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: Philadelphia

Surveyor's Vernier Compass

Surveyor's vernier compass marked "Wm. J. Young Maker Philadelphia." William J. Young began using this particular signature around 1840, and began putting serial numbers on his instruments in the early 1850s. The variation arc on the north arm extends 27 degrees either way.
Description
Surveyor's vernier compass marked "Wm. J. Young Maker Philadelphia." William J. Young began using this particular signature around 1840, and began putting serial numbers on his instruments in the early 1850s. The variation arc on the north arm extends 27 degrees either way. The vernier is moved by rack and pinion located on the south arm and hidden under a brass plate, and reads to 5 minutes. There is a circular level vial on the south arm and an outkeeper on the north arm. The face is dark, and the needle ring was probably silvered originally.
This compass belonged to David Newton Ellis (1850-1926), the County Surveyor of Monroe County, West Virginia.
Ref.: D. J. Warner, "William J. Young. From Craft to Industry in a Skilled Trade," Pennsylvania History 52 (1985): 53-68.
Location
Currently not on view
maker
Young, William J.
ID Number
1981.0648.02
accession number
1981.0648
catalog number
1981.0648.02

Solar Compass

This solar compass, one of the earliest instruments of its kind, is marked "Burts patent Made by Wm. J. Young Philada." It belonged to Artemas Curtis, a brother–in–law of the inventor, William Austin Burt. It was made by William J.
Description
This solar compass, one of the earliest instruments of its kind, is marked "Burts patent Made by Wm. J. Young Philada." It belonged to Artemas Curtis, a brother–in–law of the inventor, William Austin Burt. It was made by William J. Young in Philadelphia, probably in 1840, and it nicely illustrates the complex process of developing a successful instrument. Following Burt's instructions, Young produced an instrument in which the vernier for the variation arc was moved by hand. When that design proved inconvenient, a tangent screw was added to move the vernier–and this tangent screw covered the signature. This example is of that type. In later examples, the signature appears where it can be easily read.
Ref: John S. Burt, They Left Their Mark. A Biography of William Austin Burt (Rancho Cordova, Ca., 1985).
Location
Currently not on view
maker
Young, William J.
inventor
Burt, William A.
ID Number
PH.328793
catalog number
328793
accession number
277834

Surveyor's Compass

This compass was made between 1853 and 1859. The "Jas. W. Queen, Philada. Warranted" inscription indicates that James W. Queen sold the compass and guaranteed its quality. The style, however, suggests that it was made by W. & L. E. Gurley, the Troy, N.
Description
This compass was made between 1853 and 1859. The "Jas. W. Queen, Philada. Warranted" inscription indicates that James W. Queen sold the compass and guaranteed its quality. The style, however, suggests that it was made by W. & L. E. Gurley, the Troy, N. Y., firm that was rapidly becoming the largest producer of complex mathematical instruments in the United States. The Queen Catalogue of 1859 offered several compasses, levels, and transits, with illustrations and descriptions copied from the Gurley Manual of 1855. A compass of this sort, with 6-inch needle, two straight levels, outkeeper, and mounting for use on a Jacob staff, cost $30. A paper label inside the box reads “James W. Queen 264 Chestnut St., near 10th, Philadelphia.”
Ref: James W. Queen & Co., Illustrated Catalogue of Mathematical, Optical, and Philosophical Instruments and School Apparatus (Philadelphia, 1859), p. 14.
Location
Currently not on view
date made
1853-1859
maker
W. & L. E. Gurley
ID Number
1982.0104.04
accession number
1982.0104
catalog number
1982.0104.04

Lithographic printing stone "Australian Fossils Pl. 4"

The image on this lithographic stone was prepared to print an image in the publication "United States Exploring Expedition, During the Years 1838, 1839, 1840, 1841, 1842," Volume 10, "Geology - Atlas," 1849.
Description (Brief)
The image on this lithographic stone was prepared to print an image in the publication "United States Exploring Expedition, During the Years 1838, 1839, 1840, 1841, 1842," Volume 10, "Geology - Atlas," 1849. The image depicts "Australian Fossils, Plate 4." The images was prepared by the lithographic firm Sarony & Major after illustrations by James Dwight Dana.
Description
The firm of Sarony & Major of Philadelphia, working between 1846 and 1857, prepared this lithographic printing stone after a drawing by Expedition Mineralogist James Dwight Dana (1813–1895) depicting Australian fossils. The lithographic illustration was published as Plate 4 in U.S. Exploring Expedition Volume X, Geology, by James D. Dana, 1849.
Location
Currently not on view
Date made
1849
publisher
Wilkes, Charles
original artist
Dana, James Dwight
graphic artist
Sarony & Major
printer
Sherman, Conger
ID Number
1999.0145.458
accession number
1999.0145
catalog number
1999.0145.458

