ASTRONOMY. 215 



III, p. 1G7, and Mr. Calver has given a very full account of tlic pro- 

 cess of figuring and silves-ing the mirror in the M. N. for November. 



A new observatory has been founded at Kalocza in Hungary, by Car- 

 dinal Archbishop Haynald. Dr. Charles Braun is the director, and 

 the chief instrument is a 7-inch refractor by Merz. 



Another private observatory has been constructed at Plonsk, about 

 37 niik^s from Warsaw, by Dr. Jedrzejevicz. The principal instru- 

 ment is G.4 inch refractor by Steinheil, to be used for observations of 

 double stars. 



The new observatory of Queen's College, Cork, though furnished only 

 with small instruments, promises to become one of the most remarkable 

 astronomical institutes existing, on account of the unique character 

 and retined construction of its instrum(;nts. These have been de- 

 scribed at some length in the Scientific Proceedings, lloyal Dublin 

 Society, by their constructor, Mr. IIoavard GRrBB. The principal 

 instruments are an 8-inch equatorial, a 5-inch transit circle with 20-inch 

 circles of glass, and a 4-inch siderostat of novel construction. The tel- 

 escope of this instrument points towards the south pole, and carries 

 outside the object-glass a plane silvered mirror, which, by the rotation 

 of the tube round its optical axis (either by hand or clockwork), will 

 keep the object under examination in the center of the field. 



An observatory is being built on the site of the "Casa degT Inglesi," 

 on Mount Etna, 9,650 feet above the sea. It is only to be inhabited 

 during the months of June, July, August, and September ; and the 12- 

 inch lens, by Merz, is then to be brought to Catania, where there is to 

 be a duplicate mounting for it. The observatory is to be devoted to 

 solar work, for which its high elevation, according to the experience of 

 Prof. Tacchini, as also of Prof. Langley, makes it especially suited.* 



M. BiscHOFFSHEiMisbuildinganewobservatoryatMontdesMignons, 

 Mce, of which M. Perrotin, of the Paris Observatory, has been ap- 

 pointed the director. A sum of 900,000 francs is to be spent on it. 



It is now more than five years since James Lick, of San Francisco, 

 placed in the hands of trustees the sum of 6700,000 for the purpose 

 of erecting and equipping an observatory near the Pacific coast, which 

 was to constitute the Lick Astronomical Department of the University 

 of California.t The site originally chosen was at Lake Tahoe; but 

 afterwards a series of experimental surveys was made, with a view 

 of obtaining the best location in an easily accessible place. Finally, 

 Mount Hamilton, in Santa Clara County, about 50 miles southeast of 

 San Francisco, was chosen, and negotiations were opened with the 

 county authorities for the building of a road to the summit. More than 

 1,500 acres of land were secured for the observatory, only a small por- 

 tion of which is essential to the immediate needs of the buildings, but 



* A plan of the observatory is given iu Nature, xis, p. 558, 



t The following caccounfc is borrowed from The Kansas City Bcvicw of Science and In- 

 dustry, Vol. III., p. 482. (December, 1879.) 



3h 



