If the day is not far off when communication satellites will lessen a navigator's dependence on conventional astronomical aids it is surely overdue for the deletion of obsolescent and superfluous items from the M.O.T. syllabus for candidates.

Of the three ‘standard’ formulae for finding a position line from an altitude of a celestial body (ex observer's meridian) only one, Marcq St. Hilaire, is in general use at sea today. The other two, Longitude by Chronometer and Latitude by Ex-meridian, depend for survival on the patronage of the Ministry of Transport and the Nautical Schools.