gnize its claims to
distinction; that there was no one here acquainted with the past
history of astronomy but looks with pride upon the achievements of the
human intellect effected there. At the same time, however, if a
change is to be made, if sentiment should give way to practical
reason, a locality, no doubt, will be found which may be calculated to
fulfil the requirements of a prime meridian better than that one.

As to the fitness of Greenwich, he said that the observatory was
placed in the middle of a large park under the control of the
Government, so that no nuisance can come near it without their
consent, and that it was in a position which speaks for itself; that
he would only add one word more in regard to this matter, and that is,
that the adoption of the meridian of Greenwich as the prime meridian
has not been sought after by Great Britain; that it was not her
proposition, but that she consented to it after it had been proposed
by other portions of the civilized world.

Mr. JANSSEN, Delegate of France, said: We do not put forward the
meridian of the observatory of Paris as that to be chosen for the
prime meridian; but if it were chosen, and we wished to compare it
with that of Greenwich as to the accuracy with which it is actually
connected with the other observatories of Europe, it would not lose by
the comparison. The latest observations of the differences of
longitude made by electricity by the Bureau of Longitudes of France
and our officers have given very remarkable results of great accuracy.
It is well known that what is important for a starting point in
reckoning longitude is, above all things, that it should be accurately
connected with points whose positions have been precisely fixed, such
as the great observatories. There is, therefore, a slight confusion on
the part of my eminent colleague, namely, that of not distinguishing
between the conditions which require the exact connection of the
starting point of longitudes with observatories, and the merits of the
position of such a point in an astronomical aspect, which is here a
matter of secondary importance.

Mr. LEFAIVRE, Delegate of France, said that he did not not know if his
observation was well founded, but it seemed to him that what the
Delegates of France had proposed had not been contested, but that the
arguments used had rather been those in favor of the adoption of the
meridian of Greenwich.

Mr. RUTHERFURD, Delegate of the United Sta