Letters from various British and international observatories on filling vacancies; the foundation of new observatories at Auckland and Christchurch, New Zealand; requests for astronomical works; and recommendations for the Indian observatories. The correspondents include H. Merivale, N.R. Pogson, C.E. Delaunay, Sir W. Denison, J.A. Broun, R.L.J. Ellery, B.A. Gould, the Earl of Rosse, R. Grant, Sir D. Gill, W.M. Maskell, J.C. Adams, A.R. Clarke and W. Harkness. There are proceedings and reports for the Madras, Colaba, Bombay, Paris, Sydney, Vienna and Cordoba observatories, and newspaper articles from 'The Littleton Times' and 'The Press' on proposed New Zealand observatories. The volume also includes French meteorological studies for 1872; a paper on the Imperial Observatory, Paris; a piece on the destruction of that observatory during the 1871 revolution; 16 photographs of the U.S. Naval Observatory at Washington; and two maps of New Zealand.