132 
HISTORY OF THE 
[1860-70 
Fortunately our object is not to formulate new schemes, but 
rather to recognise the tradition handed down to us and do homage 
to the men of old. We can no more anticipate how our science 
will stand a hundred years hence than our founders could predict 
whither their methods and their labours would lead us. 
To an astronomer who looks back through the century, the 
feature which will probably strike him most is rather how little in 
essential details is the change of outlook on the problems to be 
studied and solved. The work of Newton had laid down lines 
along which men’s minds had contentedly followed ; and every 
new observation that was made seemed to fall naturally into its 
place in the system of the universe which Newton had formulated. 
Even the most recent developments of Einstein and his followers 
may be regarded, not so much as upsetting the Newtonian universe, 
but rather as affording an opportunity of gauging phenomena that 
present themselves in conditions which transcend those contem 
plated in Newton’s philosophy. The stimulating influence of the 
Society on the production of the work can hardly be over-estimated. 
The Society was a focus, which performed a double service of the 
greatest value. It served to bring the professional workers in 
contact, not only with one another, but also with the large body 
of amateur astronomers, who in this country have always formed 
so marked a proportion of the whole constituency. The meetings 
afforded an interested audience, before whom investigators were 
proud to lay their contributions. The publications of the Society 
insured their distribution to still wider circles in all parts of the 
world, and so led to correspondence with foreign astronomers, 
who gladly exchanged with our Fellows notes on points of common 
interest in the activities of the time. 
This is naturally true of the whole history of our Society, 
but probably the increased facilities of communication by post and 
railway made themselves especially felt as the decade 1860-70 
was approached. For we see signs of a distinct change in the 
management of our publications at that time, in the direction of 
increasing the importance of our shorter communications in the 
Monthly Notices, relatively to the larger papers in the Memoirs. 
The custom of printing the octavo Monthly Notices and the 
quarto Memoirs has continued throughout the history. The 
Council considered the possibility of a departure from this custom, 
and decided in 1858 against making any change. 
In the following year, 1859, the Council had given further 
consideration to the matter, and announced their change of 
decision in their Report on 1859 February, as follows :— 
“ The Monthly Notices continue to offer an easily accessible 
channel of publication to observers and computers of all classes