The Telescope of the Rocky Mountains

           Onthe20thofOctoberintheprecedingyear,afterthecloseofthesubscription,thepresidentoftheGunClubhadcreditedtheObservatoryofCambridgewiththenecessarysumsfortheconstructionofagiganticopticalinstrument.Thisinstrumentwasdesignedforthepurposeofrenderingvisibleonthesurfaceofthemoonanyobjectexceedingninefeetindiameter.

           AttheperiodwhentheGunClubessayedtheirgreatexperiment,suchinstrumentshadreachedahighdegreeofperfection,andproducedsomemagnificentresults.Twotelescopesinparticular,atthistime,werepossessedofremarkablepowerandofgiganticdimensions.Thefirst,constructedbyHerschel,wasthirty-sixfeetinlength,andhadanobject-glassoffourfeetsixinches;itpossessedamagnifyingpowerof6,000.ThesecondwasraisedinIreland,inParsonstownPark,andbelongstoLordRosse.Thelengthofthistubeisforty-eightfeet,andthediameterofitsobject-glasssixfeet;itmagnifies6,400times,andrequiredanimmenseerectionofbrickworkandmasonryforthepurposeofworkingit,itsweightbeingtwelveandahalftons.

           Still,despitethesecolossaldimensions,theactualenlargementsscarcelyexceeded6,000timesinroundnumbers;consequently,themoonwasbroughtwithinnoneareranapparentdistancethanthirty-ninemiles;andobjectsoflessthansixtyfeetindiameter,unlesstheywereofveryconsiderablelength,werestillimperceptible.