952 
place, entitled La Mecamique Célefie, ex~ 
pected with fo much impatience, appeared 
on the 6th of September. In that work 
will be found the methods and the noble 
analyfis which led the author to the impor- 
tant difcoveries which I have feveral tires 
announced and extolled in this hiftory. 
« Burckhardt tranflated it into German 
with explanatory notes, at the fame time | 
that he read the proofs of the French edi- 
tion, and over all the calculations. No 
auther ever had, or was more worthy of 
having, a tranflator of fuch great merit. 
The Bureau des Longitudes, who bad long 
known the geal and ability of Burckhardt, 
have unanimoufly elected him to a place 
vacant three years, though it had been fo- 
licited for by feveral men of letters, of 
approved talents, and natives of France. 
But Burckhardt has got himlelf adopted 
by France; he has preferred it to his own 
country, which he will no lefs honour by 
Jabouring with us. In the laft century, 
Caffini, Huyghens, Romer, and Maraldi, 
came in like manner to reinforce aftrono- 
my in France; but at that period it had 
more need of fuch affiitance. There were 
then only two or three Frenchaftronomers 5 
at prefent we have feven or eight. 
M. Schubert has publifhed in German, 
at Peterfburg, a work on Phytical Affro- 
nomy, in two volumes, quarto, in which 
are found calculations of the perturbations 
of ail,the planets. - 
Cauffin has finifhed the tranflation of 
the Arabic manuicript of Ibn Tunis. In 
this work there are more than a hundred 
oblervations,thirty of which are of eclipfes. 
X had found a fragment of it among the 
manuferipts of Jofeph de Lifle, my old 
ynafter. 
The Inftitute decreed, on the 2d of De- 
cember, that the Minifter for Foreign 
Affairs fhould be requefted to borrow at 
‘Leyden the manufcript of Ibn Iunis, in 
order that the Arabic text might. be 
printed ; and we have reafon to believe 
that this requeft will be granted. 
» ;Bouvard has calculated the Greek and 
Atabic eclipfes, and found that 3°13" muft 
be added to the anomaly, 8’ 30” to the 
decular movement of the anomaly of the 
moon, and a minute to the fupplement of 
the node for 1790, and that its fecular 
movement muft be diminifhed 2' 48”. 
Laplace has determined by theory two 
equations of the moon. Two long me- 
moirs, tranfmitted to the Inftitute in con- 
dequence of the prize we propofed, contain 
many obfervations and calculations on the 
fame fubject. Thus this part of our 
Hiftary of Aftronomy, for 17995 by Lalande. 
_ planet was eclipfed by the moon, 
[April r, 
Tables, the moft interefting to navigatior, 
has acquired this year a new degree of 
erfeétion. 
On the 8th of May we obferved, for the 
17th time, the tranfit of Mercury over 
the Sun’s difk. It is the firft ever com- 
pletely obferved at the defcending node, 
and there will not be another of the fame 
kind till the expiration of thirty-two 
years. It was impatiently expected by 
all the ‘aftronomers.. It was obferved 
throughout all Europe ; and C. Delambre 
has drawn up a work, with new formule, 
in order to deduce from the tranfits of 
Mercury all the confequences thence re- 
fulting. 
C. Vidal, our real Hermophilus, has 
made at Mirepoix, a new feries of obfer- 
vations of Mercury in all parts of his or- 
bit ; fo that we want nothing more in re- 
gard to this planet, fo difficult to be feen 
in our élimates. This afltonifhing ’ cb- 
ferver has fent us obfervations alfo of more 
than a thoufand auftral ftars, which can 
{carcely be feen at Paris on account of- 
their {mall elevation. 
The Ephemerides of Milan for 1799 
have furnifhed us with a new feries of ob- 
fervations of Mercury, by C. Cefaris. In 
thefe I have the pleafure of finding that 
the errors of my Tables are almoft infenfi- 
ble. I have had the fame fatisfaction 
with regard:to the digreffion of Mercury 
in his aphelion on the 12th of Auguft. 
The diftance of the fun, and the eccentri- 
city of that planet, were found to corre- 
fpond with my tables, except a few fe- 
conds. 
The inferior conjun@iion of Venus, on 
the 16th of Octebets 1799, was a pheno- 
menon alfo of importance for the theory 
of this planet. Ittakes place only every 
eight years in that part of her orbit. It 
was obferved with as much affiduity as 
fuccefs by Lefrangais and Burckhardt, im 
my obfervatory at the military fchoo]. 1 
have compared it with that of 1751, which 
was in the fame pofition, and for which I 
had made a great number of calculations, 
and I have found fcarcely any thing: to be 
changed in the elements which ferved for 
the conftruétion of mj Tables of Venus, 
publiflied i in the third edition of my Aftro- 
nomy in 1792. ‘This labour will be 
inferted in the Memoirs of the Inftitute. 
On the 23d of November this beautiful 
This 
phenomenon would have attracted a num- 
ber of eyes, had it not been at tour o’clock 
in the morning. Jupiter, which is not 
$o brilliant, drew together a great crowd 
at 
