Measuring & Mapping - Overview
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.
"Measuring & Mapping - Overview" showing 123 items.
Page 1 of 13
B. Pike & Son Transit
- Description
- The "B. Pike & Son. New York. Warranted" signature identifies the shop in which this instrument was sold, but not necessarily where it was made, or by whom. It was used between 1831 and 1841, when Benjamin Pike worked with his son Benjamin Jr., and again between 1843 and 1850, when Benjamin Pike worked with his son Daniel. The word "Warranted" represents the Pikes' guarantee of quality. In design and production, however, this instrument is less successful than those made by men who specialized in instruments of this sort.
- As in William J. Young's original surveyor's transit, the horizontal circle here is inside the compass face. The circle, however, is graduated every 30 minutes of arc, and read by vernier to single seconds. The vertical circle is graduated every 1 degree, and read by vernier to 4 minutes.
- maker
- B. Pike & Son
- ID Number
- 1980.0254.01
- accession number
- 1980.0254
- catalog number
- 1980.0254.01
- Data Source
- National Museum of American History, Kenneth E. Behring Center
Brandis Wye Level
- Description
- This "Engineers' Wye Level" is marked "BRANDIS MANUFACTURING CO. NEW YORK NO 1065." It was made around 1890 when the firm was trading as the Brandis Manufacturing Co. It incorporates the center spindle attachment described in Brandis's patent (#201,155) of 1878. New, it cost $140. A card in the box identifies its owner: "George C. Ham, C. E., Sanitary Inspector Connecticut State Board of Health."
- Ref: F. E. Brandis, Sons & Co., Illustrated and Descriptive Catalogue and Hand-Book of Instruments of Precision for Civil Engineers, Surveyors and Astronomers (New York, 1902), pp. 72-74.
- maker
- Brandis Manufacturing Co.
- ID Number
- 1983.0548.07
- accession number
- 1983.0548
- catalog number
- 1983.0548.07
- Data Source
- National Museum of American History, Kenneth E. Behring Center
Juvet Time Globe
- Description
- In 1880 Scientific American, enthusiastically recommended Louis P. Juvet's time globe to its readers. It was, the magazine found, "a fit ornament for any library, a valuable adjunct in every business office, and a necessity in every institution of learning." The clockwork-driven globe was undeniably useful for studying geography, determining world time, and illustrating the rotation of the earth. The basis of its appeal, however, was even broader. Prominently displayed in the parlors and drawing rooms of Gilded Age America, the elegant time globe clearly demonstrated the wealth and culture of its owner.
- Available in a range of sizes and versions simple and ornate, the time globe consisted of three basic elements: a globe, a mechanism for rotating it, and a base. The globe most often featured a terrestrial map, but celestial globes were also offered. An equatorial ring indicated worldwide time and zones of daylight and darkness. A meridian ring supported a clock dial over the north pole.
- Concealed within the globe was a four-day, spring-driven brass movement that drove the clock dial and rotated the globe once every twenty-four hours. Manufactured for Juvet by Rood and Horton of Bristol, Connecticut, the movements featured a lever escapement and a balance wheel. Turning the feather end of the arrow-shaped axis wound the movement.
- Precisely when production of the globes began is uncertain. Juvet, a Swiss immigrant and a resident of Glens Falls, New York, first patented a mechanical globe in January 1867, and exhibited one at the Philadelphia Centennial Exposition of 1876. Probably sometime in 1879, Juvet formed a partnership with James Arkell. By the early 1880s, Juvet and Company of Canajoharie, New York, was making more than sixty varieties of globes. In October 1886, fire consumed the factory where the globes were assembled, ending their manufacture there forever.
- Pictured on the right. Overall measurements are 51 x 17 x 15 in..
- Location
- Currently not on view
- Date made
- ca 1880
- manufacturer
- Juvet & Co.
