7. Vertical circle of Ertel, erected also in the west hall. A cylindrical granite block of 4 feet 4 inches diameter, forms the foundation of this instrument. The circle is supported by a vertical column, through which passes a steel axis, and may be brought into any azimuth, but is only used near the meridian. The telescope has 5.9 inches aperture, with 6 feet 2 inches focus. Magnifying power in common use, 215. Object glass and eye glass may exchange places in the tube. The graduated circle is of 3 feet 7 inches diameter, and is divided to 2. The readings are made by four microscopes. The four instruments last named, when not in use, are kept under mahogany cases set on rollers, as protec. tion against dust and moisture. The cost of all the instruments of the observatory amounted to two hundred and thirty one thousand ru bles. The whole is under the direction of Prof. Struve, who has already established his reputation as one of the best astronomical observers of the age. The world will look to him for new discoveries in astronomy, worthy of the munificence of the Russian emperor. Where now is our American observatory? But a few short years ago, the very term was a public by-word of derision. At present we can boast of no capital observatory, but the signs of the times are encouraging. Simultaneous movements have been making in several quarters, not upon a scale of imperial luxury, but upon a scale of liberality hitherto unknown in this republic. I. We are to have a National Observatory. Congress made an appropriation for a "depot of charts and instruments," under which modest name, an observatory is now building, and the instruments have been ordered from Europe. The main building will be fifty feet square, and two stories high, sur. mounted by a hemispherical revolving dome of twenty two feet diameter. To the east and west sides of this edifice will be built wings, each twenty six and a half feet long and twenty one wide, with a wing to the south of nearly the same dimensions. The instruments which have been ordered are, 1. Great achromatic refractor. Clear aperture of object glass 9.56 inches; focus 14 feet 3 inches. The finder is 2.63 inches aperture, 32 inches focus. The hour circle is 15 inches diameter, reading by two verniers to two seconds of time, and the declination circle 21 inches diameter, reading to 4" of arc. It has thirteen eye-pieces with powers from 94 to 1000. Clock work attached to the hour circle keeps the telescope in motion. 2. Comet seeker equatorially mounted. Clear aperture of object glass 3.9 inches, focus 32 inches. Has four eye-pieces, with powers from 12 to 40. Both of these instruments are making by Merz and Mahler of Munich. 3. A meridian transit. The object glass has an aperture of 5.44 inches, and a focal length of 7 feet 5 inches. Seven vertical and two horizontal wires are so illumined, that the observer may have a bright field and dark lines, or a dark field and bright lines, for minute objects. Making by Ertel at Munich. 4. Transit for prime vertical. Object glass 5 inches aperture, and 6 feet 5 inches focus. Making by Pistor and Martius, Berlin. 5. Mural circle. Diameter a little more than five feet. Telescope has an aperture of four inches. Readings by six micrometer microscopes screwed to the pier. Making by Simms of London. It is expected that the buildings will be completed, and the instru ments mounted, ready for use, by July, 1844. This observatory promises to take an honorable stand by the side of the observatories of Europe. May no untimely frost nip it in the bud. II. Next comes the Cambridge Observatory. Five thousand dollars have been given for the erec tion of a building, and twenty thousand dollars for instruments, by the merchants of Boston and its vicinity. The corporation of Harvard University have purchased a site. for the observatory well suited to the purpose. A variety of astronomical and magnetic instruments have also been contributed, so that the entire funds invested amount to thirty five or forty thousand dollars. III. Cincinnati Observatory. A so ciety has been organized in Cin. cinnati, called the Cincinnati As tronomical Society, the object of which is to furnish the city with an observatory. Eleven thousand dollars have been subscribed in shares of twenty five dollars. A site for the observatory has been given by Nicholas Longworth, Esq. It consists of four acres of ground, on one of the highest hills on the eastern side of the town. It is the intention to make this ground not only the site of an observatory, but a properly ornamented public square. This movement is highly creditable to the people of Cincin nati, and to the tact and zeal of Prof. Mitchell, with whom the plan originated, and by whom chiefly it has been carried on. IV. Philadelphia High School Observatory. Has two superior instruments. 