Mower County transcript. [volume] (Lansing, Minn.) 1868-1915, 1890-06-18
the PRIME MERiDlANs.
tn Used by Different Nations from the
Eli 1SNrllest Days to tho Present..

J s.-fE+ Ia
Thos Used by Different Nations from the
:F Earliest Days to tho Present.
Tho line where en- imaginary plane,
passing through the earth's axis. cuts
the circumference, is known as q meri-
dian. The meridian Of any place is .
line passing through that place and also
through both the north and south
poles. 1t is evident that such
q line carried around the globe
must form the circumference Of =
plane circle which passes through the
earth's center also. The first or prime
meridian is the meridian from which
distances upon the surface are reckoned.
1t Is, OF course. essential in drawing
maps Among the early geographers
there was considerable variety in de-
termining tho prime meridian. The
first line Of this kind used was fixed by
Ptolemy, who placed it on the most
westerly of the Canary Islands. This
line was generally used until the
discovery Of the western continent.
After that, while the Spaniards and
Portuguese reckoned from the line of de-
marcation (s7s leagues west of the
Cape Verde Islands) which had been
sanctioned by the Pope, the Protestant
Dutch, Germans and English still adj
hered to the Ptolemean meridian. Mer-
Gator, on his globe Of the year 1541,
chose tho island Ferteventura, in the
Canaries, as his starting point, but sub
sequently adopted Corvo, in the Azores,
because he there approached the true
indication Of the magnetic needle. But,
with the idea Of approaching still nearer
the point where the variation Of the
needle was indicated, the younger
Mercator and other geographers of his
time fixed on the Isle del Fuego, in
the Cape Verde group. A noted Dutch
navigator, however, William Blaew,
chose the Peak of Teneriffe, and his ex-
ample was followed, generally, by his
countrymen. In the year 1884 King
Louis XIII. commanded that all French
ships should, under penalty, calculate
their longitudes from the meridian of
Ferro, though the relation of the posi-
ton of Ferro to that of the observatory
at,Paris was not accurately understood
for many years later. France, however,
about the beginning of the nineteenth
century, returned to the use of the
meridian of Paris. Spain, also, after
her hold on the Western world was
broken, began to reckon from the meri-
dian passing through San Fernando, on
an island few miles southwest OF
Cadiz on the Spanish coast. The Dan.
ish navigators have preferred to make
their reckonings from the meridian of
Copenhagen. The meridian of Ferro,
however, was the one most generally
used down to the nineteenth cent
ury, and is still adhered to
by Germany and all the coun.
tries of Eastern Europe. Denmark,
Spain and France use the separate
'meridians that we have mentioned, but
Great Britain and all her dependent
colonies, the United States, and the
Central and South American countries
use the meridian of Greenwich, En-.
gland, the United States also using
Washington. A conference of scientists
was held at Washington in October,
1884, for the purpose of selecting uni.
form meridian, from which all the ma
tions of the world should make their
reckonings. The weight of favor in.
clined to the choice of the Greenwich
meridian, but the strong opposition OF
the French delegates prevented this
selection, and no other had any general
support. The conference, therefore,
broke up without making any decision,
and the various meridians which we
have mentioned are still in use. Chi
caco Inter Ocean