Remarks upon Some Dissertations Lately Publish'd at Paris, by the Rev. P. Souciet, against SirIsaac Newton's Chronology. By Dr. Edmund Halley, Astronomer Royal, F. R. S.Author(s): Edmund HalleyReviewed work(s):Source: Philosophical Transactions (1683-1775), Vol. 34 (1726 - 1727), pp. 205-210Published by: The Royal SocietyStable URL: http://www.jstor.org/stable/103478 .

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I Remarks upon fome DiJfert{tions lately p>61i/Zv'd at Paris^, by tbe RevX P. S(llcier, again: Wir Ifaac Newttons Chronology By lAr Ed rntlrt£d Elalley, A#roxorner ltoyai, F. 1-tt 3.

q mHere has been lately pUt into my hand.s a BKkzok j publifhed laftRtear at Pdris by liatler Sosiet;>

JefiuitX againa our late Prefadent SirISa*;cl>te7vl 11is

Chronotogy, without waiting till tbe Book be palt:il-

edX and without knowirlg the Contents rllerenft o£fler

wife than by a lhort Extra&, Xmade at tile derre of a

very great Perfon, and witllout intentio, that it Jll(uld be publickly feen. However, a Copy tllereof 11avirlg been (as I fuppofe) furreptitiouny obtained and carrled over into France, the fame was firft trannared into

French, and then printed at Paris with a pretended Re furation thereof by the fatne P. Sogcier. Since t}zerl, Sirlfaac having anfuZered, as lle thougtlt, his (313

jeEions, has thereby given him a handle to publi(lI five other Diertations againll the nevv Sylleln of Chronologys as he calls it ; tile firll and 1a(} of xv llicl being chiefly ARronomical i fince tlac great Auther is no moreD feem properly to fall undernzy exannation, both oll account of the lQoll in svllich 1 have the ho- nour to feroo Ilis MajeRy in ql1ality of his ARrono- mer, as alSo {rom the long Acquaiftance anl korienel- fl1ip tllat has fubf1Red between the DXceaSud and n1y felt.

And tSrf}, I obServe, that P. Soucier readily allows what Seems to be the mo(t exz4>prionable part oF the wllole Syttem, Vizt that Chirox the Centaur tixt tlle

E e Colures,

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Coluresi in the ancient Sphere of tixt Stars, in the farnt places as Hipparchus tells 1ls they had been *llp- pofed by #clOX#S alany Centuries of Years after Cbi- roa. His words are thefe, cr 9; T ;R74f§) IsoAw 0) pe z£ge42 f t"T@; T" V b£T4A"t, @ > ZS TM V> TX tdTX XA4T. Th is, un- doubtedlyX Vas the Pofitio£} of vlle.Colure of the Ver- nal Equinox rnany Ages before Eudaxgs; but whether fo old as Chiron} and the =4rgonas4tick ExpHition) I nlall nr -under£ake at this time to enquite; but only obServe, tlat Y. Societ in his Avfles e1 Moadt, or A bridgment of his Ctaronology, prefixt to t-heSe DlSer- tations} tnakes tile Argona;¢tck Expedition 1-rf7 iteal?S

before our Gra of tEle Birth of Jelus Chrill e and the taking of [ry I 388 Years betc)re it, which Oate is lzo Years fooner than the Parian Chronicle, read and publiI}lt by our Learned Selden in bis M4rmora ArwfioMe- Zivsta} makes it; and above 5oc) Yeari t^arlier than the l:ime affigned by Sir /faac Neuotan.

