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: United Kingdom

Sextant

This sextant has a brass frame. The silvered scale is graduated every 10 minutes from -5° to +145° and read by vernier with tangent screw and swinging magnifier to single minutes of arc.
Description
This sextant has a brass frame. The silvered scale is graduated every 10 minutes from -5° to +145° and read by vernier with tangent screw and swinging magnifier to single minutes of arc. The inscriptions read "Frodsham, Liverpool" and "2602." It came from Vassar College, and may have been used by the professor of astronomy, Maria Mitchell.
Ref: Gloria Clifton, Directory of British Scientific Instrument Makers 1550-1851 (London, 1995), p. 106.
Location
Currently not on view
date made
ca 1865
maker
Charles Frodsham
ID Number
1980.0318.03
catalog number
1980.0318.03
accession number
1980.0318

Reflecting Circle

This incomplete Borda-type reflecting circle belonged to Augustana College in Rock Island, Illinois, and may have been acquired when that school was established in 1860. The inscription reads "J. & I. Hardy, London."Currently not on view
Description
This incomplete Borda-type reflecting circle belonged to Augustana College in Rock Island, Illinois, and may have been acquired when that school was established in 1860. The inscription reads "J. & I. Hardy, London."
Location
Currently not on view
date made
nineteenth century
maker
J. & I. Hardy
ID Number
1987.0196.04
catalog number
1987.0196.04
accession number
1987.0196

Dip Circle

The Department of Terrestrial Magnetism of the Carnegie Institution of Washington bought this Kew pattern dip circle in 1919.
Description
The Department of Terrestrial Magnetism of the Carnegie Institution of Washington bought this Kew pattern dip circle in 1919. The inscription reads "Dover, Charlton Kent, Circle 240." With four needles, tripod, case, Kew certificate of examination, and importation charges, it cost $184.70. The vertical circle is silvered, graduated to 30 minutes, and read by opposite verniers to single minutes. The horizontal circle is silvered, graduated to 30 minutes, and read by vernier to single minutes.
Location
Currently not on view
Date made
ca 1919
maker
Dover
ID Number
1983.0039.02
accession number
1983.0039
catalog number
1983.0039.02

Sang Platometer

In 1851 Scottish civil engineer John Sang (1809–1887) exhibited a form of rolling planimeter at the Crystal Palace Exhibition in London.
Description
In 1851 Scottish civil engineer John Sang (1809–1887) exhibited a form of rolling planimeter at the Crystal Palace Exhibition in London. He called the instrument a "planometer," which he changed to "platometer" when he described the instrument to the Royal Scottish Society of Arts a few months later. Like all planimeters, this object measures the area bounded by a closed curve. Sang's device is also significant because it inspired James Clerk Maxwell to work on planimeters, which in turn gave James and William Thomson ideas that helped them develop a mechanical integrator.
This example is an improved version of Sang's original instrument. A brass cone is on a steel rod that connects two brass rollers. An open brass frame surrounds the rod. It has four brass rollers that slide along a brass base to which the rod is anchored. The frame has a tracer with an ivory handle, a silver measuring wheel that rolls against the side of the cone, and a small magnifying glass. The handle on the tracer arm and the construction of the measuring wheel are changed from Sang's original design.
The measuring wheel rotates only when the tracer arm's movement is perpendicular to the axis of the cone. The rate at which the wheel moves depends on its distance from the vertex of the cone. For example, when the tracer arm moves a distance S perpendicular to the axis, its reading changes by an amount equal to the area of a rectangle with sides equal to S times the distance from the vertex. The instrument is in a wooden case.
This object was received at the Smithsonian in 1983.
References: John Sang, "Description of a Platometer, an Instrument for Measuring the Areas of Figures Drawn on Paper," Transactions of the Royal Scottish Society of Arts 4 (1852): 119–129; "Description of Sang's Platometer, or Self-Acting Calculator of Surface," Journal of the Franklin Institute 23 (1852): 238–241; Charles Care, "Illustrating the History of the Planimeter" (Undergraduate 3rd Year Project, University of Warwick, 2004), 39–44; Charles Care, "A Chronology of Analogue Computing," The Rutherford Journal 2 (2006–2007), http://www.rutherfordjournal.org/article020106.html.
Location
Currently not on view
date made
1850s
maker
Sang, John
ID Number
1983.0474.02
accession number
1983.0474
catalog number
1983.0474.02

