Report of the Kew Committee. 



125 



Anemograph Sheets have also been sent to the Madras Observatory, 

 and Mauritius, and 



Blank Forms for the entry of magnetic observations to Professor 

 Young, Princetown, U.S.A. 



VII. Miscellaneous. 



Loan Exhibition. — With the exception of the Hodgkinson's Actino- 

 meter and the three instruments mentioned in the 1878 Report, the 

 instruments specified in the Report for 1876 still remain in charge of 

 the Science and Art Department, South Kensington. 



At the request of the Secretary of the Royal Society several sets of 

 comparisons have been made between the Hodgkinson's Actinometers, 

 the property of the Royal Society, and a similar instrument sent home 

 from India by Mr. Hennessey, F.R.S., who has observed with it in 

 that country. 



International Comparison of Standards. — The Committee received 

 an application from the Secretaries of the Comite International 

 de Meteorologie inviting them to assist in the suggested scheme of an 

 international comparison of standard barometers, thermometers, and 

 anemometers. This idea has since been abandoned, butM. Hooremann, 

 Chef de Service of the Brussels Observatory, has visited Kew, with 

 several standard instruments, in order to make a direct comparison 

 between the Observatories of Brussels and Kew. 



At the request of Miss Ormerod, F.M.S., experiments were made 

 on the occasion of testing some thermometers at very low temperatures 

 to determine the effect of great cold upon the vitality of certain grubs 

 and insects selected by her for trial. 



The Superintendent has, with the consent of the Committee, sub- 

 mitted a paper to the Royal Society on " The Results of an Inquiry 

 into the Periodicity of Rainfall," which was printed in the " Proceed- 

 ings," vol. xxx, p. 200. 



He has also read a paper before the Meteorological Society " On the 

 Rate at which Barometric Changes traverse the British Isles," published 

 in the " Quarterly Journal," vol. vi, p. 136. 



The Committee, having memorialised the Under Secretary of State 

 for the Colonies with reference to the establishment of an Observatory 

 for magnetical and meteorological purposes at Hong Kong, has been 

 gratified by the receipt of an announcement to the effect that the 

 Governor of Hong Kong has been authorised to propose a vote for 

 the establishment of an Observatory in that colony. 



Workshop . — The several pieces of Mechanical Apparatus, such as 

 the Whitworth Lathe and Planing Machine, procured by Grants 

 from either the Government Grant Funds or the Donation Fund, for 

 the use of the Kew Observatory, have been kept in thorough order. 



