336 Astronomy. [Lecture 21. 



equator, and protuberant at the poles. To de- 

 cide this important question which had now be- 

 come a national dispute, it was ordered by the 

 French king that a degree should be measured, 

 both at the equator and polar circle, so that from 

 a comparison of these with that in France, the 

 true figure of the earth might be determined in 

 as exact a manner as possible. 



For this purpose, Messieurs Maupertuis, Clai- 

 raut, Camus, Le Monnier, and Outhier, were 

 sent to the north of Europe to measure the re- 

 motest degree they could reach ; and Messieurs 

 Godin, Bouguer, and La Condamine, to Peru, in 

 .South America, to measure a degree near the 

 equator. The first of these companies began 

 their operations at Tornea, near the Gulf of 

 Bothnia, on the 8th of July 1736, and finished 

 them about the beginning of June 1737. M. 

 Maupertuis, soon after their return to France, 

 published an exact and interesting account of all 

 their transactions. 



The result of this measurement was found to 

 be, that an arc of the meridian contained between 

 the parallels of Tornea and Kittis was equal to 

 fifty-five thousand twenty-three and a half fa- 

 thoms. And as the magnitude of this arc was 

 found, by means of the zenith distances of cer- 

 tain fixed stars, to be 57 minutes 28 and 2-3ds 

 seconds, it was determined, after proper correc- 

 tions, that the true length of a degree of the 

 meridian which cuts the polar circle is fifty- 



