Page:Science vol. 5.djvu/409

 SCIENCE.

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��PROGRESS OF THE LICK OBSER VA TOR Y.

Something like a 3'ear ago, we reviewed the [K)liey and operations of the Board of trustees of Mr. James Lick's bequest of about four mil- lions of doSlars for objects patriotic, charitable, and scientiflc, directing due attention to the conservative maoagemeat of the estate, show- ing the utter foHj' of the attacks which have from time to time been made upon their official actions, and giving the best of reasons why all interested in the administrntioa of this trust should uphold tlic boanl in the continuance of the policj' wbicli thej- have scon lit to adopt. The cessation of these impolitic hoslUities is a matter of noteworthy signiBcance, because of the relations of the bequest to the Lick ob- servatory, and the other scientific objects which Mr. Lick thought worth gaining.

The trustees' first work — the construction of the great observatory on the summit of Mount Hamilton — has been prosecuted with such vig- or during the past five years, that its comple- tion at a deDnite e|K)ch in the near future appears now to be a matter of certainly. It is only possible to say this because informa- tion has just been received from the glass- makers, Messrs. Fell aud Mantois of Paris, that all serious difficulty in making the disk of crown-glass for the great telescope has at last been surmounted, — a diflieulty which has already delayed the beginning of the opti- I ciaas' work nearly three years, and has per- L mitted the ti'ustees to advance the remainder ' of the observatory to a finishwl state. The opticians now hoi>e to ha enabled to begin their labors upon this great object-glass by I next August or Mept^mber, and to complete I their part of the contract within two years' I time. This encouraging condition of ati'airs has been brought about lai^ely by the recent action of the trustees themselves, who, desir- ing to complete as soon as possible their task of constrncling nod equipping the observatorj-, aud finding that all further progress was con- ditional upon getting the necessary disk of glass, despalc-lied a responsible agent to the eastern stales, where he could l>c iu considta-

��tion with prominent astronomers, ami in ready communication with Paris.

The results of this action have been very satisfactory, and will enable the trustees to sketch the important outlines of their jilans for future and final operations on the moun- tain. The fact that the glass is now to be ob- tained with reasonable certainty, lias prepared the way for determining the size of the dome which will be required to cover the telescope when finally mounted. This building is already in process of erection, and will consume all the attention of the suijerinlendent of construction for the next two seasons. The dome will have an interior diameter of seventy-three feet; and the telescope itself, whose exact length cannot yet be defined within narrow limits, will proba- bly be fully sixty feet long, while, with the monster spectroscope attached, it may reach a length of nearly seventy feet from end to end. Aside from this important end of seenr- ing the data necessary to avoid the entire cessation of work iti^on Mount Hamilton this summer, the agent of the trustees has also personally inspected the mountings of the great domes at Charlottesville, Washhigton, and Princeton, including the smaller ones at Ilarvai-d, Amherst. Columbia, and other col- leges; and, on his return to San Francisco, he will report to the trustees on the information he has obtained, onil recommend that plan for constructing and mounting the great dome which appears likely to insure in every way the best results. Any competent person who will take the trouble to consider the problem of building this dome from an astronomical and engineering point of view, will readily appreciate the nature of the obstacles to be overcome; but the eminently satisfactorj- ar- rangements devised, and already put into suc- cessful operation at this mountain obseiTatory, will go a great way toward inspiriug conRdence in whatever form of dome the trustees finally decide to adopt. In an early issue, we shall place before our readers an account of the Lick obsen'atory and its work, tt^ether with a fully illustrated description of the site, build- ings, and instruments.

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