234: HISTORY OF ASTRONOMY. 



predicted places as given in the Nautical Almanac. The 

 volume for 1847 contains 480 pages, and in its arrange- 

 ment is similar to the preceding volume. These volumes 

 have placed our National observatory in the first rank 

 with the oldest and best institutions of the same kind in 

 Europe. But few observatories in Europe produce an 

 equal amount of work in a year, and in point of ac- 

 curacy the observations compare well with those of 

 foreign institutions. It is expected that the volume for 

 1848 will be ready for the printer some time during the 

 present year, and that the succeeding volumes will fol- 

 low with but little delay. 



The observations for the star catalogue have not yet 

 been published. The number of stars already observed 

 is estimated at about 100,000, included between 16 and 

 45 degrees of south declination. The want of sufficient 

 force for reducing the observations has caused the delay 

 in their publication. 



During the first two or three years of the operations 

 of the observatory, Lieutenant Maury devoted consider- 

 able time to observations, especially with the prime ver- 

 tical transit and equatorial ; but for several years his 

 time has been entirely engrossed by general superintend- 

 ence, and he has been obliged to leave the observations 

 // to his assistants. It has been customary to assign a lieu- 

 | tenant and a professor of mathematics to each meridional 

 ^instrument. Frequent changes have been made in the 

 lieutenants employed at the observatory; one set of 

 officers being ordered to sea, and another set being sent 



