Measuring & Mapping

Vernier Compass

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.

Place: New York

Surveyor's Transit

Instrument with a "Kolesch & Co. New York. 1796" inscription. The firm termed it an Engineer's Transit, No. 7650. The horizontal circle is graduated every 20 minutes, and is read by opposite verniers with celluloid reflectors to 30 seconds.
Description
Instrument with a "Kolesch & Co. New York. 1796" inscription. The firm termed it an Engineer's Transit, No. 7650. The horizontal circle is graduated every 20 minutes, and is read by opposite verniers with celluloid reflectors to 30 seconds. There is a clamp and tangent to the telescope. New, it cost $160.
Heinrich Adolph Kolesch (1855-1903) was a German immigrant who began in business in 1885, taking over the firm that had been founded by E. & G. W. Blunt. Kolesch & Co. was still using the Blunt dividing engine in 1925. The firm was incorporated in New York State in 1904, and dissolved in 1947.
Ref: Kolesch & Co., Illustrated Catalogue and Price-List (New York, 1913), pp. 228-229 for this type of instrument, and pp. 195 and 198 for the history of the firm.
Location
Currently not on view
date made
after 1885
maker
Kolesch and Company
ID Number
1989.0409.01
accession number
1989.0409
catalog number
1989.0409.01

Geologist's Compass

This is an aluminum compass with brass sights that was designed for topographical work. The raised rim and beveled outer ring are graduated every degree and numbered every 10 degrees in quadrants from north and south.
Description
This is an aluminum compass with brass sights that was designed for topographical work. The raised rim and beveled outer ring are graduated every degree and numbered every 10 degrees in quadrants from north and south. The northeast quadrant of the face has a variation scale that extends 27 degrees one way and 43 degrees the other; this is graduated to degrees, and reads by folded vernier to 5 minutes. The southern half of the face is graduated to degrees, and equipped with a pendulum clinometer pivoted at the center. There are level vials on the SE and SW corners of the plate. The four beveled edges of the plate are graduated, one to inches and tenths, one to inches and eighths, and two as protractors. The back of the plate has a diagram showing the arrangement of township numbering. The signature reads "KEUFFEL & ESSER CO NEW YORK." Other marks read "U.S. INDIAN FOREST SERVICE. DEPT OF THE INTERIOR" and "1958." New, with ball joint and socket for mounting on a jacob staff, this compass cost $25. The University of Missouri at Columbia donated it to the Smithsonian.
Ref: Keuffel & Esser, Catalogue (New York, 1913), p. 420.
Location
Currently not on view
maker
Keuffel & Esser Co.
ID Number
PH.333652
catalog number
333652
accession number
300659

Industrial Thermometer

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

Solar Compass

This solar compass 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.
Description
This solar compass 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 inscription 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.
Location
Currently not on view
date made
ca 1880
maker
W. & L. E. Gurley
ID Number
PH.307086
catalog number
307086
accession number
65070

Maximum and Minimum Kiosk Thermometer

Like the thermometer introduced by James Six in England in 1782, this example has a U-shaped glass tube filled with alcohol and mercury. The tube has a milk-white back, and reads from -40 to +110 Fahrenheit on either side.
Description
Like the thermometer introduced by James Six in England in 1782, this example has a U-shaped glass tube filled with alcohol and mercury. The tube has a milk-white back, and reads from -40 to +110 Fahrenheit on either side. Its two ends are bent at right angles so that their cylindrical bulbs protrude out the back of the supporting black metal plate. This plate is marked, at top, “U.S. / WEATHER BUREAU / No 32” and in the middle “Taylor Instrument Companies / ROCHESTER, N.Y.” It is also marked “Tycos” with a flag announcing the company logo, “ACCURATUS TB.”
The Weather Bureau began building kiosks in 1909, equipping them with meteorological instruments, and placing them around the country where they would be seen by citizens. This thermometer was designed for that purpose, and probably was not available commercially .
Location
Currently not on view
date made
ca 1910
maker
Taylor Instrument Co.
ID Number
PH.314533
catalog number
314533
accession number
204612

Juvet Time Globe

In 1880 Scientific American, enthusiastically recommended Louis P. Juvet's time globe to its readers.
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 (stand)
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

