NATURE 
409 
| Feb. 17, 1870] 
THE OBSERVATORY FOR THE NEWALL TELESCOPE 
THE NEWALL TELESCOPE 
HE 25-inch Equatorial Telescope, commenced several 
years ago by T. Cooke and Sons, of York, for R. S. 
Newall, Esq., of Gateshead, is now so far completed that 
it has been removed from the works at York into its obser- 
vatory in Mr. Newall’s grounds, at Fern Deal. 
The completion of a telescope with an object glass of 
25 inches aperture, marks an epoch in astronomy, 
and its completion in England again places us in the 
front rank in the matter of the optical art, as we were in 
Dolland’s time. 
The history of the progress of the manufacture of tele- 
scopes since the time referred to, shows very clearly the 
long-lasting effects of bad legislation ; for it is not too much 
to say that the duty on glass entirely stifled, if indeed it 
did not kill, the optical art in England. Hence-we depended 
for many yearsupon Franceand Germany for our telescopes 
to such an extent indeed that the largest object-glasses at 
Greenwich, Oxford, and Cambridge are all of foreign make. 
The labours of the Germans culminated in the two magnifi- 
cent instruments of 154inches aperture in the observatories 
of Pulkowa and Cambridge, U.S. And then for a time 
America, thanks to the genius of Alvan Clarke, took the 
lead with the 18} inch glass now beginning to do good 
work in the observatory of Chicago. This instrument is 
at last eclipsed by the magnificent one now being erected 
at Gateshead. 
In what we have said we have purposely omitted to 
touch upon reflecting telescopes, in the construction of 
which, since the time of Newton, England has always 
been pre-eminent, because we shall take occasion to refer 
to the reflector of four feet aperture, completed last year 
by Mr. Grubb, of Dublin, and now erected at Melbourne 
when it is fairly at work. 
The general design and appearance of this monster 
among telescopes, which will be gathered from the 
accompanying woodcut, is the same as that of the well- 
known Cooke equatorials; but the extraordinary size of 
all the parts has necessitated the special arrangement of 
most of them. 
The length of the tube, including dew-cap and eye-end, 
