National Sciculific ami r.diicalional I iisliliilioiis. 309 



history. Ivnckc's ccMuet appeared in 1S42, and was prom ] illy ()l)served l)y 

 him. He read a paper concerning it before the National Institute. vSen- 

 ator Preston, an enthusiastic member of that organization, was present 

 at the meeting. When Oilhss, still a very young man, .shortly afterw'ards 

 made a visit to the Senate conunittee room, the vSenator remarked to him : 

 "If you are the one who gave us notice of the comet, I will do all I can 

 to help 3X)U." 



A week afterwards a bill pa,s.sed the Senate and House without formal 

 discussion. The appropriation was $25,000, and although it was 

 expressly for the e.stabli.shment of a depot of charts and in.struments, the 

 report of the conunittee wdiich had .secured it was .so emphaticalh^ in 

 favor of astronomical, meteorological, and magnetic work that the vSecrc- 

 tar}^ of the Navy felt justified in a.ssuming that Congress had sanctioned 

 the broadest project for an observatory. Gilliss was at once sent abroad 

 to obtain in.struments and plans, wdiile L,ieutenant Matthew F. Maury 

 was placed in charge of the depot, and wdien the ob.servatory was com- 

 pleted in 1844 became its .superintendent. 



Maur3''s attitude tow^ard a.stronomical w^ork has been severely critici.sed, 

 and, I think, misunderstood. He was, first of all, an enthusiastic ofiicer 

 of the Navy; second, an astronomer, and he deemed it appropriate that 

 the chief effort of the office should be directed tow^ard work wdiich had a 

 direct professional bearing. Although not neglecting astronomy (for 

 luider his direction two volumes of astronomical observations were pul)- 

 li.shed), his own attention, and oftentimes that of almost the entire office 

 was devoted to hydrographic suljjects. The work which he had accom- 

 plished was of the greatest practical importance to navigation, and noth- 

 ing of a scientific nature up to that time accomplished in America received 

 such universal attention and praise from abroad. 



His personal popularity and his influence were very great, and the 

 necessity for the maintenance of a national ol)servatory was not in his 

 da}' fully appreciated by the pul)lic. It is not at all impo.s.sible that, 

 indirectly, through his meteorological and hydrographic work, he may 

 have done more for the ultimate and permanent welfare of the National 

 Observatory than could have been possible through exclusive attention 

 to Avork of a purely astronomical character. 



In 1861 Gilliss again became the Superintendent, and under his direc- 

 tion the Ob.servatory took rank among the first in the world. 



Before leaving the .subject of the 01)servatory, reference .should be 

 made to astronomical work almo.st national in character accomplished in 

 colonial days at Philadelphia under the direction of the American Pliilo- 

 .sophical vSociety, by wdiich a committee of thirteen was appointed to 

 make observations tipon the tran.sit of Venus in 1769. 



Three temporary observatories were Iniilt, one in Philadelphia, one at 

 Norri.stown, and one at Cape Henlopen. Instruments were imported 

 from England, one of them a reflecting telescope with a Dollond microm- 



