en made in form up
to the present time, 1871, except that the north arm has been
lengthened 8 feet a few years ago.) On May 21st a magnet was suspended
for the first time, Mr Baily and Lieut. (afterwards Sir William)
Denison being present.--Groombridge's Catalogue was finished, and on
Mar. 3rd I arranged for sending out copies.--The Planetary Reductions
were carried on vigorously. On May 31st, 1838, the Treasury assented
to the undertaking of the Lunar Reductions and allotted _L2,000_ for
it: preparations were made, and in the autumn 7 computers were
employed upon it. It will easily be seen that this undertaking added
much to my labours and cares.--The geodetic affairs of the Cape of
Good Hope began to be actively pressed, and in February Beaufort wrote
to me in consequence of an application from Maclear, asking about a
standard of length for Maclear (as foundation for a geodetic
survey). I made enquiries, and on Mar. 13th wrote to Mr Wood, alluding
also generally to the want of a National English standard after the
destruction of the Houses of Parliament. On Apr. 24th the Admiralty
sanctioned my procuring proper Standard Bars.--In connection with the
Cavendish Experiment, I have an immense quantity of correspondence
with Mr Baily, and all the mathematics were furnished by me: the
experiment was not finished at the end of the year.--The Perturbations
of Uranus were now attracting attention. I had had some correspondence
on this subject with Dr Hussey in 1834, and in 1837 with Eugene
Bouvard. On Feb. 24th, of 1838, I wrote to Schumacher regarding the
error in the tabular radius-vector of Uranus, which my mode of
reducing the observations enabled me to see.

"The National Standards of Length and Weight had been destroyed in the
fire of the Houses of Parliament. On May 11th I received a letter from
Mr Spring Rice, requesting me to act (as chairman) with a committee
consisting of F. Baily, J.E. Drinkwater Bethune, Davies Gilbert,
J.G.S. Lefevre, J.W. Lubbock, G. Peacock, and R. Sheepshanks, to
report on the steps now to be taken. I accepted the charge, and the
first meeting was held at the Observatory on May 22nd; all subsequent
meetings in London, usually in the apartments of the Royal
Astronomical Society. I acted both as chairman and as working
secretary. Our enquiries went into a very wide field, and I had much
correspondence.

"On Jan. 4th Mr Wood wrote to me, mentioning that Capt. Johnson had
made some observations