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.

Brass instrument, 5½ inches diameter and 2¼ inches deep, with a printed paper face that reads “BAROMÈTRE DE PRÉCISON / POUR STATIONS MÉTÉOROLOGIQUES” and “ALVERGNIAT FRES 10. R.
Description
Brass instrument, 5½ inches diameter and 2¼ inches deep, with a printed paper face that reads “BAROMÈTRE DE PRÉCISON / POUR STATIONS MÉTÉOROLOGIQUES” and “ALVERGNIAT FRES 10. R. de la Sorbonne” and “BREVETÉ S.G.D.G.” The latter indicates that this instrument, or some part thereof, was covered by a French patent. The pressure scale reads from 700 to 790 cm of mercury, by centimeters. There are also words for weather conditions, in French.
This came to the Smithsonian in 1910, a transfer from the U.S. Department of the Interior. It had probably been collected by the short-lived federal Bureau of Education.
Alvergniat Frères were in business in Paris from 1858 until after 1900, manufacturing a wide range of scientific instruments.
Location
Currently not on view
date made
late 19th century
maker
/Alvergniat Freres
ID Number
PH.261256
accession number
51116
catalog number
261256
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 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 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
This is one of several Gambey instruments that the U. S. Coast Survey acquired in the mid-1840s. It is heavy, stable, and precise. The circle itself is silvered, finely graduated (probably to 5 minutes), and read by opposite verniers and magnifiers.
Description
This is one of several Gambey instruments that the U. S. Coast Survey acquired in the mid-1840s. It is heavy, stable, and precise. The circle itself is silvered, finely graduated (probably to 5 minutes), and read by opposite verniers and magnifiers. The signature reads "Gambey a Paris." The "U S C & G S NO 21" inscription must have been added after 1878, when the Coast Survey became the Coast and Geodetic Survey.
Location
Currently not on view
date made
1840s
maker
Gambey, Henri Prudence
ID Number
PH.314631
accession number
208213
catalog number
314631
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
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
This brass alidade has folding sights that are centered on its beveled edge. The U. S. Bureau of Education transferred it to the Smithsonian in 1910. The "E.
Description
This brass alidade has folding sights that are centered on its beveled edge. The U. S. Bureau of Education transferred it to the Smithsonian in 1910. The "E. LUTZ PARIS" inscriptiion refers to Edouard Lutz, an instrument maker who worked in the second half of the 19th century.
Location
Currently not on view
maker
Lutz, Edouard
ID Number
PH.313396
catalog number
313396
accession number
51116
This mercury-in-glass thermometer has a cylindrical bulb, and a milk white tube that is marked “Yale Observatory Standard No.
Description
This mercury-in-glass thermometer has a cylindrical bulb, and a milk white tube that is marked “Yale Observatory Standard No. 51 Made by Tonnelot à Paris Equal graduations Crystal glass tube made April 1879.” The scale, which extends from -4.8 to +104.6 degrees Centigrade, is graduated every degree, in fifths. The protective chrome case is marked “Yale Observatory Standard No 51.”
Ref.: Leonard Waldo, “Examination of Thermometers at the Yale Observatory,” Popular Science Monthly 18 (1881): 367-374.
Location
Currently not on view
date made
1879
maker
Tonnelot, Jules
ID Number
PH.317451
catalog number
317451
accession number
230396
Mercury-in-glass thermometer with a spherical bulb. The milk-white back is marked “L. Golaz à Paris 729” and carries a scale reading from -15.5 to +75 degrees centigrade, both of 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 729” and carries a scale reading from -15.5 to +75 degrees centigrade, both of which seem to be done by hand, rather than by machine. The inscription indicates that this instrument 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 1891-1919
maker
L. Golaz
ID Number
PH.317444
catalog number
317444
accession number
230396
In 1847, a French hydraulic engineer named André G. A. Baumgarten published an account of his work with a horizontal-axis current meter that was based on the form that had been described by Reinhard Woltmann, a German hydraulic engineer, in 1790. Lerebours et Secretan (fl.
Description
In 1847, a French hydraulic engineer named André G. A. Baumgarten published an account of his work with a horizontal-axis current meter that was based on the form that had been described by Reinhard Woltmann, a German hydraulic engineer, in 1790. Lerebours et Secretan (fl. 1845-1855), a prominent instrument firm in Paris, began offering a “Moulinet de Woltmann” soon thereafter, noting that this form was used in the hydraulic service of the Ponts et Chausées, the national agency in charge of bridges and roads.
