200 



SCIENCE 



[Vol. LV, No. 1417 



If the train of apparatus to be set up is too 

 long for the room available, some of it may be 

 put outside the laboratory. There is no ques- 

 tion of cold and heat to be taken into account 

 and during most of the year all that is needed 

 is protection from the sun. There is always the 

 advantage of good light and air and freedom 

 from soot and dirt. Laboratory work is prac- 

 tically out-of-door work. There is no heating 

 system, and no frozen pipes to be dreaded. 



J. C. Witt 

 Chicago, September 10, 1921 



CHARLES HENRY DAVIS 2ND 



Chaeles Henry Davis 2nd, Rear Admiral, 

 retired, U. S. Navy, who was twice Superin- 

 tendent of the Naval Observatory, died at 

 Washington, D. C, December 27, 1921. 



He was born in Cambridge, Mass., August 

 28, 1845, the son of Charles Henry Davis and 

 Harriette Blake Mills. 



Admiral Davis graduated from the Naval 

 Academy in 1864. From 1875 till 1885 he was 

 engaged principally in astronomical work, at 

 first in the Naval Observatory at Washington, 

 in the Department of Chronometers, and then 

 in expeditions for the determination of longi- 

 tudes by means of the submarine cables. Also, 

 the latitudes of many stations were determined 

 by Talcott's Method. 



In No. 6, Navy SeientLfle Papers, published 

 by the Bureau of Navigation, are given the in- 

 vestigations by Davis of Chronometer Rates 

 as affected by Temperature and other Causes. 

 The results of the longitude expeditions are 

 presented in three publications of the Navy 

 Hydrographic OfiSce: with Lieutenant-Com- 

 mander Francis M. Green and Lieutenant J. A. 

 Norris "Telegraphic Determination of Longi- 

 tudes, embracing the Meridians of Lisbon, Ma- 

 deira, Porto Grande, Para, Pernambuco, Bahia, 

 Rio de Janeiro, Montevideo, and Buenos Aires, 

 with the latitudes of the Several Stations"; 

 also with Lieutenant-Commander Green, and 

 Lieutenant Norris, "Telegraphic Determination 

 of Longitudes in Japan, China, and the East 

 Indies, embracing the meridians of Yokohama, 

 Nagasaki, Vladivostok, Shanghai, Amoy, 

 Hong-Kong, Manila, Cape St. James, Singa- 



pore, Batavia, and Madras, with the latitude 

 of the several Stations" ; with Lieutenants Nor- 

 nis and Laird, "Telegraphic Determination of 

 Longitudes in Mexico and Central America 

 and on the West Coast of South America, em- 

 bracing the meridians of Vera Cruz, Guatemala, 

 La Libertad, Paita, Lima, Anca, Valparaiso, 

 and the Argentine National Observatory at 

 Cordoba, with the Latitudes of the Several Sea- 

 Coast Stations." 



Davis as a Captain was Superintendent of 

 the Naval Observatory from July, 1897, to 

 April, 1898, leaving the Observatory to com- 

 mand the Dixie in the Spanish War. He re- 

 turned to the Observatory in November, 1898, 

 and remained on duty there as Superintendent 

 until November, 1902. As Superintendent, 

 Captain Davis took an active and successful 

 part in the completion of the equipment of the 

 New Naval Observatory and in formulating 

 plans for the work to be carried on. 



In 1904 Davis was made a Rear Admiral, and 

 in 1904 and 1905 he was the U. S. representa- 

 tive on the international commission of in- 

 quiry on the North Sea incident which sat in 

 Paris. 



After service at sea as Squadron Commander, 

 Admiral Davis was retired August 28, 1907. 

 He continued to be interested in astronomy 

 after his retirement, by reason of his achieve- 

 ments in science and because of his long service 

 at the Naval Observatory. 



His father, also a Rear Admiral, had twice 

 been Superintendent of the Observatory and 

 had established the Nautical Almanac Office. 



SCIENTIFIC EVENTS 



BRITISH SCIENTIFIC INSTRUMENTS! 

 The exhibition of British scientific instru- 

 ments held under the auspices of the Physical 

 Society and the Optical Society at the Imperial 

 College of Science and Technology, of which a 

 description was given in our columns last week, 

 is a timely reminder of the importance of 

 scientific instruments in the national economy. 

 Modern civilization is based, and must be in- 

 creasingly dependent, on the extension of 



1 From Nature. 



