Having been invited to address to the Society any remarks which might occur to me on the subject of the communication from the Admiralty, I would first observe that the result of this investigation proves the great advantage of the course pursued by the President and Council, namely, that of referring to official authority for the determination of critical points applying to the question at issue. The Society have expressed so fully their sense of the liberality and courtesy of the First Lord and the Board of Admiralty, and the care bestowed on this matter by the Hydrographer, that it is needless for me to speak on that subject. I will therefore proceed to advert lightly to the history of these investigations, and state how the hydrographical inquiry undertaken by the Admiralty bears upon the matter.