arbitrarily. The longitude, for instance, of Washington was, thirty
years ago, known to be nearly 5 hours 8 minutes and 12 seconds west
from Greenwich. Had we adopted this difference by law, it would have
amounted to choosing for our prime meridian a point 5 hours 8 minutes
and 12 seconds east of Washington, whether we happened to strike the
transit instrument at Greenwich or not. This would have fixed an
assumed longitude for the Cambridge observatory and for all points
within our telegraphic net-work. We should have had a practical
system, which might, however, require to be corrected from time to
time, if some slight error were found in the assumed longitude of
Washington.

In the present state of astronomical observation these little errors
are of no consequence except in some very refined astronomical
discussions. For all geographical and perhaps geodetical purposes the
error may be regarded as zero, and it may be said, in regard to
astronomical work, that it will always be independent of any meridian
that might be chosen.

But even if this difficulty were avoided, he could not see how they
could have any place which would come within the definition of a
neutral meridian. Supposing they took the Azores, they belong to
Portugal; then certainly they would have a Portuguese prime meridian,
belonging to the Portuguese nation. Thus they would no longer have a
neutral point, if he (Professor NEWCOMB) rightly understood the
meaning of Professor JANSSEN.

He said that the Delegate of Great Britain, Professor ADAMS, had
expressed very clearly his (Professor NEWCOMB'S) ideas, and the
difficulty we have in meeting the propositions of the French