As members of this Board of Longitude, the first institution of the
kind in France, LAGRANGE, LAPLACE, LALANDE, CASSINI,[1] MÉCHAIN,
BORDA,[1] BOUGAINVILLE, FLEURIEU, MESSIER, BUACHE, and CARROCHÉ, the
optician, had each 8,000 francs (_circa_ £. 330 sterling) a year, and
the assistant astronomers, 4,000. Indeed, the professors of that
science were in want of pecuniary assistance for the purpose of
forming pupils.
The _Bureau des Longitudes_ is on a more extensive scale, and
possesses greater authority than the Board of Longitude in England.
It is charged with the administration of all the Observatories
belonging to the Republic, as well as with the correspondence with
the astronomers of foreign countries. The government refers to it the
examination of memoirs relative to navigation. Such of its members as
more specially cultivate practical astronomy in the National
Observatories of the capital, are charged to make all Observations
which may contribute to the progress of that science, and procure new
means for rectifying the tables of the Sun, as well as those which
make known the position of the stars, and particularly the tables of
the Moon, the improvement of which so essentially concerns the safety
of navigation.
The great importance of the last-mentioned tables induced this Board,
about three years ago, to propose a premium of 6,000 francs (_circa_
£. 250 sterling) for tables of the Moon. LALANDE recommended to
BONAPARTE to double it. The First Consul took his advice: and the
French now have tables that greatly surpass those which are used in
England.[2] A copy of these have, I understand, been sent to Mr.
MASKELYNE, our Astronomer-Royal at Greenwich.
The Board of Longitude of France, like that of England, calculates
for every year Tables or _Ephemerides_, known in Europe under the
title of _Connaissance des Tems_. The French having at length
procured able calculators, are now able to dispense with the English
_Ephemeris_. Their observations follow each other in such a manner as
to render it unnecessary for them to recur to those of Greenwich, of
which they have hitherto made continual use. Since the year 1795, the
_Connaissance des Tems_ has been compiled by JÉROME LALANDE. At the
end of the tables and their explanation, it contains a collection of
observations, memoirs, and important calculations. The French
astronomers are not a little surprised that we publish no similar
work in London; while Paris, Berlin, Vienna, Gotha, and Milan set us
the example. It is in the last volumes of the _Connaissance des Tems_
that JÉROME LALANDE gives the history of astronomy, where you will
find every thing that has been done in this science.
The _Bureau des Longitudes_ also publishes for every year, in
advance, the _Annuaire de la République_, which serves as a rule for
all the almanacks compiled in France. The meetings of the Board are
held at the