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.

Date: 1890s

Abbé Refractometer

A refractometer measures the refractive index of stuff. Ernst Abbé built his first one in 1869 and used it in his work designing lenses for the Carl Zeiss Optical Works in Jena, Germany. Zeiss began advertising Abbé refractometers in 1881.
Description
A refractometer measures the refractive index of stuff. Ernst Abbé built his first one in 1869 and used it in his work designing lenses for the Carl Zeiss Optical Works in Jena, Germany. Zeiss began advertising Abbé refractometers in 1881. The inscriptiion on this example reads “N˚ 148 Carl Zeiss Jena” and “Germany.” Zeiss records indicate that it was delivered to J. W. Queen & Co., an important instrument dealer in Philadelphia on July 2, 1890. Queen sold it to the Department of Chemical Engineering at the University of Michigan.
Ref: Richard A. Paselk, “The Evolution of the Abbé Refractometer,” Bulletin of the Scientific Instrument Society 62 (1999): 19-22.
Location
Currently not on view
date made
after 1890-07-02
maker
Carl Zeiss
ID Number
PH.319718
accession number
239025
catalog number
319718

Mars Globe

The cartouche reads: “GLOBE DE MARS / dressé / PAR L NIESTEN / d’après les observations faites / A BRUXELLES & A Milan / NOMENCLATURE SCHIAPARELLI / NOMENCLATURE GREEN / J.
Description
The cartouche reads: “GLOBE DE MARS / dressé / PAR L NIESTEN / d’après les observations faites / A BRUXELLES & A Milan / NOMENCLATURE SCHIAPARELLI / NOMENCLATURE GREEN / J. Lebèque & Co Bruxelles.”
Since the several planets orbit the Sun at different speeds, Mars is better seen at some times than at others. The opposition of 1877, when the Earth was between Mars and the Sun, attracted widespread attention. This small globe is one result of that attention. It was published by J. Lebèque & Co., in Brussels, Belgium, around 1892. The map was drawn by Louis Niesten, a Belgian astronomer. It incorporates the ideas of Giovanni Schiaparelli, an Italian astronomer who saw dark lines on the surface of the Red Planet and referred to them as “canali” (channels). It also incorporates the ideas of Nathaniel Everett Green, an English artist and astronomer who was famous for his drawings of the planets, and who believed the lines to be an optical illusion.
This globe may have been acquired for the Smithsonian by Samuel Pierpont Langley, the astrophysicist who served as the third Secretary of the Institution, and who established the Smithsonian Astrophysical Observatory. In 1900, perhaps in reaction to Nicola Tesla, a quixotic inventor who announced plans to communicate with Martians, the Smithsonian published a lengthy account of Mars and the Martian controversy.
Ref: “Aréographie. Description physique de la planète Mars,” Ciel et Terre 13 (1892): 195-211.
Articles on Mars in (1900): 157-172.
Location
Currently not on view
date made
ca 1892
associated person
Niesten, Louis
Schiaparelli, Giovanni
Green, Nathaniel Everett
maker
J. Lebeque & Co.
ID Number
PH.311768
catalog number
311768
accession number
152769

Minimum Thermometer

This Rutherford-type alcohol-in-glass thermometer is mounted on a flat metal plate marked "H. J. GREEN N.Y." and "No. 2352" and "SIGNAL SERVICE U.S. ARMY." A white porcelain strip on the plate is graduated every 5 degrees Fahrenheit from 65 to 115. The stem is marked "U.S.
Description
This Rutherford-type alcohol-in-glass thermometer is mounted on a flat metal plate marked "H. J. GREEN N.Y." and "No. 2352" and "SIGNAL SERVICE U.S. ARMY." A white porcelain strip on the plate is graduated every 5 degrees Fahrenheit from 65 to 115. The stem is marked "U.S. 2352" and graduated (but not numbered) every degree. The whole is enclosed in an outer glass tube. It dates from the period 1885-1890 when Henry J. Green was working in New York.
Location
Currently not on view
date made
1885-1890
maker
H. J. Green
ID Number
PH.314555
catalog number
314555
accession number
204612

