Tele-and stars had lost their interest for the moment, and his thoughts were wholly of the war. He had returned, the morning we called, from Washington, where he had been summoned to give the benefit of his military skill, which has since raised him to the rank of Brigadier-General. He is one of the claimants of the invention of the electro-recording method of observation. His apparatus differs from Mr Bond's in this, that his sheet of paper is laid on a flat disc which turns round like the turn-table of a railway, while Mr Bond's is wound round a revolving cylinder. The most valuable instrument is a transit circle from Munich.
Miss Mitchell has gained an honourable distinction in astronomy by her discovery of comets. She was the first American, and the first lady, to receive the King of Denmark's gold medal for the discovery of comets. There is now so much competition in this line of research, that it requires a very quick eye and much patient observation to be first in the race.
It is creditable to the United States that so much has been done for astronomy, seeing that all has been done by private liberality. Both Cambridge and Dudley Observatories are entirely supported by subscription or mortified funds. The only exception is the Observatory of Washington, over which Commodore Maury presided up to the period of the Secession. He has cast in his lot with the Southern States, and has now abandoned his office. It is much to be regretted that the work of this National Obser-
