UNIFORMITY OF SIZE OF PAGES OF SOCIETIES’ PUBLICATIONS. 87 
departing from the already existing uniformity of the majority of British 
publications, the Chairman of your Committee addressed a remonstrance 
against the taking of such a step. Happily any further action was 
rendered needless by the resolve of the Council not to persist in the 
suggested change. 
Of the publications which at the present time depart from the 
standard sizes proposed in the report of last year, the most important are 
the ‘Sitzungsberichte der Berliner Akademie der Wissenschaften’ and the 
‘ Atti della Reale Accademia dei Lincei,’ which cannot be bound with 
either quarto or octavo publications of the ordinary size. 
Your Committee desires reappointment without further grant. 
Comparison of Magnetic Instruments.—Report of the Committee, con- 
sisting of Professor A. W. RUCKER (Chairman), Mr. W. Watson 
(Secretary), Professor A. SCHUSTER, and Professor H. H. 'TuRNER, 
appointed to confer with the Astronomer Royal and the Superin- 
tendents of other Observatories with reference to the Comparison 
of Magnetic Standards with a view of carrying out such Com- 
parison. 
Tue work of comparing the magnetic instruments in the different mag- 
netic observatories of the United Kingdom was carried out by Professor 
Ricker and Mr. Watson during the summer of 1895. 
Unfortunately, however, nothing could be done at Greenwich. The 
peculiar form of the declination needle in use there makes it impossible 
to place another instrument on the same site. A good deal of iron and 
a dynamo (carefully shielded by a triple iron case) have recently been 
introduced into the Observatory, and it is doubtful whether, if another 
position were chosen in the Observatory grounds, the differences measured 
might not include some errors due to the presence of these causes of 
magnetic disturbance. 
The authorities of the Observatory hope that it may be possible to 
arrange for the establishment of a new magnetic Observatory in the 
Park, and it is most desirable that when this is done the instruments in 
use at Greenwich and at Kew should be compared. 
The work of the Committee has therefore been limited to the com- 
parison of the Kew standards with the instruments in use at Falmouth, 
Stonyhurst, and Valentia. The Committee have learned with mych regret 
that the magnetic observations at Valentia have now been discontinued. 
The extreme westerly position of that station makes it one of the most 
important in Europe for determining the relation between the rate of 
secular change and geographical position. It is much to be desired that 
funds may be forthcoming by means of which the work may be resumed 
and placed on a more permanent footing. 
The work of the Falmouth Observatory is also hampered by want of 
funds. Other buildings are now being erected near to it, and the 
purchase of a small plot of land, to maintain the isolation which is 
desirable, is an urgent need. The vertical force-recording instrument 
has never worked properly, and appears to want expensive alterations. 
The observations made by the superintendent, Mr. E. Kitto, are of a 
very high order of excellence, and it is to be hoped that the Royal 
Cornwall Polytechnic Society, by which the Observatory was founded, 
