Letter, 'An account of astronomical observations proposed to be made in South America' from J M [James Melville] Gilliss to Edward Sabine Gilliss details the astronomical observations he intends to make: 'Mars on the meridian and extra-meridian, during the oppositions of 1849 and 1852; and Venus under analogous conditions at the inferior conjunctions and stationary terms of 1850 and 1852'. He asks for counsel from Sabine regarding his proposed observations and for suggestions of 'new series which the locality offers peculiar advantages for making'. Annotations in ink throughout. Marked on front as 'To be printed in full in the Proceedings. P M R [Peter Mark Roget]'. Subject: Astronomy Received 22 November 1848. Communicated by Edward Sabine. This letter was published in full in volume 5 of Abstracts of the Papers Printed in the Philosophical Transactions of the Royal Society of London [later Proceedings of the Royal Society] as 'An account of astronomical observations proposed to be made in South America. By S. M. Gilliss, in an extract of a letter to Lieut.-Col. Sabine, R. A., For. Sec. R. S. Communicated by Lieut.-Col. Sabine'. 25 October 1848