322 FIGURE OF THE EARTH. 



latitmle, tlosij^netl to connect with the last, and thus embrace an arc of about 

 70^. total length, from one extremity of Europe to the other. 



It would be impossible, without overstepping the limits which discretion pre- 

 scribes, to carry further this enumeration of geodesic labors already accom- 

 plished, or in course of execution, or projected for early realization. The eartli 

 would be seen to be covered with an immense net-work of triangles, whose 

 meshes interlace more and more every day, so as to leave to truth thus earnestly 

 sought less and less chance of finally evading detection. In this Avork of so 

 many ages, where, more peidiaps than in any other, man has displayed the 

 talent and irresistible energy with which he is endowed, Spain is to-day taking 

 an active and honorable i)art. The summits of our mountains, although con- 

 stantly visited by distinguished military functionaries, resound not now with 

 the echoes nor are seen clothed with the smoke of battle. They serve not as 

 watch-towei's of wiir, but as stations for geodesic signals, true symbols of peace 

 and of culture. 



But, as is opportunely asked, in order to dispel the doubt, by one of the most 

 estimable intellects of our country,* To what end do so many measurements 

 of the globe conduce ? What practical result is expected from such laborious 

 and persevering attempts 1 Of results to be appreciated by the material and 

 tangible interests involved, perhaps none; but does science pi'opose for its ex- 

 clusive object the satisftiction of man's primary necessities? Hunger and thirst 

 appeased, is there, indeed, nothing beyond ? Wretched 'would be the science 

 which would shut itself up within such narrow limits, which should restrict the 

 soul to the care of its frail tenement, and seek in the secrets of nature no trace 

 of its Creator, which should refuse to lift itself from the abject to the elevated, 

 from the slough of earth to the etherial regions of infinity. And taking for 

 granted that there is nothing fortuitous in the universe, and that the earth, instead 

 of being spherical, is elliptical, or of a more complicated form, does not science 

 fulfil its appropriate task when it investigates the true figure of this little globe 

 of GUI'S, not for the simple pleasure of knowing it, but with the further purpose 

 of discussing the reason of that form, its origin, the changes experienced, the 

 perturbations by Avhich it may have been affected, the influence it exerts or the 

 function it fulfils in the admirable co-ordination of the created whole? If all 

 this is not worth the trouble of investigation, to what other mystery of the physi- 

 cal world should man, in preference, consecrate his studies ? 



III. 



Having mentioned the principal geodesic operations which have, at difi'erent 

 times, been efi'ected in difterent countries, to determine the form of the earth, 

 it remains only to indicate the manner in which the partial results deduced from 

 those operations have been combined, in order to obtain the final result, which 

 is, at present, regarded as most approximate to the existing reality. Three 

 distinct modes have been successively adopted for arriving at the proposed end. 



As the result of inexact observations, and an incomplete theory, it was first 

 assumed that the earth's figure was perfectly spherical. The labors of Picard, 

 and of the French geom(!ters, who immediately followed him, conclusively 

 demonstrate the fallacy of this supposition ; since, in contradiction of such an 

 hypothesis, very diffei-ent terrestrial radii were found to result from the several 

 degrees of meridian measured, and within limits too wide to admit of the infer- 

 ence that tliese differences were, collectively, attributable to errors of observa- 

 tion, or mistakes in calculation. 



The laws even then recognized, of the universal attraction of matter, the 



aspect of certain planets, such as Jupiter, which exhibit a flattening towards 

 » 



* Sr. Vasquez Queipo : Disquisition on fho Discourse of Senor Saavedra Meneses, before 

 cited. 