Maximum and Minimum Thermometers

Sset of two glass thermometers, each with a grooved aluminum plate marked "H. J. GREEN B'KLYN. N.Y." and "SIGNAL CORPS, U.S. ARMY." One is also marked "No. 41500" and "MAXIMUM" and the other is marked "No. 44505" and "MINIMUM." Each stem has a milk white back.
Description
Sset of two glass thermometers, each with a grooved aluminum plate marked "H. J. GREEN B'KLYN. N.Y." and "SIGNAL CORPS, U.S. ARMY." One is also marked "No. 41500" and "MAXIMUM" and the other is marked "No. 44505" and "MINIMUM." Each stem has a milk white back. The clear front of the maximum stem is graduated every degree F. from -34 to +128. The clear front of the minimum stem is graduated every degree Fahrenheit from -34 to +112.
The thermometers are held in a Townsend support marked "Julien P. Friez & Sons." This support, which was introduced around 1905, enables the maximum thermometer to be released from its normal horizontal position and whirled rapidly around, and the minimum thermometer to be tilted so that the index can slide down to the end of the spirit column.
Location
Currently not on view
date made
after 1890
maker
H. J. Green
ID Number
PH.308198
catalog number
308198
accession number
70852
70852

Assmann Psychrometer

Richard Assmann, a German meteorologist and professor at the University of Berlin, designed an "aspiration psychrometer" that used a clockwork fan to draw air past the bulbs. The "R. Fuess Berlin-Steglitz 1121460" inscription on this example identifies the manufacturer.Ref: R.
Description
Richard Assmann, a German meteorologist and professor at the University of Berlin, designed an "aspiration psychrometer" that used a clockwork fan to draw air past the bulbs. The "R. Fuess Berlin-Steglitz 1121460" inscription on this example identifies the manufacturer.
Ref: R. Assmann, "Aspirationspsychromometer," Zeitschrift fur Instrumentenkunde 12 (1892): 1-12.
R. Fuess, Liste D2 über Thermometer, Psychrometer, Hygrometer und Hypsometer (Steglitz, 1910), pp. 6-8.
Location
Currently not on view
date made
after 1891
after 1892
maker
R. Fuess
ID Number
PH.317727
accession number
231230
catalog number
317727

Gravity Pendulums (3)

These are some of the earliest examples of the pendulums that Thomas C. Mendenhall designed soon after he became superintendent of the U.S. Coast and Geodetic Survey. One is marked "U.S.C. & G.S. A1"; the second "U.S.C. & G.S. A2"; and the third "U.S.C.& G.S.
Description
These are some of the earliest examples of the pendulums that Thomas C. Mendenhall designed soon after he became superintendent of the U.S. Coast and Geodetic Survey. One is marked "U.S.C. & G.S. A1"; the second "U.S.C. & G.S. A2"; and the third "U.S.C.& G.S. A3." Each is also stamped with the date "1891." The dummy pendulum (presumably marked "A0") is missing.
Each pendulum is made of a copper-aluminum alloy, with a flat stem supporting a lenticular bob. Each has a period of swing of nearly ½ second, so that a coincidence between the pendulum and a chronometer would occur every 5 or 6 minutes. These pendulums are similar to those designed by von Sterneck of Austria in the late 1880s, and widely used in Europe. Mendenhall, however, reversed the mode of support, putting the plane surface on the pendulum, and the knife edge on the corresponding stand. This design, he claimed, made the pendulums less liable to accidental injury.
The Coast and Geodetic Survey produced many sets of Mendenhall apparatus, and used them until the 1930s. It transferred this example to the Smithsonian in 1955.
Ref: Victor Lenzen and Robert Multhauf, "Development of Gravity Pendulums in the 19th Century," United States National Museum Bulletin 240 (1965): 301-348.
C. H. Swick, Modern Methods of Measuring the Intensity of Gravity (Washington, D.C.: United States Coast and Geodetic Survey, 1921).
T. C. Mendenhall, "Determination of Gravity with the New Half-Second Pendulum," Report of the Superintendent of the U.S. Coast and Geodetic Survey for 1890-91, part 2, pp. 503-564.
Location
Currently not on view
date made
1891
ID Number
PH.314639
accession number
208213
catalog number
314639

