THE TRANSIT OF VENUS.

Evening Star, Issue 3707, 9 January 1875, Page 2

THE TRANSIT OF VENUS.

COMPLIMENTARY DINNER TO THE AMERICAN AND FRENCH EXPEDITIONS. The dinner given at the Shamrock Hotel last evening to the officers of the above expeditions by the Otago^lnstitute was attended by seventy gentlemen. The chair was occupied by Mr J. T. Thomson, who was supported on the right by Professor Peters, head of the American expedition, and Captain Jac.piernart, of the Vire, and on his left by M. Bouquet de la Gyre, head of the French expedition, and by his Honor Judge Chapman. The other officers of the two expeditions and several officers of the Vire were also present; and Captain Hutton and Messrs M'Kerrow and J. S. Webb acted as croupiers. After the excellent spread provided by Host Hethrington bad been done justice to, and the customary loyal toasts been proposed, the Chairman read a letter from the Superintendent expressing his regret at not being able to attend the dinner. His Honor added “I need not say that I look upon the occasion as one of very great interest indeed, and that, as political head of the Province, it would have afforded me much pleasure to have been present, and on behalf of the people of this section of the British Empire to have conveyed to onr French and American friends our earnest hope that the three great nations may long continue to go hand in hand in the pursuit of scientific research -that burying the animosities of the past they may evermore remain united in j every enterprise which is calculated to promote and extend the happiness and progress of humanity.”

In proposing the toast of the evening—“ The American anil French Expeditious ” the Chairman said ; — Our learned guest from America is well-known in astronomical circles. His rays of light have penetrated to this dark corner, for his fame had preceded him. In Europe he was associated with the celebrated Locke. Ho himself had discovered more planetoids—in number, I believe, nineteen or twenty than any other astronmer, and to which may be added three comets. Further, he now gives his valuable services to the Transit of Venus Expedition without fee or emolument, This is what I call devotion to an illustrious cause. I may say that I have reason to be peculiarly grateful to him and his staff, as it was through the encouragement of his principal assistant, Lieutenant Bass, that my friend M'Kerrow and self got connected with the enterprise, and as an integral portion thereof. And, though duty required that we should attach ourselves to the expedition sent out from our own nation, yet it was Mr Bass’s encouragement that led to this. To onr scientific guest from France I turn with great pleasure. He is also a man of mark, having conducted allied and cognate labors iu his very extensive hydrograghic surveys of the west coast of France and New Caledonia, and in the compilation of nautical directories of the same. His genius and energy were also conspicuous iu the defence of Paris, the capital of i ranee itself ; and his inventions of arms of defence are also favorably known iu the mechanical world. The personal intercourse that I have had with him impresses me with the highest respect for his profound knowledge and practical familiarity with the ingenious and delicate instruments used in astronomical observations. Now though our friends from America carry back to their country a store (or, in diggers parlance, as they were stationed in a gold-mining district) a pile of scientific wealth in the observations which they, by the favor of Venus, have secured ; yet let us not less value the labors of our French friends, for they stiuck out boldly for a greater prize, which the high latitude of their station would have secured to the world, That they failed in their object was not their fault; this is due to the well-known freaks of the fickle goddess, 1 lofessor Peteus, who, ou rising, was received with prolonged applause, replied at considerable length. Referring to the observations mane by his party, he said the American expedition directed their efforts to make the photographic observation as perfect as possible and considered the contact observation only as a confirmation, or rather as an observaturn necessary for examining certain physical phenomena connected with the contact The principal photographic apparatus was a lens of 6m aperture, and 4Qft focal distance, without nny magnifying lens between. The image of thesnn in this lense. as could be easily seen, won d be about 44m., and the image of Venus would be about one-thirtieth of an inch What was peculiar iu the American instruments was this : that they not only measured the distance, but also measured the angle of position. They did not find the effect simply in the distance of the centres, but also m the direction. He behoved no other nation had a similar apparatus. He believed that next to the American system came the I'tench. As far as he had ascertained, he did nofc believe that the English, Germans or Russians had photographic instruments as perfect as the Americans and French. He believed, therefore that each of the American photographs would be superior to each one of the photographs taken by the other nations mentioned. The measure of angular positions, however, was peculiar to the Americans. He would now tell them how many observations his party had taken. They had got about 299. (Applause.) From that number, however, would hav® to be deducted over 60, so that of useful observations there weie 237-237 measurements of one contact. He had to bo explicit on this point, in order not to depreciate the observations of his party Ihoy had not relied upon the contacts; Ho had heard it said, and he had seen it stated in the public Press of New Zealand, that the American party had only got one-half of the observations, because they had observed only one contact. Tbat was quite a different affair. Besides the photographic observations, they had also taken direct observations of Venus in order to examine especially the physical phenomena of tbo contact ; and they had also, at the same time, obtained a series of measurements which would give actually the moment of ingress This was the first time in history that the United hftd pfirtioiputed in an observe* tion of the Transit of Venus; this was the first time that the Transit of Venus had been observed in New Zealand since its discovery in 1769. His party felt that they could not have accomplished what they had if it wore not for the great kindness they had met with in this country. They had ' received aid from the General Government, from the Provincial Government, and from numerous private friends interested in scieppo, and they were indebted in every way to the citizens of Queenstown. They would leave this country with a deep feeling of gratitude towards its inhabitants. They did not alone deserve praise for the success of the expedition—their New Zealand friends deserved an equal amount of praise, M. de la Gyre, who replied in French, thanked the Institute for the cordial reception accorded to himself and countrymen—a reception that bore testimony to the interest taken by it in the astronomical questions the expeditions came here to determine. He bore testimony to the fact that Otago had shown she could do much for science. The museum and the geodesical operations of the chairman were remarkable instances.

Lieut. Bass, in proposing “The Institute,” thanked that body for the assistance it had rendered to his party, without which and its advice they would have gone back emptyhanded instead of with the valuable results they had obtained. They would ever remember and feel proud ot having been the guests of the Institute. Mr Justice Chapman replied. Captain Jacquemaut, before the guests of the evening retired, addressed the company. He said as his vessel left Otai>o the next day lie desired to return his heartfelt thanks for the aid bis countrymen had received. To the Government of the Colony, to the Provincial Government of Otago, and the people of the Province, but especially to the pitissens of Dunedin they owed much, and he thanked them for their good fellowship which he' would bear in mind in whatever part of the globe he might be in. He had visited many parts, but in°no place had he found himself more at home than in Dunedin. He was a sailor, and in sailor fashion he thanked them for their reception of himseK and countrymen. “The University of Otago,” to which Professor Macgregor replied, brought the proceedings to a close, the company separating shortly alter ten o’clock.