Evening star., 1900-07-07
ASTRONOMICAL RELICS.
Primitive Apparatus Once Used In the
Observatory mt Pekin.

From the New York Tribune.
The reappearances of the brighter stars
at different seasons of the year their height
above the horizon. the angular distance be-
tween them. eclpses and the motions of the
sun. moon and planets were made the sub
ject Of careful study in Asia and Egypt at
least 5000 or 5000 years ago. and perhaps
at a still earlier stage of human history
Lockyer believes that many of the oldest
temples in Egypt were oriented with refer
ence to the rising of certain stars. There is
a Chaldean work on astronomy that dates
back to $500 p. c., and 1t Is within the
range of-epo&sibility that something more
ancient may yet be found in Babylonia
The earliest record now known Of a solar
eclipse happens to be Chinese. and is 1000
years Old.
in view Of the Well-establlshed antiquity
of astronomy and astrology. the odd little
observatory in the outskirts of Pekin
which is said to be 300 years old, might
seem to be comparatively modern And so
it is. in strictly Chronological sense. But
all truly scientific astronomical work began
with the recognition, 800 400 years ago,
of the fact that the earth is sphere rotat-
ing on its axis. and that the heavens are
stationary. Moreover. a vast proportion
of the knowledge possessed today regarding
the stars has been acquired by means of
the telescope, which was not known three
centuries ago. Indeed. so enormous have
been the advances made since the time Of
Calico, and so little progress was achieved
from the days of Ptolemy to those of Co
pernicus, that the Chinese astronomer could
not have had a much better Instrumental
equipment in 1900 than at the beginning Of
the Christian At any rate, that of the
abandoned Pekin observatory is exceedingly
primitive. and it would puzzle experts In
stellar science to say precisely what were
its functions.
AS Their records show, the ancients at
tempted little more than to note the height
of various conspicuous objects above the
horizon. their relative distance from each
other and the time Of year when they were
most conveniently situated for obserya ton
For these purposes they needed only simple
devices. One of Their best known pieces of
apparatus was an 'armillary sphere a
combination of brass circles rotating on an
axis that was sufficiently inclined to aim
at the point about which the heavens
seemed to revoive. One might be Disposed
to take some of the objects in the old
iekIn observatory for armiliary spheres
but they are lacking IN certain important
features. Hence II these Instruments were
intended to serve the purpose of an arm1-
larry sphere they must have done so made
guiteiE. Th"y are very rudimentary in
character. 1t is not incredible that time and
the weather have not only rendered these
old Chinese relics useless but have also de-
praFed them of some of their original fea-
lures coed many things might happen
TO nhtectS LETT Tor centuries in so exposed
q SfnltlGn However. without a close scru-
tlny OF the instruments made on the spot IT
would be impossible 10 say with confidence
what changes and losses had occurred
Another device in the collection. lookfne
Ike an right pump and its handle. ma
have been used 20 measure the angular al
ttude o. objects in the northern skies Ru,
whether this surmise be correct or not II
is clear that the apparatus itse.f long since
ceased to be Of any service The Chinese
are rot progressive people. They prcba-
bly cannot grasp either the techn;oue or
the mathematics of the most advanced as
economical practice Of today. But they long
ago learned enough to see the useiessnass
of the instruments here described which
are interesting only curious relics of an
effete civilization " al