74 French National Institute. 



this great and difficult operatioiij which will form a very 

 excellent completion to the description of the meridian of 

 D-tiiikirk and Barcelona. They have fortunately triumphed 

 over every obstacle ; by their perseverance in braving the 

 severest cold, snows, winds, heat, and storms, they suc- 

 ceeded in uniting by two great triangles the isles of Ivica 

 and Formentera on the shores of Valencia. What remains 

 to be done in order to add nearly three degrees to the grand 

 meridian is much easier; and its success is undoubted ; be- 

 cause from this moment it depends upon the care and the 

 precision of the geometrical and physical knowledge with 

 which our young astronomers are endowed, as well as upon 

 their zeal and courage. 



M. Messier has presented to the class a beautiful drawing 

 which he made of the nebulus of Orion, to which he has 

 added that of Legenlil, and another much more difficult to 

 see, which he discovered in 1773. Some astronomers 

 thought they had remarked on a large scale changes of form 

 and of light, owing probably to the different glasses which 

 they usetl. M. Messier gives the dimensions and size of his 

 glasses ; and with his drawing, which appears in our Me- 

 moirs of 1807, astronomers will one day be able to ascertain 

 if these changes are real, or only optical illusions. 



The storih which was experienced at Paris on the 21st of 

 October, 1807, and the no less extraordinary wind of the 

 following day, deserve to be recorded in the annals of 

 meteorology. M. Messier has collected all the details with 

 care, and has consulted all the registers of observations 

 kept for 50 years without finding any thins; similar. At the 

 conclusion of a no less violent storm, which took place on 

 the 3d of November following, the lightning struck the 

 church of Montvillicrs ; and M. Messier has also presented 

 us with details respecting this catastrophe. 



The year 1807 will be celebrated by the discovery of a new- 

 planet, and the long-continued appearance of one of the 

 most beautiful comets ever seen. The planet was discovered 

 at Bremen by M. Olbers, and the letter to M. Lalande, 

 amiouncing the circumstance, arrived a few minutes after 

 the death of that prince of astronomers. M. Burckardt im- 



medialcly 



