80 Account of the Founding of a 



or wherever he chose, the intention of the Emperor being, that, 

 at its opening, the observatory should be provided with the most 

 perfect instruments which the mechanician or the optician could 

 supply. According to the estimates made, the sum requisite 

 for this object amounted to about L.37,000 (890,000 francs). 

 The cost of the building could not be accurately known till the 

 work was finished ; but it might be presumed that the whole 

 establishment, when completed, including the building and the 

 instruments, would cost not much less than L. 200,000 (4,600,000 

 francs), without allowing any value, though in itself considera- 

 ble, for the ground presented by the Emperor. 



The height of Pulkowa, which forms a part of the imperial 

 domain of Zarzkoje-Selo, is situated about twelve miles to the 

 south of the harbour of Petersburg. The great road which 

 leads to Zarzkoje-Selo, runs in a straight line quite to the foot 

 of the hill, which rises rapidly, at this point, about 200 feet 

 above the road, and then inclines toward the left. The sur- 

 face of the elevation is composed of a hard clay, which forms 

 a base extremely favourable to the perfect solidity of the 

 foundations of the building, a condition which is above every 

 requisite in the site of an observatory. The sides of the hill are 

 covered with trees, and on the summits the soil is fertile, and 

 laid out in' fields and gardens, and planted with a pleasure 

 grove. Up to the present time the spot has been rented by 

 farmers, who will be amply remunerated for yielding it up to 

 its new proprietors. The space allowed for the observatory 

 occupies exactly 75 acres ; its largest extent, from north 

 to south is 2205 English feet, and its smaller from east to 

 west"1582 feet. The observatory will be placed near the middle 

 of this space, in such a way that the centre of the building will 

 be exactly upon the prolongation of the line of the great road of 

 Petersburg, and it will accurately front in this direction. The 

 circumstance that the road winds to the east at the foot of the 

 hill, and the height of the hill itself above the road, give assur- 

 ance that the observatory will be removed from every thing like 

 concussion, and also from the dust which this proximity might 

 suggest as a cause of apprehension. This position also gives the 

 establishment the advantage of being elevated above the vapours 

 which prevail in these low parts, and also the benefit of a 



