September 30, 1892.] 



SCIENCE. 



193 



Wlien tbey reached home, some of the old Indians of their own 

 tribe were very much afraid. They threatened to kill one of the 

 twins, so that the father did not dare to leave home. Hence he 

 could not go off and vcork and earn food ; neither would they 

 allow him to fish near his home, although the fish at that time 

 were very abundant there, for fear that all the fish would leave. 

 Hence the man was greatly troubled to get food enough for his 

 family to keep them from starving. They told him to live on 

 clams. They would not go near his house if it could be avoided, 

 and, if they had to pass it, would make quite a detour around. 



It is said that long ago, when such an event occurred, the other 

 Indians drove the fortunate or unfortunate mother into the woods 

 with the twins, — the father going also if he wished, — and there 

 they had to live alone, and they were not to return as long as 

 both twins were alive; one must be disposed of in some way. If 

 any friends pitied them enough to furnish them with food, it was 

 carried to some place where the parents were not present, and 

 then, when the carrier had retired, the parents could take it to 

 their lonely home. 



Other tribes on the Pacific coast had somewhat similar customs, 

 while others honored the twins greatly, according to the reports 

 of the British Association for the Advancement of Science, which 

 speak of them in British Columbia, and Power's "Tribes of Cali- 

 fornia," which speaks of them in that State. M. Eells. 



Union City, Wash., Sept. 18, 



Prevention of Cholera Asiatica. 



In an article on " Prevention of Cholera Asiatica,"' printed in 

 Sci«?ice;, September 23,1 wished to give a way to detect the bacillus; 

 inadvertently stating Gram's solution colored the germ, — it does 

 not do so, — but that fact forms one of its distinguishing character- 

 istics. However, the cholera (comma) bacillus is colored by a 

 watery solution of fuchsin, HUGH Hamilton. 



Harrisburg, Pa., Sept. 2i. 



A Large Southern Telescope. 



The wide interest in astronomical research is well illustrated by 

 the frequent gifts of large telescopes to astronomical observatories 

 by wealthy donors who are not themselves professional students 

 of astronomy. The number of these gifts is continually increas- 

 ing, and in no department of science has greater liber-ality been 

 displayed. Unfortunately, the wisdom shown in the selection of 

 good locations for the telescopes has not equalled the generosity 

 with which they have been given. Political or personal reasons, 

 rather than the most favorable atmospheric conditions, have in 

 almost all cases determined the site. These telescopes have been 

 erected near the capitals of countries or near large universities, 

 instead of in places where the meteorological conditions vvould 

 permit the best results to be obtained. The very conditions of 

 climate which render a country or city great, are often those 

 which are unfavorable to astronomical work. The climate of 

 western Europe and of the eastern portion of the United States is 

 not suited to good astronomical work, and yet these are the very 

 countries where nearly all the largest observatories of the world 

 are situated. The great number of telescopes thus concentrated 

 renders it extremely difficult for a new one to find a useful line 

 of work. The donor may therefore be disappointed to find so 

 small a return for his expenditure, and the opinion has become 

 prevalent that we cannot expect much further progress in astronomy 

 by means of instruments like those now in use. The imperfec- 

 tions of our atmosphere appear to limit our powers, and are more 

 troublesome relatively with a large than with a small telescope. 

 Accordingly, it has not been the policy of the Harvard College 

 Observatory to attempt to obtain a large telescope to he ^rected in 

 Cambridge. In order to secure the greatest possible scientific 

 return for its expenditures, large pieces of routine work have by 

 preference been undertaken, which could be done with smaller 

 instruments. Tliese conditions are now, however, changed. i\. 

 station has been established by this Observatory near Arequipa, in 

 Peru, at an altitude of more than eight thousand feet. During a 

 large part of the year the sky of Arequipa is nearly cloudless. A 



telescope having an aperture of thirteen inches has been erected 

 there, and has shown a remarkable degree of steadiness in the 

 atmosphere. Night after night atmospheric conditions prevail 

 which occur only at rare intervals, if ever, in Cambridge. Several 

 of the diffraction rings surrounding the brighter slars are visible, 

 close doubles in which the components are much less than a 

 second apart are readily separated, and powers can be constantly 

 employed which are so high as to be almost useless in Cambridge. 

