We report on the Lovers of Active Galaxies' (LAG) monitoring of the Se
yfert 1 galaxy Markarian 279 from January to June 1990. The source, wh
ich was in a very bright state, gradually weakened after the first mon
th of monitoring: the Halpha and Hbeta flux decreased by 20% and 35% r
espectively, and the continuum under Halpha by 30%. The luminosity-wei
ghted radius of the broad line region (BLR), as derived from the cross
-correlation function, is of the order of 10 light days. This result i
s very uncertain because the features in the light curves are very sha
llow, but it is unlikely that the radius of the BLR is more than 1 lig
ht month. The profile variations of Halpha confirm that the prevailing
motions are not radial. The data of the present campaign and those ob
tained in previous years, when the source was in a much weaker state,
show that the red asymmetry of the Balmer lines correlates positively
with the broad line flux. This new effect is briefly discussed.