Measuring & Mapping

Where, how far, and how much? People have invented an astonishing array of devices to answer seemingly simple questions like these. Measuring and mapping objects in the Museum's collections include the instruments of the famous—Thomas Jefferson's thermometer and a pocket compass used by Meriwether Lewis and William Clark on their expedition across the American West. A timing device was part of the pioneering motion studies of Eadweard Muybridge in the late 1800s. Time measurement is represented in clocks from simple sundials to precise chronometers for mapping, surveying, and finding longitude. Everyday objects tell part of the story, too, from tape measures and electrical meters to more than 300 scales to measure food and drink. Maps of many kinds fill out the collections, from railroad surveys to star charts.

Patent model for William Austin Burt, new equatorial sextant, U.S. Patent 16,002 (1856). This instrument could apparently be used to take azimuths, altitude, and time with one observation, and thus enable one to easily obtain the position and bearing of a ship at sea.
Description
Patent model for William Austin Burt, new equatorial sextant, U.S. Patent 16,002 (1856). This instrument could apparently be used to take azimuths, altitude, and time with one observation, and thus enable one to easily obtain the position and bearing of a ship at sea. It was ingenious, but never found much of a market. Burt is better remembered for the solar compass that he introduced in the 1830s.
Ref: John S. Burt, They Left Their Mark. A Biography of William Austin Burt (Rancho Cordova, Ca., 1985), pp. 128-130.
Location
Currently not on view
date made
1856
maker
Burt, William A.
ID Number
PH.309166
catalog number
309166
accession number
89797
patent number
16,002
Patent model for Ralph Reeder, "Mariner's Time Compass," U.S. Patent #4,964 (1847). The inscription reads: "Ralph Reeder Patentee, Cincinnati, Ohio.
Description
Patent model for Ralph Reeder, "Mariner's Time Compass," U.S. Patent #4,964 (1847). The inscription reads: "Ralph Reeder Patentee, Cincinnati, Ohio. HENRY WARE, MAKER, CINCINNATI, O." Henry Ware (1810-1885) was a leading instrument maker in Cincinnati.
Scientific American reported that this instrument combines "three important uses." It shows "the local variation of the magnetic needle with unerring certainty," "the altitude of the sun, and thus enables the mariner readily to compute latitude." and "the true time" and thus "by the aid of the chronometer, shows the longitude." Despite journal's opinion that Reeder’s instrument "appears to be a practically useful invention," the Mariner’s Time-Compass was not a commercial success.
Ref: "Improved Nautical Instrument," Scientific American 12 (1856): 4.
Location
Currently not on view
date made
1840s
maker
Henry Ware
ID Number
PH.309345
catalog number
309345
accession number
89797
patent number
4,964
Dry-card nautical compass with a turned wooden bowl gimbal mounted in a wooden box. The "S. THAXTER MAKER No 27 STATE STREET BOSTON" inscription indicates a date between 1813 when Samuel Thaxter moved to No. 27 State Street, and 1822 when the firm became S. Thaxter & Son.
Description
Dry-card nautical compass with a turned wooden bowl gimbal mounted in a wooden box. The "S. THAXTER MAKER No 27 STATE STREET BOSTON" inscription indicates a date between 1813 when Samuel Thaxter moved to No. 27 State Street, and 1822 when the firm became S. Thaxter & Son. The donor believed it had belonged to his distant ancestor, Simon Mellon, and was used in a whaling vessel in the Bering Sea.
Location
Currently not on view
date made
1813-1822
maker
Thaxter, Samuel
ID Number
1995.0014.01
accession number
1995.0014
catalog number
1995.0014.01
This compass has a brass bowl gimbal mounted in a wooden box. The graduated ring is curved. The needle float is in the form of crossed cylinders, as described in the patent (#38,125) granted to Edward S.