Thermometer

Mercury-in-glass thermometer with a milk white tube. The supporting brass plate reads, at top, “WILLIAMS, BROWN / & EARLE / PHILADELPHIA, PA.” and at bottom “Chas. Wilder Co.
Description
Mercury-in-glass thermometer with a milk white tube. The supporting brass plate reads, at top, “WILLIAMS, BROWN / & EARLE / PHILADELPHIA, PA.” and at bottom “Chas. Wilder Co. / Troy, N.Y.” It is graduated from -32 to +120 degrees, with indications for “FREEZ/ING,” “TEMPE/RATE,” “SUMR/HEAT,” and “BLOOD/HEAT.” Williams, Brown & Earle manufactured and marketed mathematical and optical instruments. The Chas. Wilder Co., which had long been manufacturing thermometers in New Hampshire, was acquired by W. & L. E. Gurley in 1905 and moved to Troy, New York.
Location
Currently not on view
date made
after 1905
ID Number
PH.293320.3075
accession number
293320
catalog number
293320.3075

Surveyor's Compass

This resembles Gurley’s small vernier compass but has no vernier mechanism. The outer rim of the box is graduated to single degrees, and numbered every 10 degrees. The instrument can be used with the folding sights raised to the vertical, or with the sighting bar.
Description
This resembles Gurley’s small vernier compass but has no vernier mechanism. The outer rim of the box is graduated to single degrees, and numbered every 10 degrees. The instrument can be used with the folding sights raised to the vertical, or with the sighting bar. In the latter case, the folding sights are folded towards each other, to form a tent, and the sighting bar attached on top. The sighting bar is equipped with a vertical circle graduated to single degrees. This form has not been found listed or described in any Gurley trade literature. The "W. & L. E. Gurley, Troy, N.Y." inscription was engraved by machine, dating it to after 1876.
Location
Currently not on view
maker
W. & L. E. Gurley
ID Number
1982.0701.06
accession number
1982.0701
catalog number
1982.0701.06

Abney level with compass and pentaprism

William de Wiveleslie Abney (1843–1920), an English scientist who made many important contributions to spectroscopy and photography, devised this level in the 1870s while working for the School of Military Engineering at Chatham.This Abney level is equipped with clinometer and co
Description
William de Wiveleslie Abney (1843–1920), an English scientist who made many important contributions to spectroscopy and photography, devised this level in the 1870s while working for the School of Military Engineering at Chatham.
This Abney level is equipped with clinometer and compass. Keuffel & Esser termed it a "Universal Instrument" that gives bearing, grade, and distance with sufficient accuracy for military reconnaissance and preliminary surveying. The clinometer scale is graduated to degrees, and read by vernier to 10 minutes. The inscription reads "KEUFFEL & ESSER CO N. Y." New, it cost $34.
Ref: Keuffel & Esser, Catalogue (New York, 1921), p. 434.
C. Jones, "Sir William de Wiveleslie Abney, K.C.B., D.C.L., D.Sc., F.R.S., Hon. F.R.P.S., etc.," The Photographic Journal 61 (1921): 296–311.
Location
Currently not on view
maker
Keuffel & Esser Co.
ID Number
PH.333654
catalog number
333654
accession number
300659

