4 : REPORT—1845. 
their examination has, I hope, enabled me to be of some use to the observers, 
in the correction and improvement of their methods of observing. Much 
valuable time however was lost at the commencement, owing to some diffi- 
culty respecting the transmission of the observations, of the nature of which 
I am not aware; and, as the last of the records sent were those of June or 
July 1842, I am unable to say how far the instructions suggested by the 
perusal of the earlier observations may have turned to account. These cir- 
cumstances, over which I had no control, prevented me from sending (as I 
otherwise should) any report on these observations to the Royal Society, as I 
felt that any report, founded upon the data which had come before me, would 
necessarily be unsatisfactory, and in some degree unjust, to the very zealous 
directors of the observatories. 
“J shall best perhaps fulfil the wish expressed in your letter, by. sending a 
few notes extracted from the memoranda which I made at the time of the 
perusal of the observations, which you can use as you think fit. 
“ The observatory at Simla, under the direction of Major Boileau, is in all 
respects admirably organized, and has furnished a larger amount of work than 
perhaps any of the whole cooperation. 
‘In order to save time, Major Boileau erected a temporary wooden build- 
ing at Simla on his arrival, and commenced his series of observations there the 
Ist of January 1841. Meanwhile, the site of the permanent observatory was 
selected, the stone available for the building carefully examined for mag- 
netism, &c.; the building erected on a judicious plan, and the observations 
begun there the Ist of July 1841. 
“ At this station the mean height of the barometer is only 23°2 inches; I 
need not observe upon the value of an extended and complete series of mete- 
orological observations made at this altitude (8000 feet about). .The many 
questions, the solution of which has been but partly obtained by the observa- 
tions of meteorologists upon the Faulhorn and the St. Bernard, may be ex- 
pected to receive a complete answer in the Simla observations. 
‘** Major Boileau has added much to the usual routine of observatory work. 
In September 1841, he commenced observing every fifteen minutes! and has, 
I believe, continued that immense labour to the present time. He also made, 
daily, two series of corresponding observations taken every five minutes, and 
each lasting one hour. One of these was made in correspondence with the 
Van Diemen’s Land Observatory, and the other with Singapore and Trevan- 
drum. He has made a very complete comparison of the wet-bulb and of 
Daniell’s hygrometer, and has constructed an elaborate table for reducing the 
results obtained with the former instrument. 
«« Among the remarkable results which appear on the face of the observa- 
tions, I may mention that, generally, during magnetic storms, the changes of 
intensity preponderate over those of direction in the results; while it seems 
to be otherwise in the regular hourly variations. 
“ Smart shocks of earthquake were felt at Simla on the 19th of February 
and 5th of March 1842, which disturbed all the magnets violently. Their 
mean positions were however unaltered, so that the effect was merely me- 
chanical. 
“Of the true magnetic disturbances, Major Boileau says, that that of the 
2nd and 4th of July 1842, was ‘the greatest which occurred since the esta- | 
blishment of the observatory.’ It was also the greatest observed in Dublin ; 
considerably greater than that of September 1841. 
“The absolute observations of declination and inclination at Simla are ex- _ 
cellent. Those of intensity are less so, owing to defects in the method of ob- 
servation, which have been since remedied. 