Description
This compass has a brass bowl gimbal mounted in a wooden box. The graduated ring is curved. The needle float is in the form of crossed cylinders, as described in the patent (#38,125) granted to Edward S. Ritchie on April 7, 1863.
The gimbal ring, which seems to be of a somewhat later date than the compass, identifies several Ritchie patents in addition to that of 1863. The patent of May 12, 1868 (#77,763) describes a paint that would not deteriorate in the liquid in the compass. The patent of July 19, 1870 (#105,492) describes a way to hold the glass in place with a water-tight joint. The patent of November 14, 1876 (#184,300) describes a "fascicular magnet" composed of a series of separate drawn wires of steel laid parallel to one another.
The Ritchie ledgers, now held by Ritchie Navigation, indicate that this compass was produced on March 2, 1880, and sold to S. Thaxter & Son in Boston. Smithsonian records indicate that Thaxter gave it to the Smithsonian, perhaps for use in the International Fishery Exhibition which opened in Berlin on April 20, 1880. The compass was clearly shown in the similar exhibition held in London in 1883.
Ref. D. J. Warner, "Compasses and Coils. The Instrument Business of Edward S. Ritchie," Rittenhouse 9 (1994): 1-24.
G. Brown Goode, et. al., Descriptive Catalogues of the Collections Sent from the United States to the International Fisheries Exhibition, London, 1883 (Washington, D.C., 1884), vol. 2, p. 728.
Location
Currently not on view
maker
Ritchie, Edward S.
ID Number
PH.039385
catalog number
039385
accession number
8745
Perry Mason & Co. published The Youth’s Companion, the most popular and successful family journal in the U.S. in the second half of the nineteenth century. This small spyglass was probably a premium given for a subscription to that magazine.
Description
Perry Mason & Co. published The Youth’s Companion, the most popular and successful family journal in the U.S. in the second half of the nineteenth century. This small spyglass was probably a premium given for a subscription to that magazine. It has an achromatic objective, a four-element erecting eyepiece, and a five-section brass draw tube covered with leather. The inscription reads "PERRY MASON & Co. BOSTON." Since the firm became Perry Mason Company in August 1900, this instrument was probably made before that time.
Location
Currently not on view
ID Number
1980.0399.0073
catalog number
1980.0399.0073
accession number
1980.0399
Matthew Berge (d. 1819) worked for Jesse Ramsden in London, succeeded to the business after Ramsden’s death in 1800, used the Ramsden dividing engine, and numbered his sextants in the sequence begun by Ramsden. This example was made in the early 1800s.
Description
Matthew Berge (d. 1819) worked for Jesse Ramsden in London, succeeded to the business after Ramsden’s death in 1800, used the Ramsden dividing engine, and numbered his sextants in the sequence begun by Ramsden. This example was made in the early 1800s. It has a double brass frame and a silvered scale. The inscription on the arc reads "Berge London late Ramsden" and "1513." The scale is graduated every 15 minutes from -2° to +136° and read by vernier with tangent screw and magnifier.
A label in the box relates the instrument’s history. "SEXTANT owned and used by JOHN C. FREMONT on his trip across the continent to CALIFORNIA. Presented by his Daughter, ELIZABETH B. FREMONT, to HON. CHARLES SILENT and by him to FRANK J. THOMAS. Loaned to and used by WELLS MORRIS on U.S. Destroyer "MUGFORD" in GREAT WAR."
Ref: A. Stimson, "The Influence of the Royal Observatory at Greenwich upon the Design of 17th and 18th Century Angle-Measuring Instruments at Sea," Vistas in Astronomy 20 (1976): 123-130.
Location
Currently not on view
date made
1800-1819
maker
Berge, Matthew
ID Number
1981.0744.01
accession number
1981.0744
catalog number
1981.0744.01
This telescope, with an achromatic objective, erecting eye piece, and brass tube covered with leather, was probably made in England. The "E. & G. W. Blunt, New York, Day & Night" inscription indicates that it was made between 1824 and 1868. The "U. S.
