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SCIENCE 



[N. S. Vol. XLI. No. 1046 



these spectrograms it has thus far heen pos- 

 sible to measure only 2,740, or 54 per cent., 

 owing to a lack of assistance in this work. 

 For 1910-13 the percentage measured is 48. 

 With an additional $1,000 per year for five 

 years, additional assistants could be obtained 

 so that these arrears of measurement could 

 be made up and this program of work com- 

 pleted. 



Professor H. N. Eussell states that the pho- 

 tographic determination of the position of the 

 moon at Princeton University Observatory, 

 from plates taken at Harvard and measured 

 here, has given results probably more accu- 

 rate than any previous method of observation. 

 The provision of a salary of five hundred 

 dollars a year for a computer will enable the 

 continuation of this work, which must other- 

 wise be interrupted. An equal sum would 

 provide a computer to work on eclipsing varia- 

 ble stars. Material for accurate light curves 

 and elements of about one hundred of these 

 systems, as yet uninvestigated, is contained in 

 the Harvard photographs. The results regard- 

 ing the density, surface brightness, and other 

 characteristics of the stars would be of great 

 astrophysical importance. 



Professor J. A. Miller states that the ener- 

 gies of the observing staff of Sproul Observa- 

 tory are largely devoted to research and stellar 

 parallax work. " With such a grant as you 

 propose at my disposal, I should employ two 

 assistants, one at $500 per year to do the 

 routine detailed work connected with a research 

 of this sort; the second to aid in the measures 

 and final reductions of the plates. I should 

 have to pay the second assistant $800 per 

 year, the difference between the $500 that you 

 propose and the $800 to be paid by the observa- 

 tory. I could thus materially increase the 

 quantity of our parallax output without in 

 any way affecting its quality. In addition, 

 this would enable us to utilize our present 

 equipment (without any additions whatever), 

 more nearly to its full capacity, by extending 

 our work into closely allied fields." 



Professor J. Stebbins states that for the 

 past few years the work of the University of 

 Illinois Observatory has been the development 



of an electrical method for the measurement 

 of the light of stars. " As the work is quite 

 new, we must do a considerable amount of ex- 

 perimenting in the laboratory with the object 

 of increasing the accuracy of observations at 

 the telescope. These investigations are all 

 carried on in addition to the regular instruc- 

 tion which must be done at a university ob- 

 servatory. We have some untrained student 

 assistants, but if we could get the services of a 

 regular man and keep him year after year, our 

 scientific output would be greatly improved 

 and increased. It is very probable that after a 

 certain time the university will be able to put 

 such a research position upon a permanent 

 basis." 



Professor G. C. Comstock states that the 

 Washburn Observatory is engaged in deter- 

 mining the positions of several thousand 

 stars, averaging about seventh magnitude, to 

 be utilized in an extension of Boss's Prelim- 

 inary General Catalogue. Progress of this 

 work is greatly hindered by entire absence of 

 a computing staff. One or more computers 

 are sorely needed. A grant of $1,000 for a 

 single year would be of value in this connec- 

 tion but such a grant continuing over five 

 years would be much more than five times as 

 useful since at the outset much time is neces- 

 sarily given to training the computer to his 

 work. His efficiency increases with experi- 

 ence. 



Professor Philip Fox states that the most 

 pressing need of the Dearborn Observatory is 

 in the line of measurement of the many plates 

 we have taken for the determination of stellar 

 parallax, and the reduction of these measures. 

 The series of plates now has reached 948, and 

 is being added to at the rate of about ten 

 plates on every clear evening. Additional 

 help for this work would greatly expedite its 

 progress. 



Professor W. W. Campbell states that the 

 greatest return which the Lick Observatory 

 can make for a small additional expenditure 

 would come from the employment of a very 

 capable observer to assist with the spectro- 

 graphs attached to the thirty-six-inch refractor 

 and to the Crossley reflector. The demands 



