te rank to the office of Astronomer Royal, as proposed in the
above letter. But the Home Office (for various reasons set forth)
stated that the suggestion could not be complied with, and the whole
subject dropped.

1864

The following remarks are extracted from the Report of the Astronomer
Royal to the Board of Visitors.--"In a very heavy squall which
occurred in the gale of December 2 of last year, the stay of the lofty
iron pillar outside of the Park Rails, which carried our telegraph
wires, gave way, and the pillar and the whole system of wires
fell."--"An important alteration has been made in the Magnetic
Observatory. For several years past, various plans have been under
consideration for preventing large changes of temperature in the room
which contains the magnetic instruments. At length I determined to
excavate a subterraneous room or cellar under the original room. The
work was begun in the last week in January, and in all important
points it is now finished."--"In the late spring, some alarm was
occasioned by the discovery that the Parliamentary Standard of the
Pound Weight had become coated with an extraneous substance produced
by the decomposition of the lining of the case in which it was
preserved. It was decided immediately to compare it with the three
Parliamentary Copies, of which that at the Observatory is one. The
National Standard was found to be entirely uninjured."--"On November
16 of last year, the Transit Instrument narrowly escaped serious
injury from an accident. The plate chain which carries the large
western counterpoise broke. The counterpoise fell upon the pier,
destroying the massive gun-metal wheels of the lifting machinery, but
was prevented from falling further by the iron stay of the gas-burner
flue."--"The Prismatic Spectrum-Apparatus had been completed in
1863. Achromatic object-glasses are placed on both sides of the prism,
so that each pencil of light through the prism consists of parallel
rays; and breadth is given to the spectrum by a cylindrical lens. The
spectral lines are seen straighter than before, and generally it is
believed that their definition is improved."--"For observation of the
small planets, a convention has been made with M. Le Verrier. From
new moon to full moon, all the small planets visible to 13h are
observed at the Royal Observatory of Greenwich. From full moon to new
moon, all are observed at the Imperial Observatory of Par