HISTORY OF GEODETIC OPERATIONS IX RUSSIA. 



By Col. B. WiTSKOWSKi, of tbe General Staff, 

 and Prof. J. Howard Gore, B. S., Ph. D. 



From the time of the unification of the several Moscovite states there 

 has been felt the need of descriptions of the separate parts. But it was 

 not until the middle of the sixteenth century that the inexact and un- 

 satisfactory " Great Plan" made any attempt towards filling this need. 

 Systematic geodetic operations, however, did not receive any attention 

 until the time of Peter the Great, who sent out foreigners, especially 

 invited for this purpose, together with such Russians as had been under 

 their instruction, to make surveys of different parts of the empire. 

 These disconnected surveys were made without any definite correlation 

 of the separate parts, and in a very crude manner — using cords for 

 measuring lines, astrolabes for angle determinations, and large quad- 

 rants for latitude observations. 



When Delisle arrived in St. Petersburg in 172G, in response to an 

 invitation from the emperor, an impetus was given to the exact sciences. 

 In connection with the Academy of Sciences, founded likewise in 1726, 

 he organized special astronomic expeditions for determining, in addi- 

 tion to other work, the geographical position of points to check the 

 geography of the Great Plan, and to make such revisions as might be 

 necessary. In these operations longitudes were determined by the 

 eclipse of Jupiter's satellites. The result of these expeditions was the 

 Russian Atlas, edited by the Academy in 1745, consisting of one gen- 

 eral and nineteen special maps, constructed on a scale of 34 versts* to 

 the inch. Notwithstanding its imperfections, this atlas was far superior 

 to any of its period, and ante-dated all general maps except those of 

 France and Italy. 



Delisle awakened great interest in astronomy at Russia's capital, and 

 secured the necessary permission and aid to observe every important 

 astronomic event that was visible from any part of her domain. This 

 created a need for assistants, and called forth a number of astronomers 

 whose names are known to us, as Krassiluikow, a member of Bering's 

 expedition; Krashennikow, who made the first description of Kam- 



*■ 1 verst equals 3,500 English feet. 

 H. Mis. 129 20 305 



