OBSERVATORY. 
Gibers, an eminent phyfician, who has rendered his name 
immortal by the difcovery of the two new'planets, Pallas 
and Vefta. At Lilienthal, near Bremen, M. Schroeter, 
governor of the diftridl, eredted an obfervatory about the 
year 1786, and furnifhed it with excellent inftrumeqts. 
.He is highly celebrated as an accurate and interefting ob- 
ferver, particularly of the furfaces and rotations of the 
planets and the moon. He approaches nearer than any 
other aftronomer to Dr. Herfchel in telefcopic difcoveries. 
At Seeberg, near Gotha, a confiderable obfervatory was 
built, in the year 1788, by the duke of Saxe Gotha; and 
he appointed M. Zach, now Baron Zach, the fuperinten- 
dant, who has highly diftinguifhed himfelf as a profound 
and accurate aftronomer. In 1798 he was vifited by La 
Lande, at which time all the great aftronomers of Ger¬ 
many met at Gotha to fee the patriarch of aftronomy, and 
to pay him their homage. This obfervatory is reckoned 
one of the moft beautiful and complete in Europe; it is 
fituated on a fine elevation, about a league from the town. 
There is here a large tranfit, with two murals of eight feet 
radius, and a circle of eight feet diameter, all by Ramfden 
and his fucceffor Berge. 
At BrunJ'wich, there is an obfervatory belonging to Dr. 
Gaufs, well known by his determinations of the orbits of 
the new planets, and other important labours. In Hun¬ 
gary there are obfervatories at Buda, Tyrnau, and Erlau. 
Similar eftablifhnients are alfo at GreifFswalde in Pomera¬ 
nia, and at Mittau in Courland. 
In Sweden, obfervatories have been built at Stockholm 
and Upfal; that at Stockholm was founded in 1746, by 
the Academy of Sciences. This obfervatory is fituated 
on a hill north of the town, and contains a good collec¬ 
tion of inftruments, all made by Englifh artifts. The ob- 
iervatory at Upfal was built and endowed in 1739 by the 
king of Sweden : it was firft fuperintended by the cele¬ 
brated Cellius, who has been followed by a fuccelfion of 
able aftronomers, particularly Hooker and Wargentin. 
The latter is well known as the author of the Tables of 
Jupiter’s Satellites. 
At Copenhagen , the famous aftronomical tower was 
finilhed in 1656. It was built by king Chriftian IV. at 
the recommendation of Longomontanus, and has been 
for many years under the management of Mr. Bugge, 
who is celebrated as a very able aftronomer. In his Col- 
ledtion of obfervatories, he ftates that the kings of Den¬ 
mark had eftablifhed obfervatories in Norway, Iceland, and 
Greenland. 
In Holland, attention was paid to practical aftronomy 
while it was a maritime ftate, but the lcience has of late 
been much negledted. In 1690, an obfervatory waseredted 
upon the college of the univerlity ; and at Utrecht an an¬ 
cient tower was, in 1726, converted into an obfervatory. 
Here the celebrated Mullchenbroek obferved for many 
years with great accuracy ; and he was fucceeded by M. 
Hennert. 
In Spain, obfervatories have been built at Cadiz, Madrid, 
Seville, and Carthagena. The obfervations made at Ca¬ 
diz (at the marine academy) by Miguel and Varilla, have 
been publifhed in two volumes, which alfo contain a ca¬ 
talogue of the inftruments of the obfervatory, chiefly con- 
ftrudted by French artifts; and hence the obfervatories of 
Spaift differ very little from thofe of France. Of late 
years, however, Englifh inftruments have been introduced 
-there. 
At LiJbon, in 1728, king John V. had an obfervatory 
■eredted at his palace, which was well furniflied, and accu¬ 
rate obfervations have been made there by the Jefuits, 
who alfo eredted an obfervatory at their own college of 
St. Anthony, where father Carbon, in 1726, made good 
obfervations on the fatellites of Jupiter. (See Phil. Tranf. 
voL xxxv.) In 1787, a royal obfervatory was conftrudted 
at the Chateau de St. George, in Lifbon, which was 
fuperintended by M. Cuftodio Gomez. There is alfo 
one at Coimbra, which contains a fine equatorial by 
Troughton. 
Vox. XVII. No. 1184. 
