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.

This is a short-stem instrument designed for industrial use. The brass V-shaped case is marked “Tycos” at top, and “Taylor / Instrument / Co.” at bottom.
Description
This is a short-stem instrument designed for industrial use. The brass V-shaped case is marked “Tycos” at top, and “Taylor / Instrument / Co.” at bottom. The black housing around the mercury-in-glass thermometer with a milk glass tube has a scale from 32 to 240 degrees Fahrenheit, and is marked “Tycos / ROCHESTER / N.Y. U.S.A.”
Hohmann & Maurer had been making instruments of this sort since the mid-1880s, and continued doing so after being bought out by Taylor Bros. in 1896. This example was made after 1908 when the Taylor Instrument Co. introduced the Tycos trade mark and dropped the Hohmann & Maurer signature and trade mark. It came to the Smithsonian in 1923.
Location
Currently not on view
date made
ca 1923
maker
Taylor Instrument Co.
ID Number
PH.308162
catalog number
308162
accession number
70532
This unusually precise mercury-in-glass thermometer measured temperatures over a very small range, especially near the melting and freezing points of substances.
Description
This unusually precise mercury-in-glass thermometer measured temperatures over a very small range, especially near the melting and freezing points of substances. Ernest Otto Beckmann, a physical chemist who worked with Wilhelm Ostwald in Leipzig, described the form in 1888.
This example has a long cylindrical bulb at the bottom, an s-shaped tube with auxiliary bulb at the top, and a porcelain plate carrying a scale that ranges from -.04 to +1.1 degrees Centigrade and that is graduated to 0.002 degrees. The back of the plate is marked “Centigrade” and “Thermometer n. Beckmann.” The whole is enclosed in a cylindrical glass tube with brass cap.
This thermometer was used at the Johns Hopkins University, perhaps by Harry C. Jones, a chemist who received his PhD from Hopkins in 1892, spent two years working in the laboratories of Ostwald and other important European chemists, and then returned to Hopkins to teach physical chemistry. It may have been made by F. O. R. Goetze, a Leipzig firm that specialized in thermometers of this sort.
Ref.: Wilhelm Ostwald, Manual of Physico-Chemical Measurements (London, 1894), pp. 180-182.
Harry C. Jones, The Elements of Physical Chemistry 4th edition, revised (New York, 1915), pp. 228-230.
John Servos, Physical Chemistry from Ostwald to Pauling (Princeton, 1990).
Location
Currently not on view
date made
ca 1900
ID Number
CH.315870
catalog number
315870
accession number
221777
Very delicate mercury-in-glass thermometer probably made in 1881. It has a blackened spherical bulb. The milk white back of the tube is marked “Tub. Non cyl div rectify. Syst.
Description
Very delicate mercury-in-glass thermometer probably made in 1881. It has a blackened spherical bulb. The milk white back of the tube is marked “Tub. Non cyl div rectify. Syst. Baudin (1881-8)” and “Centigrade 9014” and it carries a scale from -20 to +72 degrees, graduated in fifths. A cylindrical metal case protects the instrument from harm.
J. N. Baudin opened a shop in 1852, and his son, L. C. Baudin, was still in business at the turn of the century. In his report on the International Exhibition held in Vienna in 1883, an American scientist noted “Thermometers of extreme delicacy are also constructed by Baudin in Paris but I am unable to give either his address or list of prices. He constructs thermometers only to order, and his prices vary from twenty to fifty francs.”
Ref: Wolcott Gibbs, “Physical Apparatus and Chemical Materials Suitable for Scientific Research,” American Chemist 7 (1876): 147.
Location
Currently not on view
date made
1881
maker
Baudin, L. C.
ID Number
PH.322764
catalog number
322764
accession number
251560
Mercury-in-glass thermometer with a constriction in the stem above the cylindrical bulb. The milk-white back is marked "J. HICKS. 8 Hatton Garden. LONDON" and "-No.217967-." The clear front is marked "FAHRT" and graduated every degree Fahrenheit from -65 to +150.
Description
Mercury-in-glass thermometer with a constriction in the stem above the cylindrical bulb. The milk-white back is marked "J. HICKS. 8 Hatton Garden. LONDON" and "-No.217967-." The clear front is marked "FAHRT" and graduated every degree Fahrenheit from -65 to +150. It was made after Hicks began working at 8 Hatton Garden in 1864 and before the expansion of his business to 8, 9, & 10 Hatton Garden in the 1880s.
