4,io Mr. Pond on the different methods , &c. 
though in common language we speak of determining the 
places of the fixed stars relatively to the equator and ecliptic, 
the real fact is, that the stars being stationary, it is the 
situation of these circles themselves, and the point of their 
intersection, that is the ultimate object of research ; and in this 
point of view we at once perceive how these precise determi- 
nations may facilitate the most abstruse investigations of 
physical astronomy. 
