54 PROCEEDINGS OF SECTION A. 



General Observations, amongst which were observations of the 

 length of the seconds pendulum in 1823, printed by the Royal 

 Society in their Transactions. Sir John Herschel, at that time 

 President of the Astronomical Society, said, in presenting the 

 medal : — " We give this medal, accompanied with the strongest 

 expressions of our admiration for your patriotic and princely 

 support given to Astronomy in regions so remote. It will be to 

 you a source of honest pride as long as you live to reflect that the 

 most brilliant trait of Australian history marks the era of your 

 government, and that your name will be identified with the future 

 glories of that colony in ages yet to come, as the founder of her 

 science. It is a distination worthy of a British Governor. Our 

 first triumphs in those fair climes have been the peaceful ones of 

 science, and the treasures they have transmitted to us are 

 imperishable records of useful knowledge, speedily to be returned 

 Avith interest, to the improvement of their condition and their 

 elevation in the scale of nations." 



Having formed the resolution to establish an observatory in 

 New South Wales, Sir Thomas made a collection of astronomical 

 books and instruments, and engaged two gentlemen, Mr. Charles 

 Rumker, who had already attained a position as a good astronomer 

 and mathematician, and Mr. James Dunlop, whose great natural 

 ability, and especially his fondness for and success in mechanical 

 appliances and instruments, had pointed him out as a most suitable 

 man for second assistant in the Observatoiy in an out of the way 

 place like Parramatta, where nothing towards the repair of the 

 instruments could be done outside the Observatory. They arrived 

 in the colony in November, 1821. A site was immediately chosen 

 for the Observatory close to Government House, Parramatta, 

 only about one hundred yards from the back door. Men were at 

 once set to work, and by the end of April, the building was 

 completed, and the instruments erected. 



The building* was not loaded with architectural ornaments, 

 the walls being quite plain, 11 feet high, and 28 feet on each 

 side ; the roof was flat, but at each end, north and south, small 

 domes, 11 feet 6 inches in diameter, projected above the flat roof, 

 The east and west walls were entirely without windows, but on the 

 north and south sides there were five windows in each, three being 

 in a circular projection of the wall, which formed half the base of the 

 dome, the other half, inside the building, being supported in each 

 case by four pillars ; transit openings were made through the roof 

 on each side of the domes, and carried through the wall to one 

 of the windows, which could be opened, if required, to allow of 

 seeing objects on the horizon. The transit instrument was placed 

 under the western opening, and the mui'al circle under the eastern 

 one. The 46-inch long achromatic telescope under the south 



*A plan shewing details of the building- will be found as a frontispiece to the Parramatta 

 Catalogue of Stars. 



