Page:Percival Lowell - an afterglow.djvu/147

An Afterglow

That was a nice note of Sunday last. Now what you want is news from here. The skeletons of our recent successes you have been sent at once: first the determining of the previousness of the Fastigium Aryan showing the ephemeris wrong (called away here to see Venus) then the detection of the rotation periods of Tethys and Dione; lastly what I arranged for and hoped I might succeed in but doubted. You will remember our letters and telegrams out here—seeing the Canals with the full aperture of the 40 in. The latter was difficult but—there they were by diligent looking. You shall have prints of both my and Mr. E. C. S.'s drawings. This was the night before Professor Willson arrived, since then no seeing to speak of and a great snow storm.—Nevertheless he has seen many Canals ill and one Canal well. He feels he is getting on. He always believed but is now seeing for himself. The blue belt about the shrinking cap was one thing he particularly wished to see and that he has seen. He has been exorcising the imps who make bad seeing and is happy and calm. 111