ANOTHER TRANSIT.

South Canterbury Times, Issue 2154, 14 February 1880, Page 3

ANOTHER TRANSIT.

Referring to the fact that another transit of Venus is to take place in 1882, the “ New York Times ” writes : —“ The last transit of Venus was a recklesslyextravagant affair. Parties of astronomers werfe made tip —some on the basis of whist and others on the basis of poker—and each party chose a distant and expensive country for the scene of its particular transit. Thus one set of astronomers went to China, another to Australia!, another to Kerguelen Land —places which they could not hope to visit at their own expense, and where the} 1, could throw aside all home restraint, The cost of transporting these parties, of supporting them for two or three months, and of bringing them back again was paid by the Government. What has the Government to show in return for all this outlay ? The" answer was certainly not satisfactory to the taxpayers. The astronomers alleged that they made extensive observations at China, Kerguelen Land, and elsewhere. It was supposed that they would settle by careful observation how many times a straight flush will occur when four men arc playing, and would arrive at a definite conclusion as to whether the five, seven, and nine of hearts can be regarded as a stronger suit than the five, seven, and nine of clubs neither being trumps. The record of the transit parties may be searched in vain for any such data. So far as they were concerned we know no more of whist and poker than we did before they made those prolonged observations which so much excited the curiosity of the Chinaman, and so materially altered the distribution of currency at Kergulen Land. Did any of the astronomers observe any new and valuable varieties of tea or firecrackers, or did they discover novel and entertaining animals at Kerguelen Land ? They certainly did not. It is true that the Chinese party did bring home a'collection of photographs which some innocent people believe to be of much scientific importance. It is difficult, however, to understand why photographs of Chinese milliners ; views of the outside of the house of Pekin in which the transit took place ; and likenesses of the astronomers as they appeared when about to sit to the celebration, can possess any permanent scientific value. There is no doubt that the astronomers had a delightful time, and most of them play a much stronger game than they did before going abroad, but the Government scarcely i seems to have received its money’s worth. As to the pretext that at every transit of Venus the distance of the sun from the earth is measured, no one can be deceived by it. According to the admissions of the astronomers themselves, the sun’s distance has been measured times without number. Either it has been measured correctly, in which case it is useless to re-measure it, or else it has been measured incorrectly, which is a proof that the astronomers cannot do their work in a trustworthy way, and that it is not worth while for them to try it again.