January 26, 1906.] 



SCIENCE. 



127 



not quite complete by the end of another 

 year. Through the courtesy of the Uni- 

 versity of Chicago, the Snow telescope of 

 the Yerkes Observatory has been mounted 

 and been in constant use at the solar ob- 

 servatory during the past summer. This 

 three-foot reflecting telescope has already 

 furnished excellent results and justifies the 

 sanguine expectations entertained with re- 

 gard to the five-foot reflector now nearing 

 completion. The unusually favorable at- 

 mospheric conditions which prevail day and 

 night at the site of the observatory have 

 attracted the attention of astronomers and 

 astrophysicists generally. During the past 

 summer a party under the direction of 

 Profes,sor S. P. Langiey, secretary of the 

 Smithsonian Institution, has been there ob- 

 sei'ving data for the solar constant; while 

 Professor E. E. Barnard of the University 

 of Chicago, has utilized the peculiar facili- 

 ties of the site by installing the Bruce tele- 

 scope of the Yerkes Observatory and ex- 

 tending his remarkable photographic charts 

 of the Milky Way. 



Department of Terrestrial Magnetism. 



Not very remotely allied to the work 

 of the solar observatory is the work of 

 the department of terrestrial magnetism, 

 though the utility of the latter is perhaps 

 more apparent than the utility of the 

 former. All of the sciences, however, like 

 the phenomena of nature, are more or less 

 interrelated, and this is especially the case 

 with solar and terrestrial physics. There 

 is no doubt, at any rate, that solar activity 

 and terrestrial magnetism are in some de- 

 gree related. Since the publication of the 

 investigations on terrestrial magnetism by 

 the illustrious Gauss, during the first half 

 of the nineteenth century, comparatively 

 little progress has been made in either the- 

 ory or practise until within the past decade. 

 It is but just to remark that the recent 

 fruitful renewal of activity in this line of 

 work is due chiefly to the enterprise and 



energy of Dr. L. A. Bauer, in charge of 

 the department of terrestrial magnetism. 

 The execution of the plan he has outlined 

 for a magnetic survey of the oceanic areas, 

 as well as of the land areas, can not fail to 

 secure data of signal value alike to marine 

 transportation and to magnetic theory. By 

 means of specially devised instruments and 

 apparatus, as explained in Dr. Bauer's re- 

 port, the departme'nt has demonstrated the 

 practicability of making magnetic measure- 

 ments on a moving ship, and the brig Gali- 

 lee, chartered at San Francisco and refitted 

 for this special purpose, is now engaged 

 on such a survey in the North Pacific 

 Ocean. Considering that the oceanic areas 

 are in the aggregate about three times the 

 aggregate of the continental areas, it is 

 seen that the fulfillment of the plan con- 

 templated will add greatly to our knowl- 

 edge of the actual distribution of terrestrial 

 magnetism, even if it should not imme- 

 diately elucidate this obscure phenomenon. 



Minor Projects. 

 Separate mention of the large number of 

 investigations carried on by the aid of 

 small grants would require undue space 

 here. It will be seen from the list 

 given above that there were sixty-four 

 such grants subject, to payment during 

 the year. Many more than this number of 

 investigations, however, were under way, 

 while a few grantees of the year have been 

 unable to begin their projects. A number 

 of researches undertaken by aid of grants 

 made in previous years have been com- 

 pleted and offered for publication. Some 

 of these have been issued during the year 

 and several of them are now in press. It 

 should be stated also that numerous pre- 

 liminary papers resulting from researches 

 under way have appeared in the current 

 journals. A list of these, olptained by aid 

 of the authors themselves, will be found on 

 pages 43-50 of the ' Year Book. ' 



