memory, accompanied by the uneasy feeling that the remaining doubt in his regard had not yet been settled. M. J. BERTRAND, Perpetual Secretary of the Paris Academy of Sciences, has lately taken a review of the whole of WRONSKI'S work, and makes it very clear that he was neither genius nor charlatan, but simply insane. "His madness explains his charlatanism, excuses his imposture, and permits one to believe in the presence of genius imprisoned in insanity." After reading M. BERTRAND'S paper, few will doubt his conclusions. E. S. H.

PORTRAIT OF WILLIAM CRANCH BOND (DIRECTOR OF THE

HARVARD COLLEGE OBSERVATORY, 1840-1859).

The portrait of Professor W. C. BOND given in this number is reproduced from a photograph of the oil painting now in the Harvard College Observatory. It forms one of the illustrations of a life of BOND,† which will shortly be printed; and is presented to the A. S. P. by the undersigned.

MT. HAMILTON, February 28, 1897.

EDWARD S. HOLDEN.

METEOR OF JANUARY 24, 1897 (Los ANGELES).

Professor HOLDEN,

LOS ANGELES, Cal., March 5, 1897.

Lick Observatory, Mt. Hamilton, Cal.

Dear Sir:-On January 24th, at about 3:15 P.M., I observed a very large meteor, which passed over this place and, as near as I am able to judge, in a direction nearly due east. Unfortunately, I did not note the exact time of its appearance, and am not able to state the time positively, though from other circumstances, I am able to locate it as being about the time mentioned above. The meteor was visible sufficiently long for me to make a good observation of it. Its movement was, as before stated, nearly due east. Its apparent height was about thirty degrees above the horizon when first observed. At its disappearance it was approximately twenty-three degrees to twenty-five degrees above the horizon. Its color was a dazzling white, with a faint tinge of

*Revue des Deux Mondes, Vol. 139. p. 588.

+ Memorials of WILLIAM CRANCH BOND, Director of the Harvard College Observatory, 1840-59, and of GEORGE PHILLIPS BOND, Director of the Harvard College Observatory, 1859-65, by EDWARD S. Holden.

blue. No train of smoke or fire followed, excepting a sheet of flame, giving the meteorite an elongated appearance. I should be pleased if you would forward me any notices you may have from other sources where this meteor has been observed, and greatly oblige, Yours very truly,

S. J. REESE.

MR. LOWELL'S OBSERVATIONS OF MERCURY AND VENUS.

The Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society for January, 1897, contains plates of drawings of Mercury and Venus, made by Mr. LOWELL at the Flagstaff Observatory in 1896. The markings on Mercury were "at once conspicuous" with the new twenty-four-inch object-glass; those on Venus are "perfectly distinct and unmistakable." The undersigned has made a considerable number of observations of Mercury in the years 18731885, and a very large number of Venus in the years 1873-1890, with telescopes of six, sixteen, twenty-six, thirty-six inches in aperture, without ever once seeing markings of the character depicted by Mr. LOWELL. Other markings of the class drawn by SCHIAPARELLI and many other observers, have, on the other hand, been seen and recorded whenever the conditions of vision were good. I have no hesitation in saying that such markings as are shown by Mr. LOWELL did not exist on Venus before 1890. It is my opinion that they do not now exist on the planet, but that they are illusions of some sort. Their general character* is what would be shown if the adjusting screws of an objective were set up too tightly, producing a set of strains in the glass, or if the objective were strained by its cell. Strains of this sort will produce faint companions to stars sufficiently bright. A comparison of all the drawings of Venus available in the library of the Lick Observatory is very instructive. All observers, except those at Flagstaff, see faint markings of one class; while those drawn by Mr. LOWELL are of a totally different nature.

Venus has been observed on very many occasions at Mt. Hamilton, with our essentially perfect twelve-inch object-glass, in the years 1888-1897, without once seeing markings of the kind drawn by Mr. LOWELL, or "distinct" markings of any kind. Faint and indistinct markings, of the character of those drawn by scores of observers for a century past, are, however, seen when the circumstances are good.

*Six or more radial rays, thicker at the outer rim of the image of the planet.

The foregoing notes seem to me to throw doubt on the reality of the markings reported from the Flagstaff Observatory. Until Mr. LOWELL'S observations are fully confirmed by other observers with other telescopes, it will be wise not to accept them unreservedly. EDWARD S. HOLDEN.

These measures were made with the 36-inch telescope, using powers of 1000 and 1500. On each night the star was close to the meridian, and the seeing was good. No third star was seen, though carefully looked for on each night with powers from 350 to 1500. R. G. AITKEN.

MT. HAMILTON, March 24, 1897.

