55k Royal Astronomical Society. 



balls as signals for the determination of longitudes is claimed by 

 Dr. Olbers and the German astronomers for Benzenberg, who pub- 

 lished a work on the subject in 1802. Mr. Baily, however, has 

 pointed out a paper published by Dr. Maskelyne twenty years pre- 

 viously, in which that illustrious astronomer calls attention to the 

 subject, and distinctly points out this application of the phenomena. 

 The paper, which is printed on a single sheet, is entitled " A Plan 

 for observing the Meteors called Fire-balls, by Nevil Maskelyne, 

 D.D., F.R.S., and Astronomer Royal," and is dated Greenwich, 

 November 6th, 1783. After recounting some observations, from 

 which he infers that such meteors appear more frequently than is 

 commonly imagined, and stating the particulars to be attended to 

 in observing them, he adds : — 



" It would be well if those persons who happen to see a meteor 

 would put down the time by their watch when it first appeared, or 

 was at its greatest altitude, or burst, or disappeared, and again 

 when they hear the sound ; and as common watches are liable to 

 vary much in a few hours, that they would, as soon after as may be, 

 find the error of their watch by a good regulator ; for, if the exact 

 time could be had at different places, the absolute velocity of the 

 meteor, the velocity of the sound propagated to us from the higher 

 regions of the atmosphere, and the longitudes of places, might be de- 

 termined." 



Extracts from the Report of the Council of the Society to the Twenty- 

 fist General Annual Meeting, held February 1, 1841. 

 " The recurrence of this annual meeting of the Society affords the 

 Council its usual opportunity of referring to the principal events of 

 the past session. These, although few in number, are full of in- 

 terest to those who prosecute the varied branches of astronomical 

 science. For, since our last anniversary, a comet has been disco- 

 vered at Berlin, by that indefatigable astronomer, M. Galle, which 

 appears to be the same that was observed in the year 1097, and 

 again in the year 1468 ; thus performing its revolution in about 

 371 years. And, more recently, another comet has been discovered 

 also at Berlin, by M. Bremicker ; which is now visible to those 

 who are possessed of a powerful telescope, but which, however, 

 from the elements at present deduced, has never been previously 

 seen by any human being. The Council cannot but congratulate 

 the Society that this branch of the science appears now more likely 

 to be prosecuted than it has recently been, and thus lead to dis- 

 coveries that may eventually have an important bearing on our 

 knowledge of the laws and physical constitution of the universe. 

 The subject of parallax also has engaged more than ordinary atten- 

 tion within the last year from the interest excited by M. Bessel's 

 valuable observations on the double star 61 Cygni, which now ap- 

 pear to be brought to a close, and which the Council have considered 

 of sufficient importance to entitle him to the award of the medal of 

 this Society, as will be fully explained by the President in his ad- 

 dress at the close of this meeting." 



