New Grand Observatory for the Russian Empire. 71 



ture equal to that of intertropical countries, and sufficient to en- 

 able the large pachydermatous animals, of which we find such 

 numerous remains, to fulfil all their conditions of existence. 



Thus the presence, in the polar regions, of fossil plants, of 

 which the analogues live only in the hottest countries of the 

 earth, does not in any degree prove that there has been a change 

 of the inclination of the ecliptic ; for these plants could flourish 

 under the influence of the elevated temperature, and of the light 

 which these regions then enjoyed. Besides, we should only ad- 

 mit such a change, which would have caused so many others, 

 with extreme reserve, and if forced by the evidence of facts. 

 Such a necessity not existing, it should be sufficient for us to 

 have been able to conceive these phenomena by the aid of in- 

 duction and analogy, the only one which is available to us for 

 seizing the facts belonging to periods when there was no human 

 witness. — V Institute No. 88. 



Account of the Founding of a New Grand Observatory for the 

 Russian Empire, by the Imperial Academy of Sciences of St 

 Peter sburgh.* 



It is a truth which can scarcely be denied, that the cultiva- 

 tion of the sciences, both in the department of physics and natu- 

 ral history, is greatly promoted by royal patronage. These 

 sciences imperatively require establishments, the original found- 

 ing and subsequent maintenance of which far exceeds the abili- 

 ties of any private individuals. This remark is especially true 

 with regard to Astronomy, the history of which clearly demon- 

 strates the intimate connexion which exists between its advance 

 and the protection of princes ; whilst it is further interesting to 

 observe, that monarchs themselves have frequently taken an ac- 

 tive share in the extension of this science. 



It was when Ptolemy Philadelphus invited wise men from 

 Greece to Alexandria, and with their help formed a school af- 

 terwards so celebrated, that in 250 a. c. we see the rise of the 

 first establishment in which the heavens were studied for a 



* Saint-Petersbourg. From the Press of the Imperial Academy of 

 Sciences. 