Robertson-Thompson Steam Engine Indicator - ca 1900

An engine indicator is an instrument for graphically recording the pressure versus piston displacement through an engine stroke cycle. Engineers use the resulting diagram to check the design and performance of the engine. The James L.
Description
An engine indicator is an instrument for graphically recording the pressure versus piston displacement through an engine stroke cycle. Engineers use the resulting diagram to check the design and performance of the engine. The James L. Robertson & Sons of New York, NY, manufactured this steam indicator about 1900. The indicator is based on a design patented by Joseph W. Thompson which made improvements in the mechanisms driving the recording stylus thus allowing improved measurements of higher speed steam engines. The design also includes elements from another patent by Alpheus O. Lippincott and assigned to Robertson. It dealt with the reduction wheel mechanism below the recording drum. The reduction mechanism allowed for measuring engines with a variety of piston throw lengths.
This indicator set contains within the mahogany box the indicator itself; extra springs of varying stiffness for different steam pressures; a reducing wheel to decrease the piston motion to that required by the indicator drum; sized wooden pulleys for different piston stroke lengths; an extra indicator piston of small diameter for very high pressures; a planimeter for measuring the area of the diagram; servicing tools; and extra blanks. The piston causes the stylus to rise and fall with pressure changes in the engine under measurement thereby directly recording the indicator’s output on the paper. Around the drum’s base is wound a cord that is attached to the connecting rod of the piston on the steam engine being measured. This causes the drum to rotate as the engine’s piston moves. An internal coil spring causes the cord to retract and the drum to counter rotate back to its original position as the connecting rod returns. The result is a steam pressure-volume diagram which is used to measure the efficiency and other attributes of the steam engine.
The introduction of the steam indicator in the late 1790s and early 1800s by James Watt and others had a great impact on the understanding of how the steam behaved inside the engine's cylinder and thereby enabled much more exacting and sophisticated designs. The devices also changed how the economics and efficiency of steam engines were portrayed and marketed. They helped the prospective owner of a machine better understand how much his fuel costs would be for a given amount of work performed.
Measurement of fuel consumed and work delivered by the engine was begun by Watt, who in part justified the selling price of his engines on the amount of fuel cost the purchaser might save compared to an alternate engine. In the early days of steam power, the method to compare engine performance was based on a concept termed the engine’s “duty”. It originally was calculated as the number of pounds of water raised one foot high per one bushel of coal consumed. The duty method was open to criticism due to its inability to take into consideration finer points of efficiency in real world applications of engines. Accurate determination of fuel used in relation to work performed has been fundamental to the design and improvement of all steam-driven prime movers ever since Watt’s time. And, the steam indicators’ key contribution was the accurate measurements of performance while the engine was actually doing the work it was designed to do. This Robertson-Thompson steam indicator represented over one hundred years of evolution and improvement of the devices. Its ability to make recordings for a wide range of engine speeds, pressures and piston stroke lengths was a significant improvement for many applications.
date made
ca 1900
ID Number
MC.315914
catalog number
315914
accession number
222962

The STATE of / VIRGINIA / from the best Authorities. / 1799

This map extends from lat. 36°15' to 41° north, and from 75°15' to 83°30' west of London; and from 15' east to 8°30' west of Philadelphia. It has a scale of American statute miles. The text at bottom reads “Engraved for New Encyclopaedia—Published by I.
Description
This map extends from lat. 36°15' to 41° north, and from 75°15' to 83°30' west of London; and from 15' east to 8°30' west of Philadelphia. It has a scale of American statute miles. The text at bottom reads “Engraved for New Encyclopaedia—Published by I. Low, New York.”
This appeared in The New and Complete American Encyclopaedia (New York: Printed and Published by John Low, No. 33 Chatham Street, [1805-1811]). A similar map (or perhaps an earlier state of this map) appeared in John Payne, A New and Complete System of Universal Geography (New York: Printed For, and Sold By John Low, Book-Seller, At the Shakespeares Head, No. 332 Water-Street, 1798-[1800]), volume 4, facing page 385.
John Low (1760-1809) was a printer and publisher in New York.
Location
Currently not on view
date made
1799
ID Number
PH.317827
catalog number
317827
accession number
231759

Water Current Meter

William Gunn Price of the U.S. Corps of Engineers designed a water current meter in 1882, obtained a patent, and arranged with W. & L. E. Gurley, a large instrument firm in Troy, N.Y., for commercial production.
Description
William Gunn Price of the U.S. Corps of Engineers designed a water current meter in 1882, obtained a patent, and arranged with W. & L. E. Gurley, a large instrument firm in Troy, N.Y., for commercial production. Gurley Precision Instruments offers improved models of Price meters to this day.
This example of Gurley’s “Deep Water and Harbor Meter” has a four-blade rudder and a wheel with five conical buckets. It is 34 inches long overall. A tag on the wheel housing reads “R. R. S. No. 1 / W. G. PRICE / PAT. AUG. 25, 1885 / No. 28 / W. & L. E. GURLEY / TROY, N.Y.” The Mississippi River Commission bought it around 1890 and used it at various points between Rosedale and Vicksburg. The Engineer Office of the U.S. War Department transferred it to the Smithsonian in 1939.
Ref: William Gunn Price, “Current Meter,” U.S. Patent 325,011 (1885).
Arthur H. Frazier, William Gunn Price and the Price Current Meters (Washington, D.C., 1967), p. 50.
Arthur H. Frazier, Water Current Meters in the Smithsonian Collections of the National Museum of History and Technology (Washington, D.C., 1974), pp. 80.
W. & L. E. Gurley, Manual of the Principle Instruments Used in American Engineering and Surveying (Troy, N.Y., 1893), p. 244.
Location
Currently not on view
date made
ca 1890
maker
W. & L. E. Gurley
ID Number
PH.311708
accession number
152263
catalog number
311708