373 
At Peterjburg , an obfervatory was built in 1725, by 
the czar Peter, who fhowed great zeal for fcience in ge¬ 
neral, and particularly for aftronomy. When he was in 
England, fome years before that period, he vifited the 
Royal Obfervatory at Greenwich, where he examined 
both the building and the inftruments with very great at¬ 
tention. The obfervatory which he afterwards built is 
one of the moft magnificent in Europe. It is 130 feet 
high, with three ftories, all fit for aftronomical purpofes. 
At Mofcow an obfervatory was built a few years ago, and 
furniflied with fome excellent Englifh inftruments, chiefly 
by Cary ; but it is probable they were deftroyed in the 
late conflagration of that city. 
In Italy, practical aftronomy has been cultivated with 
much afliduity and fuccefs during the laft century, chiefly 
by ecclefiaftics, and particularly by the Jefuits. At Rome, 
cardinal Zelada conftrudted, at his own expenfe, on the 
fouthern part of the Roman college, a very fine obferva¬ 
tory, with the large fedtor of father Bofcovich, and 
other inftruments by Ramfden and Dollond. Other 
buildings of a fimilar defcription have been eredted in 
different parts of Rome. At Bologna, a magnificent ob¬ 
fervatory was built in 1714, in the palaceof the Inftitute, 
by the munificence of the celebrated count Marfigli; and 
pope Benedict XIV. gave afterwards a large fum of mo¬ 
ney towards the purchafe of inftruments. At Pila, the 
obfervatory is in the form of a tower. It was built in 
1730, at the expenfe of the univerlity, and fupplied with 
fuperb apparatus made by Siflbn, Short, Graham, &c. At 
Milan, there is an obfervatory which is reckoned one of 
the moft ufeful in Italy. It was built in 1755, at the colt 
of the college of Jefuits, chiefly through the zeal of father 
Pallavicini, and under the direction of father Bofcovich, 
who alfo contributed liberally to the expenfe. At Flo¬ 
rence, father Ximenes erected an obfervatory at the col¬ 
lege of Jefuits, which contains a quadrant by Tofcanelli, 
larger than any other known, with which he made ob¬ 
fervations to prove the fecular diminution of the obliquity 
of the ecliptic. At his death he bequeathed the whole to 
the college. In 1772 the grand duke Leopold built an 
obfervatory, which M. Fontana fuperintended; and, in 
1786, feveral fine inftruments by Ramfden were added to 
it. At Turin, father Beccaria eredted a fmall obferva¬ 
tory ; but, in 1790, a large one was built at a very confi¬ 
derable expenfe, by the king of Sardinia, at the Royal Col¬ 
lege of Nobles, and the diredtion of it given to the abbe 
Calufo. At Venice, an obfervatory was conftrudted by 
father Panigai, and a fmall one near the town by M. Miotti. 
One was alfo built at Parma by father Belgrado, and an¬ 
other at Brefcia by father Cavalli. At Verona, Cagnoli, 
eminent both as a mathematician and aftronomer, eredted 
an obfervatory at his own expenfe in 1787, and placed in 
it the beft inftruments, with which he has made very accu¬ 
rate and important obfervations, particularly on the pre- 
ceffion of the equinoxes, and on the places of 473 northern 
ftars, and 28 fouthern, of which he has made a catalogue. 
In thefe determinations, he has been perhaps more atten¬ 
tive than any other aftronomer to the minute changes of 
refradtion, and to the aberration of light. 
At Padua there is an obfervatory, which, in 1778, was 
furnifhed with inftruments chiefly made by Ramlden. It 
has been many years under the diredtion of M. Toaldo, 
who has publifhed feveral ufeful works, efpecially aTrea- 
tife on Meteorology, which gained him the prize at the 
academy of Montpellier. The obfervatory at Padua was 
originally the tower of the cruel tyrant Egellin, in the 
thirteenth century; in the dungeons of which he con¬ 
fined fuch prifoners of war as fell into his hands during 
the civil commotions of that period. In 1769 it was con¬ 
verted into an obfervatory; and this happy change gave 
rife to the following diitich of father Bofcovich, who 
united the rare talents of poet and mathematician ; 
Qua: quondam infernas turris ducebat ad umbras, 
JSunc Venctum aufpiciis pandit ad ajlra viam. 
5 G 
Whids 
