The Harvard Observatory.

During the summer the Harvard Observatory has undergone some important changes. A new brick building has been constructed for the purpose of stowing photographic plates and will be ready for use this winter; extensive additions have been made in the residence itself. The most important feature however is the large building put up to accomadate the large Bruce telescope intended for use in the new Harvard Observatory station in Peru.

Although as regards diameter of lens this Bruce telescope, being but 24 inches, is much smaller than many now in use in this country yet in many respects it will be the most powerful ever constructed. Its chief point is its adaptibility for use in the construction of maps and study of the spectra of the faintest stars. It will remain in Cambridge some time before being sent to Peru.

The establishing of the Harvard station at Peru has opened up the greatest possibilities for our University in the line of development of astronomical study. A great drawback to accurate observation and the use of large apparatus at Cambridge has been the atmospheric conditions. In Peru, however, the atmospheric conditions are most extraordinarily favorable for the study the heavens; although the chief object of the recent very successful expedition to Peru by Prof. W. H. Pickering was the photographing of the planet Mars, yet the careful visual observations were made at the same time which have led to most interesting results. Another event of this visit was the construction of a meteorological station on Mount Chaehacari in Peru at the height of 16,000 feet, 1,000 feet higher than Mt. Blanc and hence the most elevated station of its kind in the world.

The policy of the Astronomical department as outlined and carried out by Prof. Pickering has favored for many years the use of much smaller telescopes than those in use at many colleges inferior in size to Harvard. This is on account of the atmospheric conditions of the Eastern United States and of Europe, the best results cannot be obtained with the largest instruments.

With the construction of the Peruvian station however with the clearest atmosphere in the world, there is a pressing need for an instrument of the most powerful order. In consequence of this Prof. Edward C. Pickering has edited an eloquent pamphlet, calling for $200,000 for the manufacture and establishment of a suitable telescope. Money donated for such an object could not fail to bring immediate results, and it is hoped that this way now opening for Harvard may soon be clear for the earning of highest honors at the hands of her professors in the study of astronomy.