C 3°9 1 
X 
XVI. Observations on the Atmospheres of Venus and the Moon , 
their respective Densities, perpendicular Heights, and the Twi- 
light occasioned by them . Ry John Jyrome Schroeter, Tsq. 
of Lilienthal, in the Dutchy of Bremen. Translated from the 
German. 
Read May 24, 1792. 
On the Atmosphere of Venus. 
Although the evidence afforded us by the most recent ob- 
servations and discoveries, not only of the existence, but also 
of the various and singular properties of the atmospheres of 
Saturn, Jupiter, Mars, and the Moon, be in a manner incon- 
trovertible; yet so inconclusive are the few observations hi- 
therto made on the atmosphere of Venus, that several of the 
greatest astronomers* have lately thought themselves autho- 
rized to doubt its very existence. 
The following inquiry may hence prove the more acceptable 
to those who favour the investigations of nature, not only as 
it evinces, in my opinion, the existence of such an atmosphere, 
but also as it points out several inferences concerning its na- 
ture and properties, which to me appear new and interesting. 
What convinced me, twelve years ago, when I first began 
to observe Venus with a good three-feet achromatic telescope, 
* See Astronomie de M. de la Lande, §. zz ~ jz . 
Ss 
MDCCXCII, 