Surveyor's Vernier Compass

William Helffricht was born in Frankfurt in 1807, moved to Philadelphia in 1825, and became a citizen in 1830. By the early 1830s he was advertising as a "Mathematical, Optical, & Philosophical Instrument Maker At the old established stand of the late Wm.
Description
William Helffricht was born in Frankfurt in 1807, moved to Philadelphia in 1825, and became a citizen in 1830. By the early 1830s he was advertising as a "Mathematical, Optical, & Philosophical Instrument Maker At the old established stand of the late Wm. DAVENPORT, Sign of the Quadrant, No. 25, South Front Street." Helffricht remained at this address until 1848.
This compass is inscribed "Wm Helffricht, Maker Philadelphia." It has a variation arc on the north arm that extends 25 degrees either way. The vernier reads to 5 minutes, and is moved by a rack and pinion under the south arm. There are two level vials on the south arm. A card in the wooden box reads "Wm. Helffricht No. 25 South Street, Philadelphia."
The compass was owned by Daniel Dunklin (1790-1844), who was elected governor of Missouri in 1832. Dunklin resigned the governorship in 1836, when Andrew Jackson named him surveyor-general of Missouri, Illinois, and Arkansas. He probably bought the compass at this time, and used it to trace the boundary between Missouri and Arkansas, and to lay out numerous counties in these three states.
Ref: "Daniel Dunklin" in National Cyclopaedia of American Biography, vol. 12, p. 303.
Location
Currently not on view
maker
Helffricht, William
ID Number
2001.0161.01
accession number
2001.0161
catalog number
2001.0161.01

Wye Level

This instrument isinscribed "Young & Sons, Philadelphia 5867" and dates from around 1875. The mark on the telescope-"Patented July 28th 1874"-refers to the patent (#153,494) granted to J. W. Nystrom and Alfred Young.
Description
This instrument isinscribed "Young & Sons, Philadelphia 5867" and dates from around 1875. The mark on the telescope-"Patented July 28th 1874"-refers to the patent (#153,494) granted to J. W. Nystrom and Alfred Young. It describes a method of regulating the focus of a telescope by moving the erecting lenses back and forth while keeping the object glass and cross hairs at a fixed distance from one another.
Location
Currently not on view
maker
Young & Sons
ID Number
PH.328750A
accession number
1988.0553
catalog number
328750A

Surveyor's Transit

Wm. J. Young & Sons (fl. 1870-1881) used a simple transit instrument of this sort as their logo, placing it on their advertisements and on the front cover of their Manual and Price List of Engineering and Mathematical Instruments. The inscription on this example reads "Wm. J.
Description
Wm. J. Young & Sons (fl. 1870-1881) used a simple transit instrument of this sort as their logo, placing it on their advertisements and on the front cover of their Manual and Price List of Engineering and Mathematical Instruments. The inscription on this example reads "Wm. J. Young & Sons 4648 Philadelphia." The serial number dates from 1872. The horizontal circle is silvered, graduated into 30 minutes of arc, and read by opposite verniers. One vernier reads to single minutes, and the other reads to 1/100 of a degree.
Location
Currently not on view
date made
1872
maker
William J. Young and Sons
ID Number
1985.0800.01
accession number
1985.0800
catalog number
1985.0800.01