Stadimeter

Range finder with a "STADIMETER U.S. NAVY BUREAU OF ORDNANCE MARK III MOD. 1 NO. 409 / 1918 INSPEC. CHD MADE BY KEUFFEL & ESSER CO. NEW YORK" inscriptions. Unlike the other examples in the collection, this one has a telescopic sight. It was made during World War I.
Description
Range finder with a "STADIMETER U.S. NAVY BUREAU OF ORDNANCE MARK III MOD. 1 NO. 409 / 1918 INSPEC. CHD MADE BY KEUFFEL & ESSER CO. NEW YORK" inscriptions. Unlike the other examples in the collection, this one has a telescopic sight. It was made during World War I. The form was developed in the 1890s by the innovative American naval officer, Bradley Allen Fiske (1854-1942).
Ref: Instructions for the Use and Care of the Fiske Ship-Telegraphs and Stadimeter (Published by Authority of the Bureau of Ordnance, Navy Department, 1896).
Paolo E. Coletta, Admiral Bradley A. Fiske and the American Navy (Lawrence: University of Kansas Press, 1979), pp. 38-40.
Location
Currently not on view
maker
Keuffel & Esser Co.
ID Number
2000.0257.03
accession number
2000.0257
catalog number
2000.0257.03

Juvet Time Globe

In 1880, Scientific American enthusiastically recommended Louis P. Juvet's time globe to its readers.
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.
Location
Currently not on view (stand)
Currently not on view
Date made
ca 1885
manufacturer
Juvet & Co.
ID Number
ME.308472
catalog number
308472
accession number
93248

Kiosk Thermometer

This is a mercury-in-glass thermometer with a mile-white back that reads from -40 to +110 degrees Fahrenheit. Its lower part is bent so that the cylindrical bulb protrudes out the back of the supporting black metal plate. This plate is marked, at top, “U.S.
Description
This is a mercury-in-glass thermometer with a mile-white back that reads from -40 to +110 degrees Fahrenheit. Its lower part is bent so that the cylindrical bulb protrudes out the back of the supporting black metal plate. This plate is marked, at top, “U.S. / WEATHER BUREAU / No 2” and in the middle “Taylor Instrument Companies / ROCHESTER, N.Y.” It is also marked “Tycos” with a flag announcing the company logo, “ACCURATUS TB.”
The Weather Bureau began building kiosks in 1909, equipping them with meteorological instruments, and placing them around the country where they would be seen by citizens. This thermometer was designed for that purpose, and probably was not available commercially.
Location
Currently not on view
date made
ca 1910
maker
Taylor Instrument Co.
ID Number
PH.314534
catalog number
314534
accession number
204612

Surveyor's Compass

This unusually small compass would probably not have been used by professional surveyors. But it might have been used by farmers wishing to lay out their lands. The "B.
Description
This unusually small compass would probably not have been used by professional surveyors. But it might have been used by farmers wishing to lay out their lands. The "B. Pike & Sons 166 Broadway, N.Y." signature refers to a firm that was in business at this address during the years 1841–1843 and 1850–1855.
Location
Currently not on view
maker
B. Pike & Sons
ID Number
PH.316585
accession number
225752
catalog number
316585

Thermometer

This is a glass thermometer filled with a red liquid that the manufacturer termed “Permacolor or Mercolor.” The tube has a milk-white back and a front configured so as to magnify the liquid column. The supporting metal plate is marked, at top, “Tycos / ROCHESTER, N.Y. U.S.A.
Description
This is a glass thermometer filled with a red liquid that the manufacturer termed “Permacolor or Mercolor.” The tube has a milk-white back and a front configured so as to magnify the liquid column. The supporting metal plate is marked, at top, “Tycos / ROCHESTER, N.Y. U.S.A. / TORONTO, CANADA.” This is graduated from 26 to 102 degrees Fahrenheit, and provided with a metal bulb guard. This is mounted, in turn, on a wood board. The Taylor Instrument Companies donated it to the Smithsonian in 1923. It was apparently made in 1913, the year Taylor opened an office in Toronto.
Location
Currently not on view
date made
1913
maker
Taylor Instrument Co.
ID Number
PH.308157
catalog number
308157
accession number
70532

