90 Henry Draper — Astronomical Observations 



and Wahsatch range, I thought it desirable to carry a telescope 

 with a view of ascertaining whether there would be sufficient 

 inducement to return with my twelve-inch achromatic or twenty- 

 eight-inch reflector and make a prolonged stay. The experience 

 which Professor Young had had at Sherman station, on the 

 Union Pacific Eailroad, left the question open, for he suffered 

 from an unusually cloudy season, and, while he obtained very 

 gratifying results', he seems on the whole to have been disap- 

 pointed with the character of the atmosphere. 



As the region into which the party proposed to go was diffi- 

 ! and entirely without roads and much of the 

 to be on horseback, through fallen timber and 

 up precipitous places, it was not feasible to take an instrument 

 of any great size. I therefore contented myself with a small 

 achromatic of unusual excellence. Though of only one and 

 one-quarter inches aperture, it bears a power of upwards of 

 sixty completely, and I think would carry one hundred. It 

 was provided with a short brass tripod, holding an altitude 

 and azimuth movement, giving both steadiness and smoothness 

 of action. The eye-piece was capable of adjustment by a rack 

 and pinion, and the object glass was so arranged in its cell as to 

 be free from injurious compression. This little lens stands the 

 severe tests invented by Foucault, and in spite of its size is 

 capable of doing good work. 



In such observations on the atmosphere as those proposed 

 during this trip, it is obvious that there are mainly two points 

 to be considered : first, freedom from tremor, and second, trans- 

 parency. A station which combines both is most desirable, but 

 a marked predominance of steadiness gives special advantages 

 for celestial photography while increase of transparency even 

 if accompained by unsteadiness is of value in eye observa- 

 tions. I had been led to suppose, from conversations with 

 Government officers and persons connected with the geological 

 and geographical surveys of the Territories, that the Wahsatch 

 range, which is intermediate between the Sierra Nevada on the 

 west and the true Rocky Mountains on the east, would offer 

 the greatest advantages. This supposition turned out to be 

 altogether incorrect, though it might have been argued that a 

 high range flanked at a distance on either side by other higher 

 ranges should have given the maximum chance for cloudless 

 and still skies. 



We first went to Salt Lake City, which, according to the 

 Casella aneroid I carried, is at an elevation of 4,650 feet above 

 the sea. It lies at the foot of the Wahsatch range. At eleven 

 o'clock on the evening of arrival, August 25th, I took some 

 observations from the hotel, after carefully centering the object- 

 glass. Saturn looked about the same as on an ordinary 



