io6‘ Mr. Troughton on dividing Instruments. 
dividing had become interesting to me ; the study of astro- 
nomy was also new and fascinating ; and I then formed the 
resolution to aim at the nicer parts of my profession. 
At the time alluded to, my brother, in the art of dividing, 
was justly considered the rival of Ramsden ; but he was then 
almost unknown beyond the narrow circle of the mathema- 
tical and optical instrument makers ; for whom he was chiefly 
occupied in the division, by hand, of small astronomical qua- 
drants, and Hadley's sextants of large radius. Notwithstand- 
ing my own employment at that time was of a much inferior 
nature, yet I closely inspected his work, and tried at leisure 
hours on waste materials to imitate it. With as steady a hand, 
and as good an eye, as young men generally have, I was 
much disappointed at finding, that after having made two 
points, neat and small to my liking, I could not bisect the 
distance between them, without enlarging, displacing, or de- 
forming them with the points of the compasses. This circum- 
stance gave me an early dislike to the tools then in use ; and 
occasioned me the more uneasiness, as I foresaw that it was 
an evil which no practice, care, nor habit could entirely cure : 
Beam-compasses, spring-dividers, and a scale of equal parts, 
in short, appeared to me little better than so many sources of 
mischief. 
I had already acquired a good share of dexterity, as a ge- 
neral workman : Of the different branches of our art, that of 
turning alone seemed to me to border on perfection. This 
juvenile conceit, fallacious as I afterwards found it, furnished 
the first train of thoughts, which led to the method about to 
be described ; for it occurred to me, that if I could by any 
means apply the principle of turning to the art of dividing 
