JUNE 21, 1901.] 
At the close of hostilities he entered Lehigh 
University, which Asa Packer, the philan- 
thropist of Lehigh Valley, had just founded 
and established at South Bethlehem; he 
graduated as Civil Engineer with the first 
class of Lehigh in 1869. Of the three 
young men who entered Lehigh in 1866 and 
formed the first graduating class of this now 
famous institution of learning, two are 
gone—J. H. Hind Corbin, and now Miles 
Rock; the third, C. EK. Ronaldson, a min- 
ing engineer, of Philadelphia, survives. Mr. 
Rock’s graduating thesis was on ‘ Forest 
Trees’; and he treated the theme in physi- 
eal, moral and scientific aspects, evincing 
thorough familiarity with the subject, and 
such originality and breadth of thought as 
to gain the hearty approbation of his fellow- 
students, with whom he was highly popular. 
Immediately after graduation, he became 
instructor in mineralogy and geology at the 
University. 
In 1870 Mr. Rock married Miss Susan 
Clarkson, and subsequently accepted a posi- 
tion as astronomical assistant to Dr. B. A. 
Gould, director of the Cordoba Observatory, 
Argentine Republic. This he retained un- 
til 1873, participating in the Durchmus- 
terung or Zone work, undertaken by Dr. 
Gould, and in mapping the multitude of 
star observations of the southern heavens. 
The results of his astronomical work at 
Cordoba are embodied in ‘ Uranometria 
Argentina,’ published in Buenos Ayres in 
1879. 
In the autumn of 1874, Mr. Rock co- 
operated with Commander F. M. Green, of 
the U. 8. Navy, in determining latitudes 
and longitudes, by means of submarine 
cables, in the West Indies and Central 
America, for the use of the Hydrographic 
Office. He was occupied in this work un- 
til 1877. During the two years immedi- 
ately following he served as a field as- 
tronomer in the U. 8. Geographical and 
Geological Surveys west of the 100th merid- 
SCIENCE. 
979 
ian under Lieutenant George M. Wheeler, 
of the U. S8. Engineers, and determined 
latitudes and telegraphic longitudes in 
several of the western states and territories. 
On July 1, 1880, he was appointed as- 
sistant astronomer at the U. 8. Naval Ob- 
servatory, and served acceptably in that 
capacity at the transit circle under the im- 
mediate direction of Professor John R. 
Eastman, U.S. Navy. In 1882 he was de- 
tailed to aid Professor Lewis Boss in the 
observation of the transit of Venus at 
Santiago de Chile in December of the same 
year. 
On the recommendation of the U. S. 
Government, Mr. Rock was appointed as- 
tronomical engineer for Guatemala in 1883 ; 
and for fifteen years he served as Chief of the 
Guatemala Boundary Commission, charged 
with the duty of determining and locating 
the disputed frontier between Guatemala 
and Mexico. To his technical knowledge, 
diplomatic skill, strong sense of justice, 
and invincible courage, Guatemala unques- 
tionably owes the retention of her rights in 
certain valuable lands in the district of 
Peten, which had been claimed by Mexico, 
even to the point of threatened hostilities. 
As a Commissioner Mr. Rock was highly 
regarded by the Guatemalan authorities, 
especially as he seldom failed, to evince a 
ready and deep interest in the people, and 
in the development of the resources of the 
republic. During his incumbency he also 
served as the delegate of the Guatemalan 
Government to the International Congress 
at Washington in October, 1894, which 
adopted for the nations represented the 
uniform zero-meridian of Greenwich for 
maritime purposes. 
On the completion of his official work 
for the Guatemalan Government, in 1898, 
Mr. Rock remained in the country, devot- 
ing himself to private interests. 
Mr. Rock never ceased to take a keen in- 
terest in the affairs of his alma mater; 