FIRST RESULTS FROM THE BRUCE PHOTOGRAPHIC TELESCOPE AT AREQUIPA. *

The Harvard College Observatory Circular, No. 15, (December 30, 1896,) is devoted to the BRUCE photographic telescope (now in use by Professor BAILEY at Arequipa), and accompanied by three maps showing the splendid results which this telescope will give. It is essentially a huge portrait lens (doublet) of twentyfour inches aperture and 135 inches focus. These dimensions give stellar maps on a scale of 1'= 1 mm. This scale has the advantage of being the same as that of the seventy-two charts made visually by CHACORNAC at Paris, and of the twenty charts made in the same manner by PETERS at Clinton. The International Stellar Charts are made with telescopes of 0.33 m. (13.4 inches) aperture, and 3.43 m. (134 inches) focal length. Their scale is therefore essentially the same, but they are subject to a material disadvantage in comparison with the BRUCE telescope. The field covered by the International telescopes is about four

*See Publications A. S. P., Vol. V., pp. 82 and 186.

+ The focal length which will give r' = 1 mm. is 3.438 m.

square degrees, whereas the BRUCE telescope (a doublet) covers about twenty-five square degrees (14 x 17 plates are used). The exposures for a given magnitude are materially shorter for the latter instrument. These advantages have been pointed out by Professor PICKERING at various times and places in the years 1883-87. In 1889, Miss CATHERINE W. BRUCE, of New York, generously provided the means to carry out the suggestion of Professor PICKERING. Mr. ALVAN G. CLARK undertook the very difficult task of making the objective, and in 1896 the complete telescope was mounted at Arequipa.* The maps accompanying the H. C. O. Circular are wonderfully fine, and show that the plan adopted for this powerful instrument has been completely successful. The BRUCE telescope is provided with an objective prism for photographing stellar spectra; and the preliminary results with this, also, are entirely satisfactory. It appears that Professor PICKERING has abandoned his original scheme of making a complete photographic map of the whole sky with this instrument, and intends to leave the map to the International Photographic Congress. The BRUCE telescope is to be employed, at least for the present, on maps of special regions and upon spectrum photography.

Miss BRUCE and the Harvard College Observatory are to be congratulated upon the splendid success of a daring experiment. E. S. H.

ELEMENTS OF DESCRIPTIVE ASTRONOMY: A TEXT-BOOK.

By

Dr. HERBERT A. HOWE, Director of the Chamberlin Observatory, Denver. Boston: Silver, Burdett & Co., 1897, 8vo, pp. 340, with 195 colored, and other, plates and figures, star-maps, etc., etc.

[Reviewed by EDWARD S. HOLDEN.]

There is always room for a good text-book of descriptive astronomy, and the present volume will be welcomed by teachers in high-chools, and by those who wish to give a general course to college students without going into the more technical details of the subject, while insisting on a full treatment of principles and an accurate account of the present state of knowledge.

Professor HOWE has, as might be anticipated, furnished a text

*A pair of telescopic doublets of 16 inches aperture is now being made by Mr. BRASHEAR for Professor MAX WOLF at Heidelberg. See Publications A. S. P., Vol. VII., p. 285.

embodying the most approved methods of teaching, as well as the most recent conclusions and findings of astronomers. His successful experience as a teacher of astronomy is manifest, not only in the plan of the book and the logical way in which it is developed, but also in his apprehension of the student's difficulties, and the helps over hard places which he affords. The many illustrations have been carefully chosen with a view to throwing light upon all phases of the subject. In typography, etc., the book is very successful.

The book is not without interest to the professional astronomer, also, as it brings the history of each subject down to the present time. With regard to the canals of Mars, for example, about which so much nonsense has been written, what summing up could be more happy than the following? "The majority of astronomers, while freely admitting the existence of the markings called canals, are inclined to be conservative with reference to any explanation of their nature. It has been aptly said, that it is better not to know so much, than to know so many things that are not so."

MT. HAMILTON, March 10, 1897.

PORTRAITS OF ASTRONOMERS AND OTHERS BELONGING TO THE LICK OBSERVATORY.

The Lick Observatory possesses a large number of portraits of astronomers and others, most of which are preserved in albums. Some of the larger photographs and engravings are framed and exhibited in the long hall of the Observatory or in the library room - ADAMS, AIRY, BAILLY, BRADLEY, BESSEL, BOND, BOWDITCH, CAYLEY, CHAUVENET, the CLARKS, the DRAPERS, GALILEO, GAUSS, GOULD, HELMHOLTZ, the HERSCHELS, KELVIN, KEPLER, KRONECKER, LICK, MAXWELL, MICHELSON, NEWCOMB, NEWTON, RUTHERFURD, STOKES, STRUVE, SYLVESTER, and others.

Portraits of the Regents and other officials of the University of California are included in the collection.

The photographs are derived from various sources: first, from gifts to the Observatory from many living astronomers, in answer to a circular of request; second, from a large collection presented by the undersigned; third, from miscellaneous sources.

The thanks of the Observatory are returned to all those who