Aneroid Barometer

The inscriptions on the face of this aneroid barometer read “Compensated” and “James W. Queen & Co. / PHILADELPHIA.” The pressure scale around the circumference extends from 18 to 31 inches of mercury.
Description
The inscriptions on the face of this aneroid barometer read “Compensated” and “James W. Queen & Co. / PHILADELPHIA.” The pressure scale around the circumference extends from 18 to 31 inches of mercury. The altitude scale extends to 15,000 feet elevation and is read by vernier and microscope to single feet. The diameter is about 3.5 inches. Although this instrument was sold by Queen, it was was probably made in London, perhaps by Short & Mason. New, it would have sold for $60.
Ref.: James W. Queen & Co., Priced and Illustrated Catalogue of Meteorological Instruments (Philadelphia, 1882), p. 93.
Location
Currently not on view
date made
1859-1896
maker
James W. Queen & Co.
ID Number
1996.0163.01
accession number
1996.0163
catalog number
1996.0163.01

Wye Level

This wye level was made by Edmund Draper in Philadelphia, around 1870. The inscriptions read "E. Draper. Philad" and "294."Currently not on view
Description
This wye level was made by Edmund Draper in Philadelphia, around 1870. The inscriptions read "E. Draper. Philad" and "294."
Location
Currently not on view
maker
Draper, Edmund
ID Number
PH.337021
accession number
1977.1101
catalog number
337021

Engraved printing plate "Ptilouopus Perousei"

This engraved printing plate was prepared to print an image of "Ptilonopus Perousei" (now Many-colored Fruit Dove, Ptilinopus perousii Peale (S.
Description (Brief)
This engraved printing plate was prepared to print an image of "Ptilonopus Perousei" (now Many-colored Fruit Dove, Ptilinopus perousii Peale (S. polynesia)) for the publication "United States Exploring Expedition, During the Years 1838, 1839, 1840, 1841, 1842," Volume 8, Mammalogy and Ornithology, plate 33, in the edition Philadelphia : J. B. Lippincott & Co., 1858. The engraving was produced by Robert Hinshelwood after T. R. Peale.
Description
Robert Hinshelwood (1812–after 1875) of New York City engraved this copper printing plate after a drawing by Expedition Naturalist Titian Ramsey Peale. The image depicts the Ptilonopus Perousei (now Many-colored Fruit Dove, Ptilinopus perousii Peale [S. polynesia]). The engraved illustration was published as Plate 33 in Volume VIII, Mammalogy and Ornithology, by John Cassin, 1858.
Location
Currently not on view
Date made
1858
publisher
Wilkes, Charles
original artist
Peale, Titian Ramsay
graphic artist
Hinshelwood, Robert
printer
Sherman, Conger
author
Cassin, John
ID Number
1999.0145.413
catalog number
1999.0145.413
accession number
1999.0145

Surveyor's Compass

The form of this compass suggests that it was made in the late 18th century. The "DEAN PHILAD" inscription refers to William Dean who, in an advertisement of June 4, 1792, described himself as a "mathematical instrument maker" who had "commenced business" at No.
Description
The form of this compass suggests that it was made in the late 18th century. The "DEAN PHILAD" inscription refers to William Dean who, in an advertisement of June 4, 1792, described himself as a "mathematical instrument maker" who had "commenced business" at No. 43, South Front Street, Philadelphia, "directly opposite the post-office." In another advertisement, this one dated January 31, 1794, Dean announced that he made and sold "Surveying instruments of every description, Theodolets, Circumferentors on an improved plan, with a noneus, &c., Leveling instruments with or without telescopes, Sextants, Quadrants, Mariner’s Compasses, &c. and every article requisite for navigation, surveying, levelling, &c."
Ref: Charles Smart, The Makers of Surveying Instruments in America Since 1700 (Troy, N.Y., 1962), pp. 36-37.
Advertisements in Dunlap’s American Daily Advertiser for June 4, 1792, and January 31, 1794.
Location
Currently not on view
maker
Dean, William
ID Number
2003.0156.01
accession number
2003.0156
catalog number
2003.0156.01

Sextant

Sextant with a double brass frame of the sort introduced by Edward Troughton in London in 1788. The silvered scale is graduated every 10 minutes from -5° to +155° and read by vernier with tangent screw and swinging magnifier to 10 seconds of arc.
Description
Sextant with a double brass frame of the sort introduced by Edward Troughton in London in 1788. The silvered scale is graduated every 10 minutes from -5° to +155° and read by vernier with tangent screw and swinging magnifier to 10 seconds of arc. The "Riggs Brothers, Philadelphia" inscription came into use in 1865, and refers to a firm that sold instruments of this sort to American customers.
Location
Currently not on view
ID Number
1989.0010.01
catalog number
1989.0010.01
accession number
1989.0010

