same time, and the telescope tube, which is being made by Messrs. Warner and Swasey, of Cleveland, will be ready in June, 1887. The trustees only await the mounting of this instrument, to turn over the observatory formally to the University of California. Meanwhile the observatory, as it now stands, with a twelve-inch Clark equatorial, a sixinch equatorial, a six-inch Repsold meridian circle, photographic instruments, clocks, chronometers, and all accessory apparatus, and an extensive library, is far better equipped than most observatories, and Professor Holden, with characteristic energy, has already begun an extensive series of observations with the meridian instrument, and has established a time-service for the benefit of the railroads connecting with San José. This brief sketch merely attempts to outline Professor Holden's career as an astronomer. His administrative experience and ability were proved at Madison, and as a teacher he seems to have shown the rare faculty of arousing the enthusiasm of his pupils. His general interest in many matters outside of his profession may be seen by a glance at the partial list of his writings which is appended. This bibliography I have made tolerably full, though by no means exhaustive; I have found nearly one hundred papers, etc., contributed to scientific journals and transactions between the years 1873 and 1886; and the titles that I have given will form in themselves an effective "sketch" of his work. His life of Sir William Herschel should be referred to especially it has been published in London as well as in New York, and has also been translated and published in Germany. A text-book of astronomy, published in co-operation with Professor Newcomb, has likewise been favorably received, and has passed through several editions. In 1879 Professor Holden received the degree of A. M. from his alma mater, and the University of Wisconsin has just conferred the degree of LL. D. on its former professor. He is a member of the California and Wisconsin Academies of Science, Fellow of the American Association for the Advancement of Science, member of the Philosophical Society of Washington, and of the German Astronomische Gesellschaft, Corresponding Member of the Academy of Science of St. Louis, Associate Fellow of the American Academy of Arts and Sciences, Foreign Associate of the Royal Astronomical Society, and member of the National Academy of Sciences. While at Madison he was connected with Professor Raphael Pumpelly's Northern Transcontinental Survey, as head of the Division of Climate and Rivers, and in 1885 he served as a member of the Board of Visitors to the United States Military Academy at West Point. Professional and other Papers by E. S. Holden (in general chronological order). No. 1 2 3 On a New Arrangement of Shutters for a Dome for Am. Jour. Sc., 3 s., 6: 375–377 On the Adopted Value of the Sun's Apparent Bull. Phil. Soc. Wash. 1 (App. On Sir William Herschel's Observations of 4 Telescopic Research on the Nebula of Orion. 5 6 7 On the Inner Satellites of Uranus. 1): 8-9 (Jan., 1874). the Bull. Phil. Soc. Wash. 1 (App. 4): 30-36 (June, 1874). (Il-Pop. Sc. Month., 5: 257-268 (July, 1874). Proc. Am. Ass., 23: 49-56 (Aug., 1874; Month. Not. Roy. Astron. Soc., 35: 16-22 (Nov., 1874). Jour. Sc., 8 s., 8: 268-277 (Oct., 1874). On the Possible Periodic Changes of the Sun's Ap-Am. On the Number of Words used in Speaking and 8 Drawing of the Ring Nebula in Lyra. 9 10 [Progress of Astronomy in 1876.] [Note. This annual review of astronomy is continued in Professor Baird's Annual Record for 1877 and 1878, and subsequently in the Smithsonian Reports.] Bull. Phil. Soc. Wash. 2 (App. Report upon the Astronomical Instruments of the Rept. Sec. Navy, 1876, pp. 289- The Horseshoe Nebula in Sagittarius. (Illustrated.) Pop. Sc. Month., 8: 269-281 13 Comparison of the Washington Observations of the Astron. Nachr., 88: 183-188 Satellite of Neptune with Newcomb's Tables. 14 On Reference Catalogues of Astronomical Papers and Memoirs. Bull. Phil. Soc. Wash., 2: 95101 (Dec., 1876). Washington, 1877, 9+109+ [2] p. 8°. (Smithsonian Misc. Coll., vol. 14). and Astron. Nachr., 90: 161 (July, 1877). Astron. Nachr., 90: 167, 170, 331 (1877). (Il-Am. Jour. Sc., 8 s., 14: 483-458 (Dec., 1877). 19 Index-Catalogue of Books and Memoirs on the Transits of Mercury. 20 21 22 23 Cambridge, 1878. 6 pp., 8°. (Lib. Note on the Reticulated Forms of the Sun's Sur- Am. Jour. Sc., 3 s., 16: 346 face. (Nov., 1878). A Subject-Index for the Publications of Observa- Library Jour., 3: 365 (Dec., 1878). tories. Washington, 1879. 74 pp. 4°. 2d ed. New York, 1880. 11 + Am. Jour. Sc., 8 s., 19: 467-472 (June, 1880). On the Treatment of Pamphlets in Special Libra- Library Jour., 5: 166 (June, ries. (Illustrated.) 