248 CERARDI REGNER! FOCKENS 



« rable objeclioiis — demanding no laborious reduclions — and dcpcnding on a branch 

 « of practica! asiroiiomy, which is now bappily cullivated with llie assiduity it so richly 

 K deserves. It may not llien be loo mucli lo hope , Ihat in a few yenrs we shall have 

 « data for a positive decision , respecting at least a ccrtaia number of individual stars, 

 « and thus be enabled to form a rauch better judgement as lo the probable inaumum of 

 K parallax in any. " 

 Enimvero sccundum haue melbodum observationes inslituit nullas ; quod ita excusat : 

 (( It is possible , tbat by some an apology may be thought necessary for a communica- 

 « lion like the present — offered as it is lo Ihe Royal Society as a mere proposal — 

 « not followed out into actual practice. A variety of other pursuits, howevef , and cir- 

 « ciimstances less under my own controul , have hilherto prevented , and will in all pro- 

 « bability coutiuue to prevent , my engaging aclively in the very extensive and labo- 

 « rious series of observations required for this purpose. Should I do so in future, to 

 « which hotvever I by uo means intend to pledge myself , my progress must of necessity 

 « be extremely slow. But should the method itself appear really to possess the advan- 

 « tages I am inclined lo ascribe to it, practical astronomers, I am sure, will bardly 

 <( impute ils pubücation , even unaccompanied with observations , as a fault ; and 

 ■« if iheir encrgy and perseverance should anticipate me in its applicalion , I hope I 

 « should be the first lo acknowledge that the merit of the discovery of parallax must 

 « rest with him , who , whatever be the method he may pursue , shall first point out 

 « the Star in which it cxists , and establish it lo Ihe saiisfaction of asironomers by 

 « nnequivocal observations. " 



Paulo autem post , anno 1827, nonnulla , quae ad eandem pertineant meihodum , ad- 

 didit (*). 



§ 17. 



Interim Struvius, qui ab anno 1814 praefuit spcculae Dorpatensi, ;et ab initio ad 

 parallaxiu ex adscensionibus definiendam aitetitus, et deinceps in hac quaestione sae- 

 pius versatus fuerat. 



Observationes Dorpalenses publici juris fecit Senalus Universitatis anno 1817 (f ). 



Volumen I conlinet , in Catalogo I, disquisitiones de siellis: Cassiopeae », Ursae 



mi- 



(•) Phil. Trans. i8«7. P. I. p. 126. Tom. CXVII. Titiiluj est: CorrectiOn of that paper. 



(*) F. G. W. Struve, Observationes Asfronomicae. Vol. t. (1814 et i8i5) ima cum reductlonibiis 

 prodiit 1817; Vol. II. (1818 et 1819) prodüt 1810; Vol. HI. (i8ao et i8ai ) prodiit i8aa; Vol. lY, 

 ( iSaa et i8a3} prodiit i8z5, 



