I50 



NATURE 



[September 29, 192 1 



the executive council of thirteen names, and a 

 research committee of four names (the Astronomer 

 Royal and the professors of astronomy at Cam- 

 bridge, South Kensington, and Oxford) prepared 

 to give advice on scientific matters ; there is also 

 a most distinguished list of eight foreign members ; 

 but it is the hope and intention to make the direc- 

 tion as democratic as possible, if members of the 

 corporation are ready to manifest an interest in 

 the affairs of the observatory. 



What are the prospects of such a novel method ? 

 A little reflection suggests at once a few direc- 

 tions in which advances may be made, and we 

 may trust the future in this as in other scientific 

 work to open up new avenues. We may begin 

 with the well-known and widespread desire of 

 many people to have opportunities of using a 

 fairly large telescope ; they cannot afford to 

 possess one, and perhaps are not prepared, even if 

 they could afford the instrument, to face per- 

 manent work with it ; but they would welcome 

 the possibility of work for a time with an instru- 

 ment of some size which they need not purchase. 

 Existing observatories can scarcely meet this 

 desire ; they have their own work to do, and their 

 staffs are not generally more than sufficient to do 

 it. Recently the Astronomer Royal has gener- 

 ously placed a large telescope at the disposal of 

 some well-known amateurs on a special occasion, 

 and it may be possible to extend this courtesy 

 further; but it is an entirely new departure, and 

 may find natural limits. At the Norman Lockyer 

 Observatory there are as yet no limits to the possi- 

 bilities, except the smallness of the staff, and 

 should there prove to be a real demand for oppor- 

 tunities of work for a few months the arrange- 

 ments are as yet fluid enough to meet the demand. 

 Of course, the expenses must be met, just as must 

 those of any other scientific society. At present 

 the number of members of the corporation is 

 limited by the constitution to three hundred, and it 

 is obvious that the normal subscriptions, even 

 when this limit is reached, which is not so 

 yet, would be far from sufficient, without generous 

 donations, for the upkeep of the observatory. If, 

 however, the corporation could be extended to the 

 dimensions of a scientific society, the question of 

 expense might find an answer. It may be con- 

 fidently asserted that those who made the experi- 

 ment of working at the observatory for a week, 

 or a month, or a year would enjoy the experience ; 

 Sidmouth itself is a well-known resort, and the 

 observatory has a splendid outlook. 



It is by no means necessary that the work 

 selected by a visitor should be confined to night 

 work. There are spacious offices and computing 

 rooms, in which a piece of photographic measure- 

 ment, or of computational work, or even literary 

 work, could be carried on in pleasant and healthy 

 surroundings. 



There may be many who are desirous of the 

 kind of holiday which will take them into new 

 surroundings and yet can be combined with work 

 which they could scarcely do in an hotel or in 



NO. 2709, VOL. 108] 



lodgings, or they possibly have some instrumental 

 idea to be tested for which their own home scarcely 

 provides a site. One of the conspicuous advan- 

 tages of the Norman Lockyer Observatory is its 

 splendid expanse of 7 acres, where even a large 

 experiment could be conducted without interfer- 

 ence with existing plant. The horizon is quite 

 clear, the library and other buildings having been 

 placed under the brow of the hill so as not to 

 obstruct it. 



The sight of this wonderful amount of space is 

 enough to raise envious thoughts in the breasts 

 of those who have to struggle with lack of room, 

 and is apt to start various trains of thought. 

 What is to happen to all our astronomical libraries, 

 already full to overflowing, in twenty years' time? 

 Shall we not be driven to the selection for 

 preservation of a few representative lines only, 

 seeking references elsewhere when they fall out- 

 side these lines? 



The idea of a comprehensive central reference 

 library thus suggests itself. At present it exists, 

 indeed, at the rooms of the Royal Astronomical 

 Society ; but space in London is limited and valu- 

 able, and the time may come when it must be 

 sought elsewhere. The broad acres at Salcombe 

 Regis may find a use of this kind. A case nearly 

 analogous is that of astronomical photographs. 

 There is in England no great reference store such 

 as that at Harvard, where questions of astro- 

 nomical history may be settled. Those of us who 

 have profited by this great resource of Harvard 

 have at times felt a little ashamed to draw on 

 Transatlantic courtesy without doing something 

 in return. The characteristic of any collection of 

 the kind is growth — fairly rapid growth — and here 

 again the broad acres have their attractions. 



But these are visions of the future. Returning 

 to the more practical present, we may remark 

 that those who use the observatory should certainly 

 include research students from the universities or 

 elsewhere, especially those who may wish to be- 

 come acquainted with the particular work being 

 done at the observatory, as above outlined. The 

 goodwill of the staff has already been manifested 

 to one such student, and they are preparing to 

 receive another. Here a^ain there is an absence 

 of prescribed conditions which can scarcely attach 

 to universities themselves. They must in self- 

 defence make conditions of joining ttte university, 

 or some equivalent, which may not be convenient 

 to the intending researcher. No doubt the Norman 

 Lockyer Observatory will expect some quid pro 

 quo if it is to continue to exist, but the conditions 

 are as yet to be fashioned. It is for those who 

 join the corporation, if they will, to determine, 

 for instance, whether membership shall carry with 

 it the possibility of recommending a friend to 

 the privileges of the observatory, and on what 

 terms ; indeed, the possibilities are so wide that 

 even to give representative instances may have 

 the appearance of narrowing them. They might 

 even include (though here we are venturing on 

 rather dangerous ground) provision for the mere 



