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

Maximum Thermometer

Mercury-in-glass thermometer so designed that an air bubble separates a small bit of mercury from the main part of the column.
Description
Mercury-in-glass thermometer so designed that an air bubble separates a small bit of mercury from the main part of the column. When the instrument is mounted horizontally, the detached mercury remains in place when the rest of the column falls, thereby indicating the maximum temperature. John Phillips, an English geologist, introduced the form at the 1832 meeting of the British Association for the Advancement of Science.
The bulb is spherical. The tube has a milk white back; the scale on the front extends from -30 to +110, graduated by degrees, The supporting metal plate is marked "Taylor, Rochester, N.Y." and "U.S.W.B." and "No.43191" and "MAXIMUM."
Location
Currently not on view
date made
1910-1960
maker
Taylor Instrument Co.
ID Number
PH.317473
catalog number
317473
accession number
230396

Minimum Thermometer

Alcohol-in-glass Rutherford-type thermometer mounted on a grooved metal plate that is marked "H. J. GREEN B'KLYN, N.Y." and "No. 8727 U.S. WEATHER BUREAU" and "MINIMUM" and graduated every 5 degrees F. from -30 to +110.
Description
Alcohol-in-glass Rutherford-type thermometer mounted on a grooved metal plate that is marked "H. J. GREEN B'KLYN, N.Y." and "No. 8727 U.S. WEATHER BUREAU" and "MINIMUM" and graduated every 5 degrees F. from -30 to +110. The stem is graduated every degree Fahrenheit from -39 to +110.
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
1900-1960
maker
H. J. Green
ID Number
PH.317462
accession number
230396
catalog number
317462

Metallic Thermometer

Joseph Saxton, an accomplished scientist, inventor, and mechanician, joined the staff of the U.S. Coast Survey in 1844 at the request of the new Superintendent, Alexander Dallas Bache, and began developing instruments for measuring terrestrial phenomena.
Description
Joseph Saxton, an accomplished scientist, inventor, and mechanician, joined the staff of the U.S. Coast Survey in 1844 at the request of the new Superintendent, Alexander Dallas Bache, and began developing instruments for measuring terrestrial phenomena. Among the first was a metallic thermometer for use in deep water. Bache described this in 1848, saying that it proved “decidedly the most convenient” of the several forms tried. The thermometer coil was “like that of Breguet, only of much stouter material, and of two metals, silver and platinum, soldered together.” And the “plan of registering resembles that adopted by Jurgensen of Copenhagen, and by Montandon of Washington, in their metallic thermometers.”
Several Saxton thermometers were made in the Coast Survey’s instrument shop, and still in use at the start of World War I. This example came to the Smithsonian in 1929. Here the thermometer is held in a brass cylinder that is encased in a hexagonal frame. The cap of the cylinder is marked “SAXTON’S / METALLIC THERMOMETER / 17.” The scale around the circumference of the thermometer extends from -40 to +174 degrees Fahrenheit; one of the two pointers registers the lowest temperature to which the thermometer was exposed.
Ref: [A. D. Bache], Report of the superintendent of the coast survey, showing the progress of the work during the year ending November, 1848, p. 39.
Bache, “Lecture on the Gulf Stream, prepared at the request of the American Association for the Advancement of Science,” Report of the Superintendent of the Coast Survey during the Year 1860, pp. 165-176, on 166.
Location
Currently not on view
date made
1850-1900
Inventor
Saxton, Joseph
ID Number
PH.309672
catalog number
309672
accession number
106954

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

Mason's Hygrometer

This instrument consists of wet and dry bulb thermometers with a liquid vial (missing in this instance) in between, mounted on a wooden board. The inscriptions on the board read "MASON'S HYGROMETER" and "B. PIKE JR.
Description
This instrument consists of wet and dry bulb thermometers with a liquid vial (missing in this instance) in between, mounted on a wooden board. The inscriptions on the board read "MASON'S HYGROMETER" and "B. PIKE JR. 294 BROADWAY, NEW YORK." The scales for the thermometers are on the board. That for the dry-bulb thermometer is graduated every degree Fahrenheit from 0 to +135. That for the wet-bulb thermometer is graduated every degree Fahrenheit from -5 to +145.
John Abraham Mason, an English surgeon, described the form in 1836. Benjamin Pike Jr., a leading purveyor of instruments in New York between 1843 and 1864, claimed that the use of an instrument of this sort "in the sick chamber will be at once evident, as a fire kept up in a closed room naturally dries the air which the patient has to breathe."
Ref: John Abraham Mason, "Description of a New Hygrometer," Records of General Science 4 (1836): 23-35 and 96-111.
B. Pike Jr., Illustrated, Descriptive Catalogue of Optical, Mathematical and Philosophical Instruments (New York, 1856), vol. 2, pp. 135-138.
Location
Currently not on view
date made
1843-1864
maker
B. Pike, Jr.
ID Number
PH.333982
accession number
304826
catalog number
333982

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

Lowe's Psychrometer

Nathaniel M. Lowe, the manufacturer of Edson's Hygrodeik, patented a similar but somewhat simpler instrument for showing relative humidity. In this example, the chart is marked "LOWE'S Graphic Hygrometer or Hygrodeik" and "N. M.
Description
Nathaniel M. Lowe, the manufacturer of Edson's Hygrodeik, patented a similar but somewhat simpler instrument for showing relative humidity. In this example, the chart is marked "LOWE'S Graphic Hygrometer or Hygrodeik" and "N. M. LOWE, BOSTON, Mass." and "Patented April 9, 1878."
Ref: N. M. Lowe, "Psychrometers," U.S. Patent 202276 (1878).
Location
Currently not on view
date made
late 19th century
maker
Lowe, Nathaniel M.
ID Number
PH.325390
catalog number
325390
accession number
254284

