SOI.AR RESEARCH AT MOUNT WILSON, CALIFORNIA. 163 



more definite information of the springs near the summit of Mount 

 Wilson. Some of these are located at Strain's Camp, where, for 

 many years, the}' have supplied the necessities of summer visitors, 

 who frequently occupy tents here for considerable periods of time. 

 Two wells have been dug at Strain's Camp, and these are regarded 

 as excellent sources of pure water. 



In accordance with the terms of the lease of the property at 

 present occupied as an observatory site on Mount Wilson, the 

 water rights on the mountain are to be equally divided between the 

 owners of the property and the occupants of the observatory site. 

 It seems probable that the wells at Strain's Camp, if properly de- 

 veloped, would supply fhe purposes of a large observatory. If not, 

 more water could easily be developed on the mountain ; it may appear 

 desirable to obtain water from a stream in one of the neighboring 

 canyons, about 1,000 feet below. The expense of pumping to this 

 height would not be great, and the stream can be relied upon as a 

 never-failing source of water. A water-tunnel on the south face of 

 the mountain has been reserved by the owners of the property for the 

 purpose of supplying Martin's Camp, and is not included in the equal 

 division of the remaining water rights. A method of securing more 

 water, which could undoubtedly be employed with advantage, would 

 be through the use of large storage tanks, in which water could be 

 collected during the rainy season, either by pumping from the over- 

 flowing wells or by catching the rain as it falls on roofs or other 

 large surfaces provided for the purpose. 



TRANSPORTATION AND CONSTRUCTION. 



Much granite is available on Mount Wilson for the purpose of 

 construction, but in the portion of the mountain selected for the 

 observatory site it is not so easily obtained as might be wished. 

 This is due to the fact that much of the granite is decomposed, and 

 consequently too soft for building purposes. The hard and the 

 decomposed granites occur together, so that if a quarry is started 

 at a point where plenty of hard granite seems to be present, it 

 sometimes happens that the supply is soon exhausted, leaving only 

 decomposed granite below. Men experienced in matters of this 

 kind have been quite unable to judge whether selected spots could 

 be relied upon to furnish a good supply of hard granite. This 

 fact greatly increases the expense of constructing stone piers, 

 since quarries may have to be abandoned after having been opened 

 at considerable cost. However, some abundant sources of excel- 



