1 71 Jioyal Astronomical Societj/. 



that it was her father's invention, and the first instrument of the kind 

 that had been constructed ? 



• "1 remain, Sir, 



" Thomas Galloway, Esq., " Your obedient Servant, 



Secretary." " Mary Somerville." 



II. A cast taken from Sir Francis Chan trey's marble bust of Mrs. 

 Somerville, presented by Frederick S. Archer, Esq. 



III. Several copies of the " Plane Tables for conveniently laying 

 down Portions of a Celestial or Terrestrial Map," constructed by the 

 late Rev. Francis Wollaston, presented by his daughter, Mrs. A. H. 

 "Wollaston. 



The President announced that the office of Judge (for Great 

 Britain) of the fulfilment of the conditions necessary for the award 

 of the Comet Medal, offered by His Majesty Christian VIII., king of 

 Denmark, having become vacant, His Majesty had been pleased to 

 appoint him (the Astronomer Royal) to succeed to that office, and 

 he read to the Meeting the conditions under which the medal would 

 be granted, from the Monthly Notice, vol. iii. p. 132*. 



P'or the convenience of Fellows and others who may not have the 

 volume of the Monthly Notices at hand, the regulations are here re- 

 printed, with the alterations which have been made in consequence 

 of the death of Mr. Baily and Dr. Olbers of Bremen : — 



" His Majesty the King of Denmark has been pleased to found a 

 gold medal, of the value of twenty ducats, to be given to the first 

 discoverer of a telescopic comet, subject to the following conditions, 

 which are, in some respects, different from those published in the 

 year 1832t. 



" 1. The medal is to be given to the person who may first discover 

 a telescopic comet (that is, a comet not visible to the naked eye at 

 the time of its discovery), and not of known revolution. 



" 2. The discoverer, if in any part of Europe except Great Britain, 

 must send immediate notice to Professor Schumacher, of Altona ; and 

 if in Great Britain, or any other quarter of the globe except Europe, 

 must send immediate notice to G. B. Airy, Esq., Astronomer Royal, 

 Royal Observatory, Greenwich. 



"3. Such notice must be sent by the first post after the discovery, 

 and in case no post should be established in the place, then by the 

 first conveyance that presents itself, without waiting for more obser- 

 vations. A strict attention to this condition is absolutely necessary, 

 for when it is not complied with, the medal will not be awarded at 

 all, if there be only one who has seen the comet ; and, where it has 

 been seen by more than one, it will be given to the discoverer next 

 in order of time who does comply with this condition. 



"4. The first notice should contain, not only the time of the dis- 

 covery, as nearly as the same can be ascertained, in order to avoid 

 any disputed claims, but also the best possible determination of the 

 position of the comet, and the direction of its course, if these points 



* Reprinted in Phil. Mag. S. 3. vol. ix. p. 294. 

 t Given in Pliii. iMag. S. 2. vol. xi. p. 155. 



