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.

Topic: Thermometers and Hygrometers

Hygrometer (replica)

This is a modern replica of the oat-beard hygrometer that was designed by the English natural philosopher Robert Hooke and illustrated in his Micrographia (London, 1665). The inscription reads "Eichner Fecit MCMLIX"Currently not on view
Description
This is a modern replica of the oat-beard hygrometer that was designed by the English natural philosopher Robert Hooke and illustrated in his Micrographia (London, 1665). The inscription reads "Eichner Fecit MCMLIX"
Location
Currently not on view
maker
Eichner, Laurits Christian
ID Number
PH.316858
accession number
228484
catalog number
316858

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

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

Hygrograph

Rudolph Fuess was a noted optical instrument maker who opened a workshop in Berlin in 1865. This hygrograph, made in the Fuess workshop in Berlin, records the humidity over a period of 8 days.
Description
Rudolph Fuess was a noted optical instrument maker who opened a workshop in Berlin in 1865. This hygrograph, made in the Fuess workshop in Berlin, records the humidity over a period of 8 days. Fuess termed it an improved version of the form introduced by Richard Frères in Paris.
Ref: R. Fuess, Liste D5 über Barographen, Hygrographen und Thermographen (Steglitz, 1910), pp. 6-7.
Location
Currently not on view
maker
R. Fuess
ID Number
PH.336368
accession number
1978.0207
catalog number
336368

Thermometer

This mercury-in-glass thermometer has a bend in the stem that accommodates a rolled piece of paper on which is written, in ink: “Thermometer nach Réaumur & Fahrenheit.” The left side of the scale extends from -32 to +55, graduated by degrees Réaumur, with “E.P.” (German for ice p
Description
This mercury-in-glass thermometer has a bend in the stem that accommodates a rolled piece of paper on which is written, in ink: “Thermometer nach Réaumur & Fahrenheit.” The left side of the scale extends from -32 to +55, graduated by degrees Réaumur, with “E.P.” (German for ice point) at zero; the right side extends from -40 to +150, graduated every two degrees Fahrenheit. The whole is enclosed in an outer glass casing.
Location
Currently not on view
date made
ca 1800-1850
ID Number
PH.316459
catalog number
316459
accession number
223721

Solar Radiation Thermometer

In the late 18th century, scientists set out to determine the intensity of solar radiation overall, as well as the intensity of radiation in different parts of the spectrum.
Description
In the late 18th century, scientists set out to determine the intensity of solar radiation overall, as well as the intensity of radiation in different parts of the spectrum. In time they learned that the temperature of a black object was related to the intensity of the incident radiation and the movement of the ambient air. Negretti & Zambra’s solar radiation thermometer, the first commercial instrument suitable for this purpose, was unveiled in 1864. It had a blackened bulb, and was encased in a second glass tube from which the air had been evaporated. James J. Hicks obtained a British patent for a method of testing the vacuum of a solar thermometer in 1873, and described his solar radiation thermometer at a meeting of the British Meteorological Society in early 1874.
This example consists of a mercury-in-glass thermometer with a constriction in the stem just above the spherical bulb. The white enamel back of the stem is marked "202" and "J. Hicks. 8 Hatton Garn. London" and "Hicks's Patent No. 3647" and "14951" with the K/O monogram of the Kew Observatory. The clear front is graduated every degree F. from -5 to +192. This thermometer is encased in a glass jacket from which the air has been evacuated. The jacked is provided with two platinum electrodes that can be connected to a spark coil so that the vacuum can be checked, a feature described in Hicks' 1873 patent. It was made after the issuance of Hicks' patent in 1873 and before the expansion of his business to 8, 9, & 10 Hatton Garden in the 1880s.
Ref.: W. E. K. Middleton, A History of the Thermometer (Baltimore, 1966), pp. 162-164.
James J. Hicks, Illustrated and Descriptive Catalogue of Standard, Self-Recording, and Other Meteorological Instruments (London, n.d.), pp. 60-61.
Location
Currently not on view
date made
ca 1873-1885
maker
J. J. Hicks
ID Number
PH.314560
accession number
204612
catalog number
314560

Evaporimeter

Albert Piche, in Paris, described this simple instrument in 1872, and the Signal Service was soon using evaporimeters to determine the rate of evaporation in different parts of the United States.
Description
Albert Piche, in Paris, described this simple instrument in 1872, and the Signal Service was soon using evaporimeters to determine the rate of evaporation in different parts of the United States. An account from 1888 mentions "an inverted graduated test-tube filled with water, its mouth closed by a disk of filter paper held by a spring." In this example, the evaporimeter (probably an improved version designed by Charles F. Marvin of the U.S. Weather Bureau) is enclosed in a copper box on iron legs.
An evaporimeter is also known as an atmometer.
Ref.: "Exhibition of the New England Meteorological Society," American Meteorological Journal 5 (1888): 443.
"Improved Piche Evaporimeter," in H. J. Green, Scientific Instruments. Catalog C (Brooklyn, n.d.), p.15.
Location
Currently not on view
ID Number
PH.316818
catalog number
316818
accession number
228768

