ected Father Hell, Chief of
the Observatory at Vienna, and well known as editor and publisher of an
annual ephemeris, in which the movements and aspects of the heavenly
bodies were predicted. The astronomer accepted the mission and
undertook what was at that time a rather hazardous voyage. His station
was at Vardo in the region of the North Cape. What made it most
advantageous for the purpose was its being situated several degrees
within the Arctic Circle, so that on the date of the transit the sun
did not set. The transit began when the sun was still two or three
hours from his midnight goal, and it ended nearly an equal time
afterwards. The party consisted of Hell himself, his friend and
associate, Father Sajnovics, one Dominus Borgrewing, of whom history,
so far as I know, says nothing more, and an humble individual who in
the record receives no other designation than "Familias." This implies,
we may suppose, that he pitched the tent and made the coffee. If he did
nothing but this we might pass him over in silence. But we learn that
on the day of the transit he stood at the clock and counted the
all-important seconds while the observations were going on.

The party was favored by cloudless weather, and made the required
observations with entire success. They returned to Copenhagen, and
there Father Hell remained to edit and publish his work. Astronomers
were naturally anxious to get the results, and showed some impatience
when it became known that Hell refused to announce them until they were
all reduced and printed in proper form under the auspices of his royal
patron. While waiting, the story got abroad that he was delaying the
work until he got the results of observations made elsewhere, in order
to "doctor" his own and make them fit in with the others. One went so
far as to express a suspicion that Hell had not seen the transit at
all, owing to clouds, and that what he pretended to publish were pure
fabrications. But his book came out in a few months in such good form
that this suspicion was evidently groundless. Still, the fears that the
observations were not genuine were not wholly allayed, and the results
derived from them were, in consequence, subject to some doubt. Hell
himself considered the reflections upon his integrity too contemptible
to merit a serious reply. It is said that he wrote to some one offering
to exhibit his journal free from interlineations or erasures, but it
does not appear that there is