REPORT ON ASTRONOMY. 
129 
was changed for quarterly publication. The establishment of 
assistants at the Greenwich Observatory has been gradually 
increased, till it now exceeds in numerical strength every other 
observatory (so far as I know) in the world. The mass of 
observations which it produces, of a very laborious kind, but 
of the very highest value for their accuracy, exceeds those 
which any other institution has put forth. The plan of these 
observations is rather confined, but by no means so much as 
under Dr. Maskelyne : their results have been occasionally 
published, but without any intermediate step. The Observa¬ 
tory of Dublin, under the direction of Dr. Brinkley, assumed 
the highest importance. The observations have not been regu¬ 
larly published, but the results (accompanied sometimes with 
the original observations,) have appeared in various memoirs 
by Dr. Brinkley. These are confined to observations of the 
principal stars : but other observations I believe have also been 
made. In 1823 and 1824 an Observatory was erected at 
Cambridge: it has been placed successively under the super¬ 
intendance of Professor Woodhouse and of the author of this 
Report. Though at present it is only in part furnished with 
instruments, the regular publication of observations has com¬ 
menced, and four volumes (the result of as many years’ labour, 
commencing with 1828,) have appeared. The only difference 
between the plan of these and that of the others which I have 
described, is that the reductions are given at greater length ; 
the observation of planets is made one of the principal objects 
of this Observatory. In 1826 the original observations of 
Tobias Mayer were published at the expense of the British 
Government, under the superintendance of M. Mosotti. With¬ 
in three years the regular publication of observations made at 
Armagh by Dr. Robinson has been begun: they are nearly on 
the same plan as the Greenwich Observations. 
In 1821 the British Government determined to found an 
Observatory at the Cape of Good Hope: and Mr. Fallows was 
immediately sent out with some small instruments. The erec¬ 
tion of the Observatory was not completed till 1828 : and the 
two most important instruments arrived in 1829. The obser¬ 
vations made by Mr. Fallows have not yet been published : but 
I have seen them in manuscript, and I can assert them to be 
most valuable. His successor, Mr. Henderson, has it in con¬ 
templation not only to continue the independent observations 
peculiar to a southern latitude, but also to observe regularly in 
concert with European astronomers. Let us hope that the 
publication of Mr. Fallows’s observations will not be delayed, 
and that provision will be made for the regular appearance of 
i 
