At this meeting I proposed a resolution which has proved
to be exceedingly important. I had remarked the distress which the
continuous two-hourly observations through the night produced to my
Assistants, and determined if possible to remove it. I therefore
proposed 'That it is highly desirable to encourage by specific
pecuniary reward the improvement of self-recording magnetical and
meteorological apparatus: and that the President of the British
Association and the President of the Royal Society be requested to
solicit the favourable consideration of Her Majesty's Government to
this subject,' which was adopted. In October the Admiralty expressed
their willingness to grant a reward up to _L500_. Mr Charles Brooke
had written to me proposing a plan on Sept. 23rd, and he sent me his
first register on Nov. 24th. On Nov. 1st the Treasury informed the
Admiralty that the Magnetic Observatories will be continued for a
further period.
"The Railway Gauge Commission in this year was an important
employment. The Railways, which had begun with the Manchester and
Liverpool Railway (followed by the London and Birmingham) had advanced
over the country with some variation in their breadth of gauge. The
gauge of the Colchester Railway had been altered to suit that of the
Cambridge Railway.
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