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.

Resource Type: Thermometers

Thermometer

This mercury-in-glass thermometer has a constriction in the stem just above the cylindrical bulb. The milk white back is marked "J. Hicks. 8 Hatton Garden.
Description
This mercury-in-glass thermometer has a constriction in the stem just above the cylindrical bulb. The milk white back is marked "J. Hicks. 8 Hatton Garden. London" and "207116." The clear front is graduated every tenth of a degree [Fahrenheit?] from -14.5 to +40.5, with calibration marks at 0 and 36. It is 24.5 inches long. It was made after Hicks began working at 8 Hatton Garden in 1864 and before the expansion of his business to 8, 9, & 10 Hatton Garden in the 1880s.
Location
Currently not on view
maker
J. J. Hicks
ID Number
PH.317447
accession number
230396
catalog number
317447

Thermometer

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

Minimum Thermometer

Alcohol-in-glass Rutherford-type thermometer mounted on a flat brass plate marked "NO. 1483 SIGNAL SERVICE U.S.A." and "JAS. GREEN NEW YORK." A white porcelain strip on the plate is graduated every 5 degrees Fahrenheit from -35 to+115. The bulb is spherical.
Description
Alcohol-in-glass Rutherford-type thermometer mounted on a flat brass plate marked "NO. 1483 SIGNAL SERVICE U.S.A." and "JAS. GREEN NEW YORK." A white porcelain strip on the plate is graduated every 5 degrees Fahrenheit from -35 to+115. The bulb is spherical. The stem is marked "U.S. 1483" and graduated (but not numbered) every degree Fahrenheit from -35 to +122. It was made between 1870 (when the U.S. Signal Service established a national weather service) and 1879 (when James Green took his nephew into partnership and began trading as J. & H. J. Green).
John Rutherford, a Scottish country doctor, devised this form in 1790. Green stated in 1900 that it was "the only one in general use." It has a black index inside the tube. "On a decrease of temperature the alcohol recedes, taking with it the glass index; on an increase of temperature the alcohol alone ascends the tube, leaving the end of the index farthest from the bulb indicating the minimum temperature."
Ref.: Henry J. Green, Meteorological and Scientific Instruments (Brooklyn, 1900), p. 23.
Location
Currently not on view
date made
1870-1879
ID Number
PH.317465
accession number
230396
catalog number
317465

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

Minimum Thermometer

Alcohol-in-glass Rutherford-type thermometer mounted on a white porcelain plate that is marked "575" and with the M/O monogram of the British Meteorological Office and "J. HICKS, 8, 9 & 10. HATTON GARDEN LONDON" and an monogram.
Description
Alcohol-in-glass Rutherford-type thermometer mounted on a white porcelain plate that is marked "575" and with the M/O monogram of the British Meteorological Office and "J. HICKS, 8, 9 & 10. HATTON GARDEN LONDON" and an monogram. The plate is also graduated every 5 degrees Fahrenheit from -20 to +110. The thermometer stem is marked "575" and with the M/O monogram; and graduated every degree Fahrenheit from -25 to +110. The whole is mounted on a wooden base that has metal guards protecting the bulb, and that once had two metal loops so that it could be hung horizontally.
James J. Hicks (1837-1916) apprenticed with Casella and rose to the position of foreman before beginning in business on his own. He rented a shop at 8 Hatton Garden in 1864 and expanded to 8, 9 & 10 Hatton Garden in the 1880s.
Ref: Anita McConnell, King of the Clinicals. The Life and Times of J. J. Hicks (1837-1916) (York, 1998).
Location
Currently not on view
maker
J. J. Hicks
ID Number
PH.317471
accession number
230396
catalog number
317471

Minimum Thermometer

Alcohol-in-glass Rutherford-type thermometer. The back of the stem is milk glass. The clear front is marked "J. & H. J. Green. N.Y." and "Signal Service U.S. Army No. 14" and graduated every degree Fahrenheit from -90 to +135.
Description
Alcohol-in-glass Rutherford-type thermometer. The back of the stem is milk glass. The clear front is marked "J. & H. J. Green. N.Y." and "Signal Service U.S. Army No. 14" and graduated every degree Fahrenheit from -90 to +135. It was made between 1879 and 1885 (when James Green worked in partnership with his nephew Henry).
John Rutherford, a Scottish country doctor, devised this form in 1790. Green stated in 1900 that it was "the only one in general use." It has a black index inside the tube. "On a decrease of temperature the alcohol recedes, taking with it the glass index; on an increase of temperature the alcohol alone ascends the tube, leaving the end of the index farthest from the bulb indicating the minimum temperature."
Ref.: Henry J. Green, Meteorological and Scientific Instruments (Brooklyn, 1900), p. 23.
Location
Currently not on view
date made
1879-1885
maker
J. & H. J. Green
ID Number
PH.317467
accession number
230396
catalog number
317467

