2oS Hiflory of JJlrommy for the Year 180 1, 



C. Nouet has fent us from Egvpt an almanac calculate! 

 for that countrv, and fcvcral pofiiions of cities even in Upper 

 Egypt, notwithlt.nuiino the climate, the dangers, and incon- 

 ceivable l.ibour which fuch obfervations require. The value 

 of the dcg'ce is 56,880 toifes; the Egyptian ftadium 711 

 feet; the tgyptian cubit 21-33 inches; the Greek lladiuhi 

 487*543 feet, and ihc cubit 19-5017 inches. In a word, he 

 has arrived iiimfelf, and brought us the continuation of his 

 labours, accompanied with young Ifaac Mechain, the fon of 

 one of our moil celebrated aUronomers, who was his com- 

 panion and co-operator in Egypt. C. Fourrier has brought 

 us drawings of the zodiacs of Upper Egypt, which attell the 

 hich anticjuity of allronomy ; and he proves that the forma- 

 tion of the conftellations goes back 14,000 years, as Dupuis 

 prefumed. 



C. Marquis, prrefeft of La Meurthe, has fent to the Board 

 of Lonoitude obl'ervationsand manufcriptsof P. Barlet, a jefuil 

 of Naucv, whicli contain interelting things. 



I nuid here fav a word ot meteorology. C. Laniarc has 

 publilhcd a meteorological journal, in which he gives a great 

 many oblervations, and indicates the variations of the feafons 

 which may be fuppofed to take place in the couric of the year. 

 71ie minlder of the interior has eftablifhed a meteorological 

 coriefpondence to multiply obfervations; and Lamarc, who 

 folicited this eltablKliment, will make it advantageous to the 

 fcience, which is (lill in its infancy. 



C. Burckhardt, alio, has w rittcn a long and curious work 

 on meteorology. He has examined 15,000 obfervations of 

 the barometer, that he mav be able to calculate the influence 

 of the winds ; and he has found that the fouth wind gives for 

 mean height 27 inches 11*3 lines, while the eatt gives 28 

 inches 1-9 line. He has found alfo that the height on the 

 borders of the Mediterranean fea is 28 inches v% lines, and 

 on thole of the ocean 28 inches 2*8 lines. 



Weil placed weather-cocks are very rare at Paris. There 

 is none at the obfcrvatory, though I requefted one on being 

 appointed din^or; and I have thanked, in name of all ob- 

 fervers, C. Bois, tinman, who having built a houfe on the 

 Quai des Auguftins, has erefted there a lofty and very move- 

 able weather-cock, with letters indicating the four cardinal 

 points, which will be on a line with a meridian I have tiaccd 

 out on the quay. Aftronomers, when they go to the Inlli- 

 tute or the Board of Longitude, will have an opportunity of 

 feeing conveniently tlie direftion of the wind ; and the fame 

 advantage will be enjoyed by the inhabitants of that vaft 

 onay, of the Louvre, and the furrounding hoiifcs, which 



had 



