142 RECORD OF SCIENCE FOR 1886. 



Buchtel College Observatory (1886). — Pi^ofessor Howe has devoted his 

 time to instruction in liractical astronomy. The cost of the observa- 

 tory was about $5,000. 



BucTcnell University Observatory. — Mr. William Buckuell has given 

 the sum of $10,000 for an observatory at Lewisburgh, Pa. A 10-iuch 

 equatorial has been ordered from Clark and a 3-inch transit from 

 Ertel. The building is of brick, 25 feet by 150 feet, a dome 16J feet in 

 diameter surmounting the central tower. 



The observatory, under the direction of Prof. W. G. Bartol, is to be 

 used for instruction in practical astronomy, and will be ready in, June, 

 1887. 



Cliabot Observatory (1886). — This new observatory, the gift of An- 

 thony Chabot, esq., to the city of Oakland, Cal., is under the direction 

 of Mr. F. M. Campbell. The instruments are, an 8-inch equatorial, 

 with micrometer and spectroscope, a 4^ inch transit, chronograph, 

 clocks, etc. The geographical position given (Sid. Mess., 5:286) is: 

 Latitude, +37° 48' 5" ; longitude, 3^' O'" 54«.3 west of Washington. 



Cincinnati (1886). — The Cincinnati Observatory was founded in 1842 

 by an astronomical society, and was afterward transferred to the Uni- 

 versity of Cincinnati, of which it now forms one of the departments. A 

 new building was erected in 1870 upon IMouiit Lookout, about 4 miles 

 east and 2 miles north of the central portion of the city. The observa- 

 tory grounds comprise 4 acres on the summit of the hill. The building 

 is of brick ; it consists of a central portion supporting the dome, and two 

 wings, the western being furnished with meridian shutters, and the east- 

 ern containing the library. 



The observatory possesses the Mitchel refractor of II inches aper- 

 ture, made by Merz & Mahler, and supplied with a filar micrometer and 

 a double-ring micrometer. The magnifying powers range irom 90 to 

 1,500. There is also a portable equatorial of 4 inches aperture by Clark, 

 with magnifying powers ranging from 15 to 250. The transit instru- 

 ment, by Buff & Berger, has an aperture of 3 inches and is furnished 

 with a latitude level and an eye-piece micrometer for measuring differ- 

 ences of declination. The total value of the instruments is estimated to 

 be about $12,000. The library contains over fifteen hundred bound vol- 

 umes besides a large number of pamphlets. 



The financial support is derived from a city tax, the yearly income 

 from which is about $5,000. This provides for the salary of the direc- 

 tor, one assistant, and a janitor, the jiayment of the ordinary expenses, 

 • and the publication of results. The purpose of the observatory is both 

 educational and scientific. Instruction in astronomy is given in con- 

 nection with the university, and the observatory is also open to the 

 public for the first hour of each evening. 



The principal work of the past year (1886) has been the prosecution 

 of the zone observations with the 3 inch transit instrument. In these 

 zones about 4,000 stars between the declinations —19° and —22° have 



