After glimpsing a few such dazzling objects the astrono- 

 mers proceeded along the dusty paths for a quarter of a mile 

 to the Monastery, so called because it is the home of the male 

 resident astronomers. It is situated on the brink of the most 

 eastern projection of the summit of Mount Wilson, and com- 

 mands a bewildering view of the valleys below, dotted with 

 orchards and vineyards, towns and cities, and the blue Pacific 

 in the far horizon. But on that memorable evening the land- 

 scape was obliterated by the darkness, but a most magical scene 

 took its place. The electric lights of Los Angeles, Pasadena, 

 Hollywood, Venice, Long Beach, Sierra Madre, Monrovia, 

 Whittier and Pomona, brilliantly located those cities, and they 

 shone with the resplendence of constellations reflected from 

 the skies in the bosom of a vast lake. 



Promptly at 9 :30 a. m. on Thursday morning the astrono- 

 mers were in their respective seats, eager to take up the work 

 before them. "Solar Rotation," was the subject on which an 

 important committee had been at work on the previous after- 

 noon. It now made its report to the Solar Union. What was 

 the significance of this investigation? The text books tell us 

 that the sun rotates upon its axis in about twenty-five days 

 and eight hours. But singular anomalies have been discovered. 

 Portions of the sun's chromosphere seem to move faster than 

 the body of the sun. But even this motion varies in the dif- 

 ferent latitudes. 



Now these varying velocities have an important effect 

 upon the movements of the flocculi, some of which, like the 

 hydrogen and calcium flocculi are in the upper or superficial 

 regions of the chromosphere, and others, like the carbon com- 

 pounds lie much deeper. How strange to be talking so 

 specifically of these chemical elements in the sun. The most 

 optimistic astronomer would not have dreamed of such a 

 thing half a century ago. Even a score of years ago it was 

 a comparatively unexplored field. What may we not hope 

 will be accomplished in the near future, by such indefatigable 

 investigators as those who were assembled on Mount Wilson 

 that memorable week? 



18 



