NOTE ON THE PROGRESS OF MERIDIAN TRANSIT OB¬ 
SERVATIONS FOR STELLAR PARALLAX AT THE 
WASHBURN OBSERVATORY. 
A. S. FLINT, 
Assistant Astronomer , University of Wisconsin. 
The method is that of Dr. Kapteyn, of the Leiden Observa¬ 
tory, 1885-1887, and consists of noting the differences in time 
between the meridian transits of a selected parallax star and of 
two comparison stars disposed as symmetrically as possible 
with reference to the former. This method has seme peculiar 
advantages. The instrument is the Repsold meridian circle of 
12.2 cm. aperture, 143.7 cm. focal length, and with an ocular giv¬ 
ing a power of 180. Fine brass wire screens mounted on a trav¬ 
elling frame above the instrument are used to diminish the ap¬ 
parent magnitude of brighter stars. An ordinary chronograph 
is used for recording the transits. A list of seventy-six stars 
is under observation, including all available stars having a 
proper motion of one second of arc or more. The observations 
were begun October 16, 1893. Each star will be observed at 
three successive epochs six months apart, so that errors in the 
adopted proper motions and other progressive errors will be 
closely eliminated. A series of observations with the zenith 
distance micrometer is in progress to ascertain what effect the 
screens have on the path of the light passing through them. 
Such effect, if any, appears to be extremely small; but a well- 
marked personal error in the bisection of brighter stellar discs 
is shown, namely, that the present observer always bisects 
bright stars too low by O' 7 .26. The probable error of this result is 
±0 /7 .029. This personal error is confirmed, in magnitude and 
sign, by two independent results for the same observer. First, 
from the declinations of zenith stars observed alternately as 
north and as south zenith stars, in 1891-1892, there resulted 
