JRoyal Astrotiomical Society, t49 



hoped for in the heart of a busy manufacturing town. A ball similar 

 to tliat at Greenwich is let fall every day except Sunday, precisely 

 at one p.m. Greenwich time, and the whole arrangement is so comi 

 plete, and the longitude so well known, that the dropping of the 

 balls at the two obsei^vatories may be considered to be simultaneous. 

 It is evident that an observatory furnishing exact time will be of the 

 greatest utility to all makers of good chronometers, and a hindrance 

 to the venders of those which are indifferent. The ship-owners may, 

 too, if they please, enjoy an advantage hitherto belonging solely to 

 the Admiralty, that of having their chronometers tried and rated by 

 a competent and disinterested party previous to purchase ; an advan- 

 tage which will be thought almost inappreciable by persons fully 

 aware of the dependence of modern navigation on the goodness of 

 timekeepers ; and also, what indifferent watches are now disposed 

 of to the unwary by ignorant and unscrupulous dealers. Mr. Hart- 

 nup's aid was most efficient in the measurement of the Valentia arc 

 of longitude ; and we trust that is only the first of many services to 

 be rendered to science by this zealous and intelligent observer. 



The magnificent telescope erected by the Earl of Rosse, which 

 has attracted so much of public attention, is nearly in working order ; 

 nothing being now incomplete except some of the gallery machinery. 

 It may reasonably be predicted that the energy which has called this 

 instrument into existence will not quail before the more easy and 

 pleasant task of using it. There is nothing on which it is so diffi- 

 cult to speculate as the probable results of an increase of optical 

 power. 



Passing to another extreme, your Council desire to notice the re- 

 markable catalogue published by our associate, M. Argelander, of 

 stars observed with the naked eye. The author is the Bayer of our 

 generation, and his appreciation of magnitudes will probably come 

 into universal use. He has re- opened the road in which the astro- 

 nomer may make himself useful without any instruments at all. His 

 announcement of nearly thirty stars, which, though visible to the 

 naked eye, are not to be found in any catalogue, startling as it may seem 

 at first, will not perhaps surprise those who remember how various the 

 objects of different catalogues have been. It is most desirable that 

 these stars should be observed with a view to the verification of the 

 fact. If only half the number of new visible stars should be sub- 

 stantiated, it will be a useful lesson in any point of view. It is to 

 be remembered that we are not positively to assume that these stars 

 have been neglected by preceding observers : there is much reason 

 to suppose that such bodies have before now disappeared. There 

 may be re-appearances, and there may be new appearances. Variable 

 stars, with periods of several hundred years, or even less, might 

 easily give rise to what M. Argelander has observed. 



While commemorating the results of the past year, we ought not 

 to forget those who are working in distant lands, under circumstances 

 which prevent our receiving immediate information of their proceed- 

 ings. Mr. Maclear's verification of Lacaille's arc at the Cape of 

 Good Hope is an operation in which English and French astrono- 



