April 17, I9(i3.] 



SCIENCE. 



609 



especially pressing here, on account of our 

 unusual isolation. 



The shops at the Lick Observatory were 

 entirely inadequate for their purpose, and 

 I decided to utilize the first available funds 

 for their proper equipment. The thought- 

 ful generosity of Mrs. Hearst, regent of 

 the university, has enabled me to com- 

 plete them sooner than was expected. 



The observatory early in 1901 began to 

 publish the results of its observations in 

 the Lick Observatory Bulletin. The ear- 

 lier papers by members of the staff had 

 appeared in various astronomical journals. 

 While this plan relieved the university of 

 expense and considerable labor, yet the 

 vexatious delays sometimes occurring in 

 the issue of important papers, and the ap- 

 pearance of the papers in so many me- 

 diums, were serious objections. The new 

 plan has worked well. The bulletins have 

 been supplied gratis to other observatories, 

 to academies of sciences, and to the prin- 

 cipal investigators. 



The observatory library is growing rap- 

 idly, as far as groAvth by exchange of pub- 

 lications is concerned, but early volumes 

 of several scientific periodicals, early vol- 

 umes of observatory reports now obtain- 

 able only from second-hand dealers, and 

 many standard books, both old and recent, 

 are greatly needed. It is planned to sup- 

 ply a few of the most pressing of these 

 needs in the near future from the funds 

 provided by Mrs. Hearst. The library 

 contains about 5,000 volumes and 4,800 

 pamphlets. 



It was Director Keeler's purpose to se- 

 cure with the Crossley Reflector, satisfac- 

 tory photographs of about one hundred 

 of the principal nebulffi and star clusters. 

 The portions of his program available 

 for observation in our clear summer 

 weather were practically complete at the 

 time of his death, but those in position 

 during the cloudy winter months were in- 



complete. We have made it a duty to 

 carry on this work as rapidly as possible. 

 As soon as satisfactory negatives of all the 

 objects have been obtained, the results 

 should be published in the best possible 

 manner. 



Visitors continue to come to Mt. Hamil- 

 ton in great numbers, aggregating about 

 five or six thousand per annum. Provi- 

 sion is made for explaining to them the 

 principal features of the observatory in 

 the day time, and for permitting them to 

 look through the thirty-six-inch and 

 twelve-inch equatorials on Saturday 

 nights. In nearly all cases these privileges 

 are appreciated. This work is useful in 

 many ways, perhaps most of all in its re- 

 semblance to instruction along university 

 extension lines. 



The daily service of accurate time sig- 

 nals to the Southern Pacific Company has 

 been continued. The signals sounding in 

 all the offices of the system are available 

 to the inhabitants of the regions traversed 

 by their lines: north to Portland, east to 

 Ogden, and south to El Paso. 



The total value of gifts to the observa- 

 tory in the period covered by this report 

 has been $35,200. 



Through the continued generosity of Mr. 

 William H. Crocker, a well-equipped ex- 

 pedition, in charge of Acting Astronomer 

 Perrine, accompanied by Assistant Ralph 

 H. Curtiss, sailed from San Francisco in 

 February, 1901, to observe the total solar 

 eclipse of May 18, on the west coast of 

 Sumatra. The ten instruments were duly 

 mounted and placed in perfect adjustment. 

 Fifteen volunteer assistants, Dutch resi- 

 dents in Sumatra, were trained to their du- 

 ties, and the entire program of photo- 

 graphic exposures outlined for the expedi- 

 tion went through without a hitch. All 

 went well, save that the eclipsed sun was 

 obscured at the beginning of totality by 

 thin clouds, which gradually thickened 



