Professor Winlock was an excellent mathematician and astronomer, and had a remarkably retentive memory, not only for facts relating to his branch of science, but for the sources of information concerning those facts.

This telescope was ordered in 1848 from the establishment of Merz & Mahler, of Munich, for the use of Shelby College, Shelbyville, Kentucky. It was received at Shelbyville in November, 1850, and cost, when mounted, $4,000. It was mounted under the direction of Prof Joseph Winlock, and used by him while he was a professor in that institution.

Professor Peirce - The general theory; planets generally; Mars particularly.
Mr J B Bradford, assistant.
Professor Winlock - Sun and Mercury, Astraea, Egina.

With Benjamin Peirce's support, Winlock got the directorship in spite of the claim of Truman Henry Safford, the one-time child prodigy who later distinguished himself at Chicago until the great fire and then at Williams College.

... was afterwards borrowed by Mr Winlock, and mounted at Cambridge, for a time, for his private use. With this exception, his scientific labours had been exclusively in the way of higher mathematics, either as teacher or computer.

The great telescope belonging to Shelby College was loaned to Prof Joseph Winlock, and was removed to Cambridge, Massachusetts, where temporary accommodations were provided for it, and this establishment is known by the name of Cloverdon Observatory ... Numerous observations on comets, and on some of the newly discovered planets, have been made with this telescope by Dr B A Gould and Prof Joseph Winlock, some of which have been published in "Gould's Astronomical Journal."

Mr Winlock was not long in inspiring the friends of the Observatory with that large measure of confidence in his capabilities and his sound judgement which prompted them to contribute over $12,000 [$222,000 by 2023 values] for the purchase of a new meridian circle. In the autumn of 1867, Mr Winlock went to Europe, and spent four months in visiting the principal observatories, and acquainting himself with the latest improvements in instruments, and especially in circles. Having studies the advantages and defects in the highest class of meridian instruments, he blindly copied no one of them; but suggested valuable modifications, with the view of securing greater stability, increased precision of movement, and the most complete facility of observation.

The observations of the solar eclipse here today were very satisfactory, and in many respects gratifying. The following persons comprised the Joint Board of Observation for Shelbyville: Professor Joseph Winlock, of Harvard University, in charge of observations of phenomena, assisted by Alvan G Clark, Professor of Cambridge; Assistant George W Dean of the Coast Survey, in charge of observations of precision, assisted by T Blake, Jr, of the Coast Survey; J A Whipple, of Boston, assisted by George Clark and J Pendergast, had charge of the photographs; Professor G M Searle, of New York, devoted himself to observations of general phenomena, and during the total phase was to search for inter-mercurial planets. Also present were T H Agnew, R E Sharrod of Louisville, Professor Seymour of Louisville, and Robert Lewis of Shelbyville. Among the amateurs present was Mr Bowditch, of Boston, son of the celebrated astronomer.

The sky was perfectly clear, and every thing seemed to propitiate the success of the observations. There were ten or twelve mounted instruments in use on the occasion, the principal one of which was the Shelbyville College telescope, which was handled by Professor Winlock. This is a fine instrument, costing $4000. It once ranked third in the United States.

When the sunlight commenced to become dim a large number of citizens rushed to the college grounds, the headquarters of the observers. Some minutes before the total phase the usual phenomena of distraction among birds of the air and cattle occurred. Six minutes before totality a deathly ashen hue overspread the countenances of all present, and for a while the faint-hearted were terrified. The scene during the totality was an awful one, and when the sunlight appeared again a shout of exultation went up from the great crowd in the college grounds.

Although Alvan Clark in Cambridgeport ground beautiful lenses, precision instruments still had to be ordered from abroad. In January 1869, the London Instrument maker William Simms wrote to Joseph Winlock at Harvard that his new meridian circle was "completed"; the following June he reported it "nearly finished"; the instrument arrived in Cambridge in the summer of 1870. Winlock's great spectroscope ordered from John Browning in London never arrived.

