There has been
little annoyance from the dreaded 'black drop.' Greater inconvenience
and doubt have been caused by the unexpected luminous ring round
Venus.--With regard to the progress of my proposed New Lunar Theory:
Three computers are now steadily employed on the work. It will be
remembered that the detail and mass of this work are purely numerical;
every numerical coefficient being accompanied with a symbolical
correction whose value will sometimes depend on the time, but in every
case is ultimately to be obtained in a numerical form. Of these
coefficients, extracted (for convenience) from Delaunay's results,
there are 100 for parallax, 182 for longitude, 142 for latitude; the
arguments being preserved in the usual form."--After reviewing the
changes that had taken place at the Observatory during the past forty
years, the Report to the Board of Visitors concludes thus: "I much
desire to see the system of time-signals extended, by clocks or daily
signals, to various parts of our great cities and our dockyards, and
above all by hourly signals on the Start Point, which I believe would
be the greatest of all benefits to nautical chronometry. Should any
extension of our scientific work ever be contemplated, I would remark
that the Observatory is not the place for new physical investigations.
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