The New York herald. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1840-1920, 1875-03-19
THE MARCH OF SCIENCE.

THE AMERICAN OBSERVATIONS OF THE TRANSIT
OF vENUs-THE COLUMBIA COLLEGE ALUMNI
A CHAIR OF POLITICAL AND SOCIAL SCIENCE.
A distinguished assemblage OF graduates Of Col.
umbIa College met in Delmontco's last evening.
The attractive feature Of the occasion was dis
course delivered by Mr.. Leonard Waldo, who &C.
the American expedition to HOBART
Town, Tasmania, to observe
THE TRANSIT OF VENUS.
The gentleman's address pertained chiefly to
the voyage and labors OF the scientists. He spoke
substantially as follows:-
GENTLEMEN OF THE ALUMNAL AssocIATroN-An
what mas become OF your oldest boy % ale has
gone to look after yenusl" And then came the
young men Of his age" If You vii bear with me,
gentlemen, We will follow for an hour the young
man who went to look after Venus aud we viii
meet again the veal and woe wnic. attended the
good snip Swatara IN her trip 10 the Iar South,
carrying her living freight OF young men and old,
Venus. Alter the months OF weary rehearsal at
Washington, on the morning OF June s, 1874,
and means, took her departure from Sandy Hook.
me sun O.. came up out OF the sea upon the lett,
mounted the SKY and sunk toward the west, rising
higher every day, until ut length we passed
directly beneath his rays.
SOUTH AMERICAN CIVILIZATION.
On July 10 we sighted the Brazilian port OF
Bahia, whose itesanded coast doomed up beau
tllully before us. and we entered the exquisite
).
foliage. the. city's mouldy walls. the churches
topped with gided crosses on every emf
nence and the strange people Of that chSe;
service Is a small affair. We repaired to tue
Office in hopes Of hearing news rom home, when
we were offered the whole mail OF the district to
search through. This consisted OF only two small
packages OF letters, none Oh which was for us.
warm Climate having Told npon tSe ensr~es sn Of
the population. After briel stay the Swatara
again put to sea, and on the 9Th OF August sighted
TnyU fhn Anna
were cordially received. The population Is u mix
ture OF Dutch native Africans ana Malays. VINO
public library there, which Is extensively patron
ized The Suez Canal having cut out Cape Town
as landing station for vessels en- route from
England to the East the place Is not the scene OF
much activity. Yet there is an abundance of
wines, fruits, gold and diamonds, the latter
There we met the English observers VINO were
destined for Maurtius and with whom We eX-
chan ged the customary courtesles On the 17tn
of August the vessel turned toward the Indian
ocean, bound tor CrOzet Island, and by the 23d
our parry reached the parallel xnown as "tne
southwest. When we sighted Hog Island, the
THE CRozET GROUP
on the 2sth, we found that the islands were
marked wrong to an extent Offlteen miles on the
charts. Storms OF snow, rain, han and wind roar
constantly around these shores. Inc coast Is
rock bound with few in:ermlsslons or surf, ana
the sailors say that no boat Is ever landed there
without being stove in. After laying to all night
we found we mad orllted thirty miles. and owing
to the fury OF the weather IL was Impossible
ito ay we rse slers 10 & sa
wrong. With immense difficulty the appliances
were got ashore and site for the observation
was soon selected at height OF 400 Ieet. Bidding
gO0dby To our brothers there we sailed Tor Tas-
mania Tne narDor of Hobart Town was entered
by us on the 30th or September. It Is the finest
harbor IN the world. beng encased by hills and
mountains nearly mile high. The air is bracing
and there is , luXuriant supply Of fruits, liquors
House at our disposal. ana alter two weeks toll
all
THE oBsERvAroRIEs
were up. We exchanged longitude observations
with navlgatOrs from Chatham Island aud with
Hardness. On the morning OF the transit the rain
fell heavily, and all hope OF success vanished. The
contacts were not observed, but 113 photographs
were secured, and they will prove OF great value.
The natives were greatly amused reading the
morning I'VE have snatched victory from the
jaws OF defeat" DR.. II. j. Anderson. whom we
alterward met at sydney, contributed mucn to
the comfort OF the party. The American ne vs.
papers most extensively circulated In Australia
are ~ the NEW YORK HERALD. t2) the Scientific
american, and (3) the american AyTicultM'ist.
When the observations were at an end VIC en-
barked on the Swatara and proceeded to New
Zealand, where we had the pleasure Of Joining
Professor Peters party.
Inc lecturer, having concluded his discourse,
threw Upon screen several Photographic pic
the members OF the expedition. These were
Bahia, with its picturesque terraces Table Rock,
on whose summit the observers set an American
nag; Kerguelen, Hobart Town. peOpled by quon-
dam convicts and ticket-O-eave men; a monu-
ment at Hobart Town TO the memory
of soldiers who persisted IN wars against
the natives. 70 the central point of
tols monument all the astronomical observation
OF the American party are reierred. The speaker
concluded Dy saying that as nation the Ameri-
can astronomers have been more successful tnan
any other in the transit labors and the Observa-
lions OF our scientists Will be used Dy foreign CAL
cuators Ia the lack OF data which the latter could
not obtain.
POLITICAL AND SOCIAL SCIENCE.
After the passage OF q vote OF thanks to Mr..
Waldo a resolution was offered that the Board of
Trustees OF Columbia College be petttioned to es-
tabllsh prOicssorshlp OF political and social
science. The proposition met with great favor
and will probably be adopted by the Governing
Board.