ni 



forth, petition the legislature of this State, at its ensuing ses- 

 sion, for an appropriation to defray the expense of procuring 

 copies of the Records of marriages, births, baptisms and deaths 

 from the several towns and parishes throughout the State, from 

 the earliest settlement down to the year 1850 : and that the 

 same be deposited in the office of the Secretary of the Common- 

 wealth at Boston, to be open to the inspection of all persons in 

 search of this particular kind of information. 



Dr. Henry Wheatland alluded to the difficulty, at present, 

 experienced in many places, in obtaining access to the early 

 town and parish records ; — they are sometimes found in unsui- 

 table places, liable to be destroyed by fire or other casualties — ■ 

 and offered the following : 



Voted, That this Resolution be referred to a committee of 

 five persons, with full power to act as in their opinion may be 

 deemed advisable as to the most appropriate manner of present- 

 ing this subject to the consideration of the Legislature, and to 

 invite the co-operation of the Historical Societies in the Com- 

 monwealth to aid the same. 



Messrs. C. W. Upham, David Roberts, Wm. C. Endicott, 

 Augustus Story and Henry M. Brooks, Avere appointed on this 

 committee. 



The remainder of the Evening's session was occupied by 

 Moses G. Farmer, who exhibited some interesting experiments, 

 with the Gyrascope, and explained its action. 



The piece of apparatus, before us, this evening, is variously 

 called, — The Gyrascope,' — Rotascope, — or The Mechanical 

 Paradox ; — called by the latter name because its motions are in 

 seeming contradiction with the law of gravitation. 



r^'^"""Ta --^ The instrument consists of a wheel 



^^^ ,-«^i\C! • ^^^ ^^■^^ ^ ^ ) which runs upon piv- 

 ^^^3l^^ ots ( B ) supported by a ring. This 

 ^^S3E=™L**^/ ring has a projection, or ear, ( C ) in 

 \ y the direct line of the axle, and above 



^^-^'-/^^^y^''^ ^^^® central plane of the ring ; a small 

 \^^^^ bole is countersunk on the under side 



of this ear to receive the point of the 

 rod from the supporting stand. The instrument may, in fact, 

 be considered as an amplification of the common spinning top — 

 the motion of both being amenable to the same laws. 



There have been numerous claimants for the honor of having 

 invented this instrument, in one form or another. A very 