1880). (Aug., 1880). On some of the Consequences of the Hypothesis Proc. Am. Ass., 29: 137-151 recently proposed, that the Intrinsic Brilliancy of the Fixed Stars is the same for each Star. 30 Sir William Herschel: his Life and Works. Professional and other Papers by E. S. Holden (in general chronological order) -(continued). No. 31 A Synopsis of the Scientific Writings of Sir William Washington, 1881. 114 pp. 8°. 32 Reports of Observatories, 1880. 33 34 An Account of Recent Progress in Astronomy (for (From Smithsonian Rep.,1880.) Washington, 1881. 126 pp. 8°. (From Smithsonian Rep.,1880.) Washington, 1881. 37 pp. 8°. (From Smithsonian Rep.,1880.) [Note. Similar reviews will be found in the Smithsonian reports for 1881, 1882, 1883, and 1884.] Studies in Central American Picture-Writing. (Il- 1st Ann. Rept. Bureau Ethnol. lustrated.) 85 Investigation of the Objective and Micrometers of the 26-inch Equatorial constructed by Alvan 86 37 38 39 40 Clark and Sons. The multiple star Σ 748. Smithson. Inst., pp. 207-245 (1881). Washington, 1881. 44 pp. 4°. (Washington Observations, 1877, App. I.) Washington, 1881. 22 pp. 4°. (Washington Observations, 1877, App. II.) Copernicus, 1; 176 (1881). List of Red Stars observed at the Washburn Ob- (Aug., 1881). (Oct., 1881). Observations of Comet b 1881 [1881, III], made at Am. Jour. Sc., 3 s., 22: 260-263 41 Monograph of the Central Parts of the Nebula of Madison, 1882-'86. 4 vols. 8°. Washington, 1882. 230 pp. 4°. Observations, Observations of the Transit of Mercury, 1881, Nov. Am. Jour. Sc., 8 s., 23: 48 (Jan., On the Inclination of the Ring of Saturn to its Or-Month. Not. Roy. Astron. Soc., bit, deduced from Washington Observations. 42; 304-307 (April, 1882). 44 Measures of the Rings of Saturn in the Years 1879, Am. Jour. Sc., 8 s., 23: 387-394 1880, 1881, and 1882. 45 (May, 1882). Figure of the Nucleus of the Bright Comet of 1882 Am. Jour. Sc., 8 s., 24: 435 [1882, 11]. (Illustrated.) (Dec., 1882). 46 Report of the Eclipse Expedition to Caroline Isl-Mem. Nat. Acad. Sc., 2: 1-146 and, May, 1883. 47 48 (1883). Observations of the Transit of Venus, made at the Am. Jour. Sc., 8 8., 25: 71-74 List of Twenty-three New Double Stars discovered Science, 2: 66 (July 20, 1883). 49 Preliminary List of Errata in Yarnall's Catalogue. Statistics of Stellar Distribution derived from Star-Observatory, 7: 249-256 (Sept., Gauges and from the Celestial Charts of Peters, Watson, Chacornac, and Palisa. The Lick Observatory. Sketch of Professor S. P. Langley. 1884). Sid. Mess., 3: 301-303 (Dec., EDITOR'S TABLE. AN UNHAPPY “SURVIVAL." of men of scientific mind we find occa CONSIDERING that we are drawing sionally an unguarded use of language near to the end of the nineteenth century, and that the thought of our day is supposed to be more or less dominated by the scientific spirit, it is extraordinary to find certain words and phrases in common use that imply a survival of modes of thought proper only to periods of barbarism. As an example we would cite the word "luck," and all the familiar phrases in which that word is employed. By common consent, apparently, "luck" is a thing not to be defined; but it is none the less spoken of and that not only by the ignorant and uneducated-as something exercising a real and potent influence on the affairs of men. It is qualified as good or bad: the man who has good luck enjoys the protection, as it were, of a guardian angel; the man who has bad luck is haunted and pursued by a malignant spirit. It is not men only who can be "lucky" or "unlucky"; ships, houses, railway lines, special days, special numbers, special gems, etc., may likewise fall into either category. It is even fashionable to talk about "mascots "-a mascot being an object, animate or inanimate, that contributes to the good fortune of its possessor. Thus we read a few days ago in one of our daily papers of a dog that was, as the traveling public believed, the " cot" of a steamboat. The rage for horseshoes, as "lucky" things to nail up on one's premises, is perhaps as great as ever it was. Fashionable society, particularly, seems disposed to fondle the superstitions that science is laboring to banish. The light has come into the world, but there are those who neither comprehend it nor wish to comprehend it. Even on the part mas suggesting a participation in beliefs which, if seriously presented, they would strenuously condemn. Thus that excellent writer, Mr. S. Laing, author of one of the most interesting and useful books of the present day, "Modern Science and Modern Thought," says, in the concluding chapter of that work, that, if a laboring-man has once saved ten pounds, he may, "if he has any luck, readily make the ten a hundred or even a thousand pounds." Now, we think this an unfortunate expression: the idea it suggests is one which the writer would be the first to repudiate; and yet it might easily be quoted as evidence that even