“An object-glass of 6-3/4 inches aperture (a most unusual size at this time, when it was difficult to find a 4-inch or 5-inch glass) had been presented to the Greenwich Observatory by my friend Mr Sheepshanks, and on Mar. 29th I received from the Admiralty authority for mounting it equatoreally in the empty South Dome, which had been intended for a copy of the Palermo Circle.—­In the month of July the Admiralty wished for my political assistance in a Greenwich election, but I refused to give any.—­On Jan. 3rd I gave notice to the Admiralty that I had finished the computations of Groombridge’s Catalogue, and was ready to print.  The printing was authorized and proceeded (the introduction was finished on Nov. 22nd), but the book was not quite ready till the beginning of 1838.—­In connection with the Cavendish experiment:  on June 10th I wrote to Spring Rice (Chancellor of the Exchequer) for L500, which was soon granted:  and from this time there is a great deal of correspondence (mainly with Mr Baily) upon the details of the experiment and the theory of the calculation.—­On July 24th I saw the descent of the parachute by which Mr Cocking was killed.  I attended the coroner’s inquest and gave evidence a few days later.

“The Planetary Reductions from 1750 to 1830 had been going on:  the computers (Glaisher, Hartnup, and Thomas) worked in the Octagon Room, and considerable advance was made.—­In consequence of the agitation of the proposal by Mr Lubbock to form empirical tables of the Moon, for which I proposed to substitute complete reduction of the observations of the Moon from 1750, the British Association at York (Oct. 23rd, 1837) appointed a deputation (including myself) to place the matter before the Government.  I wrote on the matter to Mr Wood (Lord Halifax) stating that it would be proper to raise the First Assistant’s salary, and to give me more indefinite power about employing computers.  In all these things I received cordial assistance from Mr Wood.  The Chancellor of the Exchequer (Mr Spring Rice) received us on Dec. 20th:  statements were furnished by me, and the business was sanctioned immediately.—­During this year I was very much engaged in correspondence with Lubbock and others on improvements of the Lunar Theory.

“In the operations of 1836 and 1837 a great quantity of papers had been accumulated.  I had kept them in reasonably good order, tied up in bundles:  but this method began to fail in convenience, as the number increased.  The great lines of classification were however now well understood.  I believe it was in the latter part of the year 1837 that I finally settled on the principle of arranging papers in packets and subordinate packets, every paper being flat, by the use of four punched holes in every paper.  I have never seen any principle of arrangement comparable to this.  It has been adopted with the greatest ease by every assistant, and is used to the present time (1871) without alteration.