going into details of secular changes, I am at this time engaged on that which is the foundation of all, namely, the change of excentricity of the Solar Orbit, and its result in producing Lunar Acceleration.  An important error in the theoretical formulae for Variations of Radius Vector, Longitude, and Latitude, was discovered; some calculations depending on them are cancelled.”—­Referring to the magnitude of the printed volume of “Greenwich Observations,” and the practicability of reducing the extent of it, the Report states thus:  “The tendency of external scientific movement is to give great attention to the phenomena of the Solar disc (in which this Observatory ought undoubtedly to bear its part).  And I personally am most unwilling to recede from the existing course of magnetical and meteorological observations....The general tendency of these considerations is to increase the annual expenses of the Observatory.  And so it has been, almost continuously, for the last 42 years.  The annual ordinary expenses are now between 2-1/2 and 3 times as great as in my first years at the Royal Observatory.—­Mr Gill was appointed to the Cape Observatory, and I wrote out instructions for him in March:  there was subsequently much correspondence respecting the equipment and repairs of the Cape Observatory.”—­In the Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society for January an article had appeared headed “Notes on the late Admiral Smyth’s Cycle of Celestial Objects, Vol.  II.” by Mr Herbert Sadler.  In this article Mr Sadler had criticized the work of Admiral Smyth in a manner which Airy regarded as imputing bad faith to Admiral Smyth.  He at once took up the defence of his old friend very warmly, and proposed certain Drafts of Resolutions to the Council of the Society.  These Resolutions were moved, but were amended or negatived, and Airy immediately resigned his office of Vice-President.  There was considerable negociation on the subject, and discussion with Lord Lindsay, and on May 9th Airy’s Resolutions were accepted by the Council.—­In October Airy inspected the “Faraday” telegraph ship, then lying in the river near Messrs Siemens’ works, and broke his finger by a fall on board the vessel.—­In this year Airy wrote and circulated a letter to the Members of the Senate of the University of Cambridge, on the subject of the Papers set in the Smith’s Prizes Examination.  In this letter, as on former occasions, he objected much to the large number of questions in “purely idle algebra, arbitrary combinations of symbols, applicable to no further purpose.”  And in particular he singled out for comment the following question, which was one of those set, “Using the term circle as extending to the case where the radius is a pure imaginary, it is required to construct the common chord of two given circles.”  This drew forth as usual a rejoinder from Prof.  Cayley, who wrote enclosing a solution of his problem, but not at all to Airy’s satisfaction, who replied as follows:  “I am not so deeply plunged in the mists of impossibles as to appreciate fully your explanation in this instance, or to think that it is a good criterion for University candidates.”