ABSTRACT
By the middle of the century meridian surveys had begun to proliferate around Europe, their suites of triangles becoming incorporated by stages into nation-wide maps. A few surveys were carried out by semi-amateurs, notably the meridian of Rome to Rimini by the Jesuits Boscovich and Maire in 1755, and the degree of Vienna and Hungary by Lieseganig and Scheffer in 1767. Borda may well have been promoting the meridian survey in order to demonstrate the superiority of his circle over the quadrants used by La Caille and his supporters. Jean-Baptiste Joseph Delambre and Pierre-Francois Mechain were reinstated as 'astronomers', with duties that included a resumption of the meridian survey. This made possible a return to fieldwork in June 1795, with a division of labour that sent Delambre and his assistants to re-establish the Paris-Dunkerque meridian, while Mechain went back to the south to finish the more difficult connection into Spain.
