1872 "From the Report to the Board of Visitors it appears that 'The Normal Siderial Clock for giving sidereal time by galvanic communication to the Astronomical Observatory was established in the Magnetic Basement in 1871, June; that locality being adapted for it on account of the uniformity of temperature, the daily changed of temperature rarely exceeding 1° Fahrenheit.

But a few years ago, nothing could have appeared more absurd than the idea that we should ever be able to examine the most minute fragment of the siderial system; and it must, no doubt, be reckoned among the wonders of the age in which we live, that considerable portions of these heavenly bodies are now known to have descended to the earth.