The “Lerebours et Secretan / à Paris” inscription on this example dates from the period 1845-1855. The instrument came from the Proprietors of the Locks and Canals, the corporation that developed water transportation along the Merrimack River, and water power for the town of Lowell, Massachusetts. James B. Francis probably acquired it shortly after having been named manager of that organization. It came to the Smithsonian in 1956, and was restored by the U.S. Geological Survey.
Clemens Herschel opined in 1869 that “The best instrument to measure the velocity of the current at any point has generally been thought to be the so-called Woltmann wheel, or tachometer.” James B. Francis did not mention an instrument of this sort in the first (1855) edition of his Lowell Hydraulic Experiments, but in 1868 he noted that “Woltman’s mill, or tachometer, has been much used for this purpose, but to insure correct results, its application is one of much delicacy, and in our large channels would require much time.”
Ref: A. G. A. Baumgarten, “Sur le moulinet de Woltmann destiné à mesurer les vitesses de l’eau, sur son perfectionment et sur les experiences avec cet instrument,” Annales des Ponts et Chausées, Memoires et Documents (1847): 326-357.
Lerebours et Secretan, Catalogue et Prix des Instruments (Paris, 1853), p. 138.
James B. Francis, (New York, 1868), p. 156.
Clemens Herschel, “Gauging the Flow of Rivers, &c.,” Journal of the Franklin Institute 87 (1869): 305-315.
Arthur H. Frazier, Water Current Meters in the Smithsonian Collections of the National Museum of History and Technology (Washington, D.C., 1974), pp. 49-50 and 56-57.
Paolo Brenni, “Lerebours et Secretan,” Bulletin of the Scientific Instrument Society 40 (1994): 3-6.
Location
Currently not on view
date made
1845-1855
maker
Lerebours et Secretan
ID Number
PH.314769
accession number
211155
catalog number
314769
The semicircle of this graphometer is silvered, graduated to 30 minutes, numbered clockwise and counterclockwise, and read by verniers at either end of the alidade to single minutes.
Description
The semicircle of this graphometer is silvered, graduated to 30 minutes, numbered clockwise and counterclockwise, and read by verniers at either end of the alidade to single minutes. An inscription reads "Secretan à Paris." A label in the box reads: "Lerebours & Secretan, Secretan Successeur, Optician de S. M. l'Empereur, de l'Observatoire & de la Marine. Magasins: 13, Rue Du Pont-Neuf, Ateliers: 9, Rue Mechain, Faubg St. Jacques Paris." The address of the atelier suggests a date of around 1870.
Marc François Secretan (1804–1867) went into partnership with N. M. P. Lerebours in Paris in 1844, and became the sole proprietor of the shop in 1855. The shop offered a wide range of scientific apparatus, showed its wares at several international exhibitions, and was still in business in 1930.
Ref: Paolo Brenni, "Lerebours et Secretan," Bulletin of the Scientific Instrument Society 40 (March 1994): 3–6
Location
Currently not on view
date made
ca 1870
owner
Mount St. Mary's College
maker
Secretan, Marc Francois
ID Number
PH.326108
catalog number
326108
accession number
257245
The circle is silvered, graduated to 5 minutes, and read by 4 verniers with magnifiers. A tag on the box indicates that it was used by the U.S. Topographical Bureau, as the mapping branch of the Army Engineers was known at that time.
Description
The circle is silvered, graduated to 5 minutes, and read by 4 verniers with magnifiers. A tag on the box indicates that it was used by the U.S. Topographical Bureau, as the mapping branch of the Army Engineers was known at that time. The "Gambey a Paris" inscription is that of Henri Prudence Gambey (1787–1847), the foremost maker of precision instruments in France in the first half of the 19th century.
Ref: Deborah J. Warner, "Gambey’s American Customers," Rittenhouse 4 (1990): 65–78.
Location
Currently not on view
maker
Gambey, Henri Prudence
ID Number
PH.325685
catalog number
325685
accession number
257193
This glass thermometer has a red liquid (probably alcohol), a cylindrical bulb, and a bend in the tube above the bulb.
Description
This glass thermometer has a red liquid (probably alcohol), a cylindrical bulb, and a bend in the tube above the bulb. A paper marked “Thermomètre de Bains” carries a scale that extends from -35 to +80 Réaumur graduated in degrees, with indications for such things as “Eau Bou” (boiling water) and the coldest temperature at Paris in 1740, 1777, and 1788. The whole is encased in a glass tube.