Description
This telescope, with an achromatic objective, erecting eye piece, and brass tube covered with leather, was probably made in England. The "E. & G. W. Blunt, New York, Day & Night" inscription indicates that it was made between 1824 and 1868. The "U. S. Navy" inscription suggests that it might have been used during the Civil War.
Edmund March Blunt (1770-1862) opened a nautical shop in New York in 1802. His sons, Edmund (1799-1866) and George William (1802-1878) opened their own shop in 1824, trading as E. & G. W. Blunt and offering nautical books, charts, and instruments. The firm became Blunt & Nichols in 1866, and Blunt & Co., in 1868.
Location
Currently not on view
ID Number
PH.322755
catalog number
322755
accession number
251009
Azimuth compass with a "John Bliss & Co. New York" inscription. This might have been made any time between the formation of John Bliss & Company in 1857 and the demise of the firm in 1967.Currently not on view
Description
Azimuth compass with a "John Bliss & Co. New York" inscription. This might have been made any time between the formation of John Bliss & Company in 1857 and the demise of the firm in 1967.
Location
Currently not on view
maker
John Bliss & Co.
ID Number
PH.317360
catalog number
317360
accession number
230277
This consists of a white plastic planisphere with the northern sky on one side and the southern on the other, seven clear plastic templates centered at 10° intervals of latitude, and a cardboard container.
Description
This consists of a white plastic planisphere with the northern sky on one side and the southern on the other, seven clear plastic templates centered at 10° intervals of latitude, and a cardboard container. The United States Hydrographic Office transferred it to the Smithsonian in 1957.
An inscription reads "H.O. NO. 2102-B / HYDROGRAPHIC OFFICE / RUDE / STAR FINDER AND IDENTIFIER / (WITH HYDROGRAPHIC OFFICE MODIFICATIONS) PRICE $1.00 / Published at the Hydrographic Office, Washington, D.C. Oct. 1940 under the authority of THE SECRETARY OF THE NAVY"
Ref: Gilbert T. Rude, "Star Finder and Identifier," U.S. Patent #1,401,446 (Dec. 27, 1921).
Henry M. Jensen, et. al., "Navigational Instrument," U.S. patent #1,919,222 (July 25, 1933).
“Captain Rude, Naval Inventor,” Washington Post (Dec. 5, 1962), p. B13.
Location
Currently not on view
date made
1940
maker
Rude, Gilbert T.
ID Number
PH.315071.2
accession number
214422
catalog number
315071.2
This compass has a brass bowl gimbal mounted in a wooden box. The paper card was made for Robert King (c.1789-1868), a mathematical instrument maker from England who spent most of his career in New York City. The instrument bears two marks, "ROBERT KING NEW YORK" and "S.
Description
This compass has a brass bowl gimbal mounted in a wooden box. The paper card was made for Robert King (c.1789-1868), a mathematical instrument maker from England who spent most of his career in New York City. The instrument bears two marks, "ROBERT KING NEW YORK" and "S. THAXTER & SON. MAKERS. State Street. BOSTON." The Thaxter inscription appears on a paper disc laid over the center of the card, obscuring the King signature. The instrument was used by Capt. Andrew McWha of St. Stephen, N.B., Canada, and probably dates from the middle decades of the nineteenth century.
Location
Currently not on view
date made
ca 1850
maker
S. Thaxter & Son
ID Number
PH.314852
catalog number
314852
accession number
211303
Like the original Rude star finder, this one consists of cardboard planispheres of the northern and southern skies, each of which has a plastic meridian arm for determining the declination of the stars.
