The Royal Society 207 



Many scientific expeditions were promoted and organized 

 by the Royal Society. Through its efforts the Govern- 

 ment was induced to send out well-equipped expeditions 

 to observe the transits of Venus in 1761 and 1769, promi- 

 nence being given in their representation not only to the 

 importance of the occurrence, but to the circumstance that 

 the first and so far only observation of this rare event was 

 made by the Lancashire curate Horrocks. 



In 1773 representations were made to the Earl of Sand- 

 wich, first Lord of the Admiralty, strongly urging the desira- 

 bility of organizing an Arctic Expedition, partly on the ground 

 that this might result in the discovery of a passage to the 

 East Indies by or near the North Pole. The wishes of the 

 Society were complied with ; two ships, the Racehorse and 

 the Carcass, were fitted out, and an astronomer accompanied 

 the expedition, with instructions drawn up by a Committee 

 of the Royal Society. The ships returned without having 

 achieved much ; but in two later expeditions, leaving Eng- 

 land early in 1818 and in 1819, most valuable scientific 

 results were obtained by Colonel (afterwards General) 

 Sabine. 



In 1784 the Council of the Royal Society petitioned 

 George III. to place funds at the disposal of the Society to 

 commence a geodetical survey, with a view to establishing a 

 trigonometrical connexion between the observatories of Paris 

 and Greenwich. The King gave his consent, and Major 

 General Roy was appointed to carry out the undertaking. 

 This was the origin of the British Survey Office. Its work 

 was hampered, at the outset, by the unsatisfactory nature 

 of the standards of length. Already, in 1742, the Royal 

 Society and the French Academy had instituted comparisons 

 between the standards of measures and weights of the two 

 countries which led to some improvement, and in 1758 

 a committee of the House of Commons enquired into the 

 subject; but no legislative action was taken until 1824. 

 The question presented considerable difficulties, because 

 the two original standards, one dating back to King 

 Henry VII., kept at the Tower, and the other made during 

 the reign of Queen Elizabeth, kept at the Exchequer, were 

 of the rudest description, and did not agree with each other. 



