beside a bright fire at the "Brown Bear." The papers were all dried, the vasculum stood open before the fire till all was done, and then the whole were packed again for transit home, and when taken out two days afterwards, they were all found to be in the best possible condition. The fungi were packed in moss in baskets, and with them the various tufts of roots reserved for cultivation.

My botanical peregrinations have this season been rendered

more enjoyable through the adoption of a new species of vasculum. It is a sort of expanding portfolio, containing five leaves of cardboard, bound at the edges with leather. The outer case is of stout board covered with Russia leather, with a flexible leather flap to close the front with lock and key. At the back there are straps and buckles to contract or expand as needful. At starting I fill the case with white blotting-paper, several thicknesses between the cards, and as soon as a speci

men is chosen it is laid between the blotting, and being fresh requires no laying out. Generally, the specimens when taken out are already nearly dried and well pressed, and only need a shift to fresh paper, and a few days' further pressure, to render them fit for mounting. For convenience of carriage a strap is passed round the case, and by this means it can be slung over the shoulder, or be carried in the fashion of a wallet. When closed the case measures seventeen inches by eleven inches, and when opened to its full extent it has a capacity of nine inches; when closed and empty it is exactly one inch thick. To make this description more intelligible, a diagram is subjoined.

A NEW TABLE-STAND FOR ASTRONOMICAL

TELESCOPES.

BY THE REV. E. L. BERTHON, M.A.,

Vicar of Romsey, Hants.

THE want of a cheap and effective stand is much felt by the daily increasing numbers of amateur astronomers, and since the diminution in the prices of achromatic object-lenses has induced many to increase the size of their instruments, the following description of a stand recently invented and constructed will probably be well received.

The contrivance now made public is applicable for telescopes of any size up to eight feet or more, and possesses the advantages of great steadiness and ease in working, combined with lightness and considerable portability. It may be used on any very steady table, but a thick slab of very smooth slate, well supported on stone or brickwork, or if in a garden on three stumps of trees arranged in a rustic manner, is by far the best. These slabs are now very cheap, and are not injured by the weather.

The construction of the stand is simple and inexpensive, and secures great accuracy in operation without any particular nicety of workmanship. Its leading feature is that the tube, instead of resting on one joint, or point d'appui, has two distinct bearings. In fact it has two pairs of trunnions, one of which rests on the top of the main support, the other on the upper ends of two stiff rods, which are moved by a long screw, and perform the part of both steadying rods and elevators.

The tube is divided by the trunnions into three equal

parts, and simply reposes in its bearings without any stiff joints.

The following is a description of the accompanying perspective view.

Fig. 1 represents the new stand, with a 48-inch telescope

attached, and supposed to be placed on a slab of slate, say 3 feet long by 2 wide. a a, is a board of well seasoned mahogany, polished, 20 inches by 14. bb, a cone of galvanized iron, about 22 inches high, well secured to the board; fixed to the top of this cone are open bearings, to receive the after

trunnions of the tube. cc, a pair of steadying or rather elevating-rods, half an inch thick, having eyes at their ends; those at the upper ends receive the foremost trunnions. dd, two inclined planes of mahogany secured to the board, rising 11⁄2 inch, and about 10 inches long; along the tops of these are rounded ridges of brass, accurately straight and smooth, to act as guides. e e, two little travellers of box-wood, grooved beneath to slide along the guides. ff, a bent rod of brass (hollow for lightness), which passes through and fits tight in the travellers, connecting them together; its extremities project

r

FIG. 2.

like the axle-arms of a carriage, and on them work the lower eyes of the elevating rods. gg, a screw 10 inches long (about 20 turns to the inch). It passes through the bent rod ff, working in a nut attached to its middle. h, a milled head on the screw, and a little winch or handle, which can be removed at pleasure. The screw turns in a bearing fixed to the stand at h.

This completes the mechanism for altitude. That for azimuth is very simple, and consists merely of two little wellturned rollers or wheels, rr, fixed to the stand beneath, and

so arranged that their axes radiate from the point p as a centre (see Fig. 2). At this point is a flat knob of brass or wood, about which the stand revolves. It may be put on any part of the table or slate slab, the weight being quite enough to keep it steady.

The mode of using this stand is as follows:

The little winch handle being applied to the screw the tube is rapidly raised or lowered till the altitude of the star is attained, when it may be removed, and the finger and thumb applied to the milled head. Supposing the star to have been found, a gentle pressure towards the left, at the same time gently turning the screw up or down, will keep it in the centre of the field; and this is accomplished without fatigue or inconvenience, as the hand or hands rest on the slab.

This stand is found so steady in practice that the whole weight of the head, reposing on the eyepiece by resting the brow against a little pad, produces no motion or vibration. It has been suggested that some means should be employed to accelerate the motion when a great change of altitude is required. This might be accomplished, but the inventor ventures to think that as a telescope of the above dimensions can be raised from the horizontal plane to an altitude of 65° in one minute, it is rapid enough for most purposes. The inclined planes might have a greater gradient, if a still greater degree of elevation were required.