Location
Currently not on view
maker
J. J. Hicks
ID Number
PH.317450
accession number
230396
catalog number
317450
In 1913 Leonard Hill, a British physiologist interested in the relationship between atmosphere and health, described a Kata thermometer (Hill’s term) that represented the humidity in terms of the time it took for the enclosed liquid to fall a certain amount.
Description
In 1913 Leonard Hill, a British physiologist interested in the relationship between atmosphere and health, described a Kata thermometer (Hill’s term) that represented the humidity in terms of the time it took for the enclosed liquid to fall a certain amount. This example is an alcohol-in-glass thermometer with a large cylindrical bulb and enlargements at the lower and upper ends of the stem. The alcohol is violet-colored (mostly faded to orange). The milk-white back of the stem is marked “J. Hicks 8 9 & 10 Hatton Garden London No 261 F531.” The front is marked “Fahrt” and has a scale reading from 100 to 95 degrees Fahrenheit, in tenths.
Ref.: Leonard Hill, et. al., “The Influence of the Atmosphere on our Health and Comfort in Confined and Crowded Places,” Smithsonian Miscellaneous Collections 60 (1913), #23.
Location
Currently not on view
date made
1913-1920
maker
J. J. Hicks
ID Number
PH.317457
catalog number
317457
accession number
230396
Spirit-in-glass Rutherford-type thermometer mounted on a heavy flat plate marked "HENRY J. GREEN NEW YORK" and "1868." A white porcelain strip on the plate is graduated every 5 degrees Fahrenheit from -75 to +90. The stem is marked "No. 1868 Signal Service U.S.
Description
Spirit-in-glass Rutherford-type thermometer mounted on a heavy flat plate marked "HENRY J. GREEN NEW YORK" and "1868." A white porcelain strip on the plate is graduated every 5 degrees Fahrenheit from -75 to +90. The stem is marked "No. 1868 Signal Service U.S. Army" and graduated (but not numbered) every degree Fahrenheit from -82 to +98. It was made between 1885 and 1890 when Henry J. Green was in business on his own in New York.
John Rutherford, a Scottish country doctor, devised this form in 1790. Green stated in 1900 that it was "the only one in general use." It has a black index inside the tube. "On a decrease of temperature the alcohol recedes, taking with it the glass index; on an increase of temperature the alcohol alone ascends the tube, leaving the end of the index farthest from the bulb indicating the minimum temperature."
Ref.: Henry J. Green, Meteorological and Scientific Instruments (Brooklyn, 1900), p. 23.
Location
Currently not on view
date made
1885-1890
maker
H. J. Green
ID Number
PH.317463
accession number
230396
catalog number
317463
Mercury-in-glass thermometer designed so that an air bubble separates a small bit of mercury from the main part of the column. When the temperature falls, the detached mercury remains in place indicating the maximum temperature attained, until reset by the observer.
Description
Mercury-in-glass thermometer designed so that an air bubble separates a small bit of mercury from the main part of the column. When the temperature falls, the detached mercury remains in place indicating the maximum temperature attained, until reset by the observer. John Phillips, an English geologist, introduced the form at the 1832 meeting of the British Association for the Advancement of Science. In 1856 he showed an improved form made by Louis P. Casella of London.
Appleton's Encyclopaedia noted in 1860 that James Green of New York "appears to have removed the objections to the previous forms of the maximum thermometers, and produced a highly simple and perfect instrument." Henry J. Green, who was James Green's nephew and successor, also made instruments of this sort. This example has a grooved aluminum plate that is marked "H. J. GREEN B'KLYN. N.Y." and "No. 12701 U.S. WEATHER BUREAU" and "MAXIMUM" and is graduated every 5 degrees Centigrade [?] from -25 to +55 degrees. The bulb is spherical. The stem is marked "U.S. 12701" and graduated every degree from -29 to +57.
Ref.: Henry J. Green, Meteorological and Scientific Instruments (Brooklyn, 1900), p. 22.
