HUBERT ANSON NEWTON. 283 



But the studies which have won for their author an honorable 

 reputation among men of science of all countries, form only one 

 side of the life of the man whom we are considering. Another 

 side, probably the most important, is that in which he was identified 

 with the organic life of the College and University with which 

 he had been connected from a very early age. In fact, we might 

 almost call the studies which we have been considering, the recreations 

 of a busy life of one whose serious occupation has been that of an 

 instructor. If from all those who have come under his instruction 

 we should seek to learn their personal recollections of Professor 

 Newton, we should probably find that the most universal impression 

 made on his students was his enthusiastic love of the subject which 

 he was teaching. 



A department of the University in which he took an especial 

 interest was the Observatory. This was placed under his direction 

 at its organization, and although he subsequently resigned the 

 nominal directorship, the institution remained virtually under his 

 charge, and may be said to owe its existence in large measure 

 to his untiring efforts and personal sacrifice in its behalf. 



One sphere of activity in the Observatory was suggested by a 

 happy accident which Professor Newton has described in the American 

 Journal of Science, September, 1893. An amateur astronomer in 

 a neighboring town, Mr. John Lewis, accidentally obtained on a 

 stellar photograph the track of a large meteor. He announced in 

 the newspapers that he had secured such a photograph, and requested 

 observations from those who had seen its flight. The photographic 

 plate and the letters received from various observers were placed in 

 Professor Newton's hands, and were discussed in the paper mentioned. 

 The advantages of photographic observations were so conspicuous 

 that Professor Newton was anxious that the Observatory should 

 employ this method of securing the tracks of meteors. With the 

 aid of an appropriation granted by the National Academy from the 

 income of the J. Lawrence Smith fund, a battery of cameras was 

 mounted on an equatorial axis. By this means, a number of meteor- 

 tracks have been obtained of the August meteors, and in one case, 

 through a simultaneous observation by Mr. Lewis in Ansonia, Professor 

 Newton was able to calculate the course of the meteor in the atmo- 

 sphere with a probable error which he estimated at less than a mile. 

 The results which may be expected at the now near return of the 

 Leonids, will be of especial interest, but it will be for others to utilize 

 them. 



Professor Newton was much interested in the collection of meteorites, 

 and the fine collection of stones and irons in the Peabody Museum 

 of Yale University owes much to his efforts in this direction. 



