Anniversary Meeting. [De-*-. 1. 



Of the serial publication, "Communications from the International 

 Polar Commission," six parts, with an aggregate of 334 pages, have 

 already appeared, and in it will be found all particulars of the under- 

 taking. 



The regulations under which the Government Grant of 4,0007. is 

 administered have during the past year been again under discussion, 

 and have in some respects been slightly modified. It is, of course, 

 needless to repeat that this grant, though nominally made to the 

 Royal Society, in no way adds to its funds, while its administration rests 

 with a Committee of from sixty or seventy members, many of whom 

 are not of necessity Fellows of our Society. As the grant is now 

 made in two instalments, it has been arranged that the meetings of 

 the Committee shall be held twice in each year, viz., in May and 

 December, which it is hoped will amply meet the convenience of 

 applicants for grants. 



In looking back upon the grants which have been made during the 

 past year, I think that a tendency may be observed on the part of the 

 Committee to devote considerable sums in aid of extensive researches 

 rather than to fritter away the money at their disposal in a series of 

 small grants. They have, for instance, allotted the sum of 5001. 

 towards the exploration of Kilimandjaro and the adjoining mountains 

 of Tropical Africa, and 2001. in aid of an expedition for the exploration 

 of the mountain of Roraima in British Guiana. A grant of 200/. has 

 also been made towards a report on the Flora of China; while 300Z. has 

 been allotted towards the extra accommodation and instruments for 

 magnetic observations in the new Observatory of the Royal Cornwall 

 Polytechnic Society. It will be remembered that, in his Address last 

 year, the President called attention to the discovery by Dr. Hoggins 

 of a method of photographing the solar corona without an eclipse ; 

 and, for the purpose of making further experiments in this direction, 

 and for carrying on other physical observations at some place of high 

 elevation and of easy access, a grant of 250Z. was placed at the dis- 

 posal of a Committee. The place of observation selected by the Com- 

 mittee was the Riffel, near Zermatt, in Switzerland, which has an 

 elevation of 8500 feet, and possesses important advantages both of 

 access, and of hotel accommodation. They appointed Mr. C. Ray 

 Woods, who had had experience in photographing the corona during 

 the eclipse of 1882 in Egypt, and again in Caroline Island in 188H, 

 to take charge of the work under the instructions of Dr. Hoggins and 

 Captain Abney. 



Mr. Woods arrived at the Riffel in the beginning of July, when he 

 erected the necessary instruments under a tent of " Willesdenized " 

 paper, and continued at work there until the 21st of September. 

 Unfortunately, the present year has been exceptionally unfavourable 

 for work on the corona, in conseqoence of an unusual want of trans- 



