92 PRACTICAL ASTRONOMY IN TASMANIA. 



That it is highly desirable in the interests of science to 

 establish a practical School of Astronomy in Tasmania is 

 illustrated by the discussions which arose in connection with 

 the Leake Bequest. The whole of those discussions have a 

 most direct bearing on our j^resent position. The Leake Be- 

 quest of £10,000 j^urportcd to establish a School of As- 

 tronomy, but, unfortunately, the money proved not avail- 

 able for that purpose. At tlie same time, the possibilities 

 led to a discussion of the suitability of Ilobart for astronomi- 

 cal work, and I will now read extracts from the proceedings 

 of the Boyal Society of 1892 : — 



[Quotations from ''Leake School of Astronomy,'' by 

 Eussell, p. 26, and from letter by Waterliouse, p. xiv.] 



III. 



Practical Astronomy in the Present. 



Practical astronomy in Tasmania in the present, I am 

 sorry to say, consists solely of what the Government is pre- 

 pared to believe is useful ; that is to say, it consists of keep- 

 ing time for the whole island by the transit instrument at 

 the Observatory. As accurate time is kept as it is possible 

 to keep by such means, and it is telegraphed every day to 

 very many points in Tasmania automatically from the Ob- 

 servatory clock. The ball — that is, the mariners' signal — 

 is not, but undoubtedly should be, dropped automatically. 

 There is no standard clock in the Observatory, and the 

 public of Tasmania depends on the charity of two private 

 citizens for their clock service. 



Not even surveyors (unless lately) make joractical astro- 

 nomical observations in order to determine their meridian. 

 I remember some years ago being rather surprised at a well 

 known sui-veyor's evident delight in finding a new (to him) 

 and very accurate (compared with his old compass method) 

 means of determining his meridian. This struck me, and 

 still strikes me as something pathetic. I cannot help think- 

 ing that if we would allow ourselves a little more outside 

 enlightenment, we might save ourselves a great deal of ex- 

 pense and worry, if only in litigation. 



IV. 



Proposals Concerning Practical Astronomy in the 



Future. 

 In what I have now to say, I would ask you to remem- 

 ber Mr. Russell's remarks in connection with the Leake 

 Bequest, which you have just heard. The advantages of 

 combining the teaching of practical astronomy to students 

 with observing are there properly emphasised. 



