A NEW TREATISE ON THE USE OF THE GLOBES; OR A PHILOSOPHICAL VIEW OF THE EARTH AND HEAVENS: COMPREHENDING AN ACCOUNT OF the figure, MAGNITUDE, AND MOTION OF THE EARTH; PRECEDED BY AN EXTENSIVE SELECTION OF ASTRONOMICAL, AND OTHER DEFINITIONS; PRINTED FOR LONGMAN, HURST, REES, ORME, AND BROWN, PATERNOSTER-ROW; AND FOR THE AUTHOR. AMONGST the various branches of science studied in our academies, and places of public education, there are few of greater importance than that of the Use of the Globes. The earth is our destined habitation, and the heavenly bodies measure our days and years by their various revolutions. Without some acquaintance with the different tracts of land, the oceans, seas, &c. on the surface of the terrestrial globe, no intercourse could be carried on with the inhabitants of distant regions, and consequently their manners, customs, &c. would be totally unknown to us. Though the different tracts of land, &c. cannot be so minutely described on the surface of a terrestrial globe as on different maps; yet the globe shews the figure of the earth, and the relative situations of the principal places on its surface, more correctly than a map. Had the ancients paid no attention to the motions of the heavenly bodies, historical facts would have been given without dates, and we should have had neither dials, clocks, nor watches. To the celestial observations of Eudoxus, Hipparchus, &c. we are indebted for the knowledge of the precession of the equinoxes. Without some acquaintance with the celestial bodies our ideas of the power and wisdom of the Creator would be greatly circumscribed and confined. The learned and pious Dr. Watts observes, "What wonders of Wisdom are "seen in the exact regularity of the revolutions of "the A 2 "the heavenly bodies! Nor was there ever any "thing that has contributed to enlarge my appre"hensions of the immense power of God, the mag"nificence of his creation, and his own transcendent 66 grandeur, so much as the little portion of astronomy " which I have been able to attain. And I would not "only recommend it to young students, for the same purposes, but I would persuade all mankind, if it 66 were possible, to gain some degree of acquaintance "with the vastness, the distances, and the motions ❝of the planetary worlds, on the same account." Dr. Young in his Night Thoughts, says, 66 "An undevout astronomer is mad.” There is scarcely a writer on the different branches of education who has not expressly recommended the study of the globes. Milton observes that "Ere half "zne school authors be read, it will be seasonable "for youth to learn the use of the globes." Yet notwithstanding the importance of the subject, it is entirely neglected in our public schools: and in many of our private academies it has been frequently imperfectly taught; probably for want of a treatise sufficiently comprehensive in its object, and illustrated by a suitable number of examples. There are several treatises on the globes extant, but they have been chiefly written by mathematical instrument makers*, or by teachers unacquainted with mathe The addition of a few wires, a semicircle of brass, a particular kind of hour circle, &c. which is of no other use on the globe than to enhance the price thereof, has generally been a sufficient inducement for the instrument maker to publish a treatise explanatory of mathematics. The works of the former must be defective for want of practice in the art of teaching; and many of the productions of the latter are too puerile and trifling to be introduced into a respectable academy. Youth learn nothing effectually but by frequent repetition; a multiplicity of examples therefore becomes absolutely necessary: but these examples of the use of such addition. The more simply the globes are fitted up, and the less they are encumbered with useless wires, &c. the more easily they will be understood by the generality of learners. The most important part of a globe is its external surface: if the places on the terrestrial globe, and the stars on the celestial be accurately laid down and distinctly and clearly engraven, it is of little consequence of what materials the frame is made. The principal globe makers in London are CARY, BARDIN, NEWTON, and ADDISON. CARY'S globes are 21 inches, 18 inches, 15 inches, 12 inches, and 9 inches in diameter, and the celestial globe may be purchased either with or without the hieroglyphical figures depicted on the surface. BARDIN'S globes, or, as they are usually called, the NEW BRITISH GLOBES, are 18 inches, and 12 inches in diameter. The NEW BRITISH GLOBES manufactured under the direction of Messrs W. and S. Jones, Holborn, are particularly recommended by Mr. Vince, in Vol. I. page 569, of his complete System of Astronomy, and were introduced into the Royal Observatory at Greenwich by the late Dr. Maskelyne. The NEWTON'S globes are 15 inches, and 12 inches in diameter. horizon on these globes is the same as on Bardin's; only, instead of the signs of the zodiac, the ecliptic and zodiacal constellations are introduced. The analemma on the surface is not essentially different from that in Cary's globes. The ADDISON'S globes are 18 inches, and 12 inches in diameter. analemma on the surface of these globes is the same as the analemma on Cary's globes. General Prices of Globes. 21 inches in diameter, from 10 to 19 guineas, Cary. The globes above mentioned are the only ones constructed from plates recently engraven; they are fitted up in various ways, and are sold by the principal mathematical instrument makers in London. A 3 should |