: Fan. 11, 1883 | 
School, where Royal Exhibitioners and other free students 
are admitted without payment; where the teacher has 
the first claim, and where he can attend any single course for a 
nominal fee. Now every town of importance in the country 
should associate itself with the Government in this attempt, and 
should have one, at least, of its citizens always in training there, 
so that the scientific instruction in that town, whether primary, 
secondary, or tertiary, should always be at its highest level. On the 
other side of the road, too, at South Kensington, is rapidly rising 
another institution where we may hope the teachers of our technical 
instruction will receive an equally careful training. So that you 
see, to bring what 1 have to say to a conclusion, that though we 
are late in the day, though many people have not yet made up 
their minds as to what is best to be done—and I acknowledge 
that the question is hedged in with difficulties on all sides— 
there is an easy solution of the difficulty based on the experience 
of other countries, which is at the same time an act of simple 
justice ; that this solution requires no dislocation if we adopt it, 
but simply a natural growth of our existing means, and that all 
the newest developments of our educational machinery will all 
fall naturally into place. 
THE TRANSIT OF VENUS * 
The Observations at the Cape 
“THE long looked-forward-to transit of Venus occurred yester- 
day afternoon, causing, we may be sure, a flutter of ex- 
citement amongst astronomers throughout the whole of the 
world. To some the special duty was entrusted of carefully 
noting everything connected with the ingress of this familiar 
planet, and after they had concluded their labours at the setting 
of the sun, it fell to astronomers in other portions of the globe 
to pay equally minute attention to the planet’s egress. By and 
bye we may expect columns of thoughtfully worked-out details in 
connection with this peculiar and interesting astronomical event, 
all of which will tend to still further solve the problem of the exact 
distance of the sun from the earth, We need not remind our 
readers that herein consists the whole scientific value of the 
transit. _When crossing the sun’s disc the planet is at its nearest 
distance from the earth—estimated at about 25,000,000 miles—and 
through the peculiar facilities thus afforded of directly measuring 
its parallax, observers are enabled to calculate the parallax 
of the sun, which to astronomers is a matter of very considerable 
importance. The credit of the suggestion of this particular 
method of calculation is due to Dr. Halley, and it is still popu- 
larly held to be the best for the purpose. But accompanying 
the rapid strides astronomic science has taken in its development 
since the days of Halley, instrumental means have been invented 
and accepted by modern astronomers, which appear to afford 
methods, perhaps even more exact, of arriving at the desired 
result. For all this, however, the transit of Venus retains a 
powerful hold upon the popular mind, and, indeed, upon the 
minds of many astronomers, as the best method. There is, too, 
one specially strong argument why a particular interest should 
be taken in this planet’s transit. No one who witnessed the 
phenomenon yesterday will live to see it again—unless, indeed, 
he fairly outrivals old Parrand other gentlemen famed for long- 
evity. Occurring as these transits do at the unequal but regular 
recurring intervals of 8, 122, 8, and 105 years, no one could well 
expect to see more than two in a lifetime. ‘The last took place 
in 1874, while the next will occur in December, 2007. It need, 
therefore, be no longer surprising why, both popularly and 
scientifically, the event is regarded as one of such special in- 
terest, and why the most eminent scientific observers are selected 
to note everything that takes place. 
Before proceeding to refer to the observations which were 
taken yesterday at the Royal Observatory we may mention that, 
acting under the advice of the Astronomer-Royal of the Cape 
of Good Hope (Dr. Gill), the British Transit of Venus Com- 
mittee decided upon establishing stations at Aberdeen Road and 
Montagu Road as auxiliary places of observation to the principal 
Station here at the Observatory itself. And before proceeding 
further it may be added that Natal has come forward very 
pluckily in this matter, exhibiting an amount of interest in 
astronomic science which does great credit to that colony. Mr. 
Escombe himself contributed a sum of between 4oo/, and soo/. 
for the purpose of providing a proper telescope; while two 
merchants subscribed 50/7. each, the Corporation of Durban 
giving 300/,, and the Natal Government voting 500/. towards 
* From the Cage Times, December 7, 1882. 
