The geared astrolabe of al-Biruni is another type of protoclock to have been transmitted. A specimen in the Science Museum, London,[28] though unfortunately now incomplete, has a very sophistocated arrangement of gears for moving pointers to indicate the correct relative positions and movements of the sun and moon (see figs. 17 and 18). Like the earlier Muslim example it contains wheels with odd numbers of gear teeth (14, 27, 39); however, the teeth are no longer equilateral in shape, but approximate a more modern slightly rounded form. This example is French and appears to date from _ca._ 1300. Another Gothic astrolabe with a similar gear ring on the rete, said to date from _ca._ 1400 (it could well be much earlier) is now in the Billmeier collection (London).[29] Turning from the mechanized astrolabe to the mechanized equatorium, we find the work of Richard of Wallingford (1292?-1336) of the greatest interest as providing an immediate precursor to that of de Dondi. He was the son of an ingenious blacksmith, making his way to Merton College, Oxford, then the most active and original school of astronomy in Europe, and winning later distinction as Abbot of St. Albans. A text by him, dated 1326-27, described in detail the construction of a great equatorium, more exact and much more elaborate than any that had gone before.[30] Nevertheless it is evidently a normal manually operated device like all the others. In addition to this instrument, Richard is said to have constructed _ca._ 1320, a fine planetary clock for his Abbey.[31] Bale, who seems to have seen it, regarded it as without rival in Europe, and the greatest curiosity of his time. Unfortunately, the issue was confused by Leland, who identified it as the Albion (_i.e._, all-by one), the name Richard gives to his manual equatorium. This clock was indeed so complex that Edward III censured the Abbot for spending so much money on it, but Richard replied that after his death nobody would be able to make such a thing again. He is said to have left a text describing the construction of this clock, but the absence of such a work has led many modern writers to support Leland's identification and suppose that the device was not a mechanical clock. [Illustration: Figure 17.--FRENCH GEARED ASTROLABE OF TREFOIL GOTHIC DESIGN, _ca._ A.D. 1300. The gearing on the pointer is, from the center: (32)/14-45+27-39, the last meshing with a concave annular gear of 180 teeth around the rim of the rete of the astrolabe. A second pointer, geared to this so as to follow the Moon, seems to be lacking. (_Photo courtesy of Science Museum. London._)] [Illustration: Figure 18.--GEAR TRAIN OF POINTER in figure 17. (_Photo courtesy of Science Museum, London._)]