The first volume to
be issued was that for the year 1855. Both in the preparation of
that work and in the connected work of mapping the country, the
question of the meridian to be adopted was one of the first
importance, and received great attention from Admiral Davis, who
made an able report on the subject. Our situation was in some
respects peculiar, owing to the great distance which separated us
from Europe and the uncertainty of the exact difference of
longitude between the two continents. It was hardly practicable to
refer longitudes in our own country to any European meridian. The
attempt to do so would involve continual changes as the
transatlantic longitude was from time to time corrected. On the
other hand, in order to avoid confusion in navigation, it was
essential that our navigators should continue to reckon from the
meridian of Greenwich. The trouble arising from uncertainty of the
exact longitude does not affect the navigator, because, for his
purpose, astronomical precision is not necessary.
The wisest solution was probably that embodied in the act of
Congress, approved September 28, 1850, on the recommendation of
Lieutenant Davis, if I mistake not. "The meridian of the
Observatory at Washington shall be adopted and used as the
American meridian for all astronomical purposes, and the meridian
of Greenwich shall be adopted for all nautical purposes.
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