PRELIMINARY RESULT FOR LONGITUDE OF BLOEM- 
FONTEIN FROM AN OCCULTATION. 
By W. H. Fintay, M.A., F.R.A.S. 
(READ 1892 JUNE 1.) 
I wave long ago, and often. tried to get surveyors and other 
competent observers to observe occultations of fixed stars by the 
Moon in remote parts of South Africa in order to determine the 
longitudes of their posicions, but I am sorry to say on the whole 
without success—on the one hand, when the telegraph wire reaches 
-a station, a good observation of local time with an exchange of 
time signals to the Observatory fixes its longitude far more securely 
-and easily than any other observations can do; and on the other, 
when a man has been travelling or working all day he does not 
feel much inclined (even if he can get at his instruments) to make 
-the necessary observations for local time which are required to 
make any use of a non-frequent phenomenon, which as a rule occurs 
.at inconvenient hours of the night. 
However, towards the end of 1891, I asked several gentlemen 
who, I knew, were capable of making the observations, to observe 
the occultation of a 5th magnituce star on Dec. 6—a disappearance 
_at the dark limb of the Moon. Unfortunately a completely clouded 
night prevented my observing it here: the only place where it was 
seen was at Bloemfontein, by R. E. Brounger, Esq., and it is the 
result of his observation that I lay before you to-night, in the hope 
that others will be induced to follow his example. 
For determination of local time Mr. Brounger observed three 
altitudes, to the East, of 8 Orionis and three, to the West, of @ Aquarii. 
At the time of observation the stars were sufficiently near the prime 
vertical to make any error in the assumed latitude practically 
inappreciable. His results for local time were as follows : 
postieh Correction LR, 3 oy 6 
Disicon: orre to oree Division,| Correction to 
watch. : watch. 
Par Se pi ee i Oe ee, 
East +149°54 || @Aquarii} West | +1 57:90 
i +1 48°53 ? s So Gc 
= 41 48°81 : PT eye 
+1 48°96 Mean +1 57°61 
Mean of East and West == al 53°3 
