The University of California, II [pp. 479-500]

The Lick Astronomical Department.
jarring of drays. Professor Davidson,
however, had set his heart upon so much
more an elevation of not less than
9,oo000 feet- that he could not reconcile
himself to what he felt the loss of an
unprecedented scientific opportunity.
And in fact the Lick Observatory may
soon be surpassed in its advantage of
Photo by Taber.
heights, also, the freedom from fogs on
the one hand, storms on the other, may
be expected to be greatest, and the
number of clear nights in the year the
highest. These are points, however, for
astronomers to settle. Certainly Mount
Hamilton has been praised over and over
as the best site in the world so far occu
THE ROAD TO MT. HAMILTON.
altitude by others, as it is already by
several observing stations. I do not
know that it follows that it will be surpassed in the excellence of its "seeing,"
for I find that astronomers do not agree
as to the supreme value of high observing stations; for stellar observations, it
is said, rarity of air is not so important
as steadiness, which does not necessarily depend on height; at medium
pied by any great observatory. Professor Burnham's visit in I879, while it was
still a wilderness, his sojourn on the
mountain in a temporary dome, and his
enthusiastic report on the conditions,
are within every one's memory. In the
three fall months of his stay forty-two
nights were "first-class," - a higher
proportion perhaps than at any other
time of year; but observers in Wash
485