214 THE ASSOCIATION 



any precipitancy in following a line of action which 

 might prove unprofitable. 



1842-43. Application was made to the Govern- 

 ment (for which the support of the Eoyal Society 

 was solicited but refused) to undertake the publica- 

 tion of the catalogue of Stars in the Histoire Celeste 

 of Lalande and of Lacaille's Catalogue of the Stars in 

 the Southern Hemisphere, which had been reduced 

 and prepared for publication at the expense of 

 the Association. The Lords Commissioners of the 

 Treasury gave directions for ( issuing 1000 for the 

 completion of the works in question ' (Aug. 1, 1843). 

 They were published in 1847. (See Chapter VI, p. 170.) 



1843-44. Assistance was obtained from the 

 Commandant of the garrison at Woolwich, through 

 the Master-General of the Ordnance, in experiments 

 with captive balloons. 



Application was made to the Government for the 

 insertion of contour lines on the ordnance maps of 

 Ireland. It was understood at the time that this 

 recommendation would be carried out : the process 

 has been slow. 



The Government undertook the publication of 

 Professor Edward Forbes' researches in the .ZEgean 

 Sea. He, as we have seen, was naturalist on board 

 the Beacon, survey-ship, during a hydrographical 

 survey of the Mediterranean Sea conducted by 

 direction of the Government, and he explored not 

 only the marine biology but also that of the ^Egean 

 Islands and part of Asia Minor (Lycia). 



It is already clear that the Association is not 

 in the position of having always asked and never 

 given in its dealings with the Government. In this 

 year the Association transferred to the Museum of 



