378 



SCIENCE. 



the past application of money to the advance of science is 

 obtained, use should be made of it to point out the mis- 

 takes of the past and the lessons for the future. It is now- 

 patent to all who have made a wide study of the subject 

 that large amounts have been either wasted or applied in 

 ways not the most effective in the erection and outfit of 

 astronomical observatories. Since Tycho Brahe built 

 his great establishment at Uraniburg, astronomical re- 

 search has been associated in the public mind with lofty 

 observatories and great telescopes. Whenever a mon- 

 arch has desired to associate his name with science, he 

 has designed an observatory proportional to the magni- 

 tude of his ambition, fitted it out with instruments on a 

 corresponding scale, and then rested in serene satisfaction. 

 If we measure greatness by cubic yards, then Peter the 

 Great and " Le Grand Monarque " were the founders of 

 two of the greatest observatories ever built. That of St. 

 Petersburg was completed in 1725, the year of Peter's 

 death, and was an edifice of two hundred and twenty-five 

 feet front, with central towers one hundred and forty feet 

 high. It had three tiers of galleries on the outside for 

 observation, and was supplied with nearly every instru- 

 ment known to the astronomers of the time, without ref- 

 erence to the practicability of finding observers to use 

 them. It was nearly destroyed by fire in 1747, but was 

 partially rebuilt, and now forms part of the building oc- 

 cupied by the Imperial Academy of Sciences. The Paris 

 Observatory, built halt a century earlier, still stands, its 

 massive walls and arched ceilings reminding one rather 

 of a fortress than of an astronomical institution. 



Notwithstanding the magnificence of these structures, 

 they have had little essential connection with the progress 

 of astronomy. It is true that the work done at both es- 

 tablishments takes a prominent place in the history of 

 science, but most of it could have been done equally well 

 under wooden sheds erected for the protection of the in- 

 struments from the weather. In recent times, the St. 

 Petersburg Observatory has been found so unsuitable for 

 its purpose that no observation of real value can be 

 made, and its existence has been nearly forgotten. The 

 great building at Paris, though associated with a series 

 of astronomical researches second to none in the world, 

 has really served scarcely any other purpose than those of 

 a physical laboratory, store-house and offices. The more 

 important observations have always been made in the 

 surrounding garden, or in inexpensive wings or other 

 structures erected for the purpose. 



With these establishments it will be instructive to com- 

 pare the Greenwich Observatory. The latter has never 

 won the title of great. It was originally established on 

 the most modest scale, for the special purpose of making 

 such observations as would conduce to the determination 

 of the longitude at sea. Although it has now entered 

 upon its third century, no attempt has ever been made to 

 reconstruct it on a grand scale. Whenever any part of 

 it was found insufficient for its purpose, new rooms were 

 built for the special object in view, and thus it has been 

 growing from the beginning by a process as natural and 

 simple as that of the growth of a tree. Even now, the 

 money value of its structure is less than that of several 

 other public observatories, although it eclipses them all 

 in the results of its work. Haeckel lays it down as a 

 general law of research that the amount of original in- 

 vestigation actually prosecuted by a scientific institution 

 is inversely proportional to its magnitude. Although this 

 may be regarded as a humorous exaggeration, it teaches 

 what the history of science shows to be a valuable lesson. 



A glance at the number and work of the astronomical 

 observatories of the present time will show how great a 

 waste of mean* has been suffered in their erection and 

 management. The last volume of the " American Ephe- 

 meris " contains a list of nearly 150 observatories, sup- 

 posed to be, or to have recently been, in a state of 

 " astronomical activity." The number omitted because 

 they have lain inactive it is impossible to estimate ; but 1 



it is not unlikely that, in this country at least, they are as 

 numerous as those retained. It is safe to say that nearly 

 everything of considerable value which has been done by 

 all these establishments could have been better done by 

 two or three well-organized observatories in each of the 

 principal civilized countries. Indeed, if we leave out of 

 account local benefits, such as the distribution of time, 

 the instruction of students, and the entertainment of the 

 public, it will be found that nearly all the astronomical 

 researches of really permanent value have been made at 

 a very small number of these institutions. The most use- 

 ful branch of astronomy has hitherto been that which, 

 treating of the positions and motions of the heavenly 

 bodies, is practically applied to the determination of geo- 

 graphical positions on land and at sea. The Greenwich 

 Observatory has, during the past century, been so far the 

 largest contributor in this direction as to give rise to the 

 remark that, if this branch of astronomy were entirely 

 lost, it could be reconstructed from the Greenwich obser- 

 vations alone. During the past twenty years, the four 

 observatories at Greenwich, Pulkowa, Paris and Wash- 

 ington have been so far the largest contributors to what 

 we may call geometrical astronomy that, in this particu- 

 lar direction, the work of the hundred others, in the 

 northern hemisphere at least, can be regarded only as 

 subsidiary. 



This remark, it will be understood, applies only to that 

 special branch of astronomy which treats of the posiiions 

 and motions of the heavenly bodies. The other great 

 branch of the science treats of the aspect and physical 

 constitution of these bodies. It dates from the invention 

 of the telescope, because, without this instrument and its 

 accessories, no detailed study of the heavenly bodies is 

 possible. The field open to the telescope has, during the 

 last twenty years, been immensely widened by the intro- 

 duction of the spectroscope, the ultimate results of which 

 it is scarcely possible to appreciate. Photography has 

 recently been introduced as an accessory to both instru- 

 ments; but this is not so much an independent instru- 

 ment of research as a means of recording the results of 

 the spectroscope and telescope. To this branch of the 

 science a great number of observatories, public and pri- 

 vate, have duly contributed, but, as we shall presently see, 

 the ratio of results to means is far less than it would have 

 been had their work all been done on a well-organized 

 system. 



Nearly all great public observatories have hitherto 

 been constructed for the purpose of pursuing the first 

 branch of the science, — that which concerns itself, so to 

 speak, with the geometry of the heavens. This was nat- 

 urally the practice before the spectroscope opened up so 

 new and rich a field. . Even now, there is one sound rea- 

 son for adhering to this practice — namely, that physical 

 investigations, however made, must be the work of indi- 

 viduals, rather than of establishments. There is no need 

 of a great and expensive institution for the prosecution 

 of spectroscopic observations. The man of genius with 

 imperfect instruments will outdo the man of routine in 

 the greatest building, with the most perfect appliances 

 that wealth can supply. The combination of qualities 

 which insures success in such endeavors is so rare that 

 it is never safe to count upon securing it. Hence, even 

 now, a great observatory for the prosecution of physical 

 research would be a somewhat hazardous experiment, 

 unless the work it was to do were well mapped out 

 beforehand. 



Considering the great mass of observatories devoted 

 to geometrical astronomy, the first thing to strike the 

 professional student of their work is their want of means 

 for a really useful and long-continued activity ; and this 

 notwithstanding that their instrumental equipment may 

 be all that could be required. The reason is that their 

 founders have not sufficiently taken into account the fact 

 that the support of astronomers and the publication of 

 observations is necessary to the usefulness of such an 



