296 



Miscellaneous Intelli^'ence. 



The wonder and admiration caused by the unexpected appearance of 

 the great comet in March, 1843, was a great Incentive lo, and indirect- 

 ly, one of the principal causes of (he erection of this now celebrated 

 Observaiory, although for many years before it had been a favorite pro- 

 ject with John Q. Adams, Nathaniel Bowditch, and other distinguished 

 advocates of astronomical science. But few decisive steps were taken, 

 however, until the sudden appearance of this brilliant comet, in 1843, 

 when it was found that the instruments in Cambridge were entirely in- 

 adequate to make accurate observations on such a body. This aroused 

 the public-spirited citizens of Boston to a sense of the importance of an 

 Astronomical Observatory, with instruments of sufficient accuracy to 

 make the necessary observations on the heavenly bodies. Accordingly, 



an informal meeting was held in the office of the American Insurance 

 Company, Boston, by several public-spirited individuals who were inter- 

 ested in the cause. Soon after, a large meeting of merchants and 

 others was held in the hall of the Marine Society, where it was resolved 

 to raise by subscription the funds necessary for procuring an equatorial 

 telescope of the first class, and iwenty-five thousand dollars were im- 

 mediately subscribed, Mr. David Sears, of Boston, headed the list by 

 a donation of five hundred dollars for this object, besides giving five 

 thousand dollars for the erection of a suitable tower to contain this in- 

 strument. Another gentleman of Boston subscribed one thousand dol- 

 lars towards the telescope: eight others contributed five hundred dol- 

 lars each, for the same object; eighteen gentlemen gave two hundred 

 each, and thirty others gave the sum of one hundred dollars each. The 

 American Academy of Arts and Sciences made a donation of three 

 thousand dollars, and the Society for the Diffusion of Useful Knowledge 

 gave one thousand. Besides these, the principal Insurance Companies 

 of Boston contributed largely. The American, Merchants', and Na- 



