252 REPORTS ON THE STATE OF SCIENCE, ETC. 



applications of which may be largely a matter of historical accident, and it is of 

 practical consequence to the work of the Committee whether a broader or narrower 

 connotation be adopted. The following resolution was carried at a meeting on 

 June 16, 1930. ' That the Committee of Section A be requested to take the necessary 

 steps to obtain for the use of the Tables Committee an explicit statement as to the 

 interpretation to be adopted for the terms of the Cunningham Bequest, to which 

 they will be prepared to adhere in recommending the> application of funds.' 



Future Programme. — In addition to the volume now ready for the printer, the 

 Committee has in view the following volumes : — 



(a) Elliptic functions, based on the tables computed by the late J. W. L. Glaisher. 

 These would occupy at least 200 pages and cost £400 to print. The checking (by 

 differencing) of the functions and the preparation of the printer's copy would have to 

 be provided for. 



(b) Bessel functions. For over 40 years the Committee has, from time to time, 

 produced tables of Bessel functions, which are scattered throughout the Reports. 

 The greater part of the grants made since 1890 has been spent on these functions. It 

 is highly desirable that a volume of tables on a unified plan should be produced. 

 Much work still remains to be done, and the volume would probably occupy about 

 300 pages. The work of interpolating Meissel's table of Jq and J^ from interval 0-01 

 to interval 0-001 has been begun, under the superintendence of Dr. L. J. Comrie. 



(c) Confluent Hypergeometric Function. A number of tables of this function 

 were published in the Reports for 1926 and 1927, but a much more extensive tabulation 

 is necessary to make the function really useful. The tabulation presents peculiar 

 difficulties, which are now being investigated by Dr. A. J. Thompson. 



The Committee, although unable to anticipate the interpretation of the terms of 

 the Cunningham Bequest, expresses the hope that provision will be made for this 

 programme. 



Emden's Equation. — A request has been received from Sir Arthur Eddington for 

 the tabulation of solutions of Emden's equation 



(Pu , 2 du , „ 



— + — -\- u" = 

 dz' zdz 



•ioT various values of n. This request is supported by Sir James Jeans and Prof. E. A. 

 Milne, as the equation is one of great importance in astrophysics. Certain preliminary 

 investigations of method and cost have been made by Drs. J. R. Airey and L. F. 

 Richardson, and the Committee asks for a special grant of £25 to enable the calculation 

 to be undertaken. 



The Committee wish to add to their number the name of Dr. L. F. Richardson. 



Reajjpointment. — The Committee desires to be reappointed, with a grant of £50 

 for general purposes. 



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