50 



most frequent interchanges of courtesies is to compare 

 watches ; certainly if the question of time is raised, as it 

 is sure to be shortly among a knot of men with us, every 

 one pulls out his watch, and comparison is made. We are 

 in fact, the slaves of time, and of fixed times. We think 

 it a great loss and misfortune to be without correct time ; 

 and if we are away from the town-clock and the noon- 

 gun, in some country place, we importune the city stran- 

 ger, who appears to have a good watch, for the time ; or 

 we lie in wait for the magnificent conductor of the railway 

 express, who always has the air of getting the promptest 

 time from headquarters." 



Let us examine the parts of a watch as we have them 

 upon the screen. [Here a watch-movement in full motion 

 was projected upon the screen and Mr. Waldo explained 

 the various parts.] We are indebted to the Mechanical 

 Superintendent of the Waltham Watch Factory for this 

 very interesting exhibition of a watch in motion, pro- 

 jected against the screen. The chronometer, either ma- 

 rine or pocket, is superior to any other form of watch 

 made, if we consider only its performance when it is kept 

 in one position ; but it is inferior to almost any other well 

 made form of watch if it is constantly exposed to the jar 

 of the person in walking or running. The precision at- 

 tained in the very finest of pocket chronometers is sur- 

 prising ; thus, the mean daily variation in the rates of the 

 two best chronometers exhibited by the American Watch 

 Co. at the Philadelphia Centennial Exposition were twelve 

 and fourteen one-hundredths of a second, respectively. 

 Quoting from a recent report of the Neuchatel Observa- 

 tory on the annual competition of Swiss chronometers 

 for prizes awarded yearly by the Observatory, the two 

 best pocket chronometers had an average daily variation 

 in their rates of thirteen and seventeen one-hundredths of 



