Mr
Christie was appointed in his place.--From the Report to the Visitors
it appears that 'A few months since we were annoyed by a failure in
the illumination of the field of view of the Transit Circle. The
reflector was cleaned, but in vain; at last it was discovered that one
of the lenses (the convex lens) of the combination which forms the
object-glass of a Reversed Telescope in the interior of the
Transit-axis, and through which all illuminating light must pass, had
become so corroded as to be almost opaque.'--The South-East Equatoreal
has been partly occupied with the thermo-multiplier employed by Mr
Stone for the measure of heat radiating from the principal stars. Mr
Stone's results for the radiation from Arcturus and alpha Lyrae appear
to be incontrovertible, and to give bases for distinct numerical
estimation of the radiant heat of these stars.--In my last Report I
alluded to a proposed systematic reduction of the meteorological
observations during the whole time of their efficient
self-registration. Having received from the Admiralty the funds
necessary for immediate operations, I have commenced with the
photographic registers of the thermometers, dry-bulb and wet-bulb,
from 1848 to 1868.
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