NATURE 
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298 
founding an observatory for the colony, and the defraying of 
expenses connected with taking observations of the present 
transit. Asa pleasant sequel to this, we are glad to learn by 
telegraph, that Mr. Neison, who was in charge of the party of 
observation there, most successfully observed the internal con- 
tact at Durban, the enterprise of Natal thus meeting with a 
well-merited reward. As announced by us some time since, 
South Africa was selected by the Americans as a station for one 
of their photographic transit of Venus expeditions under the 
charge of Prof. Newcomb, who has the reputation of being one 
of the most celebrated of living astronomers. On arrival here 
Prof. Newcomb, after consultation with the best authorities as to | 
atmospheric conditions, &c., finally decided, with the kind 
consent of the trustees ofthe Huguenot Seminary to take his 
observations from the foot of the gardens of that institution at 
Wellington. We hope to shortly hear of the entire success of 
the labours of the party, and perhaps to see some specimens of 
their photographic skill. 
At the Observatory itself it need scarcely be said that for 
some weeks past great preparations had been made for the event. 
There are few living astronomers who have more carefully 
studied the subject of the transit of Venus than the present 
Astronomer-Royal here, Dr. Gill, and few are more thoroughly 
posted up 1n all the details of the rare occurrence. In 1574 Dr. 
Gill was Chief Astronomer to Lord Lindsay’s Transit of Venus 
Expedition to the Mauritius, where he not only took most valu- 
able observations, but evinced a very intimate acquaintance with 
the entire subject. It was only to be expected, therefore, that 
in this instance no detail in connection with the arrangements 
for a proper observation in Cape Colony would be lost sight of 
by the Astronomer-Royal. The few visitors who received invi- 
tations to the Observatory yesterday found Dr. Gill courteous 
and affable as ever, but wholly absorbed in the important work 
onhand. ‘‘ You may go here and go there, look through that 
glass and have a peep through the other one,” were his remarks 
just before commencing operations, ‘‘ but whatever yon do, 
please don’t speak to me or any of the observers until the internal 
contact has been made.” No injunction not to speak to the 
“‘man at the wheel’? could have been more respected than this, 
and from that moment until a couple of hours later Dr. Gill and 
his assistants became objects of almost reverential awe to those 
outside the pale of strict astronomic science. 
One of the principal instruments employed was a new equa- 
torial telescope by Grubb of Dublin, made and sent out here 
specially for the transit of Venus, the old wind tower in which 
it is now mounted having been prepared as an observatory for 
itsreception. There was also aheliometer which had been used 
at the last transit by Dr. Gill at the Mauritius, and was after- 
wards borrowed by him from Lord Lindsay for use on the Isle 
of Ascension, where he made a determination of the sun’s dis- 
tance from the planet Mars. Subsequently this fine instrument 
was purchased by Dr. Gill and was brought out here as his 
private property on his being appointed Astronomer-Royal at 
the Cape. Another noticeable instrument employed yesterday 
was the great theodolite intended for the trigonometrical survey 
of India. The designs of Col. Strange, however, from which it 
was constructed, were so long in being carried out in manufac- 
ture that General Walker, the Director of Survey, decided not 
to bring it into use, especially as it was somewhat too heavy 
for service in the field, Upon the apolication of Dr. Gill, it 
was lent by the Indian Government, for the purpose of some 
special researches in which that gentleman was engaged at the 
time, and it was successfully employed the other day in taking 
observations of the great comet. The other instruments included 
a small equatorial telescope of 34 inches aperture, which was 
used by Mr. Stone on the occasion of the last transit of Venus ; 
an equatorial telescope of 7 inches aperture, which has also been 
for some time at the Observatory, and a telescope of 2% inches 
aperture belonging to Capt. Jurisch, examiner of diagrams in 
the Surveyor-General’s department. Having mentioned the 
several instruments, we must go on to state by whom they were 
used. Dr. Gill himself observed the contact of Venus with the 
sun’s limb, with the new 6-inch aperture equatorial, a similar 
observation being taken by Mr. Maclear with the 7-inch equa- 
torial. Dr. Elkin, a scientific friend and guest of the Astrono- 
mer-Royal, took observations with the heliometer; Mr. Free- 
man, with the great theodolite; Mr. Pillans, with the small 
equatorial ; and Capt. Jurisch with his own equatorial. Several 
important measures were also taken at the heliometer by Dr. 
Gill and Dr. Elkin, 
