REPORT ON ASTRONOMY. 
181 
A subject so complicated as Astronomy, may be divided in 
several different ways, and thus different comparisons may be 
made as to the progress of its various parts. I shall here view 
the subject in two different manners, and I will assert:— 
First, That in those parts which depend principally on the 
assistance of governments or powerful bodies, requiring only 
method and judgement, with very little science, in the persons 
employed, we have done much; while in those which depend 
exclusively on individuals, we have done little. 
Secondly, That our principal progress has been made in the 
instrumental and mechanical parts, and in the lowest parts of 
Astronomy ; while to the higher branches of the science we 
have not added anything. 
I must of course refer generally to what has gone before for 
materials to justify these assertions ; but I may here point out 
a few of the leading facts which have induced me to bring for¬ 
ward these opinions. 
With regard to the first, I can assert that we have contributed 
more than all the rest of the world to furnish materials for 
ascertaining the figure of the earth. This praise is to be 
divided, I suppose, between our Government and the East 
India Company. Be that as it may, I conceive that nothing 
which has been done by other nations can be put in compe¬ 
tition with the arcs of meridian and parallel in England, the 
great arc of meridian in India, and the pendulum expeditions 
of Kater, Foster, Sabine, &c. To some of the latter, objec¬ 
tions have been made which are in my opinion groundless ; but 
if they were ever so well founded, they would detract nothing 
from the merit of originating these expeditions. But these ex¬ 
peditions, though they require care and prudence in the persons 
who conduct them, demand very little science. The vast im¬ 
provement of chronometers is entirely due to the encourage¬ 
ment offered by our Government. I may also assert that the 
observatories depending on our Government are maintained 
with an extent of establishment which few governments would 
be willing to allow. And in speaking of this, I cannot forbear 
alluding to one Institution, which I hope some future reporter 
on Astronomy will be able to describe as having been beneficial 
to the science. The observatory at Cambridge was built, not 
from any fund bequeathed of old for the purpose, nor with the 
assistance of any other body, but partly by grant of the Uni¬ 
versity as a corporate body, when its funds were ill able to sup¬ 
port such an expense, and partly by the private subscription of 
its members. It was built and is to be furnished on a plan which 
will enable it to stand in competition with any other at home or 
