578 



SCIENCE. 



[N. S. Vol. XI. No. 276. 



Moore continued to collect the birds of the 

 islands where we anchored, and they have 

 brought together a fairly typical collection 

 of the avifauna of the South Sea Islands. 

 Dr. Prj'or collected the characteristic plants, 

 and Dr. Mayer the insects and reptiles in 

 addition to such pelagic work as could be 

 done in port. Both Dr. Woodworth and 

 Dr. Mayer took a large number of photo- 

 graphs, and we must have at least 900 

 views illustrating the coral reefs of the 

 Pacific. Dr. Woodworth also collected in- 

 cidentally such ethnological material as 

 could readily be obtained during our short 

 stay at different places. 



We were everywhere received with the 

 greatest cordiality and courtesy : by the 

 Governor of the Paumotus, the King of 

 Tonga, Sir George O'Brien (the High Com- 

 missioner of the Western Pacific at Suva) , 

 Mr. E. Brandeis (the Landes-Hauptman 

 in charge of the Marshall Islands at Jaluit), 

 and the Governor of the Carolines. The 

 State Depai'tment at Washington having 

 kindly asked through the French, English 

 and German Embassies at Washington for 

 the kind oflces of the representatives of 

 these nations in Oceania to the Albatross 

 while in their respective precincts, thanks 

 to these credentials nothing could exceed 

 the interest shown everywhere in the suc- 

 cess of our expedition. 



I must also thank Capt. Moser and the 

 officers of the Albatross for the untiring in- 

 terest shown by them during the whole 

 time of our expedition in the work of the 

 ship, which was so foreign to the usual 

 duties of a naval ofiicer. A. Agassiz. 



THE PRESENT STATE OF PROGRESS OF THE 

 NEW REDUCTION OF PIAZZPS STAR 

 OBSERVATIONS.* 

 Between the years 1791 and 1814, Giu- 

 seppe Piazzi executed at Palermo, Sicily, 

 *Summary of a paper read before the Philosophical 

 Society of Washington on March 31, 1900. 



the series of observations which enabled 

 him to publish in 1814 his Pracipuariim 

 Stellarum Inerranttum Positiones Media ineunte 

 ScEciilo XIX. This was by far the most ac- 

 curate and extensive catalogue of stars 

 which had ever been published from origi- 

 nal observations. But modern advances in 

 this sphere of astronomical research have 

 been fruitful in detecting many sources of 

 error affecting the positions of stars as given 

 in this catalogue. Methods for obviating 

 these errors are known, however, provided 

 there should be an entirely new reduction 

 of all the observations — proceeding directly 

 from each nightly record. 



Several abortive attempts to supply this 

 need of astronomy have been made during 

 the last half-century. The impetus was 

 given to the present undertaking by the 

 writer in the summer of 1895, though the 

 calculations were not actually begun until 

 the fall of 1896. 



Quotations from letters from such emi- 

 nent astronomers as Professor Auwers, Dr. 

 David Gill, Professor Schiaparelli, and 

 others ; and from the published works of 

 Professor Simon ISTewcomb, Professor Lewis 

 Boss, Dr. B. A. Gould and many others, 

 show the imperative need of such a new 

 reduction of Piazzi's observations. 



In planning a work of this kind, after re- 

 gard for general methods the first considera- 

 tion becomes the quantity of work in- 

 volved — as on that depends the financial 

 outlay and the best disposition of energy. 

 Some data on this point may be of in- 

 terest. 



The observations were made with two in- 

 struments : a transit instrument and a me- 

 ridian circle. The catalogue records a few 

 more than 147,600 observations with both 

 telescopes. Of these Piazzi * himself es- 

 timated that 30,009 were made with the 

 transit. The original observations are in 



* Corrispondenza Astronomica fra Giuseppe Piazzi 

 e Barnaba Oriani— letter of 26 May, 1815. 



