578 The Smithsonian Institution 



atlas of the whole moon will soon be published on this scale 

 from Lick Observatory negatives chiefly (a few sheets from 

 the excellent Paris negatives) by the aid of a grant from the 

 Vienna Academy of Sciences. 



An enlarging lens provided by the Smithsonian Institution 

 allows direct enlargements in the telescope (5 diameters) to be 

 made, and the resulting grain of the plate is proportionally 

 finer. It is the hope of the Lick Observatory to prepare the 

 plates for two complete maps of the moon from these direct 

 enlargements, 



First : To a scale of three Paris feet to the diameter (the 

 scale of Madler's map) ; 



Second : To a scale of six Paris feet to the diameter (the 

 scale of Schmidt's map). 



The first of these will serve for most observatory purposes, 

 and for a general portrayal of the lunar features. Several 

 sheets of this map have already been published. 



The second will be especially fitted for a more detailed 

 exhibition of the geologic and topographic features in the 

 manner referred to by Doctor Langley. Nothing but the 

 great expense of the plates prevents the immediate prosecu- 

 tion of these plans. 



THE ORBIT OF NEPTUNE 



Neptune was discovered in 1846 by Professor Galle in Berlin 

 from predictions by Leverrier, and the announcement of this 

 brilliant achievement was received with enthusiasm in Europe 

 and in America. 



It was essential to calculate its orbit as soon and as com- 

 pletely as possible from the short arc of its path traversed 

 since the first observation of Galle. If, by chance, the planet 



