22 



REPORT OF THE SECRETARY. 



collection. It will also contain, in an appendix, a catalogue of scientific 

 periodicals, with the date of publication of each volume, compiled under 

 the auspices of the Smithsonian Institution, by Dr. H. Carringtou Bolton, 

 of the Columbia College School of Mines, New York. 



TELEGRAPHIC ANNOUNCEMENT OF ASTRONOMICAL DISCOVERIES. 



The important arrangement which was concluded between the Smith- 

 sonian Institution and the Atlantic cable companies in 1873, by which 

 free telegraphic transmission of astronomical discoveries was granted 

 between Europe and America, has been continued during the past year. 

 The number of announcements, however, has not been as great as during 

 the previous year. 



The following list comprises the asteroids discovered in 1874 : 



No. 



Name. 



Discoverer. 



Date. 



135 

 136 

 137 



138 

 139 

 140 



Hertha . 

 Austria . 

 Melibcea 

 Tolosa.. 



Siwa ... 



C. H. F. Peters, at Clinton, N. Y 



M. Palisa, at Pola 



M. Palisa, at Pola 



M. Perrotin, at Toulouse 



J. C. Watson 



M. Palisa, at Pola 



February 18, 1874. 

 March 18,1874. 

 April 21, 1874. 

 May 19, 1874. 

 Oct. 10, 1874. 

 Oct. 13, 1874. 



Eight comets have been detected during the past year. 



No. 



Discoverer. 



Date. 



Winnecke, at Strasburg 

 W-inuecke, at Strasburg 

 Coggia, at Marseilles . . . 

 Borelly, at Marseilles . . . 

 Coggia, at Marseilles... 

 Borelly, at Marseilles . . . 



February 20, 1874. 

 April 11, 1874. 

 April 17, 1874. 

 July 25, 1874. 

 August 19, 1874. 

 December 6, 1874. 



These comets, except No. 3, were strictly telescopic. 



The number of amateur astronomers in the United States who are pro- 

 vided with telescopes of sufficient power to detect minute heavenly 

 bodies is every year increasing, and the discovery of new comets and 

 asteroids offers an interesting field for their cultivation. The plan 

 adopted by Professor Watson, of Ann Arbor, furnishes a definite 

 means for the discovery of asteroids. It consists in studying with great 

 minuteness a narrow band in the heavens, of two or three degrees in 

 width, extending at right angles to the ecliptic, twenty degrees or 

 more on each side. At some time in the revolution of an asteroid 

 around the sun it must pass through this band, and, if each fixed 

 star in this circumscribed space be accurately mapped and its relative 

 place be made familiar to the observer, any new object which presents 

 itself within this area may be readily detected. 



