xl REPORT—1868. 
India Board for Mr. Chambers, have been verified at Kew, and returned to 
the India Office, from which they have been doubtless despatched ere this to 
Bombay. 
A Differential Declinometer (received from General Sabine’s Office) has 
been verified at Kew for Dr. Lemstrém, who has gone out as physical 
observer with the Spitzbergen expedition. 
A Unifilar has been received at Kew for Mr. Meldrum, of the Mauritius 
Observatory, and its constants are in progress of being determined. 
Senhor Viegas, of Coimbra, and Lieutenant Ielagin, of the Imperial Russian 
Navy, have received magnetic instruction at Kew; and a Dip-circle has been 
prepared for the latter gentleman, who purposes making observations with it 
at the various European Observatories. 
The usuai monthly absolute determinations of the magnetic elements con- 
tinue to be made by Mr. Whipple, magnetic assistant ; and the Self-recording 
Magnetographs are in constant operation as heretofore, also under Mr. 
Whipple, who has displayed much care and ability in the discharge of his 
duties. 
The photographic department connected with the Self-recording instru- 
ments is under the charge of Mr. Page, assisted by Mr. Foster, both of whom 
discharge their duties very satisfactorily. 
An arrangement connected with the instrumental clock for shutting off the 
light every two hours, and thereby increasing the accuracy of the time-scale, 
originally devised by Mr. Beckley, in connexion with the self-recording 
meteorological instruments, has been adapted to the Kew, and also to the 
Mauritius and Bombay Self-recording Magnetographs, and the time-scale of 
the Kew Magnetographs has been made the same as those of the other 
instruments. 
It was proposed in the last Report that the task of tabulating and reducing 
the magnetic curves produced at Kew subsequently to January 1865 should 
be performed by the staff at Kew working under the direction of Mr. Stewart. 
In accordance with this resolution 787 curves, being those of the declination 
from February 1865 to April 1867, have been measured for every hour, and 
the process of reduction of these measurements is well advanced. 
The magnetical observations made at Ascension by Lieut. Rokeby, R.M., 
have been nearly reduced by Mr. Whipple, and it is proposed to communicate 
the results to the Royal Society. 
A comparison of the Kew and Lisbon magnetic curves during the magnetic 
storm of February 20-25, 1866, made by Senhor Capello, of the Lisbon 
Observatory, has been communicated to the Royal Society, and will be found 
published in their Proceedings for May 28, 1868, 
Mr. Stewart has likewise received from Senhor Capello a short paper, “ On 
the reappearance of certain periods of Declination disturbance during two, 
three, or several days,” which he proposes to communicate to the Royal 
Society. 
The Rey. W. Sidgreaves and Mr. Stewart have been engaged in making 
intercomparisons of simultaneous disturbances of the declination at Stony- 
hurst and at Kew, for both of which stations the instruments have the same 
scale. It would appear from these that during slow disturbances there is an 
absolute identity between the indications of the two instruments, even to 
their most minute features. On the other hand, the more abrupt distur- 
bances appear to be exaggerated at Stonyhurst as compared with Kew to an 
extent which appears (at first sight) to depend upon the abruptness. Messrs. 
Sidgreaves and Stewart are investigating this phenomenon, which has clearly 