- ID Number
- 1984.0416.076
- catalog number
- 1984.0416.076
- accession number
- 1984.0416
- Data Source
- National Museum of American History, Kenneth E. Behring Center
Gurley Vara Chain
- Description
- This chain is marked "W. & L. E. GURLEY" and "20 VARA STEEL No. 12." It has 100 links made of No. 12 steel wire, brass handles and tallies, and measures 20 varas overall. The links and rings are brazed shut. Gurley began offering vara chains in 1874, noting that the Spanish or Mexican vara "is in very general use in Texas, Mexico, Cuba, and South America." The vara is roughly equivalent to 33 inches, but was never standardized as were the yard and the meter.
- Ref: W. & L. E. Gurley, Manual of the Principal Instrument Used in American Engineering and Surveying (Troy, N.Y., 1874), p. 44.
- maker
- W. & L. E. Gurley
- ID Number
- 1994.0280.01
- catalog number
- 1994.0280.01
- accession number
- 1994.0280
- Data Source
- National Museum of American History, Kenneth E. Behring Center
Juvet Time Globe
- Description
- In 1880, Scientific American enthusiastically recommended Louis P. Juvet's time globe to its readers. It was, the magazine found, "a fit ornament for any library, a valuable adjunct in every business office, and a necessity in every institution of learning." The clockwork-driven globe was undeniably useful for studying geography, determining world time, and illustrating the rotation of the earth. The basis of its appeal, however, was even broader. Prominently displayed in the parlors and drawing rooms of Gilded Age America, the elegant time globe clearly demonstrated the wealth and culture of its owner.
- Available in a range of sizes and versions simple and ornate, the time globe consisted of three basic elements: a globe, a mechanism for rotating it, and a base. The globe most often featured a terrestrial map, but celestial globes were also offered. An equatorial ring indicated worldwide time and zones of daylight and darkness. A meridian ring supported a clock dial over the north pole.
- Concealed within the globe was a four-day, spring-driven brass movement that drove the clock dial and rotated the globe once every twenty-four hours. Manufactured for Juvet by Rood and Horton of Bristol, Connecticut, the movements featured a lever escapement and a balance wheel. Turning the feather end of the arrow-shaped axis wound the movement.
- Precisely when production of the globes began is uncertain. Juvet, a Swiss immigrant and a resident of Glens Falls, New York, first patented a mechanical globe in January 1867, and exhibited one at the Philadelphia Centennial Exposition of 1876. Probably sometime in 1879, Juvet formed a partnership with James Arkell. By the early 1880s, Juvet and Company of Canajoharie, New York, was making more than sixty varieties of globes. In October 1886, fire consumed the factory where the globes were assembled, ending their manufacture there forever.
- Pictured on the left. Overall measurements are 55 1/2 x 17 x 17 inches.
- Date made
- ca 1885
- manufacturer
- Juvet & Co.
- ID Number
- ME*308472
- catalog number
- 308472
- accession number
- 93248
- Data Source
- National Museum of American History, Kenneth E. Behring Center
Gurley Solar Compass
- Description
- This instrument belonged to the U. S. Geological Survey, a federal agency that was established in 1879. It was made around 1880, and transferred to the Smithsonian in 1920. The horizontal circle is silvered, graduated to 30 minutes, and read by opposite verniers to single minutes. The signature reads "W. & L. E. Gurley, Troy, N.Y." The auxiliary telescope, which attaches to either sight vane, is marked "PAT. JULY 9, 1878," and is described by the patent (#205,712) that was granted to William and Lewis E. Gurley in 1878.
- Ref: W. & L. E. Gurley, Manual of the Principal Instruments used in American Engineering and Surveying (Troy, N. Y., 1878), p. 70.
- date made
- ca 1880
- maker
- W. & L. E. Gurley
- ID Number
- PH*307086
- catalog number
- 307086
- accession number
- 65070
- Data Source
- National Museum of American History, Kenneth E. Behring Center
Gurley Surveyor's Compass
- Description
- W. & L. E. Gurley submitted this instrument to the U. S. Patent Office in support of their application for a patent describing an Improvement in Telescope Attachments for Surveyors’ Compasses. The patent (#205,742) was issued on July 9, 1878. The Patent Office transferred this model to the Smithsonian in 1926.
