--From July 4th to Aug. 2nd I was in France (Auvergne and the
Vivarais) with my two eldest sons. Maclear travelled with us to
Paris.--On Dec. 23rd I went to Playford."--Antiquities and historical
questions connected with military movements had a very great
attraction for Airy. On his return from the expedition in France
above-mentioned, he engaged in considerable correspondence with
military authorities regarding points connected with the battle of
Toulouse. And in this year also he had much correspondence with the
Duke of Northumberland concerning his Map of the Roman Wall, and the
military points relating to the same.
1860
"In June Mr Main accepted the office of Radcliffe Observer at Oxford
(Mr Johnson having died) and resigned the First Assistancy at
Greenwich: in October Mr Stone was appointed First Assistant.--At an
adjourned Meeting of the Visitors on June 18th there were very heavy
discussions on Hansen's merits, and about the grant to him. Papers
were read from Sir J. Lubbock, Babbage, South, Whewell, and
me. Finally it was recommended to the Government to grant _L1000_ to
Hansen, which was paid to him.--In the Report to the Board of Visitors
the following remark occurs: 'The apparent existence of a discordance
between the results of Direct Observations and Reflection Observations
(after the application of corrections for flexure, founded upon
observations of the horizontal collimator wires) to an extent far
greater than can be explained by any disturbance of the direction of
gravity on the quicksilver by its distance from the vertical, or by
the attraction of neighbouring masses, perplexes me much.
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