ASTIlONOMrCAL OBSERVATIONS. 183 



pendulum, the object of which was to determine 

 the figure of the earth. 



The observations on the comet were success- 

 fill, as they furnished data for the computation 

 of its orbit ; a task performed by Dr Brinkley of 

 Dublin. The results of his computations have 

 been published, together with the original obser- 

 vations, in the Philosophical Transactions for 

 1822. 



The experiments with the pendulum were of 

 a more delicate and complicated nature, and re- 

 quired much care and exclusive attention. But 

 the circumstances under which we were placed 

 deprived us of that degree of leisure and abstract- 

 ed thought, which this difficult and extensive 

 problem requires. In all its details, however, it 

 carries along with it the liveliest interest ; yet 

 only those who have been similarly employed can 

 have a correct idea of the cruel disappointment 

 which a cloudy night, or any other interruption, 

 produces in the midst of a series of observations. 

 On such occasions, when all our hopes were gone, 

 and our day'^s labour wasted, for want of a few 

 clear hours of star-light, we employed the un- 



