SUPPLEMENTARY NOTE ON VENUS CAMERON. 277 



To better the record, it was necessary to see Venus when less 

 than thirty -one days from that date, and less than 7| from the 

 sun. 



The thirty-first day before conjunction was June 8th. The 

 midday sky was cloudy then, and so it was on the 9th, 10th, and 

 llth. On the 12th we had the pure blue sky that follows 

 summer rain, and at noon my naked eye found Venus " disgrace 

 fully easy." So my notes say. I suppose they mean it would 

 have been disgraceful for even a bad eye (as was one of the two 

 that made the observation) not to see her. They go on : " Eye 

 holds her dodging through clouds, and picks her up over and 

 over again." This was twenty-seven days before conjunction- 

 On the 13th, she was easier than on the 12th. Then there were 

 nine days unfit for observation. On the 23rd, we had another 

 of those glorious skies that follow a spell of rain and fog, and 

 Venus was again easy, and was found very quickly after being 

 located by a field-glass. On the 24th, she was not so easy, 

 because the sky was white. On the 25th, the sky was fine, and 

 my naked eye saw her for the last time before conjunction. It 

 was fourteen days before, and the angular distance from the 

 sun's centre was under 4. 



All the observations from June 12th to June 25th, were made 

 between 12 and 12.30, (60 W. time), when Venus was very near 

 the meridian, As the conjunction was a July one like the 

 inferior conjunction of 1892 the very same day, indeed, July 

 9, in both cases I had the advantage of high altitude. 



This is likely my last note on this subject, and it may be as 

 well to set down here a summary of the extreme observations 

 which I have managed to make on Venus both with the naked 

 eye and with an opera-glsss. A description of the glasses I 

 used is given in the article cited, p. 354*. 



With naked e} r e ; 



(a) At inferior conjunction 3 days before the conjunction 

 of July 9, 1892. Elongation 6 50' from sun's 

 centre. Altitude 64. 



