REPORT OF COMMITTEE ON OBSERVATORIES 1 09 



6. The semi-permanent expedition from Harvard to Arequipa, 

 the material collected at Arequipa being returned to Harvard for 

 examination and discussion. Among other discoveries, this has 

 given us several ' ' new stars. ' ' 



7. The work done by the late E. J. Stone in forming the Cape 

 Catalogue, 1880, which was largely expeditionary in character. 

 Mr. Stone remained at the Cape only 9 years, and went out definitely 

 to do this single piece of work. 



8. To some extent the same may be said of the work done by 

 Dr. B. A. Gould at Cordoba. 



9. In considering the eminently successful work done by Sir David 

 Gill at the Cape Observatory^ it may be remarked that he has paid 

 frequent visits to Europe and kept himself in close touch with the 

 northern hemisphere throughout. In the case of one large piece of 

 work, the Cape Photographic Durchmusterung, the measurement of 

 the plates was conducted by Professor Kapteyn in Europe. 



No conscious selection of the above nine instances has been made, 

 though it is quite possible that I have been unconsciously influenced 

 by the opinion already indicated : that much, if not all, of the suc- 

 cessful work done in the southern hemisphere has been accomplished 

 either by observers who have made a purely temporary expedition 

 from the northern hemisphere, or by men who have kept closely in 

 touch with the North, or quite recently by the examination, in Europe 

 or America, of material collected in the southern hemisphere. 



And if this is true, it is, after all, only natural. The permanent 

 observatories in the South have to contend with the gravest disad- 

 vantages. The governments at their backs are comparatively poor ; 

 there are heavy claims upon them for other work, such as meteor- 

 ology (as at Sydney), or telegraphy (as at Adelaide), and they are 

 far removed from the advantages of the older civilizations in respect 

 of intercourse with men of science. 



The lessons inculcated with regard to future projects are toler- 

 ably obvious, and I cordially welcome the general proposal to estab- 

 lish a Southern Observatory of the expeditionary kind indicated in 

 the statement. I proceed to consider the points of detail dealt with 

 in the statement. 



The Observations Considered Important. 



I.* Urgently Needed. — Personally I should like to see the pho- 

 tographic method used. I have elsewhere indicated (Mon. Not. 



*The figures refer to the numbered paragraphs iuthe Confidential Statement, pp. 106-7. 



