SUPPLEMENTARY PAPERS. 89 
directed their efforts towards the accomplishment of an international 
convention of this character which, at the same time, should form 
some determination with regard to ‘the First Meridian generally to 
be accepted. A point which, “if with regard to the immediate object of 
the congress is not indispensably necessary, has, from its near connec- 
tion with it, become included in its consideration. Among such as 
these, pre-eminent mention must be made of Mr. Sandford Fleming, 
sometime Chief Engineer of the main lines of railway in Canada, at 
present Chancellor of Queen’s University, Kingston. It is through 
his indefatigable personal efforts and writings that influential 
individuals and scientific and practical societies and institutes in 
America as in Europe have been gained to the cause. Especially 
the Canadian Institute in Toronto, the American Society of Civil 
Engineers, and the American Metrological Society of New York, 
who in common busied themselves with the question and appointed 
special commissions to consider the subject, and passed resolutions 
for the further prosecution of the business. The result of these 
efforts was that the Government of the United States of North 
America in August, 1882, was induced through their diplomatic 
representatives at the Governments of all civilized countries to invite 
the latter to send delegates to an international conference to be held 
at Washington to consider the question. 
It must be regarded as an important preparation to this confer- 
ence, that scientific men in Europe had had an opportunity before- 
hand of exchanging their views on the subject under consideration, 
and were enabled from their own standpoint authoritatively to 
recommend certain resolutions which could count upon the support 
of their respective Governments. The initiative was taken by the 
Senate of the free city of Hamburg which proposed that the subject 
should be brought up at the Congress, summoned to meet in Rome 
in September, 1883, of Kuropean “Astronomers and of men interested 
in Geodesy and in the division of measurement of the degree. The 
permanent Committee of the latter Society willingly accepted the 
proposition, and convened for this object a meeting of prominent 
scientific men, who, beside the immediate matter of the measurement 
of the degree, issued an invitation to other learned men to take 
part in the deliberations, from which a satisfactory opinion with 
regard to the Unification of Longitude and Time could be expected. 
It was seen from the beginning that with regard to the important 
matter, the choice of a First Meridan,a marked majority would declare 
itself in favour of Greenwich, which, apart from all other considerations, 
sufficiently satisfactorily commended itself upon the ground that 
approximately nine-tenths of all the Sea Charts in use on sea voyages 
are constructed according to this Meridian, so that the common 
acceptance would be effected in the easiest manner, and would call 
