y almanac
which the sailor is to hang up in his cabin for daily use. The fact is
that what started more than a century ago as a nautical almanac has
since grown into an astronomical ephemeris for the publication of
everything pertaining to times, seasons, eclipses, and the motions of
the heavenly bodies. It is the work in which astronomical observations
made in all the great observatories of the world are ultimately
utilized for scientific and public purposes. Each of the leading
nations of western Europe issues such a publication. When the
preparation and publication of the American ephemeris was decided upon
the office was first established in Cambridge, the seat of Harvard
University, because there could most readily be secured the technical
knowledge of mathematics and theoretical astronomy necessary for the
work.

A field of activity was thus opened, of which a number of able young
men who have since earned distinction in various walks of life availed
themselves. The head of the office, Commander Davis, adopted a policy
well fitted to promote their development. He translated the classic
work of Gauss, Theoria Motus Corporum Celestium, and made the office a
sort of informal school, not, indeed, of the modern type, but rather
more like the classic grove of Hellas, where philosophers conducted
their discussions and profited by mutual attrition. When, after a few
years of experience, methods were well established and a routine
adopted, the office was removed to Washington, where it has since
remained. The work of preparing the ephemeris has, with experience,
been reduced to a matter of routine which may be continued
indefinitely, with occasional changes in methods and data, and
improvements to meet the increasing wants of investigators.

The mere preparation of the ephemeris includes but a small part of the
work of mathematical calculation and investigation required in
astronomy. One of the great wants of the science to-day is the
reduction of the observations made during the first half of the present
century, and even during the last half of the preceding one. The labor
which could profitably be devoted to this work would be more than that
required in any one astronomical observatory. It is unfortunate for
this work that a great building is not required for its prosecution
because its needfulness is thus very generally overlooked by that
portion of the public interested in the progress of science. An
organization e