Measuring & Mapping - Overview
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.
"Measuring & Mapping - Overview" showing 75 items.
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Dip Circle
- Description
- This is one of eight dip circles that Edward Kahler made for the American expeditions sent to observe the transit of Venus across the face of the sun in 1874. It is marked "106." The vertical circle is graduated to 20 minutes. The horizontal circle is graduated to 30 minutes and read by vernier to single minutes. Both are silvered. The U.S. Naval Observatory transferred it to the Smithsonian in 1966.
Ref: Steve Dick, Sky and Ocean Joined (Cambridge, 2002), p. 250.
- Date made
- ca 1874
- maker
- Kahler
- ID Number
- PH*327714
- catalog number
- 327714
- accession number
- 283554
- Data Source
- National Museum of American History, Kenneth E. Behring Center
Universal Magnetometer with Dip Circle
- Description
- This instrument, marked "D.T.M. C.I.W. No 21," was designed and built by the Department of Terrestrial Magnetism of the Carnegie Institution of Washington in 1912. It incorporates an astronomical telescope and magnetometer for the determination of magnetic declination and horizontal intensity, and a dip circle with a Lloyd-Creak attachment for the determination of inclination and intensity. It is relatively light and easy to manipulate. It was used for a few years and then set aside when the universal magnetometer with earth inductor came into use.
This instrument ended up in the hands of the U.S. Coast and Geodetic Survey, which transferred it to the Smithsonian in 1959.
Ref: J. A. Fleming, "Two New Types of Magnetometers Made by the Department of Terrestrial Magnetism of the Carnegie Institution of Washington," Terrestrial Magnetism 16 (1911): 1-12.
Carnegie Institution of Washington. Department of Terrestrial Magnetism. Land Magnetic Observations, 1911-1913 (Washington, D.C., 1915), pp. 7-9.
- Location
- Currently not on view
- Date made
- 1912
- maker
- Carnegie Institution of Washington. Department of Terrestrial Magnetism
- ID Number
- PH*316504
- accession number
- 225703
- catalog number
- 316504
- Data Source
- National Museum of American History, Kenneth E. Behring Center
Engraved woodblock of the "Earliest map showing [the] location of the Cherokees, 1597"
- Description
- This engraved woodblock of the “Earliest map showing [the] location of the Cherokees, 1597” was prepared by the Government Printing Office in Washington, D.C.; the image was published as Plate VII (p.128) in an article by Charles Royce (1845-1923) entitled “The Cherokee Nation of Indians: a narrative of their official relations with the colonial and federal governments” in the Fifth Annual Report of the Bureau of Ethnology to the Secretary of the Smithsonian, 1883-84.
- Location
- Currently not on view
- date made
- 1887
- publisher
- Government Printing Office
- Bureau of American Ethnology
- printer
- Government Printing Office
- author
- Royce, Charles C.
- block maker
- J. J. & Co.
- ID Number
- 1980.0219.1531
- catalog number
- 1980.0219.1531
- accession number
- 1980.0219
- Data Source
- National Museum of American History, Kenneth E. Behring Center
Chromolithograph of bird species "Phalacrocorax Brasilianus"
- Description
- Thomas Sinclair (c.1805–1881) of Philadelphia printed this lithograph of “Phalacrocorax brasilianus [GM]” or Neotropic cormorant, from an original sketch by William Dreser (c.1820–after 1860) of Philadelphia (1847–1860) and New York (1860). The illustration was printed in 1855 by A.O.P. Nicholson in Washington, D.C. as Plate XXVIII in the “Birds” section of volume II of The United States Naval Astronomical Survey to the Southern Hemisphere, written by John Cassin (1813–1869).
- Location
- Currently not on view
- date of book publication
- 1855
- graphic artist
- Sinclair, Thomas
- original artist
- Dreser, William
- publisher
- United States Navy
- printer
- Nicholson, A. O. P.
- author
- Cassin, John
- Gilliss, James Melville
- ID Number
- 2008.0175.02
- accession number
- 2008.0175
- catalog number
- 2008.0175.02
- Data Source
- National Museum of American History, Kenneth E. Behring Center
Engraving of snake species "Elaps nigrocinctus"
- Description
- William Dougal (1822–1895) of Washington, D.C. engraved this print of “Elaps nigrocinctus [Grd]”, now "Micrurus nigrocinctus nigrocinctus" or Central American coral snake, from an original sketch John H. Richard (c.1807–1881) of Philadelphia. The illustration was published in 1855 by A.O.P. Nicholson in Washington, D.C. as Plate XXXV in the “Reptiles, fishes, crustacea” section of volume II of The United States Naval Astronomical Survey to the Southern Hemisphere, written by Charles Girard (1822–1895).
- Location
- Currently not on view
- date of book publication
- 1855
- original artist
- Richard, John H.
- graphic artist
- Dougal, William H.
- book printer, publisher
- Nicholson, A. O. P.
