878 



SCIENCE. 



[N. S. Vol. XIV. No. 362. 



consistent with the routine needs of the 

 institution, the duties of the computers 

 should be so arranged as to encourage them 

 to prepare for advancement within the Ob- 

 servatory itself. The positions of piece- 

 work and of regular computers are essen- 

 tially of the same nature, and promotion 

 from one of these grades to the other may 

 very properly be made, but always on the 

 basis of merit rather than length of service. 

 In no case should appointments be made to 

 the Observatory merely by transfer from 

 other bureaus or offices in the service, nor 

 should appointments ever be made even 

 temporarily without competitive examina- 

 tion. 



ASSISTANT ASTRONOMERS. 



In accordance with the principles herein 

 stated, instead of recommending the name 

 of a person to fill the vacancy now existing 

 among the assistant astronomers at the 

 Naval Observatory, we recommend that an 

 examination be held with the assistance of 

 the Civil Service Commission, in accordance 

 with an announcement, a copy of which 

 accompanies this report as Exhibit A, the 

 examiners to be the members of the Board 

 of Visitors for the time being. In order to 

 carry this out, it is requested that Depart- 

 mental Order No. 14 be so modified that 

 employees of the Naval Observatory may 

 have the same right to apply as other per- 

 sons. 



ADMINISTRATION OP THE OBSERVATORY. 



We desire to call attention to the fact 

 that the enactment which created the Board 

 of Visitors provides that " the Superin- 

 tendent of the Naval Observatory shall be, 

 until further legislation by Congress, a line 

 officer of the Navy of a rank not below that 

 of captain," thus implying that a change 

 in the law is in contemplation. As every 

 other prominent observatory is under the 

 direction of an astronomer, we wish to 

 record our deliberate and unanimous judg- 

 ment that the law should be changed so as 



to provide that the official head of the Ob- 

 servatory — perhaps styled simply ' the di- 

 rector ' — should be an eminent astronomer 

 appointed by the President, by and with 

 the advice and consent of the Senate, hold- 

 ing this place by a tenure at least as per- 

 manent as that of the superintendent of the 

 Coast Survey, or the head of the Geological 

 Survey, and not merely by a detail of two 

 or three years' duration. Only in this way 

 can there be a continuous and effective 

 policy of administration which will insure 

 astronomical work of a high order. In 

 rank, salary, privilege and prestige he 

 should be superior to any other official on 

 the ground. 



The limitation in the selection of assist- 

 ants should also be removed, and the as- 

 sistant once appointed should be secure 

 against detachment or removal except by 

 the action, for cause, of the director. 



The institution should be related to the 

 Navy Department, if continued under its 

 control, in some such way as the Eoyal 

 Observatory at Greenwich is related to the 

 British Admiralty. It should be put 

 under the control of the Secretary directly, 

 and not through a bureau as at present. 



SCOPE AND PLAN OF WORK. 



The relation of the United States Naval 

 Observatory to astronomy is unlike that of 

 any other observatory in the country. A 

 private observatory is usually devoted to a 

 special line of work selected by its director, 

 or by the head of one of its departments. 

 This work is then carried on in the manner 

 and in the special directions chosen by the 

 officer in charge. The Naval Observatory, 

 on the other hand, is maintained at the 

 expense of all the people of the United 

 States, and its work should not be entirely 

 determined by the wishes and interests of 

 any one individual ; a principal use should 

 be to supply the wants of astronomy by 

 undertaking researches which have been 



