Walker Lake Bulletin

The Telephotometer,
An ingenious instrument for ascertaining the distance of accessible and inaccessible points from the observer and from each other has been invented by Dr. Luigi Cerebotani, a Professor of the University of Verona. The apparatus consists mainly of a pair of telescopes mounted on a stand and fixed on a tripod for use. The telescopes are both brought to bear on the object, and a reading is then taken from a graduated scale on the instrument, which, compared with a set of printed tables, gives the distance. By this means the inventor obviates the necessity for the base line, which has hitherto had to be laid down in these operations, and he dispenses with all trigonometrical calculations. Distances can be measured between far off objects, and by means of a sheet of paper fixed on a drawing-board a rough plan of the country under measurement can be sketched. In the same way the distances of ships at sea, or of moving objects on land, can be determined. The apparatus appears to be well adapted for land surveying, and particularly for military purposes. In fact, it is stated to have been already adopted in the German Army in the latter connection, and it is about to be tried by the authorities of our War Department. A practical trial was made with this instrument on the Thames embankment lately, when its varied usefulness was demonstrated.
St. James' Gazette.