Location
Currently not on view
date made
after 1890
maker
H. J. Green
ID Number
PH.317474
accession number
230396
catalog number
317474
Mercury-in-glass thermometer with a tube marked “18181 Baudin à Paris (1912-10).” The scale extends from -40.2 to +40.2 degrees, graduated in fifths. The long cylindrical bulb has been broken off.Currently not on view
Description
Mercury-in-glass thermometer with a tube marked “18181 Baudin à Paris (1912-10).” The scale extends from -40.2 to +40.2 degrees, graduated in fifths. The long cylindrical bulb has been broken off.
Location
Currently not on view
date made
ca 1900
maker
Baudin
ID Number
PH.317452
catalog number
317452
accession number
230396
Mercury-in-glass thermometer with a small bend in the stem just above the cylindrical bulb. The stem has a milk-white back; the front is marked "B22580" and carries the N/Z monograms; and is graduated (but not numbered) every degree F. from -50 to +125.
Description
Mercury-in-glass thermometer with a small bend in the stem just above the cylindrical bulb. The stem has a milk-white back; the front is marked "B22580" and carries the N/Z monograms; and is graduated (but not numbered) every degree F. from -50 to +125. The thermometer is mounted on a white porcelain plate marked "B22580" and "NEGRETTI & ZAMBRA, LONDON" with the N/Z monogram of the firm. The plate is graduated every 5 degrees Fahrenheit from -50 to +120. This, in turn, is mounted on a wooden base with metal guards protecting the bulb, and two metal loops so that it can be hung horizontally.
Location
Currently not on view
date made
after 1850
maker
Negretti & Zambra
ID Number
PH.317475
accession number
230396
catalog number
317475
Mercury-in-glass thermometer with a cylindrical bulb.
Description
Mercury-in-glass thermometer with a cylindrical bulb. The tube is graduated from -10.2 to 108.0 degrees (Centigrade?), and marked, in red, “Tonnelot à Paris (1884.5) 4289.” It is probably one of the very precise thermometers with a tube of extra-hard glass that was made by Tonnelot for the International Committee of Weights and Measures, tested at the Bureau International at Sèvres, and distributed to government organizations around the world.
Ref: J. A. Hall, “The International Temperature Scale Between 0 Degrees and 100 Degrees C,” Philosophical Transactions of the Royal Society of London 229 (1930): 1-48.
Location
Currently not on view
date made
ca 1884
maker
Tonnelot, Jules
ID Number
PH.317449
catalog number
317449
accession number
230396
Mercury-in-glass thermometer with a spherical bulb. The milk-white back is marked “L. Golaz à Paris 725” and has a scale reading from -14 to +69 degrees centigrade, which seem to be done by hand rather than by machine.
Description
Mercury-in-glass thermometer with a spherical bulb. The milk-white back is marked “L. Golaz à Paris 725” and has a scale reading from -14 to +69 degrees centigrade, which seem to be done by hand rather than by machine. The inscription indicates that this thermometer was made after 1891 (when Lucien Golaz took charge of the firm that his father had begun in 1830) and before the demise of the firm in 1919.
Location
Currently not on view
date made
ca 1870-1888
ca 1891-1919
maker
L. Golaz
ID Number
PH.317446
catalog number
317446
accession number
230396
Negretti & Zambra introduced this type of instrument in 1874. The stem is U-shaped, with a small U-shaped bend just above the cylindrical bulb. In use, the thermometer would be hung with the bulb down.
Description
Negretti & Zambra introduced this type of instrument in 1874. The stem is U-shaped, with a small U-shaped bend just above the cylindrical bulb. In use, the thermometer would be hung with the bulb down. Rotating it one full turn causes the mercury in the first half of the tube to flow into the second half, thereby recording the temperature at that moment. In use, it might be connected to a clock that would rotate it at a scheduled time.
In this example, the mercury-in-glass thermometer is mounted on an ebony plate marked "NEGRETTI & ZAMBRA LONDON" and "RECORDING THERMOMETER." A white porcelain strip on the plate is marked "NEGRETTI & ZAMBRA'S PATENT" and graduated every 5 degrees Fahrenheit from 0 to 120; a second graduation runs from 20 to +120. The back of the stem is milk white. The front, on the side nearer the bulb, is marked "PATENT No. 28" and graduated (but not numbered) every degree Fahrenheit from 0 to +120; the other side is graduated (but not numbered) every degree from +15 to +120.
