8 R. THRELFALL. 
of nebulae and nebulous places, and star clusters, comets, etc. 
The transit of Mercury was satisfactorily observed. A valuable 
series of cloud photographs of typical forms has also been taken 
for the more accurate study of weather conditions in Sydney. 
These show that the clouds here come under the usual classifi- 
cations, but have a distinctly local stamp. 
During the year the original Kater pendulums were swung 
in the observatory by Mr. Love, Demonstrator to the Professor 
of Physics at Melbourne, acting for the Gravity Committee of 
the Royal Society of Victoria, and the opportunity was taken 
to carefully test the stability of the frame on which they are 
swung with extremely satisfactory results. The apparatus was 
sufficiently delicate to show a flexure in a massive cement- 
concrete floor produced by a 14lb. weight, but did not show the 
slightest flexure in the pendulum supports when the pendulum 
was in motion. 
The ten feet standard bar of Queensland has been fully com- 
pared with the two standard ten feet bars of New South Wales. 
A new chart of southern circumpolar stars has been prepared 
and published, and an Act of Parliament providing for the © 
adoption of standard time on February Ist, 1895, was carried 
into effect on that day ; and now New South Wales, in common 
with Victoria and Queensland, use the time of the 150° Meridian 
east of Greenwich. 
The results of the study of ocean currents on the coasts of 
Australia during the past twelve years have been published, and 
a special effort made to interest captains of ships trading to 
Australia in ocean currents and meteorology with much success. 
At the Technological Museum the Director and his staff have 
been engaged chiefly on the following works :—Additions to the 
systematic botany of the Colonies, investigation of the chemistry 
of some of the vegetable products of the Colony, especially the 
eucalyptus oils and the barks of certain trees from Queensland ; 
classification of the collections of economic geology ; economic 
oi baile Ps Mel 
