ASTRONOMICAL OBSERVATORIES. 273 



seconds of time ; the declination circle is 15 inches in 

 diameter, reading to 10 seconds of arc. This instrument 

 was received in November, 1850, and cost $3,500. 



* 



This*telescope was mounted on the top of the college 

 building, about 50 feet from the ground, under a revolv- 

 ing dome 18 feet in diameter, and was supported by a 

 heavy cast-iron tripod, whose legs consist of hollow iron 

 columns, each weighing about 600 pounds, passing 

 through three floors of the building, and resting on solid 

 masonry below the lower floor. The dome revolves on 

 cannon-balls, and is turned by wheels gearing into a circle 

 of cogs on the wall below the dome. The time is fur- 

 nished by a box chronometer. 



The cost of the telescope and observatory was defrayed 

 partly by subscription; but the greater part of the ex- 

 pense was borne by the president of the institution, the 

 Rev. William J. Walker. 



BUFFALO OBSERVATORY. 



This observatory is the property of Mr. William S. Van 

 Duzee. It was erected in the summer of 1851, and the 

 instruments mounted in the following winter. The 

 building is 24 by 25 feet square, having two piers, one 

 for the transit, and the other for the equatorial instru- 

 ment, resting on a foundation of solid masonry, ex- 

 tending twelve feet below the surface of the earth, and 

 surrounded by a wall two feet distant from this 

 foundation, so that no motion may be felt by the 

 passing of carriages. 



12* 



