ASTRONOMY. 177 



described in these reports and elsewhere, but it may not perhaps be su- 

 I)ertiaous to recapitulate brietiy here, referring for details to Vol. 1 of 

 the observatory publications, or to an article by Professor Holden in 

 the Sidereal I\Iesseiiger for February, 1888. The mounting of tlu^ 30- 

 iiich equatorial is referred to at some length in the present report under 

 tiie heading " Jnstkuments." 



The main observatoiy building is 287 feet long, including the 75 foot 

 dome at its southern end, and contains -J, hall lU feet wide running tlie 

 whole length, offices and computing rooms, the library, clock-room, 

 visitors' room, etc., and at the northwest corner stands the 25-foot dome 

 for the 12-iuch equatorial. The other buildings on the mountain sum- 

 mit are the meridian-circle house, transit-house, pliotoheliograj)h, lab- 

 orator^', several temi)orary workshops, and the dwelling for the astrono- 

 mers. The instrumental equipment consists of the 36-inch, 12inch, 

 and G^inch equatorials, 4 inch comet-seeker, G in(;h meridian-circle, 

 4-inch transit and zenith telescope, 2-inch universal instrument, plioto- 

 heliogra[)h, declinograph, five clocks, several chronometers, four ^chro- 

 nographs, and minor apparatus. The cost of the iustrumentsVith their 

 mountings and transportation, aggregated about $200,0()(); buildings 

 and other ex[)enses amounted to about $375,000; leaving in the neigh- 

 borhood of 8125,000 for a permanent endowment fund. In addition to 

 what may be derived from the investment of this sum, the-observatory 

 is to be allowed for its maintenance as a department of the University 

 of California the sum of $19,188 a year. The astronomical staff con- 

 sists of E. S. IToIden, director and astronomer; S. ^Y. Burnham, J. I\I. 

 Schaeberle, J. E. Keeler, E. E. Barnard, astronomers; 0. B, Ilill, assist- 

 ant astronomer, secretary, and librarian. The first volume»of ""rubli- 

 cations" appeared before the real work of the observatory ftad begun, 

 and it is, therefore, mainly historical and descriptive. It contaiiis Mr. 

 Lick's deeds of trust, Professor Kewcomb's report on glass for object- 

 ives, Mr. Burnham's reports upon the site in ISlQi and 1881, -descrip- 

 tions of the buildings and instruments, an account of the«engineering 

 and building at Mount Hamilton in the years 1880-1885, observations 

 of the transit of- Mercury in 1881 and of Venus in 1882, geological re- 

 ports, meteorological observations, 1880-1885, and an extensive series 

 of reduction tables for the latitude of the observatory. There have 

 been i)ublished in scientific; journals and in the daily press interesting 

 notes upon nebuho and planetary nuirkings as shown by the 3G-inch 

 refractor, and the discoveries of new comets and double stars. Pro- 

 fessor Ilolden attributes the steady-seeing at Mount Hamilton to the 

 coast fogs, which roll in from the sea every afternoon in the summer, 

 rising 1,500 to 2,000 feet, covering the hot valley and preventing radia- 

 tion from it. The nights of summer and autumn — Ajjril to October or 

 November — are found to be ex(!ellent both as to clearness and steadi- 

 ness; the daylight hours are less satisfactory, and in winter the seeing 

 is not much better than at lower altitudes. 



Lidfje {Ouqri'f). — Sec (.'ointe. 

 J I. Mis. 142 12 



