Note 60 — SIR WILLIAM DUNBAR—THE PIONEER OF SCIENTIST OF MISSISSIPPI.[21] BY FRANKLIN L. RILEY, PH. D. (JOHNS HOPKINS UNIVERSITY)

"The following is a list of articles ordered by Dunbar from John Swift, London:

1 Pocket Chronometer, 30 guineas.

1 Telescope, £150.

1 Astronomical Circle, £100.

1 Parallel Ruler.

1 Brass Sextant and Stand, 20 guineas.

1 Improved Astronomical Telescope.

1 Hair Compass.

1 Bow Compass.

1 Pneumatic Apparatus.

1 Electrical Machine with apparatus for philosophical and medical uses.

1 Double-barrel rifle gun, to be made after my own plan, as follows: Barrels 27 inches; weight 12 pounds; astronomical telescope magnifying ten times, 1-3/8 to 1¾ inches in diameter, 12 to 14 inches in length. With this rifle carrying a 4 oz. ball, you may shoot a mile into a ten inch circle. By one vertical hair and several horizontal ones, the sights in the focus of the telescope may be regulated for optical distances. By this instrument we may compute the velocity of the ball and its general decrease; the fall of the ball by the power of gravitation; the comparative velocity with and against the wind; the lateral action of the wind, &c."—Natchez Democrat, Centennial Number (1876.)