Thermometer

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

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

Hicks Solar Radiation Thermometer

Mercury-in-glass thermometer with a blackened bulb. The scale extends from -20 to +200 degrees Fahrenheit, and is graduated by degrees and marked every 10 degrees. The stem is marked "No.
Description
Mercury-in-glass thermometer with a blackened bulb. The scale extends from -20 to +200 degrees Fahrenheit, and is graduated by degrees and marked every 10 degrees. The stem is marked "No. 30 Patent 3647." This refers to the British patent for “Testing vacuum of solar thermometer” issued to J. J. Hicks, a meteorological instrument maker in London, in 1873. The surrounding glass container is marked "J. CALL New York."
This may have been used by John William Draper, an American polymath who received the Rumford Prize in in 1875 for his long-standing work on solar radiation. It may also have been used by his son, Daniel Draper, a noted meteorologist.
Ref: James J. Hicks, Illustrated & Descriptive Catalogue of Standard, Self-Recording, and Other Meteorological Instruments (London, about 1874), pp. 60-61.
Location
Currently not on view
date made
1870s
maker
Hicks, J. J.
ID Number
PH.333988
catalog number
333988
accession number
304826

Thermometer

Mercury-in-glass thermometer with a milk white tube and metal bulb guard.
Description
Mercury-in-glass thermometer with a milk white tube and metal bulb guard. The supporting metal plate is marked, at top, “TAYLOR BRO’S / ROCHESTER, N.Y.” and graduated from 8 to +120 degrees Fahrenheit, with indications for “FREEZ/ING,” “TEMPE/RATE,” SUMR/HEAT,” and “BLOOD/HEAT.” This is mounted, in turn, on a wood board. It came to the Smithsonian in 1923.
Location
Currently not on view
date made
1872-1890
maker
Taylor Brothers
ID Number
PH.308155
catalog number
308155
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

Bath Thermometer

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

Maximum Thermometer

Phillips-type mercury-in-glass thermometer attached to a white porcelain plate on a wooden board that is designed to be hung horizontally. The plate is marked "MAXIMUM" and "L. CASELLA, Maker to the Admiralty & Ordnance, LONDON" and "12975" and is graduated every 5 degrees F.
Description
Phillips-type mercury-in-glass thermometer attached to a white porcelain plate on a wooden board that is designed to be hung horizontally. The plate is marked "MAXIMUM" and "L. CASELLA, Maker to the Admiralty & Ordnance, LONDON" and "12975" and is graduated every 5 degrees F. from -25 to +130. The thermometer has a spherical bulb; the back of the stem is milk white; the front of the stem is marked "12975" and is graduated (but not numbered) every degree (presumably Fahrenheit) from -26 to +130. Casella trade literature notes that this thermometer was designed "for registration of temperature in shade," that the thermometer was "engine divided on the stem," and that the "improved" porcelain plate "effectively resisted "frost and all effects of weather."
As in the form described in 1832 by John Phillips, a British geologist, this thermometer has a small air bubble near the top of the mercury column. As the temperature rises, the detached bit of the mercury is pushed up; and this bit remains in place when the temperature falls.
This example was owned by John William Draper or one of his sons, all of whom were accomplished men of science.
Ref: D. J. Warner, "Casella and Phillips' Maximum Thermometers for Meteorology and Medicine," Bulletin of the Scientific Instrument Society 115 (2012): 36-38.
Location
Currently not on view
date made
1860-1897
maker
L. P. Casella
ID Number
PH.334276
accession number
304826
catalog number
334276

Geissler Minimum Thermometer

This is a Rutherford-type minimum thermometer with a bifurcated bulb. The tube scale is graduated every .2 degrees from -50 to +40, and its milk-glass backing is marked "H.
Description
This is a Rutherford-type minimum thermometer with a bifurcated bulb. The tube scale is graduated every .2 degrees from -50 to +40, and its milk-glass backing is marked "H. Geissler in Bonn" and "Centigrade." The whole is enclosed in an outer glass cylinder.
Heinrich Geissler began manufacturing chemical and physical apparatus in Bonn in 1852 and soon acquired a worldwide reputation. Franz Müller joined the firm in 1874 and, after Geissler's death in 1879, did business as Dr. H. Geissler, Nachfolger Franz Müller.
This example came from Western Reserve University, and was probably used by Edward W. Morley, a noted American scientist.
Location
Currently not on view
date made
ca 1852-1897
maker
Geissler
ID Number
PH.322607
catalog number
322607
accession number
249272

Thermometer

Mercury in glass Fahrenheit thermometer with a brass scale and a brass protective case. The scale ranges from 0 to 220 degrees, graduated every two degrees, and marked "FREEZING", "BLOOD HEAT", and "WATER BOILS." It is also marked "G. TAGLIBUE 302 PEARL ST.
Description
Mercury in glass Fahrenheit thermometer with a brass scale and a brass protective case. The scale ranges from 0 to 220 degrees, graduated every two degrees, and marked "FREEZING", "BLOOD HEAT", and "WATER BOILS." It is also marked "G. TAGLIBUE 302 PEARL ST. N.Y."
Tagliabue was an extended family of Italian descent that specialized in producing such glass instruments as thermometers, barometers, hydrometers and hygrometers. Giuseppe Tagliabue (1812-1878) was born in Como, Italy, apprenticed with a brother in England, immigrated to the United States, established a business in New York in 1834, and won numerous awards for his instruments.
Ref.: "Giuseppe Tagliabue," in , vol 18, p. 273.
Location
Currently not on view
maker
Tagliabue, Giuseppe
ID Number
PH.333985
accession number
304826
catalog number
333985