Ref.: Negretti and Zambra, Encyclopaedic Illustrated and Descriptive Reference Catalogue (London, after 1878), pp. 101-103.
Location
Currently not on view
maker
Negretti & Zambra
ID Number
PH.317478
accession number
230396
catalog number
317478
Mercury-in-glass thermometer with a cylindrical bulb. The back of the stem is milk glass. The clear front is marked "J. & H. J. Green. N.Y. No. 734" and graduated every degree Fahrenheit from -40 to +125.
Description
Mercury-in-glass thermometer with a cylindrical bulb. The back of the stem is milk glass. The clear front is marked "J. & H. J. Green. N.Y. No. 734" and graduated every degree Fahrenheit from -40 to +125. James Green worked in partnership with his nephew Henry between 1879 and 1885.
Location
Currently not on view
date made
1879-1885
maker
J. & H. J. Green
ID Number
PH.317443
accession number
230396
catalog number
317443
Alcohol-in-glass Rutherford-type thermometer mounted on a white porcelain plate marked "NEGRETTI & ZAMBRA, SCIENTIFIC INST. MAKERS, LONDON" with the N/Z monogram of the firm, and "24" with the M/O monogram of the British Meteorological Office.
Description
Alcohol-in-glass Rutherford-type thermometer mounted on a white porcelain plate marked "NEGRETTI & ZAMBRA, SCIENTIFIC INST. MAKERS, LONDON" with the N/Z monogram of the firm, and "24" with the M/O monogram of the British Meteorological Office. This plate is graduated every 5 degrees Fahrenheit from -20 to +110. The stem is marked "24" and with the N/Z and M/O monograms; and is graduated (but not numbered) every degree F. from -21 to +112. The whole is mounted on a wooden base with metal guards for the bulb. There are also two metal loops so that it can be hung horizontally.
Negretti & Zambra claimed that they were "the first to introduce into extensive use thermometer and barometer scale-plates made of porcelain, having the divisions and figures engraved thereon by means of fluoric acid, and permanently burnt-in and blackened so as always to present a clear legible scale" that would not be affected by sea water or by atmospheric conditions.
Ref.: Negretti & Zambra, A Treatise on Meteorological Instruments (London, 1864), pp. 65 and 76.
Location
Currently not on view
date made
after 1850
maker
Negretti & Zambra
ID Number
PH.317470
accession number
230396
catalog number
317470
Mercury-in-glass thermometer with a constriction in the stem above the cylindrical bulb. The milk-white back is marked "J. HICKS. 8 Hatton Garden. London" and "217112." The clear front is marked "HICKS' PATENT No.
Description
Mercury-in-glass thermometer with a constriction in the stem above the cylindrical bulb. The milk-white back is marked "J. HICKS. 8 Hatton Garden. London" and "217112." The clear front is marked "HICKS' PATENT No. 4434" and "FAHRT" and graduated every degree Fahrenheit from -40 to +140. It is equipped with a metal carrying case. It was made after Hicks began working at 8 Hatton Garden in 1864 and before the expansion of his business to 8, 9, & 10 Hatton Garden in the 1880s.
Location
Currently not on view
maker
J. J. Hicks
ID Number
PH.317448
accession number
230396
catalog number
317448
Mercury-in-glass thermometer with a brass collar at the lower end of the tube. The milk white scale is marked “Centigrade” and “J. Salleron 24 Rue Pavee (au Marais) Paris” and carries a scale extending from -20 to +82 degrees Centigrade.
Description
Mercury-in-glass thermometer with a brass collar at the lower end of the tube. The milk white scale is marked “Centigrade” and “J. Salleron 24 Rue Pavee (au Marais) Paris” and carries a scale extending from -20 to +82 degrees Centigrade. The protective glass tube is marked “1 26.”
Jules Salleron began manufacturing precision instruments in 1855, moved to the address on this thermometer in 1860, and won top honors, especially for his meteorological instruments, at international exhibitions in the 1870s. Now trading as Dujardin-Salleron Laboratoires, the firm specializes in precision instruments applied to oenology.
Location
Currently not on view
date made
ca 1870-1900
maker
Salleron, Jules
ID Number
PH.317458
catalog number
317458
accession number
230396
Spirit-in-glass Rutherford-type thermometer mounted on a heavy metal plate marked "HENRY J. GREEN NEW YORK" and "1924." A white porcelain strip on the plate is graduated every 5 degrees Fahrenheit from -85 to +75. The stem is graduated every degree F. from -90 to +110.