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

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

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

Thermometer

This mercury-in-glass thermometer has a cylindrical bulb. The milk-white back is marked "L. Casella. London. 14490." The clear front is graduated every degree Fahrenheit from -25 to +130. It was made before the death of Louis Casella in 1897.Currently not on view
Description
This mercury-in-glass thermometer has a cylindrical bulb. The milk-white back is marked "L. Casella. London. 14490." The clear front is graduated every degree Fahrenheit from -25 to +130. It was made before the death of Louis Casella in 1897.
Location
Currently not on view
maker
L. P. Casella
ID Number
PH.317445
accession number
230396
catalog number
317445

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

Solar Radiation Thermometer

This is a 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
This is a 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 was a prominent precision instrument maker in Paris.
Location
Currently not on view
date made
ca 1875-1897
maker
Salleron, Jules
ID Number
PH.314559
catalog number
314559
accession number
204612

Thermometer

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

Sling Psychrometer

This instrument consists of two mercury-in-glass thermometers mounted on an aluminum frame that is marked "H. J. GREEN B'KLYN N.Y." and "No. 117 SIGNAL CORPS. U.S. ARMY" and equipped with a wooden handle.
Description
This instrument consists of two mercury-in-glass thermometers mounted on an aluminum frame that is marked "H. J. GREEN B'KLYN N.Y." and "No. 117 SIGNAL CORPS. U.S. ARMY" and equipped with a wooden handle. Each thermometer has a milk-white back and a clear front that is graduated every degree Fahrenheit. On one the scale runs from -37 to +127; on the other it runs from -32 to +128. It was made between 1890 (when Green moved his business to Brooklyn) and 1923 (when the psychrometer came to the Smithsonian).
Ref.: Henry J. Green, Meteorological and Scientific Instruments (Brooklyn, about 1890), p.31.
Location
Currently not on view
date made
1890-1923
maker
H. J. Green
ID Number
PH.308200.1
accession number
70852
catalog number
308200.1

Thermometer

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

Thermometer

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

Daniell Hygrometer

John Frederic Daniell, a young English natural philosopher, described this type of instrument in 1820. It consists of two glass balls, one partially filled with ether and the other covered with muslin, connected by a thin tube from which the air has been evacuated.
Description
John Frederic Daniell, a young English natural philosopher, described this type of instrument in 1820. It consists of two glass balls, one partially filled with ether and the other covered with muslin, connected by a thin tube from which the air has been evacuated. There is a thermometer in the tube above the ball with the ether, and another on the supporting stand. When a few drops of ether are poured on the muslin, their evaporation chills the covered ball; that in turn causes the ether vapor inside the instrument to condense, thereby cooling the other ball and causing dew to form on its surface.
The stand of this example is wood, marked "GERMANY" on the bottom. The white porcelain plate holding the interior thermometer is marked "Celsius" and graduated every degree from -25 to +50. The white porcelain plate holding the exterior thermometer is marked "CELSIUS" and graduated every degree from -10 to +50. There is a gold band around the lower bulb. It came to the Smithsonian from Cornell University.
Ref: J. F. Daniell, "On a new Hygrometer, which Measures the Force and Weight of Aqueous Vapour in the Atmosphere, and the Corresponding Degree of Evaporation," Quarterly Journal of Science 8 (1820): 298-336.
Location
Currently not on view
ID Number
PH.318271
catalog number
318271
accession number
231262

Hair Hygrograph

A hygrograph recordd variation in atmospheric humidity. This example is marked "JULIEN P. FRIEZ & SONS, BELFORT METEOROLOGICAL OBSERVATORY, 1230 E. BALTIMORE STREET, BALTIMORE, M.D., U.S.A." and "HYDROGRAPH, TYPE ML 16, SERIAL 74865, SIGNAL CORPS, U.S.
Description
A hygrograph recordd variation in atmospheric humidity. This example is marked "JULIEN P. FRIEZ & SONS, BELFORT METEOROLOGICAL OBSERVATORY, 1230 E. BALTIMORE STREET, BALTIMORE, M.D., U.S.A." and "HYDROGRAPH, TYPE ML 16, SERIAL 74865, SIGNAL CORPS, U.S. ARMY, ORDER 110418, DATE 2/8/23." It was made between 1914 when the firm began trading under this name, and 1923, when it came to the Smithsonian. The cover is missing.
Location
Currently not on view
maker
Julien P. Friez & Sons
ID Number
PH.308178.2
catalog number
308178.2
accession number
70852

