“At Greenwich:—­In April I drew up a little history of the Observatory for the Penny Cyclopaedia.—­On June 30th the Lords of the Admiralty paid a short visit to the Observatory:  on this occasion Mr Wood suggested a passage connecting the Observatory with the dwelling-house, and I subsequently prepared sketches for it; it was made in the next year.—­In the course of the year the Sheepshanks Equatoreal was mounted, and Encke’s Comet was observed with it from Oct. 26th to Nov. 13th.—­On Mar. 31st, &c.  I reported to the Admiralty on the selection of chronometers for purchase, from a long list:  this was an important beginning of a new system.—­The Magnetic Observatory was built, in the form originally planned for it (a four-armed cross with equal arms, one axis being in the magnetic meridian) in the beginning of this year. (No alteration has since been 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.