TO KXOW THE STARRY IIE.WEXS 



291 



Contributions to the Sound Beach 

 Observatory. 



Airs. Mortimer B.Foster, Sound 

 Beach $ 5-O0 



Mr. George A. Galliver. Arling- 

 ton, N. J 5-00 



Mr. Joseph M. Phill)rick, Xew 



York City 5-O0 



Reverend N. P. Coleman, River- 

 side, Conn 5.00 



Mrs. C. O. Miller, Stamford. . . lo.oo 



Mr. Frederick A. Hubbard. 

 Greenwich 5.00 



Mr. C. Dana Potter. Sound 



Beach 5.00 



Total $ 40.00 



Previously acknowledged.. .$1,001.43 



Grand Total $1,041.43 



^ :{; ;); H< ^iJ 



Congratulations to Leon Barritt. 



We heartily congratulate Mr. Leon 

 Barritt of 150 Nassau Street, New 

 York City, upon the decennial anniver- 

 sary of his delightful little publication, 

 "The Monthly Evening Sky Map." Mr. 

 Barritt not only publishes this pleasing 

 periodical, but he also supplies a num- 

 ber of new^spapers v^ath a syndicate 

 service. He says : 



"The combined circulation each 

 month, of these papers has been for 

 many years over one million and a half 

 copies. By this continuous presenta- 

 tion of the subject of astronomy, popu- 

 larly presented, to this great audience 

 of general readers, the publisher be- 

 lieves can be attributed in no small de- 

 gree the revival of interest in astron- 

 omy, which is daily becoming more ap- 

 parent. ... I have learned by 

 my experience in this business some- 

 thing of its possibilities and its limita- 

 tions. Dollars and cents, however, are 

 not the measure of reward to those 

 who work in the astronomical field. 

 It is largely a labor of love to all who 

 engage in it." 



We extend the right hand of fellow- 

 ship to Mr. Barritt, with hearty con- 

 gratulations upon his achievements, 

 his work has largely been a labor of a 

 generous love ; his excellent serive 

 has brought him only moderate finan- 

 cial returns, but his monthly has been 

 a valuable and influential factor in de- 

 veloping an interest in astronomv. 



What is the Matter with Astronomy? 



T am deeply interested in astronomy. 

 I have found it a pleasurable diversion 

 froni the activtties of a busy life, and 

 I think e\'cryone should become ac- 

 quainted with the "friendly stars." The 

 f;icts are, howe\ er, that the subject re- 

 ceives comparatively little attention. I 

 have found that astronomy is not 

 taught in a single Grammar School in 

 the United States. A few High Schools 

 give it consideration in connection with 

 physical geography, and in the Col- 

 leges and Universities it is elective, 

 and very few take it up. In my boy- 

 ho(Kl astronomy was a part of the cur- 

 riculum in every^ educational institu- 

 tion in the country. What has brought 

 about this great change? I believe it 

 is largely due to the abstract manner 

 in which the subject has been presented 

 in text-books, making the subject re- 

 pellent to teachers as well as students, 

 and in no small degree has it been 

 brought about by parents who want 

 their children educated along lines that 

 would have more commercial value. 

 Statistics show that fully 75 per cent, 

 of the children who graduate from the 

 Grammar School do not enter High 

 School, so this large percentage of 

 boys and girls go out into life without 

 the slightest knowledge of the great 

 .Solar System of which we are a part. 

 They know nothing of the apparent 

 rising and setting of the sun ; the cause 

 of the moon's phases, or any of the 

 simplest facts regarding astronomy — 

 "The Monthly Evening Sky Map." 



When We Shall Know. 



The child is said to long to grasp 

 the moon. Wlio. in his maturer years, 

 has never wished that he might stand 

 upon the moon, and watch the earth 

 at full, a glorious planet of the night, 

 four times as far from rim to rim, and 

 twice as bright in every part as is the 

 moon herself! AA'ho. thinking more 

 gravely, has not wished sometimes he 

 had been born in later years, when he 

 could share the fuller understanding 

 yet to come? Shall we not live in hope 

 that if we worthily contribute to that 

 happy end. we, too, may join with that 

 great company Avhose patient and 

 sound labors have given us what we 

 know, and in a future life with them 

 may see unrolled the wider view which 

 here we long to see in vain? — "The 

 Sun" by Charles G. Abbot. 



