country, not yet having been adopted in any of the European observatories. It is, with some changes, in use at the observatories both of Cambridge and Cincinnati, and gives to all observations of time a delicacy not attainable by any other method.

We have seen that one prime function of the observatory is nautical and hydrographic. It has not been lost sight of by the present superintendent, but has, on the contrary, expanded itself and increased in importance. By a judicious concert with the navy and commercial marine, which has now been in operation several years, an immense mass of meteorological observations at sea and observations of the temperature and direction of oceanic currents made in every part of the world, has been already collected and is constantly accumulating. A systematic arrangement of the information. thus obtained has enabled him, by the aid of a few conventional signs, to present the probable direction and force of the wind and current at any season upon the most frequented parts of the ocean, enabling the navigator to choose his route through those tracts of sea where the elements will be most propitious, it being evident that a long distance with fair winds can be sooner accomplished than a short distance where the winds are adverse. In addition to the immediate and practical use of this information, arising from a mere systematic arrangement of its details, the application of rigorous analysis to the facts has unfolded new combinations and developed new laws in the system of fluid and æriform envelopes of our planet, and their agencies in the distribution of heat, moisture, and electricity.

The "Wind and Current Charts," already constructed at the observatory, with their auxiliaries, enable the mariner to see at a glance in what direction his motive forces will be acting at any particular season on any part of the seas. On some of the sheets are indicated the species of whale by which each different region is frequented, and the months most propitious for their capture. In this way, also, new facts may be elicited in relation to the habits of this interesting class of animals. The labor necessary in preparing these charts has been very great, and their value is beginning to be appreciated by the merchants and mariners of all nations. Indeed, in this eminently practical age, this service of the observatory is the one upon which, for a time, it must mainly rely for the support and patronage of the government. The astronomical observations, though valuable to science, do not present to the public such intelligible results as those which are seen to affect directly the safety of transport and travel. A voyage shortened, or a danger avoided, by a change of route, would be more highly appreciated and acknowledged both in Congress and on 'Change than the discovery of another planet with moons. When the observatory has had time to perfect its organization and assume its rank among the scientific institutions of the world, this will not be so; but in the interim, its present superintendent

Dr. Locke, of Cincinnati."--Astronomical Notices, vol. z., p. 26. This fact, therefore, is settled beyond all cavil. Some time in the year 1849--about the commencement of the year--a correspondence was originated between the Superintendent of the Coast Survey and Dr. Locke, in which it was offered to pay Dr. Locke two hundred dollars for his services as an employee of the survey of the coast, and that the contrivance should hereafter inure to the Superintendent of the Coast Survey, and be held hereafter by him as one of the triumphs of domestic science achieved by him in that very extensive vineyard. This proposition did not suit Dr. Locke, who soon after received from Congress, as a more substantial acknowledgement for his invention, the sum of ten thousand dollars for a clock and apparatus of this kind to be furnished by him for the observatory. The correspondence, heretofore spoken of as so peculiarly kind, turned soon into king Cambyses' vein." The "Dear Sirs" soon vanished, and after that the "Sirs" became hypothetical and cloudy, the conclusion reminding one strongly of the rite of matrimony in the Old Church, which began with dearly beloved and ended in amazement. We take it, however, as clear that all this does not impeach the evidence to which we have referred.

has, we think, shown high discretion and talent in putting the more appreciable function first, even though in so doing some time and labor may be lost to astronomy.

The personnel of the observatory has been furnished, with one or two immaterial exceptions, from the navy, it being provided by law that the superintendent shall always be a naval officer, not under the rank of lieutenant. The force generally employed has consisted of eight lieutenants, seven professors of mathematics, and the same number of passed-midshipmen, with the addition of a clerk or secretary to the superintendent. This force has been about equally divided between the hydrographical and astronomical duties the lieutenants having in general been assigned to the former and the professors to the latter, with an equal number of midshipmen as assistants to each. It would naturally be expected that a service where the long vigil of the night is for nearly half the time to be followed only by a day of computation would not be congenial to officers accustomed only to the warlike and adventurous part of their profession. To them the silent and dimly-lighted apparel of the observing-room must ill repay the loss of the roomy deck,

