v = 79.77 m./sec.; l = 232 mm., λ = 0.546 μ; so that a displacement is foreseen of
and
Experimentally, I have been able to augment considerably the exactitude of observation of the fringes; and this because of the higher luminosity of the phenomena. The circular fringes follow each other as is known, with increasing diameter according to the law:
in which l and λ have the usual meaning, n is the increasing ordinal number of the fringes, beginning at the centre, and α is their radius measured in visual angle from the eye of the observer. So that when a displacement of a fringe is observed, for obtaining a higher precision it is necessary to keep in mind that parabolical law referring to the value of the length of the wave. This is what I have done, studying previously the distribution of the above-mentioned fringes in the field of the telescope. Want of space does not allow me to explain this more at length. I may only say that in the series of observations quoted, I obtained an average of displacement
As we see, this value is somewhat superior to that expected, about 5 per cent. Until now, although I took the greatest care to keep in mind the precision of the different measures which are necessary to arrive at this result, I do not know if any systematic error is the reason for this small difference. Certainly it appears superior to the probable error of the result; and that is why I have mentioned it. But in consideration of the delicacy of the measures I do not register the value of the displacement of the fringes before admitting the above-mentioned discordancy (however slight). For now we may conclude that, under the conditions of the experiment, and within the limits of exactitude of the observations made, the velocity of light does not change by the movement of the source along the direction of propagation.
From the researches made by Michelson, Fabry and Buisson, and by myself, it results that the velocity of light
