Maech 31, 1899.] 



SCIENCE. 



469 



tronomers of the observatory there be included 

 able mathematicians as well as skillful ob- 

 servers. Joined with this work is very properly 

 the calculation and publication of the National 

 Astronomical Ephemeris, or some definite por- 

 tion of an International Ephemeris, if such 

 a work can be arranged for, as is now proposed 

 in certain quarters. 



III. I do not think that the National Ob- 

 servatory, whether organized as the present 

 Naval Observatory or on any other plan, can 

 wisely undertake to deal with all classes of as- 

 tronomical observation. There are numerous 

 lines of investigation which can better be fol- 

 lowed up by institutions organized for the 

 special purpose, or by individual amateurs. 

 Nor do I believe that under its present organi- 

 zation, nor under any organization which leaves 

 it distinctively a naval institution, managed 

 and directed according to naval traditions and 

 methods, can it ever well fulfill the ends of a 

 National Observatory. The pursuit, and es- 

 pecially the superintendence and direction of 

 astronomical investigation, is purely scientific 

 work, and should be under scientific control. 



As to the question whether another observa- 

 tory (for astro-physical investigation I suppose) 

 should be founded and maintained by the gov- 

 ernment I am hardly clear. The examples of 

 France and Germany, and to a certain extent 

 that of England, point in this direction. But 

 so long as the observatories at Cambridge, Mt. 

 Hamilton and Lake Geneva maintain their 

 astro j)hysical activity it seems to me hardly 

 necessary for us to move in the matter. 



PEiisrcETON, N. J. C. A. Young. 



To THE Editor of Science : As I am not 

 an astronomer there is no reason why my 

 opinion should appear in your symposium on 

 the National Astronomical Observatory. Your 

 request that I should furnish it originated, 

 doubtless, in the fact that I was appointed, at 

 the Boston meeting of the A. A. A. S., a mem- 

 ber of a committee of which Professor E. C. 

 Pickering is Chairman, to consider and report 

 upon the organization and work of the Naval 

 Observatory at Washington, which stands for 

 whatever we have or have not in the way of 

 government astronomical research at the pres- 



ent moment. At any rate I will venture upon 

 a very brief discussion of the questions in- 

 volved as I see them. 



To the first question I would reply that we 

 already have and have had for many years a 

 National Astronomical Observatory in the 

 Naval Observatory at Washington. Congress 

 has already shown its willingness to maintain 

 such an institution in the magnificent buildings 

 and expensive equipment for which it has gen- 

 erously appropriated money and for the sup- 

 port of which it makes liberal annual appropri- 

 ations. It is too late, therefore, to discuss your 

 first query, but the all-important question is 

 the third : Does the Observatory as organized 

 and managed at present fulfill the requirements 

 of such an institution ? On this point there is 

 room for much discussion and, perhaps, some 

 difference of opinion. My own answer would 

 be : No. But there is likely to be a tendency to 

 misrepresent the views and attitude of naval 

 oflicers in this matter, and, without pretending 

 to speak for them or by their knowledge or con- 

 sent, I venture the opinion that a large majority 

 of them, especially of those generally acknowl- 

 edged by their comi'ades to be the foremost men 

 in the service, would be found in substantial 

 agreement with the leading astronomers of the 

 country. It has been my privilege to enjoy 

 rather intimate association with many of them, 

 and I have always found them unselfishly de- 

 voted to the best interests of their corps, always 

 ready to discharge in the most conscientious 

 manner any duty with which they may be 

 charged, doing the very best they can under 

 the conditions and restrictions by which they 

 are surrounded. 



That they should have a pride in the develop- 

 ment of the great institution which has been 

 for so many years under their care is only 

 natural. Originally the Naval Observatory was 

 just what was required by the navy ; but, by its 

 gradual expansion into an establishment fitted 

 for astromical research on an almost unrivalled 

 scale, it has become very much of an elephant 

 on their hands. But to expect that they will 

 voluntarily relinquish all claim to or interest in 

 it is to expect what is unreasonable. I am 

 sure that the great majority of them know that 

 the spirit of a military regime, which is at 



