82 



observations was, the discovery that lime-water is an infallible antidote 

 to the poison of the plant, and also that the juice of the plant can be 

 largely iised in dyeing, as it yields several brilliant colours that will fix 

 themselves readilj^ in cloth or yarn. 



14. "Results of Observations taken for Longitude by Meridian 

 Transits of the Moon, taken at the Hutt Observatory during the 

 year 1870," by Henry Jackson, Chief Surveyor of the Province of 

 Wellington. This valuable paper, with the attached tables, is to be 

 printed in full by the Government, but the following abstract has been 

 furnished by the author for immediate publication. The result of the 

 observations so far, when reduced to the longitude of the Wellington 

 Observatory, only make a difference of four seconds from that adopted 

 recently by the Board of Longitude. 



(abstract.) 



The instrument used for the observations to obtain the longitude at 

 the Hutt Observatory, as given in the accompanying table, is a 24-inch 

 transit of a new construction, by Troughton and Simms. The standards 

 are half-moon shaped and hollow, two inches radius at the base and 

 tapering slightly towards the Ys ; they are fixed on a massive brass 

 plate which rests on three levelling footscrews. The telescope has five 

 transit wires and a right ascension micrometer wire, the cylindi'ical head 

 of which is divided in 100 parts, each indicating 0"-61. The axis level 

 has a scale graduated into divisions of 1" value. The finding circle is 

 six inches in diameter, and fixed to one of the pivots ; it is read by two 

 verniers. 



The instrument is mounted upon a brick pier, built with Portland 

 cement, and sunk 5 feet below the surface of the ground. The pier is 

 5 ft. 6 in. square at the base, it rises in a pyramidal shape to the level of 

 the floor of the building, where it is 2 ft. 4 in. square, it is then carried 

 up square to a height of 4 feet above the floor ; it is completely isolated 

 from any contact with the ground or floor of the building from its base. 



The building is octagonal, 7 ft. 6 in. across, and has a roof revolving 

 on eight cast iron wheels upon a circular ring of angle iron. The 

 shutters, one north and the other south, are 1 foot in breadth ; they 

 open upon hinges and expose the meridian from horizon to horizon. 



In conclusion I would remark, that if similar observations were 

 conducted for a year or two at the various stations in New Zealand 

 in communication with the electric telegraph, and at which transit 

 instruments have been mounted for the determination of local time, the 



