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Las diagrammes suivants illustrent la m^thode. 1 2 3 4 5 6 \^>> " Correspondences relative to the continuation of the Toronto Observatory, ordered by the Council of the Royal Society to be printed. " 1. From Lieut. -Colonel Sabine to the Earl of Rosse, P.R.S. "* " Woolwich, June 29, 1850. , " My Lord, — I beg to bring under your Lordship's consideration the propriety of recommending to Government the continuant • of the NIagneticfil ObserVatOry at Toronto in Canadr upon its i»resent establisliment and on its present footing, from March 31, 1851 (which is the date which is now sanctioned) to March 31, 18.53. " I make this proposition chiefly on the three following grounds : — "1st. To afford time for the completion of the series of absolute determinations, the objects and progress of which are stated in the accompanying paper. No. 1*, and where also the important conclu- sious are shown to which the part of the series already accomplished appears to conduct. " 2nd. To afford time for the trial of the comparative merits and disadvantages of the two kinds of photographic self- registering ap- paratus respectively invented by Mr. Ronalds and Mr. Brooke, as available methods in the colonies or at stations where the sui)crvi- sion of the inventor cannot be obtained, and where the appliances, mechanical and chemical, which a great metl-opolis affords are not at hand. "3rd. For the comparison of the magnetic registers which will be thus obtained with the extensive system of Auroral Observa- tion which has been organized by Captain Lefroy, arid which now extends over the greater part of the continent of North America, as shown by the accompanying paper, No. 2t. "With reference to the second of the three grounds above enume- rated, I beg to submit the accompanying paper. No. 3, which is an account drawn up by Captain Lefroy, Director of the Toronto Ob- servatory, for Silliman's Journal, of Mr. Brooke's apparatus (which had been for some months in action at his observatory), as I con- sider that it evidences the competency of Captain Lefroy to conduct the comparative trial with which he has been charged. At the period when that paper was written, viz. in January 1 850, Mr. Brooke's De- clinometer was the only self- registering magnetical instrument at the Toronto Observatory. A Bifdar and a Balance Magnetometer, both on Mr. Ronalds's principle, have since been received there, and a Bifilar, on Mr. Brooke's principle, is now on its passage. A.n acci- dental circumstance (viz. the breaking out of cholera in August 1 849 in the ship which was conveying Mr. Ronalds's apparatus to Ame- rica, and which obliged her to put back to England until the re- opening of the season of navigation of the St. Lawrence in the pre- * Philosophical Transactions, 1850, Art. IX. t Rejjort printed in the Pliilobophical Magazine for June 1850. ,4 tent spring) retardeii the commencement of the comparative trial of the two methods, but, on the other hand, it has given time for the system of auroral observations to be more fully matured as well as more widely extended. Independent of the important conclusions which are likely to be derived from the comparison of this most ex- tensive system of auroral observation with a continuous self-registry of the magnetic phenomena, it is obvious that the attention which the whole subject will thus receive is well-suited to place in clear evidence the deficiencies of either or both of the methods of self- registry in reference to the present stage of scientific inquiry, and to lead to such improvements as may be required. " At an earlier period of the Toronto Observatory, and before the invention of self-registering ap]mratus, it was contemplated that when certain primary objects should have been accomplished, the observatory might be advantageously transferred to the provincial authorities, under whom it might be continued permanently. The invention of self-registering apparatus has led to the postponement of this period of transfer. An observatory furnished with self-regi- stering apparatus, working on a well-established system, will ob- viously be far more valuable as a provincial establishment than an observatory in the state in which the transfer was originally con- templated. " There is no reason to doubt that the Toronto Observatory will be in this improved state (if continued according to the present pro- position) by the 31st of March, 1853; and I learn, from communi- cations which Captain Lefroy has recently had with members of the present Colonial Ministry, that when the proper time shall be con- sidered to have arrived for the transfer of the Observatory from Her Majesty's Government to the provincial authorities, the Colonial Ministry, should the same be still in power, are disposed to advise the Governor- General to recommend to the Provincial Parliament an appropriation for its support. "The present proposition for eontinuancs under Her Majesty's Government is therefore definite, the transfer to take place on the 31st of March, 1853, or the instruments to be brought home and the observatory dismantled. ** The cost of the Toronto Observatory, on its present establish- ment and