Maximum and Minimum Soil Thermometer

Charles F. Marvin and Milton Whitney, both of the U.S. Weather Bureau, introduced this type of Combined Maximum and Minimum Soil Thermometer in 1893. This example has a wood and brass frame. A brass plate on the frame is marked "H. J. GREEN B'KLYN N.Y." and "No. 8 U.S.
Description
Charles F. Marvin and Milton Whitney, both of the U.S. Weather Bureau, introduced this type of Combined Maximum and Minimum Soil Thermometer in 1893. This example has a wood and brass frame. A brass plate on the frame is marked "H. J. GREEN B'KLYN N.Y." and "No. 8 U.S. WEATHER BUREAU" and graduated every 5 degrees Fahrenheit from -20 to +170. The glass thermometer inside the frame is filled with mercury and alcohol. The back of the stem is milk glass. The clear front is marked "U.S. 8" and graduated every degree Fahrenheit from -20 to +180. The Weather Bureau transferred it to the Smithsonian in 1954.
Ref: C. F. Marvin and M. Whitney, "Instructions for Use of Combined Maximum and Minimum Soil Thermometer," U.S. Weather Bureau Circular G (1894).
Location
Currently not on view
date made
after 1890
maker
H. J. Green
ID Number
PH.314540
catalog number
314540
accession number
204612

Set of Charts, Evans' Arithmetical Study

Around 1900 many American educators advocated the use of objects in teaching mathematics and the sciences. R. O. Evans Company of Chicago published this set of twenty chromolithographed charts.
Description
Around 1900 many American educators advocated the use of objects in teaching mathematics and the sciences. R. O. Evans Company of Chicago published this set of twenty chromolithographed charts. They were designed to apply the object method “to the entire subject of practical arithmetic.” The title chart shows a man in classical garb holding a diagram of the Pythagorean theorem and a pair of dividers, expounding to a child. Other instruments displayed include a pencil, a drawing pen, a magnetic compass, several geometric models, a globe, a telescope, two set squares, an hourglass, and one of Evans’s charts.
Charts include extensive commentary for teachers. There are sheets entitled Counting and Writing Numbers, Reviews and Colors, Addition, Subtraction, Multiplication, and Division,. Other charts discuss Fractions, Weights and Measures, the Metric System, and Mensuration (one chart considers the measurement of flat surfaces, another one 3-dimensional solids). There also are charts on Business Methods (3 charts), Lumber and Timber Measure,Surveying, Percentage, Commercial and Legal Forms, and Book Keeping. A variety of objects are shown.
The paper, cloth-backed charts are held together at the top by a piece of fabric that is tacked to a wooden backing. This backing slides into an oak case decorated with machine-made molding and panels. A mark on the case reads: This is the (/) Property of (/) F. C. Adams (/) Hillsboro N. H. (/) May 28 - 1902 (/) Loaned to (/) Miss L. Hany (?) (/) Teacher School Dist. No. 17. F.C. Adams is probably Freeman C. Adams (1845-1913) of Hillsborough and Manchester, N.H. This suggests that this particular example of Evans’ Arithmetical Study was used by a woman who taught at a school in New Hampshire.
Location
Currently not on view
date made
1897
maker
R. O. Evans Company
ID Number
2009.0086.01
accession number
2009.0086
catalog number
2009.0086.01

