NOVEMBER 12, 1897.] 
the rose, and benefited humanity by the 
diffusion of the material products of the 
earth. Should you ask me how it is in the 
future to use its influence for the benefit-of 
humanity at large, I would say, look at the 
work now going on in these precincts, and 
study its spirit. Here are the agencies 
which will make ‘the voice of law the 
harmony of the world.’ Here is the love 
of country blended with the love of the 
race. Here the love of knowledge is as un- 
confined as your commercial enterprise. 
Let not your youth come hither merely to 
learn the forms of vertebrates and the 
properties of oxides, but rather to imbibe 
that Catholic spirit which, animating their 
ever-growing energies, shall make their 
power an agent of beneficence to all man- 
kind. 
S. NEwcoms. 
WASHINGTON, D. C. 
THE YERKES OBSERVATORY. 
THE opening of the Yerkes Observatory 
has been an important event in the progress 
of science. The last masterpiece of Alvan 
G. Clark, the forty-inch refractor, has been 
appropriately established. <A great institu- 
tion for all branches of research in the re- 
lated fields of astronomy and astrophysics 
has begun its activity. The University of 
Chicago has made an important addition to 
its already large equipment for the discov- 
ery and teaching of scientific truth. 
A series of conferences, attended by a 
representative gathering of some sixty of 
the astronomers and astrophysicists of the 
country, occupied the three days preceding 
the formal exercises of dedication on Octo- 
ber 21st and 22d. The program, as printed 
in the recent number of this Journan (No. 
147, October 22d) was carried out with but 
minor changes. 
Stimulating discussions followed the pres- 
entation of many of the papers, in which a 
delightful feature was the participation of 
SCIENCE. 
721 
Professor Carl Runge, of Hannover. Un- 
fortunately, a necessary postponement of 
the date of the exercises had made it im- 
possible for Professor Schuster, of Manches- 
ter, Eng., and M. Deslandres, of Paris, to 
remain for the conferences. 
The demonstrations, in the various labora- 
tories of the Observatory, of new and inter- 
esting phenomena formed an important part 
of the program. The weather was not suffi- 
ciently favorable to permit the exhibition, 
with the great telescope, of many of the 
celestial objects as planned, but all present 
on the first two days had the opportunity 
of testing the light-grasp of the instrument 
on double stars and nebule, and in connec- 
tion with the solar spectroscope. 
The generous hospitality of the Uni- 
versity provided for its scientific guests 
during the week unique entertainment in 
the spacious rooms of the Observatory itself, 
and the arrangements for this rather seri- 
ous undertaking were admirably carried 
out, with the effective cooperation of a 
well-known Chicago caterer. To the full 
extent of their capacity the homes of the 
resident astronomers were also thrown open 
to their friends. 
The location of the Observatory, selected 
after long deliberation and full examina- 
tion of the available situations, commends 
itself at once, aside from its natural beauty, 
by reason of its isolation from traffic and 
manufacturing, a favorable condition which 
is likely to continue into an indefinite 
future. The center of motion of the great 
refractor is about 80 meters above the level 
of Lake Geneva, which is about 600 meters 
distant, the elevation above sea-level being 
about 400 meters. The railway station and 
post office are over a kilometer distant, at 
Williams Bay, Wisconsin, on the Chicago 
and Northwestern Railway, at a distance 
of 120 kilometers, or two and one-half 
hours, from Chicago. 
The Observatory building, of brown Ro- 