footing, is £402 a year, £302 being for extra pay for the officer and detachment of the Royal Artillery, and £100 for contin- gencies. " The Toronto Observatory was originally established under the Ordnance department (with the sanction of the Treasury), on the recommendation of the Royal Society, and its general superintend- ence, with that of other colonial observatories of the same descrip- tion, was entrusted, by the late Lord Vivian, then Master- General of the Ordnance, to me. As its Superintendent, I consider that I discharge my duty in bringing the subject of the future disposition of this observatory under your Lordship's consideration as President of the Royal Society. The scientific instructions, under which tliis and the other observatories have continued to act, emanated from the Royal Society, and were drawn up by a committee consisting of Sir John Herachel, Dr. Lloyd, the Dean of Ely, Dr. Whewell and myself. " Perhaps your Lordship will wish to take the opinion of these four gentlemen (and possibly of others) on the question thus brought under your consideration. If there are additional details or informa- tion desired, I shall be most happy to supply them, as far as may be in my power. " I have the honour to be, " My Lord, your Lordship's obedient Servant, (Signed) " Euwabd Sabinb." " The Earl of Rosse, President of the Royal Society." '■• 2. From Lieut. -Colonel Sabine to the Earl of Rosse, P.R.S. " Woolwich, October 22nd, 1850. " My Lord, — At a meeting of the American Association for the Advancement of Science, held at Newhaven in the United States in August last, resolutions were adopted regarding the continuance of the Toronto Observatory, and the cooperatiou of the British Govern- ment in a system of Meteorological Observations in the North Ame- rican Continent, of which the United States portion is to be carried on at the expense of the United States Government, under the Smith- sonian Institution. It is intended, I understand, that these resolu- tions shall be communicated by the Government of the United States to ours, through the Anierican Minister resident in London; and they will in such case, I presume, come into your Lordship's hands officially through Lord Palmerston. As however the question of the propriety of continuing the Toronto Observatory is now under the consideration of your Lordship, and of the gentlemen who formed the Magnetical and Meteorological Committee of the Royal Society, on the occasion of a letter which I had the honour to address to you at the close of the Session of the Society in June last, it has ap- peared to me most desirable to put your Lordship at once in posses- sion of a copy of the resolutions which have been forwarded to me from the United States. " I have the honour to be, " My Lord, your Lordship's obedient Servant, " Edward Sabinb." " The Earl of Rosse, President of the Royal Society." " Resolutions referred to in the preceding letters. " At a Meeting of the American Association for the Advance- ment of Science at Newhaven in the United States in August 1850, the following Resolutions were unanimously adopted : — " Resolved, — That in the foundation and maintenance of numerous Magnetical and Meteorological Observatories, the British Govern- 1*' ment have evinced an appreciation of the claims of science, and a readiness to contribute liberally to its support, which challenge the admiration and demand the hearty acknowledgments of the scien- tific world. " Resolved, — That the experiments which are now in progress at the Toronto Observatory, to test the practicability of self-registering photographic methods, the system of concerted Auroral Observa- tions recently organized by Captain Lefroy, and the peculiar interest attached to magnetic observations made near the focus of maximum intensity, render it highly desirable that the Toronto Observatory should be continued in activity for a somewhat longer period. " And inasmuch as a very extensive series of meteorological ob- servations, embracing the entire area of the United States, is now in progress of organization by the Smithsonian Institution, and it would add exceedingly to the value of the proposed observations if simultaneous ones could be obtained from the region north of the United States, extending even to the shores of Hudson's Bay and the coast of Labrador ; therefore — " Resolved, — That the British Government and the Directors of the Hudson's Bay Company be invited to cooperate with the ob- eervers in the United States in united and systematic meteorological inquiries." "3. From Dr. Lloyd, President of the Royal Irish Academy, to the Earl of Rosse. P.R.S. " Trinity College, Dublin, November 13, 1850. " Dear Lord Rosse, — I have to acknowledge the receipt of your Lordship's letter, in which you do me the honour to ask my opinion on the question of the continuance of the Magn«tical Observatory at Toronto. " I have long thought that the present state of some of the sciences connected with Terrestrial Physics demanded a continuous system of observation, and therefore the establishment of permanent observa- tories for their effective advancement ; and I believe that I could easily cite, in support of this opinion, the authority