DEPARTMENT OF MERIDIAN ASTROMETRY. 143 



ployed. The most responsible part of the work has been done by Mr. Arthur 

 J. Roy, chief assistant, and by Mr. William B. Varnum, second assistant. 

 The efficiency of these two (and especially of Mr. Roy) in the work of fun- 

 damental observation has been worthy of all praise. 



Recently 4 young men have been added to the staff in order to secure 

 needed training for their intended work at the Southern Observatory. 



SUPPLEMENTARY REPORT SUBMITTED NOVEMBER 30, 1908. 



Since the date of the foregoing report, rendered in August, 1908, I have 

 visited the Argentine Republic and have made arrangements for the estab- 

 lishment of a temporary observatory, at San Luis, in approximate latitude 

 — SZ° 18', longitude 4'^ 25"^ 25^ West of Greenwich. 



Accompanied by Prof. Richard H. Tucker, of the Lick Observatory, who 

 is in charge of the new observatory, and Mr. W. B. Varnum, for many years 

 an assistant at the Dudley Observatory, I left New York on the steamship 

 Velasques August 20, and arrived in Buenos Aires September 13. We had 

 taken with us the necessary ironwork for the floor, and the prepared frame- 

 work of a wooden roof, for the transit-circle house, with shutters and neces- 

 sary devices for operating the same ; molds for the concrete piers designed for 

 the support of the transit-circle ; a chronometer, barometer, and a variety of 

 small apparatus and supplies intended for the use of the new observator}^ 



The expedition had been provided with a favorable introduction to the 

 Argentine authorities by Hon. Elihu Root. Secretary of State, who has 

 evinced a warm personal interest in our enterprise. Aided by this and by 

 the valuable influence and interest of Hon. Walter G. Davis, Director of the 

 OUcina Meteorologica of Argentina, and of Dr. L. S. Rowe, of the University 

 of Pennsylvania and temporarily resident in Buenos Aires as a Research 

 Associate of the Institution, the friendly disposition of the proper officers of 

 the Argentine Government was promptly enlisted in our behalf. I was re- 

 ceived in the most friendly manner by the Ministers : De la Plata, of Foreign 

 Affairs ; Naon, of Justice and Public Instruction ; Ezcurres, of Agriculture, 

 and others. The Argentine Department of Agriculture, at its own expense, 

 provided us with a large freight car for the prompt transportation of our ma- 

 terial to San Luis, where it arrived intact; and also with passenger tickets 

 and accommodations over the Pacific Railroad. The Department of Justice 

 and Public Instruction offered us a site on national property belonging to the 

 Escuela Regional in San Luis, previously examined and recommended by 

 Mr. Davis, and this site subsequently proved to be most admirable for the 

 purpose required. In the kindest manner Mr. Davis acted practically as our 

 agent in Buenos Aires, executing a variety of commissions in our behalf. 