Howard Regulator

Most nineteenth century American clocks were cheaply made for the mass market and domestic use.
Description
Most nineteenth century American clocks were cheaply made for the mass market and domestic use. But a few firms made finely finished precision clocks for applications where accuracy was vital: determining the time of scientific observations, for example, or regulating other clocks and watches. One such firm was E. Howard and Company of Boston, specialists in quality clocks, watches and scales since 1842.
This high-quality clock, made by the firm in 1874, distributed Philadelphia time for the Gold and Stock Telegraph Company in that city. Subscribers to the firm’s service of telegraphed gold prices and stock quotations could also receive a time service to set their clocks. Fitted to the mechanical movement of this Howard timepiece are assemblies that interrupt an electric telegraph circuit to indicate every half minute, full minute, five minutes and the hour.
Before 1883, towns across the nation set their own times by observing the position of the sun, so there were hundreds of local times. Instead of Eastern Standard Time, for example, there was Philadelphia Standard Time or Charleston Standard Time. Beginning in the 1850s, railroads operated on regional times, each set to an agreed-upon, arbitrary standard time. By the 1880s, there were about fifty such regional railroad times.
In November 1883, most North American railroads voluntarily agreed to adopt a standardized railway time based on zones, a system from which the time zones in use today originated.
Location
Currently not on view
date made
1874
associated date
1874
associated institution
Allegheny Observatory
Gold and Stock Telegraph Company
associated person
Bentley, Henry
manufacturer
E. Howard & Co.
ID Number
ME.333468.01
catalog number
333468.01
accession number
294351

Surveyor's Vernier Compass

This compass marked "Wm. J. Young Maker Philadelphia" has two notable features. One is that the variation arc and vernier mechanism are located on the compass face, under glass and protected from harm. A similar design appears in the drawing accompanying William J.
Description
This compass marked "Wm. J. Young Maker Philadelphia" has two notable features. One is that the variation arc and vernier mechanism are located on the compass face, under glass and protected from harm. A similar design appears in the drawing accompanying William J. Young's 1830 patent application for an "Improved Surveying Compass." That instrument, however, had a full divided circle rather than a small variation arc. The other feature of this compass--a dark face and a silvered needle ring--was also described in Young's patent, and seems to be found on all Young compasses with a needle 5 inches or longer. The Journal of the Franklin Institute 10 (1832): 34, explained that this improvement of Young's "consists in colouring the surface of the compass plate green, or bronzing it, instead of silvering it in the usual way, thereby relieving the eye from the unpleasant and injurious effects of the white plate. A narrow silvered rim surrounds the bronzed surface, giving a distinct view of the needle point."
This compass dates from the late 1840s or early 1850s, after the expiration of Young's patent and before Young began placing serial numbers on his instruments. The variation arc extends 20 some degrees either way, and is graduated to 30 minutes. The vernier is moved by rack and pinion located on the south arm and hidden under a brass plate, and reads to single minutes. There is an outkeeper and a level vial (now missing) on the north arm.
Ref: D. J. Warner, "William J. Young. From Craft to Industry in a Skilled Trade," Pennsylvania History 52 (1985): 53-68.
Location
Currently not on view
maker
Young, William J.
ID Number
1982.0104.03
accession number
1982.0104
catalog number
1982.0104.03

Dry Card Compass

This compass has a wooden bowl gimbal mounted in a wooden box. The paper card has an ornate American eagle with a ribband in its mouth reading "E PLURIBUS UNUM" at north. The inscriptions read "Wm Helffricht. Philadelphia" and "W. H. C.
Description
This compass has a wooden bowl gimbal mounted in a wooden box. The paper card has an ornate American eagle with a ribband in its mouth reading "E PLURIBUS UNUM" at north. The inscriptions read "Wm Helffricht. Philadelphia" and "W. H. C. RIGGS, Front near Dock St." This card was probably made for William Davenport. It was used by his successor, William Helffricht. The overlaid signature is that of W. H. C. Riggs, a clock and watch maker in Philadelphia whose firm became W. H. C. Riggs & Son in 1863. On the side of the box is a trade card of Riggs & Brother, who were in business from 1865 to 1901.
Location
Currently not on view
date made
19th century
maker
Riggs & Brother
ID Number
PH.330471
catalog number
330471
accession number
291268

Engraved printing plate "Ichthyology, Pl."

