374 



SCIENCE 



[N. S. Vol. LIII. No. 1373 



the micrometric measurements, with his ex- 

 cellent skill, using a refractor of 162 mm. 

 aperture at G-allarate, in Italy. Two lists 

 covering 136 new double stars were printed 

 in the Astronomische Nachrichten in 18Y5 and 

 1876. A short list followed in the American 

 Journal of Science in 1877 and in Monthly 

 Notices for the same year. In 1879 his new 

 doubles from Nos. 483 to 733 were published 

 in the forty-fourth volume of the Memoirs of 

 the Eoyal Astronomical Society, together with 

 micrometric measures of 250 other stars. 



During the years from 1877 to 1881 and 

 1882 to 1884, Mr. Burnham had the use of 

 the splendid 18J inch Clark refractor of the 

 Dearborn Observatory, then set up in the 

 tower attached to the old Chicago University. 



In 1879 he was requested by the trustees 

 of the Lick Trust to test the conditions on 

 Mt. Hamilton. He took his 6-inch refractor, 

 now equipped with circles and a driving 

 clock, to Mt. Hamilton and made observa- 

 tions from August 17 to October 16. His 

 highly favorable report settled the choice of 

 Mt. Hamilton as the site for the Lick Ob- 

 servatory. In 1881 he went again to Mt. 

 Hamilton, by request, and observed the transit 

 of Mercury with the 12-inch telescope. 



During some six months of 1881 he was 

 astronomer, under E. S. Holden, at the Uni- 

 versity of Wisconsin, where the 15.5-inch 

 telescope of the Washburn Observatory had 

 recently been erected. While there he dis- 

 covered and measured 88 new double stars; 

 and he measured a large number of double 

 stars " Selected from his MS. General Cata- 

 logue of Double Stars, as specially needing 

 observation." These observations appeared in 

 Vol. I. of the Publications of the Washhurn 

 Ohservatory in 1882. Mr. Burnham's famous 

 6-inch refractor ultimately become a part of 

 the equipment at Madison. 



On the inauguration of the Lick Observa- 

 tory in 1888, with Professor Holden as 

 director, Mr. Burnham received the appoint- 

 ment as astronomer, and thus had abundant 

 opportunities for the use of the great 36-inch 

 Clark refractor for the continuance of his 

 work. At the Lick Observatory he intro- 



duced the principle of using the telescope for 

 all it was worth while the sky permitted: in 

 other words, no part of the night when the 

 sky was clear was given up for any bodily 

 weariness of the observer. In 1892, owing to 

 certain conditions at Mt. Hamilton which 

 were unacceptable to Mr. Burnham, he re- 

 turned to Chicago, where he was offered the 

 highly responsible position of Clerk of the 

 United States Circuit Court. Incidentally he 

 was receiver of the Chicago and Northern 

 Pacific Eailroad Company from 1897 to 1902. 



Mr. Burnham was in charge of the expedi- 

 tion from Lick Observatory to observe, at 

 Cayenne, the solar eclipse of December 21-22, 

 1889. Good results were secured, due in no 

 small measure to Mr. Burnham's large ex- 

 perience in photography. The report was 

 written by Burnham and his associate, Mr. 

 Schaeberle, and published in 1891 in a small 

 volume from the Lick Observatory. 



On the inauguration of the Terkes Ob- 

 servatory in 1897, Burnham became an active 

 member of the staff, making his observations 

 throughout the nights of Saturday and Sun- 

 day and returning to his duties in the court 

 on Monday morning. In 1902 he resigned his 

 position with the court, despite the life tenure 

 of that office. This gave him more time for 

 his astronomical studies, but he still retained 

 his residence in Chicago, coming to Williams 

 Bay for observations on two nights in the 

 week. He became Professor emeritus in 1914, 

 at the age of 75, the statute of the University 

 of Chicago requiring retirement at 70 having 

 thus far been waived in his case. Although 

 the opportunity for using the 40-inch tele- 

 scope still remained open to him as before, 

 he hardly availed himself of it, and his last 

 observations here were made on May 13, 1914. 



Vol. II. of the Fuhlications of the Lich 

 Ohservatory contain his observations from 

 August, 1888, to Jime, 1892, and his four- 

 tenth to nineteenth catalogues of new double 

 stars discovered at the Lick Observatory in 

 that period, including the numbers from 

 /J 1026 to /3 1274. The search for new doubles 

 was made chiefly with the excellent 12-inch 

 telescope. He also found some new nebulas. 



