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.

The 1901 Factory and Works Act established precise limits as to the amount of water vapor that would be allowed in British industrial settings.
Description
The 1901 Factory and Works Act established precise limits as to the amount of water vapor that would be allowed in British industrial settings. These limits were especially important in coal mines where some water could lessen the chance of explosions, but too much water could lead to medical problems for the miners.
This hygrometer was made to measure humidity in mines, and may have been used in West Virginia. The inscription reads: "John Davis & Son (Derby) Ltd. No. 443 Derby & London. Reg No. 518758." This was an English firm that specialized in mathematical and other instruments for the mining industry.
Ref.: Henry Davis, "The Application of the Hygrometer in Coal Mines," Transactions of the Institute of Mining Engineers 35 (1907-1908): 285-290.
Location
Currently not on view
date made
ca 1925-1950
maker
Davis Derby Ltd.
ID Number
PH.321863
catalog number
321863
accession number
244292
This instrument consists of wet and dry bulb thermometers with a liquid vial (missing in this instance) in between, mounted on a wooden board. The inscriptions on the board read "MASON'S HYGROMETER" and "B. PIKE JR.
Description
This instrument consists of wet and dry bulb thermometers with a liquid vial (missing in this instance) in between, mounted on a wooden board. The inscriptions on the board read "MASON'S HYGROMETER" and "B. PIKE JR. 294 BROADWAY, NEW YORK." The scales for the thermometers are on the board. That for the dry-bulb thermometer is graduated every degree Fahrenheit from 0 to +135. That for the wet-bulb thermometer is graduated every degree Fahrenheit from -5 to +145.
John Abraham Mason, an English surgeon, described the form in 1836. Benjamin Pike Jr., a leading purveyor of instruments in New York between 1843 and 1864, claimed that the use of an instrument of this sort "in the sick chamber will be at once evident, as a fire kept up in a closed room naturally dries the air which the patient has to breathe."
Ref: John Abraham Mason, "Description of a New Hygrometer," Records of General Science 4 (1836): 23-35 and 96-111.
B. Pike Jr., Illustrated, Descriptive Catalogue of Optical, Mathematical and Philosophical Instruments (New York, 1856), vol. 2, pp. 135-138.
Location
Currently not on view
date made
1843-1864
maker
B. Pike, Jr.
ID Number
PH.333982
accession number
304826
catalog number
333982
Joseph Winlock, a professor of astronomy at Harvard, and John S. F.
Description
Joseph Winlock, a professor of astronomy at Harvard, and John S. F. Huddleston, a thermometer and barometer maker in Boston, designed this instrument to provide "a simple, efficient, and convenient means of determining the relative humidity of the atmosphere or the dew-point, so called, without calculation."
In this example, the dry bulb thermometer is mounted on a plate that is marked "HYGROPHANT" and "PATENTED MARCH 31, 1874" and and "805" and graduated every degree Fahrenheit from -30 to +125. The wet bulb thermometer is mounted on a plate that is marked "HUDDLESTON BOSTON" and graduated every degree Fahrenheit from -10 to +125. Between the two is a rotating chart that indicates relative humidity, as well as a plate graduated every degree from 0 to +110.
Ref: J. Winlock and J. S. F. Huddleston, "Psychrometer," U.S. Patent 149176 (1874).
Location
Currently not on view
maker
Huddleston, John S. F.
Winlock, Joseph
ID Number
PH.314864
catalog number
314864
accession number
211531
This is a replica of the second model of the hair hygrometer devised by Horace Benedict de Saussure (1740-1799).Ref: Horace Bénédict de Saussure, Essais sur l’Hygrometrie (Neufchatel, 1783).Currently not on view
Description
This is a replica of the second model of the hair hygrometer devised by Horace Benedict de Saussure (1740-1799).
Ref: Horace Bénédict de Saussure, Essais sur l’Hygrometrie (Neufchatel, 1783).
Location
Currently not on view
date made
before 1954
ID Number
PH.314542
catalog number
314542
accession number
204612
Emile Alluard, professor of physics at the University of Clermont-Ferand and director of the meteorological observatory on the nearby Puy-de-Dôme, described this type of hygrometer in 1878.
Description
Emile Alluard, professor of physics at the University of Clermont-Ferand and director of the meteorological observatory on the nearby Puy-de-Dôme, described this type of hygrometer in 1878. A modification of Regnault's instrument, it consists of a square vessel made of polished nickel-plated brass. At either side of the vessel, but not touching it, are strips of similar material. In use, the vessel would be filled with ether, and this ether would be cooled by evaporation by means of an aspirating bulb. When dew appears on the shiny surface of the vessel, a thermometer in the vessel indicates the temperature of the ether at that point. A second thermometer measures the ambient temperature.
Robert A. Millikan described the Alluard hygrometer as being one of the "most perfect forms of the dew-point hygrometer" in his Mechanics, Molecular Physics and Heat, a popular college text that was first published in 1903 and that aimed "to present Physics as a science of exact measurement." This example is marked "A Sign of Quality WELCH A Mark of Service / W. M. Welch Scientific Company / ESTABLISHED 1880 / 1515 SEDGWICK ST. CHICAGO, U.S.A." It was made between 1921 (when the W. M. Welch Scientific Company began as such) and 1960 (when it became Welch Scientific). It is missing the aspirating bulb and both thermometers.
Ref: M. Allouard, "Nouvel Hygromètre a Condensation," Journal de Physique et le Radium 7 (1878): 328-330.
W. M. Welch Scientific Co., Catalog G (Chicago, 1935), p. 157.
Location
Currently not on view
maker
W. M. Welch Scientific Company
ID Number
PH.334152
catalog number
334152
accession number
308253
Charles F. Marvin, a meteorologist who spent his career with the Army Signal Corps and its successor, the U.S. Weather Bureau, introduced this type of hygrometer in 1908.
Description
Charles F. Marvin, a meteorologist who spent his career with the Army Signal Corps and its successor, the U.S. Weather Bureau, introduced this type of hygrometer in 1908. Unlike the original described by Horace Benedict de Saussure, of Geneva, in 1783, the Marvin instrument had two bundles of hair. The inscription on this example reads “PERCENTAGE OF SATURATION / (RELATIVE HUMIDITY) / HAIR HYGROMETER / No. 19 / U.S. WEATHER BUREAU / HENRY J. GREEN / B’KLYN, N.Y.”
Location
Currently not on view
date made
after 1908
maker
H. J. Green
ID Number
PH.314528
catalog number
314528
accession number
204612

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