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HISTORY OF PHYSICAL ASTR0X01IY.

of stars, founded upon tlie most celebrated catalogues that have beenexecuted since the middle of the eighteenth century. This catalogue con-tains the places of 2881 stars, reduced upon a uniform system to the 1stof January, 1830. In addition to the mean place of each star, the con-stants for computing its apparent place, according to Bessel’s method, arealso inserted in the catalogue. The introductory explanation is byFrancis Baily , to whom was assigned the important task of selecting themost trustworthy values of the uranograpliical corrections. The calcula-tions were executed under the superintendence of Lieut . Stratford.

Hitherto the stars in the southern hemisphere had been almost entirelyneglected by astronomers since the time of Lacaille. With the view ofremedying this defect, the Government, in 1820, established an observatoryat the Cape of Good Hope , appointing the Rev. F. Fallows to be itsdirector. In the Philosophical Transactions for 1824 there is inserteda small catalogue by that astronomer, containing the mean places of nearlyall the principal stars between the zenith of the Cape of Good Hope and the South Pole .

When Sir Thomas Brisbane was appointed Governor of New SouthWales in 1821, he erected an observatory at Paramatta, which he furnishedwith excellent instruments. In the same noble spirit of disinterestedliberality, he employed, at his own expense, two qualified assistants,Messrs. Riimker and Dunlop, to aid him in his astronomical labours.In 1832 M. Riimker published, at Hamburg, a small catalogue ofstars observed in the southern hemisphere, designed as preliminaryto one of greater extent. In 1835 Sir Thomas Brisbane publisheda catalogue of 1385 stars, chiefly in the southern hemisphere , foundedalso upon observations made at his establishment at Paramatta. M.Riimker is at present engaged in constructing from the same collectionof observations a catalogue of 12,000 stars.

In 1830 an observatory was erected at St. Helena, and Lieut . John-son, a talented officer who happened to be on duty on the island, wasappointed its director. Two years only elapsed, when a stock of obser-vations was amassed, which served for the formation of an admirablecatalogue of 006 principal stars in the southern hemisphere . This cata-logue was published in 1835, at the expense of the East India Com-pany .

In 1844 Taylor’s catalogue of 11,015 stars, founded on observationsmade at Madras during the years 1822-43, was published at the expenseof the East India Company . This catalogue includes upwards of threethousand stars situate in the southern hemisphere, observed with especialreference to the same stars in Sir Thomas Brisbane ’s catalogue.

In the tenth volume of the “ Memoirs of the Astronomical Society,” thereare inserted the mean declinations of 172 principal stars in the southernhemisphere, reduced by the late Professor Henderson of Edinburgh , fromhis own observations at the Cape of Good Hope . In vol. xv. he hasgiven the mean right ascensions of the same stars. While on the sub-ject of the southern stars, it maybe mentioned, that the observations madeby Fallows at the Cape of Good Hope , during the years 1829-30-31,have been recently reduced under the superintendence of Mr. Airy, andthat from the results, a catalogue has been constructed, containing themean places of 425 stars, situate chiefly in the southern hemisphere .

The only catalogues of stars distinguished by a high degree of accuracy