reasonable, unjust, and ridiculous, as can be well imagined; still they had the effect of which we have before spoken, and excited the attention of the country, particularly of the scientific and educational interests. About this time also there were some changes just beginning to be perceptible in the scientific world, by which we were especially affected. Hitherto our science, scientific instruction, and scientific instruments, had been of the English school, and the modern improvements of other nations were almost unknown among us. Yet, more than twenty years before this the thunderings of Napoleon had awakened and unfettered the industry of the continent, and the English began to feel, what they had not been long in discovering, that not only in linen, muslin, and iron fabrics, they could be rivaled and undersold by the continental manufacturers, but that in the construction of telescopes and mathematical instruments, they were already far surpassed by German and French artists. As a consequence of improved instruments and methods, new planets were discovered, and comets, half-a-dozen in every year, were announced in the scientific journals of the day, to be wheeling about us, which we had no instruments of sufficient power to discern. We were like a short-sighted man at a party, who can scarce distinguish even his friends, and to whom the best avenue of enjoyment is closed altogether. The remark of Mr. Adams, that while there were one hundred and thirty observatories in Europe alone, we had not a single one on the whole continent, affected the national pride, which is always a very sensitive and imperious feeling, and began soon after to show symptoms of disquiet, not only in Washington but in the large commercial cities. The merchant-princes had begun already to tire of unused riches, and were covetous to become the Mæcenates and Medici of the country. The Italian opera and ballet had already been naturalized among us, and all the cost and eclat of criticising feasting and marrying the signorinas had become familiar. "Bah" and "bravo" were gradually taking the place of the hiss and yell of the olden time. It was natural, therefore, for wealth to select a new muse, and Astronomy had no trifling claims to favor.

Shortly after this time, when the national pride had been aroused by the recommendation of President Adams, there fortunately grew into existence at Washington, an establishment which, with a little skill and modesty, could easily be converted into a national observatory. In the year 1831, while all the science of the navy was in charge of the board of navy commissioners, it had been found that the amount paid for charts, instruments, and rating chronometers, was a very considerable item of expense, and that a saving in this respect might be made by the establishment of a depot of charts and instruments at the seat of government. This measure had everything to recommend it. It was of undoubted economy; would afford astronomical practice to at least a few of the junior officers; and at the same time that it formed a nucleus for the collection of hydrographical knowledge, gave to the department a more perfect control over sealed orders and secret service, than it could have when it was necessary to purchase in the cities the charts necessary for any particular voyage.*

• The advantages of this establishment are set forth at pages 5 and 6 of the Appendix to the Washington Astronomical Observations for 1845. In point of economy, the following is a list of prices paid by the government before and after its institution:

The project had found favor, been sanctioned, and put into operation under the charge of a lieutenant. The officer who first occupied this posi tion (Lieutenant now Commander Goldsborough) procured a small transit, a block of granite for its support, inclosed it all in a wooden box, and thus prepared the germ of a national observatory; though the whole establishment was not much larger, either in size or in cost, than a middle-sized street organ. The transit and its stone are still in good preservation; they should be honored by astronomers in times to come, as the stone of the Caaba is by all good Mohammedans. The depot of charts, aided by the general feeling in favor of Astronomical science, increased by degrees in duties and in favor, and about 1833 came under the superintendence of Lieutenant now Commander Wilkes. Under his auspices the original twofeet-by-four observatory was augmented to twelve feet square by fifteen feet high, and assumed a very conspicuous station in the vicinity of the Capitol. When, in 1838, this officer took command of the exploring expedition, he recommended that a series of observations should be made in the country during his absence, upon such celestial phenomena as might be available for the better determination of his longitudes, and their reference to some meridian at home. The government sanctioned the recommendation, and the observations were directed to be made, at Cambridge by Mr. W. C. Bond, and by Lieut. J. M. Gillis at the depot of charts. This series was continued until 1842, or until the return of the expedition.

This work, executed at Washington, immediately under the eye of the government, was a practical exposition of the uses of an observatory for geographical purposes, and did more to recommend it to the favor of the Legislature, than could have been effected by any given number of speeches, paragraphs, or pamphlets. The law authorizing the erection of the Observatory was passed in 1842, and in 1844 the building had been completed, the instruments set up, and the first observations made. The history of the origin and progress of the Observatory will be found, with changes only of names and dates, the history of any other scientific project ever undertaken by the government. There is first a grand flourish in Congress, official recommendations, speeches, reports, debates, and perhaps a bill. Then follows a period of mystery and silence, at the end of which the project, in vain attempted to be carried by fair means and demonstrable utility, appears like a vision, having all the properties and functions first claimed for it, unnecessarily tainted by the stigma of an obscure and illegitimate birth.

