( 443 ) 
Minutes of Time ; fo that theObferver has but one 
Minute, to come within iy Minutes of the Truth in 
his Latitude : While in a middle Altitude, as 45: 
Deg. he is at Noon above y Minutes and a half in 
Time, in riling or falling one Angle Minute of 
Space, the Odds between which is more than 80 
to 1. And yet, perhaps, no Farts of the World re- 
quire more Exa&nefs in taking the Latitude than is 
necelfary in Voyages to the Weft-Indies : For it is 
owing to the Difficulty of it, that Veffels have fo 
frequently mifs’d the Ifland of Barbados, and when 
got to the Leeward of it have been obliged to run 
down a thoufand Miles further to Jamaica , from 
whence they can fcarce work up again in the Spice 
of many Weeks, againft the conftant Trade-winds, 
and therefore generally decline to try for, or attempt 
it. 
But farther, as the Latitude cannot be found by 
any other Method, that our Mariners are generally 
acquainted with, than by the Sun or a Star on the 
Meridian: In a cloudy Sky, when the Sun can but 
now and then be feen, and only between the 
Openingsof the Clouds for very ffiort Intervals, v^hich 
thofe who ufe the Sea know frequently happens: 
As alfo in high tempeftuous Seas, when tho* the Sun 
fhould appear, the Obferver can fcarce by any Means 
hold his Feet ; it would certainly be of vaft Advan- 
tage to have an Inftrument by which an Obfervation 
could alfo be, as it were, (hatched or taken in much 
lefs Time, than is generally required in the Ufe of 
the common Quadrant. 
N n n 7. The , 
