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to it; — to the Kew Committee and to the staff of the 

 Kew Observatory, at which lustitution I found so ample 

 opportunity for studying terrestrial magnetism and meteoro- 

 logy ; but above all to General Sir Edward Sabine who did 

 all he could to promote my object, and who placed with 

 the utmost kindness his great experience in magnetical re- 

 search at my disposal. 



On account of the great delay which by unforeseen cir- 

 cumstances the building of the Batavia Observatory expe- 

 rieuced, T have been unable to fulfil entirely the expecta- 

 tions of those who so kindly lent me their assistance when 

 I was preparing for my undertaking. But the principal 

 object for which I went to India, has been attained. The 

 work done at the temporary observatory, however little it 

 may be, has, I fiatter myself, afforded ample proof for the 

 great services which magnetical and meteorological observa- 

 tions in his country may render to science, and for the fu- 

 ture, the study of terrestrial magnetism and meteorology in 

 the East Indian Archipelago has been founded on a solid 

 basis by the erectiou of a central observatory at Batavia, 

 provided with the best instrumeuts now required by science. 

 The organization of meteorological stations at other places 

 in the Archipel will not meet with such great difficulties as 

 the erection of the central observatory ; the expenses will be 

 relatively small, and the observatory will afford ample op- 

 portunity for obtaining well trained native observers. able 

 to make the observations at the stations under the super- 

 intendence of surgeons of the Army or other Government 

 officers. A first step has already been made by the orga- 

 nization of a great number of stations spread all over the 

 Archipel, at which observations of the rain will be made 

 principally by surgeons of the Army and other Government 

 medical ofïicers, On January 1^* , 1879, these observations, 

 to be published regularly by the Batavia Observatory, will 

 begin at 95 stations of which 55 are situated on theisland 

 of Java, 22 OU Sumatra, 2 on Bangka, 1 on Billiton, 8 on 



