a 
84 
ished length of base which it would entail. Some disadvan- 
tage arose from the eastwardly trend of the coast farther 
north, which would carry the observer to the eastward of 
Washington; but this he overruled as a minor objection, 
“ more especially as we have other observatories at Philadel- 
phia, West Point, and Cambridge, whose equipments justify 
the expectation that they will take part in the observations ; 
and there is but one to the westward of us at all likely to co- 
operate, viz. at Hudson, Ohio.” 
Encouragements soon began to arrive from the other side 
of the Atlantic. Gauss and Encke contributed the influence | 
of their great names, and Bache, Peirce, and Walker added 
their endorsements to the plan. Resolutions of approval 
and recommendation were passed by the American Philosoph- 
ical Society, of Philadelphia, and the American Academy 
of Arts and Sciences, of Boston; and each of these bodies, 
then the leading scientific tribunals of the land, appointed a 
committee to co-operate in furtherance of the undertaking. 
The Secretary of the Navy referred the matter to the action 
of Congress, and within a fortnight a report was made by 
the Hon. F. P. Stanton, of Tennessee, chairman of the Naval 
Committee, cordially approving of the plan. Gilliss had 
pledged himself that if the Navy Department would furnish 
the apparatus already within its control, and assistance from 
the officers under its direction, the total expenses of every 
kind for the expedition, exclusive of instruments, should not 
exceed $5,000. The Naval Committee reported an amend- 
ment to their bill, appropriating this sum, and giving the 
requisite authority to the Secretary of the Navy. The 
clause was sanctioned by both Houses of Congress, and the 
: : bill containing it was approved by the President on the 3d 
— 1848. Preparatory orders were at once issued 
. the Secretary, . all needful authority for mak- 
