Henry Kater, Edward Sabine 175 



baker, entered the army and joined his regiment in Madras. 

 He had a taste for mathematics, and became assistant to 

 William Lambton, who was conducting a survey of the 

 Malabar and Coromandel coast. After his return to England 

 he took part in the British survey, and turned his attention 

 to the improvement of accurate geodetic and astronomical 

 measurements. Kater 's pendulum is an ingenious arrange- 

 ment for eliminating the errors due to an irregular distribu- 

 tion of mass in the ordinary pendulum when it is used for 

 gravity measurements. The determination of the difference 

 in longitude between Paris and Greenwich gave him further 

 opportunities for exercising his ingenuity in devising new 

 methods of observation. In 1827 Kater was elected 

 Treasurer of the Royal Society, and held that position 

 during three years. 



General Sir Edward Sabine (1788-1883) organized world- 

 wide observations on gravity, and the elements of terrestrial 

 magnetism. The importance of his work calls for a short 

 account of his life. He was educated at the Woolwich 

 Military Academy, and received a commission in the Royal 

 Artillery at the age of fifteen. After seeing much active 

 service, he returned to England in 1816. Shortly afterwards 

 he was appointed astronomer to the Arctic Expedition which 

 sailed under Ross in search of the North-West Passage, and 

 after his return home took part in a second Arctic Expedition 

 under Edward Parry. In 1823 he undertook an extensive 

 journey to measure the value of the gravitational force at 

 different points of the earth's surface. In 1830 he was recalled 

 to active service, the condition of Ireland necessitating an 

 increased military establishment. He stayed in Ireland 

 until 1837, using part of his time to organize the first 

 magnetic survey of the British Isles. During his subsequent 

 life, which was entirely devoted to science, he was indefa- 

 tigable in getting magnetic observatories established in 

 many countries, and promoting further pendulum observa- 

 tions, more especially in India, where ever since they have 

 formed an important part of the Government Survey's 

 work. Sabine was Treasurer of the Royal Society from 

 1850 to 1861, and during the following ten years he filled 

 the position of President. 



