AbstractsBiology & Animal Science

"The ordinary methods of determining the true meridian by observation on either Polaris or the sun are so tedious to calculate that most surveyors and students dread making them. Observation on Polaris at either elongation or clumination [sic] require less calculation and are much simpler, but this simplicity is offset by the fact that they must be taken at an exact instant. If a cloud crosses the sky at the time, the surveyor has to wait until the next night. then again the observer must know the date, exact longitude and latitude and correct time for making the observation, and these are not always known in the field. The method described herein was suggested by Professor Harris. Briefly, it consists of taking a complete sunset to sunrise set of observations of the total angle between Urser Minor Polaris and Urser Minor B [Beta] and the corresponding angle between Polaris and the known true meridian" – Introduction, p. 3.