GILLISS, JAMES MELVILLE ( 1811-65 ) .
An American astronomer, born in Georgetown, D. C. He became a midshipman in the navy in 1827. He procured leave of absence in 1833, spent a year in scientific study at the University of Vir ginia, and continued his studies in Paris. Return ing to the United States, he became in 1836 as sistant in the Bureau of Charts and Instruments in Washington, and two years later, in a small wooden building belonging to the Navy Depart ment, organized the first working observatory in the United States. He was made a lieutenant in 1838, and for five years conducted at Wash ington astronomical observations of great value, which were published by the Government in 1846, containing the first catalogue of stars, and being the first report of astronomical observa tions to be published in America. In 1842-43 he visited Europe to procure the equipment for the new Government observatory at Washington, completed under his direction in 1845. He' spent
the years 1849-52 in Chile, where he made observa tions for the determination of the solar parallax, and studied the constellations of the Southern Hemisphere. He observed solar eclipses in 1858 in Peru, and in 1860 on the northern Pacific coast of the United States, and after the departure of Lieut. M. F. Maury at the outbreak of the war, succeeded him as superintendent of the National Observatory at Washington, a position which he held until his death. Under his control the observatory became one of the best equipped in the world. He became a captain in 1862. His publications include: Astronomical Observa tions Made at the Naval Observatory (1846); The United States Astronomical Expedition to the Southern Hemisphere, 1849-52 (1855). Con sult Gould, Memoir.