ous history
of the donor that could explain his interest in a great telescope.
I am sure he had never looked through a telescope in his life, and
that if he had, and had been acquainted with the difficulties of an
observation with it, it is quite likely the Lick Observatory would
never have existed. From his point of view, as, indeed, from that of
the public very generally, the question of telescopic vision is merely
one of magnifying power. By making an instrument large and powerful
enough we may hope even to discover rational beings on other planets.

The president of the first board of trustees was Mr. D. O. Mills,
the well-known capitalist, who had been president of the Bank of
California. Mr. Mills visited Washington in the summer or autumn of
1874, and conferred with the astronomers there, among others myself,
on the question of the proposed telescope. I do not think that an
observatory properly so called was, at first, in Mr. Lick's mind;
all he wanted was an immense telescope.

The question was complicated by the result of some correspondence
between Mr. Lick and the firm of Alvan Clark & Sons. The latter
had been approached to know the cost of constructing the desired
telescope. Without making any exact estimate, or deciding upon the
size of the greatest telescope that could be constructed, they named
a very large sum, $200,000 I believe, as the amount that could be
put into the largest telescope it was possible to make. Mr. Lick
deemed this estimate exorbitant, and refused to have anything more
to do with the firm. The question now was whether any one else
besides the Clarks could make what was wanted.

I suggested to Mr. Mills that this question was a difficult one to
answer, as no European maker was known to rival the Clerks in skill in
the desired direction. It was impossible to learn what could be done
in Europe except by a personal visit to the great optical workshops
and a few observatories where great telescopes had been mounted.

I also suggested that a director of the new establishment should
be chosen in advance of beginning active work, so that everything
should be done under his supervision. As such director I suggested
that very likely Professor Holden, then my assistant on the great
equatorial, might be well qualified. At least I could not, at the
moment, name any one I thought would be decidedly preferable to him.
I suggested another man as possibly available, but remarked that
h