NOVEMBER 24, 1899.] 
or taken from civil life, and the assistant 
astronomers, should be appointed by the 
President, by and with the advice and con- 
sent of the Senate, to hold their offices until 
their successors are appointed. 
The Nautical Almanac office, which was 
formerly a distinct bureau, is now adminis- 
tered by departmental regulations as a part 
of the Naval Observatory, and it appears 
from the evidence submitted to the Board 
of Visitors that the successful administra- 
tion of the Observatory is much impeded 
by reason of imposing upon its astronomical 
director, the duties of Director of the Nau- 
tical Almanac. Hach of these offices fur- 
nishes abundant employment for the entire 
time of an able astronomer, and we there- 
fore recommend that there shall be a Di- 
rector of the Nautical Almanac appointed 
by the President, by and with the advice 
and consent of the Senate, to hold office un- 
til his successor is appointed. 
We also recommend that provision be 
made for the continuation of the admirable 
series of memoirs published under the title 
‘ Professional Papers of the American Ephe- 
meris and Nautical Almanac.’ - 
A criticism, frequently and forcibly urged 
against the administration of the Naval Ob- 
servatory, not limited to the present time, 
but covering almost the entire period of its 
existence, is that its astronomical work has 
not been prosecuted with that vigor and 
continuity of purpose which should be 
shown in a national observatory. The pos- 
sibility of conducting well planned re- 
searches with unvarying regularity over 
long series of years should constitute the 
great advantage of a national observatory, 
an advantage which is not fully realized in 
the history of the Naval Observatory, where 
each principal astronomer seems to have 
been left to choose his own line of work and 
to alter it from time to time or abandon it. 
This is perhaps inevitable in a system which 
places at the head of an observatory an 
SCIENCE. 
749 
officer who is not a technical expert in as- 
tronomical work ; and therefore in order to 
secure continuity in the prosecution of work 
well chosen and coordinated with that of 
other observatories, and also to obtain 
for the observatory and the department 
advice and criticism which shall be both 
disinterested and responsible, we recom- 
mend the establishment of a permanent 
Board of Visitors substantially as follows: 
There shall be appointed by the Presi- 
dent, from persons not officers of the United 
States, a board of nine visitors to the Naval 
Observatory, six to be astronomers of high 
professional standing, and three to be emi- 
nent citizens of the United States. Ap- 
pointments to this Board shall be made for 
periods of three years, but provision shall 
be made by initial appointments for shorter 
terms so that two astronomers and one 
member of the Board not an astronomer 
shall retire in each year. Members of this 
Board shall serve without compensation, 
but the Secretary of the Navy shall pay the 
actualexpenses necessarily incurred by mem- 
bers of the Board in the discharge of such 
duties as are assigned them by the Secre- 
tary of the Navy, or are otherwise imposed 
upon them. The Board of Visitors shall 
make an annual visitation to the Naval 
Observatory at a date to be determined by 
the Secretary of the Navy and may make 
such other visitations, not exceeding two 
in number annually, by the full Board or 
by a duly appointed committee, as may be 
deemed needful or expedient by a majority 
of the Board. 
The Board of Visitors shall report to the 
Secretary of the Navy at least once in each 
year the result of its examinations of the 
Naval Observatory as respects the condition 
of buildings, instruments and apparatus, 
and the efficiency with which its scientific 
work is prosecuted. The Board of Visitors 
shall prepare and submit to the Secretary 
of the Navy regulations prescribing the 