The observations made at Cambridge for the exploring expedition, by Mr. Bond, attracted the attention as well of the magnates of Boston as of the direction and faculty of the University of Cambridge, and arrangements were made soon after for the establishment of a regular observatory in connection with the college. The instruments, however, were small, and mostly if not altogether the private property of Mr. Bond. In this crisis of affairs the great comet of 1843 made its appearance, exciting admiration from the length and brilliancy of its train, and was followed in a few months by another body of the same class, but which it required instruments of high power and delicate arrangement to see at all. The contrast was noticed, and with it came a knowledge of the fact that there was but a single instrument in the country with which to make the necessary observations for determining the places of these bodies. Soon after a subscription

*

The Equatorial of the High School Observatory at Philadelphia, then just set up.

was made by the learned societies and wealthier citizens of Boston, for the purpose both of procuring a large telescope and the erection of a proper building to receive it. The telescope thus procured is the largest in the country, and perhaps the most powerful in the world. The only one comparable with it being the telescope of the Central Russian Observatory at Paulkova, which is also the work of the same artists, (Merz and Mahler, of Munich.) In the hands of the present astronomer and his assistant it has been very successfully employed, ihe discovery of the inner ring of Saturn, and the eighth satellite of that planet, connecting it with the most distinguished triumphs of modern Astronomy.

The comet of 1843 will be referred to hereafter, not so much for having been the precursor of the annexation of Texas, the Mexican War, or the threats of disunion and disaster which almost immediately followed, but as serving to mark in this country the commencement of a new era in astronomical science. From this period, or near it, (from 1839 to 1844,) we date not only the establishment of the National Observatory and that of Cambridge, but also of the observatories of the high school of Pennsylvania and of Cincinnati; at the latter place, also, and about the same time, appeared in this country the first journal (the Sidereal Messenger) devoted exclusively to astronomical science. The period from 1843 to the present time has been extremely rich in astronomical science. An exterior primary planet, ten new asteroids, and four comets of short period have been added to the large domain inherited from our predecessors; with these, also, have come new aims, methods of greater reach and compass, more delicate instrumental contrivances and artifices of computation. In an organization so recent as ours, it could scarce have been expected that we should immediately compete with the better trained establishments of the elder countries; yet these observatories have all been noticed for successful exertion, and that at Cambridge has been peculiarly distinguished.* They have also given new encouragement and impetus to our artists, and we already hear of both reflecting and refracting telescopes, which compare favorably with those of Europe.

The National Observatory at Washington (with a brief notice of which we will close our paper) is situated on the east bank of the Potomac, a short distance from that river on a slight eminence, on one of the public reservations of the city, which was formerly known as Camp Hill, and is 94 feet above the level of the sea. The area of the grounds belonging to it is about seventeen acres. It is in 38° 53' 39" 25 north latitude, and in longitude 5h. 8m. 148. 64 west from Greenwich. The view is open nearly to the horizon all around, being shut closest by the hights on the right bank of the Potomac near Georgetown, and the circle of slight elevations which sweeps in a receding curve eastward toward the capitol, embracing between it and the river the thickest part of the city. The meridian of the observatory southward lies for four or five miles over the Potomac, and northward cuts at short distance the hights above mentioned, passing over the broken valley of Rock Creek. The main building is of brick, square, fifty by forty feet, and two stories high. The roof is flat, except in the center, where it is surmounted by a dome twenty feet in diameter, and moveable in any direction upon cannon-shot, running in a grove on the top of the cir

Mr. Airy, the Astronomer Royal, opens an address before the Astronomical Society in December, 1849, in the following words:-"The Americans of the United States, although late in the field of astronomical enterprise, have now taken up that science with their characteristic energy, and have already shown their ability to instruct their former masters."--Astronomical Notices, vol. z., No. 2.

cular wall which supports it. This dome covers the large equatorial, a series of shutters opening outward, enabling the observer within, by help of the rotatory motion already mentioned, to command any part of the visible heaven. From the center of the main building, and running up to the floor of the dome, rises a circular brick pier, cased with wood, and isolated from the floors, which at the top is surmounted by a block of granite, supporting the equatorial above mentioned. From the main building extend three wings, east, west, and south, one story in hight, in which are placed the fixed instruments of the observatory, or those placed permanently in the meridian or prime vertical and the time-pieces and meteorological instruments. Adjoining the east wing of the observatory is the residence of the superintendent, a two-story brick building. This gives to the whole an unfinished appearance, which it is intended to remedy by a corresponding building adjacent to the other wing.

The instruments of the observatory consist at present of a transit of 7.1 feet focal length and 5.3 inches clear aperture, made by Ertel and Sons, of Munich; a meridian circle of 30 inches diameter, with a telescope of 4.8 feet focal length and 4.5 inches of clear aperture, by the same artists; a mural circle of 5 feet diameter, with a telescope of 5 feet focal length and 4 inches clear aperture, by Troughton and Simms, of London; a prime-vertical transit of 6.5 feet focal length and 4.5 inches clear aperture, by Pistor and Martin, of Berlin; and a large refracting telescope (the equatorial) of 14.3 feet focal length, with a clear aperture of 9.6 inches, by Merz and Mahler, of Munich. Of time-keepers, there is a sidereal-normal clock, by Kessel, of Altona; three other sidereal clocks, by Parkinson and Frodsham, of London; and one by Howard and Davis, of Boston, to which is attached the apparatus, called a chronograph, invented by Dr. Locke, for printing observations of time. There is also a mean-time clock, by Frodsham. All these time-keepers, except the normal clock of Kessel, have mercurial compensations. In this clock, and that by Davis, the pendulums are of a peculiar construction. Here also are kept the chronometers and nautical instruments of the navy which are not in actual use.