Description
Like the original Rude star finder, this one consists of cardboard planispheres of the northern and southern skies, each of which has a plastic meridian arm for determining the declination of the stars. Here, however, the rims of the planispheres are graduated to 3 minutes of time, and there are seven clear plastic altitude-azimuth templates for use at different latitudes up to 70° north and south. In addition, the planispheres rotate against a circle graduated to 365 parts, thus facilitating the comparison of civial and sidereal time. This feature was designed by Navy Captain Henry M. Jensen; John Edward Gingrich, a graduate of the Naval Academy who compiled Aerial and Marine Navigation Tables (New York, 1931) and who would later become a Rear Admiral; and Guillermo Medina, an engineer with the United States Hydrographic Office. The Hydrographic Office transferred this example to the Smithsonian in 1957.
The instrument bears the inscription "H.O. 2102 A / RUDE STAR FINDER AND IDENTIFIER / WITH HYDROGRAPHIC MODIFICATIONS / AND SIDEREAL TIME CONVERTER / Letters Patent / No. 1401446 December 27, 1921 / No. 1919222 July 25, 1933 / Washington, D.C.: Published December 1932, at the Hydrographic Office, under the authority of the SECRETARY OF THE NAVY, SECOND EDITION, JANUARY 1934 / Price $7.50."
Ref: Gilbert T. Rude, "Star Finder and Identifier," U.S. patent #1,401,446.
Henry M. Jensen, J. E. Gingrich, and G. Medina, "Navigational Instrument," U.S. patent #1,919,222.
“Captain Rude, Naval Inventor,” Washington Post (Dec. 5, 1962), p. B13.
Location
Currently not on view
date made
1934
ID Number
PH.315071.1
catalog number
315071.1
accession number
214422
The "GREGORY, No. 148 near the India House, LONDON" inscription on this azimuth circle refers to Henry Gregory (fl.
Description
The "GREGORY, No. 148 near the India House, LONDON" inscription on this azimuth circle refers to Henry Gregory (fl. 1744-1782), a mathematical instrument maker who worked at "The Azimuth Compass, near East India House, Leadenhall St., London."
Ref: Gloria Clifton, Directory of British Scientific Instrument Makers 1550-1851 (London, 1995), p. 119.
Location
Currently not on view
date made
late 18th century
18th century
maker
Henry Gregory
ID Number
PH.319773
catalog number
319773
accession number
239771
William Thomson described a new "Marine Azimuth Mirror" at the 1877 meeting of the British Association for the Advancement of Science, and patented the design in Britain and the U.S.
Description
William Thomson described a new "Marine Azimuth Mirror" at the 1877 meeting of the British Association for the Advancement of Science, and patented the design in Britain and the U.S. This instrument is an example of the improved design, with a reflecting prism in place of the original mirror. Thomson introduced this form in the early 1880s. The signature indicates that it was made during the period 1900-1913. The base bears the inscriptions "KELVIN & JAMES WHITE, LIMITED. GLASGOW" and "LORD KELVIN’S (SIR WM THOMSON) PATENTS No 5713." The U.S. Coast & Geodetic Survey transferred the instrument to the Smithsonian in 1929.
Ref: William Thomson, "Device for Taking Azimuths," U.S. Patent #210,068.
William Thomson, "Azimuth Instrument," U.S. Patent #402,364.
Location
Currently not on view
date made
early 20th century
maker
Kelvin & James White, Ltd.
ID Number
PH.309653
catalog number
309653
accession number
106954
This consists of a white plastic planisphere with the northern sky on one side and the southern on the other; nine clear plastic altitude-azimuth templates for use at different latitudes up to 5o north and south; a clear plastic meridian angle diagram; and a cardboard container.
Description
This consists of a white plastic planisphere with the northern sky on one side and the southern on the other; nine clear plastic altitude-azimuth templates for use at different latitudes up to 5o north and south; a clear plastic meridian angle diagram; and a cardboard container. It is based on the Rude form, as modified in the early 1940s by Elmer Collins of the United States Hydrographic Office. It was published by the Hydrographic Office and sold for $4.00. The Hydrographic Office transferred it to the Smithsonian in 1957. The instrument bears the inscription "NO. 2102-D / STAR FINDER AND IDENTIFIER / PATENT NOS. 2304797, 2337545."
