12 
REPORT OE THE 
rooms, without the galleries, is estimated to cost £250; and if 
this is to be provided for out of the annual income of the 
Society, it will advance but slowly, and the rooms will remain 
in an unfinished state. 
Thejprincipal addition which has been made to the Library 
this year, has been of a number of numismatic works, amount¬ 
ing to 40 volumes, presented by the family of the late 
Rev. Charles Wellbeloved, in pursuance of his request. The 
Catalogue has been printed and may he had of the Keeper of 
the Museum; the price is sixpence. The Library contains 
many works of high scientific value; and with the exception of 
costly volumes of plates, which cannot safely be allowed to circu¬ 
late, they may he obtained from it by members every day during 
the hours of the Keeper’s attendance; three volumes may be 
taken out at a time; a month is allowed for reading them. 
The Council believe that neither the valuable contents of the 
Library, nor the liberal terms on which its use is granted, are 
generally known; they have published the Catalogue that the 
members be more generally acquainted with them, and they 
hope a more extensive use of it will he made. 
Respecting the Observatory, Mr. Noble and Mr. Gray 
report, that the new telescope has been carefully and severely 
tested, that every expectation with respect to its performance 
has been realized, and that the instrument will bear comparison 
with any other of similar size and aperture. The old equatorial 
mounting has been retained, and as the adjustments are now 
tolerably correct, the instrument answers every useful purpose, 
and a considerable outlay has thus been saved to the Society. 
The Comet, which has attracted the notice of every one by its 
brilliancy, and engaged philosophers in speculations on the 
nature of cometary phsenomena, was seen from the Observatory 
of the Society to the greatest advantage, in the latter part of 
September and the early part of October. The nucleus, with 
a power of about 50, presented the following appearance. 
First, an outer disc of a parabolic form. Superimposed upon 
this were two circular, concentric, luminous discs ; and in the 
centre of the inner disc appeared the bright part of the nucleus. 
The outer parabolic disc, at the point whence the tail emanated. 
