Page:History of the Royal Astronomical Society (1923).djvu/235

 1870-80] ROYAL ASTRONOMICAL SOCIETY 205 Since the publication of the Monthly Notices of the Society for January 1879, the attention of the Council has been recalled to an article headed, " Notes on the late Admiral Smyth's Cycle of Celestial Objects, etc., by Herbert Sadler, Esq.," containing remarks on several of the star measures given in that Catalogue, and also containing a sentence reflecting on the " Reference Catalogue of Multiple and Double Stars," forming vol. xl. of the Memoirs. The Council, feeling themselves responsible for the contents of the Society's publications, cannot but express their regret that they should have authorised the printing of this article in its present form. While they desire to uphold to the utmost perfect freedom in the criticism of scientific works, they would at the same time enforce a general rule to exclude from the Society's publications any imputation upon the personal honour or good faith of the authors : and they are sorry to observe in Mr. Sadler's article some remarks which are capable of being, and to the knowledge of the Council have been, construed in a sense which infringes this rule. The Council are, moreover, of opinion that Mr. Sadler was not justified in passing a sweeping condemnation on the Reference Catalogue, which is irrelevant to the rest of the article, and is entirely unsupported by the citation of the instances on which his judgment was founded. Mr. G. F. Chambers had given formal notice that he wished to propose the following resolution at this meeting in May : " That accusations of wilful fraud in connection with the composi- tion by the late Admiral Smyth of his Cycle of Celestial Objects, having been made by Mr. Herbert Sadler, a member of the Council, the meeting is of opinion that the Council are deserving of censure for not having taken steps to have these charges either proved or retracted, and calls for the immediate resignation of Mr. Sadler." But after hearing the resolutions of the Council, Mr. Chambers said that he did not wish to proceed with his motion. Neverthe- less, discussion followed, and the meeting was not conducted without some heat. It was on this occasion that Mr. Proctor, in a temperate speech, endeavoured to palliate Mr. Burnham's use of the word " fraud." Mr. Sadler's resignation from the Council was accepted in June. It may be added that Airy, despite his unexpected resignation on April 7, was re-elected a Vice-President in 1880 February. The question of the dependence to be placed on the measures contained in the Bedford Catalogue was settled once for all by two papers in the June number of the Monthly Notices for 1880. Mr. Burnham had measured most of the distant com- panions observed by Smyth, but by no one before him. Smyth's results were found " either roughly approximate or grossly