THE rnoGEESs of science. 



219 



in the rate of interest on invested prop- 

 erty, the income will steadily decrease 

 unless an additional sum is obtained. 

 Two hundred thousand dollars more are 

 needed to place the institution in such 

 a condition that its standing among 

 the great observatories of the world 

 shall be secure. The buildings at Cam- 

 bridge are old and to provide new ones, 

 suited to modern requirements, will 

 cost at least $100,000. The present 

 buildings at Cambridge are valued at 

 $52,000 and at Arequipa $12,000. The 

 instruments at Cambridge are valued at 

 $20,000 and at Arequipa $50,000. The 

 great need of the Observatory in the 

 instrumental way is a great telescope 

 for the southern heniisphere, the cost 

 of whichj for construction and main- 

 tenance, would be about $200,000. Al- 

 together, half a million dollars are de- 

 sired to make the Observatory worthy 

 of the great future which opens before 

 it. More money is also needed for pub- 

 lication. Already there have been is- 

 sued by the Observatory about forty 

 quarto volumes of the 'Annals,' em- 

 bracing researches in many lines of as- 

 tronomy and meteorology. An enormous 

 amount of material, however, is still 

 awaiting publication, sufficient to make 

 about twenty-eight additional volumes. 

 Some of these will be issued soon, and 

 all as rapidly as the nature of the M^ork 

 and the funds available for publication 

 will permit. 



During the last year several lines of 

 investigation have been pursued. Pho- 

 tometric and photographic determina- 

 tions were made of the brightness of a 

 great number of stars, including several 

 hundred variables. The reduction of the 

 observations of the zones made in for- 

 mer years with the meridian circle has 

 been carried forward. As usual, the 

 whole sky was photographed several 

 times on a small scale. These photo- 

 graphic charts have proved of the great- 

 est value in tracing the past history of 

 new stars, variable stars and special 

 new objects, such as the little planet 

 Eros. Also a veiy large number of pho- 

 tographs have been made of special ob- 



jects with instruments of greater power. 

 Progress was made in the study of the 

 spectra of the stars and several objects 

 of special interest were discovered, in- 

 cluding one nova. Intimately associated 

 Avith the institution is the Blue Hill 

 Meteorological Observatory — where dur- 

 ing the year some striking experiments 

 were carried on in kiteflying. A meteor- 

 graph, suspended under the kite, gave 

 records at heights as great as 15,800 

 feet above sea level. In Peru, the line 

 of meteorological stations extending 

 from the Pacific across the Andes, with 

 one on the summit of El Misti, at an 

 elevation of 19,200 feet, has been main- 

 tained. The Harvard Observatory acts 

 as the distributing center in this coun- 

 try for all telegraphic announcements 

 of astronomical discoveries. During the 

 year twenty messages were sent out to 

 American and European astronomers. 



TEE I^EW YORK BOTANICAL 

 GARDEN. 



The advance sheets of the 'Bulletin' 

 of the New York Botanical Garden for 

 1901, and the pages of the 'Journal,' 

 show most gratifying progress in that 

 institution since the preparation of the 

 article dealing with it published in this 

 magazine in June of last year. About 

 seven thousand species of plants are 

 now successfully cultivated in the open 

 air and under glass. The large conserv- 

 atories, which were completed in 1900, 

 have been filled by plants received as 

 gifts and as exchanges. Many dona- 

 tions of great value have been received 

 from various persons, and notable ex- 

 changes have been made with the Buf- 

 falo Botanic Garden and Fairmount 

 Park. A collection of succulents, num- 

 bering about five hundred species, pur- 

 chased by Dr. N. L. Britton during his 

 recent European tour in attendance at 

 the International Congi-ess of Botanists 

 in Paris, has been recently received and 

 is now installed in the conservatories. 

 Mr. Samuel Henshaw resigned from the 

 position of head gardener on January 1, 

 1901, and was sent on a collecting tour 

 in the West Indies. He has recently re- 



