xl 



JUNE. 1902. 



A meeting of the Ro.yal Socii>ty of 

 Tasmania was held on, the lOtli June 

 at the Museum, Argj^le-street. His Sx- 

 cellencv the Governor, Sir A. E. Have- 

 lock. G.C.S.I., G.C.M.G., Preddent of 

 the Society, presided. 



New Members. 



Mr. J. H. Maiden, Director of the 

 Botanic Gardens, S^'dney, was elected a 

 corresponding member, and Messrs. W. 

 A. Finlay and F. Grove were elected 

 members. 



The Observatory. 



Mr. A. Morton, the secretary, read 

 the following communication from Air. 

 H. C. Kingsmil], M.A., Government 

 Meteorologist, Tasmania :■ — 



(Jbservatory, Hobart, June 7, 1902. To 

 the Secretai-y of the Eoyal Society. Dear 

 Sir, — i shall feel obliged if you will sub- 

 mit for the consideracion of the Council 

 the following remarks on the meteoro- 

 logical service of Tasmania, having re- 

 ference to its present condition, and its 

 nospects under federation. I am led 

 to request their attention for two 

 leasons: — One. their readiness in the 

 past to give their help, on all occasions 

 when it was needed for this work; and 

 the othei' is that there is a crisis at pre- 

 sent, due to the advent of federation. 

 Recognising that changes must be made 

 the Acting Federal Premier has asked 

 all the States for detailed information as 

 to the cost and personnel of their Mete- 

 orological Departments. The publica- 

 tion of this news in "The Mercury" 

 would seem to indicate that the Gcvem- 

 ment of this State is leaving the way 

 open to receive suggestions. The Koyal 

 Society is in a position to make sugges- 

 tions that would. I believe, have giea: 

 weight with the Government. It will be 

 remembered that a deputation from the 

 Royal Society, in IS&S, prevailed on the 

 Government to invite Mr. Wragge to 

 make a report on the meteoroiogical ser- 

 vice of Tasmania, and that he accepted 

 the invitation. The report, coming 

 from one whose training and experience 

 as a meteorologist are so widely known, 

 had two objects in view. One, to give 

 the colony of Tasmania the benefit of 

 his observations on the local meteoro- 

 logical arrangemencs, and suggestions for 

 increasing the eflB.ciency of the same. The 

 other, to at the same time benefit the 

 meteorology of the mainland by obtain- 

 ing more thorough details from Tas- 

 mania, which occupies a position of 

 much importance to those engaged in 



forecasting. I therefore think that what 

 has been .*o ably done, with the double 

 object of ensuring local efficiency, and 

 also federal benefit, in the matter of 

 meteorological work, will be found the 

 best guide on the present occasion in 

 estimating the cost of the service now 

 required. For Mr. Wragge's estimate, see 

 General Remaiks, page 15, paragraph 18, 

 of his report. To those who know what 

 the actual expenditure has been, it will 

 be apparent that a mere answer to the 

 Federal Premier of the question asked 

 would not be a fair indication of the 

 cost of an efficient meteorolcgical ser- 

 vice, as it would have to be worked under 

 federal control. Moreover, it should be 

 pointed out that Mr. Wragge^s estimate 

 is for meteorological work alone, and 

 doe.^ net include the astionomical work 

 of th? department. 



The character of this work, and the 

 conditions under which it had to be 

 done, are explained in a report furnish- 

 ed to Lord Gormanston in 1894 by Ad- 

 miral JBowden Smith. This report was 

 prepared by _Captain Cust, of H.M.S. 

 Dart, who had been specially trained in 

 astronomical work at the Koyal Obser- 

 vatory. Greenwich. His suggestions are 

 most valuable. They are a complete 

 summar.y of the conditions necessary for 

 the maintenance of an accurate time-ser- 

 vice in an important shipping port; but 

 he makes no estimate of the cost. These 

 two reports, by Mr. Wragge and Captain 

 Cust, are herewith enclosed. They cover 

 all the present work of the Meteoro- 

 logical Department of this State, and 

 they furnish data on the highest 

 authority obtainable for estimating the 

 cost of enabling it to work in line with 

 the other States. I hope that the Coun- 

 cil of the Royal Society will see their 

 way to make some repiesentation to the 

 Government, and I shall be in readiness 

 to give them further information if it is 

 required. — Yours, etc., H. C. Kingsmill.. 



•Meteorological observations in Tas- 

 mania were begun by Sir John Frank- 

 lin in 1840. Being Governor of the is- 

 land, then called Van Diemen's Land, 

 he sent home for instruments, and when 

 Captain Ross arrived at: Hobart in Aug- 

 ust, 1840, in command of the Erebus, 

 an observatory was built near Govern- 

 ment House, and three magnetometers, 

 a transit, ciock-^, and other instruments 

 set up. Lieut. Kay, R.N., was put in 

 charge of the Royal Observatory, which, 

 was called Rossbank, lat 42.52, 27.4 

 S. ; long. 147, 27.30 E. Mean magnetic 

 dip, 70deg. 40.5 ; variation, lOdeg. 

 24.24 E. Here Lieut. Kay took hourly 



