20 REPORT OF THE SECRETARY. 



vation in America may be practicable for several hours after the sun 

 has set to the European observer ; also the sudden outburst of a star 

 like that in the "Crown" in 1SG6, together with unexpected showers of 

 shooting stars, &c. 



To carry out the proposition the following arrangements have been 

 adopted, which are essentially those published in 1873, but with such 

 additions and modifications as subsequent experience has proved nec- 

 essary. 



I. — Center of communication in the United States. 



1. The Smithsonian Institution. Spencer F. Baird, director. 

 Centers of communication in Europe. 



1. Greenwich Observatory. Sir George B. Airy, astronomer- 

 royal. 



2. Paris Observatory. Admiral Mouchez, director. 



3. Berlin Observatory. Prof. W. Foerster, director. 



4. Vienna Observatory, Academy of Sciences. Prof. Edmund 

 Weiss, director. 



5. Pulkova Observatory. Otto von Struve, director. 



II. — Telegrams received at the Smithsonian Institution from observ- 

 ers in the United States will be forwarded immediately by Atlantic 

 cable to Greenwich, Paris, Berlin, Vienna, and Pulkova, and thence by 

 telegraph to other observatories in Europe. 



III. — Discoveries made in Europe of new comets, planets, &c, will 

 be announced without delay from Greenwich, Paris, Berlin, Vienna, and 

 Pulkova, by Atlantic cable, to the Smithsonian Institution, and thence 

 by telegraph to American observatories * and the Associated Press. 



IV. — The telegraphic dispatch announcing a discovery should be as 

 brief as possible, and, after conference with astronomers, the following 

 form has been agreed upon: 



After the single word "planet" (or " comet"), is given — 



1. Its right ascension in time, hours, minutes, and seconds (the latter 

 only to the nearest round tenth, i. e., ten, twenty, thirty, forty, or fifty); 

 next, separated by the word — 



2. North or south, is given its — 



3. Declination, to the nearest minute. 



4. Then, in the case of a planet, the magnitude expressed by the 

 nearest ordinal number. 



*The list of these observatories is at present as follows: 



Shattuck Observatory Hanover, 25". H. i United States Naval Observa- 



Observutorv of Harvard College. Cambridge, Mass. tory Washington, D.C. 



y/ali College Observatory NewHaven,Conn. 



Dudley Observatory Albany, X. Y. 



Litchfield Observatory Clinton, X. T. 



Eobarl College Obsen atory I l-eneva, X. Y. 



Bed House Observatory Phelps, X. Y. 



Warner Observatory Rochester, X. Y. 



Allegheny Observatory Uleghenj , Pa. 



Observatory d1' College of XVw 

 Jersey Princeton, M\ J. 



Cincinnati < Observatory Cincinnati, Ohio. 



Dearborn University Observa- 



fcorj Chicago, 111. 



A mi A 1 1m u ( Observatory Ann Arbor, Mich. 



University of state of Missouri.. Columbia, Mo. 



Morrison Observatory Glasgow, Mo. 



Observatory of Carlcton College .Northfield, Minn. 



