and after a few years he abandons hope and settles down to the dull routine of lectures, recitations and examinations.  A little encouragement at the right time, aid by offering to pay for an assistant, for a suitable instrument, or for publishing results, and perhaps a word to the president of his college if the man showed real genius, might make a great astronomer, instead of a poor teacher.  For several years, a small fund, yielding a few hundred dollars annually, has been disbursed at Harvard in this way, with very encouraging results.

A second method of aiding astronomy is through the large observatories.  These institutions, if properly managed, have after years of careful study and trial developed elaborate systems of solving the great problems of the celestial universe.  They are like great factories, which by taking elaborate precautions to save waste at every point, and by improving in every detail both processes and products, are at length obtaining results on a large scale with a perfection and economy far greater than is possible by individuals, or smaller institutions.  The expenses of such an observatory are very large, and it has no pecuniary return, since astronomical products are not salable.  A great portion of the original endowment has been spent on the plant, expensive buildings and instruments.  Current expenditures, like library expenses, heating, lighting, etc., are independent of the output.  It is like a man swimming up stream.  He may struggle desperately, and yet make no progress.  Any gain in power effects a real advance.  This is the condition of nearly all the larger observatories.  Their income is mainly used for current expenses, which would be nearly the same whatever their output.  A relatively small increase in income can thus be spent to great advantage.  The principal instruments are rarely used to their full capacities, and the methods employed could be greatly extended without any addition to the executive or other similar expenses.  A man superintending the work of several assistants can often have their number doubled, and his output increased in nearly the same proportion, with no additional expense except the moderate one of their salaries.  A single observatory could thus easily do double the work that could be accomplished if its resources were divided between two of half the size.

A third, and perhaps the best, method of making a real advance in astronomy is by securing the united work of the leading astronomers of the world.  The best example of this is the work undertaken in 1870 by the Astronomische Gesellschaft, the great astronomical society of the world.  The sky was divided into zones, and astronomers were invited to measure the positions of all the stars in these zones.  The observation of two of the northern and two of the southern zones were undertaken by American observatories.  The zone from +1 deg. to +5 deg. was undertaken by the Chicago Observatory, but was abandoned owing to