TO KNOW THE STARRY HEAVENS 



What Visitors See at The Lick Observ- 

 atory. 



Aiouiit llamilton, Califurnia. 

 To the Editor : 



On Saturday nights the thirty-six 

 inch telescope is directed upon the most 

 interesting available object, and the 

 twelve inch upon the next most in:er- 

 esting. With so many visitors it is im- 

 possible to show more than one object 

 with each telescope. At this season, 

 in the dark of the moon, the Hercules 

 Cluster and a double star, Epsilon 

 Lyrse, more often than any other 

 usually shown. Jupiter is now getting 

 into position and will be shown to- 

 night (August 28thj with the twelve 

 inch. It is not high enough yet to be 

 convenient for the thirty-six inch. 



AA'e ask our visitors to be prompt in 

 taking their places at the telescope, 

 but when there to look till they are 

 satisfied. Some merely glance in, 

 others take two or three minutes or 

 more. Alany ask a number of ques- 

 tions which are always answered to the 

 extent of our knowledge. 



No lantern slides are shown, but in 

 the main hallway or corrider are five 

 large cases of transparencies, holding 

 from eight to twenty-eight plates 

 eight by ten or larger. These are 

 illuminated by electric lights and the 

 views — sun, moon, comets, nebulae, 

 clusters, spectra, Milky Way, etc. — ex- 

 plained to all who care to hear. 



There are also numerous photo- 

 graphs on the walls. 



Besides this the clocks, transit instru- 

 ment, seismograph, weather instru- 

 ments, etc., are shown and their use 

 explained. 



Rouglily speaking, about half the 

 Saturday night visitors are content 

 with looking through the telescopes 

 and taking a rapid survey of the build- 

 ing without guide. The rest see and 

 hear as much as possible. 



Yours verv trulv, 



' R. G. AiTKEx. 



lishes "The Monthly Evening Sky Map," 

 subscription to w'hich is one dollar per 

 year and which we cordially commend to 

 our readers. It is a clear, large sized 

 monthly map, and contains many items 

 of astronomical interest. Mr. Barritt 

 has continued this work with a faithful- 

 ness that elicits our admiration. The 

 publication cannot be sufficiently remun- 

 erative to give him full returns for his 

 time, and he should therefore be consid- 

 ered as an enthusiastic missionary in be- 

 half of the science of astronomy. 



Contributions to the Sound Beach 

 Observatory. 



A Friend, Stamford $ i.oo 



Mrs. S. O. Edwards, Sound 



Beach 5.00 



Mrs.W. G. Ihrig, Brooklyn, N.Y. i.oo 

 Mr. Tamizo Watanabe, Green- 

 wich 2.00 



A Friend, Massachusetts 5.00 



Mr. and Mrs. S. H. Hilliard, 



Stamford i.oo 



]\Ir. and Mrs. C. W. Payne, Case- 



novia, N.Y i .00 



Antietam Farm, Smithtown, N.Y, 5.00 

 Mr. John xA.. Brown, Stamford. . i.oo 



Dr. F. Schavoir, Stamford 10.00 



Mr. Robert Stewart, Sound Beach 5.00 



A Friend, California i.oo 



Mr. Charles Andrews, Sound 



Beach i.oo 



]\Ir. Samuel P. Avery, Hartford, 



Conn 25.00 



Total $ 64.00 



Previously acknowledged. . . . 694.08 



Grand Total $758.08 



"As quick as a wink" proves on 

 the recognition of five different types 

 of Thunderstorm phenomenon. The 

 dividuals from 0.035 seconds to 0.049, 

 with a mean of 0.042. In other words, 

 a wink commonly takes about one 

 twentv-fifth of a second. 



Mr. Barritt's Good Work. 



Every lover of "the grandest of scien- 

 ces" should have a feeling of gratitude 

 and of appreciation for the excellent 

 work that Leon Barritt, 150 Nassau 

 Street, New York City, is doing in behalf 

 of all astronomical interests. He pub- 



A promising attempt is now under 

 way to reclaim the waste peat bogs of 

 Ireland by planting them to pine. 

 The ordinar}^ Scots pine of the British 

 Isles will not grow in the peat ; but an- 

 other species, Pinu pinaster, has been found 

 to do well. Oddly enough, P. pinaster 

 cannot be transplanted to the bogs, but 

 must be grown from seed sown in place. 



