escope, are used by Barnard, and by others when not in use by him. The meridian circle is in charge of Professor Schaeberle; the time service, of Professor Campbell, but most of the work is done by Mr. Townley. The meteorological and earthquake instruments are in charge of Mr. Colton. Professor Holden, besides the general charge of the establishment and of forwarding each one's work, the work in photography, and until Mr. Townley was appointed as the first Hearst Fellow, in spectroscopy, has most of the work of librarian, the scientific correspondence, and the editorial charge of the publications of the Astronomical Society. The Observatory, as turned over to the University, had a site of 1901 acres, since increased to 25811⁄2 acres; this is mainly made up of State and national grants, for most of the mountain-top was fortunately public land. One object in getting so large a reservation was to guard against brush fires, by which the buildings at one time were threatened. The main building consists of two domes, connected by a hall 121 feet long, along the west side of which are study and work rooms. The great dome, 78 feet in diameter, occupies the south end of the leveled platform; it moves on the top of a tower, whose foundations are set deep in the rock. The moving parts weigh nearly 89 tons, but so perfect is the mechanism-operated by a small water-engine that one may see the vast concave swing around at the pressure of a child s hand. The floor works up and down by a hydraulic arrangement devised by Sir Howard Grubb; this arrangement to a great extent takes the place of an observer's chair. The monster tube, fifty-seven feet long, and four feet in diameter at the center, is mounted here on an iron pier thirty-eight fect high. It is provided with "finders" of six, four, and three inches in diameter. When it is used for photography, an additional single lens, 33 inches in diam eter, is placed in front of the two lenses that form the visual objective, and the instrument is turned into a great camera. The eye end is provided with mechanism by which the observer as he sits can do most of the handling necessary; with a micrometer, and a frame to which spectroscopes, photometers, or enlarging cameras, can be attached. The Observatory has besides the great equatorial a 12-inch one, which occupies the 25-foot dome at the north end of the platform, a 61⁄2-inch one, and a 4-inch "comet-seeker." Behind the main building is the meridian circle house, which contains a fine Repsold meridian circle and a 4-inch transit and zenith telescope. The Observatory is besides well equipped with spectroscopes, chronographs, clocks, meteorological instruments, and complete earthquake apparatus. These buildings, with a small photographic laboratory, take up the leveled space. On the side of the peak a large brick dwelling-house for astronomers finds place, reached by a bridge to its upper story; and below, on the saddle between two peaks (the mountain has three), gathers quite a village of subsidiary cottages, workshops, etc. Beyond these is a small dome for photographic work, the gift, with its telescope, of Regent C. F. Crocker. When the late Mr. Newall, of England, presented his 25-inch refractor to Cambridge, his son, who was to be its astronomer, made a tour of the great observatories of the world, and came all the way to California to study the equipment of the Lick Observatory and the mounting of the great telescope. The Earl of Rosse visited and examined it in 1891; Professor Auwers, of the Royal Academy of Sciences of Berlin, and Professor Vogel, Director of the Potsdam Observatory, are to do so soon, on a tour of inspection with reference to a great telescope for the Prussian government. The satisfaction the astronomers feel in showing the Observatory and its From Drawings twenty-fold enlarged from the Negative made at the Lick Observatory, August 31, 129, at 14 h. 2, m., P. S. T., by Professor L. Weinek Director of the Observatory of Prague. a system and deftness that is really wonderful marshals them through the Observatory, explaining patiently its leading points, until far on in the night. 22,496 guests are recorded in four years, equipment to these competent judges is unmistakable. It certainly seems, even to the guest ignorant of astronomy and astronomical instruments, a most intelligible satisfaction. The whole place is fascinating, exceedingly, — the road some of them by day, to be sure, when thither, winding up from one stage to the Observatory is always open. No another of mountain outlook, through other observatory in the world offers the amazing medley of loops and turns such privileges to visitors. The Asby which it preserves its easy grade, tronomical Society of the Pacific is an mounting at last and circling the sides efficient means of diffusing astronomical of the peak itself; the fine, firm, digni- interest and knowledge. It seems to be fied building, before whose broad en- an unusually vigorous and well-knit ortrance one is finally set down; the ganization, publishes a bi-monthly jourshining orderliness and perfection of nal, skillfully edited to be of interest to everything; the sense of being islanded astronomers and unlearned members above the world, the distance and seclu- alike, has branches in Eastern States, sion, and yet the intimate nearness to and some five hundred members scatthe whole world of science; the cordial tered all over the world. And in addihospitality of every one there; the vast, tion, through newspapers and magazines, dark dome by night,-"as big," some full explanations of the work and stateone with me said, "as the sky looks to ments of the general results reached in most people," with the great tube the Observatory have been given forth spanning the darkness, directed steadily as fast as they reached definable shape. and silently against the sky, like a power- No one that knows much of the time and ful cannon, lying in wait to storm its skill such publication demands