Catalogue of Stars Observed at the United States Naval Observatory During the Years 1845 to 1871

Book excerpt: The stars consisted mainly of stars used in the Army surveys for observations with the zenith telescope, many stars in the lists of the Coast Survey, and many of Lacaille's stars which had mostly been observed by Lacaille only, and for observing which our Observatory was favorably situated. During these years, Mr. James Ferguson, who so faithfully labored for so many years with the Equatorial, was making constant demands upon me (Yarnall) for observations of comparison stars for the objects observed by him; and this will account for the great number of small stars in the Catalogue.