840 THE POPULAR SCIENCE MONTHLY. 



to be encouraged to come to town, to take a lead in a manufact- 

 ure, optical and mathematical, which never had been attempted 

 in America, and drew thousands of pounds to England for instru- 

 ments, often ill-finished ; and it would redound to the honor of 

 Philadelphia to take a lead in this, and of the Assembly to en- 

 courage it." The proposition was received enthusiastically, and 

 the whole house rose to vote for Mr. Rittenhouse, one of the mem- 

 bers exclaiming, " Our name is legion for this vote." The Assem- 

 bly adjourned, however, without passing the bill, although Mr. 

 Rittenhouse was afterward appointed to the position for which 

 he was named in it. He removed to Philadelphia, on his own 

 account, in the fall of 1770. The next scientific investigation in 

 which he appears to have been engaged was the observation of 

 the comet of 1770, of which he calculated the elements, and com- 

 municated the results to the American Philosophical Society. 

 We afterward find him, with several other gentlemen, making 

 experiments on the electric eel for the purpose of ascertaining the 

 origin of the shock which the animal emits on being touched. 



From this time on, Rittenhouse was to a considerable extent 

 engaged in works in the service of the public, to some of which he 

 was called in consequence of his scientific ability and mechanical 

 skill, to others commended by his character as a citizen and his 

 integrity. He was given charge of the State-House clock; ap- 

 pointed to survey the lands between the Susquehanna and Dela- 

 ware Rivers ; to superintend the improvement of the Schuylkill ; 

 and to determine the northwestern extremity of the boundary 

 between New York and Pennsylvania. 



In 1775 the American Philosophical Society presented to the 

 Pennsylvania Assembly a plan for the erection of an observatory 

 under State control, with Mr. Rittenhouse as " public astronomi- 

 cal observer " ; describing him as " a gentleman whose abilities, 

 speculative as well as practical, would do honor to any country. 

 . . . Under his auspices the work could now be undertaken with 

 the greatest advantages ; and others may be bred up by him, to 

 prosecute it in future times ; but, if the present opportunity is 

 neglected, perhaps whole centuries may not afford another. To 

 rescue such a man from the drudgery of manual labor, and give 

 him an occasion of indiilging the bent of his genius with advan- 

 tage to his country, is an honor which crowned heads might glory 

 in ; but it is an honor also, which it is hoped, in the case of a 

 native, Pennsylvania would not yield to the greatest prince or 

 people on earth." The Revolution came on, and the scheme was 

 not carried out. 



In view of that crisis, Mr. Rittenhouse was commissioned to 

 prepare molds and have iron clock-weights cast, to be exchanged 

 with the people for their leaden ones ; as engineer to the Com- 



