Referring to the period between 1823, or a little earlier, and 1839, Mr. G. P. Bond writes of his father: “As soon as his circumstances permitted, he imported more perfect apparatus from Europe and continued to add to his collection until it was the best in the country.” And he adds this statement, which is highly suggestive as respects the enthusiasm with which the accomplished and successful chronometer maker entered upon the broader and loftier mission which destiny had in reserve for him: “When appointed by the Navy Department to the charge of astronomical and other observations, he forthwith laid out a sum of money on instruments and buildings more than ten times greater than the annual salary (to continue but four years), which he had himself proposed as an adequate compensation for all necessary expenses, and his own time, besides.” During a few years prior to 1830, he gathered materials for investigating the comparative rates of chronometers at sea and on shore. Subsequently he communicated to the American Academy the results reached, and in this paper effectually disposed of the scientific question involved, so far as it related to the interests of navigation. The authority for this statement is Mr. G. P. Bond, who also says that about the same time his father conducted a series of experiments to ascertain the influence of changes of temperature in the presence of large surfaces of iron upon the performance of chronometers; and adds that “although the conclusions arrived at were at variance with the opinions of men high in authority in such matters, they are now known to be correct.” President Quincy, in making his overture, was dealing with no novice, and, certainly, no stranger. Some intimation of what Mr. Bond had attained to is contained in the remarks of Prof. Benjamin Peirce spoken in the obituary proceedings of the American Academy in 1859, consequent upon Mr. Bond’s decease, though the reference is to a longer period. The instrument alluded to is the great equatorial at Cambridge. Prof. Peirce said: “In his original investigations he naturally restrained himself to those forms of observation which were fully within the reach of his own resources. He did not, therefore, seek those inquiries which could only be accomplished by long, intricate, and profound mathematical computations, but preferred those which were purely dependent upon the thorough discipline of the senses. He consequently availed himself less of the remarkable capacity of his instrument for delicate and refined measurements than of its exquisite optical qualities. But when observations were required which must be passed over to the computer, his skill was not wanting to the occasion. Thus, in conjunction with Major Graham, he made that choice series of observations from which the latitude of the observatory was determined.” [Illustration: THE BOND HOUSE, DORCHESTER. View looking to the southwest. The Observatory stood contiguous to the west end.]