March S, 1891. 1 
JOURITAL OF HORTICULTURE AND COTTAGE GARDENER. 
183 
the special object of its existence. It is somewhat strange that 
although known for a long period as the Kew Observatory, it is 
not really in Kew, but in Richmond, and is in no respect a portion 
of, or even connected with, the Royal Gardens. There i^ no very 
direct means of communication with the high road, but the 
appended plan (fig. 33) indicates the iposition and approach for 
visitors who are furnished with the necessary admission orders 
obtainable on application by letter to the Committee. A few 
minutes’ walk from the Richmond station conducts to the farm 
gate, and after a long walk across an open expanse of meadow land 
the low and unpretentious building (fig. 34) is reached standing 
opon slightly raised ground near the Thames. 
* The principal facts in the history of the Observatory are as 
follows. It was erected by order of George III. to enable obser¬ 
vations to be taken of the transit of the planet Venus in 1709, and 
is believed to occupy a portion of a site of considerable historical 
interest. Somewhere in its immediate vicinity were the village 
of West Sheen, a Carthusian Priory, and the old Palace of 
Sheen, every trace of which has disappeared, as also has Richmond 
Lodge or House, with which were connected some extensive 
gardens famous in the time of George II. The institution was 
linown as the King’s or Royal Observatory, but gradually obtained 
the title of the Kew Observatory, the original of that name 
which stood near the Kew Palace having fallen into disuse. For 
•seventy years it was employed for various scientific purposes, 
but in the meantime the Greenwich Observatory had grown in 
importance, and it was resolved to discontinue the maintenance of 
-that at Kew. In 1842, therefore, it passed into the care of the 
British Association, and for thirty years the work was carried on 
under the supervision of a Committee appointed by that body. Then 
the expenses having become too heavy the Association resolved 
to give it up in 1872. Quoting'from the official history, the result 
of this resolution was as follows :— 
“At this critical period in the fortunes of the Observatory, 
Mr. J. P. Gassiot, who was then the zealous Chairman of the Kew 
Oommittee, made a munificent offer. He expressed himself ready 
^0 endow the Kew Observatory forthwith with a sum of £10,000 
if the Royal Society would, on their part, consent to act as trustees, 
to apply for the use of the Observatory, and if it were granted to 
them to take it under their general charge, and to nominate a Kew 
•Committee, who should have entire control over the management 
of the Observatory, and over the income from the trust fund, and 
cause magnetic and meteorological observations to be continued in 
perpetuity. Mr. Gassiot’s offer was accepted, and the trust deed 
was signed in 1871. The members of the Meteorological Council 
of the Royal Society were constituted the first members of the new 
FIG. 34.— THE KEW OBSERVATORY. 
Kew Committee (they had for the most part been members of 
the old one), and the management of the Observatory was then 
established upon the footing on which it now stands.” 
It will thus be seen that the Observatory is really a department 
of the Royal Society under the management of a Committee, 
with F. Galton, Esq., M.A., F.R.S., as Chairman, and G. M. 
Whipple, Esq., B.Sc., as Superintendent, who has a staff' of 
experienced assistants to help in the multifarious and important 
duties of the establishment. The work consists of two kinds 
—first, in keeping an exact record of meteorological observa¬ 
tions ; barometrical pressure, temperature, rain, wind, 
sunshine, cloud, electricity, magnetism, all being noted 
with the greatest care, and by self-recording instruments 
of most ingenious construction, for the Institution also 
ranks amongst the first-class stations of the Meteoro¬ 
logical Office, from which an allowance of £400 is granted 
for the purpose. The instruments employed, and the 
exactitude with which the work is performed, merit a 
full notice; but as it would be impossible without the aid 
of illustrations to convey a clear idea of the former by 
verbal descriptions they must be passed, with the remark 
that comparatively few horticulturists, except those who 
have made scientific meteorology a study, have any idea 
of the progress accomplished in recent years. The 
possibility of inaccuracy is reduced to a minimum, and 
the self-recording principle now applied to nearly every 
instrument employed in the work obviates the danger 
of errors either in observation or transcription, and 
saves much time. Whatever difference of opinion may 
exist respecting the value of meteorological observations 
generally, there can be none as to the importance of 
their being accurately recorded, also carelessness and 
unreliable instruments is responsible for many of the 
inconsistencies with which meteorological predictions 
have been charged. It has become a standing joke in 
the comic papers to refer to the meteorological warning? 
as noted for their uncertainty, whereas, as a matter of 
fact, which can be proved by the official charts and 
reports issued from time to time, a large per-centage of 
these predictions have been verified by the weather 
subsequently experienced. The difficulty has been to 
obtain a sufficient number of stations where observations 
can be taken in the same manner as at Kew, and a few 
in the centre of the Atlantic Ocean (the origin of many 
of our weather disturbances), with telegraphic com¬ 
munication to Europe and America, would facilitate 
matters enormously. 
The other portion of the work at Kew is of great 
practical importance, and contributes very largely to the 
income of the institution. This consists in testing and 
verifying meteorological and other scientific instruments, 
and the magnitude of this business may be realised from 
Fig. 33.—PLAN.—1, ObsartAtory : 2, Syon TIousc ; 3, Queen's Cottage; 4, Pagoda ; 5, Lion Gate; 
6, Fuller’s Gate ; 7. St. doUu's CUurcii; 8 and 9, Richmond Station ; lU, Green ; 11, Palace 
i(Site ®f); 12, Ih i ige, 
