PROFESSOR PICKERING.

The stars shone with their usual brilliancy last night, but he who had made it his life work to learn the meaning of their varying light was not watching. Rather after spending long years in trying to unfathom the mysteries of the heavens, Professor Edward C. Pickering beheld the skies in their elemental simplicity. Harvard mourns the loss of this great man. The wide recognition which he had obtained indicates the debt the University owes him.

The history of Professor Pickering's scientific labors repeats to us again that with all our boasting of learning we are but playing with the ABC's of knowledge. Here was the man who established the first working laboratory in physics in the United States. It was necessary for him to spend many years in the mere measurement of satellites and stars. When we remember that astronomy and physics are the oldest branches of science known to civilization, we catch a glimpse of the vast fields for exploration before us. Professor Pickering with a few other Harvard men of his generation whom we have come to mourn, have shown us the courses to be followed. Our "Vale" is said with the full appreciation of the trust he has left us.