Lieut. Davis on the Prime Meridian. 397 



great benefit, upon which sometimes the safety of a vessel at sea 

 may depend. They are also accustomed to employ British charts 

 and chronometers ; and it is very desirable to secure the greatest 

 possible facility for their use, and comparison for the future, and 

 in every quarter of the world ; throughout ail parts of which our 

 communication with British ships, ports, and means of navigation 

 is intimate and habitual. 



For these and similar reasons, it will be better if our own me- 

 ridian is so situated as to admit of an easy interchange with that 

 of Great Britain, particularly at sea, where intercourse is always 

 necessarily brief, and frequently, owing to circumstances of weath- 

 er, distance, or haste, very difficult. 



If the meridian of Washington, which, as the capital of the 

 country, it will first occur to us to select, be adopted, it will prove 

 unsuited to these emergencies. The longitude of Washington is 



o O C 1 



in time about 5h. 8m. and 16s., or in space 77° 04' from Green- 

 wich. These are inconvenient sums to add or subtract ; their 

 application is not ready and easy. This meridian will also cause 

 that kind of difference in the division of our charts, the face of 

 our chronometers, the reading of our text-books of navigation, 

 &c., which would seriously interfere with the habits of our pres- 

 ent, and the wants of our future nautical men. These as I have 

 said, are considerations worthy of great regard. 



The life of commerce subsists by the mutual interchange of 

 relations, not material only, but also personal and intellectual. 

 These relations are, in our case, much more numerous and com- 

 plex with Great Britain than with any other nation, on account 

 °f her large fleets, her distant colonies, and our community of 

 speech. We may omit to provide for the wants and habits grow- 

 ing out of them, but we cannot alter, indeed as a great commer- 

 cial people we do not desire to alter, the fact of their existence. 



To avoid in some measure the difficulties and inconveniences 

 already stated, and to satisfy as far as possible, the demands of 

 daily practice, I propose to establish an arbitrary meridian at the 

 city of New Orleans, which will be exactly six hours in time and 

 ninety degrees in space from the meridian of Greenwich. These 

 round numbers are easy in their use and application. They are 

 taken from or added to the headings of charts, the readings of 

 chronometers, or the values in the astronomical ephemens, with- 

 out delay, and with little danger of mistake. 



They are also convenient for the interchange of longitudes at 

 sea. This meridian cuts the great valley of the west and ap- 

 proaches to the central line of our territory on this side of the 

 Rocky Mountains. It passes nearly through the centre of the 

 great eastern slope of the continent, and enters the city of New 

 Orleans, the mart and outlet of its products and trade. I propose 

 to call it the meridian of New Orleans, in which city a spot is to 



Second Series, Vol. VIII, No. 24.— Nov., 1849. 51 