Location
Currently not on view
date made
late 18th century
ID Number
PH.316458
catalog number
316458
accession number
223721
Sextant with a silvered scale graduated every 20 minutes from -5° to +175° and read by vernier with tangent screw and magnifier to 30 seconds of arc. The inscriptions read "Lorieux, A. Hurlimann succr à Paris" and "C. & G.S. 307." The U.S.
Description
Sextant with a silvered scale graduated every 20 minutes from -5° to +175° and read by vernier with tangent screw and magnifier to 30 seconds of arc. The inscriptions read "Lorieux, A. Hurlimann succr à Paris" and "C. & G.S. 307." The U.S. Coast & Geodetic Survey acquired this instrument in 1907 and transferred it to the Smithsonian in 1929.
A. Hurlimann was a mathematical instrument maker in Paris who took over Lorieux's shop in the early 1890s. He was succeeded by Ponthus & Therrode a few years later.
Location
Currently not on view
date made
ca 1907
maker
Hurlimann, A.
ID Number
PH.309660
accession number
106954
catalog number
309660
This theodolite is marked "Secretan a Paris." It was made after 1855 when Marc François Secretan went into business on his own, and before 1901 when the Smithsonian purchased it from Anthony J.
Description
This theodolite is marked "Secretan a Paris." It was made after 1855 when Marc François Secretan went into business on his own, and before 1901 when the Smithsonian purchased it from Anthony J. Gies, commissioner of streets and drainage in Manila, for use in the Pan American Exhibition. It resembles the instrument that Secretan called a repeating theodolite. The horizontal circle is silvered, graduated to 10 minutes, and read by four verniers and two magnifiers to 20 seconds. The vertical circle is silvered, graduated to 15 minutes, and read by two double verniers to 30 seconds.
Ref: L'Industrie Française des Instruments de Précision, Catalogue (Paris, 1901–1902), pp. 247–252.
Location
Currently not on view
maker
Secretan, Marc Francois
ID Number
PH.318454
catalog number
318454
accession number
36555
This magnetic compass has a paper scale, a metal needle, a wooden case, and a glass cover. The scale is graduated every 10 grads and marked every 20, with a total of 400 grads in the circle. Folding metal sights are attached to the north and south edges.
Description
This magnetic compass has a paper scale, a metal needle, a wooden case, and a glass cover. The scale is graduated every 10 grads and marked every 20, with a total of 400 grads in the circle. Folding metal sights are attached to the north and south edges. A plumb bob stored in the north edge of the case can be suspended from the east edge.
From ancient times, mathematicians described a right angle as having ninety degrees. In the 1790s, the French introduced a right angle of one hundred decimal degrees or grads. Instruments divided this way were available in France and in the United States into the 20th century.
Location
Currently not on view
ID Number
PH.314618
catalog number
314618
accession number
208046
This map extends from 36°45' to 40°15' north latitude and from 75° to 82°30' west longitude from the meridian of Paris.
Description
This map extends from 36°45' to 40°15' north latitude and from 75° to 82°30' west longitude from the meridian of Paris. It was probably based on Robert de Vaugondy’s 1755 copy of the Fry & Jefferson map, and published in Le Petit Atlas Maritime (Paris, 1764) issued by Jacques Nicolas Bellin (1703-1772), a productive cartographer in Paris. An inscription at the upper right reads “Tome I. No 35.”
“Ft Cumberland ou de la Compag d’Oyo” at the western side of this map would have interested those following the course of the French and Indian Wars. “Charles Town détruite” in southern Maryland refers to the small town that served as the seat of Prince George’s County from 1695 until 1732, when the seat was moved to Upper Marlboro (not shown on this map). London, near Annapolis, refers to London Town (or Londontowne), a once thriving seaport established in 1683. A town on the Virginia side of the Potomac River is termed “Belhaven ou Alexandrie.”
Ref: P. Lee Phillips, “Virginia Cartography,” Smithsonian Miscellaneous Collections 37 (1898).
Location
Currently not on view
date made
1764
ID Number
PH.317822
catalog number
317822
accession number
231759
The horizontal circle of this instrument is graduated to 2 minutes, and read by opposite verniers to 2 seconds; the vertical arc is graduated to 20 minutes, and read by vernier to 3 seconds.
