The Stourbridge Observer, Cradley Heath, Halesowen & District Chronicle.
Stourbridge, West Midlands, England, 1876-05-27 00:00:00

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to

AN ANCIENT ASTROLABE.

In noticing the Loan Collection of Scientific Apparatus at
Kensington, The Times rernarks

In a case by themselves, near Tycho Brahe's quad-
rant, there are several old observing instruments, some
dating from times when astronomy consisted only in
such rough knowledge of the stars and planets as could
be_obtained from observations made with the naked
eye, the knowledge being valuable chiefly for the pur-
pose of telling the time. Among such instruments the
astrolabe naturally comes first. Standing in the
middle of the case, as the oldest instrument in the col-
lection, is an astrolabe made in 1345, at Barcelona by
a descendant of King Raymond of Aragon. latru-
ments of this kind were known in England at about
that time, as only a few years later, in 1391, Chaucer
wrote his "Conclusions of the Astrolabie," addressed
to his son " Lytel Lows's," then ten years old, in
which treatise he speaks of it as "so noble an
strums:it," and seems to imply that it was well known.
Be.sides this there are other astrolabes of ddlerent
countries—French, German, Arabic, and Persian—but,
unfortunately, no English specimen. There are also
quadrants for taking altitudes, two nocturnal dials for
finding the time at night by means of the apparent
motion of stars round the Pole, and a number of old
sun-dials of different kinds, some of which are most
elaborate in their construction, one small one being
provided with cogged wheels, and purporting to tell the
time exact to a minute—an unnecessary refinement,
one would think, before the days of railways. Besides
these complicated dials, of which Hudibras with some
truth might say—

"True as the dial to the sun,
Although it be not shined upon,"—

there are rudimentary forms which are more portable,
but much less accurate, as the Ring dial, which is pro-
bably the kind Shakespeare was thinking of when he
made Jaques, in As You Like It, say of the Fool—

"And then he drew a dial from his poke,
And, looktg on it with lack-lustre eye,
Says very wisely, 'lt is ten o'clock.'
(Act 2, Scene 7)—
and the Shepherd's dial, a small wooden cylinder having
a little slip of metal projecting from it. This dial was
held by a ring at the top, and the shadow of the metal
tongue, regulatel for each month, when turned towards
the sun showed the time on a series of curved lines.
Thi3 form may still be oceasinally met with in use even
now among the peasants of the Pyrenees, who, if they
know whether it is before or after noon' can tell the
time witbia half an hour by it. Van de Sande, Bak-
huyser of Leyden, and Prince Pless are among the
chief contributors of these objects.

The Standard, in a leader upon the above exhibition
remarks :
Ostensibly, the Loan Collection is purely temporary but
unquestionably it has all the appearance of being the germ
of a Science Museum. The Lords of the Committee of Coma.
cil on E lunation have already stated their conviction that
the develepment of the educational and certain other depart-
ments of the South Kensington Museum, and their enlarge-
ment into a museum somewhat of the nature of the Conser-
vatoire cl,s Arts of Metiers in Paris, would tend to the
advancement of science and be of great service to the in-
dustrial progress of the country. But with proper caution,
while expressing a hope that the Loan Collection might
promote the Lregoing object, their lordships have guarded
themselves ag4nst committing her Majesty's Government to
any definite scheme.
The universal approval with which men of science have
greeted this project is a striking fact, and seems to imply
that, in their estimation, the Loan Collection is something
which the age requires. We can hardly suppose that these
parties will be satisfied with anything that is merely tem-
porary, or which only comes to pass once in several years.
Yet there is much in the present Collection which cannot
possibly remain permanently where it is. Public and private
collections have yielded up some of their most precious
treasures for a season, and will require their punctual
return' probably to be lent again no more. Fo:eign museums
and galleries have been stripped of their scientific gems in
order to benefit the present undertaking, and this country
Is largely indebted for such generosity, especially as the.
foreign lenders had to consider the risk of transit. The in-
struments of Galileo, and other scientific relics from abroad,
have a peculiar value which almost forbids their exposure
to the perils of travel by land and sea. Be! while much must
necessarily be surrendered again to those who have kindly
lent their treasures, there is more than a little which might
be retained, and at all events enough might be kept to-
gether to form the mucleus of a permanent museum. The
scientific conferences which are 13, log held in connection
with the Loan Collection are sl,o significant. The highest
names in science are associated with these gatherings,and there
Is no lack of an attentive audience.... Ilia generally under-
stood that science and industrial pursuits are not sufficiently
allied, ant that England is seriously remiss in this matter.
- . . . The present magnificent Collection of Scientific Appa-
ratus, with all its concomitants of conferences and lecture',
may tend to kindle a taste which, perhaps, has not had much
to feed upon. The new enterprise is well launched. Her
Majesty the Queen has led the way by a highly painstaking
and appreeiatory visit Men of Science have come forward
in a phalanx to give the undertaking all the aid in their
power, and the Lords of the Committee of Council have
placed on record their thanks for this invaluable assistance.
Vi.count Smdon has testified of his personal knowledge ta
the extraordinary sacrifices of time and labour which have
thus been made, and to which the public are indebted for
the success of the undertaking.
. . . . .

. . . . The historic interest-which attaches to a large por-
tion of the collection will be widely appreciated. The chain
of scientific history may be traced through the trophies of
more than five centuries, and it is a marvel how much of
brilliant discovery arid valuable achievement is associated
with means and appliances in themselves rude and imperfect.
Science had to begin with clumsy tools, and her early vic-
tories were won with weapons which now seem marvellously
rough and blunt. Stephenson's "Puffing Lilly," with
its rudely-jointed cylinder and awkward gear, shows
how fearfully imperfect were all mechanical resources
even at a comparatively recent period. It seems
a mystery how Galileo could ever achieve his astro-
nomical discoveries with such miserable telescopes as he
managed to make. Now we find ourselves living in an age
when instruments are so refined that a beam of light is
, weighed in the balances, and mechanicians are enabled to
measure the millionth of.an inch. More wondrous still,
there appears in the biological section at South Kensington
an apparatus for measuring the velocity of thought. Looking
round at the marvellous instruments which science now em-
pioys in her investigations, the visitor at South Kenairgton
may feel that if he be not himself a man of ec,ence,
there are certain cf his contemporaries who possess
powers such as almost constitute a separate order
of human beings. Men who know how to handle these
strange instruments and turn them to account are
virtually endowed with faculties such as the mass of man-
kind know nothing about. It with the rude tools of a former
age so much was done, what may we venture to expect when
the instruments are so refined and elaborated as we see them
now? But 'aline there is much in this exhibition to puzzle
the ordinary observer, there is much that will please and
instruct. The Collection is vast, for the objects are said to
be 17,000 In number; but the examination of a few will
suffice to create new thoughts, and may prepare the way for
future intellectual enjoyment, while it is to be hoped that
much practical good will be the general result.