Cardinal Points
The four intersections of the horizon with the meridian and the prime vertical circle, or North and South, East and West. CARON, PETER AUGUSTUS. A celebrated French watchmaker, born January 25th, 1732, in the Rue St. Denis, Paris. When nineteen years of age he invented an escapement known in France as the double virgule, which may be said to be a combination of the cylinder and duplex. He disputed in 1753, with Lepaute, the honor of being the inventor, and was awarded the merit of the discovery by the Academy of Sciences, on February 24, 1754. At the age of twenty-five he obtained a situation at court, under Louis XV., and received permission, on giving up the watch business, to style himself Monsieur de Beaumar, and under this name he wrote and published two well known works, the "Barber of Seville" and "The Marriage of Figaro."