[ jri 3 
L A Account ly John Fames, F. R. S. of a 
^iffertationy containing Remarhs upon the 
Ohfer^ations made In France, In order to 
afcertaln the Figure of the Earthy by Mr, 
Celfius, Intituled^ De obfervationibus pro 
Figura Telluris determinanda, in Gallia ha- 
bitis, Difquifitio. AucSlore Andrea Celjio,, in 
Acad. IJpfah Aftronom. Prof. Regio, &c, 
UpfaJl^y 1738 . 4 ^"^* 
HAT the Figure of the Earth is Sphero- 
idical is agreed upon by all : But whether it 
be an oblong or oblate Spheroid, i.e. whe- 
ther the Axis be longer or fhorter than a Diameter at 
the Equator, has been for fome time a matter of 
Doubt. Three feveral Methods have been propofed 
to determine this Controverfy by Experiments j as 
by the different Lengths of Pendulums vibrating 
Seconds, in different Latitudes 5 the Figure of the 
Earth’s Shadow in Lunar Eclipfes ; and by the adual 
Meafurement of the Lengths of a Degree on the 
Meridian in different Latitudes. 
It is certain, if the Lengths of the Degrees of La- 
titude decreafe as we go from the Equator toward 
the Poles, then the Axis is greater, and the Figure an 
oblong Spheroid } but, on the contrary, if thefe 
Lengths increafe as you remove towards the Poles, 
the Axis is lefs than a Diameter at the Equator, and 
confequently an oblate Spheroid. 
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