This engraved printing plate was prepared to print an image showing four fish species in the never published Volume 21-22, Ichthyology, part of the series of publications the "United States Exploring Expedition, During the Years 1838, 1839, 1840, 1841, 1842." The plate images wer
Description (Brief)
This engraved printing plate was prepared to print an image showing four fish species in the never published Volume 21-22, Ichthyology, part of the series of publications the "United States Exploring Expedition, During the Years 1838, 1839, 1840, 1841, 1842." The plate images were engraved by W. H. Dougal after Joseph Drayton.
Description
William H. Dougal (1822–1895) of New York and Washington, D.C., (after 1844) engraved this copper printing plate depicting four species of fish documented by the U.S. Exploring Expedition. The illustrations were to be published in Volumes XXII and XXIII, Ichthyology, by Louis Agassiz. Dougal engraved 26 of the 28 plates for this volume which was never printed.
Location
Currently not on view
Date made
1849
1862
publisher
Wilkes, Charles
original artist
Drayton, Joseph
graphic artist
Dougal, William H.
author
Agassiz, Louis
ID Number
1999.0145.435
accession number
1999.0145
catalog number
1999.0145.435

Solar Compass

William J. Young mentioned this instrument in a letter that he sent to the inventor, William A. Burt, on June 14, 1848: "On the 21st of April I sent to Mr. John Ferris of Pauline, Dutchess Co. N.Y. one Solar Compass." A Ferris descendant gave it to the Smithsonian.
Description
William J. Young mentioned this instrument in a letter that he sent to the inventor, William A. Burt, on June 14, 1848: "On the 21st of April I sent to Mr. John Ferris of Pauline, Dutchess Co. N.Y. one Solar Compass." A Ferris descendant gave it to the Smithsonian. The horizontal circle is silvered, graduated to 30 minutes, and read by opposite verniers. A telescope is mounted at one side of the compass, and a counterweight is mounted on the other. With the telescope is a vertical circle that is graduated to 30 minutes, and read by vernier to single minutes. The inscriptions read: "Burts Patent" and "Made by Wm. J. Young Philada."
A solar compass is a railroad compass with a solar attachment that allows surveyors to find north by reference to the sun rather than by reference to the magnetic needle. The form originated with William Austin Burt, a United States Deputy Surveyor who began surveying government lands in Michigan in 1833. In 1835, while working in an area of Wisconsin where there were large deposits of iron ore, Burt experienced great difficulty in using his standard vernier compass. By December he had roughed out his ideas for a solar compass, and asked William J. Young to make a model that he could submit to the Patent Office. Burt received a patent (#9428) the following year, and the Franklin Institute awarded him the Scott’s Medal for this "ingenious" instrument. But, as the solar compass was not yet serviceable, Burt went back to the drawing board. In 1840, confident that he had solved all the problems of his design, Burt asked Young to produce solar compasses. In 1850, the year that Burt’s patent expired, the General Land Office adopted the solar compass as a standard instrument for all major boundary lines in regions of magnetic disturbance, and demand rose accordingly. Claiming that he had never received even $300 "for his right in said invention," Burt petitioned Congress to renew his patent, but to no avail.
Burt’s solar apparatus has three arcs: one for setting the latitude of the land to be surveyed; one for setting the declination of the sun; and one for setting the hour of the day. In the latter half of the 19th century, several instrument makers offered solar attachments of this sort that could be used with transit instruments.
Ref: William A. Burt, Description of the Solar Compass (Detroit, 1844).
William A. Burt, A Key to the Solar Compass, and Surveyor’s Companion (Philadelphia, 1855).
John Burt, History of the Solar Compass Invented by Wm. A. Burt (Detroit, 1878).
Location
Currently not on view
maker
Young, William J.
inventor
Burt, William A.
ID Number
1983.0548.03a
accession number
1983.0548
catalog number
1983.0548.03
1983.0548.03a

Engraved printing plate "Procellaria nivea"

