4 MOUNTAIN OBSERVATORIES IN AMERICA AND EUROPE. 



large telescope for use in celestial photography might be on the west 

 coast of South America, near the equator (for instance, in the neighbor- 

 hood of Quito), and at a considerable altitude above the sea. A gen- 

 eration later this suggestion was realized in the Harvard Station at 

 Arequipa.* 



The first recognition by a scientific body of the matter in question 

 was by the American Association for the Advancement of Science at 

 its Chicago meeting (1868). Its action in 1868 was followed up by the 

 appointment of a committee to memorialize Congress, in 1870. It is 

 worth while to quote its resolutions in full, as they led to important , 

 results. 



Resolved, That tliis Association recommends to the attention of those who 

 would make intelligent and munificent endowments of scientific institutions, the 

 importance of an Astronomical Observatory at some point on the Pacific Railroad 

 between Nebraska and the Pacific Coast, and at as high an altitude as possible, 

 where the clearness of the atmosphere and the great number of cloudless days 

 would ensure remarkable and unsurpassed opportunities for astronomical 

 observations. t [Adopted at the Chicago meeting, August, 1868.] 



Resolved, That a committee of three be appointed to memorialize Congress on 

 the importance of establishing an observatory and maintaining a scientific corps, 

 for a year or more, at one of the highest points on the Pacific Railroad, and par- 

 ticularly at the eastern rim of the Utah Basin. [Adopted at the Troy meeting, 

 August, 1870.] 



The committee appointed consisted of J. E. Hilgard, Joseph Henry, 

 and J. H. C. Coffin, and Congress was asked for an appropriation. A 

 sum was granted, and the disbursement was put under the charge 

 of the U. S. Coast Survey. 



The subject must have been widely discussed among scientific men 

 in America, for on several occasions before 1866 my honored friend 

 and instructor, Professor William Chauvenet, explained to me the 

 advantages to be gained from mountain-stations for astronomical 

 observatories. 



In the year 1872 the expeditions of the U. S. Coast Survey, under 

 Professors Young and Davidson, and Mr. Cutts, were stationed in the 

 Sierras and at Sherman (Wyoming); and the great success of Professor 

 Young's solar spectroscoj^ic researches at the latter station was soon 

 widely known. In 1872-3 the (Question of a suitable site for the 26- 

 inch telescope of the Naval Observatory was frequently discussed 

 among astronomers. In 1873 I made a stay in Colorado and reported 

 (adversely) on the placing of a great telescope in any of the stations 



* I owe the knowledge of this unpublished letter to my cousin, Miss Elizabeth 

 Bond, who has placed copies of her father's correspondence in my hands. 



f It is noteworthy that nothing is said about the necessity for a steady atmos- 

 phere — the most important factor. 



