e. While there he was a colleague of Professor
Chiaramonti, who later became Pope Pius VII. During all his subsequent
brilliant scientific career his special friendship with the Pope
continued, and with all his many memberships in scientific bodies he
remained a member also of the Theatine religious order which he had
entered at a very early age.

After the restoration of the Jesuits the work in the sciences reverted
once more to the Jesuits at the Roman College and the Vatican
Observatory was discontinued. The interest of the Popes in science,
however, was very well illustrated by the apostolic letter of Leo XII,
_Quod divina sapientia_, which gave instructions to all Catholic
educational institutions, as to observatories, publications and
intercourse with foreign scientists.

The Jesuits at the Roman College reached noteworthy distinction for
their astronomical work during the nineteenth century. Father Secchi
came to be looked upon as probably one of the most distinguished
astronomers in Europe. He received many prizes for his observations,
for his invention of instruments and for important discoveries. His
work on the sun, published in his book, _Le Soleil_, represents some
of the most important contributions ever made to this department. It
was translated into most modern languages. His observations on the
corona of the sun during eclipses and especially photographs of the
corona, place him among the great original contributors to modern
astronomical knowledge. He made a critical examination and
classification of the spectra of four thousand stars entailing an
enormous amount of {481} work. He believed firmly that it was no use
making observations unless they were thoroughly recorded and made
available for others. His literary work in astronomy is almost
incredible. He sent nearly 700 communications to 42 scientific
journals, over 300 of which appeared in the _Comptes Rendues_ and in
the _Astronomische Nachrichten_, the French and German journals of
astronomy that are the authoritative records of contemporary
scientific work. In this country Newcomb and Langley quote from Secchi
frequently and use his illustrations. He was the founder of a new
branch of astronomy, Stellar Spectroscopy, and Secchi's types of solar
spectra will probably ever remain an essential illustration in
astronomical text-books.

Another of the astronomers who did excellent work among the Jesuits at
the Roman College during the nineteenth c