70 LIGHT SCIENCE FOR LEISURE HOURS. 



to be encountered. In fact, it is almost impossible to 

 conceive a transit the circumstances of which are more 

 inconvenient. On the other hand, however, the transit 

 is of such a nature that if once the preliminary diffi- 

 culties are overcome, we can hope more from its indi- 

 cations than from those of any other transit which will 

 happen in the course of the next few centuries. 



The transit will begin earliest for observers in the 

 neighbourhood of the Sandwich Islands, latest for 

 observers near Crozet Island, far to the south-east of 

 the Cape of Good Hope. It ends earliest for ob- 

 servers far to the south-west of Cape Horn, latest for 

 observers in the north-eastern parts of European 

 Russia. Thus we see that so far as the application 

 of our second method is concerned, the suitable spots 

 are not situated in the most inviting regions of the 

 earth's surface. As the transit happens on December 8, 

 1874, the principal northern stations will be very 

 bleak abodes for the observers. The southern stations 

 are in yet more dreary regions, notwithstanding the 

 fact that the transit occurs during the summer of the 

 southern hemisphere. 



For the application of Halley's method we require 

 stations where the whole transit will be visible, and as 

 the days are very short at the northern stations in 

 December, it is as respects these that we encounter 

 most difficulty. However, it has been found that 

 many places in Northern China, Japan, Eastern 

 Siberia, and Mantchouria are suitable for the purpose. 

 The best southern stations for this method lie unfor- 



