to be more important, principally under the management of Capt.  W.H.  Smyth, R.N.—­In November I was enquiring about an 8-inch object-glass.  I had already in mind the furnishing of our meridional instruments with greater optical powers.—­On July 14th the Admiralty referred to me a Memorial of Mr J.G.  Ulrich, a chronometer maker, claiming a reward for improvements in chronometers.  I took a great deal of trouble in the investigation of this matter, by books, witnesses, &c., and finally reported on Nov. 4th that there was no ground for claim.—­In April I received the first application of the Royal Exchange Committee, for assistance in the construction of the Clock:  this led to a great deal of correspondence, especially with Dent.—­The Lunar Reductions were going on in full vigour.—­I had much work in connection with the Cape Observatory:  partly about an equatoreal required for the Observatory, but chiefly in getting Maclear’s work through the press.—­In this year I began to think seriously of determining the longitude of Valencia in Ireland, as a most important basis for the scale of longitude in these latitudes, by the transmission of chronometers; and in August I went to Valencia and examined the localities.  In September I submitted a plan to the Admiralty, but it was deferred.—­The new Commission for restoring the Standards was appointed on June 20th, I being Chairman.  The work of collecting standards and arranging plans was going on; Mr Baily attending to Standards of Length, and Prof.  W.H.  Miller to Standards of Weight.  We held two meetings.—­A small assistance was rendered to me by Mr Charles May (of the firm of Ransomes and May), which has contributed much to the good order of papers in the Observatory.  Mr Robert Ransome had remarked my method of punching holes in the paper by a hand-punch, the places of the holes being guided by holes in a piece of card, and said that they could furnish me with something better.  Accordingly, on Aug. 28th Mr May sent me the punching machine, the prototype of all now used in the Observatory.

“On Sept. 25th was made my proposal for an Altazimuth Instrument for making observations of the Moon’s place more frequently and through parts of her orbit where she could never be observed with meridional instruments; the most important addition to the Observatory since its foundation.  The Board of Visitors recommended it to the Admiralty, and the Admiralty sanctioned the construction of the instrument and the building to contain it.”  The following passage is quoted from the Address of the Astronomer Royal to the Board of Visitors at the Special Meeting of Nov. 10th, 1843:  “The most important object in the institution and maintenance of the Royal Observatory has always been the Observations of the Moon.  In this term I include the determination of the places of fixed stars which are necessary for ascertaining the instrumental errors applicable to the instrumental observations of the Moon.  These, as regards the