1805.] 



Hijiory of AJironomy for 1 804. 



S07 



Aldebaran which he had obferved at Ver- 

 faiiles the 15th April. He c.ilcuhtfd the 

 orbit of the c»met of 1774 ; he difcover- 

 ed that of 1781 ; fince which period he 

 lias never ceafed to render himfelt ulefiil 

 in that part of the fcience. Toe Dulce 

 d'Aycn prefented him with inftruments, 

 the ufe of which Me-hain had taught 

 him. In 1790 he difcovered his eighth 

 comet ; and enjoyed the advantage of 

 having not only dil'overed it, but i.lce- . 

 wile of giving obiervations and calcula- 

 tions of its orbit. In 1782 he gained the 

 prize of the Academy on the fiibj^6t of 

 the comet of 1661, whole return was ea- 

 gerly expeiled in 1790. Having betn 

 received into the Academy the fsme year, 

 he wa> loon charged with the fuptrin- 

 tendance of the Connoijfance Jes Terns. — 

 Never was that woik. io ?bly conduced ; 

 h€ CDiiched it eveiy year with his labours. 

 Tne volumes from 1788 to 1794 are per- 

 haps fuperior to any fiiice the commence- 

 ment of the work ii) 1679. In 1792 he 

 undertook, in conjunction with M. De- 

 lambre, the labour of meafiring the de. 

 grets of the meridian, in order the mr^re 

 accurately to dettrmii.e the magnitude of 



tlie earth and the leng'h of a metie 



This undertaking was not worth the time 

 it coft our two beft aftronoiners, and the 

 lofs it occafiontd us. But Borda eagerly 

 pudied the en'.erprize, to (hew the advan- 

 tages ot his whole circles, which he hid 

 brought into vogue, and of which hecon- 

 lidcred himfclf as the inventor. On the 

 i5h June, i7j2,Mechain (ct out to mea- 

 lure tne triangles from Peipignan to Bar- 

 celona. The war fufpendcd his labours, 

 which he however completed in the fol- 

 lowing year. A dangerous accident af- 

 feif\ed his conftitDtlon, and he returned at 

 rlie conclufion of 1795 to Perpign^n. I 

 have related in my Bibliography what 

 liardfhips he encountered on t.ie dange- 

 rous fummits of the Pyrenees, an t what 

 ilitficu!tK;< he experienced tdl in 1798 he 

 was jomcd by M. DcUmbre. They at 

 length ariived at Puis in tiie month of 

 December the fame year. Mecham was 

 long e gaged in drawi-ig up an Account 

 ol Ins la.>oU!S ; and he arranfjcd the ob- 

 lirvatory, io>: which, when I wisdireftor, 

 I had procuied a mural quaoranr nottI>y 

 of iiis care. The injury his health ha I 

 fultained and the hirdlhips he had under- 

 gone did not d lunt him ; he was lie'irous 

 of piol. noting the m^-ridian to the idind 

 \v\ct, ll.at the 45th parallel might be in 

 the m'ddle of the tot»i arch. He let out 

 »li« !!th January 1805 ; he fixed with in- 

 finite trouble upon all the Itatijni where 



he was to make his obfervatlons. Hav- 

 ing finllhed at Efpadan, on the 30th of 

 Augulf, he '"et off for the ftation of De- 

 fierto near Cape Oropela. Thi* was the 

 fourth, and he hoped to finifh the four 

 O'hers in 1805, when he was feized with 

 the ftimmer-fever, which is occafioned by 

 the rice. grounds, and annually f'A'eeps 

 away twenty thouf.md perfons on the coalt 

 of Valencia. He expired vn the loih of 

 September at Caltellon de la Plana. 



A more extenhve Memoir of his la- 

 bours, with his portrait, will be found in 

 Baron von Z^ch's Journal for July 1800. 

 His laft obfervations and calcula inns of 

 the eclipfe ot the Sun of the iiih of Fe- 

 bruary are in the ConnorJJancc des Terns 

 for the ^eir 15, which hasjult appe^r.-d. 

 He publifhird a great number in the Ephe- 

 merides of M. Bode of Berlin. He pre- 

 feired that work to the Conmilfance des 

 Terns, fince I became the editor of the 

 latter. He has left two fans, who fuc- 

 ceifively b^-gm to ftudy allronomy, but 

 who fuccefiivcly abmdoned that fcience. 



On the 1 2th of Nu'ember the Inftimte 

 appointed M. Burckl:ardt, who was be- 

 fore known as one of the firft aftronomers 

 of Europe, to the place vacant by the 

 death of M. M?chain. 



Among the lofles ful<ained byaftronomy 

 muft undr.u'iredly be reckoned that of the 

 Duke of Gotha, to whom we are indebt- 

 ed for one of the fined olilervatories in 

 Germiny, and who loved and cultivated 

 all the fcieiices. 



Ernelt I. Duke of Saxe-Gotha, died 

 the 30th April, in the fi8th ye*r of his 

 age, and the 331! of his reign, in confe- 

 quence of a confumption. This Prince 

 made obfei v.'tions and calculations him- 

 felf. He alfilfed in the completion of 

 works, or dedaved the expences ot their- 

 publication. The lecetit menfuration of 

 a degree by Baron von Zach, the firft tin- 

 derraken in Germany, hitherto the only 

 one in its kind, places h'm in the rank of 

 the ruyal protei'itors of aftrcn^my, with 

 this difference, that the plan ot this tnttr- 

 prize was formed by hi< "•'■■n intelligence, 

 and the expences were defr.iyrd by his 

 economy ; lb thai, wi;h the merit of a 

 conno.ffe'.'r, an author, and a proteclor, 

 he combined 'he virtuis of an eulighien-- 

 ed fchol'u- a;^d of a gene' oms prince. 



The following is a pilf-tge fro'n the 

 Duke's wi'l, written witli hi« own hand : 

 " I cie^ed at a confider.'.ble txoence the 

 o^feiv-jru.y of Sceberg, ne.ir Gotna. I. 

 I'upplied the funds l.om rhc fruits of my 

 economy, without demanding the leaft' 

 affiltance from my ftaie. It has been vi- 

 <ij z fiicJ 