Sling Psychrometer

This instrument consists of two mercury-in-glass thermometers mounted on an aluminum frame that is marked "H. J. GREEN B'KLYN N.Y." and "No. 147 SIGNAL CORPS. U.S. ARMY" and equipped with a wooden handle.
Description
This instrument consists of two mercury-in-glass thermometers mounted on an aluminum frame that is marked "H. J. GREEN B'KLYN N.Y." and "No. 147 SIGNAL CORPS. U.S. ARMY" and equipped with a wooden handle. Each thermometer has a milk white back and a clear front that is graduated every degree Fahrenheit. On one the scale runs from -40 to +137; on the other, it runs from -38 to +122. This was made between 1890 (when Green moved his business to Brooklyn) and 1923 (when the instrument came to the Smithsonian).
Ref: Henry J. Green, (Brooklyn, about 1890), p.31.
Location
Currently not on view
date made
1890-1923
maker
H. J. Green
ID Number
PH.308200.2
accession number
70852
catalog number
308200.2

Bath Thermometer

Bathing, whether for cleanliness or health, was not a common practice in Colonial America, or even Great Britain, and only became so over time. This bath thermometer indicates this changing practice.
Description
Bathing, whether for cleanliness or health, was not a common practice in Colonial America, or even Great Britain, and only became so over time. This bath thermometer indicates this changing practice. It was probably owned by John William Draper (1811-1882), an American scientist with wide-ranging interests and accomplishments and who kept in touch with friends and colleagues abroad.
This simple mercury-in-glass thermometer was designed for determining when bath water is at a healthy temperture. The scale extends from 0 to 130 degrees, and is marked "Dr. FORBES SPECIFICATIONS" as well as "FREEZING"; "COLD BATH"; "COOL"; "TEM."; "TEPID"; "WARM"; and "HOT." The reference is to John Forbes, a Scottish physician who recommended therapeutic bathing.
Ref. Richard Bushmann and Claudia Bushmann, “The Early History of Cleanliness in America,” Journal of American History 74 (1988): 1213-1238.
John Forbes, et. al., The Cyclopaedia of Practical Medicine (London, 1833), vol. 1, p. 260.
Location
Currently not on view
date made
early 19th century
ID Number
PH.333987
catalog number
333987
accession number
304826

Thermometer

Mercury-in-glass thermometer mounted on a grooved metal plate that is marked "H. J. GREEN B'KLYN N.Y." and "No. 11065 U.S. WEATHER BUREAU" and graduated every five degrees Fahrenheit from -25 to +115. The stem is marked "11065" and graduated every degree F.
Description
Mercury-in-glass thermometer mounted on a grooved metal plate that is marked "H. J. GREEN B'KLYN N.Y." and "No. 11065 U.S. WEATHER BUREAU" and graduated every five degrees Fahrenheit from -25 to +115. The stem is marked "11065" and graduated every degree F. from -25 to +120.
Location
Currently not on view
date made
after 1890
maker
H. J. Green
ID Number
PH.317455
accession number
230396
catalog number
317455

Daniell Hygrometer

John Frederic Daniell, a young English natural philosopher, described this type of hygrometer in 1820. It consists of two glass balls, one partially filled with ether and the other covered with muslin, connected by a thin tube from which the air has been evacuated.
Description
John Frederic Daniell, a young English natural philosopher, described this type of hygrometer in 1820. It consists of two glass balls, one partially filled with ether and the other covered with muslin, connected by a thin tube from which the air has been evacuated. There is a thermometer in the tube above the ball with the ether, and another on the supporting stand. When a few drops of ether are poured onto the muslin, their evaporation chills the covered ball; that in turn causes the ether vapor inside the instrument to condense, thereby cooling the other ball and causing dew to form on its surface.
The stand of this example is wood. The interior thermometer has a paper inside the stem that is graduated every degree from +13 to +120. The exterior thermometer is mounted on a white porcelain plate that is marked "Fahrenheit" and graduated every degree from -20 to +122.
This example came from the United States Military Academy, and may date from the middle years of the nineteenth century.
Ref: J. F. Daniell, "On a new Hygrometer, which Measures the Force and Weight of Aqueous Vapour in the Atmosphere, and the Corresponding Degree of Evaporation," Quarterly Journal of Science 8 (1820): 298-336.
Location
Currently not on view
ID Number
PH.315734
catalog number
315734
accession number
217544

Regnault Hygrometer

Henri Victor Regnault, professor of physics at the College de France in Paris, described this type of instrument in 1845.
Description
Henri Victor Regnault, professor of physics at the College de France in Paris, described this type of instrument in 1845. It consists of a brass stand; a silver tube into which ether is poured and through which air can be made to pass; a thermometer to take the temperature of the ether; and another to measure the ambient air.
This example has two mercury-in-glass thermometers, each of which has a milk-white back marked "Jas. Green. 175 Grand St. New York." The clear front of one is graduated every ½ degree Fahrenheit from -15 to +130. The clear front of the other is graduated every degree Fahrenheit from -10 to +120. It was made between 1849 and 1875 when James Green was working at this address in New York City. It came to the Smithsonian from the U.S. Military Academy.
Ref: H. V. Regnault, "Études sur l'hygrométrie," Annales de Chimie et de Physique 15 (1845): 129-236, on 196-201.
Negretti & Zambra, Treatise on Meteorological Instruments (London, 1864), pp. 104-105.
Location
Currently not on view
date made
1849-1875
maker
Green, James
ID Number
PH.316419
accession number
223721
catalog number
316419

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