Report of the Kew Committee. 



45 



An office .has been provided for the two Sergeants, E.A., who attend 

 at Kew, as already reported, by the subdivision of the old Transit Boom 

 about midway with a panel partition. The expense of this alteration 

 has been defrayed by Sir E. Sabine. 



The roofs of the two outer Magnetic houses have been re-covered with 

 felt, as it was found that they could not be kept perfectly water-tight by 

 a coating of tar. 



Early in the year, on the application of the Committee, H.M/s Office 

 of Woods and Forests sent workmen to clean and paint the interior of the 

 Observatory, as far as the ground-floor. This work has been finished, 

 and the Office has undertaken to complete the basement story in the 

 course of the next year. 



Library. — The Books enumerated in Appendix III. to the Eeport of 

 the Kew Committee of the British Association for 1871 have been left 

 at Kew. 



A most valuable donation was received in July from the Committee of 

 the Athenaeum Club, consisting of 77 volumes of books, chiefly Green- 

 wich Observations. 



Erom Sir E. Sabine a number of volumes of the 4to Magnetical 

 and Meteorological Eesults from the Colonial Observatories have been 

 received ; and also a very considerable amount of MS. documents, in- 

 cluding, among others, the original observations from which the printed 

 results above mentioned have been derived. 



A large number of valuable books have been deposited at Kew by Sir 

 E. Sabine, who has intimated his intention to present them ultimately to 

 the Observatory as a foundation of a Library. 



Staff. — The Staff employed at Kew is as follows : — Mr. Samuel 

 Jeffery, Superintendent ; Gr. M. Whipple, B.Sc, First Assistant ; T. W. 

 Baker, Second Assistant ; F. J. Page, A. J. Eigby, J. E. Cullum, 

 J. Foster, F. Figg. 



The last-named gentleman was substituted in May for T. Hill, who 

 had resigned in April. 



Visitors. — The Observatory has been honoured during the year by the 

 presence of several scientific men of eminence ; amongst these may be 

 mentioned : — 



Professor E. Alluard, Clermont, Puy de Dome, Director of the 

 Meteorological Observatory on the Puy de Dome. 



Professor Gruthrie, F.E.S., with twenty-five Teachers (Science and Art 

 Department). 



M. W. de Fonvielle, on behalf of the Minister of Public Instruction in 

 France, to inquire into the subject of Lightning-conductors. 



M. Gr. Lemoine, Secretary of the Societe Meteorologique de France. 



M. Otto von Struve, Director of the Imperial Observatory at Pulkowa, 

 Eussia, with reference to the testing of the Pulkowa Photo- 

 heliograph. 



The Committee append to the Eeport a statement of the total receipts 

 and expenditure of the Observatory up to October 31, 1872. 



