Page:Baylee's Method of Finding the Longitude.djvu/12

Rh year, with respect to any other meridian, B, will give the difference of longitude between any places which are under the two meridians A and B. For, the diurnal motion of the earth on its axis being equable and uniform, at least so far as has been hitherto practically noticed, it follows, that equal relative spaces of the firmament must pass over equal and absolute spaces of the earth's surface in equal times. The times of the respective culminations should be found by observation, and not by calculation only.


 * —When the meridian is found the variation is found: but the meridian has been found, by the method here presented, and therefore the variation is found.

the Advertisement and in the Notes to this Method, some expressions, such as "the efficiency of my method," may appear as originating from self-sufficiency; but I can with truth assure my readers they have originated from the opposite principle. Attached to the system I had studied, the reflection of many years had influence scarcely sufficient to induce me to depart from it in any degree; because the high respect I cherish for the distinguished characters who had