Telescopes — Life of Fraunhofer. 311 



gaged in works of such magnitude, Fraunhofer was at the 

 same lime carrying on others on a less scale, though not of 

 less importance to science. The Astronomical Institution 

 of Edinburgh, in the year 1825, ordered from him a very 

 large and complete transit instrument, with a telescope eight 

 feet and a half in focal length, and six inches aperture. 

 Upon the receipt of this order, he constructed three object- 

 glasses of these dimensions, one for the Royal Observatory 

 of Edinburgh, another for a heliometer for M. Bessel, and a 

 third as a spare one in case M. BessePs object-glass should 

 meet with any accident in the bisection ; and, fortunately 

 for science, these object-glasses are all completed. 



In the year 1820, when M. R,eichenbach left the copart- 

 nery, MM. Utzschneider and Fraunhofer entered into a new 

 contract for continuing their optical establishment. The 

 former presented to Fraunhofer a share in the concern, equal 

 to about 24,000 francs, so that, from haying several other 

 sources of income, he was now comfortable and independ- 

 ent. Inspired by his success and good fortune, all the activ- 

 ity of his mind was called forth, and he took the establish- 

 ment entirely under his direction. Since 1817 it had been 

 transferred to Munich, and the business had increased to such 

 a degree, that fifty workmen are at present employed. 



In 1 823 M. Fraunhofer was appointed keeper of the phys- 

 ical cabinet of the academy of Munich, a situation to which 

 a pension was attached. In 1824 after the public exhibition 

 of the great telescope of Dorpat, the King of Bavaria hon- 

 ored him with the rank of a chevalier of the order of Civil 

 Merit. He was also elected a member of several foreign so- 

 cieties, among which we may mention the Society of Arts 

 in our own city. The university of Erlangen also conferred 

 upon him the title of Doctor in Philosophy. 



Thus honored and respected both at home and abroad, 

 Fraunhofer was enjoying all the happiness which character 

 and reputation and a moderate independence never fail to 

 yield. His mind was occupied with great views of scientific 

 ambition which he could not have failed to realize, and such 

 was the perfection to which he had brought his art, that he 

 was willing to undertake an achromatic telescope, with an ob- 

 ject-glass eighteen inches in aperture, and we have now be- 

 fore us a letter in which he fixes even the price of this stu- 

 pendous instrument. But he was not destined to accomplish 

 so great an undertaking. In October 1825 he was attacked 



