390 SS. Newcomb—Remarks on the late Transit of Venus. 
Compared with Queenstown, the difference is only four minutes. 
Allowing a probable error ‘of eight seconds in the comparison 
of these observations, they would alone give a value of the 
solar parallax with the probable error 0/090. 
First Internal Contact. 
This was observed at the three northern stations, but only at 
Queenstown in the south. he American observations alone 
will therefore give us no result entitled to weight. The southern 
region for the observation of this contact is that extending from 
Kerguelen Land to Mauritius and Rodriguez, and here very 
weve!, 
fully observed by the English at Rodriguez, and by the Ger- 
mans at Kerguelen, from neither of whom the writer has seen 
definite statements on this point. On the other hand, it was 
successfully observed by the English parties at the Sandwich 
slands, whose observations will be available for combination 
with those of Dr. Peters at Queenstown, and of other observers 
in oe oe if no observations were made at Kerguelen 
and Rodrigue 
Second Internal Contact. 
This was also observed at all three northern American sta- 
tions, but at only a single southern one, namely, Campbell- 
town. e mean difference of time due to parallax is fifteen 
minutes. The favorable southern region for the observation of 
this contact was Australia, and the islands east and south of it, 
and the weather was exceptionally unfavorable in most of this 
region. Some success was obtained at and near Melbourne, 
and the German expedition in the Auckland Islands was also 
successful, but the English and a expeditions nearly all 
failed in this important observatio 
Second External Contact. 
This was observed at only a single one of the eight American 
stations, Pekin. It is, however, the least fitted of the four con- 
tacts to be accurately observed, aud the failure to secure it is 
oe the less to be regre 
is my opinion that oe optical observations of contacts 
tate by the observers of all nations will, by their combination, 
give a value of the solar parallax of which the probable error 
will lie between 0’-02 and 0-03. I also think that the Ameri- 
can photographs alone will give a result at least as accurate as 
this, and probably more so. A large remaining mass of ma- 
terial will be the heliometer measures made by the Germans 
and Russians as well as Lord Lindsay, various optical measure- 
ments made near the moments of internal contacts, and photo- 
