May 8, 1903. J 



SCIENCE. 



727 



these plans as commend themselves to him, 

 reserving the right to omit all others. If 

 the list of applications received seems 

 worthy of it, he will publish and distribute 

 it to possible donors, and will endeavor to 

 secure its publication elsewhere. He will 

 also bring such applications as commend 

 themselves to him to the attention of the 

 officers in charge of the following research 

 funds, with which he is officially connected : 



Rumford Fund of the American Academy. Prin- 

 cipal, $52,000. Income available to aid American 

 investigators in light and heat. 



Elizabeth Thompson Science Fund. Principal, 

 $26,000. Income available for investigators of 

 all countries in all departments of science. Ap- 

 propriations seldom exceed $300. 



Henry Draper Fund of the National Academy. 

 Principal, $6,000. Accumulated income April 15, 

 1902, $1,515.99. Available for investigations in 

 astronomical physics, by citizens of the United 

 States. 



Advancement of Astronomical Science Fund of 

 the Harvard College Observatory. Principal, 

 $70,000, of which $10,000 is now available as 

 stated above. Income may be used for astrono- 

 mers of any country. 



When we consider the great sums at the 

 disposal of the trustees of the Carnegie 

 Institution, and the large unexpended bal- 

 ances of the various research funds of the 

 National Academy, it is not probable that 

 any really worthy investigation requiring 

 only a few hundred dollars for its execu- 

 tion need fail for want of such a sum. 



There is another direction in which the 

 writer believes that a great astronomical 

 return could be obtained for a reasonable 

 expenditure of money, some of which is 

 already available. There are, in the 

 United States, many telescopes of large 

 size, which are now in use during only a 

 small portion of every clear night. It is 

 believed that in many cases advanced stu- 

 dents in astronomy wovild be glad to under- 

 take systematic observations with such in- 

 struments, for a salary equivalent to a 



fellowship. They would thus be enabled 

 to continue their studies, and at the same 

 time make valuable additions to our knowl- 

 edge of astronomy. 



Larger investigations may be carried on 

 by the Carnegie Institution, or by private 

 gift. For such investigations the under- 

 signed offers assistance to prospective 

 donors, if they desire it. He will, in that 

 case, secure for them the opinions of the 

 leading astronomers of the country, re- 

 garding any proposed investigation. A 

 wealthy man, when making a large invest- 

 ment in an industrial enterprise with 

 which he is not familiar, would always 

 obtain the opinion of an expert, for which 

 he would often pay a large sum. How 

 much more important is it in a subject like 

 astronomy, with which he is likely to be 

 still less familiar, that he should learn the 

 views, which would be given freely and 

 without charge, of the principal experts 

 in the country who have devoted their en- 

 tire lives to the consideration of these sub- 

 jects. 



It is believed that there are many cases 

 where great results could be obtained from 

 a relatively small expenditure. This is 

 illustrated by the following examples: 



A Northern Photographic Durchmuster- 

 img.—One of the greatest astronomical 

 enterprises of the nineteenth century was 

 the -Northern Durchmusterung' of Arge- 

 lander. This consists of a catalogue giv- 

 ing the approximate places and magnitudes 

 of 324,189 stars, north of declination —2°, 

 or practically north of the equator. This 

 has been extended by his successor, Schon- 

 feld, to declination — 23°, including 133,- 

 659 stars, and successively to — 32°, 179,- 

 800 stars, —42°, 160,415 stars, and —52°, 

 149,447 stars, by Thome at the Cordoba 

 Observatory, where its extension to the 

 South Pole is now in progress. Meanwhile, 

 photographs taken by Gill at the Cape of 



