THE SOUTHERN OBSERVATORY PROJECT. 177 



probably be desirable, in order to see that no requisite point shall 

 have been neglected before abandonment of the station. 



The Dudley Observatory would furnish its transit circle and acces- 

 sories, the essential point in the plan being the use of the same instru- 

 ment in both hemispheres. This instrument is one of the finest of its 

 kind in the world and has been used here until its peculiarities are 

 well understood. ]^Ioreover, the graduation errors of its circles have 

 been determined through a diligent investigation in which the labor 

 of four persons was employed for a total of moire than a year — the 

 most thorough investigation of the kind on record. The effect of this 

 is greatly to increase the accuracy of the instrumental results. 



I have in mind two locations, either of which might possibly 

 answer the purpose. The first is San Luis in Argentina, about half- 

 way between Buenos Ayres and the Andes. This was highly recom- 

 mended by Mr. Davis, chief of the Argentine meteorological ser- 

 vice, as a station for a southern observatory. The second is Bloem- 

 fontein in South Africa, which was very highly recommended by Sir 

 David Gill as a suitable station for the proposed Southern Observa- 

 tory. Last year's investigations showed that Australian stations 

 could only be thought of as a last resort. 



The plan here proposed is one section of my plan as outlined in 

 my original letter of application to the Institution, and the only 

 section calling for a large annual expenditure. The excellence of 

 the result from the general investigation will depend in a large 

 measure upon the execution of the section of the work to which this 

 application relates. 



