C 355 ] 
XLVII. Obfervations of the Tranfit of Venus 
over the Su?i , and the Fclipfe of the Sun , on 
June 3, 1769; made at the Royal Ob- 
fervatory . By the Rev. Nevil Mafkelyne, 
B. D. F. R. S. and Afronomer Royal . 
Read June 15, V ■ 5 HE weather, which had been 
1769. cloudy or rainy here, with a fouth. 
Wind, for the greateft part of the day* began to clear 
up at 4 o’clock in the afternoon, the wind having re- 
turned to the weft, the fame quarter in which it had 
been the afternoon before, which was remarkably 
fine and ferene, though it changed early in the morn- 
ing preceding the tranfit. Towards the approach of 
Venus’s ingrefs on the Sun, the fky was become 
again very ferene, and fo continued all the evening. 
Which afforded as favourable an obfervation of the 
tranfit here as could well be expedted, confidering 
that the Sun was only 7 0 3' high at the external, and 
4 0 33' at the internal contadl. I obferved the ex- 
ternal contadl of Venus at y h 10' 58" apparent time, 
with an uncertainty feemingly not exceeding 5"; 
and the internal contadl, by which I mean the com- 
pletion of the thread of light between the circum- 
ferences of the Sun and Venus, at y h 29' 23" appa- 
rent time, with a feeming uncertainty of only 3" ; 
for fo long was the thread of light in forming, or 
the Sun’s light in flowing round and filling up that 
part of his circumference which was obfcured by 
Z z 2 Venus’s 
