ASTRONOMY 53 



supervises this great enterprise has always been in Paris, 

 and zones have been undertaken and in large measure 

 completed by the Observatories of Paris, Bordeaux, 

 Toulouse, and Algiers. This committee has also or- 

 ganized other important investigations, notably the 

 campaign of observations on the asteroid Eros in 1900- 

 1901, which has resulted in the most precise determina- 

 tion of the distance of the Sun that has yet been made. 

 The influence of France has been directed toward 

 friendly cooperation on the large problems of astronomy, 

 and thus Paris naturally has been the seat of many 

 important astronomical Conferences. At the Conference 

 on fundamental star positions, in 1896, a uniform system 

 of values of the fundamental constants of astronomy 

 was adopted for use in all astronomical ephemerides. 

 At the "Conference Internationale des fiphemerides 

 astronomiques," in 1911, a uniform system of presenta- 

 tion of astronomical data was adopted by all the national 

 Ephemerides, and arrangements were perfected for 

 exchange of work involved in their computation and 

 publication; these have been among the very few frag- 

 ments of international cooperation to survive the shock 

 of the Great War. 



Instruction. University of Paris. Here the principal 

 courses of interest to the advanced student of Astronomy 

 are the following: By ANDOYER, a distinguished student of 

 all matters which bear upon elegance and accuracy of com- 

 putation: 1914-15, Theory of eclipses; 1915-16, Elemen- 

 tary solutions of the fundamental problems of Celestial 

 mechanics. By APPELL, widely known as a mathematician : 

 1914-15, 1915-16, Celestial Mechanics, Works of Poincare. 

 By PUISEUX, known for his studies on the Moon and on 

 other astrophysical questions: 1914-15, Stars and Nebu- 

 lae; 1915-16, The Sun, solar spectrum, eclipses. 



