208 Britain's Heritage of Science 



Francis Baily in 1836, referring to the latter, writes : "A 

 common kitchen poker, filed at the ends by the most bungling 

 workman, would make as good a standard. It has been 

 broken asunder and the two pieces have been dovetailed 

 together, but so badly that the joint is nearly as loose as that 

 of a pair of tongs." In 1816 the Royal Society had received 

 from the Secretary of State a request for assistance in 

 ascertaining the length of a pendulum vibrating seconds of 

 time at different stations of the Trigonometrical Survey. 

 This brought the question of standards into prominence, 

 and led to much valuable work being done ; but in the final 

 construction of the present standards the Royal Astrono- 

 mical Society took the lead, under the energetic superin- 

 tendence of Francis Baily. 



Greenwich Observatory, established by Charles II., was, 

 from its foundation, closely connected with the Royal Society. 

 In 1710 Queen Anne appointed its President and such other 

 Fellows as he might nominate to be visitors of the Obser- 

 vatory. For some time the Society exercised a real control 

 over the work, receiving regular reports, making recommen- 

 dations, and collecting the results for publication. At 

 present the Royal Astronomical Society is associated with 

 the Royal Society in nominating the members of the Board 

 of Visitors. The important work carried out at Greenwich 

 has been frequently referred to in these pages; it is recog- 

 nized as the leading observatory of the world, and fixes the 

 time used in all civilized countries. 



The study of Meteorology owes much to the Royal Society, 

 which in 1725 provided at its own expense a number of baro 

 meters and thermometers to be used by its correspondents 

 in different parts of the world. In 1773 the Council organized, 

 under the superintendence of Henry Cavendish, regular 

 meteorological observations in its own building, including the 

 measurement of temperature, pressure, moisture, and wind 

 velocity. These observations were conducted, and published 

 annually in the Philosophical Transactions, for nearly sixty 

 years. They were discontinued because the situation of the 

 building was not considered suitable, and regular observa- 

 tions had been established at the Royal Observatory. A 

 meteorological department of the Board of Trade was super- 



