24 T. P. ANDERSON STUART. 



and induce the Government to furnish it with modern 

 instruments. From that time until his end, some 35 years, 

 the name of Mr. Russell was indissolubly connected with 

 the Sydney Observatory and its work. In 1874, when the 

 transit of Venus occurred, he organised four observing 

 parties in different parts of the State, or Colony as it was 

 then styled. In 1878 he commenced the publication of the 

 daily weather maps which have proved so useful, and in 

 1879 he presided over the first Meteorological Conference 

 held in Australia. All along he paid great attention to the 

 meteorology of the State and induced residents all over 

 the State to keep these accurate records of rainfall etc., 

 which have proved so useful in many ways. From 12, 

 when he took charge, the number of recording stations had 

 increased to 1800 when he died. In 1887 he attended the 

 Astrographic Conference in Paris and agreed to co-operate 

 with other astronomers of the world in photographing the 

 stars, his share being a portion of the sky between 54° and 

 62° S., involving some 1400 places. It was while engaged 

 in this work that the glare from the lights of the city was 

 found to be excessive, and so, at Mr. Russell's instance* 

 an area of seven acres at Red Hill was secured and a new 

 observatory erected, where excellent results have been and 

 are still being obtained. In 1886 he was elected a Fellow 

 of the Royal Society of London, and in 1890 was made a Com- 

 panion of the Order of St. Michael and St. George. He was 

 the first President of the Australasian Association for the 

 Advancement of Science, was Vice-Chancellor of the 

 University for the year 1891, and has twice been my pre- 

 decessor in this chair as President of the Royal Society of 

 New South Wales. We knew him well, for no one was 

 more constant in his attendance at our meetings, or more 

 solicitous for the welfare of the Society. He was a frequent 

 and voluminous contributor to our proceedings and could 

 always be relied upon to do something or say something of 



