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action, tlie voice of Professor Pritchard was heard protesting loudly against 
his former ally. The matter was hushed up at this time, however ; and we 
are glad to hear that the British Association has undertaken to refund to 
the Astronomical Society the value of the departed instruments. It may 
perhaps he hut fair to add that something was said of such a proceeding 
two years ago — the question at least was asked hy the British Association 
Eclipse Committee whether the instruments might he given away if their 
value was made good to the Astronomical Society. But somehow it so 
chanced that permission to this effect was not awaited, and (unknown, we 
feel assured, to the Secretary of the British Association) the instruments 
were made over as above stated, while the trifling preliminary of paying for 
them was omitted. Generosity is an excellent thing, and zeal for science 
leading a man to provide an observatory at the antipodes with instruments, 
cannot — viewed abstractly — be too highly commended ; but making a pre- 
sent of property belonging to others is a proceeding which appears open to 
some degree of question. 
Eclipse of April 6. — Government made a grant of 1,000/. to the Boyal 
Society for the observation of this eclipse, and a party sailed from South- 
ampton on February 11, in charge of Dr. Schuster, Dr. Vogel joining at 
Suez and Dr. Janssen at Singapore. (The remarks in the last paragraph are 
rather unpleasantly illustrated by the fact that neither the Astronomical 
Society nor Greenwich Observatory has lent a single instrument on this oc- 
casion.) Some dissatisfaction has been expressed because the sum granted 
by Government was given at the request of the Boyal Society, instead of 
being entrusted to the Astronomical Society and the Astronomer Boyal. 
But, considering the nature of the Astronomer Boyal’s original scheme for 
observing the recent transit, and the slowness with which he receded from 
an untenable position, it can hardly be wondered at if an arrangement was 
adopted in this instance which, while giving him a vote, left the arrano-e- 
ments freer from his control than they could have been if submitted to the 
council of the Astronomical Society. Unfortunately, the arrangements 
actually made have not been benefited by the change. Some of the instruc- 
tions given to the observers seem simply absurd, and others are unsafe. It 
is difficult to understand how a committee, on which men so experienced as 
Airy and Stokes had seats, should have countenanced a programme one half 
of which is characterised by ignorance of well-established physical laws. 
Vogel’s plan for photographing the corona by polarised light (which bad 
weather prevented him from applying during the Mediterranean eclipse) is 
to be tried. (We should have been glad to have seen his name mentioned.) 
The arrangements for photographing the spectral images of the corona and 
sierra, seemed, as originally stated, to be so bad as not to admit of being 
made worse. But, as described in the directions, they have certainly re- 
ceived the final touch which shows the master. It has been shown that the 
chances were strong against any results at all being obtained by this method. 
But it appears now that to ensure success the operator is to judge by the 
development of one plate how long to expose the next. Considering that 
totality will not last more than four minutes, and that the experimental 
development of exceedingly faint objects will require time — certainly not 
less than a minute and a half— while the first exposure is to be one minute. 