Thermometer

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

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

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

Minimum Thermometer

Alcohol-in-glass Rutherford-type thermometer mounted on a brass plate marked "J. & H. J. GREEN NEW YORK" and "YALE MIN. STD. MAY 1881. CORNING GLASS, SQUIBBS ETHER" and "SIGNAL SERVICE U.S. ARMY No. 3." The plate is graduated every 5 degrees F. from 0 to +250.
Description
Alcohol-in-glass Rutherford-type thermometer mounted on a brass plate marked "J. & H. J. GREEN NEW YORK" and "YALE MIN. STD. MAY 1881. CORNING GLASS, SQUIBBS ETHER" and "SIGNAL SERVICE U.S. ARMY No. 3." The plate is graduated every 5 degrees F. from 0 to +250. The back of the stem is milk white. The clear front is graduated (but not numbered) every degree from 0 to +250.
John Rutherford, a Scottish country doctor, devised this form in 1790. Green stated in 1900 that it was "the only one in general use." It has a black index inside the tube. "On a decrease of temperature the alcohol recedes, taking with it the glass index; on an increase of temperature the alcohol alone ascends the tube, leaving the end of the index farthest from the bulb indicating the minimum temperature."
Ref.: Henry J. Green, Meteorological and Scientific Instruments (Brooklyn, 1900), p. 23.
Location
Currently not on view
date made
1879-1885
maker
J. & H. J. Green
ID Number
PH.328772
accession number
277511
catalog number
328772

Minimum Thermometer

Rutherford-type alcohol-in-glass thermometer with a spherical bulb. The back of the tube is milk white; the front has a scale that extends from -40 to +108, marked in degrees; the side is marked “U.S. 2795.”Currently not on view
Description
Rutherford-type alcohol-in-glass thermometer with a spherical bulb. The back of the tube is milk white; the front has a scale that extends from -40 to +108, marked in degrees; the side is marked “U.S. 2795.”
Location
Currently not on view
ID Number
PH.317468
catalog number
317468
accession number
230396

Thermometer

Simple mercury-in-glass thermometer with a brass scale housed in a maple case suitable for hanging on the wall. The scale is graduated in degrees from -40 to +150. and marked "C.J. Tagliabue Mfg. Co. Bklyn. N.Y. Made in U.S.A."Currently not on view
Description
Simple mercury-in-glass thermometer with a brass scale housed in a maple case suitable for hanging on the wall. The scale is graduated in degrees from -40 to +150. and marked "C.J. Tagliabue Mfg. Co. Bklyn. N.Y. Made in U.S.A."
Location
Currently not on view
date made
after 1885
maker
C. J. Tagliabue Manufacturing Company
ID Number
PH.335521
catalog number
335521
accession number
321714

Thermometer

This mercury-in-glass thermometer has a cylindrical bulb. A milk white plate carries a scale that ranges from -20 to +360 degrees Centigrade graduated every degree. The back of the plate is marked “72.” The thermometer tube is joined to the plate only at the top.
Description
This mercury-in-glass thermometer has a cylindrical bulb. A milk white plate carries a scale that ranges from -20 to +360 degrees Centigrade graduated every degree. The back of the plate is marked “72.” The thermometer tube is joined to the plate only at the top. The whole is enclosed in a glass tube. It came from the Chemistry Department at the Johns Hopkins University.
Location
Currently not on view
date made
ca 1900
ID Number
CH.315872
catalog number
315872
accession number
221777

Thermometer

Mercury-in-glass thermometer with a fairly large cylindrical bulb that could probably float in water.
Description
Mercury-in-glass thermometer with a fairly large cylindrical bulb that could probably float in water. An auxiliary glass tube attached to the stem holds a hand-written piece of paper marked “Thermometre Selon Fahrenheit et Decimal par Pixii rue du Jardinet N° 2 A Paris.” This paper also carries two parallel scales. One extends from -30 to +127 graduated every degree, with indications for “Glace Tempere” at zero and “Eau Bte” at 100. The other extends from -22 to +260, graduated every 2 degrees.
This thermometer was made between 1818 and 1838 when Pixii worked at rue du Jardinet N° 2. It may have belonged to the American scientist, John William Draper.
Location
Currently not on view
date made
1818-1838
maker
Maison Pixii
ID Number
PH.333986
accession number
304826
catalog number
333986

Minimum Thermometer

This unfinished alcohol-in-glass Rutherford-type thermometer has a spherical bulb. The back of the tube is milk white; there is no scale on the front.Currently not on view
Description
This unfinished alcohol-in-glass Rutherford-type thermometer has a spherical bulb. The back of the tube is milk white; there is no scale on the front.
Location
Currently not on view
ID Number
PH.317461
catalog number
317461
accession number
230396

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