"--On Nov. 29th I gave evidence before a
Committee of the House of Commons on Dover Harbour Pier.
"With respect to the Magnetical and Meteorological Establishment, the
transactions in this year were most important. It had been understood
that the Government establishments had been sanctioned twice for
three-year periods, of which the second would expire at the end of
1845: and it was a question with the scientific public whether they
should be continued. My own opinion was in favour of stopping the
observations and carefully discussing them. And I am convinced that
this would have been best, except for the subsequent introduction of
self-registering systems, in which I had so large a share. There was
much discussion and correspondence, and on June 7th the Board of
Visitors resolved that 'In the opinion of the Visitors it is of the
utmost importance that these observations should continue to be made
on the most extensive scale which the interests of those sciences may
require.' The meeting of the British Association was held at Cambridge
in June: and one of the most important matters there was the Congress
of Magnetic Philosophers, many of them foreigners. It was resolved
that the Magnetic Observatory at Greenwich be continued
permanently.
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