"The well-reeved guns, the netted canopy,"

and all the occurrents of a combat or a cruise. With such predispositions the work at the observatory would not be likely to find many devotees, and changes must be frequent as the result merely of ennui; while, on the other hand, appointments to this duty would often be solicited for the purpose of spending some time at the capital, and mingling in its dissipations and intrigues. Such a residence is indeed a very necessary part of the education of every young officer, and answers the same purpose as the descent to hell in the old epic, as in this way the hero in the poem and the novice in politics become acquainted with causes and results, which, without such clue, would have been entirely incomprehensible. But the poet never allows this episode to interfere with the progress of the piece, and this necessary branch of instruction should not, if possible, be coupled with duty at the observatory. However, from these two causes the personnel of the observatory is at present liable to constant and detrimental changes, and if such have not already appeared, it is owing to the comparative novelty of the service. This defect, it appears to us, would in a great measure be remedied by lengthening and making certain the term of service. With such provision, aided by a skillful and judicious use of the appointing power, in selecting always officers best qualified for the duty, and refusing leaves of absence for capricious reasons, there must, we think, in a few years be formed at the observatory a nucleus of officers, to whom astronomical and hydrographical duties would be congenial, and who would soon illustrate these sciences by their works and discoveries. This once achieved, it would not be long before a corps du genie would be formed in the navy as well as the army, who, without any distinction of name, epaulette, or button, would be universally recognized as those in the service most competent to conduct scientific operations. It requires but short experience to have seen that in any military establishment the corps du genie have always been formed as occasion required them, by selection from other corps of the line. Such has been the case in our own ariny, a notable example of which is seen in the corps of topographical engineers, answering to the ingenieur geographe of the French service, which has grown up and been organized within the last thirty years,

its appropriate duties having first been performed by officers selected and detailed from other corps in the army.

The origin and establishment of the ingenieurs hydrographes in the French navy will be found exactly similar. In 1799 it was necessary to examine the course of the Scheldt, for the purpose of establishing a naval arsenal. Officers for this duty were detailed from the Depot de la Marine, which had been founded in 1721, as a school of practice in hydrography. In 1804, an examination of the entire coast was deemed necessary, and for this purpose the corps of ingenieurs hydrographes, made by selections from the navy, was instituted, at the head of which was placed M. Beautemps Beaupres, who had then just returned from a voyage of discovery under the Contre-Admiral Dentrecasteaux. The corps increased in proportion to the demands of the service, and was reorganized in 1814, in order to enable it the better to co-operate with the ingenieurs geographes of the army. The organization was changed in 1848, by putting at its head a member of the Institute with the title of Conservator, but in 1849 it returned to the original constitution, under a general officer of the navy. By this corps all the geodetique topographique and hydrographique operations of the survey of the French coast have been performed, and their methods and charts have served as models in the execution of all similar works by other nations. The government of France was too careful of the reputation of its navy to proclaim that their service could not possibly be amphibious, and that their functions were unalimentes as soon as they crossed the line of muscle-shells, which marks the beach. In the British navy there is no corps answering to the ingenieurs hydrographes, nor in their army answering to the ingenieurs geographes of the French service; but in that country the duties of the one class have been performed as honorably by officers of the navy proper, without any distinguishing mark other than the titles of honor with which they have been rewarded, while the geodetic and topographic works of the interior have been as creditably discharged by officers of ordnance.

From this well-authenticated experience of the extent to which the judicious employment of military establishments can be made not only to subserve the cause of science, but of the economy it makes of the public expenditure, the inference is direct and natural, that a proper administration of the observatory must, in a short time, gather about this establishment all the astronomical and geopraphical skill of the navy. In which case there can be no doubt of the high position which it would take, as a scientific institution, before the country and the world. The certainty of such result will be much enhanced by the operation of the naval school at Annapolis, which must soon produce a class of officers with scientific attainments largely in advance of their predecessors. Even without the training of a scientific school, which has only recently been accorded them, officers of the navy have already conducted many scientific works, and always with high honor to themselves and to the country. The exploring expedition was commanded by a lieutenant. Its principal results have now for several years been before the public, and have elicited nothing but commendation. Of the superintendent of the observatory, also a lieutenant, we have already spoken. The Nautical Almanac, the supervision of which requires scientific knowledge of the highest order, is in the hands of an officer of the same rank. The Astronomical Expedition to Chili, the most purely scientific work ever undertaken by the government, is under similar direction; while within the last two years a naval officer, (Commander Ringold,) without any pub

lie patronage, and aided only by the subscriptions of the individual merchants and ship-owners who were interested, has given to mariners engaged in the California trade, charts of parts of the coast of the Pacific, of the bay and environs of San Francisco, without which the entrance to that harbor would have been extremely perilous.* About sixty naval officers of all grades are constantly employed in the survey of the coast, and, though the extra pay of that service may be some inducement with them, it is to be supposed that the capacity of service is the principal object with the superintendent. With a personnel capable of such service, aided by the fostering care of the government, the high destinies of the Observatory canno admit of any question. Those who have thus far watched its history--from the organ-chest of Commander Goldsborough at the depot of charts in 1831, to the sentry-box of Commander Wilkes in 1833, and at length to the present respectable corps du logis with wings and dome--can have little doubt but that the national character of go-aheadism will attach here also.

The present century has been rife with astronomical discoveries. In Europe, particularly in Great Britain, private observatories have been endowed, and individuals of wealth have devoted themselves to this science, not only by munificent donations but by observation and study. The clergy have entered the field in great force. Many of the comets and asteroids have been first discovered in private observatories, or in those of religious orders, where we may conceive that the novices perform delightful penance by vigils among the stars.

