Morning journal and courier., 1888-10-26

the purchase of Ratisbon, in 1887, of watch similar to that in portrait of one of hiE an eestors. and how he was thus led to make a study of ancient watches and their peculiar ities. For fifty years MT. Morgan continued to increase and improve his collection, which included clocks and sun-dials as we'll as watches, and it may fairly claim to illustrate all the varieties of mechanism which many generations of inventive craftsmen have ap- piled to these useful instruments. These various series MT. Morgan has bequeated to the British Museum, where they are exhibited with the other objects of the same kind in the Medieval Room.
 Of the fifty clocks in the collection, the most important, as it is the largest and most elaborate, is the complicated instru- ment made in 1889 by Isaac Habrecht, enc of the two ingenious brothers who made the famous clock at Strasbourg. Although it is only from four to five feet in height, and can bear no comparison as to size with it's gigan- tic prototype, yet in detail many of the parts betray the same hand. The general design is the same as that of the left tower of the Strasbourg clock, and on the sides of both are figures of the three Fates, Clotho, Lache- sis, and Atropos, and both are surmounted by figure of the cock of St. Peter, which at the stroke of the hour flaps it's wings and crows. The quarters are struck by four figures representing the ages of man, and the uOUE Dy 0 uRuI6 O1 O0dLu. Ou B 1OW6T D6ls cony is seated figure of the Virgin and Child, before whom passes circle of angels, who, as they are set in movement by the clock, are caused to make an obeisance ia front of the Virgin. Below this the gods of the days of the week perform their circuit, each driving in chariot, while two dials on the lower stages fulfil the more useful functions of indicating the hour, the phases of the moon, the feasts of the church, etc. The case is of gilt copper, with well-en- graved fgxres and ornamental designs, per- haps by Tobias Simmer, who was employed to decorate the original clock at Strasbourg. The history of this clever piece of meehan- ism is somewhat curious, though it rests upon slender foundations. It is stated that Pope sixtus ". was so pleased with the Strasbourg clock that he ordered Habrecht to make one of the same kind. This one was made, and remained at the Vatican for 200 years. It's next appearance was in Hol- land, where it was in possession of the King; from Holland it came to London, and was exhibited about 1850. A pamphlet was printed giving description of the clock and recounting this somewhat apocryphsl history. After some vicissitunes it came into MT. Morgan's possession year or two later. Many of the other clocks in the collection are of unusual merit and illustrate the endless variety of design which charac- terizes this branch of industry. Mir. Morgan paid considerable attention to the mechan- Ism of clocks and watches, and he gave an account of his discoveries in this direction in the 'AIcheologia' for 194S. In mu- scum it is, however, not easy to display the works of clocks and watches to any useful purpose, and in the case of ancient speci- mems it would not be altogether desirable. It is fortunate, therefore, that the outer cases, both of the clocks and the watches, are often deserving of as much attention as the internal mechanism. The common form of the sixteenth century-a square tower of metal, closed in on all four sides admitted of the most lavish decoration, and much of the work is quite as high g quality as the silversmith's work of the same time, and, in fact, in some instances proceeded from the same workshops in Augsburg or Nuremburg.
 The precise date of the invention of watches has not been ascertained, and Italy and Germany both claim the credit of the invention. Germany, however, has the ad- vantage of possessing 8 definite record of the making of watches by one one Peter Hele at Nuremberg about the year 1900, and during the following century this town and that of Augsburg produced an enor nous quantity of watches, sun-dials, and astronomical instruments. The Morgan collection includes some very good exam ples of the earlier styles. Eighteen watch es claim to belong to the period 1500-1540 and, as is natural they bear a strong like ness to the table-clocks, which they wer' intended to replace although much smaller in size.