258 HISTORY OF ASTRONOMY. 



circle made by Young, of Philadelphia ; the object glass 

 having been procured from Merz and Son, of Munich. 

 It is mounted on a marble column, resting on solid 

 masonry, in the south wall of the tower. The object- 

 glass is three and a quarter inches in diameter, and has a 

 focal length of four feet. One end of the axis carries a 

 circle 20 niches in diameter, which is graduated to four 

 minutes, and reads by four verniers to three seconds. 

 The price of this instrument was $800. A sidereal clock 

 is supported by a marble column near the meridian circle. 

 It has a mercurial pendulum, and was made by Gropen- 

 giesser, of Philadelphia. The entire cost of this observa- 

 tory, with the instruments, was $4000. The equatorial is 

 employed in the observation of eclipses, occupations, and 

 other celestial phenomena. 



TUSCALOOSA OBSERVATORY, ALABAMA. 



> The Tuscaloosa observatory was erected in the year 

 1843, and has been furnished with instruments for ob- 

 servation of a superior order. It is situated upon an 

 elevation distant a few hundred yards from the Univer- 

 sity buildings, in a south-west direction. It is built of 

 brick, and is 55 feet in length by 22 in breadth in the 

 center. The central apartment is 22 feet square, and is 

 surmounted by a revolving dome of 18 feet internal 

 diameter, under which is mounted the equatorial tele- 

 scope made by Simms, of London. This instrument was 

 received in the spring of 1849. Its object-glass has a 

 clear aperture of eight inches, and a focal length of 12 



