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the death of Professor William Harkness, U. S. N., America loses one of the group of scientific men who have given this country high rank in its contributions to astronomy. While Harkness may not have made brilliant discoveries, he accomplished a large amount of painstaking work, and had an important share in the

expeditions of the U. S. Naval Observatory and in arranging its equipment. He was born in Scotland in 1838, his father being a clergyman. He was educated at Lafayette College and Rochester University and studied medicine in New York City, being for a time surgeon during the civil war. He was appointed aid in the U. S. Naval Observatory in 1 802, and his connection with this institution