256 
Another brass strip, 18% feet long and %¢ inch wide, marking 
the magnetic meridian, crosses the geographical meridian at an 
angle of 11° 11’. The data at the ends of the meridians are ; 
eb) 
s 
follows : 
At the North End: 
Magnetic north. Variation 11° 11’ west in 1931 
Annual increase 4’ 
elt the South End: 
Altitude above mean sea level, 115 feet 
North latitude, 40° 40’ 06” 
Longitude west of Greenwich, 73° 57’ 48” 
To the North Pole, 3416.7 miles 
To the Equator, 2798.2 miles 
This feature is proving of much public interest, and the data are 
constantly bemg copied by school classes and others. 
Armillary Sphere—Vhe central feature of the Laboratory Plaza 
is the large Compass and Armillary Sphere erected in 1933. This 
at 
was made possible through a bequest of the late Alfred W. Jenkins, 
a former member of the Botanic Garden Governing Committee. 
The Arnullary Sphere consists of circular bands of bronze repre- 
senting the principal celestial circles, and has been designed to 
serve also as a sun dial. It is mounted on a pedestal of Carver 
black granite from Vinal Haven, Maine. 
a 
The pedestal rests on an octagonal platform of Stony Creek 
(Connecticut) pink granite, and the whole is mounted at the center 
of a large circular compass paved with marble terrazzo in four 
colors, each color representing a different point of the compass. 
— 
The marble chips used in the terrazzo are of various origins, the 
red marble coming from Massa, Italy, the black from Mazy, Bel- 
gium, the green from Cardiff, Maryland, and the yellow from 
Siena, Italy. The armillary sphere (with pedestal) and the com- 
pass, as well as the entire Plaza, were designed by Mr. Harold A. 
Caparn, landscape architect of the Botanic Garden. The signs of 
the zodiac, in bas relief, were modeled by Miss Rhys Caparn. 
Labeled Boulders —Vhe Brooklyn Botanic Garden is located 
near the western end of the terminal moraine of Long Island. 
This moraine was deposited at the southern edge of the continental 
glacier that occupied the northern part of North America, during 
