118 
CELESTIAL DAY OBSERVATIONS. 
Observations 
upon tli'e 
planet Vcmis 
in t!ie day- 
time. 
by some, be called in question ; about two days after, I called 
in the Reverend J. Jameson, of Methuen, a gentleman of literary 
acquirements, to whom I shewed Venus in the manner stated 
above, at llh. 23'A M, and, although he is not so much 
accustomed, as the writer of this, to look' through telescopes, 
he perceived the planet very distinctly with a power of 15, - (a 
diagonal eye-piece being used) having also seen it immediately^ 
before with a direct eye-piece carrying a power of 6o. 
June/. lOh. Saw Venus with a power of (30, the aperture 
being diminished to^-lOths, the direct rays of the sun not Icing 
intercepted ly the top of the window. The aperture having 
been further contracted to ^ inch, could perceive her, but not 
quite so distinctly. When the contractions <were taken efF, 
she could scarcely be seen. She was then 3° 33' in longitude, 
and nearly 15' in time of R. A. distant from the sun's centre. 
Some fleeces of clouds having moved across the field of view, 
she was seen remarkably distinct in the interstices ; the sun at 
the same time being partly observed by them. — June 24th, toh. 
A. M. Observed Venus wiih powers of 100, 6'0, and 15. With 
the power of 15, aperture 9-lOths of an inch, saw her 
distinctly. Having contracted the aperture to half an inch, saw 
her more distinctly than with the contraction of 9-tenlhs, She 
was then about 35' in time of R. A. east of the sun. — August 
19th. ih. 10', P. M. Viewed Vegus with a magnifying power 
of 100. Could perceive her surface and gibbous phase, almost as 
distinctly as when the sun is below the horizon. She appeared 
bright, steady in her light, and well-defined, without that glare 
and tremulous appearance she exhibits in the evening when 
near tlie horizon. She was then nearly on the meridian. On 
the whole such a view of Venus is as satisfactory, if not prefer- 
able to those views we obtain with an ordinary telescope, in the 
evening, when she is visible to the naked eye*. 
The 
• The late Mr. B. Martin, when describing the nature and effects of 
the solar telescope in his Philosophia Britamika, vol. 3. p. 85. gives the 
following relation. “ 1 cannot here omit to mention a very nnuxual 
phenomnwn that I observed about ten years ago' in my darkfiicd room. 
The window looked towards the west, and the spire of L'liichcster 
Cathedral was directly before it at die distance of about 50 or 60 yards. 
1 used 
