ACADEMY F SCENES] BIOGRAPHY 7 



[On the next day the tail of the comet] appears a total wreck in this photograph, and is still more suggestive 

 of a disaster. It is very badly broken, and on the southwest side hangs in irregular cloudlike masses. Near 

 the extremity a large gap exists in the tail, as if something had gone through it from the northeast, and a large 

 mass is torn off beyond this break and seems to be drifting independent of the comet. 



For nearly 30 years these unexplained caprices of the tails of comets fascinated Professor 

 Barnard, and whenever a new comet appeared in the sky he was filled with suppressed excite- 

 ment as to its behavior on the photographic plate. Comet Morehouse (1908 IV) was thoroughly 

 satisfying in this respect, and he obtained no less than 350 photographs of it. He would some- 

 times take successive photographs of it as long as it could be followed above the horizon, before 

 the interference of the moon or dawn. 



The results of Barnard's assiduous campaign at the Lick Observatory, from 1892 to 1895, 

 in the study of the Milky Way and comets by photography, are preserved in Volume XI of the 

 Publications of the Lick Observatory. This volume did not appear until 1913 — nearly 20 

 years after the photographs were taken — because of the difficulties which Professor Barnard 

 found in securing satisfactory reproductions of his pictures. His studies of these photographs 

 had been so minute that he recognized details which would have escaped anyone else, so that 

 his standard of excellence of their reproduction became very exacting, indeed, beyond the 

 possibility of the processes of photogravure and heliogravure. The publication of the volume 

 had been made possible by subscriptions for the purpose which Mr. Barnard had secured from 

 California friends of the Lick Observatory and of himself. The collotype process was employed, 

 and the reproductions are as satisfactory as could be expected by any such process. But for a 

 number of years the responsibility of issuing this volume was a heavy one for Mr. Barnard. 

 He became discouraged with what he regarded as the impossibility of securing adequate repro- 

 ductions, and the work lapsed. He even attempted to return to the Lick Observatory, for 

 distribution among the subscribing friends, the money already expended. He was, however, 

 persuaded to resume his efforts, and, fortunately, was able again to secure the services of the 

 expert in collotype who had begun the work. The volume contains 129 plates, from 92 photo- 

 graphs of the Milky Way and 42 of comets ; and it will stand as a monument to the great skill 

 and the untiring zeal of the pioneer in his beginning in this important field of investigation. 



A leave of absence was granted Mr. Barnard in the summer of 1893 to make his first trip 

 to Europe. Mrs. Barnard accompanied him, and thus had an opportunity to visit her old 

 home and her relatives in England. The very cordial welcome given to Barnard by his Eng- 

 lish colleagues also made this a most pleasant visit. He then went over to the Continent and 

 made the personal acquaintance of some astronomers in France and Germany. 



Mr. Barnard's residence of nearly eight years in California was full of romantic interest 

 for him. The conditions for his work were very fine, and a clear sky was assured in advance 

 during many months of the year. His residence on the mountain was novel to one who had 

 always lived in a city, and the views of mountain and canyon made a strong appeal to the 

 artistic element in his nature. The life was isolated in winter, but this was broken by visits 

 on Saturday evenings of the winter tourists in California, and acquaintances were established — 

 many of them lasting — with interesting people from different parts of the world. The associa- 

 tion with his fellow observers and their families in the little colony was congenial, and particu- 

 larly close was his friendship with Professor Burnham, who, like himself, was an ardent and 

 expert user of the camera. This phase of their life on the mountain was well brought out in 

 Mr. Barnard's biographical sketch of Mr. Burnham, published in Popular Astronomy, 29: 

 309, 1921. There was an element of the wild in the howl of the coyotes in the canyons and in 

 the occasional deer seen around the mountain. In the gray dusk, one morning, as Mr. Barnard 

 was nearing the door of his cottage, he saw before him the great form of a panther, or moun- 

 tain lion, standing a few yards away. Each was returning from his night's work, and each 

 silently respected the rights of the other. After a moment, the panther quietly walked on 

 over the mountain. 



The free and hearty cordiality of the Californians, and their appreciation and respect 

 for the men of science on Mount Hamilton, was keenly felt; and Mr. Barnard occasionally 