Celestial Globe

The cartouche reads “H. SCHEDLER’S / CELESTIAL GLOBE / (12 inch diameter) / Exhibiting all the stars visible to / the naked eye up to the sixth magnitude / H. SCHEDLER. / JERSEY CITY, N.J. / Patented Nov.
Description
The cartouche reads “H. SCHEDLER’S / CELESTIAL GLOBE / (12 inch diameter) / Exhibiting all the stars visible to / the naked eye up to the sixth magnitude / H. SCHEDLER. / JERSEY CITY, N.J. / Patented Nov. 1868 / Entered according to Act of Congress.” Broken black lines represent the constellation boundaries, while the constellation figures are in red.
The globe has a three-legged wooden stand with metal braces, a metal horizon circle, and a metal meridian circle.
Joseph Schedler was a German immigrant who worked in New York and New Jersey, publishing books and globes. His globes won medals at several local and international exhibitions, and were widely used in the public schools of several American cities. His son Herman continued the business from the late 1880s until after the turn of the century. The referenced patent on this globe was #84,398 issued to Edward Weissenborn. It pertained to an “Improvement in the Construction of School Globes.”
This example was owned by Samuel Corby, an itinerant science lecturer who succeeded to the business begun by his father-in-law, Charles Came.
Ref: Schedler’s Illustrated Manual for the Use of the Terrestrial and Celestial Globes (New York and Jersey City: H. Schedler, 1889).
D. J. Warner, “The Geography of Heaven and Earth,” Rittenhouse 2 (1988): 125-127.
Location
Currently not on view
date made
ca 1890
maker
Schedler, Joseph
Schedler, Herman
ID Number
1989.0743.438
accession number
1989.0743
catalog number
1989.0743.438

Mathematical Chart, Metric System

In the wake of the Revolution of 1789, French scientists developed a new system of weights and measures known in English-speaking countries as the metric system. A handful of early 19th-century American mathematics textbooks discussed metric measurements.
Description
In the wake of the Revolution of 1789, French scientists developed a new system of weights and measures known in English-speaking countries as the metric system. A handful of early 19th-century American mathematics textbooks discussed metric measurements. In the 1860s, metric measures were legalized in the United States, although they were not mandatory. A few advocates of the new system, most notably the distinguished librarian Melville Dewey, joined together to form the American Metrological Society and to advocate the use of metric measures. This chart was prepared by the Society for classroom use.
The tan paper chart shows a meter length divided into decimeters, centimeters, and millimeters. It also shows a liter container and a block 1,000 cubic centimeters in size. It gives the value in United States currency of silver coins weighing from 1 gram to 1000 grams. A mark at the bottom front of the chart reads: Copies of this chart will be mailed on receipt of ten cents in postage stamps. (/) ADDRESS AMERICAN METROLOGICAL SOCIETY, 41 EAST 49TH ST., N.Y. CITY.
Science magazine noted publication of the chart in 1891, which is used as the approximate date of the object. This example was found uncatalogued in the collections of the Smithsonian Institution Libraries.
Location
Currently not on view
date made
ca 1891
maker
American Metrological Society
ID Number
1990.3012.01
catalog number
1990.3012.01
nonaccession number
1990.3012

Aspiration Psychrometer

In the late 1880s, a German meteorologist named Adolph Richard Assmann designed an aspiration instrument with a fan to draw air past the wet- and dry-bulb thermometers of a common psychrometer.
Description
In the late 1880s, a German meteorologist named Adolph Richard Assmann designed an aspiration instrument with a fan to draw air past the wet- and dry-bulb thermometers of a common psychrometer. Assmann also enclosed the device in double-walled ducts of polished metal designed to minimize the effect of radiation. This form remained in widespread use for many years.
An inscription on the clockwork housing of this example reads "R. Fuess / Berlin-Steglitz / No. 189500." That on the back side of the thermometer scales reads "CENTIGRADE R. FUESS, BERLIN-STEGLITZ JENAER Normaliglas 16111."
Ref: R. Fuess, Liste D2 über Thermometer, Psychrometer, Hygrometer und Hypsometer (Steglitz bei Berlin, 1910), p. 6.
Location
Currently not on view
date made
after 1891
maker
R. Fuess
ID Number
1988.0794.01
catalog number
1988.0794.01
accession number
1988.0794

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