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482 TRAVELS
‘‘ ing the value of the quantities a, 6, &c., and there is confe-
«‘ quently in the uncertainty of the value of thofe terms the germ
« of errors which would greatly exceed thofe which might arife
<* from the omiffion of the other terms ab A : In all events,
“ U being already known, aA, , and ba, are quantities which
“‘ ought to be firft determined, whether it fhould be afterwards
*‘ judged neceflary to carry the approximation farther or not.
‘‘In one word, we ought, in all our calculations, which de-
«< pend on the figure of the earth, to operate precifely as in our
‘* calculations of the motion of the heavenly bodies, whofe orbits
*« we firft fuppofe circular, then elliptical, and laft of all we ap-
“‘ ply to the former fo corrected, the {mall equations which con-
«‘ tain the quantities in which the ellipfes themfelves are defi-
“cient. Such are the reafons entertained by the aftronomers of
‘all Europe for unanimoufly infifting on the neceflity of new
“* meafurements, executed with all poffible care, with the affift-
«‘ ance of the moft perfe@ inftruments, and according to the mott
‘‘ approved methods of obferving that the prefent age can fup-
‘¢ ply. Now, the French aftronomers have juft finifhed the con-
« ftruction of a fuite of triangles, which as they pafs through
«« France extend from Dunkirk all the way to Barcelona, a {pace
*¢ which forms an arch of the meridian 9° 39", or 10*.72, accord-
“‘ ing to the decimal fyftem. Nothing therefore could be more in-
« terefting to all fuch as labour for the advancement of aftronomy
“‘and geography, than to hear that a committee has been ap-
“ pointed
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