ghtly hesitating, and he used frequent repetitions, which perhaps
were necessary from the newness of the ideas. As the lecturer
proceeded, his hearers forgot these imperfections and found their
whole attention rivetted to the subject matter."

Of private history: "On Jan. 2nd there was a most remarkable
crystallization of the ice on the flooded meadows at Playford: the
frost was very severe.--From June 20th to Aug. 1st I was at the Grange
near Keswick (where I hired a house) with my wife and most of my
family.--From Nov. 5th to 14th I was on an expedition in the South of
Scotland with my son Wilfrid: we walked with our knapsacks by the
Roman Road across the Cheviots to Jedburgh.--On Dec. 21st I went to
Playford."

1862

"The Report to the Board of Visitors states that 'A new range of
wooden buildings (the Magnetic Offices) is in progress at the
S.S.E. extremity of the Magnetic Ground. It will include seven
rooms.'--Also 'I took this opportunity (the relaying of the
water-main) of establishing two powerful fire-plugs (one in the Front
Court, and one in the Magnetic Ground); a stock of fire-hose adapted
to the "Brigade-Screw" having been previously secured in the
Observatory.'--'Two wires, intended for the examination of spontaneous
earth-currents, have been carried from the Magnetic Observatory to the
Railway Station in the town of Greenwich. From this point one wire is
to be led to a point in the neighbourhood of Croydon, the other to a
point in the neighbourhood of Dartford. Each wire is to be connected
at its two extremities with the Earth. The angle included between the
general directions of these two lines is nearly a right angle.'--'The
Kew unifilar magnetometer, adapted to the determination of the
horizontal part of terrestrial magnetic force in absolute measure, was
mounted in the summer of 1861; and till 1862 February, occasional
observations (14 in all) were taken simultaneously with the old and
with the new instrument. The comparison of results shewed a steady but
very small difference, not greater probably than may correspond to the
omission of the inverse seventh powers of distance in the theoretical
investigation; proving that the old instrument had been quite
efficient for its purpose.'--Great efforts had been made to deduce a
law from the Diurnal Inequalities in Declination and Horizontal Force,
as shewn by the Magnetic observations; but without success: the Report
s