REPORTS FROM THE SECTIONS. 229 
Notes on Observatories in the United States. 
By W. J. MacDonnett, F.R.A.S. 
[Read before the Astronomical Section, 2 August, 1878.]} 
with me whilst I make a few remarks on the subject. To the 
student of astronomy in Australia the lesson taught by the past 
experience of the States is one of great interest, and one from which 
we ought to gain much in advancing our favourite science. 
The progress of astronomy in North America was at first very 
stow. No results worthy of record are noted during the eighteenth 
century, with the exception, perhaps, of a few observations of the 
transit of Venus, 1769; and, in spite of the advocacy of John 
Quincy Adams and others, Congress was decidedly opposed to the 
io or maintenance of a permanent astronomical observa- 
0 
the Hudson Observatory, Western R 
and the Philadelphia High School, 1840, and the first State observa- 
in the States, and Congress withdrawing its objections, the mag- 
ington (now known as the 
al 
little more than thirty years have elapsed since its existence, it now 
: as a worthy peer of the grand observatories of Europe, and 
1s a brilliant instance of the commendable perseverance towards 
Success of American astronomers. I will now pass on to the erec- 
g astronomical works ever printed). The enthusiasm 
raised b co s was promptly availed of by 
Mitchell, and a Cincinnati Astrono i , the 
object of which was to furnish the city with an observatory. 
$11,0 , in shares of $25 each, were subscribed, a site was given 
by a citizen, and Mitchell was deputed to visit Europe for the 
