10 INAUGURAL ADDRESS. 
years. The Rev. W. Scott, M.A., who had already been appointed 
in England as astronomer, arrived in Sydney in 1856, 
selected the site of the building, and supervised the mounting 
of the instruments ; observations were actually commenced in 
June, 1858. In 1859 Mr. H. C. Russell, the present astronomer, 
was appointed Mr. Scott’s chief assistant. Mr. Scott retired in 
1864, and was succeeded by Mr. G. R. Smalley, who had also 
been appointed in England, and continued in charge till his 
death in July, 1870, when Mr. Russell, who had been the chief 
assistant since his first appointment, became and still remains 
Government Astronomer of New South Wales. 
The imperfections of the old Parramatta instruments with 
which the Observatory was now (1859) furnished, and especially 
the transit, limited very seriously the scope of the work that 
could be satisfactorily undertaken; we therefore find that, 
although Mr. Scott devoted a great deal of energy to meridian 
observations at first, he soon found the results were untrust- 
worthy, and turned his attention to extra meridian observations, 
such as double star measurements, for which class of work the 
Sydney Observatory has now for many years past attained a 
high reputation. In Mr. Scott’s time the first telegraphic 
determination of difference of longitude in Australasia was 
successfully carried out between the Williamstown and Sydney 
Observatories. 
SoutH AUSTRALIA. 
With the exception of such astronomical work as was done 
in South Australia in connection with Frome’s survey already 
referred to, and some isolated geographical determinations, 
nothing of importance seems to have been done in that colony 
until 1855, when Mr. (now Sir Charles) Todd arrived. This 
gentleman had been appointed in England to introduce the 
electric telegraph and act as Gover nment Astr onomer, for he had 
already spent nearly fourteen years in astronomical work at the 
Greenwich and at the Cambridge Observatories. He was at first 
so occupied in establishing the electric telegraph that no astro- 
nomical work was done till 1867, and the first important opera- 
tion was to fix and mark out the boundary line between South 
Australia and New South Wales. The Adelaide Observatory was 
built and furnished with a transit instrument formerly used at 
Williamstown, and lent by the Victorian Government, besides 
other instruments formerly used by Col. Frome. In 1874 a fine 
equatorial, by Cooke, of York, 8 in. aperture, was added to 
the equipment in time for the observation of the transit of 
Venus in that year. In 1886 a first-class modern transit circle 
was erected, which, with the addition of many minor, but im- 
portant instruments, has enabled the Adelaide Observatory to 
undertake astronomical work of the highest order. 
