THE INCORPORATORS 153 



JOSEPH STILLMAN HUBBARD 



Born, September 7, 1823; died, August 16, 1863 



As Hubbard died within a few months after the Academy was 

 formed, his influence upon that organization was, of course, but 

 slight. It is of interest, however, to summarize his scientific 

 labors if for no other reason than to show why he was chosen a 

 member of the Academy. 



Hubbard's family settled in Ipswich, Massachusetts, in 1635, 

 but afterwards moved to Meridian and New Haven, Con- 

 necticut. His ancestors were for the most part clergymen and 

 physicians, and several of them held important public offices. 



As a boy, Hubbard showed a decided taste for mechanics and 

 astronomy. He was graduated from Yale College in 1843 and 

 the following year went to Philadelphia as assistant to the astron- 

 omer Walker in the High School Observatory, working with 

 such zeal as to seriously impair his health. After some months 

 he went to Washington and computed the observations made by 

 Fremont on his expedition to the Rocky Mountains and the 

 Pacific Coast. The next year (1845), he was appointed a pro- 

 fessor of mathematics in the Navy and assigned to duty at the 

 Naval Observatory. 



Here he made observations for several years with the transit 

 instrument and meridian circle, working particularly on a 

 system of zone observations devised by Professor Coffin and him- 

 self. These observations were interrupted soon after 1850, but 

 taken up again in 1862 and continued by Hubbard until his 

 death. 



His first extended computation consisted in the determination 

 of the zodiacs of all the known asteroids. This was followed 

 by a study of the orbit of the great comet of 1843. In 1846 

 Hubbard began an extended investigation of the peculiar 

 phenomena presented by Biela's comet, and later published three 

 memoirs relating to them. He also undertook an investigation 

 of the Fourth Comet of 1825. 



Hubbard was deeply interested in the establishment of the 

 Astronomical Journal, and his contributions to it occupy more 



