Astronomical SocietiJ. 223 



He therefore conceives that it would be an object highly worthy 

 the attention of astronomers to re-examine and re-reduce the ori- 

 ginal observations of Flamsteed, with the aid of all the accessions 

 of accuracy which modern improvements have introduced, in the 

 determination of the corrections. The chief difficulty would lie 

 in the corrections for the barometer and thermometer, which Flam- 

 steed has not recorded. But he remarks that, should no registers 

 of these instruments at that period and in that district be found 

 elsewhere, no great error would arise from employing a mean state 

 of the barometer, and adopting a scale of temperature deduced for 

 each day in the year from the meteorological journal of the Royal 

 Society, from a mean of several years by night as well as by day. 



It is not known at what precise period Flamsteed's catalogue was 

 constructed ; his observations were made between 1689 and 1719, 

 and the reductions were performed between 1696 and 1708. But, 

 besides the observations reduced and published in his catalogue, 

 there exist in his journal a great many which have never yet been 

 reduced at all. Miss Caroline Herschel has discovered no less than 

 560 of this kind, and these are probably not all. These ought to 

 be included in any re-computation which may be set on foot. 



One peculiarity in Flamsteed's mode of observation is to be con- 

 sidered as fortunate, not only as affording facilities for reduction, 

 but as producing a probable exemption from many instrumental 

 errors ; viz. that it appears to have been his practice to observe 

 in zones. Still the task of reduction could not but be considerable. 

 Mr. Baily, however, conceives that great benefit could not but re- 

 sult were it only partially executed ; reducing 200 or 300 of the 

 principal stars from the total observations of each star. If this were 

 done, it would authorize a fair judgment of the value of the whole 

 mass ; and were such partial reduction attended with satisfactory 

 results, he thinks no doubt could exist that public spirit enough 

 would be found to support and carry through the bold and difficult 

 undertaking he suggests. To any one who may be inclined to 

 make the preliminary trial, he recommends as a useful aid Miss 

 Herschel's " Catalogue of Stars taken from Mr. Flamsteed's Obser- 

 vations," published by the Royal Society in 1798, which contains 

 a list of all the stars observed by him, but not in his catalogue, as 

 well as an index to every observation of every star, and a copious 

 list of errata. 



Mr. Baily concludes by expressing his hope that these remarks 

 may attract the attention of some astronomer who has both talent 

 and leisure for the pursuit of an inquiry of this kind, and who may 

 thus become the means of restoring Flamsteed's observations to the 

 high rank they once held, and to which it is hoped they will still 

 be found justly entitled. 



Mr.Thomas Taylor, jun., of the Royal Observatory at Greenwich, 

 transmitted the following ephemeris of the positions of the four new 

 planets, at their ensuing oppositions, computed by himself; at the 

 same time remarking that the places of Ceres and Vesta difl'ered ma- 

 terially from the places as given in Bode's Aslro)iovusc/icJahr6uch. 



The computations are for the noon of each day. 



