<a. 
Se eee 
ESTABLISHING A SOLAR OBSERVATORY IN AUSTRALIA. 69 
expect to gain from a proper understanding of the connection between 
solar and terrestrial phenomena. 
International Reasons.—The necessity for Australian co-operation 
with other nations in solar work is exemplified under the following 
heads :— 
(a) ‘ Australia’s position in longitude would enable her to fill a 
gap at present existing in the chain of observatories round the earth. 
(b) ‘ Australia’s position in latitude. No station devoted to solar 
research exists south of the equator, where one is required to extend and 
verify the work of the Smithsonian Institution’s Observatory at 
Washington. 
(c) ‘ Australia’s clinical conditions would allow investigations to 
be made under excellent conditions at a time of year when, on account 
of the rainy season, work is generally impossible at ofher observatories. ’ 
History of the Movement. 
In April 1907 a letter to the Adelaide papers aroused some interest 
in the matter, and the Premier of South Australia was asked for funds 
to enable the Adelaide Observatory to undertake the work. This was 
refused on the ground that the Observatory was about to be absorbed 
by the Commonwealth Government. 
At the last Congress of the International Solar Research Union in 
Paris in May 1907, Sir Norman Lockyer proposed a resolution support- 
ing the movement, and this was carried unanimously. 
A copy of this resolution was forwarded by the Chairman of the 
International Union to the Colonial Office, whence it was referred to the 
Governor-General of Australia. 
The Commonwealth Government, in the absence of an Astronomical 
Department, referred the matter to the Meteorological Department, 
which reported that ‘ it is very desirable that such an observatory should 
be established, &c.,’ and inquiries were made as to the personnel and 
equipment of existing State observatories for carrying out the work. 
These, however, replied that they were not equipped for the purpose, 
and could only undertake the work if the necessary funds should be 
forthcoming from the Commonwealth Government. 
The British Association offered its influential support, and formed a 
committee to co-operate with Australian astronomers in furthering the 
movement, Sir David Gill, K.C.B., F.R.S., being Chairman. 
The Royal Society expressed its approval of the project and suggested 
that the proposed observatory should be affiliated with the Adelaide 
University. But the Council of the University, though willing to 
undertake the work, could only do so if the funds were forthcoming 
from an external source. 
A broader basis for this observatory, however, lay in its being 
affiliated not with one university but with all the universities within 
the Commonwealth, the matter being one which affects the prestige of 
Australian science not the science of any one particular State. 
Upon these lines therefore the Australian Solar Physics Committee 
was formed at the meeting of the Australasian Association for the 
Advancement of Science in Brisbane, January 1909, the memters 
G. H. Knibbs, Esq., Commonwealth Statistician, President; W. 
