304. NATIONAL ACADEMY OF SCIENCES 
The committee consisted of F. A. P. Barnard (chairman), A. 
Graham Bell, J. D. Dana, S. P. Langley, Theodore Lyman, E. C. 
Pickering, and C. A. Young. 
Of the three subjects presented for its consideration, the com- 
mittee gave its attention principally to the question of the erec- 
tion of a new observatory building. 
THE ASTRONOMICAL DAY 
As regards the change in the astronomical day proposed by 
the International Meridian Conference, to make it conform to 
the civil day, the committee recommended that it be carried into 
effect as soon as there should be a general agreement among 
astronomers and astronomical establishments to adopt it, and 
preferably in 1890 or in 1900. It is well known that from the 
earliest times astronomers have been accustomed to reckon the 
day as beginning when the sun is on the meridian, or in other 
words, at noon; while for ordinary purposes among modern na- 
tions the day begins at midnight. In the case of a phenomenon re- 
ported as occurring on a certain day between noon and midnight 
there is, therefore, room for uncertainty as to the real date, unless 
the kind of day be specified. If the astronomical day should be 
made to conform to the civil day, this uncertainty would dis- 
appear but, on the other hand, there would be a lack of uni- 
formity between ancient and recent astronomical records. ‘The 
committee considered these difficulties and decided that the 
advantage of having a single system of reckoning time over- 
balanced the inconvenience of a discrepancy among astronomical 
records. ‘This view has not, however, prevailed up to the present 
time, and, with few exceptions, astronomers have continued to 
regard the day as beginning at noon. 
THE SOLAR ECLIPSE OF AUGUST 29, 1886 
This eclipse was visible in the tropics and the committee, after 
looking into the matter, concluded that it would be observed to 
the best advantage in Benguela, West Africa, but as a consider- 