- The basic instrument is a standard small compass with a north-south level on the north arm, and an east-west level and an outkeeper on the south arm. The hand-engraved signature indicates that the compass was made before the middle of 1876. The telescope, which attaches to one of the sight vanes, was presumably made shortly before the patent application was submitted in June 1878. The signature reads "W. & L. E. Gurley" and "Troy, N.Y."
- maker
- W. & L. E. Gurley
- ID Number
- PH*308958
- catalog number
- 308958
- accession number
- 89797
- Data Source
- National Museum of American History, Kenneth E. Behring Center
Patten Surveyor's Vernier Compass
- Description
- This compass belonged to John Johnson (1771-1841), the Surveyor-General of Vermont, and the American Commissioner for the survey of the boundary between Maine and Canada in 1817-1820. From correspondence in the John Johnson papers at the University of Vermont Library, we know that Johnson purchased several instruments from Richard Patten in New York. In March 1820, Johnson ordered two compasses, specifying in great detail which features he wanted on each. For himself he wanted a compass "of at least 7-inch Needle with a tangent Screw and Nonius as to turn it upon minutes." Johnson also ordered a $35 plain compass with a 6-inch needle, for a gentleman of his acquaintance.
- The face of this compass is marked "Richard Patten. N. York" and reads clockwise. The vernier appears on a slit cut into the face, while the variation arc, which extends some 20 degrees either way, is located below. This vernier is moved by a rack and pinion on the north arm, and reads to 10 minutes.
- Ref: Deborah J. Warner, "Richard Patten (1792-1865)," Rittenhouse 6 (1992): 57-63.
- "John Johnson" in Abby M. Hemenway, ed., The Vermont Historical Gazeteer (Burlington, Vt., 1868), vol. 1, pp. 596-599
- "John Johnson" in National Cyclopaedia of American History, vol. 17, pp. 290-291
- Johnson's report on and correspondence relating to the Maine-Canada boundary survey, in University of Vermont Library.
- owner
- Johnson, John
- maker
- Patten, Richard
- ID Number
- PH*309544
- accession number
- 95588
- catalog number
- 309544
- Data Source
- National Museum of American History, Kenneth E. Behring Center
Stackpole & Brother Transit
- Description
- A. J. Kirby of Westchester County, New York, acquired this instrument around 1870 and used it for about 50 years. His son donated it to the Smithsonian in 1930. The instrument is unusual in several ways: the telescope is transit-mounted but too long to transit, and an adjustable strut at the objective end holds the telescope at a fixed angle of elevation. The horizontal circle is silvered, graduated to 20 minutes, and read by opposite verniers to 20 seconds. A magnetic compass in the center of the circle is suitable only for rough orientation, and a hanging level is below the telescope. The signature reads "Stackpole & Brother, New York 939."
- F. E. Brandis, who was working for Stackpole at the time this instrument was made, later incorporated some of its features-most notably the long transit mounted telescope and the adjustable strut-in what he called his Improved City Transit.
- date made
- ca 1870
- maker
- Stackpole and Brother
- ID Number
- PH*309850
- maker number
- 939
- accession number
- 110078
- catalog number
- 309850
- 309850A
- Data Source
- National Museum of American History, Kenneth E. Behring Center
Gurley Surveyor's Vernier Compass
- Description
- This compass is marked "W. & L. E. Gurley, Troy, N. Y." Gurley described this as a "Pocket Railroad Compass with Telescope." The form, with the folding sights offset so that the telescope is aligned with the north south line, was made between 1887 and 1920. The rim is graduated to 30 minutes, and numbered in quadrants from north and south. The outside of the box has a variation arc that extends ± 35 degrees, and that reads by folded vernier to 5 minutes. New, it cost $58.
- Ref: W. & L. E. Gurley, A Manual of the Principal Instruments Used in American Engineering and Surveying (Troy, N.Y., 1904), p. 140.
- William H. Skerritt, Catalog of the Charles E. Smart Collection of Antique Surveying Instruments (Troy, N.Y., 1996), pp. 36-39.
- maker
- W. & L. E. Gurley
- ID Number
- PH*312755
- catalog number
- 312755
- accession number
- 165452
- Data Source
- National Museum of American History, Kenneth E. Behring Center
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