1882.] 



President 1 s Address. 



309 



ment to England to make himself master of the proposed arrange- 

 ments, and to secure the necessary instrumental equipment. 



ACCELERATED EGRESS. 



The stations for Retarded Ingress are also available for Accelerated 

 Egress. 



Retarded Egress. 

 Brisbane Observers. — Captain W. G. Morris, R.E. 



Lieut. H. Darwin, R.E, 

 Mr. Peek. 



Nevj Zealand Observers. — Lieut. -Col. Tupman, R.M.A. 



Lieut. Coke, R.N. 



Besides these observers sent specially from England, the Observa- 

 tories at Melbourne and Sydney are most favourably situated for observ- 

 ing the Egress. The Directors of these Observatories, Mr. Ellery and 

 Mr. Russell, have promised their co-operation, and their Governments 

 have placed funds at their disposal to cover any necessary expenses. 



Unless unfavourable weather should prevent the transit being seen 

 at some of the stations, we may expect some nine or ten pairs of 

 corresponding observations, both at Ingress and Egress, from the 

 British expeditions alone. These observations are certain to be largely 

 supplemented by those made by the observers of other nations ; and it 

 is hoped, from the close agreement between the instructions issued to 

 the different observers, that the whole may ultimately be available for 

 combination in one general discussion. 



The American astronomers, encouraged by the partial success which 

 attended the plan they adopted in 1874, are relying chiefly upon the 

 photographic method ; they have sent expeditions to South America 

 and the Cape of Good Hope. 



Austria does not take any active part in observing the Transit. 



France sends out eight well equipped expeditions, full particulars of 

 which have been published in the " Comptes Rendus " for October 2. 



From Holland no special expedition will be sent out, but Lieu- 

 tenant Heyming, of the Dutch Navy, will observe the transit in the 

 West Indies, probably at Curacoa. 



Italy will confine its operations to observatories in that country. 



Russia, also, has decided to send out no expeditions of its own, 

 but it has aided the efforts of other countries by lending a 6 '5-inch 

 reflector to the Danish Government, and has placed two excellent 

 4'3-inch heliometers in the hands of the French astronomers, MM. 

 Tisserand and Perrotin. The considerations which led the Russian 

 Government to this conclusion have been explained in the following 

 paragraphs of a letter from Mr. Struve to myself : — ■ 



" Experience since 1874 has sufficiently proved that there is no 

 prospect whatever, even with combined international efforts, of 



