At the Stockholm meeting of I.A.U. in 1938 the General Assembly at the recommendation of Commission 3 adopted a list of notations proposed by the Commission. The list was published in the Transactions of the I.A.U., 6, 345-55, 1938.

It would appear desirable now to reconsider the list, and the problem of standardization of astronomical notation.

A survey of astronomical papers and publications that have appeared after the adoption of the list of notations, with a view to determining to what extent standardization has been achieved, might be useful as a guide to future work of the Commission in this field.

Les circonstances critiques dues à la guerre ont eu pour conséquences, particulièrement en ce qui concerne l’office de la Connaisance des Temps, d’entraver fréquemment la réalisation des calculs assumés à la suite d’une entente internationale et, en outre, d’empêcher, ou tout au moins de retarder, la communication des résultats aux autres instituts de calcul.

Le volume annuel des positions apparentes des étoiles fondamentales, dont l’office du Nautical Almanac assure la publication depuis 1941, a paru régulièrement. Plusieurs modifications touchant sa confection ont été envisagées; elles ont rapport aux valeurs adoptées pour les Day numbers et aux corrections de parallaxe. Il conviendra sans doute de procéder à une nouvelle répartition des calculs entre les divers offices participants. Il est désirable, d’autre part, que des mesures soient prises afin que cette publication indispensable puisse être mise à la disposition d’un plus grand nombre d’observatoires.

M. le Prof. Lundmark, président de la Commission, sérieusement malade, est empêché d’assister au Congrès et n’a pu établir de rapport. M. E. Holmberg annonce, que ce dernier envisage de publier en langue anglaise une liste des observatoires et des astronomes. La commission fait des vœux pour le prompt rétablissement du Prof. Lundmark.

La première question à l’ordre du jour est la proposition du Comité National Français, transmise à la Commission par l’Assemblée Générale, d’accorder un appui financier à la Bibliographie mensuelle de l’Astronomie (B.M.A.).

The Bureau suffered a sad loss, through the death on April 5, 1947, of its director Prof. Elis Strömgren who had conducted its work with never failing enthusiasm and with great efficiency since 1922. In June 1947 the supervision of the Bureau was entrusted to the writer. The following report may not be altogether complete owing to my absence, for 6 years, in the U.S.A., when I was out of touch with the activities of the Bureau. The last report by Prof. E. Strömgren was dated February 26, 1938; for the rest of the year very few data have been found, hence my report will cover the period January 1, 1939 to December 1, 1947.

The inability to obtain information about work in other countries, under present world conditions, necessarily makes this report incomplete. The conditions since the 1938 meeting have interfered seriously with major programmes of observation, and have delayed reductions, such that there are now several series of observations of the Sun, Moon, and Planets, and many catalogues of stars awaiting final reduction and publication.

The Sun, Moon, and Planets. Fundamental observations of these objects and of the fundamental stars have been carried on regularly at Cape and Washington, and at Greenwich except for part of the time during the war. The Greenwich and Cape results 1925–44 have been reduced; and summaries of the results have been published in reports. The Washington series 1928–32 is published; the series 1925–40 is about reduced; and the series 1935–45 is to be printed this year.

The President outlined the history of the Ross photographic zenith tube, saying that it was originally designed for measurement of the variation of latitude by Dr Ross, and later adapted to the determination of time by Dr Littel. The success of the instrument and its possible application to various problems in positional astronomy made it of interest to all three commissions attending the combined meeting.

Dr Schilt said that the zenith tube could not determine fundamental positions, but that it could determine fundamental proper motions in declination with a high degree of accuracy.

The 200-inch telescope at Mt Palomar in California is complete and in process of adjustment prior to commencing a programme of observations. The large mirror, after successful figuring, has been transported to the observatory without mishap and it is expected that some months at least will be spent on adjustments to its supports and in testing its performance and that of the associated gear.

The Royal Observatory, Greenwich, is to move to Herstmonceux near the south coast of England. The conditions at Greenwich have deteriorated steadily over many years and the new site offers as good conditions climatically as can be found in Great Britain and is well removed from industrial glare or fog as there are no towns near the new site, which consists of a fine old moated brick castle in some 200 acres of ground.

Introduction. Ten years have passed since the last Congress and so much has been published since then in the field of photospheric and allied phenomena that this can only be a summary and not an exhaustive report.

Periodicity of Sunspot Activity. The long period already established by R. Wolf in 1862, has again been investigated by W. Gleissberg (Publ. Istanbul Obs. No. 14, 1941; No. 15, 1941; Z. Ap. 21, 347, 1942; Ap. J. 96, 234, 1942), with the result that the period amounts to approximately 70 years.