1. An equatorial, by Utschneider, of 8 feet 6 inches focus, 6.5 inches aperture. Mounted like the celebrated Dorpat instrument; has powers to 480, with variety of micrometers and clock work. The hour circle reads to four seconds of time; the declination circle to 10" of arc. 2. A transit instrument by Ertel, 5 feet focus, 4 inches aperture, has two meridian circles graduated to read by four verniers to 2". ObVol. II. 3 ject glass and eye glass may change places. These instruments were received in 1840. The latter has not yet been mounted for use; the former is placed. in a high tower attached to the building of the Central High School; and in the hands of Messrs. Walker and Kendall, has become celebrated not in this country only, but also in Europe. V. West Point Observatory. Attached to a large building recently erected for other purposes, are several towers for astronomical instruments. Among them is an equatorial, having clock movement, and carrying a refractor of 6 inches aperture, and 8 feet focal length. The diameter of the declination circle is 15 inches, and that of the hour circle 12 inches. Some valuable observations on the great comet of February last, were made with this instrument, by Prof. Bartlett. VI. Western Reserve College Ob. servatory, Hudson, Ohio. Has an equatorial telescope of 5 feet focus and 4 inches aperture. The two circles are each 12 inches diameter, reading, one to single seconds of time, the other to ten seconds of arc. Also a transit circle having a telescope of 30 inches focus and about three inches aperture. The circle is 18 inches diameter, graduated to five minutes, and has three reading microscopes, each measuring single seconds. These two instruments were made by Simms, of London. The clock was by Molineux, and has a mercurial pendulum. This observatory has been five years in operation. In that time there have been observed, two hundred and thirty four moon culminations, sixty nine culminations of Polaris, sixteen occultations, four comets, with sufficient accuracy to determine their orbits, besides a great variety of other objects for testing the clock, etc. VII. Alabama Observatory, at Tuscaloosa. The building is fifty four feet in length, by twenty two in breadth in the center. A transit circle has already been constructed by Simms, having a telescope of 5 feet focus, and 4 inches clear aperture, the diameter of the limb being 3 feet. A clock by Molineux has been provided. It is proposed as soon as possible to complete the apparatus of the observatory, by the purchase of an equatorial telescope of about 8 inches aperture and 14 feet focus. VIII. Observatory of Williams College, Mass. Has a transit instrument by Troughton, focal distance between 4 and 5 feet. A compensation clock by Molineux, and a Herschelian telescope mounted equatorially. Is it not time that Connecticut was furnished with an observatory? Yale College has an excellent telescope, (a ten feet refractor, by Dollond,) but we regret to add, that as yet she has no observatory, and this instrument, as well as several others of inferior note belonging to the College, can be used only under the greatest disadvantages. A temporary structure erected a few years since to replace the ancient steeple of the old Chapel, has indeed acquired the name of "observatory," being, for want of a better place, the depository of the Clark telescope. We trust that this venerable institution, will not be slow to rear an edifice more worthy of her fame, as soon as the completion of her noble Library, now in progress, shall permit an appropriation of her resources so imperiously demanded. The expense of the instruments of a complete observatory, is not beyond the means even of a republic. Twenty thousand dollars would furnish a better outfit than all the instruments of either Greenwich or Paris Observatory. The observatory at Cambridge, Eng., cost twenty thou sand pounds, but a large part of the expense was for stone walls for the accommodation of the astronomer. An observatory seems a natural appendage of every university. In order that a student may feel a well grounded conviction of the truth of the alledged wonderful discoveries in astronomy, he must have a distinct apprehension of the instruments and modes of observation employed. This is acquired most readily and satisfactorily by actual inspection of an observatory. A school of practical astronomers is thus formed, and might we not hope, that the fire would be kindled in the bosom of some youthful Bessel, who should wipe away the reproach which still attaches to the name of American science? We had intended to connect with this article, a notice of Professor Olmsted's Letters on Astronomy, but have only time now to express the high gratification its perusal has afforded us. It is an admirable book, written in a style to interest all classes of readers. We have made no extracts from it, for we doubt not the book has already had an extensive circulation; and if there is any one who has not yet seen it, our advice is, let him read one letter, and he will need no further solicitation to induce him to finish the book. AUTOBIOGRAPHY OF THOMAS MINER, M. D. Middletown, Conn., Feb. 9, 1837. DR. JOSEPH BARRATT: Dear Sir-I thank you for the solicitude, which you have been so obliging as, at various times, to express, to obtain a few memoranda of the principal events in my life. If you survive me, it may perhaps be a satisfaction to have a record upon which you may depend for your own information, though it may be so barren as to contain little, if any thing, which will be of interest beyond the limited sphere of a few personal friends. DR. THOMAS MINER, of Middletown, Connecticut, became at the early age of forty one a confirmed invalid, unable to attend to the active duties of his profession; to which circumstance may be traced all his eminence. From that time he devoted himself to literary pursuits, and carried on an active cor. respondence with physicians and scholars, and contributed largely to several medical and literary journals. He was not profoundly learned in any branch of science or literature, but was distinguished rather for that general knowledge which marks the finished scholar. Of the modern languages of Europe, he was a complete master of the French only-his knowledge of the German was superficial, and of the other tongues still less. He always made the Bible