Ref: G. T. Rude, Star Finder and Identifier," U.S. patent #1,401,446
H. M. Jensen, et. al., "Navigational Instrument," U.S. patent #1,919,222
Elmer B. Collins, "Star Finder," U.S. patent #2,304,797
Elmer B. Collins, "Star Finder," U.S. patent #2,337,545
Nathaniel Bowditch, American Practical Navigator (Washington, D.C.: United States Hydrographic Office, 1962), pp. 586-589.
"Elmer B. Collins," Washington Post (2 October 1958), p. B2.
Location
Currently not on view
date made
ca 1950
ID Number
PH.315071.4
catalog number
315071.4
accession number
214422
maker number
2012-D
This star finder, designed for aeronautical use, was based on the Rude form as modified by Elmer Collins of the United States Hydrographic Office.
Description
This star finder, designed for aeronautical use, was based on the Rude form as modified by Elmer Collins of the United States Hydrographic Office. It consists of a white plastic planisphere with the northern sky on one side and the southern on the other that shows all the stars in the American and the British Air Almanacs; nine clear plastic altitude-azimuth templates for use at different latitudes up to 85° north and south; an instruction card; and a leatherette container. It was published in March 1942 under the authority of the Secretary of the Navy, and cost $2.50. The Hydrographic Office transferred this example to the Smithsonian in 1957. The instrument bears the inscription "No. 2102-C / A-N TYPE 1 / STAR FINDER AND IDENTIFIER / PATENT Nos. 2304797 - 2337545 / U.S. NAVY HYDROGRAPHIC OFFICE."
Ref: Elmer B. Collins, "Star Finder," U.S. patent #2,304,797
Elmer B. Collins, "Star Finder," U.S. patent #2,337,545
Nathaniel Bowditch, American Practical Navigator (Washington, D.C.: Unted States Hydrographic Office, 1943), pp. 212-214.
"Elmer B. Collins," Washington Post (2 October 1958), p. B2.
Location
Currently not on view
date made
1942
ID Number
PH.315071.3
catalog number
315071.3
accession number
214422
This consists of a two-sided cardboard planisphere of the northern and southern skies, seven clear plastic altitude-azimuth templates for use at different latitudes up to 70° north and south, and a cardboard envelope. Gilbert Rude donated it to the Smithsonian in 1958.
Description
This consists of a two-sided cardboard planisphere of the northern and southern skies, seven clear plastic altitude-azimuth templates for use at different latitudes up to 70° north and south, and a cardboard envelope. Gilbert Rude donated it to the Smithsonian in 1958. The instrument bears the inscription "STAR IDENTIFIER, Adapted from the ‘Rude Star Finder and Identifier’ originated by Captain G. T. Rude, U.S. Coast & Geodetic Survey . . . Hydrographic Department, Admiralty, London. Sept. 1941 (H.S. 4026 /40)."
Ref: G. T. Rude, "Star Finder and Identifier," U.S. patent #1,401,446.
Location
Currently not on view
date made
1941
ID Number
PH.315973
catalog number
315973
accession number
222109
A box (or pocket) sextant works like a traditional sextant, but here the mechanism is enclosed in a brass box of about 3 inches diameter. William Jones, a leading instrument maker in London, introduced the form in 1797.This example probably belonged to Llewellyn N.
Description
A box (or pocket) sextant works like a traditional sextant, but here the mechanism is enclosed in a brass box of about 3 inches diameter. William Jones, a leading instrument maker in London, introduced the form in 1797.
This example probably belonged to Llewellyn N. Edwards (1874-1952), a structural engineer. It has a silvered scale graduated every 30 minutes from -5° to +150° and read by vernier with swinging magnifier to single minutes of arc. The inscription reads "WARREN-KNIGHT CO. PHILADELPHIA. MADE IN ENGLAND." Warren-Knight began in business in 1912.
