552 
delay was sufficiently perceptible. This was 
too much for the excited minds of the good 
Bolognese, who with one accord began to 
hiss the sun and moon for affording them 
so wretched a spectacle. 
Value of the Greenwich Observations.— 
The Greenwich observations are published 
in a style which may be suited perhaps to 
the magnificence of the country, but at a 
price which puts them beyond the reach of 
most astronomers. Two years since no less 
than jive tons of them were discovered.in an 
old paper shop in Thames-street, near South- 
wark-bridge; two tons and a half were seld 
to a maker of Bristol board, the rest were 
disposed of in smaller lots. An inquiry was 
instituted on the subject by the Royal So- 
ciety, when it was ascertained that the 
_unsold copies of these observations were the 
perquisite of the astronomer royal. In pub- 
lishing his proceedings at such a price as 
almost precluded their being purchased, we 
admire the judgment of Mr. Pond. When 
he himself disposed of them for waste paper, 
he, of course, was best acquainted with their 
yalue. 
Astronomical and Nautical Instruments. 
—France possesses some artists whose skill 
is not surpassed by that of any whom Eng- 
land can boast; at the head of these is 
Gambey, the perfection of whose astronomical 
and nautical instruments is acknowledged 
throughout Europe. On the return of a 
French ship from a voyage of discovery, the 
instruments with which it had been fur- 
nished, and among them was an admirable 
circle by Gambey, were consigned to a dépét 
belonging to the Hotel de la Marine. The 
deputy inspector, who had the care thereof, 
finding that Gambey’s circle, in particular, 
was much tarnished, and moreover had 
divers scratches upon its surface, in his zeal 
for discharging the duties of his office, in- 
trusted a journeyman clockmaker with the 
task of polishing it. In a few days the 
‘clockmaker returned, and presenting the 
instrument, which shone with more than its 
original brightness, expressed some regret 
that a few of the scratches were too deep for 
‘him to efface: The rest, viz. nearly the 
whole of the divisions, were quite oblite- 
rated. 
One of the most celibtated nations 
of Europe, though not for the patronage 
it extends to science, possesses a public 
observatory, for the purposes for which 
it is designed, far surpassing what any 
other kingdom can boast. Yet the ofli- 
cial observer, though furnished with the 
most splendid apparatus that ever was con- 
structed for the advancement of astronomy, 
and far more than he himself and his assist- 
ants ean employ, is always crying, like the 
daughter of the horse leech, ‘‘ Give, give.” 
The fact is, that the‘ worthy man, being 
insufficiently remunerated, receives, like all 
other professional people, a handsome per 
centage on the instruments ordered by 
him. 
Varieties: 
EMay, 
Among the instruments with which. the 
commander of one of the last ships sent on a 
voyage of discovery was furnished, was, of 
course, a transit. Not long after the sailing 
of the vessel, the instrument maker received 
a letter, dated from one of the outports, 
desiring to be informed, by return of post, 
the use of two screws, projecting from the 
eye end of the transit instrument. ‘‘ What 
is to be done with such a fellow as this ?”’ 
said the astonished optician, wondering not 
more at the’ presumption. of the man who, 
with so little practical knowledge, could 
accept such an appointment, than at the 
government who could entrust it to such 
hands. 
Philosophers.—In order that the mercury 
employed for artificial horizons may be free 
from extraneous matters, the aperture 
through which it is poured from the wooden 
bottle containing it, is extremely minute. 
An amateur astronomer, who had provided 
himself with this apparatus, waited upon the 
venerable and eminent artist who had con- 
structed it. “ Mr. ,” said he, “I 
have come to acquaint you with a discovery 
I have made. At first I met with great 
difficulty in getting the mercury belonging 
to the artificial horizon back into the bottle 
through the capillary orifice ; in fact, it was 
impossible, till it occurred to me to place it 
under, and then exhaust the receiver of an 
air-pump, and that is the way I do it.” 
“ This is the way I do it,’’ said the worthy 
optician, unscrewing, at the same time, the 
top of the box, tothe astonishment of the 
ingenious philosopher, who for the purpose 
above-mentioned had actually expended 
twenty or thirty pounds in the purchase of 
an air-pump, which, when it was found to 
be superfluous, was generously taken back 
by the maker at ten Pa less than the 
oviginal price. : 
Two English gentlemen, uch dis- — 
tinguished in the scientific were tra- 
velling through Switzerland a few years 
back, and stopped at the romantic village of 
Chamouni. While there, they happened 
to be measuring, by means of a stick and 
the shadow which the sun projected, the 
height of a tree. Their proceedings at- 
tracted the notice of another traveller, who, 
in the course of the evening, detailed what 
he had witnessed to the wondering fre- 
quenters of the table d’hote. -Doubts were 
expressed as to the correctness of his state- 
ment. The narrator maintained his vera- 
city, John Bull fashion, with a bet; the 
‘proposition was received with a sarcastic 
grin. ‘* Well, then, the party should have 
ocular demonstration of the truth of what 
he saw.’”’ A large lanthorn was procured, 
and off the whole party scampered, to verify 
by its light the effect of the sun! We did 
not hear whether the hero of this tale was a 
cockney, a country gentleman, or an F.R.S. 
Rail Roads and Canals.—If with a 
speed of 2°5 miles per hour, 30 tons 
upon a canal be equal to 7*5 upon a 