Description
The horizontal circle of this instrument is graduated to 2 minutes, and read by opposite verniers to 2 seconds; the vertical arc is graduated to 20 minutes, and read by vernier to 3 seconds. There are two telescopes: an upper one (which is missing), and a lower one that is attached to the central pillar, below the horizontal circle. The "Chollet Delamarre Constructeur Rue de Fourcy St Antoine 6 Paris" inscription refers to a craftsman who worked in Paris in the first half of the 19th century, making repeating circles, graphometers, and other mathematical instruments.
Ref: Deleuil, Catalogue des Instruments de Physique, de Chimie, d'Optique et de Mathématiques (Paris, 1863), p. 69.
Location
Currently not on view
maker
Delamarre, C.
ID Number
PH.317690
catalog number
317690
accession number
231960
The Panama Canal links the Atlantic and Pacific Oceans through Central America.
Description
The Panama Canal links the Atlantic and Pacific Oceans through Central America. The idea of a waterway of this sort had been raised many times since Columbus's first voyage to America in 1492, but the discovery of gold in California in 1848, as well as the improvement of various technologies, brought increased urgency to the idea. The French engineers and investors who began to design and dig the Canal in the early 1880s were stopped by disease and lack of funds. Americans completed the project in 1914.
Since the 1720s, surveyors have used telesopic levels to draw level surfaces and to determine the differences in altitude between several points. This example—marked "Balbeck ainé, Bvd Montparnasse, 81. Paris" and "Canal de Panama"— was made for the French team that laid out a Panama Canal in the 1880s.
Location
Currently not on view
date made
ca 1880
maker
Balbreck ainé et fils
ID Number
PH.337071
catalog number
337071
accession number
1979.0261
Two mercury-in-glass thermometers, each marked "Alvergniat Freres. 10 rue de la Sorbonne, Paris (Centigrade)." The one with the blackened bulb is also marked "47.171" and "153" and carries a scale that ranges from -26 to +80 degrees.
Description
Two mercury-in-glass thermometers, each marked "Alvergniat Freres. 10 rue de la Sorbonne, Paris (Centigrade)." The one with the blackened bulb is also marked "47.171" and "153" and carries a scale that ranges from -26 to +80 degrees. The one with the silver bulb is also marked "47.172" and "158" and carries a scale that ranges from -22 to +78 degrees.
Alvergniat Frères were precision instrument makers who began in business in Paris in 1858.
Location
Currently not on view
date made
1858-1890
maker
/Alvergniat Freres
ID Number
PH.334151
accession number
308253
catalog number
334151
This brass alidade, with folding sights centered on the beveled edge, belonged to Mount St. Mary's College in Emmitsburg, Md. A label in the box reads: "Lerebours & Secretan, Secretan Successeur, Optician de S. M. l'Empereur, de l'Observatoire & de la Marine.
Description
This brass alidade, with folding sights centered on the beveled edge, belonged to Mount St. Mary's College in Emmitsburg, Md. A label in the box reads: "Lerebours & Secretan, Secretan Successeur, Optician de S. M. l'Empereur, de l'Observatoire & de la Marine. Magasins: 13, Rue Du Pont-Neuf, Ateliers: 9, Rue Mechain, Faubg St. Jacques Paris." The address of the atelier suggests a date of around 1870. The firm was still in business in 1930.
Location
Currently not on view
date made
ca 1870
maker
Secretan, Marc Francois
ID Number
PH.326109
catalog number
326109
accession number
257245
The face of this cylindrical instrument is marked “HOLOSTERIC BAROMETER / COMPENSATED.” The additional circle with the letters “HBPN” was the logo of Naudet & Cie., and probably represents the words: Holosteric Barometer Paul Naudet.
Description
The face of this cylindrical instrument is marked “HOLOSTERIC BAROMETER / COMPENSATED.” The additional circle with the letters “HBPN” was the logo of Naudet & Cie., and probably represents the words: Holosteric Barometer Paul Naudet. The firm was founded in Paris in 1860 by Paul Naudet, and used the term Holosteric to mean “without liquid." The scale around the edge of the silvered metallic dial extends from 28 to 31 inches of mercury and is graduated to hundredths of an inch. A blued needle indicates the present pressure; a brass needle indicates a previous observation.
The “U.S. Signal Service – 1101” inscription on the back of the case refers to the organization that became responsible for America’s national weather service in 1870. The U.S. Weather Bureau transferred this instrument to the Smithsonian in 1904.
Location
Currently not on view
date made
ca. 1870-1890
maker
Naudet & Cie.
ID Number
PH.230002
accession number
42625
catalog number
PH*230002
230002

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