s 
apply to Government to send a telescope of great power, m ch^ge 
of an experienced obser^^er, to the southern hemisphere. That 
application was unsuccessful ; the Government, while they acknow- 
ledo-ed the importance of the proposedobject,dechned to proceed, trom 
an Apprehension of difficulties, through which they did not then see 
their way clearly. At a subsequent meeting of the British AssociaUon, 
the matter was again discussed, and a Committee was appom ted, to 
take such measures as they considered best calculated to effect the 
obiect. The Committee, in the first instance, laid the whole matter 
before your Council, and the Council, approving of the suggestion, 
appointed a Committee to consider the subject in detad. 
It was necessary before the Government could be applied to with 
a reasonable prospect of success, that a specific plan should be in 
readiness, complete in all its details : the size of the instrument, its 
optical principle, its mounting, and its site. 
With the view of obtaining the best information, the L ommittee 
consulted several eminent men, conversant with the management of 
large instruments. The first question proposed was, whether the 
instrument should be a refractor or reflector, and it wms decided in 
favour of the reflector— there was in fact no choice. In the present 
state of knowledge, there was no probability that a good refractor 
could be constructed of sufficient power. As to size, the Committee 
were disposed to recommend a telescope of 4 feet aperture, and 
35 feet focal length, to be mounted equatorially ; not that an instru- 
ment of that size was the best, a much larger no doubt would have 
been better, but it would have been obviously unwise to have re- 
commended a plan involving a very large expenditure. The Com- 
mittee proceeded one step further, they pointed out a mechanical 
engineer of character and experience in the construction of optical 
instruments, who was willing to undertake to make the instrument 
for a specific sum, and having proceeded thus far, they laid the 
whole matter before Government, with whom it at jiresent rests. 
Another application is also before the Government of a very 
different character, but with the same great object, the advancemen 
of human knowledge ; it is to provide a buildmg tor the reception 
of the Scientific Societies of the metropolis. That application did 
not proceed from your Council, but from a large number of indivi- 
duals many of them Fellows of this Society, the remainder distin- 
guished members of the other Scientific bodies of the me^opohs. 
The application was made in the shape of a Memorial to Govern- 
ment, the signatures amounting to about 200. Ihere had been no 
effort I believe, on the part of those \yho brought the subject for- 
w^ard’to procure a large number of signatures, or in any ivay to 
obtain a direct representation of the Scientific bodies : the Memorial 
was a preliminary step, and in that stage nothing more was required 
than to show that it was supported by a large number of persons of 
that class, from which science, if called upon, would have selected 
her representatives. The Memorial was presented by a deputation, 
and care was taken to explain to Government, that it did not ema- 
nate officially from this Society or from any other. 
