45
om Rigtigheden i slig Observation og siden den Tiid indtil vore Tider,
har man ikke fundet noget antegnet om Misviisningen her til Lands.
Den lærde Engelske Edmund Halley har ved sine lange Reyser og
kostbare Experimenter, ligesom tilbragt Verden et nyt Systema; hans Ef¬
terfølgere som i Aaret 1744 paatog sig at giøre et nyt Oplag af hans Ar¬
beyde, nemlig et Misviisnings=Kort, udlader sig saaledes:
It is much to be qished that the learned and ingenious Inha¬
bitants of every Part of the Earth, mould periodically observe the
Variation of the Needle at those Places mhere they reside, or thro
vich they travel; because their Observations made an Shore, vill
be less liable to Error, than those made at Sea: and because those
Observations Communicatet to the Persons vho may hereafter un¬
dertake a Work of this Kind (as Time must render it necessarv)
mill enable them, not only to be more certain of the Lines they
are to dram over the Oceans; but also to describe the like over the
Land, vich mould render them Compleat: There are tio pover¬
ful, Inducements to bestom a little Time and Pains thereon vitz.
I. That it mould produce A General Good, and II. That it Would
add to the Reputation of those vho perform it, ifthey (being no
mays concerned in Maritime Affairs, mhich is a Case that cannot
happen to many) schould reap no other Benefit therefrom. But ssu¬
rely the Mariners, mhose Credit vith their Employers depends on
an Opinion of their Skill and Fidelity: mhose Subsistance and farther
Hopes of making a Fortune in the World, depend on the Success
II. Deel.
