1826.] Astronomical Society. 296' 



ASTRONOMICAL SOCIETY. 



Feb. 10.— The Sixth Annual General Meetmg of the Society, 

 was this day held at the Society's rooms in Lincoln's Inn Fields, 

 for the purpose of receiving the Report of the Council upon the 

 state of the Society's affairs, electing Officers for the ensuing 

 year, &c. 



The President, F. Baily, Esq. in the Chair. 

 From the Report, which was read by Dr. Gregory, we give 

 the following extracts : 



" In meeting the Astronomical Society of London at its Sixth 

 Anniversary, the Council have great pleasure in being enabled 

 still to use the language of cordial congratulation ; for not only 

 does the number of the Members and Associates of the Society 

 continue to increase, and its affairs to prosper ; but also the 

 theory and practice of Astronomy (the extension of which was 

 the sole object of the Society) have both been obviously pro- 

 moted by the zeal and talent of many of its members and 

 friends." 



The Report proceeds to state, that "in 1822, the members 

 and associates amounted to 188; in 1823, to 207 ; in 1824, to 

 210 ; in 1 825, to 224 ; in February, 1826, to 237 ;— a number, in 

 which are included several of the most eminent promoters of 

 astronomy, not only in Britain but in Europe. 



" Amongst the few members of whom the Society has been 

 deprived by death, the Council think it proper to call your 

 attention to the loss of Mr. Gary. As an artist of considerable 

 eminence and high reputation, he was well known in the scien- 

 tific world. Amongst the many excellent instruments which he 

 contrived and perfected, he was the maker of the 2^-feet Alti- 

 tude and Azimuth Instrument at Konigsberg, with which 

 M. Bessel made his first observations at that celebrated Obser- 

 vatory. 



" Among the duties which it has devolved upon your Coun- 

 cil to discharge, one of the most interesting has been the selec- 

 tion of papers (read at the ordinary meetings) for publication in 

 the volumes of the Memoirs of the Society. The Second Part 

 of the First Volume, which was nearly ready for delivery at the 

 Anniversary Meeting of 1825, was shortly afterwards laid before 

 the public, and has been well received by astronomers. — The 

 First Part of the Second Volume is now nearly ready for publi- 

 cation ; and the Council trust that it will experience an equally 

 favourable reception. Besides several valuable papers tending 

 to improve the theory of astronomy and of astronomical instru- 

 ments, and others describing instruments which are entirely 

 new ; the several parts here alluded to contain tables which tend 

 very much to facilitate the labours of the practical astronomer. 

 .Thus the second part of Vol. I. terminates with subsidiary tables 