The observatory has now been in operation since the fall of 1844, and has already published two volumes of observations of 500 quarto pages each, comprehending only the work of 1845 and 1846. For the character and objects of these observations we must refer to the volumes themselves, which will be found to contain abundant evidence of the skill and activity with which the establishment has been conducted. In addition to the astronomical duties proper of the observatory, (namely, observations of the fundamental stars and planets,) a principal object proposed by the superintendent has been* to complete a catalogue of all the stars visible in the telescopes of the observatory, which will include all stars as far south as 41° of south declination, and go near twenty degress southward of the limits of good observation in any of the well-appointed observatories of the Old World. A plan was early traced for accomplishing this work, and has been prosecuted with vigor. Indeed, apart from the observations indispens able for determining clock-errors, this has been regarded as the principal business of the observatory. Previous to the time of Bessel, the catalogues had, for the most part, been limited to stars of the eighth magnitude, there being comparatively few of the ninth magnitude in any of them. This il

"Astronomical Observations for 1845." Appendix, page 42,

lustrious astronomer submitted in 1820 a plan for determining the positions of all telescopic stars, and as director of the Konigsberg Observatory, between 1821 and 1831, in about 500 nights of observation he covered a zone of the heavens, extending from 45° north to 15° south declination, containing about 64,000 stars, all of them above the tenth magnitude. All this work was done with a single instrument. It is only one of the many evidences of the ability, energy, and devotion with which this wonderful man was endowed, and which he so faithfully applied to the improvement of his favorite science. There are at Washington about 150 nights of the year available for astronomical observation, (nearly three times as many as can be used in any, except, perhaps, the Italian, climates of the Old World.) Four of the instruments are arranged for observations after the Besselian method. Allowing to each instrument 50 stars in a night, (quite a moderate allowance, Bessel's zones containing usually 120,) we should have in every year an accurate determination of 30,000 stars, a contribution which, in the present state of astronomy, is of surpassing value. We learn from the volumes already referred to, that the work of this kind already done covers nearly the whole zone of the heavens between 19° and 40° of south declination, and that its publication has been only delayed from the lack of clerical force for its reduction. We hope, for the sake of science as well as for the reputation of the country, that this incapacity may not be of long continuance.

In this observatory, also, is used the electric method of printing the instants of time during any series of observations. This is done upon a fillet running from a Morse register, similar to that used in ordinary telegraphic writing. The seconds are marked upon the fillet at intervals of about an inch, the circuit (without passing through the clock) being opened and closed by a delicate contrivance called an interrupter, acted upon by the scapement, and the instants of observation noted collaterally by break-circuit keys held by the observers. In the arrangement at the observatory the pens of all the instruments mark upon the same fillet, and the times of observation are easily read to hundredths of a second. There is another application of the same principle in use here, in which the record is made upon a cylinder covered with paper, and making one revolution in a minute, a modification which is found better adapted to the use of a single instrument. This arrangement, first introduced by Dr. Locke,* is peculiar to this

There has been considerable discussion and vituperation in regard to who was the inventor of this arrangement for printing observations by electricity. The discussions will be found at length in the Cincinnati papers for 1849 and 1850, and in Silliman's Journal for the latter year. They are also collected in a letter addressed by Dr. Locke to Nicholas Longworth, Esq., of Cincinnati, and published in a pamphlet form in 1850. The following are the facts collected solely from documents or printed and acknowledged letters of the parties. They are of interest, and it may be of service, to put them plainly before the public, without the glozing of interest or animosity to which they have been hitherto subjected. In the fall of 1848, shortly after the completion of the telegraphic line to Cincinnati, Mr. S. C. Walker, of the Coast Survey, was at Cincinnati, emploved in the determination of its longitude. This operation he was performing in conjunction with Professor O. M. Mitchell, of that place. In the course of their operations they were joined by Dr. Locke, who, at their request, permission, or connivance, (these three words cover all the discrepancy between the different statements,) constructed an arrangement on the principle now in use at the observatory for writing regular intervals of time upon a moving surface of paper, and marking upon it the instants of the occur. rence of any phenomena. That Dr. Locke was the original contriver of this adaptation is admitted distinctly in a letter from S. C. Walker to Dr. Locke, beginning with "Dear Sir," and dated November 18, 1848; in a letter from the Superintendent of the Coast Survey, beginning with "Dear Sir," and dated December 2, 1848; in a report of the Superintendent of the Coast Survey made to Con gress, (after first having asked in writing Dr. Locke's permission to do so,) and dated December 30, 1848, and in an official letter from Lieutenant Maury to the Secretary of the Navy, January 6, 1849. In addition to this concurring and uncontradicted testimony in our own country, the invention in December, 1849, was made the subject of an address by the Astronomer Royal to the Astronomical Society of Great Britain, who had at that time all the facts and representations before him, and states at the commencement of his address that "this first application of the principle is entirely due to VOL. XXVI.-NO. V. 35