114 
men continue to beat about the bush when they 
know exactly where the real quarry is? 
A few years ago the pressure for a reforma- 
tion in the management grew to considerable 
proportions and it was shrewdly met by the 
Navy Department in the scheme for an astro- 
nomical director. Many hopeful people with- 
out much experience rejoiced at this which they 
thought was a great step in the right direction. 
When a year or two ago the continued dissatis- 
faction had grown to the extent of demanding 
the appointment of committees by the American 
Association for the Advancement of Science 
and the Astrophysical Society, it was again as 
shrewdly encountered by the appointment, by 
the Secretary of the Navy, of the Board of Vis- 
itors whose report is unhappily meeting with 
criticism fore and aft. A distinguished states- 
man whose loyalty to the interests of the Navy 
Department has long been known was made 
chairman of this Board and it is an open secret 
that he peremptorily cut off all suggestions 
looking to the real emancipation of this great 
institution. . 
The scientific members of the Board, all most 
excellent astronomers, but possibly not well in- 
formed as to the methods sometimes resorted to 
by great statesmen, were restricted in the recom- 
mendations to proposals for repair rather than 
reconstruction. In spite of their limitations they 
succeeded in getting in a most interesting and 
valuable report—one in which symptoms are 
admirably set forth, although there is ‘much 
silence’ as to the real nature of the complaints. 
Is it not perfectly true that the Naval Observa- 
tory, as such, has been of little value to astro- 
nomical science, although astronomers attached 
to the establishment have contributed greatly 
to the glory of American science? But this is in 
spite of, not on account of the character of the 
administration of the Observatory. This ad- 
ministration is and must always be, and prop- 
erly so, while it is under the Navy Department, 
military in its character. The utter incompat- 
ibility of this sort of control and direction with 
the best interests of scientific research needs no 
demonstration. The very existence of a com- 
fortable retiring pension for astronomers who 
survive theirsixty-second year has been unfortu- 
nate in its results, in that it has led to the ap- 
SCLENCE. 
[N.S. Von. XIII. No. 316. 
pointment, through the use of influence, other 
than that of merit, of men whose principal am- 
bition was old age under these conditions. Why 
should a regularly appointed astronomer be 
detailed as inspector of apparatus for fire pro- 
tection at the Navy yards? What would be 
thought of a civil establishment which detailed 
one of its best paid professors of astronomy to 
the duties of superintendent of grounds and 
buildings ? M. 
REPRODUCTION OF DIFFRACTION GRATINGS. 
To THE EDITOR OF SCIENCE: The communi- 
cation of Professor R. W. Wood in your issue of 
January 4th (p. 33), concerning diffraction grat- 
ings, isofinteresttome. Ihave, during the past 
year, made some experiments on the reproduc- 
tion of gratings. Obtaining through the kind- 
ness of Professor Rowland and Mr. Schneider, a 
fine flat glass grating, it was silvered on its face 
in a silvering solution, then electroplated with 
silver and afterward with a heavy coat of cop- 
per. With care it could be readily removed 
from the glass especially if warmed. I had 
used the process to make concave mirrors from 
lens surfaces about six or seven years ago and 
the results were excellent, even the most mi- 
nute scratches or imperfections of the glass ap- 
pearing in the silvered surface with the utmost 
fidelity, while the polish and brilliancy was 
such that one could scarcely believe that the 
surface was not one of glass instead of polished 
metal. With the glass grating the experiments 
gave excellent reproductions of the ruling and 
great brilliancy, but the surface of the metal 
grating was not optically flat but slightly 
warped. This condition varied in different 
trials and the result would probably have been 
more perfect if the temperatures during the 
electro-depositing had been maintained rigor- 
ously the same. 
It is possible that had the glass been convex 
the resultant concave grating would have been 
without distortion. Lack of time has so far 
prevented my trying another expedient which 
ought to give good results. It is to first silver 
the glass grating as before, then, having coated 
a flat glass surface with a thin layer of adhesive 
cement, like hard pitch or shellac warmed, or 
with a cement like glycerine and litharge which 
