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Entered according to act of Congress, in the year 1843,

BY FRANCIS BOWEN,

in the Clerk's office of the District Court of the District of Massachusetts

261944

BOSTON:

PRINTED BY S. N. DICKINSON,
WASHINGTON STREET.

PREFACE.

THIS volume of the American Almanac, which is the fifteenth from the commencement of the work, and the fifth of the second series, contains the usual variety of astronomical, statistical, and miscellaneous information. Great pains have been taken to obtain the latest and most correct intelligence from every part of the country, and it is hoped, that the high reputation which the work has acquired for accuracy in former years will be fully sustained by the present volume.

The astronomical department is still under the charge of Mr. BENJAMIN PEIRCE, Perkins Professor of Astronomy in Harvard University, whose high reputation is a sufficient guaranty of the completeness and accuracy of the computations. Some additions have been made to this portion of the work, and the eclipses of the sun and moon which take place in 1844, especially the solar eclipse of Dec. 9th, have been computed with extraordinary minuteness and care. The path of this eclipse across the country is laid down on a handsomely engraved map of the United States, which will be useful also for general reference. Professor Peirce has also furnished an interesting article on the remarkable comet of 1843, which sums up in a very succinct and complete form the results obtained by mathematicians and scientific observers both in Europe and America. Among the miscellaneous articles is a complete list of the Senators and Representatives in Congress, with the time of commencement and termination of their respective periods of service, from the formation of the constitution in 1789 up to the present day. Every name and date have been compared with the official records at Washington, and the list is believed to be very accurate. A table of the sessions of Congress is given, and under the head of the individual States will be found a complete view of the districts for the choice of representatives, into which the States have been divided under the apportionment law of 1812. Another novel article contains the titles and abstracts of all the public laws passed at the last session of Congress. We intend to continue this article in future volumes, so that the work will present, in a narrow compass, a complete record of the legislation of the country, in connection with the other divisions that furnish a continuous register of statistical and miscellaneous facts. Some interesting statistics respecting the cities and larger

towns, prepared from original sources of information, and arranged with great care, expressly for this work, are also inserted. These might have been much increased in amount, by borrowing the reputed statistical information which is furnished by the newspapers in great abundance. But the tables collected in this way abound with inaccuracies, and only encumber and vitiate a work designed for preservation and future reference, as well as for present use. Satisfactory details respecting the financial condition and the common school systems of the several States will be found arranged under the appropriate heads. The usual lists of officers of the executive and the judiciary, both of the national government and of all the individual states and territories, and the record of colleges, theological and medical schools, &c., have been carefully revised and corrected up to the latest date. Statistics are also furnished respecting all the more numerous religious denominations. The obituary notices of distinguished individuals, deceased during the past year, have been collected with great attention from every part of the country, and form an interesting and valuable record.

The best thanks of the editor are due to the numerous correspondents of the work, and they are respectfully solicited to furnish information for the future volumes. Persons who may notice errors in any portion of the Almanac are earnestly requested to communicate them to the editor, and they will be corrected in the following year. Perfect accuracy cannot be expected in a work embracing such a multitude of details; but every exertion is made to avoid mistakes, and to supply the most useful and interesting information that comes within the plan of such a publication.

Boston, Mass.

October 1, 1843.

PUBLISHER'S ADVERTISEMENT.-This number contains 10 printed sheets; the postage, under 100 miles, is 15 cents; over that distance, 25 cents. The work will be sent by mail to any person who will remit $1 to the publisher at Boston. If the remittance be made without expense to the publisher, either by discount or postage, the Almanac will be sent by mail, postage paid.

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