dispossess myself of any thought that I was trespassing upon 

 his time or good nature. 



lie was much interested in what I told him of the obser- 

 vatories now erected and in process of construction upon Mts. 

 Wilson and Lowe, near Los Angeles. California, and he ex- 

 pressed tin- wannest admiration for the generous gift of .Mr. 

 John I). Hooker, witli a sigh of regret that Vienna had no 

 such public-spirited citizen to present and endow a similar 

 Reflector in this place. 



He is familiar with the work of Pickering. Lowell. Camp- 

 bell. Perrine, Holden, Burnham, Hall, and others of our As- 

 tronomers, some of whom he has met. 



In 1S72 he was sent to America to examine the large in- 

 struments there in operation, and to investigate the conditions 

 of our work and our rapid progress in Astronomy, which were 

 attracting much attention in Europe. 



He passed considerable time at the Harvard University 

 Observatory, and the result of his investigations was the adop- 

 tion by the Austrian Government of his recommendations; and 

 the present noble Observatory in Vienna was commenced upon 

 plans under his suggestions, while Karl von Littrow, his prede- 

 cessor, was director. Soon after its completion, an objective 

 of 11 3-4 inches with 17 feet focal length, made by Alvan Clark 



