54 ANNUAL 11EC0KD OF SCIENCE AND INDUSTRY. 



gasaki. The southern parties were distributed among the 

 stations by the U. S. steamer Swatara, Captain R. Chandler, 

 which sailed from New York June 7, 1874, and visited the 

 five southern stations in succession. 



The northernmost station was Vladivostok, a new sea- 

 port of Siberia on the Sea of Japan, lat. 43 N., long. 132 

 E. of Greenwich. The chief of the party was Professor A. 

 Hall, of the Naval Observatory, Mr. O. B. Wheeler, of the 

 Lake Survey, being assistant astronomer. The party sailed 

 from San Francisco in the Alaska on July 28, and finally 

 reached Nagasaki on August 30. Here they went on board 

 the U. S. steamer Iiearsarge, which conveyed them to Vladi- 

 vostok. This port was established by the Russian govern- 

 ment about 1868, more to strengthen its position in this 

 quarter than on account of any commercial advantages. It 

 was therefore made into a military post, with a military 

 government. The violent winds and intense cold which pre- 

 vail at this port during the winter rendered much exertion 

 necessary to prevent the light portable observatories which 

 the party had carried from home from being blown away en- 

 tirely, and to keep the photographic house warm enough to be 

 used. Some difficulty was found in making the instruments 

 work well at so low a temperature as sometimes prevailed, 

 but they were all overcome before the day of the transit. 

 When this eventful time arrived, instead of the perfectly 

 clear weather they had every reason to expect, the sky was 

 covered with a thin haze, which continued during the entire 

 four hours of the transit. In consequence it was found ex- 

 ceedingly difficult to obtain good photographs. Thirteen 

 were taken ; but the ima^e of Venus is so faint that Great 

 pains will be required to determine its position with the 

 necessary accuracy. The haziness did not interfere so much 

 with telescopic observations as with the photographs, so 

 that the astronomers succeeded in observing three out of 

 the four contacts. 



Pekin. At this station Professor James C. Watson, of 

 Ann Arbor, was the chief of the party, and Professor C. A. 

 Young, of Dartmouth College, assistant astronomer. The 

 record of the weather at Pekin during the month of Decem- 

 ber for a number of years showed a remarkable freedom 

 from clouds, an entirely cloudy day being almost unknown. 



