1799.] 
excellent elementary work, which has been 
ufeful for 50 years paft. I have added 
to it the Republican Calendar, protefting 
againft the defects of intercalation; the 
decree of Oct. 3, 1793, not having been 
in this refpect conformable to what I had 
tran{mitted to citizen ROMME. 
Citizen FRANCOIS DE NEUFCHATEAU 
diftinguifhed his firft entrance into the 
miniftry by giving an order for the im- 
preffion of an aftronomical bibliography. 
I have colleéted, during my tour into 
Germany, a great number of notices for 
this work ; and it appears to me, that no 
kind of bibliography can be complete 
unlefs by the union of a number of per- 
fons in different countries. “The date of 
the death of the great Copernicus was 
till lately a problem. I refolved it in my 
tour. Copernicus died on June 11, 1542, 
although GassENDI and WESDLER date 
this circumftance on the 24th of May, 
and PLANCHE on the 11th of July. In 
the interefting collection of ephemerides, 
in which we find the memorable events of 
every day, I have caufed an examination 
to be made of more than 60 manu(crints 
in the ‘* Bibliotheque Nationale.’ Citizen 
LEGRAND, one of the confervators of 
that famous depot, has given me a notice 
of many other manufcripts; fo that we 
are at length making advances towards 
this part of aftronomical erudition. 
We have received fome obfervations 
from citizen De BaTTe, at Montpellier ; 
from citizen THuLis, at Marfeilles ; and 
from citizen VIDAL, at Mirepoix: thefe 
laft are of a very extraordinary kind,— 
Vipat faw Mercury at three-quarters of 
adegree from the Sun, The beauty of 
the climate, the perfection ef his inftru- 
ment, and the excellence of bis fight, 
have enabled him to produce obfervations 
as valuable as extraordinary. Of this I 
have fpoken before. 
The obfervatory at Amfterdam, be- 
longing to thie fociety of Felix Meritis, 
has been put under the care of M. CaL- 
COEN; he has been repeating his aftro- 
nomical exercifes at Gotha, jointly with 
M. DE ZACH, and he is commencing a 
courfe of obfervations which will be very 
ufeful in a country where none have ever 
been made, although the wants of the 
marine fhould long ago have opened the 
eyes of government to an object fo ne- 
ceflary to navigators. It was in vain 
that I went in 1774 to Amfterdam: the 
Stadtholder, and the Grand Penfionary, 
promifed me every thing I could defire, 
but performed nothing. M. Van Swin- 
DEN has, fince then, given an impulfion 
Lalande’s Hiftory of Aftronomy, for I 798. 
435 
to aftronomical: ftudies, the effeéts of 
which are now beginning to be felt. 
Citizen HENRY, who went from Man- 
heim to Peterfburg, has been enabled to 
re-eftablifh in frefh vigour the obferva- 
tory of that capitol; he has caufed a 
large mural of Bird to be placed, which 
lay a long time in the cheft, and which 
RUMOUSKI never made ufe of. 
M. Piazzi, aftronomer at Palermo, is 
preparing to meafure a degree. I have 
fent him an exact metre, and they are 
working at an entire circle. 
The minifter PLEvViLLE-PELEY has 
augmented the ftipend of the aftronomers 
of marine at Marteilles, where THuLIS 
is making connected and important ob- 
fervations. 
The territorial admeafurement of Cor- 
fica, or the defcription of that ifland, be- 
gun thirty years ago, has been lately 
terminated. The great triangles were 
fet up by citizen TRANCHOT; the de- 
tails have been made by a multitude of 
co-operators. Ihe minifter of finances 
having appointed me to examine it, I 
have had reafon to acknowledge that this 
labour has been completed with an ac- 
curacy worthy to be exhibited for a mo- 
del, if as many fuch were to be under- 
taken for all the departments of France ; 
which would indeed be rendering the 
public a ufeful fervice. 
Citizen PERNEY, who had been {cio 
into Belgium, and who, fince 1795, had 
formed forty triangles at Bruges, Ghent, . 
Oftend, Antwerp, Middleburg, &c. has 
fet out for the Batavian republic, where 
they have engaged to furnifh him with 
the means ncceflary for the continuation 
of this Jabour. 
On the sth Pluviofe, (Jan. 24th,) the 
inftitute propofed to the Direétory to de- 
mand of foreign powers learned men, who 
fhould come to affift and take part in the 
eftablifhment of the new meafures, and 
fanction their eftablifhment. Twelve have « 
come from Spain, from Italy, and from 
Holland. 
From Denmark, M. Bucces, director of 
the obfervatory at, Copenhagen, celebrated 
for fome important works. From Spain, 
Mefirs. Ganrier Ciscar, and AUGUSTIN 
PepraceEs. From the Batavian Republic, 
citizen Van Swinpen and AineEz, the 
former well known for fome excellent works 
in phyfics. From Tufcany, M. Fasrony. 
From Sardinia, M. re Comte Batso, 
minifter at Paris. From Helvetia, citizen 
TraxtLes. From the Ligurian Republic, 
citizen MorTepo. From the Cifalpine Ree 
public, citizen Mascuevoni, from whom 
General BuonarartTs brought us what 
. might 
