SCIENTIFIC SUMMARY. 
89 
reports from II alley an stations. It is to be hoped, however, that some of the 
English stations on the Sandwich Isles have had good weather. 
From the South-western Delislean region for observing retarded ingress 
we have as yet no reports (up to December 15). 
From the South-eastern Delislean region for observing accelerated egress 
we have favourable reports in the case of the only two stations whence 
intelligence has yet arrived. These are Melbourne and Hobart Town — the 
news from Adelaide being of small importance. At Melbourne, Mr. Ellery, 
the able chief of the Observatory there, reports complete success. At 
Hobart Town the American party had partial success, but took 113 photo- 
graphs, and we may presume observed contacts. It is, however, just possible 
that they did not get both interior contacts, in which case the chief value of 
their results will consist in the determination of the position of the chord of 
contact. 
From the North-western Delislean region for observing retarded egress 
we have both good and bad news. Unfortunately the bad news is more im- 
portant than the good news. In brief, all the best stations for observing this 
phase had bad weather. These were the Russian stations over the region 
extending from the Caucasus over the south-western parts of Siberia. Here 
every observing party failed totally on account of clouds. At the following 
inferior though still excellent stations for this phase — Roorkee, Teheran, 
and places in North Egypt — a complete success was achieved. At Ispahan 
the German astronomers lost the inferior contact at egress through clouds, 
but secured several photographs. At Madras, Mr. Pogson failed almost 
wholly. The observations reported from Kurrachee, Indore, and Calcutta 
were probably rough, and if they have any value at all can only be useful 
as Halleyan observations ; for the Delislean method requires very exact 
astronomical work lor determining true local time, whereas if the duration of 
transit were fairly well observed at those stations the result will be of con- 
siderable value. 
From Northern Halleyan stations, for observing lengthened duration, we 
have news of great successes ; in fact, far better results than could have 
been hoped for even by the most sanguine of the Halleyan advocates. We 
may premise that recently, in speaking of the two methods, Sir G. Airy 
described the chance of obtaining a pair of Halleyan observations as the 
chance for each contact being whereas the chance of obtaining a pair of 
Delislean observations, similarly calculated, was described as similarly 
calculated. This line of reasoning (though not strictly exact) would be 
exceedingly strong as against anyone who had been so ill-advised as to re- 
commend leaving Delislean regions unoccupied, but which is simply value- 
less as against the proposal not to leave unoccupied the available Halleyan 
regions. Well, we have from the Northern Halleyan stations, notwithstand- 
ing these overwhelming odds against them, most gratifying news. From 
Nertschinsk, the best of them all, the news comes of complete success, both 
interior contacts being observed, and thirty measurements of distance 
obtained with the fine heliometer at that station. From Port Possiet (on 
the western shores of the Sea of Japan) we learn that duration was observed 
and many photographs taken. At Wladiwostock and Nagasaki the whole 
transit was observed, and upwards of eighty-five photographs were taken by 
