La Plata in 



take charge of them. The observatory connected with 

 the old university at Cordoba, the capital of the adjoin- 

 ing province of the same name, though possessing less 

 costly equipment than that in La Plata, has achieved 

 notable results in the sphere of astronomical research. 

 The observatory at Cordoba was organized in 1870 

 under the direction of Dr. Benjamin A. Gould, who for 

 fifteen years continued the work, during which time 

 the observatory published a number of very important 

 papers. Dr. Gould was succeeded by his associate, 

 Juan M. Thome, from Pennsylvania, and lately the 

 direction of the observatory has been given to Professor 

 Charles D. Perrine, whose work at the Lick Observatory 

 had made him famous. 



In April, 1887, fifty-six delegates, representing seven- 

 teen nations, met for the purpose of discussing plans 

 for forming a great catalogue of the stars. Stars to the 

 fourteenth magnitude were to be obtained on photo- 

 graphic plates. Each of the plates covers four square 

 degrees. It was estimated that it would require eleven 

 thousand plates to cover the entire visible heavens, and 

 that upon these plates there would appear, as small 

 white points, about thirty millions of stars. Out of 

 these it was determined to select for the permanent 

 catalogue the stars ranging from the first to the eleventh 

 magnitude, estimated to be more than a million in 

 number. Dr. Gould, of the Cordoba University, was 

 one of the leading spirits in organizing this great under- 

 taking. He, however, was unable to prosecute it very 

 far, owing to his removal to America, and the work in the 

 zones assigned to the observatory at Cordoba was largely 

 carried on by Professor Thome and his assistants. The 

 Uranometria Argentina up to date gives the magni- 

 tude of about eight thousand stars. In the Cordoba 



