MOUNTAIN OBSERVATORIES IN AMERICA AND EUROPE. 63 



their expedition is interesting on many accounts, and it is especially so 

 when compared with a corresponding journal kept at the summit of 

 Mt. Blanc* 



Mr. Hale's diary (in part) is : 



1893, June 20 : " Went up the peak in the morning train, taking a trunk filled 

 with apparatus and the stand for the telescope. L. and H. returned (p.m.) to 

 Manitou" [L e. to a comfortable hotel]. 



June 31 : " Went up on the morning train." " Suffered considerably from 

 headache due to the altitude." 



June 23 : " L.'s severe headache continued to grow worse, and it became im- 

 possible for her to stay on the peak." " H. and L. went down P.M." 



June 33 : " H. went up on the morning train." 



June 34 : "A snow-storm came up, so H. and K. went down on p.m. train," 

 etc. 



This going up and down from the summit on trains whenever any 

 obstacle to work occurred presents a lively contrast to the adventures 

 of the party engaged in digging the snow tunnels on Mt. Blanc, with 

 the grim entries : " A tourist and a guide killed by an avalanche " to- 

 day — " Dr. Jacottet died to-day on the summit." When it is re- 

 membered that the uses of very high mountain peaks in astronomical 

 observations are occasional and not continuous (for the solution of 

 special problems, not for consecutive routine observations), the advan- 

 tage of choosing such a station as Pike s Peak is obvious. 



Professor Hale's notes on the weather at the summit should be con- 

 sulted in his original paper. He found the blueness and purity of the 

 sky interfered with by smoke from forest-fires, and on two occasions 

 by great swarms of insects : 



A word as to the suitabilitj' of Pike's Peak as a site for astronomical ob- 

 servation. When free from the disturbing effect of forest-fires the sky is of a 

 deep blue at the zenith, and when the conditions are very favorable the blueness 

 persists up to within a short distance of the sun, losing, however, much of its 

 depth of color. During the entire time of our stay the stars appeared to be little 

 or no brighter when seen from the peak than when seen from Manitou, 8000 feet 

 below, f 



The scintillation, even near the zenith, was always very marked, and at no 

 time during our stay would the seeing have been even fair. In this respect our 

 experience agrees closely with that of the Harvard College Observatory party 

 which visited the peak some years ago.t 



The altitude of the summit (14,147 feet) § is not greatly inferior to that of 



* See an abstract of that journal in the present volume, page 26. 



f The naked eye is not sufficiently delicate, nor the memory sufficiently reten- 

 tive, to make a general observation of this kind very trustworthy. Observations 

 of magnitude regularly conducted would have shown a distinct gain at the higher 

 level, particularly for stars at low altitudes. — Note by E. S. H. 



t And with my own observations of 1873, 1878, and 1885 made (not on the sum- 

 mit but) at various high stations on the flanks of this mountain and on others in 

 and near the South Park. — Note by E. S. H. 



§ 14,184 feet according to Annals H. C. O., vol. 33.— Note by E. S. H. 



