80 CARNEGIE INSTITUTION 



There remains one other important factor against Palomar as a 

 site for an observing station — its extreme isolation. Escondido is 

 the nearest town of any pretensions, and that is 35 miles away. 

 There is a road down the western side of the mountain, laid out to 

 be a 10 per cent grade, but constructed steeper in places. A road 

 is contemplated down the southeast end of the mountain, from 

 Mendenhall valley into Valle de San Jose. This has been sur- 

 veyed and, I was informed, the construction ordered. Whether 

 railroads will soon come nearer the mountain's base than they are 

 at present is entirely uncertain. 



There are enormous disadvantages in the way of developing the 

 country back of San Diego because of its remoteness, its surface 

 configuration, and the insufficiency of water. It seems to me im- 

 probable that the power, the accessibility, the contact with civiliza- 

 tion, and the resources of a city like Los Angeles, which Mount 

 Wilson has at hand, will ever come within reach of Palomar. 

 Moreover, its nearness to the desert and the absence of protecting 

 mountains to shield it from the winds that play between the heated 

 interior and the sea make it far from probable that we should have 

 here the equable conditions required for the highest grade of astro- 

 nomical work. 



On returning to Cuyamaca I found that the equipment previously 

 packed was already on the way to San Diego. On arriving there I 

 received instructions to return to the Los Angeles region. The 

 equipment was shipped at once to Pasadena and sent by pack train 

 up the Sierra Madre trail to the summit of Wilson peak. 



At the close of two weeks' tests at this station a week was spent 

 at Flagstaff, Arizona, before returning north, where, by the cour- 

 tesy of Mr. Percival Lowell, the records and instruments of the 

 Lowell Observatory were freely put at my disposal to gain a knowl- 

 edge of the conditions in that section. 



The 9-inch telescope has been used at the following stations : 

 Mount Hamilton, Echo mountain, and Inspiration point on Mount 

 Lowe, Cuyamaca in San Diego county, and Mount Wilson. 



The instrument was set up on Mount Hamilton as soon as com- 

 pleted for the purpose of testing the lens and mechanical parts of 

 the mounting. Comparative observations were made with the 9-inch, 

 12-inch, and 36-inch telescopes. Some observations of the sun were 

 made, but most of the tests consisted of observations of the stars, 

 and particularly of close double stars. 



