256 
Transactions of the Boy at Society of South Africa. 
between 1750 and 1900, but it fails, likewise, to adequately represent the 
observations made between 1770 and 1870, and does not properly repre- 
sent the earlier observations made prior to 1740. With sufficient 
approximation this system may be written as — 
AZ=-180"T -fO-04"T^ +0-0070"T^ 
AA=+10-7 +5-40 +0-0020 
-AB = +16-9 -0-51 +0-0000 
Computing from these different systems the correction to the elements 
I, A, B for the epoch - 1100 + T centuries, there are obtained the values — 
Al. aB. aA. 
Nevilll +0-094°-0-003°T +0-407°-0-020°T +1-262° -0-092°T 
Nevillll +0-387 -0-023 +0-498 -0-023 +1-262 -0-092 
Newcomb +0-485 -0-030 +0-163 -0-005 +0-102 -0-012 
Covvell +0-109 -0-001 +0-253 -0-013 +1-162 -0-083 
Employing these corrections, the latitude of the point where the path 
of central eclipse crosses the meridian of Babylon become — 
Eclipse. Nevill I. Nevill II. Newcomb. Cowell. 
-1235 Annular +23-08° +14-07° +1725° +24 45° 
-1217 Annular 30-18 3297 3722 3044 
-1210 Total 14-99 22 02 21-]9 14 31 
-1163 Annular 25-20 25-13 27 03 26 08 
-1135 Annular 46 76 51-22 5048 4565 
-1123 Total 38-72 36 03 36 62 3940 
-1116 Total 24-56 2449 22 47 2375 
-1069 Total 14-76 9 21 9 23 1535 
-1062 Total 37 29 3695 35 76 36 74 
-1014 Annular 34 81 37-50 4078 36-10 
- 956 Total 38 38 30 84 30-64 39 37 
- 947 Total 46 98 42-71 37 01 45 39 
It is obvious that the four eclipses, —1210, —1135, —1069, and —947, 
can be neglected, as they cannot be brought into accord with the recorded 
observation without very large alterations in the lunar elements, for which 
there is no justification. 
The eclipse of - 1235 can also be neglected if the purely theoretical 
data be replaced by any derived from the observations, as all these throw 
the path of the eclipse far to the south of Babylon. The path of the 
eclipse of - 1163 passes too far to the south of Babylon, and can only be 
brought centrally over the city by decreasing the secular acceleration of 
the moon's node by 5", which is impossible ; whilst the path of the eclipse 
of — 1116 can only be brought centrally over Babylon by increasing the 
secular acceleration of the moon's node by about 7", which is also 
impossible. 