Surveyor's Vernier Compass

The rim of this Gurley vernier compass is graduated to 30 minutes. The variation arc on the south arm extends 20 degrees either way, and is read by folded vernier to 2 minutes. Two level vials are on the north arm, and an outkeeper is on the south arm.
Description
The rim of this Gurley vernier compass is graduated to 30 minutes. The variation arc on the south arm extends 20 degrees either way, and is read by folded vernier to 2 minutes. Two level vials are on the north arm, and an outkeeper is on the south arm. The side of one vertical sight is graduated to half degrees, for determining angles of elevation or depression. The machine-engraved signature indicates that it was made after 1876. This compass came to the Smithsonian from the University of Missouri at Columbia.
Ref: W. & L. E. Gurley, A Manual of the Principal Instruments Used in American Engineering and Surveying (Troy, N.Y., 1904), pp. 108-120.
W. Skerritt, "W. & L. E. Gurley's Engraving Machine," Rittenhouse 11 (1997): 97-100.
Location
Currently not on view
maker
W. & L. E. Gurley
ID Number
PH.333661
catalog number
333661
accession number
300659

Psychrometer

Here, a wooden box with a split lid opens to reveal two mercury-in-glass thermometers, each on its own metal plate. The plate holding the wet bulb thermometer is marked "H.J. GREEN B'KLYN, N.Y." and "No. 4137 U.S.
Description
Here, a wooden box with a split lid opens to reveal two mercury-in-glass thermometers, each on its own metal plate. The plate holding the wet bulb thermometer is marked "H.J. GREEN B'KLYN, N.Y." and "No. 4137 U.S. WEATHER BUREAU." The plate holding the dry bulb thermometer (the bulb is broken) is marked " H.J. GREEN B'KLYN, N.Y." and "No. 4135 U.S. WEATHER BUREAU." On the base of the box is a paper card that reads "DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE WEATHER BUREAU Correction Ca. . .ercurial Thermometer."
Location
Currently not on view
maker
H. J. Green
ID Number
PH.317477
accession number
230396
catalog number
317477

Maximum and Minimum Soil Thermometer

Charles F. Marvin and Milton Whitney, both of the U.S. Weather Bureau, introduced this type of Combined Maximum and Minimum Soil Thermometer in 1893. This example has a wood and brass frame. A brass plate on the frame is marked "H. J. GREEN B'KLYN N.Y." and "No. 8 U.S.
Description
Charles F. Marvin and Milton Whitney, both of the U.S. Weather Bureau, introduced this type of Combined Maximum and Minimum Soil Thermometer in 1893. This example has a wood and brass frame. A brass plate on the frame is marked "H. J. GREEN B'KLYN N.Y." and "No. 8 U.S. WEATHER BUREAU" and graduated every 5 degrees Fahrenheit from -20 to +170. The glass thermometer inside the frame is filled with mercury and alcohol. The back of the stem is milk glass. The clear front is marked "U.S. 8" and graduated every degree Fahrenheit from -20 to +180. The Weather Bureau transferred it to the Smithsonian in 1954.
Ref: C. F. Marvin and M. Whitney, "Instructions for Use of Combined Maximum and Minimum Soil Thermometer," U.S. Weather Bureau Circular G (1894).
Location
Currently not on view
date made
after 1890
maker
H. J. Green
ID Number
PH.314540
catalog number
314540
accession number
204612

