OBSERVATORY. 
ftruments of an obfervatory, fuch as had been formerly 
ereGted at Samarcand, agreéably to the Muffulman books. 
x & & &# & & 
«¢ Thus an accurate method of conftruéting an obfervatory 
was eftablifhed; and th exifted be- 
pbleenioren after allowing for a difference of longitude 
the obfervations and 
calculaticns agreed. 
obfervatories in other large cities, that fo every perfon who 
is devoted to thefe ftudies, whenever he wifhes to afcertain 
the place of a flar, or the relative fituation of ‘one ftar to 
another, mi — sel thcfe _ uments obferve the phenomena.’ 
oregoing ex of the Afiatic Refearches 
it appears, cist although fr “Robert Barker’s-defcription of 
Benares obfervatory is allowed to be very correét, yet he was 
not well informed as to the fituation or number of the other 
obfervatories, or the names of their founders. 
EKIN, in China, there was an elie — 
built in the thirteenth century, on the city w and in 
1669, father Verbielt, a miffionary Jefuit, oc ss made 
prefident of the Guana of mathematics there, and chief 
obferver, obtained permiffion from the emperor Cam-hi to 
furnith it with new inftruments, a oe of which may 
be feen in Duhalde’s Defcription of Chin 
ther oe were built in Chica fubfequently by 
the French miffionaries, and by the Portuguefe Jefuits, who 
diftinguifhed themfelves very much by their improvements in 
aftronomy, notwithitanding the duties of a very different na- 
ture in which they were employed, and to which they are 
fuppofed likewife +o have paid due attention. 
a 
! 
e 
ments of the Pekin obfervatory are defcribed as pe ee 
large, but the divifions lefs accurate, and t 
fome refpects lefs 
that period in Eur e 
feet raduus, a auadeart io feet radiu 
alfo a celeftial globe, an armillary z 
Paris feet diameter, (the French ae ‘aa ak 6 feet 
48 ac nearly Enghfh m cate 
aid that io elas in I 1540, was the firft Euro- 
inftrument the meridian, but it is 
, vad Coftard, that the firft 
ereCted 
e contrivance in 
He i faid e very accurate obfervations in con- 
cert with his friend ‘and correfpondent, Tycho Brahe, who 
was at the above wali rifing into great fame, and the 
high expectations formed of him were fully anfwered. 
The next ny aaa in Enrope that deferves particular 
notice, was that of T'ycho Brahe himfelf, which owed its 
This was the app 
tude, in the rides of Caffiopeia. 
ferent aftronomers about the 10th of November, 1572, and 
as fome of them had been before in the habit of oe 
that conftellation, the appearance was {uppofed to be in- 
flantaneous, which o the unufual 1 altonifhment 
neareft to the earth, and was y 
at noon day. After a fhort time it gradually declined, 
and in fixteen months ee bred alate ‘Many curious 
and alarming idtio conféquence, and 
Tyce 
der Sab a oF 
fimlar para a is, be the see appearance and i. 
pearance of a new ftar. Tycho comm sae his 
defign to feveral eminent men, who ees: the n. He 
firft propufed to fettle at Bafle, which afforded at once a pure 
atmofphere, and a ready communication with the learned 
men of Germany, Italy, and France ; but the landgrave of 
Heffe wrote to Frederic II., king of » desig. intreating 
im to encourage the aitro onomer to remam in his own 
country. The king, st fenfible of ae lofs with which 
he was threatened, offered him the {mall but fertile :fland 
uen, or Hiwen, in the Sound, as a defirable ie 
tion for an obfervatory. His majefty conferred on him 
other princely grants and immurities, which were eel. 
He befides undertook to defray the expence of buildin 
and furnifhing the obfervatory there, without any limitation 
wae 
Augutt, 1576, and the eles was called Uranibourg, or the 
Heavenly city. It was a building of 60 feet fquare, and 
70 feet high, with four ae iaa . contrived for aftronomical 
oO It was furnifhed w h a nobie colleGicn o 
.g 
= 
i 
a 
2) 
paid him the higheft honours, has been nee eap a cons 
but is ftill vifited by the learned, and regarded with 
neration. It fhould have been mentioned that his celebrated 
fextant has been confecrated in the heavens as a conftell 
under the breaft of the lion. On large globes -™ pen 
it is marked Sextans Uranie, but on common ones only 
Sextans. 
We fhall now proceed to give fome defcription of ob- 
fervatories of a more modern date, beginning with thofe 
of France. 
French Obfervatories.—The Imperial obfervatory (for- 
merly called the “* Royal Obfervatory,” and durmg the time 
of the republic the “ Obfervatory”) was built in 1667, atid 
is ftated by La Lande to be “ the moft fplendid monument 
ever dedicated to aftronomy.”’ It is 160 Englith feet in 
front, and 120 in breadth, and go feet high. Its vaults are 
go feet deep, fo that it is 180 feet from top to bottom. For 
a ig dagen defcription of the archite@ture, fee Blondel ; 3 and 
for t angement and difpofition of the inftruments, fee 
Bernoulli s Lettres A ftronomiques, alfo La Lande’s A ttro- 
nomie, and Monnier’s Hiftoire — 
Befides the above building, new rooms have been con- 
ftru€ted, clofe by the fide of ie obfervatory, where a large 
tranfit inftrument and circle,’ by Ramfden, have been fet up. 
In 1788 new vaults were made, and alfo a {mall obfervatory 
ere€ted at the top of the building, which commands an ex- 
tenfive view of the horizon, and the king aa XV1.) 
ftablifhed 
