STRONOMY.--LETTERS ON THE ATLANTIS OF PLATO AND ON THE
ANCIENT HISTORY OF ASIA.

In 1775, Bailly published a quarto volume, entitled _History of Ancient
Astronomy, from its Origin up to the Establishment of the Alexandrian
School_. An analogous work for the lapse of time, comprised between the
Alexandrian School and 1730, appeared in 1779, in two volumes. An
additional volume appeared three years later, entitled the _History of
Modern Astronomy up to the Epoch of 1782_. The fifth part of this
immense composition, the _History of Indian Astronomy_, was published in
1787.

When Bailly undertook this general history of Astronomy, the science
possessed nothing of the sort. Erudition had seized upon some special
questions, some detailed points, but no commanding view had presided
over these investigations.

Weidler's book, published in 1741, was a mere simple nomenclature of the
astronomers of every age, and of every country; the dates of their birth
and death; the titles of their works. The utility of this precise
enumeration of dates and titles did not alter the character of the book.

Bailly sketches the plan of his work with a masterly hand in a few
lines; he says, "It is interesting to transport one's self back to the
times when Astronomy began; to observe how discoveries were connected
together, how errors have got mixed up with truth, have delayed the
knowledge of it, and retarded its progress; and, after having followed
the various epochs and traversed every climate, finally to contemplate
the edifice founded on the labours of successive centuries and of
various nations."

This vast plan essentially led to the minute discussion and comparison
of a multitude of passages both ancient and modern. If the author had
mixed up these discussions with the body of the work, he would have
laboured for astronomers only. If he had suppressed all discussions, the
book would have interested amateurs only. To avoid this double rock,
Bailly decided on writing a connected narrative with the quintessence of
the facts, and to place the proofs and the discussions of the merely
conjectural parts, under the appellation of explanations in separate
chapters. Bailly's History, without forfeiting the character of a
serious and erudite work, became accessible to the public in general,
and contributed to disseminate accurate notions of Astronomy both among
literary men and among general society.

When Bailly declared, in the beginning of