54 6 The Smithsonian Institution 



It is a matter of interest to all metrologists to know that 

 through the generosity of Doctor Henry Morton, President 

 of the Stevens Institute of Technology at Hoboken, the 

 Ramsden dividing engine has recently been deposited in the 

 National Museum. The engine was built about 1775, and 

 for its construction Ramsden received a reward from the 

 English Board of Longitude. In an extremely interesting 

 paper printed in the Smithsonian Report for 1890, Mr. J. 

 Elfreth Watkins gives an account of this valuable relic, to 

 which he has added much important information regarding 

 the early history of the division of the circle. There are 

 also some details of the methods of circle graduation by lead- 

 ing artists of a century ago, and the whole forms an impor- 

 tant contribution to the literature of the subject. 



Under this head should also be mentioned the recent 

 publication (1896) of a set of physical tables prepared by 

 Professor Thomas Gray. These give evidence of great 

 care in preparation, excellent judgment in selection, and a 

 broad knowledge of authorities and literature. Their ap- 

 pearance is very welcome to physicists and all students of 

 exact science. 



TERRESTRIAL, DYNAMICAL, AND MOLECULAR PHYSICS 



IT has already been intimated, and, in fact, every one familiar 

 with its work knows that the Smithsonian Institution was, 

 especially during the first quarter of a century of its exist- 

 ence, very active in the promotion of terrestrial physics. It 

 originated, cultivated, and maintained a wide- spread interest 

 in the subject of meteorology, organizing a remarkably large 

 and enthusiastic corps of volunteer observers and collecting 

 and discussing data from all reliable sources. In the first 