Surveyor's Transit

Surveyors who carry instruments long distances, often over difficult terrain, are always concerned about weight. W. & L. E. Gurley made their first lightweight instrument—an aluminum transit—in 1876.
Description
Surveyors who carry instruments long distances, often over difficult terrain, are always concerned about weight. W. & L. E. Gurley made their first lightweight instrument—an aluminum transit—in 1876. But the prohibitive cost of aluminum kept them from manufacturing instruments of this material. Following World War I, Gurley introduced a line of instruments made of an aluminum alloy named Lynite. This transit is of that sort. Gurley termed it a Lightweight Engineers' Transit and sold it, with tripod, for $275. The inscription reads "W. & L. E. GURLEY TROY N.Y., U.S.A. 3028." The serial number indicates that it was the 28th instrument that Gurley made in 1930. The horizontal and vertical circles are silvered, graduated every 30 minutes of arc, and read by opposite verniers to single minutes.
One standard is marked "PATENT 1731848." The reference is to the patent granted to W. L. Egy on October 15, 1929, and assigned to Gurley. This patent described a graduated circle or arc for surveying instruments made of an aluminum alloy.
Ref: W. & L. E. Gurley, Light Weight Transits (Troy, N.Y., 1929).
Location
Currently not on view
date made
1930
maker
W. & L. E. Gurley
ID Number
1986.0091.01
accession number
1986.0091
catalog number
1986.0091.01

Saybolt Colorimeter

George M. Saybolt (d. 1924) organized the Inspection Laboratory of the Standard Oil Co., managed it for 36 years, and designed a "Universal Chromometer" for use with refined petroleum oils.
Description
George M. Saybolt (d. 1924) organized the Inspection Laboratory of the Standard Oil Co., managed it for 36 years, and designed a "Universal Chromometer" for use with refined petroleum oils. Saybolt's instrument was adopted as a standard test by the United States Fuel Association (by 1919), the American Society for Testing Materials (1923), the National Petroleum Association, and the American Petroleum Institute. The C. J. Tagliabue Mfg. Co., then the major U.S. manufacturer of instruments for testing petroleum and petroleum products, was offering the Saybolt Universal Chromometer by 1919. The Fisher Scientific Co. of Pittsburgh assumed responsibility for the manufacture of these instruments in the early 1950s.
The Saybolt Chromometer has two vertical tubes, one holding a standard colored glass and the other holding the sample to be analyzed, both of which are seen through an eyepiece at the top. Using the cock in the sample tube, the operator can draw down the sample until the colors of the two tubes appear the same. The height of the sample at that point is an indication of its quality.
This example is marked "GEO. M. SAYBOLT / STANDARD UNIVERSAL CHROMOMETER / MANUFACTURED BY / C. J. TAGLIABUE MFG. CO. / BROOKLYN U.S.A." It incorporates some slight modifications that Tagliabue introduced in 1930, and that made the instrument easier to clean and use. The Stevens Institute of Technology donated it to the Smithsonian in 1960.
Ref: Foster D. Snell, Colorimetric Analysis (New York, 1921), pp. 21-23.
C.J. Tagliabue Mfg. Co., Catalog of TAG Oil Testing Instruments (New York, 1930), p. 10.
Location
Currently not on view
maker
C.J. Tagliabue Manufacturing Company
ID Number
CH.316871
catalog number
316871
accession number
222983

Maximum Thermometer

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

Williamson 7-Inch Concentric Globe, Terrestrial and Celestial

In this curious instrument, a terrestrial globe sits inside a glass sphere on which the stars and constellations have been painted. This, in turn, is mounted on a decorative cast-zinc base.
Description
In this curious instrument, a terrestrial globe sits inside a glass sphere on which the stars and constellations have been painted. This, in turn, is mounted on a decorative cast-zinc base. The cartouche on the terrestrial globe reads: “IMPROVEMENT IN / CELESTIAL & TERRESTRIAL / GLOBES / PATENTED BY H. WILLIAMSON / NEW YORK. DEC. 3, 1867 / Sold by HARPER & BROTHERS / Franklin Square, N.Y.” The words “PATENTED / DEC. 3, 1867 / No 85” and “G. C. WESSMANN / NEW YORK / MAKER” appear on a brass band that circles the terrestrial globe. New, this item cost $75.
Hugh Williamson of New York City obtained a patent (#71,830) for a concentric globe in 1867, and a second prize at the American Institute fair of 1869.
Ref: Hugh Williamson, A Manual of Problems of the Globes, Designed as an Accompaniment to Williamson’s Patent Concentric Celestial and Terrestrial Globes (New York, 1868).
D. J. Warner, “The Geography of Heaven and Earth,” Rittenhouse 2 (1988): 134-135.
Location
Currently not on view
date made
ca 1870
maker
G. C. Wessmann
inventor
Williamson, Hugh
ID Number
1989.0447.01
catalog number
1989.0447.01
accession number
1989.0447

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