REPORT OF THE KEW COMMITTEE. XXXI 



2. The continuance of Magnetic Observations, at stations indicated by the 

 General Committee at the Leeds Meeting, has engaged the attention of H.R.H. 

 the President, and of the Council ; and they have had the advantage of co- 

 operation on the part of the President and Council of the Royal Society. 

 Every means has been adopted for pressing the subject on the favourable 

 attention of the Government, but, it is to be regretted, hitherto without 

 success. 



3. The importance of telegraphic communication between sea-ports of the 

 British Isles, has been the subject of much attention since it was urged on 

 the General Committee by the Aberdeen Meeting. The Council are happy 

 to find that Admiral FitzRoy has been authorized to proceed in bringing to 

 a practical issue the recommendations offered on this subject to the scientific 

 department of the Board of Trade; and they, congratulate the Association 

 on the share they have taken in a cause so dear to humanity. 



4. The expedition suggested by the Royal Geographical Society, and con- 

 curred in by the General Committee of the British Association, is on its 

 way ; Capt. Speke, under the direction of the Admiralty, with his assistant, 

 Capt. Grant, having sailed from Zanzibar. Sir R. I. Murchison, in reporting 

 on this subject, expresses the obligation which is felt by the promoters of this 

 great step for the exploration of Africa, to Lord John Russell, Secretary of 

 State for Foreign Affairs. 



The Report of the Parliamentary Committee is received for presentation 

 to the General Committee this day. 



5. At the Meeting this day, in pursuance of the Notice placed in the 

 Minutes of the General Committee at Aberdeen, it will be proposed — "That 

 a permanent distinct Section of Anatomy and Physiology be established, in 

 addition to that of Zoology and Botany." 



The Council are informed that Invitations will be presented to the General 

 Committee at its Meeting on Monday, July 2, to hold the next Meeting in 

 Manchester ; on behalf of the Literary and Philosophical Society of Man- 

 chester, and other Institutions and Public Authorities of that city, from whom 

 Invitations were received at previous Meetings. 



Invitations will also be presented to hold an early Meeting in Newcastle, 

 on behalf of the Council and Borough of Newcastle-upon-Tyne, and to hold 

 a Meeting in Birmingham in 1862, on behalf of the Birmingham and Midland 

 Institute. 



Report of the Kew Committee of the British Association for the 

 Advancement of Science for 1859-1860. 



Since the last Meeting of the British Association, the self-recording mag- 

 netographs have been in constant operation under the able superintendence 

 of Mr. Chambers, the magnetical assistant. 



A description of these instruments has been given by Mr. Stewart, the 

 Superintendent, in a Report which is printed in the Transactions of the British 

 Association for 1859. The drawings for the plates connected with this 

 Report were made with much skill by Mr. Beckley, the mechanical assistant 

 at Kew. 



It was mentioned in the last Report of this Committee, that a set of self- 

 recording magnetic instruments, designed for the first of the Colonial Obser- 

 vatories which have been proposed to Her Majesty's Government, had been 

 completed and set up in a wooden house near the Observatory. 



Shortly after the meeting at Aberdeen, the Chairman received a letter from 

 Dr. P. A. Bergsma, Geographical Engineer for the Dutch possessions in the 



