consulted by the Postmaster-General in the matter of a dispute which had arisen between the Post Office and the Telephone Companies, which latter were alleged to have infringed the monopoly of the Post Office in commercial telegraphs:  Airy made a declaration on the subject.—­In July Mr Bakhuyzen came to England to determine the longitude of Leyden, on which he was engaged till Sept. 9th, and carried on his observations at the Observatory.—­In July Airy was much engaged in perusing the records of Mr Gill’s work at the Cape of Good Hope.

Of private history:  On Jan. 24th he returned from Playford.—­From June 14th to July 4th he was again at Playford.—­From September 21st to October 20th he was staying at Portinscale near Keswick.—­On Dec. 23rd he went again to Playford for his winter holiday.

Respecting the agitation at Cambridge for granting University degrees to women, the following extract from a letter addressed to a young lady who had forwarded a Memorial on the subject for his consideration, and dated Nov. 10th, 1880, contains Airy’s views on this matter.

“I have not signed the Memorial which you sent for my consideration:  and I will endeavour to tell you why.  I entirely approve of education of young women to a higher pitch than they do commonly reach.  I think that they can successfully advance so far as to be able clearly to understand—­with gratification to themselves and with advantage to those whose education they will superintend—­much of the results of the highest class of science which have been obtained by men whose lives are in great measure devoted to it.  But I do not think that their nature or their employments will permit of their mastering the severe steps of beginning (and indeed all through) and the complicated steps at the end.  And I think it well that this their success should be well known—­as it is sure to be—­among their relatives, their friends, their visitors, and all in whom they are likely to take interest.  Their connection with such a place as Girton College is I think sufficient to lead to this.  But I desire above all that all this be done in entire subservience to what I regard as infinitely more valuable than any amount of knowledge, namely the delicacy of woman’s character.  And here, I think, our views totally separate.  I do not imagine that the University Degree would really imply, as regards education, anything more than is known to all persons (socially concerned in the happiness of the young woman) from the less public testimonial of the able men who have the means of knowing their merits.  And thus it appears to me that the admission to University Degree would simply mean a more extended publication of their names.  I dread this.”

1881