Description
Spirit-in-glass Rutherford-type thermometer mounted on a heavy metal plate marked "HENRY J. GREEN NEW YORK" and "1924." A white porcelain strip on the plate is graduated every 5 degrees Fahrenheit from -85 to +75. The stem is graduated every degree F. from -90 to +110. It was made between 1885 and 1890 when Henry J. Green was in business on his own in New York.
John Rutherford, a Scottish country doctor, devised this form in 1790. Green stated in 1900 that it was "the only one in general use." It has a black index inside the tube. "On a decrease of temperature the alcohol recedes, taking with it the glass index; on an increase of temperature the alcohol alone ascends the tube, leaving the end of the index farthest from the bulb indicating the minimum temperature."
Ref.: Henry J. Green, Meteorological and Scientific Instruments (Brooklyn, 1900), p. 23.
Location
Currently not on view
date made
1885-1890
maker
H. J. Green
ID Number
PH.317464
accession number
230396
catalog number
317464
Alcohol-in-glass, Rutherford-type thermometer. Its silvered brass plate is marked "H. J. GREEN B'KLYN. N.Y." and "U.S. WEATHER BUREAU" and "MINIMUM" and graduated every degree Fahrenheit from -90 to +110.
Description
Alcohol-in-glass, Rutherford-type thermometer. Its silvered brass plate is marked "H. J. GREEN B'KLYN. N.Y." and "U.S. WEATHER BUREAU" and "MINIMUM" and graduated every degree Fahrenheit from -90 to +110. The stem has similar graduations.
John Rutherford, a Scottish country doctor, devised this form in 1790. Green stated in 1900 that it was "the only one in general use." It has a black index inside the tube. "On a decrease of temperature the alcohol recedes, taking with it the glass index; on an increase of temperature the alcohol alone ascends the tube, leaving the end of the index farthest from the bulb indicating the minimum temperature."
Location
Currently not on view
date made
after 1890
maker
H. J. Green
ID Number
PH.317459
accession number
230396
catalog number
317459
Alcohol-in-glass thermometer with a long cylindrical bulb. The milk white back of the tube is marked “Thermomètre Baudin No.
Description
Alcohol-in-glass thermometer with a long cylindrical bulb. The milk white back of the tube is marked “Thermomètre Baudin No. 15774 gradué d’apres l’Échelle Normale Internationale (1902.9).” The scale on the front of the tube extends from -70.0 to +30.0 degrees, graduated in fifths. There is a safety bulge at the top of the tube.
Location
Currently not on view
date made
ca 1900
maker
Baudin
ID Number
PH.317453
catalog number
317453
accession number
230396
Mercury-in-glass thermometer with a cylindrical bulb. A paper scale extends from -16 to +60 Centigrade, marked in degrees; it is marked “No. 6563” and “U.S.W.B.” and “Phila. Thermo. Co.” The whole is enclosed in an outer tube.Currently not on view
Description
Mercury-in-glass thermometer with a cylindrical bulb. A paper scale extends from -16 to +60 Centigrade, marked in degrees; it is marked “No. 6563” and “U.S.W.B.” and “Phila. Thermo. Co.” The whole is enclosed in an outer tube.
Location
Currently not on view
maker
Philadelphia Thermometer Co.
ID Number
PH.317454
catalog number
317454
accession number
230396
Rutherford-type alcohol-in-glass thermometer with a cylindrical bulb, black dumbbell index, and double tube. The back of the tube is marked “Patent No. 4434” and [symbol of the Kew Observatory] and “10085” and “No.
Description
Rutherford-type alcohol-in-glass thermometer with a cylindrical bulb, black dumbbell index, and double tube. The back of the tube is marked “Patent No. 4434” and [symbol of the Kew Observatory] and “10085” and “No. 84120.” The front of the tube carries a scale that extends from -25 to +130 graduated in degrees Fahrenheit. A milk-white plate inside the tube facilitates reading.
The referenced British patent, issued to James Webster of London in late 1875, described a clinical thermometer enclosed in a transparent glass tube designed to protect “the divisions, figures, and markings from injury or obliteration.” This example was probably made in Britain, and probably designed for meteorological or chemical use. It came to the Smithsonian from the U.S. Weather Bureau.
