ASTRONOMICAL OBSERVATORIES. 283 



stantial manner of large stone, well bedded. The piers 

 in the transit rooms are six feet by eight, and each room 

 is furnished with clock piers of similar construction. 

 The walls "are of brick ; but the basement, portico, cor- 

 nices, etc., are of dressed freestone. The library and 

 commuting rooms are warmed by heated air from a base- 

 ment furnace. These rooms and the staircase are all 

 accessible from the vestibule. A bust of the late 

 Charles Dudley, executed by E. D. Palmer, an artist of 

 Albany, is to be placed near the principal entrance. 



The Dudley observatory was incorporated in 1853, 

 and its management is vested in a board of trustees. 

 In the summer of 1855, Mrs. Dudley offered to furnish 

 the requisite means for procuring a heliometer of the 

 largest dimensions. The construction of this instru- 

 ment has been entrusted to Mr. Charles A. Spencer, 

 who proposes to make a telescope with an object-glass 

 of 10 inches aperture. The price of this instrument is 

 to be $14,500. A gentleman of Albany contributed 

 $5000 for a meridian circle, and this instrument has 

 been ordered from Pistor and Martins, of Berlin. An- 

 other gentleman of Albany contributed $1000 for an 

 astronomical clock. The transit instrument will be 

 furnished by the U. S. Coast Survey, and will cost 

 $1.500. It is expected that the observatory will soon 

 commence active operations under the direction of Dr. 

 B. A. Gould. 



