Page:History of the Royal Astronomical Society (1923).djvu/57

 1820-30] ROYAL ASTRONOMICAL SOCIETY 41 in Philosophical Magazine for 1829 July. But the reproduction becomes irregular from this time. We may now give an extract from the Council Report of 1834 February 14 (M.N., 3, 21), which shows how the Society finally took this useful publication under its own wing : The second volume of the Monthly Notices of the proceedings of this Society has been terminated rather more suddenly than was anticipated, in consequence of the disinclination of the publisher to continue that work on terms originally proposed. The Council, however, finding that many fellows were desirous that the Notices should still be carried on, have directed them to be printed in future at the expense of the Society ; which, although an additional annual charge, will, they trust, be approved by the meeting. The several numbers, as they appear, will be forwarded as usual to Fellows residing within the limits of the threepenny post. The Monthly Notices thus had a somewhat chequered origin. It is a little sad that they should have so early been separated from the printer who started them ; but it is some satisfaction to know that volume 1, though it bears the name of another printer and publisher, begins as a transcription from the Philosophical Magazine, and can be underpinned by similar reprints back to the foundation of the Society. These have been copied out, and may perhaps, someday, be published as a volume zero. It is of interest to note a further few details in connection with the early Notices. The type originally used was larger than that used subsequently, and the fashion of printing at the foot of the page the first word of the next page was retained in the original issue of the first three Notices and then dropped. It was never used in Moves' reprint. The Philosophical Magazine uses the spelling phenomena, which is reprinted as phenomena ; and the capitals of Continental Astronomers disappear in the reprint. Such changes were apparently made by the printer and not by any reviser : for there is a sentence at the opening of the number for 1828 June 13, which should have caught the eye of any careful reader, viz. From a mean of 15 measurements, he makes the apparent dis- tance on the left side equal to n"-272, and on the right side equal to n"-390 ; the difference is o"-2i5. There is clearly a slip here, but the occasion of the reprint for revising it was not taken. The figures 1 1^272 and n^go are the results for the first day, copied inadvertently, instead of the means, ii"-O73 and n"-288. By a curious coincidence the origin of the Monthly Notices,