384 Notices respecting New Sooks, 



Delia Lf'ngiludine, e Lalitndine, delle Citta di Pisloja e Vrato, 

 (2#c. Delia Longitudiiie, e Lalitndine, Geoiirafica delle Citlii 

 di Fbllerra, S. Miniato, e Fiesole, Memorin, ts'c. 

 " On the Latitude and Longitude, &:c. of tlie Cities of Pistoja, 

 Prato, Voltena, St. Miniato, and Fiesole. Bv Father 1n- 

 GHiRAMi, Public Professor of Astronomy in the Ximenian In- 

 stitute, and of the higher Mathematics in the College of the 

 Scuole Pie of Florence. 1817." 



The former of these Memoirs is printed in the Transactions of 

 the Royal Academy of Pistoja, and is the first account of the tri- 

 gonometrical Survey of Tuscanv now executing by the author; 

 the latter is printed in a distinct tract. Those who believed 

 every thing promulgated by Buonaparte, perhaps expected that 

 such an undertaking originated with him, but the contrary is the 

 fact ; and so far from encouraging it, he abiclutely prevented 

 Baron Zach from proceeding in his experiments in ISOS. It 

 is true he made a road over a part of the Alps ; but if he did, it; 

 was merely to facilitate the passage of the plunder of Italy to 

 Paris. It was reserved for the paternal government of Ferdi- 

 nand III. and a professor of religion, not of infidelity, to execute 

 this arduous part of national geography : and the unassuming 

 manner as well as judicious accuracy with which it is commenced, 

 is the best answer which could be given to the French reproach 

 of ignorance and incapacity in the natives of Tuscany. The in- 

 struments used by Professor Inghirami were constructed by 

 Baron Reichembach of Munich, and consist of a theodolite or 

 repeating circle, telescope, &c. which he has found singularly 

 accurate and perfect. The greatest triangle which the author has 

 hitherto been able to observe and measure in a country covered 

 with mountains is about 40,000 French toises ; as he repeats 

 his observations always nine, or ten times, with the difference 

 verv rarely of two seconds in each observation, he justly cou' 

 eludes that it is impossible an error greater than IS" could oc- 

 cur; but in by far the greater number of instances he has found, — 

 thanks either to the extreme accuracy of his instruments or to 

 his own skill in observing, — an almost total identity. Thus, in 

 the angle from Pietra Marina to Volterra he found only 27 hun- 

 dreds of a toise in 10,000 toises, and in that ffom St. Miniato to 

 Volterra only 26 hundreds of a toise ; in other instances much 

 less. But in a brief analysis it is impossible to convey any ade- 

 quate idea of the author's labours in this interesting branch of 

 trigonometry. The latitude of Florence at the Observatory over 

 the Museum on the left bank of the Arno, is calculated at 43* 

 46', 4'6" north, and the longitude from the Island of Ferrd 28"* 

 55' 2'4". The author 'a first station was on t!ie Cocollo, one of 



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