of some of the principal fixed Stars , &c, 423 
Greenwich 
Armagh -{- i",3 
Palermo — 1" 
Westbury — o #/ ,25. 
This method of correcting the latitudes has, I believe, never 
been employed: but it seems reasonable to suppose, that 
when thus corrected, they will be nearer the truth, than those 
determined by the usual method: for the same reason, that 
the declinations of the stars resulting from a general compa- 
rison, are more likely to be accurate, than if deduced from 
any one single set of observations : but if the Greenwich 
instrument should be affected with any errors independent of 
the divisions ; in that case, we should be unable to infer any 
thing decisive, as to the latitude, by the above method. But 
from a comparison of the observations of y Draconis, observed 
at Greenwich and Westbury, the latitude of Westbury being 
previously corrected by the above method, I am inclined to 
believe the latitude of Greenwich requires a very small cor- 
rection, certainly not exceeding a second. The result I obtain 
by a very careful investigation by methods, entirely indepen- 
dent of the Greenwich quadrant, is 5 i*- 28 '. 39 ", 4 . 
I consider this comparison as interesting likewise on ano- 
ther account ; it is an object deserving of curiosity to examine 
the present state of our best astronomical instruments, and to 
ascertain what may reasonably be expected from them. The 
superiority of circular instruments is, I believe, too univer- 
sally admitted, to render it probable that quadrants will ever 
again be substituted in their place. But the Greenwich quadrant 
is so intimately connected with the history of astronomy, the 
observations that have been made with it, and the deductions 
MDCCCVI. 3 I 
