386
(g) Clocks : One mean time; makers, Setii Thomas Clock Com-pany : one sidereal; maker, Hohwu, of Amsterdam .
( h ) Chronometers : One sidereal; maker, Bliss, No. 2786; one side-real break-circuit, Bliss, No. 2791.
Lick Observatory of the University of California .
Longitude from Washington , 2 h 58 m 14.6" W.
Latitude, 37° 2V 3" N.
Director : Edward S. Holden , 1885.
The Lick Observatory of the University of California owes its originto the bequest of the late James Lick, of California , who bequeathedto the University of California “a telescope of greater power than anyyet made.” As the site of his observatory he selected Mount Hamilton,in the Santa Clara Valley .
The following description of the establishment of the observatory istaken from the Scientific American (New York), March 17, 1888:
In administering their trust the custodians met with legal obstaclesand suits brought by his relatives. These delayed the carrying out ofhis plans, but eventually a settlement was reached. On June 30,1883,the corner-stone of the observatory to* which this article is devotedwas laid, and to-day the work is practically complete. When MountHamilton was selected as the site for the Lick Observatory , in order totest its atmospheric conditions Prof. S. W. Burnham, the discoverer ofmany double stars, was invited to observe there in 1879. Owing to thedryness of the air and its excellent quality for astronomical work,his 6-iuch telescope described many stars, catalogued by Prof. OttoStruve as double, into triple stars, Mr. Lick died in 1876, and theoriginal plans for the observatory were determined by Capt. RichardS. Floyd, president of the trustees, and Mr. T. E. Fraser, superin-tendent of construction, acting under the advice of Prof. Edward S.Holden, and Prof. Simon Newcomb, of the Naval Observatory , inWashington . Many noted astronomers have been interested in thework, and this will probably be the most famous observatory in theworld. It owns about 1,550 acres of land, a portion of which will event-ually be made into a public park, and the graded road of 26 miles lead-ing to the summit of Mount Hamilton from San Jos6 may, perhaps, be-come a direct route to the Yosemite Valley. Since 1880, when the workwas first begun, 7,000 tons of rock and earth have been removed tolevel a plateau upon which the buildings stand. They are constructedof solid masonry, and are of simple but effective architecture, and in-clude the main building, 287 feet long, containing the directors’ andsecretary’s offices, the library, clock-rooms, etc., with the large domeat its southern end for the large telescope, and a smaller dome for the12-inch equatorial at the northwest corner, the meridian-circle house,the transit house, the photographic laboratory, and several temporarywooden workshops. The dwelling house of the astronomers, 63 by 60feet, stands below the summit and is connected with the plateau by abridge. The surrounding peaks have been named from several famousastronomers.