Proceedings of the South African Philosophical Society. lv 
was practically nothing. From that time till about 1866 the declina- 
tion had values W. of N., reaching a maximum of 30° W. of N. about 
the latter year. The declination seems to have kept this value till 
about 1874, since then it has had decreasing west values. At the 
present time it is about 28° 53’ W. of N., with an annual secular 
decrease of 3’ or 4’. 
The first observation of dip was made in 1751 by La Caille. The 
value then was about 43°. Since that date it has been increasing 
till at the present time, January 1, 1901, its value is 58° 40’; it is 
increasing at the rate of 7 or 8 annually. 
