January 6, 1899.] 



SCIENCE. 



13 



Lieutenant, later Commander, M. F. Maury, Oc- 

 tober 1, 1844, to his resignation April 20, 1861. 



Commander, later Captain, J. M. Gilliss, April 23, 

 1861, to his death February 9, 1865. 



Rear Admiral C. H. Davis, April 28, 1865, to May 

 8, 1867. 



Commodore, later Rear Admiral, B. F. Sands, May 

 8, 1867, to his retirement February 11, 1874. 



Rear Admiral C. H. Davis, February 16, 1874, to 

 his death, February 18, 1877. 



Rear Admiral John Rodgers, May 1, 1877, to his 

 death May 5, 1882. 



Vice Admiral S. C. Rowan, July 1, 1882, to May 1, 

 1883. 



Rear Admiral R. W. Shufeldt, May 1, 1883, to 

 February 21, 1884. 



Commodore S. R. Franklin, February 21, 1884, to 

 March 31, 1885. 



Commodore George E. Belknap, June 1, 1885, to 

 June 7, 1886. 



Captain R. L. Phythian, November 15, 1886, to 

 June 28, 1890. 



Captain F. V. MoNair, June 28, 1890, to Novem- 

 ber 21, 1894. 



Commodore R. L. Phythian, November 21, 1894, to 

 July 19, 1897. 



Commander, later Captain, C. H. Davis, from July 

 19, 1897, the present incumbent. 



From its foundation until 1894 the Super- 

 intendent was the sole head of the Observa- 

 tory. On March 3, 1847, Congress enacted 

 that he must be either a captain, a com- 

 mander or a lieutenant in the Navy, but 

 on March 3, 1865, that restriction was re- 

 pealed, and it was enacted that: " The offi- 

 cer of the Navy employed as Superintend- 

 ent shall receive as salary only the shore- 

 duty pay of his grade." 



The work of the Observatory is distrib- 

 uted under the following Heads of Depart- 

 ments : The Astronomical Director, the 

 Heads of the Departments of Nautical In- 

 struments, of Chi-onometers and Time Ser- 

 vice, and of Magnetism and Meteorology. 

 The duties of these Heads of Departments 

 are as follows : 



The Astronomical Director. This ofSce 

 was created by an order of the Secretar-y 

 of the Navy, September 20, 1894, which de- 

 fined the duties of the incumbent as fol- 



lows: The Astronomical Director has charge 

 of and is responsible for the direction, scope, 

 character, quantity and preparation for 

 publication of all work purely astronomical 

 which is performed at the Naval Observa- 

 tory. He has charge of the 26-inch and 12- 

 inch equatorial telescopes, the 6- inch and 

 9 inch transit circles, the prime-vertical in- 

 strument, the photoheliograph, and all other 

 instruments and accessories used in his de- 

 partment, together with the construction, 

 remounting and repairing of all astronom- 

 ical instruments placed in his charge. He 

 personally inspects, both day and night, the 

 methods of observation and computation in 

 all the astronomical departments. 



The Head of the Department of Nautica 

 Instruments sees that all nautical instru- 

 ments issued from the Observatory, except 

 chronometers, are thoroughly inspected and 

 tested before issue. 



The Head of the Department of Chro- 

 nometers and Time Service has charge of 

 the chronometers deposited at the Naval 

 Observatory ; he inspects, tests, rates and 

 prepares them for issue ; he has charge of 

 the transmission of the daily time signals 

 and the apparatus pertaining to them ; 

 finally he makes all necessary determina- 

 tions of local time for use in his depart- 

 ment, and for this purpose has the use of 

 the 5-inch Ertel transit instrument, which 

 is mounted in the meridian room at the 

 west end of the main building. 



The Head of the Department of Magnet- 

 ism and Meteorology has charge of all the 

 magnetic and meteorological apparatus and 

 observations. 



The Superintendent as commanding offi- 

 cer is charged with the general superin- 

 tendence and government of the Observa- 

 tory. The heads of departments, naval 

 ofBcers, assistant astronomers, computers 

 and employes performing duty at the Ob- 

 servatory are subject to him, and he is re- 

 sponsible for the disbursement of all moneys 