a most enlightened scientific writer recognizes "luck" as an element of success. There is little use, probably, in arguing with people whose belief in luck is sincere and deep-seated. Such must be left to the education of experience and the influences of the time; and, likely enough, even with these aids, they will not unlearn their errors. But there is another class who, when they use the terms "luck" and "lucky," do so in a careless, indolent manner, or at most with only a half-belief that the words have any real significance. To these it may be well to represent that to talk of "luck" is simply to shuffle out of the responsibility of assigning things to their proper causes; and that, while this careless way of talking may do no special harm to the intelligent man who knows better than to be imposed upon by his own phrases, it does harm to people of less intelligence by confirming them in their delusions. It might perhaps be affirmed, indeed, that no man, however intelligent, can alto gether escape harm if he permits himself the habitual use of terms implying degraded forms of belief. There is such a thing as intellectual pitch, which people who want to have their thoughts clean should be careful not to handle. The career of President Cleveland is often spoken of as a great example of "luck," and this in quarters where one would expect more rational discourse. We imagine that President Cleveland knows pretty well how to account for his so-called luck. He knows that it has been a matter of hard work, of close attention to business, and of presumed identification with a rising popular sentiment in favor of improved political methods. "But," some inveterate believer in luck may urge, "other men have fulfilled all these requirements, and yet have never become Presidents or even Governors. Why should Cleveland, in particular, have been so successful?" We have here a fine example of one of those questions which, as Mr. Spencer says in his chapter on the "Data of Philosophy," imply very much more than the questioner is aware of. It implies that there are some reasons why the particular man who succeeded should not have succeeded; for, if there were no reasons to the contrary, what is the sense of asking why a man succeeded who had, admittedly, the qualifications for success? No conceivable action of social and political forces could raise every man, or even every qualified man, in a community to presidential rank; and yet some one man must, at every moment, hold that rank. What need, therefore, to suppose that a mysterious influence called "luck" has anything to do with determining the choice of the community? We see what we may call impersonal forces at work which, from their very nature and the conditions under which they operate, must result in the choice of one and the passing over of many others; and yet, when this inevitable result has been arrived at, some peo ple are not satisfied until they have dragged in "luck" to account for it! There are thousands of events that can not be foreseen, the elements on which they depend being too complex for calculation; but none the less are they, and must they be, determined by natural causes. When we cant over a stick of timber, we can predict with certainty how it will fall; partly because the forces brought to bear upon it are of a simple character, and partly because their ratio to the work to be done-to the weight to be moved—is such that a little more or less will not affect the main result. But when we rattle dice in a box, the conditions are reversed: the forces now are many and complex, and are vast in relation to the work to be done. What will be their outcome in the position of the dice on the table, it is altogether beyond human skill to calculate. Were the stick of timber to be hurled from a volcano, carried along by a mighty torrent, or blown up by dynamite, its movements too would become incalculable; but the laws of Nature would not, on that account, lose their hold of it for one moment. Neither do the laws of Nature lose their hold of the dice. There is really no chance in either case; simply an inability on our part to foresee, and therefore to adjust ourselves in advance to, a result which the laws of Nature are working out. If we look closely into the matter, we shall see that all chance occurrences, or what we call such, are simply occurrences lying outside of the range of our calculations, and to which therefore we can only adjust ourselves after the event, whereas, in the case of things we foresee, we make, or may make, our adjustments beforehand. As knowledge increases, and methods of observation and reasoning improve, many things pass from the region of the incalculable to that of the calculable, and, to an infinitely enlarged intelligence, all that appears to us now as most completely fortuitous would appear as |