ASTRCXtfDMICAL OBSERVATORIES. 



263 



AMHERST COLLEGE OBSERVATORY. 



A small building for astronomical observations was 

 erected in 1847 in connection with Amherst College, 

 Massachusetts. This building consists of an octagonal 

 tower fifty feet high, and seventeen feet in diameter, with 

 a revolving dome, and a central pedestal for supporting 

 a telescope. On the east side of the tower is attached a 

 transit room, 13 by 15 feet, with a sliding roof. Here 

 is mounted a transit circle, made by Grambey, of Paris, 

 the telescope having a focal length of about three feet, 

 and an aperture of two and a half inches. The circle 

 is fifteen inches in diameter, graduated to five minutes, 

 and is furnished with four verniers reading to three 

 seconds. The clock was made by Breguet, and has a 

 gridiron pendulum. 



