distance from the sun and fixed stars; but, through the imperfection 

 of his instruments, his success was much less than that method was 

 capable of affording. The bringing it into general use was re- 

 served for Dr. Maskelyne, our astronomer royal. See the preface 

 to the Tables for correcting the Effects of Refraction and Parallax, 

 published by the Board of Longitude, under the direction of 

 Dr. Shepherd, Flumian Professor of Astronomy and Experimental 

 Philosophy at Cambridge, in 1772. 



a 

 it 

 ti 

 it 