Now both of them making uSe of the -fame Premi; fies, it may feem firange that their CQQ}UfiXS lEould be fo widcly dina^C: And indeed upon a Prwffiefl joe that the a?rgoatict Expedition and ti Siege of [rv could not have been lefs tllan xOco \tears betore Chritt I-rnuR own, I was at flrA-fomewhat prejudsed in i- vour of Pi 50Aciet, taking-his Calctalatiox ft vao tel; and not having feen Sir Ifaac's YVrcwk Bu-a + ferving that he quotes Sir I>ac, as iyings tbqt za qonXw quence of what lzpparchas has recorded fmm f^ ttle Equinitlal CDolure in the old Sere was about 7° 3 6' fio£n the tirS 5tar of Aries I was refolfed to examine the tnatter wittl due Attentimt t@ecially flnce the Good Father feems tO trlumph over his Ad* verEaryX arld to trtat a Man of 11is Figur¢ iRttle- CQmX mon-wealtll of Learning in a ver) ludicrous -aaneer norwithfianding ttle Sevuralfine tllings he fiys o >m to

palliate it. 1 find

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( 207 ) I End tlle Di@ute to be clwiefly over whaF part of

the Back of Aries the Colure pa(l: Wlle \Jote3s ot ftipparcAvgs, as iom E#koX;dsXare tt jnlplys t1)at it pa o lrer tho Back} witllout fayir;g over st1Rat. dtars or orer vwrtlat part of the l3ack it pa+;l. And tile fiIne as chss lllessy tllat lf it paII over tIle Star in tlae tnidfwile of the Back, it greatly diSered from tlle Situation thercof in his time; arld conceiviing tllanCe tllat the flEquino dial Points migllt have a regrelEve lnotionf he u as the &rR tilat attempted to dfiile tlltir lnfBtiOn; but t)a- ving no ObServations older tban tlacuSe of [imoctaris} made within leSs than too Years of his own titne} and xrery courSe withal, he was not atDle to deterllline tZle quantsty thereof, but gue(} it to be abovt a l)egree in loo Years; wllicll length of tilne and tlle tnfore cu-

rious ObSerrration of the bloderns llas now prvved to be 19 ̂ '. or rather io" per an&tuS.

Tn a word? Sir Afaac talfes the Colttre to have pa(E over the middle of the Con(lellatiotl of AriesX and v¢ ry near the Star in tlle middle of tile Back (^ Bayero)* And P. Soaciet will havc it) that it pall over the midcIle of the Sign or Dodecvtegorion of alrzes, reckoning the Sign < to begin with the SrR Star ot the Conrteliation; and by confcquence his C,>olure mu(t paSs about midway betsseen the Rutup and firR of tile Tayl of dries ( and 9 Bayero ;) which Situation could never be faid to be over the Back: But wililll Sir gac makes tile Colure but 7Q 36, from the firR Star of Aries, which PX So8ciet males ty Degrets fFom it, tle diffirence 7Q 24 at yo/ per tr;>X7n} makes s 33 Years diSerence in tbe refults

Let us now examine when vlle Stars in queRion dtcl adrually pals under tlle Colure of tbe Verna} kcluinexa aflixming eheir ptaces as thes are itl Mr. FEanlZeeds Brx- tM Catalogue, fitted to the begintling of the Year s Ggo

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He ptaces the fitR Star of Arie5 in tS° Ss' of Aries 7> 9/. Nortll Latitude. And fuppoilng the Obliquity of ttle Eclipticlo t39 t9', it will be as Radius to the Tangent of 23Q 29B:: fo the Tangent of 47Q 9/ tO tilt

Sine vf 3° 7 1-, the diSerence ot Longitude l)etween t}le Star atld tlle Point in the Eclipt-ick which paR unde-r the Colure at the fatne titne w-ith tlle Star ; fo that this Point u7as) Aaso I69O i7feente, in T 25° 43/ o'tand thereSore allosvingso/,ser AnammX theSsar was under t11e Colure Z 8 5 X Years beSere the FJpocha of the Brix tif Ciatalogue, tllat -iS, I6^ Rears before our Gra of tlle 7$tiVity of Jefus Chri in; ullich very Year HiRparchrs began to o£ferve the iEquinexes recordtd by Ytaletr5, Lib. II. C'ap. -X.