of Humboldt, Herschel, KupfFer and others. " I ventured to urge this view at the ' Magnetical Conference ' held at Cambridge a few years ago, under the auspices of the British Association ; and I believe that it was in the hope of carrying it out in this particular instance, that it was resolved to recommend to Her Majesty's Government to continue the observatory at Toronto for a limited time, in the hope that, before the close of the period, arrange- ments might be made with some of the colonial institutions to take it up. " I am not aware what steps have been taken to carry out this latter object, or whether they have been taken and failed ; should the latter be the case, the question is of course altered. But, even in that case, I would venture to suggest the importance of the temporary ii continuance of the observatory on its present footing for some time onger, if it were only to carry out to its completion the triol of the selt-registering of magnetical and meteorological instruments by photographical processes, which has been instituted there on so large a scale. / "?h^ two methods which have been proposed for that purpose (and ot which the importance has been recognized by Her Majestv's Government by the bestowal of liberal pecuniary rewards) are both in operation at Toronto, and under the direction of Captain Lefroy an officer who is able to give them the fullest trial, as well as to improve and perfect them. So that an experiment of great import- ance to physical science would probably be interrupted, and lead to no conclusion, if the observatory were now to be discontinued. "For these and other reasons I believe that it is desirable that an application should be made to Her Majesty's Government, requestinff tliem to direct the continuance of the Magnetical Observatory at loronto for some time longer, in case that none of the local insti- tutions are in a condition to undertake its management. " I remain, dear Lord Rosse, '• Yours very faithfully, " The Earl of Rosse, S^c. Sfc" " "' ^^°^°-" " 4. From Sir John Herschel, Bart., to the Earl of Rosse, P.R.S. " ?2 Harley Street, December 28, 1850. "My dear Lord Rosse.— I entirely agree in the view taken by Dr. Lloyd relative to the Toronto Observatory. It has become, from the fine series of observations already made there, a local centre of reterence for the magnetic and meteorological observations of the whole of Canada and Northern America, of the greatest importance. If continued, whether under the Colonial Government alone or aided by the Home Government, it would become the national observa- tory. the centre of diffusion of astronomical and of all exact scientific inquiry, and the zero-point of a future trigonometrical survey. " If only temporarily continued, the working out of the recently adopted methods of photographic registry would form a very valu- able contribution to the progress of those new methods, which pro- mise to supersede all others— both in point of exactness and of eco- nomy; and I think it would be very desirable, if so continued, that some attempt should be made, pendente, to influence the Colonial authorities definitively to take it up. Perhaps this might be made a condition of another three years' continuance,— I mean that it might be granted provided a pledge could be obtained from the Colonial authorities that it should afterwards be a Colonial Establishment. " I remain, " My dear Lord Rosse, yours very truly, " J. F. W. Herschel." II " 6. From the Ameriean Academy' of Arts and Sciences to the £arlo/Rosse,P.R.S. "Cambridge, U.S., Academy of ArT: 1 S"'''"'^!^' ^ ^^^'"^'"ee of the American I nr,lIT^ 1 *u^ bciences. have been directed to address vour netioa? ^k"" *^.- ^"''J^'^L,^^ continuing the meteorological and mag. netical observat.ons at Toronto in Upper Canada. The Academy has been ed more particularly to take this step, in consequence of nXTnS°Stat: ""'!?- ^^^ ?f meteorSiogicrorervronI iut on ThfJ ' ""'^- ' *^f ''"'P'^^' °^ *^« Smithsonian Insti. tution Thirty-seven stations have been established in the State of New York and twelve in the State of Massachusetts under the supenntendence of one of the Committee (Professor Guyotrand are now in successful operation. It is unnecessary to say hat this arrangement furnishes very important means of comparison wSi the itrirr^'the^lv "^^^^^^ This advantage wi£ be stilltrthe iiicreasea, oy the addition which will no doubt be madp in ^fi,^, parWthe United State,, to the number of "teul"'"''' '" ""■" laeee circumstances render it peculiarly desirable thnf «,, observahons at Toronto should not b! suspenLT^d the uVe, Srtained'bfthfA '"• ""T !? y"' }^">'^'P '"e « „lt "utoettt ^uT ""' '"^ ""^-^ ^°-'^ -'U exe^'£'^:aT[n: " We have the honour to remain, " With the highest respect, " Your Lordship's obedient Servants, " Edward Evebett, ■ " Wm. Cranch Bond, " ^' Gu YOT, [committee. " "Joseph Lovebing, "Jon. P. Hall. " The Earl of Rosse, President of the Royal Society." " 6. Resolution adopted by the Council of the Royal Society January 16, 1851. " Resolved._That the continuance of the Toronto Observatory be recommended to Her Majesty's Government, and thS the Pres^! subject '''^"''''^ '° communicate with Lord John Ru.sell on the ^,