You tell me you would like to know the device by which I was able to assure myself that the vertically falling  body leaving from the rest passed 100 braccia of height in five seconds. Here two things are sought: the first is the time of descent through 100 braccia, and the second is to find what part that time is of 24 hours in the [del primo mobile].

To qualify for the highest award of £20,000, the timekeeper would have to show that on arrival in Jamaica it had not exceeded a total loss or gain of 1 minute 54 seconds of time since it had been set by Mr Robertson at Portsmouth on 7 November, some 81 days previously. This performance would be the equivalent of a variation of under 1 1/2 seconds a day, a standard of timekeeping which, even to-day,could be achieved by very few high grade watches.