436 



SCIENCE. 



[N. S. Vol. XXIII. No. 585. 



to be ' quartz gold,' their receipt to us being so 

 marked. This mortar was probably about 10 

 feet under the surface. It was 300 yards from 

 the other one and on Sec. 20, being therefore the 

 S.E. 14 of N.E. 1/4. It was foimd in 1901. The 

 pestles were discovered with it; they were in 

 pay dirt. 



Those occurrences add one more instance 

 to the list of stone implements which have 

 been found in the auriferous gravels of the 

 Pacific coast. The writer fully realizes the 

 criticism which has been brought to bear upon 

 them and the skepticism with which their 

 authenticity is regarded by many. The Waldo 

 case may be stated upon the testimony of Mr. 

 Wimer and Mr. Pfefferly and may add its 

 contribution to the general mass of evidence 

 regarding the antiquity of man in the far 

 west. J. F. Kemp. 



ASTRONOMICAL NOTES. 



THE NEW SOLAK OBSERVATORY OF THE CARNEGIE 



INSTITUTION. 



The Carnegie Institution of Washington 

 has established a solar observatory on Mount 

 Wilson, near Pasadena, southern California, 

 under the direction of Professor George E. 

 Hale, former director of the Yerkes Ob- 

 servatory. The late Secretary Langley, of 

 the Smithsonian Institution, whose bolometric 

 studies of the solar radiation during many 

 years have added so much to our knowledge 

 of the sun, was active in urging the claims 

 of such an observatory. He desired to see 

 the observatory established in a tropical or 

 subtropical region, with a large equipment 

 and endowment, especially for the study of 

 the solar radiations and their possible fluctua- 

 tions. 



The Mount Wilson Observatory is the out- 

 come of much thought and investigation by 

 different astronomers, and may be depended 

 upon to furnish splendid results. Mr. Lang- 

 ley, however, in a communication to the com- 

 mittee on astronomy of the Carnegie Institu- 

 tion, in 1902, made the following statement: 



It has thus far proved, and, so far as can be 

 seen, always will prove, impossible to determine 

 from near sea-level with any precision by any 

 observations, however careful or long continued, 



the ' constant ' of solar radiation. There is no 

 good way to eliminate the complex effect of at- 

 mospheric absorption except to observe at the 

 highest practicable altitude, preferably near the 

 tropics, but most certainly in a dry and clear 

 atmosphere, and preferably where there are two 

 stations in view of each other, the first of which 

 is at a notably greater altitude than the second, 

 though the latter is itself at least some thou- 

 sands of feet above sea-level. Temporary expedi- 

 tions with meager outfits have gone from time 

 to time to high mountain stations for solar ob- 

 servations, and small meteorological stations have 

 even been longer continued. What is needed is 

 rather a permanent astrophysical observatory 

 equipped with the most powerful and refined 

 modern apparatus for solar research and located 

 at the highest and clearest station it is practic- 

 able to occupy. 



These are very strong words from a very 

 eminent authority. It may not be out of 

 place to inquire whether Mount Wilson ful- 

 fils the required conditions. Those who have 

 read Professor Hale's description of the con- 

 ditions which exist on the mountain during a 

 large part of the year, and have seen the re- 

 sults already accomplished, will gladly ac- 

 knowledge that Mount Wilson offers excep- 

 tional advantages for such an observatory. 

 That it is the best which the world furnishes, 

 or that the ' last word ' can be said from it 

 in regard to the solar constant may be doubted. 

 The institution on Mount Wilson will un- 

 doubtedly justify itself, and is probably the 

 best site which could be occupied under the 

 circumstances. There may be several eleva- 

 tions, however, which more closely meet the 

 conditions imposed by Mr. Langley. The 

 writer is familiar with one, which could 

 hardly meet the requirements more exactly if 

 it had been made to order after that com- 

 munication was written. The volcanic peak, 

 El Misti, near Arequipa, Peru, rises to an 

 altitude of 19,000 feet. It looks down upon 

 the Arequipa station of the Harvard Observa- 

 tory, whose altitude is 8,000 feet. The whole 

 region is extraordinarily dry and clear. Erom 

 the summit of El Misti the sky is most 

 strikingly dark and free from haze. This 

 summit is readily accessible by a mule-trail 

 during nearly the whole year, and its use as a 

 permanent station presents few difficulties 



