JANUARY 25, 1901.] 
who show real capacity, and the persistency 
required to bring things to a conclusion. This 
type of organization is the one in keeping with 
the highest requirements of modern science, 
where a work is allotted by choice or natural 
selection to a man, and he is given the oppor- 
tunity to develop it. Ifin such a body of men 
cooperating for a common good, there should 
enter jealousy, dissension and rivalry, the end 
will be defeated, but by no fault of the system. 
The astronomers of the United States should 
consider seriously whether it is wise to debase 
an organization which gives the utmost pos- 
sible freedom to the individual astronomer, and 
supplant it with a scheme where authority at 
the top limits the scope of operations to the will 
of one man. 
The executive in the large Government sur- 
veys is so far burdened down with administra- 
tive duties, finances, correspondence, mediation 
between Congress and the public, that it is 
quite impracticable for him to devote energy 
to the advanced problems of the day. A scien- 
tist can take up these duties only by abandon- 
ing his researches, and it is little more than a 
dream to suppose that one can carry both along 
together. The proper attitude is that of co- 
operation between the administrator and the 
astronomer engaged in practical research, and 
I am quite persuaded that the officers of the 
Navy, in the Bureau and at the Observatory, 
have been quite as faithful to their duties as 
the astronomers to their tasks. Lack of co- 
operation, from whatever cause it may arise, is 
not to be remedied by legislation ; this may de- 
stroy the free chance to cooperate by introduc- 
ing subordination, but it would be a step back- 
ward, and it should be taken only when a body 
of American astronomers can not be selected, 
who are willing to make the most of their 
splendid opportunities. Furthermore, the at- 
tachment of the Observatory to the Navy De 
partment has been the source of its prosperity, 
in that it has thus secured liberal and generous 
congressional action through half a century. 
Now Congress has not yet felt that its duty lies 
in establishing and supporting an astronomical 
observatory for research only, no matter how 
valuable this might be to the world at large. 
Its theory is that a practical quid pro quo must 
SCIENCE. 
151 
be given for the people’s money. The fact that 
the Navy needs a Nautical Almanac and a 
time service, and that these are practical utili- 
ties has been the ground for the annual appro- 
priations. There is no other Department of 
the Government better fitted to press such 
claims upon Congress than the Navy, and to 
abandon this utilitarian ground would be to 
diminish the financial resources of the institu- 
tion. As matters now stand there is no pros- 
pect of being able to persuade Congress to sup- 
port such a research observatory ; under the 
circumstances the nearest we can come to it is 
the free cooperation of the astronomers in the 
Naval Observatory. If these ‘lay down’ be- 
hind their commissions, or if their ‘human na- 
ture’ is too much for their good sense and the 
progress of science, there is no question where 
the responsibility should be placed. If it be 
true that the past generation at the Observatory, 
consisting of able, honorable men, failed to ac- 
complish all they expected to do, may we not 
hope that the spirit of mutual cooperation be- 
tween the executive and scientific staff, and the 
professors one with another, may still be the 
true remedy, rather than an angry discussion 
or any type of restrictive legislation which 
could be devised ? 
FRANK H. BIGELOW. 
WASHINGTON, D. C., January, 10, 1901. 
POTASSIUM NITRATE IN WYOMING. 
Last fall Mr. Victor Milward, of Dayton, 
Wyoming, sent me a small package of mineral 
which he wished tested for nitrates. The sam- 
ple was a dark brown color, pulverent and con- 
tained a large amount of sand. Upon testing 
the substance I recognized that it was a nitrate 
and, in looking for the base, potassium was found 
in unusual quantities. Mr. McClelland an in- 
structor in this department made a preliminary 
analysis and found that the sample contained 
upwards of fifty per cent. of potassium nitrate, 
and that it was nearly pure. Sodium was not 
detected. Mr. Milward was informed of his 
discovery and encouraged in making further in- 
vestigations, and also asked to furnish some 
data as to his discovery and its extent. Later 
a number of samples of dark colored sandstone 
were received, that had been taken from 