 In many researclies the gain is as great as if the aperture of the 

 instrument was doubled. Another important advantage of this 

 station is that, as it is sixteen degrees south of the equator, the 

 southern stars are all visible. A few years ago a list was pub- 

 lished of all the refracting telescopes having an aperture of 9.8 

 inches or more {Sidereal Messenger, 1884, p. 193). Frona this it 

 appears that nearly all of the largest telescopes are north of lati- 

 tude -f- 35°, although this region covers but little more than one- 

 fifth of the entire surface of the earth. None of the seventeen 

 largest and but one of the fifty-three largest telescopes are south 

 of this region. Of the entire list of seventy-four, but four, having 

 diameters of 15, 11, 10, and 10 inches, are south of -t- 35°. The 

 four largest telescopes north of -f 85° have apertures of 36, '30, 

 39. and il inches, respectively. But few telescopes of the largest 

 size have been erected since this list was prepared, and the pro- 

 portion north and south is still about the same. It therefore 

 appears that about one-quarter of the entire sky is either invisible 

 to, or so low that it cannot be advantageously observed by, any 

 large telescope. The Magellanic clouds, the great clusters in 

 Centaurus, Tucana, and Dw-ado, the variable star j? Argus, and the 

 dense portions of the Milky Way, in Scorpius, Argo, and Crux, are 

 included in this neglected region. Moreover, the planet Mars when 

 nearest the earth is always far south. The study of the surface 

 of this and of the other planets is greatly impeded by the unsteadi- 

 ness of the air at most of the existing observatories. Even under 

 the most favorable circumstances startling discoveries — relating, 

 for example, to the existence of inhabitants in the planets — are 

 not to be expected. Still, it is believed that in no other way are 

 we so likely to add to our knowledge of planetary detail as by 

 the plan here proposed. The great aperture and focal length and 

 the steadiness of the air will permit unusually high magnifying 

 powers to be employed, and will give this instrument correspond- 

 ing advantages in many directions, — for instance, in micrometric 

 measures, especially of faint objects. It can be used equally for 

 visual and photographic purposes; and in photographing clusters, 

 small nebulce, double stars, the moon, and the planets, it will 

 have unequalled advantages. 



A series of telescopes of the largest size (including four of the 

 si.x largest, the telescopes of the Lick, Puikowa, U. S. Naval, and 

 McCormick Observatories) has been successfully constructed by 

 the firm of Alvan Clark & Sons. But one member of the firm 

 now survives, Mr. Alvan G. Clark; and he expresses a doubt 

 whether he would be ready to undertake the construction of more 

 than one large telescope in the future. The glass is obtained with 

 difficulty, and often only after a delay of years. A pair of discs 

 of excellent glass suitable for a telescope having an aperture of 

 forty inches have been cast, and can now probably be purchased at 

 cost, 116,000. The expense of grinding and mounting would be 

 $93,000. A suitable building would co,t at least |40,000. If the 

 sum of $300,000 could be provided, it would permit the construc- 

 tion of this telescope, its erection in Peru, and the means of keep- 

 ing it at work for several years. Subsequently, the other funds 

 of this Observatory would secure its permanent employment. 

 Since a station is already established by this Observatory in Peru, 

 a great saving could be effected in supervision and similar ex- 

 penses, which otherwise would render a much larger outlay nec- 

 essary. 



An opportunity is thus offered to a donor to have his name per- 

 manently attached to a refracting telescope which, besides being 

 the largest in the world, would be more favorably situated than 

 almost any other, and would have a field of work comparatively 

 new. The numerous gifts to this Observatory by residents of 

 Boston and its vicinity pi-event the request for a general subscrip- 

 tion; but it is believed that if the matter is properly presented, 

 some wealthy person may be found who would gladly make the 