Ref: William Jones, "Description of a New Pocket Box Sextant," in George Adams, Geometrical and Graphical Essays, 2nd ed. by William Jones, (London, 1797), pp. 283-285.
Location
Currently not on view
date made
after 1912
dealer
Warren-Knight Co.
ID Number
PH.333796
catalog number
333796
accession number
296611
A box (or pocket) sextant works like a traditional sextant, but here the mechanism is enclosed in a brass box of about 3 inches diameter. William Jones, a leading instrument maker in London, introduced the form in 1797.This example was probably made around 1900.
Description
A box (or pocket) sextant works like a traditional sextant, but here the mechanism is enclosed in a brass box of about 3 inches diameter. William Jones, a leading instrument maker in London, introduced the form in 1797.
This example was probably made around 1900. New, it cost $40. The silvered scale is graduated every 30 minutes from -5° to +150° and read by vernier with swinging magnifier to single minutes of arc. The inscription reads "KEUFFEL & ESSER CO. N.Y. MADE IN ENGLAND."
Ref: William Jones, "Description of a New Pocket Box Sextant," in George Adams, Geometrical and Graphical Essays, 2nd ed. by William Jones, (London, 1797), pp. 283-285.
Keuffel & Esser, Catalogue (New York, 1906), p. 415.
Location
Currently not on view
date made
around 1900
associated person
Keuffel, William J. D.
Esser, Herman
dealer
Keuffel & Esser Co.
ID Number
PH.333639
accession number
300659
catalog number
333639
This compass has a turned wooden bowl and card that can be seen from above and below.
Description
This compass has a turned wooden bowl and card that can be seen from above and below. The inscriptions read "SYBRAND WITTEVEEN in Amsterdam" and "1793 SW." Sybrand Witteveen was born around 1769 in the Dutch province of Friesland, married in Amsterdam in 1794, and died sometime after 1813.
Ref: Sybrich ter Kuile and W. F. J. Mörzer Bruyns, "Amsterdamse kompasmakers ca. 1580 - ca. 1850. Bijdrage tot de kennis van de instrumentmakerij in Nederland (Amsterdam, 1999), p. 109.
Location
Currently not on view
date made
1793
maker
Witteveen, Sybrand
ID Number
PH.326474
catalog number
326474
accession number
260031
This compass has a wooden bowl gimbal mounted in a wooden box. The inscription on the paper card reads "EDM. M. BLUNT.
Description
This compass has a wooden bowl gimbal mounted in a wooden box. The inscription on the paper card reads "EDM. M. BLUNT. CHART, SELLER, N° 202 WATERSTREET, NEW YORK." The signature is that of Edmund March Blunt (1770-1862), a dealer of nautical supplies who moved from Massachusetts to New York City in 1811 and who retired in the mid-1820s. In the center of the card is an image of a robed figure on land leaning on an anchor and gazing at a ship at sea.
This compass is said to have been on the Niagara on September 10, 1813 when, under the command of Oliver Hazard Perry, American sailors defeated a British squadron in the Battle of Lake Erie.
Location
Currently not on view
date made
ca 1811
maker
Blunt, Edmund March
ID Number
1981.0020.01
accession number
1981.0020
catalog number
1981.0020.01
This 56-hour chronometer has a later pattern Earnshaw spring detent escapement, and indications for hours, minutes, seconds, and up and down. It dates from around 1880.
Description
This 56-hour chronometer has a later pattern Earnshaw spring detent escapement, and indications for hours, minutes, seconds, and up and down. It dates from around 1880. The inscriptions read "William Bond & Son, Boston" and "Bond's Break Circuit." The movement, like that of most Bond chronometers, was probably made in England, while the Bond break circuit mechanism was made in the U.S. The Department of Physics at Columbia University donated this instrument to the Smithsonian. The winding key is marked "512" and thus from a different piece.