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

Lowe's Graphic Hygrometer

Nathaniel M. Lowe, the manufacturer of Edson's Hygrodeik, designed a similar but somewhat simpler instrument for showing the dew point and relative humidity. In this example, the chart is on a white enamel plate marked "LOWE'S Graphic hygrometer" and a monogram.
Description
Nathaniel M. Lowe, the manufacturer of Edson's Hygrodeik, designed a similar but somewhat simpler instrument for showing the dew point and relative humidity. In this example, the chart is on a white enamel plate marked "LOWE'S Graphic hygrometer" and a monogram. It came to the Smithsonian from Trenton State University.
Ref: N. M. Lowe, "Psychrometers," U.S. Patent 202276 (1878).
Location
Currently not on view
maker
Lowe, Nathaniel M.
ID Number
1982.0230.11
accession number
1982.0230
catalog number
1982.0230.11

Winlock and Huddleston Psychrometer

Joseph Winlock, a professor of astronomy at Harvard, and John S. F.
Description
Joseph Winlock, a professor of astronomy at Harvard, and John S. F. Huddleston, a thermometer and barometer maker in Boston, designed this instrument to provide "a simple, efficient, and convenient means of determining the relative humidity of the atmosphere or the dew-point, so called, without calculation."
In this example, the dry bulb thermometer is mounted on a plate that is marked "HYGROPHANT" and "PATENTED MARCH 31, 1874" and and "805" and graduated every degree Fahrenheit from -30 to +125. The wet bulb thermometer is mounted on a plate that is marked "HUDDLESTON BOSTON" and graduated every degree Fahrenheit from -10 to +125. Between the two is a rotating chart that indicates relative humidity, as well as a plate graduated every degree from 0 to +110.
Ref: J. Winlock and J. S. F. Huddleston, "Psychrometer," U.S. Patent 149176 (1874).
Location
Currently not on view
maker
Huddleston, John S. F.
Winlock, Joseph
ID Number
PH.314864
catalog number
314864
accession number
211531

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

Hair Hygrometer (replica)

This is a replica of the second model of the hair hygrometer devised by Horace Benedict de Saussure (1740-1799).Ref: Horace Bénédict de Saussure, Essais sur l’Hygrometrie (Neufchatel, 1783).Currently not on view
Description
This is a replica of the second model of the hair hygrometer devised by Horace Benedict de Saussure (1740-1799).
Ref: Horace Bénédict de Saussure, Essais sur l’Hygrometrie (Neufchatel, 1783).
Location
Currently not on view
date made
before 1954
ID Number
PH.314542
catalog number
314542
accession number
204612

Hygrograph

A hydgrograph records humidity as it varies over time. This example, which came to the Smithsonian in 1923, is marked "JULIEN P. FRIEZ & SONS, BELFORT METEOROLOGICAL OBSERVATORY, 1230 E.
Description
A hydgrograph records humidity as it varies over time. This example, which came to the Smithsonian in 1923, is marked "JULIEN P. FRIEZ & SONS, BELFORT METEOROLOGICAL OBSERVATORY, 1230 E. BALTIMORE STREET, BALTIMORE, M.D., U.S.A." and "HYGROGRAPH, Type ML 16, SERIAL 74865, SIGNAL CORPS, U.S. ARMY, ORDER 110418 DATE 2.8.23." The firm began trading under this name in 1914.
Location
Currently not on view
date made
1914-1923
maker
Friez, Julien P.
Julien P. Friez & Sons
ID Number
PH.308178.1
accession number
70852
catalog number
308178.1

Alluard Hygrometer

Emile Alluard, professor of physics at the University of Clermont-Ferrand and director of the meteorological observatory on the nearby Puy-de-Dôme, described this type of hygrometer in 1878.
Description
Emile Alluard, professor of physics at the University of Clermont-Ferrand and director of the meteorological observatory on the nearby Puy-de-Dôme, described this type of hygrometer in 1878. A modification of Regnault's instrument, it consists of a square vessel made of polished nickel-plated brass; at either side of the vessel, but not touching it, are strips of similar material. In use, the vessel would be filled with ether, and this ether would be cooled by evaporation by means of an aspirating bulb. When dew appears on the shiny surface of the vessel, a thermometer in the vessel indicates the temperature of the ether at that point. A second thermometer (lacking in this example) measures the ambient temperature.
Robert A. Millikan described the Alluard hygrometer as being one of the "most perfect forms of the dew-point hygrometer" in his Mechanics, Molecular Physics and Heat, a popular college text that was first published in 1903, and that aimed "to present Physics as a science of exact measurement." The illustration on p. 167 shows an Alluard hygrometer made by William Gaertner, a German immigrant who settled in Chicago and who specialized in precision instruments.
This example is marked "WM. GAERTNER & CO. CHICAGO." It was made between 1898 and 1923, when the firm traded as Wm. Gaertner & Co.
Ref: M. Alluard, "Nouvel Hygromètre a Condensation," Journal de Physique et le Radium 7 (1878): 328-330.
Location
Currently not on view
date made
early 20th century
maker
Gaertner Scientific Corporation
ID Number
PH.323821
catalog number
323821
accession number
256846

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

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