If there-fore with Sir I/-aacwe-add 7°- 36 to the ljong. of the firR Star ot Sries, as it was in I 690, we faall have 36° a7w, which the Colure moves in w6z4 Yeafs: And deduding 1690 thereirom, we ihallhave p34 Years before Chrift for- tlle Argonautick Expe- dition. And if to 79 36t wZe add 3Q 7 W Wellaall have I °° 43 ' 21, that is, 7 7 X Years before the lSrft Star of A- ries paft ttle Colure

Next let us inquire when the Star in the middle of tlle Back of Aries (v Bayero) paft the Colure. lts Longitude Anno X 69 o ineSte, was 9° ,8 / 3 S" of f rss, svith Nortll Lat. 6° 8B; but by the Iortgoing Alla- logy, vlle VPoint in the Ecliptick, over whicth the Colure pait atthe fametime wlth lts was t° 4s' 12 before it, that is in U 7° 8/o Now 370 8t gtve w6 ;vqYears ntarlyX or 984 Yeat-s before Ctlrili? wtt-n ltt&t Star was under ttleXquinodtial ColureX belng but halt a Century carlicr- than bIr EJ;ac places the Argona>tick Expeditlen; and illess ehat lle- took the middle of .Atries over which the Colure is ftappc)fed to have paf7-, to le the mlddle as the Conllellation, and not ol- tile L)>G¢'e;JTemOZ8EQ#} AnD lIJ fo

doing;,

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dolng) no doubr., lsad teafon to place this Colere 7v 36 in conSequPnce of the firR <Star of Aries, ln3tead of Sc XX l as It WaS sstllen tl 5tar in ttle midille of the ]3ack of Aties AtaS under tlle COlurer

But if with P. Soaciet 57ou malse tlle Colure to inter-

feA tEle Ecliptick sS l)grees frQfn tlle firR btar of Aries, or a, 30 5 1 t frotll tI-le R;quinOdiRl lOiSts as it WAS

anao f 69O} vve nlall have klle time ntarly X 470 \tnars before ChriR; but then theGolure will beveryfer from vlle midcSle oi tTle I3acls of X#riesf a nd leave onl v his Tayl to the Eaftward, as it leases tive Head of tlla Whale to tlle Wellward fo as by no means to agrve with the lDefcription Bre llave of it {r>-n ppJtc2>s;

whticll it were tO bW wiRlt had bee more deriitiveX and as well circuln-anced as what Hipparchzxs llas left us of the Pofitn of the Colures in [liS OW'tl time, which upon examination I find to be very cnn- &Llenta alld t11e ObServations made with fuJOicient care:

Thus I hope) X have {llewn P. Sagsief: that there was no ASedation of Myflery tn Sir l%acs p!acing tlle Colure 7 36' Irotn the fjra Star ot AzSies, ror any occafiotl to clrole as he does Pag 13to IJ2. on that account; as alro ttlat ile 6oug}lt 1:o llQve dedtl- d;ted t 7/I3 01]t 0t' t1lC IS 9Pg8'ttS 11e aSumes tor the dillance of lais Colure frotn tile fr,rt -9tar of A riess wllich vvill bring Xlln tsy \tears neartr to iir

lfaac NewfoS'S t;;me 1e Is li1<CWirQ entreated in the next Edition of his lZiSertatlons to be a lttle more careful of llis tu^nlrS tthan 11e has been Pag. 34, IJ5} and in'-orm lalmfelf in the Xplerickts7 {v as to give us ttle R.lgwit AScenlGans of the Stars trulyt trom elleir gives Longitu.les and Latitudes.

Lanlys

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LaRly, I wotlld infbrm himX that the- Stat in the Cexltaur which Hipparctgs defcribes, as being in his time very neat t!e Autumnal Colare,was not v of Byer, but certainly , and that,aato inegnte X dpotits Longitude wasScorpio 8Q43}401'> vVith SoutllLatitude ̂72 S9t But the Colure palling througll that Star, by the Pro pcxrtion given above, cllts the Ecliptick I30 totSo" in Antecedence of the St:aa that is in Libra ?#5 tt' 50'. But z5° 221 so" give 18z7 Years: wherefore the Titne chis Star was in the Colure was 137 Years before Chri&, when Hipparskas flourilEed and might very well obServe it

II. Ss

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