meridian for the determination of longitude that it should be placed
at an astronomical observatory which can be connected with other
places by astronomical observations and by telegraph wires, and that
the idea of fixing a neutral meridian is nothing more than the
establishment of an ideal meridian really based upon some point at
which there is located an observatory. This has been repeated once or
twice before, and I need not enlarge upon it.

Prof. JANSSEN, Delegate of France. My honorable colleague, General
STRACHEY, thinks that longitude is longitude, and that there is not an
astronomical longitude and a geographical longitude. I answer, that
this is, nevertheless, what the nature of things indicates. The
longitude of observatories, or rather the difference of longitude
between those establishments, must be fixed with an accuracy which is
never sufficiently great. In the Bureau of Longitude of France we are
occupied with the differences of longitude of European observatories,
and we adopt for these calculations all the latest scientific
improvements, and especially the employment of electricity. Geography,
especially for general purposes, does not require this great accuracy,
which could not be expressed on maps. All geographers agree upon that
subject. A statement of the longitude is like the statement of a
weight, of a measure, or of anything, and its precision must vary
according to the purpose to which it is applied. Is not a weighing
necessary to determine a chemical equivalent of an entirely different
kind from that of a commercial weighing? Yet it is still a weight. Is
it necessary to insist on this further? It is entirely a secondary
question. If General STRACHEY, whom I had the pleasure of meeting in
India, demands that the prime meridian should be connected with
observatories with rigorous accuracy, this can be done if it be
desired; the astronomical and electrical methods at our disposal will