REPORT OF THE KEW COMMITTEE. XXXiil 
to be nominated as President of the Meeting which it is proposed to hold at 
Aberdeen in 1859. 
“ His Royal Highness cannot but feel gratified at the wish thus expressed 
by the Committee, though he is sensible that his own proficiency in scientific 
subjects is scarcely such as to entitle him to such a distinction. If, therefore, 
he expresses his readiness to comply with the wishes of the Committee, he 
begs that it may be considered merely as an expression of the deep interest 
which he takes in the advancement of science in this country, and as a mark 
of the high sense which he entertains of the importance and usefulness of the 
Association. 
“His acceptance of the Presidency must also be considered, to a certain 
degree, conditional—depending upon his being in Scotland at the time pro- 
posed for the Meeting. 
“ His Royal Highness’s time is not his own, and it is impossible for him, 
at this distance of time, to say whether the call of other duties may not be 
such as to prevent his attendance. 
“TI have the honour to be, Sir, 
“ Your most obedient Servant, 
“C. Grey.” 
“ To Major-General Sabine.” 
6. The Report of the Parliamentary Committee of the British Association 
for the Advancement of Science has been received by the Council, and is 
herewith presented. 
Report of the Kew Committee of the British Association for the 
Advancement of Science, for 1857-58. 
Since the last Meeting of the Association, a set of Magnetical Instruments 
have been prepared, at the request of the Council of the Royal Society, and 
the constants determined for the Expedition of Dr. Livingstone to South 
Africa. Capt. Bedingfield, R.N. and Messrs. Livingstone and Baines, who 
accompany Dr. Livingstone in this Expedition, received instructions at the 
Observatory in the use of the instruments. 
At the request of Capt. Washington, R.N., Hydrographer of the Admiralty, 
similar instruments were prepared for the Oregon Boundary Commission, 
and instructions in their use were given at the Observatory to Capt. Haig, 
R.A., and Lieut. Darrah, R.E. 
Detailed written instructions for both Expeditions, supplementary to those 
contained in the Admiralty Manual, were furnished by Mr. Welsh. Such 
instructions necessarily occupied the time and attention of Mr. Welsh and 
his assistants; but as, in the opinion of the Committee, instructions for the 
correctly manipulating with instruments with which gentlemen appointed to 
a particular service are not often previously acquainted, is an essential fea- 
ture in the practical working of a physical observatory, the Committee have 
considered it desirable that such assistance should be afforded ; and it will 
be in the recollection of the Council that, in their last Report, the Committee 
stated that several gentlemen, some of whom were connected with foreign 
Governments, had received similar instruction. 
An application having been received from M. Secchi of the Collegio Ro- 
mano, on the part of the Roman Government, for Magnetical Instruments, 
these instruments have been prepared at the Observatory and forwarded to 
Rome. ‘They consist of an Observatory Bifilar Magnetometer and Balance 
1858. c 
