will shortly pass within nine furlongs of the Observatory) in reference to this subject.’—­I agreed with Schumacher in giving no medal to Mr G. P. Bond; his comet was found to be Petersen’s.  Five medals were awarded for comets in 1847 (Hind, Colla, Mauvais, Brorsen, Schweizer).—­The Liverpool Observatory was finished this year:  and the thanks of the Town Council were presented to me.—­Respecting Fallows’s Observations at the Cape of Good Hope:  I had received the Admiralty sanction for proceeding with calculations in 1846, and I employed computers as was convenient.  On July 20th of this year I was ready with final results, and began to make enquiries about Fallows’s personal history, and the early history of the Cape Observatory.  On Oct. 23rd I applied for sanction for printing, which was given, and the work was soon finished off, in the Astronomical Society’s Memoirs.—­In the month of March I had commenced correspondence with various persons on the imperfect state of publication of the British Survey.  Sheets of the Map were issued by scores, but not one of them had an indication of latitude or longitude engraved.  I knew that great pains had been taken in giving to the principal triangulation a degree of accuracy never before reached, and in fixing the astronomical latitudes of many stations with unequalled precision.  Finally I prepared for the Council of the Royal Society a very strong representation on these subjects, which was adopted and presented to the Government.  It was entirely successful, and the Maps were in future furnished with latitude and longitude lines.—­I was elected President of the Royal Astronomical Society on Feb. 9th.—­In June I went with Sheepshanks to see some of the operation of measuring a Base on Salisbury Plain.  The following extract from a letter to his wife dated 1849, June 27th, relates to this expedition:  ’In the morning we started before eight in an open carriage to the Plain:  looking into Old Sarum on our way.  The Base is measured on what I should think a most unfavourable line, its north end (from which they have begun now, in verification of the old measure) being the very highest point in the whole plain, called Beacon Hill.  The soldiers measure only 252 feet in a day, so it will take them a good while to measure the whole seven miles.  While we were there Col.  Hall (Colby’s successor) and Yolland and Cosset came.’”

Of private history:  “I made short visits to Playford in January, April and July.  From July 28th to Sept. 12th I made an expedition with my wife to Orkney and Shetland.—­From Dec. 24th to 26th I was at Hawkhurst, on a visit to Sir John Herschel.”

1850