Location
Currently not on view
date made
ca. 1880
maker
William Bond & Son
ID Number
2001.0162.01
catalog number
2001.0162.01
accession number
2001.0162
Octant with an ebony frame, reinforced brass index arm, and telescopic sight. The ivory scale is graduated every 20 minutes from -2° to +111° and read by vernier and tangent screw to single minutes of arc. The "E. & G. W.
Description
Octant with an ebony frame, reinforced brass index arm, and telescopic sight. The ivory scale is graduated every 20 minutes from -2° to +111° and read by vernier and tangent screw to single minutes of arc. The "E. & G. W. BLUNT, New York" inscription may indicate that it was made after 1857 when the Blunts began offering nautical instruments "of American manufacture," and before 1866 when the firm became Blunt & Nichols.
The inscription on the brass nameplate reads: "George Davidson. Philadelphia, Pa." George Davidson (1825-1911) was a surveyor, geodesist and astronomer affiliated with the U.S. Coast Survey.
Ref: Deborah J. Warner, "American Octants and Sextants: The Early Years," Rittenhouse 3 (1989): 86-112, on 91-92.
"George Davidson," American National Biography, vol. 6, pp. 143-144.
Location
Currently not on view
date made
mid 19th century
maker
E. & G. W. Blunt
ID Number
PH.314492
catalog number
314492
accession number
204107
This nautical dry-card compass has a turned wooden bowl gimbal mounted in a wooden box. It probably dates from the middle decades of the nineteenth century. The inscription reads "C. R. SHERMAN & Co. NEW BEDFORD." Charles R. Sherman (fl.
Description
This nautical dry-card compass has a turned wooden bowl gimbal mounted in a wooden box. It probably dates from the middle decades of the nineteenth century. The inscription reads "C. R. SHERMAN & Co. NEW BEDFORD." Charles R. Sherman (fl. 1865-1905) sold instruments and other items for nautical use.
Location
Currently not on view
date made
1865-1905
maker
Sherman, Charles R.
ID Number
1995.0035.02
accession number
1995.0035
catalog number
1995.0035.02
This compass has a black metal bowl gimbal mounted in a mahogany box. The inscriptions read "DEAD BEAT" "C.B. PATENT" "No 11904" "HUSUN," and H. HUGHES & SON, LTD LONDON, PATD GT BRIT.
Description
This compass has a black metal bowl gimbal mounted in a mahogany box. The inscriptions read "DEAD BEAT" "C.B. PATENT" "No 11904" "HUSUN," and H. HUGHES & SON, LTD LONDON, PATD GT BRIT. No 127135."
Hughes trade literature describes this form as having been "especially designed for the navigation of Yachts and Motor Craft, the rapid movements of which demand a compass of exceptional steadiness and sensitivity." To that end, it has a special expansion chamber that "precludes the formation of bubbles in the liquid." The needles are short, and made of cobalt-steel. The card is printed "by a new photographic process that eliminates discoloration." And patented damping filaments ensure the steadiness of the card.
British Patent #127,135 describes an "Aperiodic Magnetic Compass" made by attaching to the magnetic needle filaments of glass, wire, or other suitable non-magnetic material. This patent was granted in 1919 to George Campbell and Geoffrey Bennett, both of the Compass Department of the British Admiralty.
H. Hughes & Son, Ltd. was in business, as such, from 1903 to 1947.
Ref: Henry Hughes & Son, Ltd., Husun "Dead-Beat" Compasses for Yachts (London, 1939).
H. L. Hitchins and W. E. May, From Lodestone to Gyro-Compass (New York, 1953), pp.150-152.
Location
Currently not on view
date made
1919-1947
maker
H. Hughes & Son, Ltd.
ID Number
PH.337074
accession number
1979.0026
catalog number
337074

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