  We have measured the central stellar velocity dispersions of 33 nearby spiral
and elliptical galaxies, using a straightforward template-fitting algorithm
operating in the pixel domain. The spectra, obtained with the Double
Spectrograph at Palomar Observatory, cover both the Ca triplet and the Mg b
region, and we present a comparison of the velocity dispersion measurements
from these two spectral regions. Model fits to the Ca triplet region generally
yield good results with little sensitivity to the choice of template star. In
contrast, the Mg b region is more sensitive to template mismatch and to details
of the fitting procedure such as the order of a polynomial used to match the
continuum shape of the template to the object. As a consequence of the
correlation of the [Mg/Fe] ratio with velocity dispersion, it is difficult to
obtain a satisfactory model fit to the Mg b lines and the surrounding Fe blends
simultaneously, particularly for giant elliptical galaxies with large velocity
dispersions. We demonstrate that if the metallicities of the galaxy and
template star are not well matched, then direct template-fitting results are
improved if the Mg b lines themselves are excluded from the fit and the
velocity dispersion is determined from the surrounding weaker lines.
