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SCIENCE. 



[N. S. Vol. XVII. No. 436. 



Good Hope have been measured by Kap- 

 teyn, and have given us the 'Cape Photo- 

 graphic Durehmusterung, ' which contains 

 454,875 stars from —19° to the South 

 Pole. The errors in right ascension, of 

 the positions in the Durchmusterungs of 

 Argelander, Schbnfeld and Thome, are 

 about 9", 6" and 7", respectively. The 

 corresponding errors in declination are 

 26", 10" and 14". The errors in the ' Cape 

 Durehmusterung' are only about 3" in 

 each coordinate. 



Professor Kapteyn, notwithstanding the 

 long and laborious work he did gratui- 

 tously on the 'Cape Durehmusterung,' is 

 willing to undertake the supervision of a 

 similar catalogue of the northern stars, 

 thus completing the work for the entire 

 sky. Of course his past experience ren- 

 ders him the one man especially fitted for 

 this work, which he could carry out in 

 Holland so economically that it is probable 

 the work could be completed by the ex- 

 penditure of $25,000 during the next ten 

 years. 



The catalogue would contain about 900,- 

 000 stars, and would occupy ten quarto 

 volumes of 300 pages each. Professor 

 Kapteyn also believes that with a new 

 measuring engine, which would cost $2,000, 

 the errors could be reduced from 3" to 1". 

 The cost of reduction would thus be in- 

 creased, but by an amount which could 

 be closely estimated before the work was 

 undertaken. This is perhaps the most ad- 

 vantageous expenditure of money for as- 

 tronomical purposes that can be made at 

 the present time. ■ The donor would be 

 sure of the constant remembrance and 

 gratitude of future astronomers. The 

 matter is so important that this observa- 

 tory would undertake to contribute with- 

 out charge all the photographs needed, as 

 its share of the enterprise. 



As another illustration, the Georgetown 

 College Observatory is about to establish 

 a southern station in Rhodesia, South 

 Africa. Father Goetz, S.J., will take 

 charge of this work, and is now on his 

 way. For $3,000 a twelve-inch telescope 

 can be purchased, mounted and used, so 

 that the excellent catalogues and charts of 

 variable stars, completed for northern re- 

 gions by Father Hagen, could be extended 

 to the South Pole. As the cost of a first- 

 class twelve-inch lens alone is about $3,000, 

 we may regard the mounting, observatory 

 and time of the observer as gratuitous 

 contributions. 



If donors could be found who would 

 carry out such schemes as these, it is be- 

 lieved that the supremacy of the United 

 States in astronomy might be placed on a 

 foundation as secure as its industrial su- 

 premacy is in any department of work. 



In brief, it is proposed to establish an 

 institution in connection with the Harvard 

 Observatory, whose aim should be to ad- 

 vance astronomy as much as possible by 

 making appropriations under the combined 

 advice of the leading astronomers of the 

 country. Much attention would be paid 

 to neglected subjects, especially to those 

 which can not be provided for by later ob- 

 servations, to secure for persons properly 

 qualified the use of powerful telescopes 

 now idle and therefore useless, and, in 

 general, to secure for the person best quali- 

 fied for any given research the best possible 

 means of carrying it on. It would provide 

 means for cooperation, and would aim at 

 the advancement of astronomy, regardless 

 of country or any personal considerations. 

 The cost of this plan, if fully carried out, 

 would be less than that of a first-class ob- 

 servatory, and it could be fairly tried for 

 a short time, at a moderate expense. For 

 success, it must be wholly unselfish, and, 

 this condition permanently secured, the 



