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CHAPTER XVl
KEW OBSERVATORY AND METEOROLOGY

General Sir E. Sabine-Sextants and watches-Now merged into National Physical Laboratory- Meteorological Committee, subsequently Council of the Board of Trade-Self-recording instruments, reduction of their tracings-Henry Smith

A N early friendship that exercised great influence in shaping my future scientific life was that of General, afterwards Sir Edward, Sabine, R.A., and President of the Royal Society. At the time of which I am speaking he was its Treasurer ; he also held two offices, in both of which I was his successor after some years. They were the Chairmanship of the Kew Observatory and the Secretaryship of the British Association, as already mentioned. General Sabine (1788-1883) devoted himself to the study of magnetism, to its geographical distribution and its periodic and irregular variations. He had joined an Arctic Expedition for the express purpose of making exact magnetical observations in high latitudes, and he had inspired zealous and capable men, at various stations about the globe, to establish a system of continuous and comparable observations. This involved careful examinations of the refined instruments about to be employed, and of instruction in their use. Means for doing all this were established by him at Kew.

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