Page:Science vol. 5.djvu/253

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��profound tiiiths rcora theiinitisan lestimom- of each wilnosB.

The most expensive and i]U|)ortaiit of lUe otganizKtioaa studied hy the commission is the sign sl-ser vice ; and considerable interest nt' (ached to the teslimouy of Professor Abbe.

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��tliat the proper interpretation of all and even of his owD testimony affords hd unanswerable argument against a purelj' military adminis- tratioD, und rather iu favor of a purely civilian business and scientitlc one. The committee has evidently failed to obtain an espoaition of the arctiinienti fnr nnd :vs:\'ui'\ the t>i-iM^nl

���sciences, as il was jioped he would contribute facts favoring its transfer to a civiliaa sci- entiGc bureau. It is difficult to believe thai he does not appreciate the strong arguments on this side of the question ; but, like most gOA'ernment employees, he has chosen to con- aider Uie commission as an i^gressive body, inquisitive as to whether the laws of congress have been properly carried out by Ills branch of the executive : he has therefore not touched upon questions of the general policy of the federal government, but has simply defended the present administration of the signal-office as being quite efficient and economical, and is especially strong in his defence of Gen. Hazeu. He thus leaves it to his examiners to penetrate to the core of the matter, and to show

��management of such institutions as the naval observator}'. the signal-office, nautical alma- nac, geoilctic survey, etc.

��TiiF. Jetferson physical laboratory, which has recently been completed at Harvard university, is a. three-story brick building with a basement, the floor of which is nearly on a level with the surface of the ground. The building is 209.4 feet long. The two wings are 67 feet square, and are connected by the main walls of the building, which are il'i.8 feet apart. The ground-plan thus consists of two squares con- nected by a rectangle. The longest line of the laboratory runs very nearlyeast and west; there is therefore a great southern exposure, with no

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