102 



THE POPULAR SCIENCE MONTHLY 



Side View of the Atwood Celestial, Sphere from West, showing entrance. 



medals. The Huygens medal was con- 

 ferred on Dr. Alexander Graham Bell, 

 of whom the president said : ' ' His pre- 

 ponderating share in the invention of 

 the telephone, now so long ago as 1876, 

 and his practical investigations in pho- 

 netics, have laid modern civilization 

 under deep obligation to him, while his 

 numerous other inventions and experi- 

 ments show the fertility of his genius. ' ' 



A CELESTIAL SPHERE IN A NAT- 

 URAL HISTORY MUSEUM 

 The Chicago Academy of Sciences 

 has appreciated the interest in astron- 



omy and the difficulty met in trying to 

 become familiar with even the brighter 

 stars and more commonly known con- 

 stellations. Various plans for promo- 

 ting this study were considered by the 

 academy. The flat star charts are con- 

 fusing to the untrained observer, and 

 the globes on the outside of which stars 

 are sometimes represented are unsatis- 

 factory. To avoid these difficulties the 

 sphere now in the academy building and 

 here shown in illustrations was invented 

 by Dr. Wallace W. Atwood, secretary 

 of the society and director of the 



