284 



SCIENCE. 



[N. S. Vol. XV. No. 373. 



ment of that bureau, and of the intelligent 

 interest of the Secretary of the Treasury 

 and of the Chairman of the Committee on 

 Coinage, Weights and Measures. And 

 finally, but by no means least in impor- 

 tance, the successful outcome is due to the 

 intelligent way in which this bill was 

 placed by Mr. Stratton before the commit- 

 tees in the House and in the Senate. The 

 enactment of such a measure ought to 

 reassure scientific men in their judgment 

 of the relation of Congress to legislation in 

 such matters, since it shows that such legis- 

 lation can be had without the help of any 

 lobby, without the stimulus of personal 

 interest on the part of Congress,, if there 

 is presented a clear and satisfactory rea- 

 son for such legislation by those in whom 

 Congressmen themselves have confi- 

 dence. 



Another feature of this bureau, which 

 is unique, will also be watched by scientific 

 men, as time goes on, with great interest, 

 and that is the provision under which a 

 visiting committee of five men, not con- 

 nected vdth government service, report 

 each year on the efficiency and needs of 

 the bureau. I shall be greatly disap- 

 pointed if this does not have a wholesome 

 effect on the bureau itself, and on the re- 

 lations of the bureau with Congress and 

 with the department. It is scarcely pos- 

 sible that a Secretary of the Treasury will 

 dismiss from office a competent head of 

 the bureau who is supported courageously 

 by this committee, nor will he appoint to 

 the office of director a man whom they 

 consider incompetent and unsuitable. If 

 out of this relation there comes a whole- 

 some criticism and a quickening of the 

 scientific spirit, one may well hope that 

 this feature may find a place in other 

 departments of government scientific 

 work. 



Henry S. Pritchett. 



THE ASTRONOMICAL AND ASTBOPHYSWAL 

 SOCIETY OF AMERICA. 



II. 



The Constant of Aberration: C. L. Doo- 



LITTLE. 



For some time a revision of the latitude 

 work cari'ied on at the Sayre Observatory, 

 Bethlehem, Pa., from 1876 to 1895, has been 

 in progress with the view to its publication 

 in a complete and final form. The first 

 fasciculus of this publication appeared in 

 the spring of 1901 and it is hoped that the 

 remainder may be in form for the printer 

 in the course of two or three months. 



The present communication deals prima- 

 rily mth the value of the constant of aber- 

 ration resulting from the series of observa- 

 tions extending from October 10, 1892, to 

 December 27, 1893. A preliminary solu- 

 tion of the problem was published in the 

 Ast. Journal, No. 406, 1897, which may be 

 consulted for a fuller statement as to the 

 method employed. The micrometer screw 

 had become much worn by constant use for 

 several years and the value was not con- 

 stant throughout the series. Also the pro- 

 gressive errors which had been previously 

 determined by means of Harkness' meas- 

 uring engine were no longer applicable. It 

 seemed very desirable that the screw value 

 should be derived from the latitude obser- 

 vations themselves, but at the time spoken 

 of the star declinations were not known 

 with the requisite precision. For these rea- 

 sons there was some hesitation as to the 

 desirability of publishing the preliminary 

 result, as it was thought possible that a 

 considerable error might be involved. Re- 

 cently a very earefid discussion of the dec- 

 linations has furnished the required data, 

 and a result obtained which seems entirely 

 free from the above named objections. 



From the method of observing it is not 

 possible to separate the correction to the 

 alierration constant from the latitude vari- 