Among us there has been a similar progress. The Cambridge observatory commenced with the private instruments of Mr. Bond, but its principal endowment is derived from the subscriptions of wealthy individuals. The observatory at Cincinnati is supported by similar benefactions, and we hear of similar institutions in New York, Albany, and other cities. Over such suffragan establishments it will be necessary that the National Observatory be so administered as to preserve its influence and dignity. The important scientific requirements to which it is ministrant will require this, nor will the natural feeling be satisfied until our reputation is as high in this respect as in any other.

As the observatory advances in utility and reputation, it may be found necessary to separate it entirely from its hydrographic function, and this will afford an opportunity of changing its site to a more fitting location. A considerable elevation, a clear atmosphere, and seclusion, are indispensably necessary for astronomical observations, and an observatory within ten miles of a large city is altogether out of place. This condition has been held important in all modern establishments, and particularly the Russian Central Observatory at Paulkova. In this view the present location at Washing

* On the Chart of the Pacific coast, published by the Superintendent of the Coast Survey in 1850, the islands called the Farallones, off the mouth of the Bay of San Francisco, and the most important landmark in making the entrance of the harbor, are six-and-a-half miles out of their true position --an error fraught with danger to any vessel that should trust to their guidance, and particularly to steamers. Indeed we understand that the safety of more than one vessel has been jeopardized by trusting to them, and that they are now entirely discredited by vessels navigating those seas. The true position of these islands had been laid down on a British chart made in 1827 from a survey made by Captain Beechey of the royal navy. But the error of the coast survey charts was not known generally among mariners until after the publication of Commander Ringold's work.

+ Struve thus concludes his description of the Russian Observatory: "The preceding details will suffice to show that the position of the observatory is one of the most advantgeous which could have been found, and that the hill (colline) of Paulkova is one of the most charming and healthy places in the vicinity of the capital. It presents a view vast and varied, and an horizon free in every direc tion. The astronomers here find themselves at a distance from the capital sufficient to prevent their

ton is quite objectionable. From its proximity to the river it is often (and in the best observing months in the year) enveloped in fog, when the summits of the neighboring hights are comparatively clear. When there is music in the streets or on the river, the beats of the clocks must be counted in accordance with the drums and trumpets; and important observations are daily vitiated, or lost, from the tremor occasioned by carriages in the neighboring streets. All these inconveniences, to which the present location is obnoxious, would be avoided by a removal to one of the neighboring hights; and out of the low grounds, which are frequently covered with a low, dense mist, the atmosphere is quite favorable; the skies of summer and autumn being said to resemble those of Tuscany.

We conclude by expressing the confident hope that our National Observatory will ere long take high rank among its cotemporaries.

Art. II.-MONEY OF ACCOUNT-ITS NATURE AND FUNCTIONS.

PART II.

GLANCE AT THE CAUSES WHICH INTRODUCED THE PRESENT COINAGE SYSTEM OF

GREAT BRITAIN.

Before examining our own system of coinage in reference to modifications which may seem to be advisable in any aspect of the subject, it may be profitable to glance at the steps by which Great Britain was led to adopt the gold standard. Previous to that change, the double standard had prevailed, and for more than a century had been a source of perpetual trouble to individuals and loss to the nation. The mischief began before the commencement of the eighteenth century, by the rapid disappearance of silver from the circulation. This process was due to many causes, but chiefly to the overvaluation of silver at the mint of France. This carried off all the heavy silver coins, and left those most worn to perform an increased duty in the circulation, whereby they very rapidly became more and more defaced and deficient in weight. The evil became, at last, insufferable, and brought on a discussion in the reign of William and Mary as to the best remedy. In this discussion the celebrated John Locke took a conspicuous part. The government-very honestly, as its members thought, but very unwisely, as it has since been regarded-undertook, in the face of this foreign demand for silver, to recoin the whole silver currency, and to make it of full weight, but without due precaution. Whilst this light currency, depreciated in weight from 10 to 25 per cent, passed by tale, it could not be exported, because the overvaluation was not equal to this depreciation. The recoinage increased the evil, for it exactly prepared the coins for exportation, by making them full weight without increasing their home value as a legal tender. So

being diverted from their occupations by too easy a participation in the distractions which are presented by the life in a great city. Nevertheless the distance is not altogether impassable; an hour's ride brings one to St. Petersburg, and half an hour to Tsarskoie-Selo, over roads which are always in perfect condition. This considerable distance also protects us from the visits of curious and idle people. Neither does the isolation weigh at all upon the employees at the observatory, who form among themselves a society at once intimate and agreeable, enlivened always by the common interest inspired by the sublime science which they cultivate."-Description de l'Observatoire de Paulkova.