Professor Joseph Winlock exhibited a contrivance for recording the position of lines in the spectrum, especially adapted to solar eclipses. A silver plate is attached to the telescope of a spectroscope, and a graver to its stand. By a simple motion the position of any line may be permanently recorded and afterwards measured. The principal lines of the solar spectrum are first recorded, the plate is then moved slightly backwards, and a number of spectra may be drawn on the same plate and compared with one another. Since the spider-lines may be invisible on account of the darkness, a break is made in the one which is vertical, and a spark from a Ruhmkorff coil passed through it, thus giving a bright spot of light. He proposed to apply this method of recording to determine the declination of a star in meridian instruments.

Professor Joseph Winlock exhibited some pictures of the eclipse of 1870, and pointed out the resemblance between the photographs of 1869 and of 1870. He also stated that in his recording spectroscope it is not essential that the registering point should be attached to the telescope, but to the part which is moved for pointing on the lines of the spectrum. In Professor Young's spectroscope, in which the prisms move, the registering apparatus is attached to them.

Professor Joseph Winlock exhibited a method of representing the nebulae, being a reproduction of the original drawings by the heliotype process. He also made a communication on the sunspot observations taken at the Kew Observatory during the year 1872 by Warren de la Rue, with the corresponding observations at Cambridge, Massachusetts.

The time-service of this observatory has been maintained for nearly twenty years upon the system originated by the late Professor Joseph Winlock. Continuous signals, that is, signals throughout the entire twenty-four hours instead of for a short time each day have been furnished to the cities of Boston and Cambridge, and have been used to strike the bells of the fire-alarm daily at noon. For many years a time-ball has been dropped, thus furnishing a precise time-signal to many citizens and to the shipping in the harbour. The continuous signals have been sent also to the railroads centring in Boston, and to the Boston office of the Western Union Telegraph Company, and have been distributed by them over a large part of New England. Many cities and corporations, although not subscribing for the time-signals, have been in the habit of taking them from the railway and telegraph stations, thus extending their use. The time-service in New York City was thus supplied with our signals for many years. The signals, again, have been furnished to the principal jewellers in Boston and vicinity, and used by them in the rating of fine watches. The lines transmitting the time-signals in these various directions affected the telephone lines by induction and otherwise, and thus many other persons obtained the signals by merely listening at the telephone.

(1) The mounting of large meridian circles in such a manner as to allow the piers to be shortened, so that the graduated circles are wholly above the piers, and the steadiness of the whole instrument is increased. The theoretical advantage of this arrangement cannot here be discussed; it has been tested by five years' experience at Harvard College Observatory with very gratifying results; it has been adopted in other observatories, and will probably come into general use.

(2) The application of a diagonal eyepiece, moved by a rack and pinion, to any large telescope, in such a manner as to dispense with the customary finder, and to enable the principal object glass to be used in finding faint objects which are to be examined with the spectroscope or otherwise. This invention has also been for some years in use in Harvard College Observatory.

(3) A method of registering spectroscopic observations by marking lines upon a silver plate without requiring the removal of the eye from the spectroscope, or the use of artificial light. Professor Winlock registered in this manner his observations of the solar eclipse of December, 1870, which he observed in Spain.

(4) The use of a lens of long focus and of a plane mirror in making photographs of the sun. Apparatus of this kind was brought into daily use in July, 1870, at Harvard College Observatory. Priority in this invention is claimed by some other astronomers; but it does not appear that any one actually used the combination of the mirror with the lens of long focus until some years after Professor Winlock. It should also be noticed that in 1869 Professor Winlock first photographed the solar corona without enlarging the image by an eyepiece.

It becomes our painful duty, this week, to chronicle the death of Professor Joseph Winlock, Director of the Observatory. In him we feel that we have lost, not only the eminent scientific investigator, but the revered and loved instructor. Ever ready to appreciate merit and aid the deserving, it is not too much to say that he won the personal affection of every one who knew him. He had complained of indisposition for several days; but nothing serious was apprehended until Thursday night, when his malady suddenly increased, causing his death at an early hour on Friday morning.