82 REPORTS ON INVESTIGATIONS AND PROJECTS. 



observations, and they are now nearly completed. The degree of 

 accuracy attained in the work is gratifying, affording bright promise 

 for the effectiveness of the transit-circle in its future use. 



Observations upon the projected catalogue for 19 lo are now in 

 progress. Tests thus far applied indicate that the precision which 

 can be realized in determination of star positions with this instru- 

 ment has been very substantiall}' increased by the recent improve- 

 ments of the instrument, entitling it to be ranked in the first class. 

 Part of the program of observations for the coming year includes 

 redetermination of star positions for the Preliminary General Cata- 

 logue (about 600 stars) in cases where there is dearth of modern 

 observations or unusual difficulty in determining the motion from 

 existing records of observation. Fundamental observations of the 

 principal stars constitute, however, the chief element in the program ; 

 and for these it is believed that this transit-circle is well adapted. 



Campbell, W. W., Lick Observatory, Mount Hamilton, California. 

 Grant No. loi. Pay of assistants to take part in researches at the 

 Lick Observatory . (For previous reports see Year Book No. 2, 

 p. xix, and Year Book No. 3, p. 86. ) $4,000. 



Report. — The greater part of the income from the present grant thus 

 far expended has been devoted, in the past year, to the employment 

 of assistance in carrying on the spectroscopic investigation of stellar 

 motion in the line of sight. For this purpose two men have been 

 employed for the entire year, and two others for shorter periods. 

 Besides the work of other members of the staff in this line, these 

 assistants have secured 335 plates with the spectrograph. 



Of the large number of spectrograms on hand, about 600 have been 

 definitely measured in the past year by these assistants, besides over 

 100 that have been roughly measured. Investigations of .several of 

 the spectroscopic binaries have been included in their work, and a 

 preliminary catalogue of such objects has been made. 



In meridian-circle work the services of one assistant were available 

 up to the end of June. He was occupied mainly in the microscope 

 readings and the computations for the measurement of graduation 

 error. The method employed was that of the simultaneous reading 

 of both circles, and the total number of circle readings made for the 

 purpose was above 16,000 for each observer, included within a period 

 of eighteen months. 



The determination of the corrections to the 10' divisions will aid 

 in adapting this instrument for fundamental work, since all the inter- 



