May 15, 1885.] 



SCIENCE, 



403 



not reached even the perfection which systems 

 of electrical lighting have attained. 



John Trowbridge. 



DR. GOULD'S WORK AT THE CORDOBA 

 OBSERVATORY. 



[The Boston papers of last week Thursday gave a 

 full account of the complimentary dinner given to 

 Dr. Benjamin A. Gould on his return to this country, 

 after the completion of his long series of observations 

 in the Argentine Republic. We place before our 

 readers that portion of the address made by Dr. 

 Gould after the dinner, which narrates the history of 

 his undertaking, on which he has expended nearly 

 fifteen. years. Want of space prevents our giving the 

 introductory remarks in response to the warm wel- 

 come which he received from his hosts, or the many 

 other excellent addresses upon the occasion.] 



The undertaking began, as you know, with the 

 project of a private astronomical expedition, for which 

 my friends in Boston and vicinity had promised the 

 pecuniary means. The selection of Cordoba as an 

 especially desirable place was chiefly due to our la- 

 mented countryman, Gilliss, whose astronomical mis- 

 sion to Santiago de Chile had resulted in extensive 

 and valuable observations of southern stars, and in 

 the establishment of a national observatory, while it 

 had enabled him to form a sound judgment as to the 

 relative advantages of different points in South Amer- 

 ica for astronomical purposes, notwithstanding the 

 total want of trustworthy meteorological data. This 

 choice of place was confirmed by the counsel of the 

 Argentine minister to this country. That minister 

 was Sarmiento, a man who needs no encomium here; 

 for during his brief residence in the United States 

 he gained an exceptional number of friends and 

 admirers. He transmitted to his government, then 

 under the presidency of Gen. Mitre, my application 

 for certain privileges and assurances, all of which 

 were at once cordially conceded; but his interest in 

 the plan became furthermore so great, that when, 

 soon afterwards, he was himself elected president, he 

 obtained the assent of the Argentine congress to the 

 establishment of a national observatory, and wrote 

 asking me to change my plans accordingly. The 

 official invitation was sent in due time by the minis- 

 ter of public instruction, Dr. Avellaneda. The gov- 

 ernment assumed the expense of the instruments and 

 equipments already bespoken, and authorized the en- 

 gagement of the requisite assistants. 



In 1874 Dr. Avellaneda succeeded Sarmiento in 

 the presidency, and in 1880 he was himself succeeded 

 by Gen. Roca. Thus four successive administrations 

 have encouraged and sustained the undertaking; and 

 notwithstanding the high political excitement which 

 often prevails, and might easily have disinclined the 

 members of any one party to give cordial aid to insti- 

 tutions established or fostered by their opponents, 

 there has never been wanting a spirit of decided 

 friendliness to the observatory, and to the scientific 



interests which have been developed under its au- 

 spices. No president of the nation, and no minister 

 of the department under which the observatory is 

 placed, has failed to give strong practical evidence 

 of his good will. There has been none of them to 

 whom I do not owe a debt of gratitude. I have never 

 made an official request which has not been granted, 

 and in such a way as to enhance the favor. And 

 just as the official founders of the observatory met 

 us with a cordial welcome on our arrival, so the gov- 

 ernment of to-day has overwhelmed me with kind- 

 ness, and tokens of regard, on my departure. On the 

 very last evening before embarking, when it was my 

 privilege to receive the farewells of a crowded assem- 

 blage in the halls of the Argentine geographical 

 institute, and to hear words of sympathy and com- 

 mendation from the lips of Gen. Sarmiento, my 

 earliest Argentine friend, speaking in behalf of that 

 society, I replied in the few words which alone were 

 possible at the time, but with all sincerity and truth- 

 fulness, as follows: — 



" It was you, sir, who provided the opportunity for 

 which I was yearning: it was the Argentine Republic 

 which made it easy for me to avail myself of it. It 

 has been the national government which, in its vari- 

 ous phases, and under so many different administra- 

 tions, always provided all needful means and resources: 

 it is the Argentine people which has accompanied me 

 in my tasks, giving support by their sympathy, and 

 incentive by their kindness." 



The original purpose of the expedition was to 

 make a thorough survey of the southern heavens by 

 observations made in zones between the parallel of 

 30° and the polar circle; but the plan grew, under the 

 influence of circumstances, until the scrutiny com- 

 prised the whole region from the tropic to within ten 

 degrees of the pole, — somewhat more than fifty-seven 

 degrees in width, instead of thirty-seven degrees. 

 And although it was no part of the original design 

 to perform all the numerical computations, and still 

 less to bring the results into the form of a finished 

 catalogue, it has been my exceptional privilege, 

 unique in astronomical history so far as I am 

 aware, to enjoy the means and opportunity for per- 

 sonally supervising all that vast labor, and to see the 

 results published in their definite, permanent form. 

 Of course this has required time. The three years 

 which I had purposed devoting to the less complete 

 work have been drawn out to nearly fifteen ; and you 

 will comprehend what that implies for one who loves 

 the friends of his youth, his kindred, and his coun- 

 try. Yet even here there has been consolation. For, 

 while the work has demanded all that period, it did 

 not absorb the whole time, and opportunity was left 

 for other studies. Among the astronomical ones, it 

 has been possible to examine all the stars as bright 

 as the seventh magnitude, up to 10° of north declina- 

 tion, for careful estimates of their respective bril- 

 liancy, and to reform the arrangement and boundaries 

 of the southern constellations; also to carry out the 

 observations and computations for another stellar 

 catalogue, more exact than that of the zones, and 

 extending over the whole southern hemisphere. The 



