STATIONS NEAR THE NORTHERN BOUNDARY OF OHIO. 



263 



SECTION XI. 



ON THE LONGITUDE OF THE CAPITOL AT WASHINGTON. 



Having in the early part of this memoir alluded to the error of Lam- 

 bert's value for the longitude of the Capitol, I shall here cite the au- 

 thorities on which such a statement is founded. The American Al- 

 manac has, for years, pointed out this error in general terms, without 

 however tracing it to its source, viz., the omission, on the part of Lam- 

 bert, to correct his results by corresponding observations, for the errors 

 of Burg's Tables, used in computing the Nautical Almanac. All the 

 observations yet published at Washington, or its immediate vicinity, 

 from which its longitude can be computed, are seven in number. The 

 results derived from them, with the names of the observers and com- 

 puters, are contained in the following table. 



Phenomenon ob- 

 served. 



Longitude W. of Greenwich. 



Remarks. 



Solar eclipse of 

 April 3, 1791, 

 observed at 

 Georgetown, D. 

 C, by Andrew 

 Ellicott. 



h. m. s. 



5 8 4-3 By Bowditch. 



6-2 By De Ferrer. 



With corresponding observations at 

 Greenwich and Paris. — Mem. S.. 

 Ji.S.,vol. III., p. 269. 



With same corr. obs. — Mem. A. P. 

 S., vol. VI., p. 359. 



Occultation of Al- 

 debaran, Jan. 

 21, 1793, by 

 Andrew Elli- 

 cott, supposed 

 to have been ob- 

 served on the 

 site of the Capi- 

 tol. 



5 7 51-6 By Triesnecker. 

 54-4 By Wurm. 

 6-4 By Lambert. 



With meridian observations at 

 Greenwich and Paris. — Ephem. 

 Vindob., 1806. 



With meridian observations near 

 Thoulouse. — Astr. Nadir. No. 

 21. 



Mem. A. P. S., N. Series, vol. I., 

 p. 106. This result must be re' 

 jecled, because affected with the 

 errors of Burgas Tables, which 

 are eliminated as above by Tries- 

 necker and Wurm. 



VI. — 3 q 



