Evening star., 1909-06-20

truth of these novelties
AS result, Calico received an invitation to
repair to Pisa for the purpose of explaining to
the Grand Duke his discovery of the four sat
elites of Jupiter, which he proposed to call
Medlcean stars in honor of the relgnlng family
of Tuscany The telescope with which Calico
discovered the satellites, which he affection
atelv called in after years his old discoverer !"
is now preserved with other Galilean treasures
in the Tribuna di Calico in Florence.
Wanted Celestial Honors
THE hundred and more telescopes which
Calico had made in the first half of 1910 were
distributed among the Princes and learned men
of Italy, France Flanders. and Germany. At
the French court the arrival of Gaeo's tee-
scope caused great excitement. the Queen,
Maria de Medlc1, being particularly interested
in it as the invention of distinguished fellow
countrvman. 1t is related that in her eage-ness
to see the moon through it, she would not wait
till the instrument suitably fixed at the
open window, but fell on her knees on the floor
to the CONSERVATION of her suite and the amaze
ment of the grave Italian in charge of the
telescope.
The solicitude of the French court to gain a
place in the heavens by the side of the Medic
family is very amusing In a letter, April 20
1910. the great astronomer IS begged:
:" In case YOU discover any other fine star
call it by the name of the Great Star of France
as well as the most brilliant of all the earth,
and if it seems fit to you, call it rather by his
proper name, Henri than by the family name
Bourbon. Thus YOU will have an opportunity
of doing thing due and proper in itself and
at the same time of rendering yourself and your
family rich and powerful forever"
AS the news of Galileos marvellous discov
cries spread over Italy, the popular excitement
grew intense. Thus. in Florence, poets chanted
the discoveries and the glory of their fellow
citizen, and public fete was celebrated in his
honor. In Venice, Girolamo Sirturo describes
the excitement amounting to frenzy, and
tells an amusing story of his own experience.
With. the first telescope he had succeeded in
making. he ascended the tower of Saint Nj ark S,
in the hope of trying it unmolested. Unluckily
for him, he was seen by some idlers In the square
below. A crowd soon collected round him, who
insisted on taking possession of the instrument,
and detained him for hours until their curiosity
satisfied. Sirturo thought it better to quit
Venice early the next morning and pursue his
observations in a less inqusitive nelghborhood.
Honored in His Native City
THAT Calico is not without honor in his
tive city of Pisa can be inferred from the fol
lowing points of interest shown to visitors: A
tablet that marks approximately Galileo's
birthplace and the beautiful bronze lamp that
hangs from the roof of the nave of the Cathe
dral of Pisa, which was supposedly the cause of
Galileos first discovery when a student of
eighteen.
According to the story Calico was praying
one afternoon in the cathedral. when the at
tendant drew the lamp toward him to light it,
and then let it swing back. Calico at first OBJ
served this simple incident as thousands of
other worshipers had done before him and have
done since, in casual way; but quickly his at
tention became riveted to the swinging lamp.
The oscillations, which were at first consider
able. became gradually less and less; but, not
withstanding, he could see that they were all
performed in the same time. as he was able to
prove by timing them with his pulse-the only
watch he possessed.
Unfortunately. the lamp pointed out
Galileos lamp, which is lit electrically, was not
his, since the observation recorded here
made in 1881, and the bronze lamp was hung
in its present place only on December 20. 1897,
six years later. The leaning tower of Pisa,
from which the philosopher dropped two un-
equal weights that fell together also attracts
considerable attention from tourists.
In the evening. the Galilean drama is en-
acted in Pisa on several photographs, this in
strument having overrun Italy, as the phono-
graph has invaded Egypt 1t is no small testi-
mony to the enduring fame of Calico that he
was not displaced recently from the position
of leading attraction the kinetograph, by
the Messina earthquake. which is the almost
universal topic of interest there at present.
LOVE I'M THE VJTrHEN