This engraved printing plate was prepared to print an image of "Procellaria nivea" (now Pagodroma nivea - Snow Petrel) for the publication "United States Exploring Expedition, During the Years 1838, 1839, 1840, 1841, 1842," Volume 8, Mammalogy and Ornithology, plate 42, in the ed
Description (Brief)
This engraved printing plate was prepared to print an image of "Procellaria nivea" (now Pagodroma nivea - Snow Petrel) for the publication "United States Exploring Expedition, During the Years 1838, 1839, 1840, 1841, 1842," Volume 8, Mammalogy and Ornithology, plate 42, in the edition Philadelphia : J. B. Lippincott & Co., 1858. The engraving was produced by Rawdon, Wright, Hatch and Edson after T. R. Peale.
Description
The firm of Rawdon, Wright, Hatch and Edson (1830s–1850s) of New York City prepared this copper printing plate after a drawing by Expedition Naturalist Titian Ramsey Peale. It depicts the Procellaria nivea (now Pagodroma nivea or Snow Petrel). The engraved illustration was published as Plate 42 in Volume VIII, Mammalogy and Ornithology, by John Cassin, 1858.
Location
Currently not on view
Date made
1858
publisher
Wilkes, Charles
original artist
Peale, Titian Ramsay
graphic artist
Rawdon, Wright, Hatch and Edson
printer
Sherman, Conger
author
Cassin, John
maker
Peale, Titian Ramsay
ID Number
1999.0145.422
accession number
1999.0145
catalog number
1999.0145.422

Engraved printing plate "Pleiodus strigirostris"

This engraved printing plate was prepared to print an image of "Pleiodus strigirostris" (now Didunculus strigirostris - Tooth-billed Pigeon or Samoan Pigeon) for the publication "United States Exploring Expedition, During the Years 1838, 1839, 1840, 1841, 1842," Volume 8, Mammalo
Description (Brief)
This engraved printing plate was prepared to print an image of "Pleiodus strigirostris" (now Didunculus strigirostris - Tooth-billed Pigeon or Samoan Pigeon) for the publication "United States Exploring Expedition, During the Years 1838, 1839, 1840, 1841, 1842," Volume 8, Mammalogy and Ornithology, plate 34, in the edition Philadelphia : J. B. Lippincott & Co., 1858. The engraving was produced by W. H. Dougal after T. R. Peale.
Description
William H. Dougal (1822–1895) of New York and Washington, D.C., (after 1844) engraved this copper printing plate after a drawing by Expedition Naturalist Titian Ramsey Peale. The image depicts the Pleiodus strigirostris (now Didunculus strigirostris, Tooth billed pigeon or Samoan Pigeon). The engraved illustration was published as Plate 34 in Volume VIII, Mammalogy and Ornithology, by John Cassin, 1858.
Location
Currently not on view
Date made
1858
publisher
Wilkes, Charles
original artist
Peale, Titian Ramsay
graphic artist
Dougal, William H.
printer
Sherman, Conger
author
Cassin, John
ID Number
1999.0145.414
catalog number
1999.0145.414
accession number
1999.0145

Surveyor's Vernier Compass

The "Wm. J. Young Maker 3641 Philadelphia" inscription indicates that this compass was made around 1859. The face is dark, and the needle ring is silvered. An outkeeper is on the face at west, and a circular level at east.
Description
The "Wm. J. Young Maker 3641 Philadelphia" inscription indicates that this compass was made around 1859. The face is dark, and the needle ring is silvered. An outkeeper is on the face at west, and a circular level at east. The variation arc on the north arm extends 20 degrees either way, and reads by vernier to single minutes. The arms are unusually thick, making the compass unusually heavy. The box is marked "J. H. Marvin Lexington Ky."
Location
Currently not on view
maker
Young, William J.
ID Number
2000.0241.01
accession number
2000.0241
catalog number
2000.0241.01

Lithographic printing stone "Australian Fossils, Plate 9"

