356 PARALLAXES OF SOME FIXED STARS. nomical tables; almost all which improvements are the results of the observations made during the last eighty years at Greenwich. But Dr. Brinkley was professor from 1792 until 1808, before he had obtained the proper instruments to commence his observations. This was entirely owing to the dilatoriness of the optician, Mr. Ramsden. So that, in fact, Dr. Brinkley may be said to have been curtailed of one half of his professional life, as to the higher objects of astronomical science; for during nearly the first seventeen years after his being elected, he had little to do except in lecturing and examining the astronomical students in the Philosophy school of the University; and then at the end of the next seventeen years he was installed Bishop of Cloyne. However, the moment that Berg, who succeeded Ramsden, had placed the circle in a true state of adjustment, the astronomer commenced his observations, and soon discovered a very important circumstance relative to certain of the fixed stars, which had been suspected to exist, but had not been proved; this was the annual visible parallaxes of the following stars: a Lyra, a Aquila, Aquila, a Arcturus, and Cygni. The parallax of the first he set down at =1".0; of the second, 2".7; of the third, 1".10; of the fourth, 1".0. Shewing in the first place, that Aquila, though less brilliant than Lyra, is by one half the distance nearer to us than that star, and that Arcturus is only half the distance of the two others. These results have been obtained from a mean of several hundred observations made at various times, in every season of the year. Should these parallaxes be found correct, it will open a vista into space, almost too vast for the human mind to contemplate,-a distance, compared with which, our solar system would be a mere point in the universe. The ocean of space now open to view being, as Dr. Brinkley assured the author, equal to 200 billions of millions of miles. The details of these operations are to be found at large in a In the year 1799, Dr. Brinkley published a treatise on astronomy, for the use of the students. This work experience has proved to be well calculated for the instruction of that class of pupils. THE BOTANIC GARDEN. 357 the 12th Volume of Transactions of the Royal Irish Academy. On the promotion of Dr. Brinkley to the bishopric of Cloyne, (1827,) another severe competition took place for the professorship of astronomy, which was decided in favour of W. Rowan Hamilton, LL.D., the present professor, who thus became "Astronomer Royal of Ireland." This gentleman has since received the distinction of knighthood; but his solid distinctive honour consists in his being ranked amongst the first class of European astronomers; and, therefore, the chair which his talented and excellent predecessor so ably filled is occupied and honoured as it ever ought to be. THE BOTANIC GARDEN. This interesting section of "The complete School of Physic" has been incidentally mentioned in the general history, at pages 165 to 170 inclusive; a description of the garden will now be added. The ground upon which this garden has been formed, was acquired by the college in the year 1807, and the first thing done was to inclose it with a wall ten feet high. In the following year, the laying out of the ground was commenced by Mr. J. T. Mackay, who had been appointed to be its curator, on account of his superior knowledge as a practical man. The ground on which this elegant and very interesting garden has been formed, is situated at the lower end of Pembroke Road, near Ball's Bridge, about a mile and a half from the college. It was originally a small field, containing only about three English acres; in 1832, two acres were added, on the south-west side, having a front of 375 feet in length, facing the high road from Dublin to Merrion, &c. This front is secured by a massive base of cut granite, two feet and a half high, upon which is placed a lofty and substantial iron railing. The original ground is laid out in different compartments for trees, shrubs and herbaceous plants, ar 358 THE BOTANIC GARDEN. ranged according to the Linnean system. The trees and shrubs, however, correspond pretty well with the natural order. There is also a collection of British plants, arranged according to the natural method on De Candolle's system, and another compartment for medicinal plants according to Jussieu's method. The greenhouses are separated into three divisions, and extend 165 feet in length. The hothouses or stoves are similarly divided; these are 180 feet long. There is also an orchidaceous house, forty feet in length. The collections in all these compartments are very extensive. A considerable portion of the recent addition is occupied with a pretty full collection of pines and other coniferæ, together with many choice trees and shrubs, on a very well dressed lawn; which division of the garden, as well as the garden in all its other divisions, is greatly and justly admired, not more for the beauty, healthful appearance, and variety of its vegetable treasures, than for the good taste, judgment, and economy with which the numerous families composing this highly interesting scene have been arranged, either for the display of their beauties, or to produce evidence of the medicinal, nutritive, and other useful qualities with which they are combined. In front of the conservatory is an aquarium, in which there is a choice collection of the plants which belong to the various aquatic species which love that element, amongst which the Egyptian lotus and the splendid trumpet or St. Helena lily, are conspicuous. Supported by the extensive walls, but more especially on that which bounds the south-east side of the garden, and which is 800 feet in length, are many New Holland and other ornamental plants, which show by their great luxuriance, how well their culture and constitutions are understood. The duties of the Professor of Botany in college, and who is indispensably an officer of the medical school, have already been stated at pages 70 and 71. ANCIENT IRISH AUTHORS. 359 The students attending lectures in college and at the garden, have free access to it; where likewise all respectable persons are freely admitted on showing an order from the Provost, Fellows, the Professor or Curator; and since the addition was made to the garden, the number of visitors has increased considerably. The late Professor, Dr. Wm. Allman, was elected to that office in 1809, and held it, with great credit to himself and advantage to the students, during a term of thirty-five years, and it is somewhat curious that his successor in the chair of botany, should be of the same surname (a very scarce name in Ireland). Yet Dr. George Allman, who now fills that office, is not a relative of his immediate predecessor. Mr. James Townsend Mackay, who was elected to the office of curator to this garden at the time it was commenced in the year 1808, still vigorously performs the duties of his situation, with that superior intelligence in botany, and that natural suavity of manner, which have proved so conducive to the improvement of the students, and have justly gained for him the probation of his superior officers, and of an extensive circle of friends. ap CHAPTER X. SECTION I. ANCIENT IRISH AUTHORS. HAVING at length brought to a close, our account of the rise, progress, and present condition of the University of Dublin, its educational means, the state of learning, morals, and manners which characterize its systems, the author will now commence the biographical sketches of the distinguished men who have been educated here, and whose talents and virtues a This able botanist retired on a pension in 1844. 360 ANCIENT STATE OF LEARNING IN IRELAND. have contributed to the safety, honour, and prosperity of the British empire, under the numerous casualties of good fortune or calamity which have befallen the British monarchy, since the foundation of this establishment; and the author need not assure those readers with whom he has the honour and happiness of being acquainted, that this cannot be considered as a matter of parade, but one of common justice. It is but fair that the people of Great Britain should know how far the University of Dublin has been a contributor to the best interests of learning and the progress of civilization; and perhaps the most intelligible mode of doing this will be to give the names of the parties, with the titles of their literary works, and such other facts as connect them with these great objects. This list will be confined to those educated in this University, or who have been officially connected with its affairs; therefore the period over which it will be extended cannot exceed two centuries and a half, no great space of time certainly to restore the mind of a nation from a state of barbarism to one of useful and superior knowledge in the arts, sciences, and literature. It cannot be expected, therefore, that in point of illustrious names, this University should occupy a position in any respect so elevated as that on which the Universities of Oxford and Cambridge are so justly placed, and to institute a close comparison between them in that respect, would be too great an absurdity for any rational person to entertain. There is no doubt, however, that in the earlier centuries of the Christian era, several kinds of literature flourished in Ireland, the evidences of which now exist in the great libraries, both in the British isles and on the Continent, in the form of beautifully written manuscripts in the Irish character and language. Of these manuscripts many fine specimens are, as we have mentioned, still in the University library; they embrace an extensive circle of erudition; and a About one-fourth of the time that the Universities of England have been in a state of active existence. |