THE ENGLISH OBSERVATORIES. 539 



last two, only that of Paramatta was utilized; the astronomers Rum- 

 ker and Dunlop prepared there precious catalogues of stars mostly in- 

 visible in our hemisphere. Abandoned after the death of Dunlop, this 

 establishment was suppressed in 1855, and replaced by the observatory 

 of Sydney, that the government of New South Wales caused to be 

 constructed at its own expense to satisfy the complaints of the ma- 

 riners, who found in these regions no means for regulating their chro- 

 nometers. Already, two years before, the rapid increase of navigation 

 between Europe and Australia in consequence of the discovery of the 

 gold-mines had led the government of the colony of Victoria to found 

 an observatory at Melbourne, which, under the intelligent direction of 

 Mr. Ellery, quickly took rank among the most active establishments. 

 Melbourne has possessed since 1870 a telescope of colossal dimensions. 

 The tube and the mirror, which is four feet in diameter, weigh together 

 nearly nine tons, and the clockwork movement that regulates this im" 

 mense machine is of such precision that the wire of the micrometer 

 follows a fixed star for more than an hour. As a precautionary meas- 

 ure, two four-feet mirrors were sent from London instead of one ; un- 

 fortunately, they were both injured in the passage, it was necessary to 

 repolish them, and, in spite of the impatience and bad humor of the 

 inhabitants of Melbourne, all the results promised from this great 

 telescope have not yet been attained. Instruments of this kind are so 

 much the more delicate as their dimensions are increased, and they 

 demand long practice before being used with success. At present the 

 greater part of the work of the Melbourne establishment is carried on 

 with the ordinary implements of observatories. Mr. Ellery arranged 

 with the astronomers at Sydney and at the Cape for undertaking a 

 grand review of the southern heavens, which were divided into zones, 

 and the three stations shared the systematic exploration. A large 

 portion of these observations has been already published. 



The rapid picture we have sketched will give an idea of the ex- 

 traordinary flight practical astronomy has taken not only on the soil of 

 the British Isles, but upon every point of the globe where the Anglo- 

 Saxon race has planted its colonies. The necessities of navigation 

 have been the prominent motive for the creation of some of the most 

 important English observatories ; but the volunteers in science have 

 also done no inconsiderable portion of the common work. The landed 

 aristocracy, the higher branches of trade, the arts and manufactures, 

 hold the honor of being united with the professional men of science, 

 or at least of cooperating in their labors, by an enlightened munifi- 

 cence. Can a better use be made of fortune or leisure ? It has been 

 said concerning the organization of the Greenwich Observatory that 

 the essentially practical and utilitarian spirit of the English is mani- 

 fested also in science, since all the labor in Greenwich is directed 

 toward a special purpose, the incessant improvement of that portion 

 of astronomy that renders so great service to navigation. However, 