The image on this lithographic stone was prepared to print an image in the publication "United States Exploring Expedition, During the Years 1838, 1839, 1840, 1841, 1842," Volume 10, "Geology - Atlas," 1849.
Description (Brief)
The image on this lithographic stone was prepared to print an image in the publication "United States Exploring Expedition, During the Years 1838, 1839, 1840, 1841, 1842," Volume 10, "Geology - Atlas," 1849. The image depicts "Australian Fossils, Plate 9." The images was prepared by the lithographic firm Sarony & Major after illustrations by James Dwight Dana.
Description
The firm of Sarony & Major of Philadelphia, working between 1846 and 1857, prepared this lithographic printing stone after a drawing by James Dwight Dana (1813–1895) depicting Australian fossils. The lithographic illustration was published as Plate 4 in U.S. Exploring Expedition publication Volume X, Geology, by James D. Dana, 1849.
Location
Currently not on view
Date made
1849
publisher
Wilkes, Charles
original artist
Dana, James Dwight
graphic artist
Sarony & Major
printer
Sherman, Conger
ID Number
1999.0145.462
accession number
1999.0145
catalog number
1999.0145.462

Abbé Refractometer

Warren P. Valentine began making refractometers when World War I limited the import of European instruments into the United States.
Description
Warren P. Valentine began making refractometers when World War I limited the import of European instruments into the United States. By 1920 the National Bureau of Standards reported that Valentine's Precision Refractometer was “the most accurate Abbé refractometer we have so far tested.”
In 1928, Valentine received the Edward Longstreth Medal of the Franklin Institute in “consideration of the meritorious work shown in the improvement of the mechanical and optical parts of the Abbé refractometer, thereby increasing its accuracy.”
This example is marked “VALENTINE REFRACTOMETER NO. 591 INDUSTRO-SCIENTIFIC CO. PHILADELPHIA.” The National Bureau of Standards transferred it to the Smithsonian in 1965.
Location
Currently not on view
maker
Valentine, Warren P.
ID Number
PH.326622
catalog number
326622
accession number
261654

Lithograph of bird species "Ericornis Melanura and Scytalopus Fuscus"

Thomas Sinclair (ca 1805-1881) of Philadelphia produced this chromolithographic print of "Ericornis melanura [Gray] adult and Scytalopus fuscus [Gould],” now "Chilia melanura" (Crag chilia), and "Scytalopus fuscus" (Dusky tapaculo), from an original illustration by William Dreser
Description (Brief)
Thomas Sinclair (ca 1805-1881) of Philadelphia produced this chromolithographic print of "Ericornis melanura [Gray] adult and Scytalopus fuscus [Gould],” now "Chilia melanura" (Crag chilia), and "Scytalopus fuscus" (Dusky tapaculo), from an original illustration by William Dreser (ca 1820, fl. 1849-1860). The image was published as Plate XXI in Volume 2, following page 188 of Appendix F (Zoology-Birds) by John Cassin (1813-1869) in the report describing "The U.S. Naval Astronomical Expedition to the Southern Hemisphere during the Years 1849, 1850, 1851, and 1852" by James M. Gillis (1811-1865). The volume was printed in 1855 by A. O. P. Nicholson (1808-1876) of Washington, D.C.
Location
Currently not on view
date of book publication
1855
graphic artist
Sinclair, Thomas
original artist
Dreser, William
printer
Nicholson, A. O. P.
publisher
United States Navy
author
Cassin, John
Gilliss, James Melville
ID Number
2008.0175.05
accession number
2008.0175
catalog number
2008.0175.05

Wye Level

The inscriptions on this small level read "HELLER & BRIGHTLY, Philad" and "U.S.G.S. 82." The U. S.
Description
The inscriptions on this small level read "HELLER & BRIGHTLY, Philad" and "U.S.G.S. 82." The U. S. Geological Survey transferred this instrument to the Smithsonian in 1908, noting that it had been used by the Water Resources Branch of the Survey but was no longer suited to the work of the organization. It must have been made to order, as it does not have a Heller & Brightly serial number, and it is not listed in Heller & Brightly's Remarks on Engineers' Surveying Instruments.
Location
Currently not on view
maker
Heller & Brightly
ID Number
PH.248698.01
accession number
48341
catalog number
248698.01

Our collection database is a work in progress. We may update this record based on further research and review. Learn more about our approach to sharing our collection online.

If you would like to know how you can use content on this page, see the Smithsonian's Terms of Use. If you need to request an image for publication or other use, please visit Rights and Reproductions.