474 Proceedings of the Royal Society 
Government. One of the most important results of this expedition 
was the establishment, on Humboldt’s recommendation, of the ten 
magnetical and meteorological observatories by the Emperor of 
Russia, at which hourly observations were recorded for many years, 
and annually published in extenso by the Russian Government, the 
whole forming the completest record of these phenomena we yet 
possess. 
Shortly after his return from Siberia the Norwegian Government 
voted the funds for building an astronomical and meteorological 
observatory at Christiania, which was erected under Hansteen’s 
direction. He also superintended the trigonometrical and topogra- 
phical survey of Norway, which was begun in 1837. 
The completion of his fifty years’ public services was commemo- 
rated in 1856, shortly after which he ceased to lecture, and in 1861 
retired altogether from public duty. He died on the 11th April 
1873, at the advanced age of 88. 
8. Biographical Notice of Jacques-Adolphe-Lambert 
Quetelet. By Alexander Buchan. Esq. 
Jacques-Adolphe-Lambert Quetelet.— On 17th Eehruary 1874 
Quetelet died at Brussels, in the seventy-eighth year of his age, 
having been born at Ghent on 22d February 1796. At the age 
of 18 he was appointed Professor of Mathematics in the College at 
Ghent; and in July 1819, the degree of Doctor of Science was 
conferred on him by the University of the same town, which had 
just been founded by King William. His dissertation on the 
occasion was so well received that he was shortly thereafter appointed 
to the Chair of Mathematics in the Royal Athenaeum of Brussels. 
In February following he was elected a member of the Academy of 
Sciences and Belles-Lettres. 
The earliest of Quetelet’s published memoirs, which began to be 
issued in 1820, were on geometrical subjects. He soon, however, 
directed his attention more exclusively to physics and astronomy, 
and lectured publicly on these subjects with great success. 
In 1823 he was sent to Paris to report on the observatory of that 
city, for the guidance of the Belgian Government in founding a 
similar observatory at Brussels. After some delay the observatory 
