349 



their way clearly. At a subsequent roeeting of the British Association, 

 the matter was again discussed, and a Committee was appointed, to 

 take such measures as they considered best calculated to effect the 

 object. The Committee, in the first instance, laid the whole matter 

 before your Council, and the Council, approving of the suggestion, 

 appointed a Committee to consider the subject in detail. 



It was necessary before the Government could be applied to with 

 a reasonable prospect of success, that a specific plan should be in 

 readiness, complete in all its details : the size of the instrument, its 

 optical principle, its mounting, and its site. 



With the view of obtaining the best information, the Committee 

 consulted several eminent men, conversant with the management of 

 large instruments. The first question proposed was, whether the 

 instrument should be a refractor or reflector, and it was decided in 

 favour of the reflector — there was in fact no choice. In the present 

 state of knowledge, there was no probability that a good refractor 

 could be constructed of sufhcient power. As to size, the Committee 

 were disposed to recommend a telescope of 4 feet aperture, and 

 35 feet focal length, to be mounted equatorially ; not that an instru- 

 ment of that size was the best, a much larger no doubt would have 

 been better, but it would have been obviously unwise to have re- 

 commended a plan involving a very large expenditure. The Com- 

 mittee proceeded one step further, they pointed out a mechanical 

 engineer of character and experience in the construction of optical 

 instruments, who was willing to undertake to make the instrument 

 for a specific sum, and having proceeded thus far, they laid the 

 whole matter before Government, with whom it at j)resent rests. 



Another application is also before the Government of a very 

 diff"erent character, but with the same great object, the advancement 

 of human knowledge : it is to provide a building for the reception 

 of the Scientific Societies of the metropolis. That application did 

 not proceed from your Council, but from a large number of indivi- 

 duals, many of them Fellows of this Society, the remainder distin- 

 guished members of the other Scientific bodies of the metropolis. 

 The application w^as made in the shape of a Memorial to Govern- 

 ment, the signatures amounting to about 200. There had been no 

 effort, I believe, on the part of those who brought the subject for- 

 ward to procure a large number of signatures, or in any way to 

 obtain a direct representation of the Scientific bodies : the Memorial 

 was a preliminary step, and in that stage nothing more was required, 

 than to show that it was supported by a large number of persons of 

 that class, from which science, if called upon, would have selected 

 her representatives. The Memorial was presented by a deputation, 

 and care was taken to explain to Government, that it did not ema- 

 nate ofiicially from this Society or from any other. 



A detailed explanation was also entered into, showing in what 

 way the cultivation of science would be promoted, by providing 

 suitable accommodation for the scientific societies. Carleton ride 

 was suggested as a convenient situation, and other sites were named 

 in the same neighbourhood. 



