OF ARTS AND SCIENCES : MAY 30, 1865. 607 



tendent of the Naval Observatory at Washington, was born in George- 

 town, in the District of Columbia, on the 6th of September, 1811. He 

 entered the Navy in 1827, and made his first cruise in the Delaware, 

 under the command of Captain John Downes. On returning home in 

 1830, he passed with honor the usual examination, and was appointed 

 a Passed Midshipman. At that time the only instruction provided by 

 the government for Cadets in the Navy was given on board the ships 

 in actual service ; and this instruction depended much upon the size of 

 the vessel and the nature of the service. Upon receiving the custom- 

 ary leave of absence accorded to young officers after their first voyage, 

 he entered himself as a student in the University of Virginia, and pur- 

 sued with success the course of instruction given in this institution, 

 which had at that time among its instructors Doctors Patterson and 

 Bonnycastle. His studies were interrupted near their close by an in- 

 flammation of the eyes occasioned by too intense application ; and re- 

 ceiving permission to travel, during the continuance of this malady, he 

 visited Europe and spent several months in Paris. 



His first public service on returning to the United States was in the 

 Hydrographical Office, then recently established, and in charge of 

 Lieutenant, now Commodore Wilkes. On the departure of that officer 

 in command of the South Sea Expedition in 1838, it was arranged 

 that all phenomena of use in determining longitudes, and of which 

 the voyagers might be able to avail themselves during their pro- 

 gress, should be observed at Harvard College Observatory under Mr. 

 Bond's direction, and at Washington by Lieutenant Gilliss. For this 

 purpose a small building was erected near the Capitol, and furnished 

 with a transit instrument which had been made for the survey of the 

 coast. So faithfully did Lieutenant Gilliss perform his part of this 

 service, that of the whole number of occultations visible at Washington 

 during the absence of the expedition, only one was lost. 



The building in which the observations were made, a wooden one, 

 stood near the Capitol on a part of the same elevation. Its proximity 

 to the halls of Congress enabled members of both branches to become 

 familiar with one of the most important operations in astronomy, — its 

 application to the determination of time and of geographical position. 

 This practical exhibition of the uses of an astronomical observatory, 

 aided by the kindly and courteous manners of the director, did much 

 to remove the prejudice which at that time prevailed in our National 

 Legislature against a permanent National Observatory, and to induce 