- publisher
- United States Navy
- author
- Girard, Charles
- Gilliss, James Melville
- ID Number
- 2008.0175.08
- accession number
- 2008.0175
- catalog number
- 2008.0175.08
- Data Source
- National Museum of American History, Kenneth E. Behring Center
Engraving of fish and frog species "Trichomycterus Maculatus, Cheiroden Pisciculus, Cystignathus Taeniatus, and Phyllobates Auratus"
- Description
- William Dougal (1822–1895) of Washington, D.C. engraved this print of “Trichomycterus maculatus [Cuv. -Val.], Cheiroden pisciculus [Grd], Cystignathus taeniatus [Grd], and Phyllobates auratus [Grd]” now "Trichomycterus maculatus," "Cheiroden pisciculus," "Batrachyla taeniata," (Banded tree frog), and "Dendrobates auratus" (Poison dart frog, Green poison frog, Green and black poison dart frog) from an original sketch by John H. Richard (c.1807–1881) of Philadelphia. The illustration was published in 1855 by A.O.P. Nicholson in Washington, D.C. as Plate XXXIV in the “Reptiles, fishes, crustacea” section of volume II of The United States Naval Astronomical Survey to the Southern Hemisphere, written by Charles Girard (1822–1895). The print is also signed by Girard.
- Location
- Currently not on view
- date of book publication
- 1855
- original artist
- Richard, John H.
- graphic artist
- Dougal, William H.
- printer
- Nicholson, A. O. P.
- publisher
- United States Navy
- author
- Girard, Charles
- Gilliss, James Melville
- ID Number
- 2008.0175.16
- accession number
- 2008.0175
- catalog number
- 2008.0175.16
- Data Source
- National Museum of American History, Kenneth E. Behring Center
Engraving of fish species "Nematoenys inermis"
- Description
- William Dougal (1822–1895) of Washington, D.C. engraved this print of “Nematogenys inermis [Grd]” from an original sketch by John H. Richard (c.1807–1881) of Philadelphia. The illustration was published in 1855 by A.O.P. Nicholson in Washington, D.C. as Plate XXXII in the “Reptiles, fishes, crustacea” section of volume II of The United States Naval Astronomical Survey to the Southern Hemisphere, written by Charles Girard (1822–1895).
- Location
- Currently not on view
- date made
- 1855
- original artist
- Richard, John H.
- graphic artist
- Dougal, William H.
- printer
- Nicholson, A. O. P.
- publisher
- United States Navy
- author
- Girard, Charles
- Gilliss, James Melville
- ID Number
- 2008.0175.17
- accession number
- 2008.0175
- catalog number
- 2008.0175.17
- Data Source
- National Museum of American History, Kenneth E. Behring Center
Engraving of fossilized "Mastodon Andium"
- Description
- William Dougal (1822–1895) of Washington, D.C. engraved this print of “Mastodon andium,” from an original sketch by John H. Richard (c.1807–1881) of Philadelphia. The illustration was published in 1855 by A.O.P. Nicholson in Washington, D.C. as Plate XIII in the “Paleontology: fossil mammals” section of volume II of The United States Naval Astronomical Survey to the Southern Hemisphere, written by Jeffries Wyman (1814–1874).
- Location
- Currently not on view
- date of book publication
- 1855
- original artist
- Richard, John H.
- graphic artist
- Dougal, William H.
- printer
- Nicholson, A. O. P.
- publisher
- United States Navy
- author
- Gilliss, James Melville
- ID Number
- 2008.0175.24
- accession number
- 2008.0175
- catalog number
- 2008.0175.24
- Data Source
- National Museum of American History, Kenneth E. Behring Center
Engraving of lizard species "Cnemidophorus Presignis"
- Description
- William Dougal (1822–1895) of Washington, D.C. engraved this print of “Cnemidophorus presignis [sic]," now Ameiva ameiva (Giant ameiva or Amazon racerunner), from an original sketch by John H. Richard (c.1807–1881) of Philadelphia. This is an unfinished proof signed by Charles Girard (1822–1895), whose final proof was published in 1855 by A.O.P. Nicholson in Washington, D.C. as Plate XXXVIII in his “Reptiles, fishes, crustacea” section of volume II of The United States Naval Astronomical Survey to the Southern Hemisphere.
- Location
- Currently not on view
- date of book publication
- 1855
- original artist
- Richard, John H.
- graphic artist
- Dougal, William H.
- printer
- Nicholson, A. O. P.
- publisher
- United States Navy
- author
- Gilliss, James Melville
- ID Number
- 2008.0175.25
- accession number
- 2008.0175
- catalog number
- 2008.0175.25
- Data Source
- National Museum of American History, Kenneth E. Behring Center
Engraving of lizard species "Proctotretus Tenius, Proctoretus Femoratus, and Proctotretus Stantoni"
- Description
- William Dougal (1822–1895) of Washington, D.C. engraved this print of “Cnemidophorus presignis [sic],” now Ameiva ameiva (Giant ameiva or Amazon racerunner), from an original sketch by John H. Richard (c.1807–1881) of Philadelphia. This is an unfinished proof signed by Charles Girard (1822–1895), whose final version was published in 1855 by A.O.P. Nicholson in Washington, D.C. as Plate XXXVIII in his “Reptiles, fishes, crustacea” section of volume II of The United States Naval Astronomical Survey to the Southern Hemisphere.
- Location
- Currently not on view
- date of book publication
- 1855
- original artist
- Richard, John H.
- graphic artist
- Dougal, William H.
- printer
- Nicholson, A. O. P.
- publisher
- United States Navy
- author
- Gilliss, James Melville
- ID Number
- 2008.0175.29
- accession number
- 2008.0175
- catalog number
- 2008.0175.29
- Data Source
- National Museum of American History, Kenneth E. Behring Center