A Balcony Observatory. 279 



view which adjacent houses permitted. The top frame was 

 further strengthened by a "bar of iron let into it, carried 

 through to the wall, and well secured by a nut inside, 

 and just below the floor of the room above. The front 

 part of this frame, seven feet wide, projects three feet six 

 inches beyond the fixed sashes, and all round it there are 

 grooves to receive the tops of the moveable sashes. The top 

 of the framework is nine feet six inches from the floor. 



The moveable sashes are six in number. Two are three 

 feet six inches wide, one at each side, and capable of sliding 

 back to their full extent. The front sashes, of which there 

 are four, are of two sizes. The two larger ones, twenty-six 

 inches in width, occupy the centre, and slide in the inner 

 groove. The two smaller, nineteen inches in width, occupy 

 the two ends, and slide in the outer groove. The result of 

 this arrangement is, that every portion of the seven feet space 

 in front, and of the two three-and-a-half spaces at the sides, 

 can be uncovered by sliding the sashes. If the front sashes 

 had been of one size this could not have been accomplished. 

 A light iron railing, fixed to the stone outside the observatory, 

 renders it safe when the sashes are open. 



The top framework slopes from the house wall outwards 

 and downwards. A fixed roof of wood, protected with zinc, 

 covers the half next the house ; but the front half — three feet 

 six deep and seven feet wide — runs on rollers and an iron rail, 

 so that it can be drawn up inside the fixed roof. By attaching 

 rollers to the side edges of this moveable roof, as well as to- 

 that portion of its under-surface which lies above the rails, it 

 is easy to pull it up steadily by one cord working over a block. 

 Any tendency to shift it on one side is counteracted by the 

 side rollers, and the motion is easy and smooth. Attached to 

 the end of this cord is a sash-weight (13 lbs.), which is covered 

 up with American leather-cloth for the sake of neatness. By 

 pulling at this weight, a slight force raises the roof, and it stops 

 wherever it is put. When it is to descend, the weight is raised, 

 and the roof falls down the inclined plane of its own accord. 

 Thus I get a half- circle in azimuth, and a zenith view. I lose 

 the little bit of sky which the framework conceals, and have 

 sometimes to wait till an object has passed it. This might 

 have easily been avoided by arrangements adapted to other 

 situations; but in my case it was the condition on which I could 

 construct a balcony observatory that was a pretty object from 

 the drawing room, and a pleasant addition to it. A solid 

 plaster pedestal, painted to imitate red granite, supports one 

 of Home and Thornthwaite's equatoreal stands, and an 

 ornamental Manilla hemp matting covers the floor. As my 

 house is a quiet one, I find this arrangement very steady. I 



