Vol. 6, 1920 
INTERNATIONAL ASTRONOMICAL UNION 
393 
thus create a lack of symmetry and balance in the results for the two hemi- 
spheres which will impose regrettable limitations upon their statistical 
power. This will be unfortunate. There is immediate and serious need 
for increased observing resources in the Southern Hemisphere, based upon 
the use of reflecting telescopes 60 inches and greater in diameter. Organiza- 
tion for this service should be encouraged. It is mutually understood that 
the Victoria, Lick, and Mt. Wilson observatories are prepared to form their 
radial velocity programs in this manner. 
5. Observers equipped with medium-sized telescopes should not hold 
back from radial velocity work because telescopes of much greater power 
are engaged extensively in this field. They should not be misled into assum- 
ing that the relative exposure times vary inversely as the areas of the ob- 
jectives of the telescopes; under average atmospheric conditions the ex- 
posures are more nearly as the inverse diameters of the objectives. The 
instruments of medium power may find much useful work to do in observ- 
ing the brighter stars of Classes O, B and A, whose spectra contain few and 
broadened lines, with reduced dispersion ; and many such stars are waiting 
observation. 
6. The investigation of spectroscopic binaries is a field in which more 
workers may find fruitful employment. This is especially true of the south- 
ern sky. There is need for the application of reflecting telescopes to fur- 
ther study of spectroscopic binary stars in whose spectra the K line of 
calcium varies but slightly in wave-length. There are, of course, many 
other minor problems to which radial velocity methods could be applied 
with promise or certainty of valuable results. 
7. Consideration should be given to questions of wave-lengths and 
methods, to insure that results obtained at all observatories be homoge- 
neous, comparable and reducible to one system. This principle should apply 
not only to bright stars of a given spectral class, but to bright and faint 
stars of the same class as observed with spectrographs of widely different 
dispersions, and as far as possible to stars of all the different spectral 
classes. 
8. There exist at various observatories a great number of spectro- 
grams obtained primarily for radial velocity determinations. We recom- 
mend that these spectrograms be utilized for estimates of the absolute 
magnitudes of the corresponding stars, and therefrom the spectroscopic 
parallaxes of these stars. 
W. W. CampbklIv, Chairman, Wai^ter S. Adams, J. S. Plaskett. 
REPORT OF THE COMMITTEE ON REFORM OF THE CALENDAR 
I 
At this very unsettled time in the world's history all sorts of reformers, 
wise and otherwise, are springing up advocating changes in all sorts of 