Ref: Great Britain Patent Office, Chronological and Descriptive Index of Patents Applied For (London 1876), p. 926.
Great Britain Patent Office, Abridgements of Specifications. Class 92 (London, 1904), p. 125.
Location
Currently not on view
date made
1875-1900
ID Number
PH.317469
catalog number
317469
accession number
230396
Mercury-in-glass thermometer so designed that an air bubble separates a small bit of mercury from the main part of the column.
Description
Mercury-in-glass thermometer so designed that an air bubble separates a small bit of mercury from the main part of the column. When the instrument is mounted horizontally, the detached mercury remains in place when the rest of the column falls, thereby indicating the maximum temperature. John Phillips, an English geologist, introduced the form at the 1832 meeting of the British Association for the Advancement of Science.
The bulb is spherical. The tube has a milk white back; the scale on the front extends from -30 to +110, graduated by degrees, The supporting metal plate is marked "Taylor, Rochester, N.Y." and "U.S.W.B." and "No.43191" and "MAXIMUM."
Location
Currently not on view
date made
1910-1960
maker
Taylor Instrument Co.
ID Number
PH.317473
catalog number
317473
accession number
230396
Alcohol-in-glass Rutherford-type thermometer mounted on a grooved metal plate that is marked "H. J. GREEN B'KLYN, N.Y." and "No. 8727 U.S. WEATHER BUREAU" and "MINIMUM" and graduated every 5 degrees F. from -30 to +110.
Description
Alcohol-in-glass Rutherford-type thermometer mounted on a grooved metal plate that is marked "H. J. GREEN B'KLYN, N.Y." and "No. 8727 U.S. WEATHER BUREAU" and "MINIMUM" and graduated every 5 degrees F. from -30 to +110. The stem is graduated every degree Fahrenheit from -39 to +110.
John Rutherford, a Scottish country doctor, devised this form in 1790. Green stated in 1900 that it was "the only one in general use." It has a black index inside the tube. "On a decrease of temperature the alcohol recedes, taking with it the glass index; on an increase of temperature the alcohol alone ascends the tube, leaving the end of the index farthest from the bulb indicating the minimum temperature."
Ref.: Henry J. Green, Meteorological and Scientific Instruments (Brooklyn, 1900), p. 23.
Location
Currently not on view
date made
1900-1960
maker
H. J. Green
ID Number
PH.317462
accession number
230396
catalog number
317462
Joseph Saxton, an accomplished scientist, inventor, and mechanician, joined the staff of the U.S. Coast Survey in 1844 at the request of the new Superintendent, Alexander Dallas Bache, and began developing instruments for measuring terrestrial phenomena.
Description
Joseph Saxton, an accomplished scientist, inventor, and mechanician, joined the staff of the U.S. Coast Survey in 1844 at the request of the new Superintendent, Alexander Dallas Bache, and began developing instruments for measuring terrestrial phenomena. Among the first was a metallic thermometer for use in deep water. Bache described this in 1848, saying that it proved “decidedly the most convenient” of the several forms tried. The thermometer coil was “like that of Breguet, only of much stouter material, and of two metals, silver and platinum, soldered together.” And the “plan of registering resembles that adopted by Jurgensen of Copenhagen, and by Montandon of Washington, in their metallic thermometers.”
Several Saxton thermometers were made in the Coast Survey’s instrument shop, and still in use at the start of World War I. This example came to the Smithsonian in 1929. Here the thermometer is held in a brass cylinder that is encased in a hexagonal frame. The cap of the cylinder is marked “SAXTON’S / METALLIC THERMOMETER / 17.” The scale around the circumference of the thermometer extends from -40 to +174 degrees Fahrenheit; one of the two pointers registers the lowest temperature to which the thermometer was exposed.
Ref: [A. D. Bache], Report of the superintendent of the coast survey, showing the progress of the work during the year ending November, 1848, p. 39.
Bache, “Lecture on the Gulf Stream, prepared at the request of the American Association for the Advancement of Science,” Report of the Superintendent of the Coast Survey during the Year 1860, pp. 165-176, on 166.
Location
Currently not on view
date made
1850-1900
Inventor
Saxton, Joseph
ID Number
PH.309672
catalog number
309672
accession number
106954

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