can look immemorial secrets. over the quantity that has been done. without wonder and respect. III. MR. LICK'S deed prescribed that the Observatory should be "made useful in promoting science." Whether through the alliance with the University or by Professor Holden's original plan, it has taken on also a function of diffusing knowledge and aiding education in the State. I do not know if any other great observatory in the world takes on itself any such function, at least to any such extent. In the first place, there is the surrendering of one night in the week to visitors. This does not mean that a few stray pilgrims make their way to the shrine in the wilderness. It means that stage after stage from San José rolls up,-twenty in a procession, sometimes,— and the little group of astronomers receives with unflinching courtesy the hundreds of passengers, and with The Observatory has from the first planned for graduate students whenever the accommodations permitted, and nine in all have studied practical astronomy there; of these, five were professors from other institutions, who came for further study of some special sort. It is the intention to make more and more of this graduate work, and already no student need leave California to get the highest training in astronomy. The Harvard and Washington observatories give no instruction, and there is no reason why the California University graduate school should not become the source to which observatories all over the country will look for their young astronomers. The director has been unusually diligent and successful as any one may learn by an examination of the reports, periodicals, and other sources of first-hand information available in bringing for From Drawing by Professor L. Weinek from the Negative taken at the Lick Observatory on August 23, 1888. ward the younger men about him and making their successes known; and I am told by competent and disinterested authority that the system of giving credit to individual observers in announcing the results of the Observatory work is very liberal at Mount Hamilton,. as compared with that of other observatories. The really promising young astronomers from the graduate school will profit by this system. What has the Lick Observatory done thus far for "the promotion of science?" It is a question that a mere onlooker cannot possibly answer except by a resummary of the summaries already put forth, and confirmed by the notices of astronomical periodicals: Solar Eclipses of Fan. and Dec., 1889. -At the January eclipse Professor Barnard, and the Amateur Photographic Association, more or less under his direction, took many fine photographs of the corona, which demonstrated the existence of an "extension" of the outer corona. The eclipse of December was observed by Professors Burnham and Schaeberle, who went to South America at the expense of Regent C. F. Crocker. The photographs of these two eclipses are recognized as among the best photographs of the corona ever made. Two books have been published by the Observatory containing the results of these two eclipses. It was from their evidence that Professor Schaeberle was led to his theory of the corona, mentioned above. In April, 1893, the next total eclipse of the sun takes place; this theory, by which, if it is sound, the general features of the future corona can be now foretold, will then have a practical test. A party under Professor Schaeberle will go to Chile, to observe the eclipse. Observations of the Planets and Satellites. The planets have been steadily watched and studied, measures and drawings of them made, and enlarged photographs of Jupiter taken at regular intervals, thus recording all changes in the surface. These photographs, taken by Professors Holden and Campbell, are the subject of a paper before the Royal Astronomical Society, by A. Stanley Williams, who praises them all highly, and says of one that it is perhaps the finest and most interesting photograph of Jupiter ever obtained. Much time has been spent in examining the planets Mars, Uranus, and Neptune, in search of new satellites. Jupiter has been disadvantageously situated, but is now coming steadily into better posi : tion, and will be more and more studied last summer Professors Schaeberle and Campbell made some interesting discoveries as to the forms and motions of the moons; and in September came Professor Barnard's famous discovery of the small inner moon. Double Stars. In this department. the Lick Observatory has easily led thus far, and Professor Burnham catalogued 198 new double stars there. His resignation will make the subject less prominent in future work. Meridian Observations.-These series of observations, carried on by Professor Schaeberle with the meridian circle, are first to determine the positions of stars to join together the systems used in the nautical almanacs of the different nations; second, to determine the refraction of the stars. A former series of similar observations is being reduced by computers in the East, at the expense of Miss Bruce of New York, and Professor Mendenhall of the United States Coast Survey. Absorption of Photographic Rays.Professor Schaeberle, from observations by Professor Campbell and himself, has determined the amount of this absorption by the air at different altitudes,— a datum necessary in fixing the photographic magnitudes of stars, and never before definitely determined. This memoir is about to be published by the University in book form. Comets.- Professor Barnard's notable observations, which give the Lick Observatory the lead in this direction, have been mentioned above. Star-Clusters and Nebula have been regularly studied and photographed, and in the case of the cluster in Hercules a novel peculiarity of structure has been ascertained. Professor Barnard has taken some important photographs, showing the real shapes of nebulæ. Professor Holden's paper on Helical Nebulæ has been translated into German, and received with much consideration. |