Page:Popular Science Monthly Volume 58.djvu/674

666 other officers will be selected with equal wisdom.

establishment of a National Bureau of Standards was the most important scientific measure passed by Congress, but scientific work in many directions was enlarged by increased appropriations, especially in the U. S. Geological Survey and in the U. S. Department of Agriculture. In the latter a reorganization was effected, a number of divisions being united to form four bureaus—Plant Industry, Forestry, Chemistry and Soils. The chiefs of these bureaus receive salaries of $3,000, an increase of $500, and the salaries of some of the scientific experts are increased. Congress did not, however, find time to attend to the affairs of the U. S. Naval Observatory. An amendment was introduced in the naval appropriation bill by Senator Chandler which creates a board of visitors and requires the superintendent to be a line officer of the navy. So far from being a reform, this is distinctly a backward step. The board of visitors which has been created has no power, and with this board, the naval officer, who is superintendent, and the astronomical director, the Observatory has no real head. This amendment was rejected by the House of Representatives, but, after strenuous resistance by the House conferees, was finally passed, with a proviso that the present state of affairs should continue only 'until further legislation by Congress.' It is to be hoped that this legislation will not be long delayed and that the bill introduced by Senator Morgan will be passed at the next session of Congress. In the meanwhile the unfortunate state of affairs at the Observatory is emphasized by the fact that the superintendent has placed the astronomical director under arrest for trial by court martial, owing, it is alleged, to his having used influence against the superintendent.

star has appeared in the constellation Perseus. It is the most striking object of its class which has been seen for three centuries. Its position is, R. A. 3h. 24m. 24s., Dec. North, 43° 33' 42", which is near that of the famous bright variable star, Persei (Algol). This Nova was discovered and announced by Anderson, of Edinburgh, and when found by him on the night of February 21 was of about the third magnitude. By the following night it had risen to the first magnitude and was one of the brightest stars in the evening sky. Such an object, in an especially well-observed region of the sky, could not easily escape notice, and it was independently discovered by probably a dozen observers in different countries. At the Harvard Observatory a careful record is kept of the sky from week to week by means of photographs, which are taken at frequent intervals. Some of these photographs are made with lenses of such short focal length and wide field that the whole sky would be covered by about fifty plates. The announcement of the Nova was received there February 22. The latest photographs of the region of Perseus had been made on the night of February 19. One of these showed stars as faint as the eleventh magnitude, but the Nova did not appear upon it. On February 19, therefore, it was fainter, at least, than the eleventh magnitude. On February 21 its magnitude was 2.7, but by February 25 it had fallen to 1.1. At the present time (March 9) it is of about the fourth magnitude and may be expected to disappear from view by the naked eye within a few days. The astronomical world is to-day so well equipped for research in the line of spectrum analysis and the present object is so suitable for such investigation that we may expect a more satisfactory study of this new star than has ever before been obtained of any similar object. There will doubtless be abundant materials for learning the smallest changes during a portion of the life history of this star; but, for the period of the increase of light, from the instant it became visible till it reached its maximum, the observations may prove to be few. On this account it is fortunate that at the