ASTRONOMICAL OBSERVATIONS 617 



telescope was raised out of its standards). Yet small pieces of ice or snow were bound to 

 adhere to the pivots, and these could not be removed except by pressure sufficient to disturb 

 the stability of the instrument. Condensation also collected on the object glass and eye piece, 

 necessitating frequent cleaning. For the same reason as given above this could not be removed 

 from the object glass except when the telescope was lifted out of the wyes ; hence many fifth 

 and sixth magnitude stars were lost in observing. 



The strain to the body attendant on observing any length of time in low temperatures, 

 especially if the surrounding air is at all in motion, necessitated shortening the period of time 

 sets so far as possible. This accounts for many incomplete transits, stars coming too close 

 together to observe them on all threads. 



Upon several occasions fog accumulated in the observatory to such an extent as to effectu- 

 ally stop further observation (this with the shutters open). At other times, during tempera- 

 tures between 40 and 50 Fahrenheit, the kerosene lamp refused to burn, and the siderial 

 hack watch stopped soon after being exposed to the air. 



ALGER ISLAND STATION 

 OBSERVATORY 



When the retreat south was made in April of 1905, the Repsold Circle was taken from its 

 pier at Teplitz Bay, packed in its case, and, with the chronometers, transported by dog 

 sledges 100 miles to Alger Island. At this station the observing hut was some 2.4 meters 

 square and 1.8 meter high, with a flat roof, and built of wire netting stretched tightly over a 

 wood frame and covered with a heavy roofing material called "rubberoid." Wall and roof 

 shutters were placed in the plane of the meridian, and two trap-doors hung in the east and 

 west walls for observations out of the meridian. The pier at this point was made of an iron 

 gasoline tank filled with sand and sunk about 0.3 meter in the frozen ground. So far as could 

 be noted this seemed quite stable. The general location of the observing hut with reference to 

 the balance of the camp is shown by the sketch map of figure 21 of Section A. 



The south meridian mark was a tripod of oars firmly lashed together, the legs being 

 embedded in stones, on a level outcrop of basalt from the glacier of McClintock Island. The 

 north mark was a tripod of light iron rods situated on the spur of the mountain immediately 

 north of the station. 



The chronometers were kept in a box inside an old hydrogen-generating tank about 1.2 

 meter in diameter and 1.5 meter high, located 6 meters northwest of the observatory. This 

 tank was banked up with sand and a small pyramid tent pitched over it. A manhole in the top 

 permitted access to the interior of the tank. This arrangement gave very satisfactory tempera- 

 ture results in the chronometer box, the average daily range during the period May i to July 

 30, 1905, being only about 1.2 centigrade. The siderial chronometer was connected with a 

 sounder in the observatory. 



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