120 CARNEGIE INSTITUTION 



being carried out for the northern hemisphere at the Munich Observ- 

 atory, though in a very modest way, since the means at its disposal 

 are very limited, and in this connection I would refer to my report 

 in the Vierteljahrschrift of the Astronomische Gesellschaft. 



(3) Very man}' — indeed, most — of the investigations in stellar 

 astronomy depend upon the establishment of an exact photometric 

 scale of magnitudes. For the northern sky, in this respect, the 

 magnitudes of the stars down to about the eighth magnitude are 

 fairly well established through the labors at Cambridge ( Mass. ) and 

 Potsdam. In this connection is to be noted the demand for fixing 

 by photometric methods the magnitudes of the fainter stars, through 

 a satisfactory choice of objects, evenly distributed, down to the 

 faintest which can be observed. This is still an object to be desired. 

 For the brighter stars in the southern hemisphere an extensive series 

 of observations is available. But undoubted^ this is not free from 

 objection, and we are not in position to establish the distribution of 

 the stars upon the southern sky in combination with that upon the 

 northern hemisphere. 



The Statement does not propose to take up photometric and photo- 

 graphic works for the present at least. But I think that the works 

 designated under (2) and (3) are those that are now most pressing 

 and, at the same time, those that would be most acceptable. Here, 

 within a few years, if sufficient means exist, we may hope for results 

 that will be of the greatest importance for all time. Of course, one 

 would better observe with the same instrument first at a station in 

 the northern hemisphere, and then from a station in the southern 

 hemisphere, or one would have to choose a place in the neighbor- 

 hood of the equator, and from that point survey the entire sky, 

 which, of course, would not be entirely free from objection. 



The choice of a place for an observatory I consider to be ex- 

 tremely important. When one reflects what limitations and disad- 

 vantages the climate in our latitudes impose upon all astronomical 

 observations, one can only look with envy upon the astronomer who 

 is permitted to live in a good climate. What a mass of provocations 

 and waste of time is such an astronomer spared ! I take this oppor- 

 tunity to call your attention to the Australian continent, or to Tas- 

 mania, whose wonderful and, at the same time, healthy climate I 

 know from my own experience, though from no more than a resi- 

 dence of a few months. 



If, in conclusion, I may present an arrangement of the works 

 mentioned in the Statement, according to my opinion of their im- 



