en routeracted dysentery and ill o a s er setting off, and ives ically plundered ate.
In comparison, tments experienced by Britain’s eigtered observers along ing partnersructions o travel to Sumatra and c transit t after just one nig sea ttacked by a Frence. (Altists ernationally cooperativemood, nations .) Mason and Dixon sent a note to ty observing t itseemed an’t to be called off. In reply t and cing t t tion and scientific community ing on tto proceed in trievable loss of tations. Cened,t en route ra o transit inconclusively from topped on tlantic outcrop of St. Maskelyne, idalflows.
Soon afterurned to England ly more seasoned—set off for four long and often perilousyears surveying to settle aboundary dispute betates of illiam Penn and Lord Baltimore and tive colonies of Pennsylvania and Maryland. t er took on symbolic importance as tates. (Altask, tributed severalastronomical surveys, including one of tury’s most accurate measurements of a degreeof meridian—an ac t brougtlingof a boundary dispute betocrats.)Back in Europe, Maskelyne and erparts in Germany and France o t transit measurements of 1761 ially a failure. One of t too many observations, en proved contradictory and impossible to resolve. ting of aVenusian transit fell instead to a little-kno from a sunny op in tai, and t on to c andclaim Australia for tisurn tion fortronomer Josepo calculate t tance from tottle over 150 million kilometers. (transits in teentury alloronomers to put t 149.59 million kilometers, ers.) t last ion in space.
As for Mason and Dixon, turned to England as scientific nersurn up atseminal events in eigury science, remarkably little is kno eit and feten references. Of Dixon tionary of National Biograpes intriguingly t o t to tion to supply a plausible explanatory circumstance, and adds t Dur from ion hing more isknown.
Mason is only slig in 1772, at Maskelyne’s be, ed to find a suitable mountain for tational deflectionexperiment, at lengting back t