MOUNT WILSON OBSERVATORY. 219 



bers, was photographed by Huggins in the sixties in the spectra of white 

 stars and reproduced with difficulty in the laboratory some years later. 

 To-day we know that nebulium exists in the nebulse and in at least one 

 star, but no one has succeeded in isolating or even detecting this gas on 

 earth. Scores of other illustrations might be advanced to indicate 

 how often the clue to fundamental phj^sical and chemical problems 

 may be found in the stars, but one will suffice — the remarkable rela- 

 tionship between ionization potentials and certain characteristic phe- 

 nomena of solar and stellar spectra, pointed out by Saha and already 

 applied by Russell in the case of sun-spots (p. 238). 



It is clear, therefore, that the constitution of matter, so richly and 

 abundantly illustrated under the extreme ranges of pressure, of tem- 

 perature, and of electrical excitation exhibited by the sun and stars, 

 should be raised from a minor to a major position in the astronomer's 

 scheme of research. The equipment of the Mount Wilson Observa- 

 tory is peculiarly adapted for this purpose; but one essential aid was 

 lacking — the close cooperation of great physical and chemical labora- 

 tories, manned, equipped, and endowed with this chief end in view. 

 As already suggested, such laboratories, dealing with the study of the 

 constitution of matter and not primarily with the interpretation of 

 astronomical phenomena, could not properly form a part of the Obser- 

 vatory establishment. They would be equally useful, however, in a 

 neighboring institution sufficiently close at hand to permit intimate 

 daily cooperation. Fortunately, they are now available through the 

 successful activities of the California Institute of Technology, which 

 has been equally appreciative of the possibilities of combined action 

 and has been engaged for years in the development of a general policy 

 in which the present move plays a vital part. 



The history of this institution may be of interest here. Established 

 in 1891 as the result of a gift of $50,000 from Amos G. Throop, it was 

 in 1904 a school of nearly 500 pupils, chiefly of elementary, grammar- 

 school, and high-school grades, though two or three were receiving 

 more advanced instruction. Under the presidency of Dr. James A. B. 

 Scherer, appointed in 1908, it gradually altered its policy, gave up its 

 work below college grade, and in 1910 began again, in a new building, 

 with only 31 students, all of them pursuing the courses of a techno- 

 logical school of small size but of high standards. The total assets 

 of the Institute were still very limited, amounting, all told (buildings, 

 site, equipment, and endo-wment), to approximately $580,000. The 

 plans in view, however, were clear and definite : high standards, more 

 and better humanistic courses than technological schools generally 

 offer, and adequate provision for scientific research, to be ultimately 

 the leading feature of the school. In 1916 a gift of $200,000 was re- 

 ceived as an endowment for research in chemistry, and Messrs. Charles 

 W. and P. G. Gates provided a building for a chemical laboratory. 