his text-book in studying a new language. He was probably almost the only AngloAmerican, who has read Luther's version of the Bible. He speaks of himself as a disciple of Kant; but his knowledge did not extend much beyond the distinction be-in professional business, I suddenly tween the reason and the understanding. He made no public profession of religion, owing probably to his Quaker notions, for he professed in private a personal interest in the Savior. Dr. Miner died, April 23d, 1841, in the 64th year of his age, at the residence of his friend, Dr. Samuel B. Woodward, of Worcester, Massachusetts. His disease was the ossification of the semilunar valves of the heart. The principal incidents of his life are given in the following sketch from his own pen, addressed to his fellow townsman, Joseph Barratt, M. D.; who has obligingly furnished us with a copy for publication. I am now fifty nine years old, and in one respect, can be considered as having lived but a small part of that time. I was originally a weakly child, so that a considerable part of the time till I was fourteen years old, I was unable to go from home to school. In the years 1798 and 1799, I had the intermittent fever two seasons in succes. sion, and in 1801, I was unable to walk for three months at a time, from rheumatism. Finally, about the year 1819, while fully employed broke down, from a subacute inflammation of the lungs, attended with hectic fever, and a severe palpitation of the heart, arising probably from an organic lesion of that viscus. From this latter affection, I have never completely recovered, but have remained a valetudinarian the last eighteen or twenty years, a large portion of the time being unfit for active exertion of body or mind. On the whole, therefore, there have been but about twenty or twenty five years in my life, which I have been able to employ much for the benefit of myself or others; this is what I mean by saying, that I have lived but a small part of the time since I was born. I was born in Westfield, the of this city, engaging a part of the northwest parish of this town, where time in instruction. Here William my father was the Congregational L. Storrs, Esq., was one of my clergyman, October 15, 1777. I most promising pupils. At that time, received my elementary education Dr. Osborn had probably much the principally at home, from my fa- best medical library in the state, ther, till I was fourteen years of and I continued reading under his age, though about two years of the direction about three years. The time I was able to attend a very winter of 1806 and 1807, I spent excellent common school, kept by with Dr. Smith Clark of Haddam, the late Rev. Joseph Washburn, visiting his patients with him, and who afterwards was the minister seeing his practice. In the spring of Farmington. After having made of 1807, I returned to my father's, some progress in Latin and Greek and began practice; but in the auunder my father, in the spring of tumn removed into the city, and 1792, I went to Chatham to com- remained till the middle of the next plete fitting for college, under the summer. After looking about me tuition of the Rev. Cyprian Strong, for a permanent residence, during D. D., and joined Yale College in which time I spent a few weeks at September of that year. In Sep- Southington, in August, 1808, I tember, 1796, I took the degree of settled at Lyme. There I continA. B., and within a month, being ued in full practice, till May, 1814, then nineteen years of age, I went when I returned to this city. While to Goshen, Orange County, state of at Lyme, May 8th, 1810, I marNew York, to take charge of an ried Phebe Mather, daughter of academy. After remaining in that Samuel Mather, Esq. She died, county three years, and having my February 5, 1811. In this city and constitution much impaired by the vicinity, I soon had as much protwo periods of intermittent, to which fessional business as I could attend I have referred, I returned in De- to, and more than my health would cember, 1799. In the course of bear. In February, 1819, I was the next year, I entered myself as seized with an affection of the lungs a law student in Judge Hosmer's and heart, which suddenly ended office; but within a few weeks, re- in a great degree my professional maining still at my father's, I had career, and left me a confirmed a serious attack of rheumatism, valetudinarian at the premature age which disabled me from doing much of forty one. during 1801. However, in the autumn of that year I took charge of an academy at Berlin, which I kept about two years, till I was interrupted by loss of health. The school flourished very well, while I was able to attend to it, and Mrs. Emma Willard of Troy, then Emma Hart of Berlin, and Prof. E. A. Andrews, now teacher in Boston, were among my most distinguished pupils. I was thus interrupted by ill health both in my attempt to study law, and as a teacher. However, when I was about twenty five years old, I commenced the study of medicine with the late Dr. Osborn Since 1819, the little that I have done has been of a very various and desultory character, my infirm health preventing continued application to any thing of importance. For several years, I practiced some in consultation, and amused myself in reading two or three foreign languages, besides writing occasional medical and literary essays. For two or three years before the Medical Recorder of Philadelphia ceased, I made most of the selections, abridgments, and translations from the French, that appeared in that work. In 1823, in connection with Dr. Tully, I published Essays on |