Capt. Field's Improved Hinged Parallel Rule Signed Henry Hughes & Son

This 21" German silver hinged parallel rule has two small knobs for positioning the instrument. Brass round pieces cover the screws securing the two hinges. An indentation is on both blades at the center of the rule, with a line marking the center.
Description
This 21" German silver hinged parallel rule has two small knobs for positioning the instrument. Brass round pieces cover the screws securing the two hinges. An indentation is on both blades at the center of the rule, with a line marking the center. The edges of the top blade are marked as a rectangular protractor, and the edges of the bottom blade are marked for nautical compass points.
The center of the top blade is marked: U. S. C. & G. S. NO. 331. The right end of the top blade is marked: CAPT. FIELD'S IMPD. The right end of the lower blade is marked: H. HUGHES & SON LTD. LONDON. The left end has the firm's "HUSUN" logo, with a sun above the letters and waves below the letters.
Capt. William Andrew Field (about 1796–1871) of Britain added a protractor and compass scales to hinged parallel rules in 1854. This made it easier for ship navigators to move the rule without losing track of the ship's course. Henry Hughes & Son made marine and aeronautical navigational instruments in London from 1828 to 1947 and incorporated in 1903. According to the accession file, the U.S. Coast & Geodetic Survey acquired this rule on August 21, 1919, and last issued it on September 5, 1922. Compare to MA.309662 and MA.309663.
References: "Field's Parallel Rule," The Nautical Magazine and Naval Chronicle 23, no. 5 (May 1854): 280; Peggy A. Kidwell, "American Parallel Rules: Invention on the Fringes of Industry," Rittenhouse 10, no. 39 (1996): 90–96; National Maritime Museum, "Captain Field's Improved Parallel Rule," Object ID NAV0602, http://collections.rmg.co.uk/collections/objects/42814.html; Science Museum Group, "Henry Hughes and Son Limited," Collections Online – People, http://collectionsonline.nmsi.ac.uk/detail.php?type=related&kv=58792&t=people.
Location
Currently not on view
date made
1919
ID Number
MA.309661
catalog number
309661
accession number
106954

Watt Steam Engine Indicator (Replica, 1927)

An engine indicator is an instrument for graphically recording the cylinder pressure versus piston displacement through an engine stroke cycle. Engineers use the resulting diagram to check the design and performance of the engine.
Description
An engine indicator is an instrument for graphically recording the cylinder pressure versus piston displacement through an engine stroke cycle. Engineers use the resulting diagram to check the design and performance of the engine. This is a replica of the original steam indicator invented in the late 18th Century by James Watt of Scotland. This was the first device intended to measure the varying pressures within a stem engine’s cylinder as it was working.
Originally consisting of only the brass cylinder and piston, Watt’s assistant (John Southern) made the important improvement of the recording tablet and pencil that resulted in the ability to make a lasting recording of a complete cycle of the engine under measurement. The piston of the engine moved the tablet horizontally via an attached cord, and the indicator’s piston moved the pencil vertically. A weight attached to the tablet via a pulley caused the tablet to move back horizontally as the engine’s piston returned to its original position. The result is a steam pressure-volume diagram which is used to measure the efficiency and other attributes of the steam engine.
The introduction of this steam indicator in the late 1790s by James Watt had a great impact on the understanding of how the steam behaved inside the engine's cylinder and thereby enabled much more exacting and sophisticated designs. The devices also changed how the economics and efficiency of steam engines were portrayed and marketed. They helped the prospective owner of a machine better understand how much his fuel costs would be for a given amount of work performed.
Measurement of fuel consumed and work delivered by the engine was begun by Watt, who in part justified the selling price of his engines on the amount of fuel cost the purchaser might save compared to an alternate engine. In the early days of steam power, the method to compare engine performance was based on a concept termed the engine’s “duty”. It originally was calculated as the number of pounds of water raised one foot high per one bushel of coal consumed. The duty method was open to criticism due to its inability to take into consideration finer points of efficiency in real world applications of engines. Accurate determination of fuel used in relation to work performed has been fundamental to the design and improvement of all steam-driven prime movers ever since Watt’s time. And, the steam indicators’ key contribution was the accurate measurements of performance while the engine was actually doing the work it was designed to do.
date made, reproduction
ca 1920s
Associated Date
ca 1796
maker, reproduction
U.S. National Museum
ID Number
MC.309680
catalog number
309680
accession number
107401

Capt. Field's Improved Hinged Parallel Rule Signed Henry Hughes & Son

This 21" German silver hinged parallel rule has two knobs for positioning the instrument. Brass round pieces cover the screws securing the two hinges.
Description
This 21" German silver hinged parallel rule has two knobs for positioning the instrument. Brass round pieces cover the screws securing the two hinges. The edges of the top blade are marked as a rectangular protractor, and the edges of the bottom blade are marked for nautical compass points.
The right end of the upper blade is marked: CAPT. FIELD'S IMPD. The center of the lower blade is marked: U. S. C. & G. S. NO. H. 398. The left end has the firm's "HUSUN" logo for the London instrument maker H. Hughes & Son, with a sun above the letters and waves below the letters. A circle around the logo is marked: REGISTERED TRADE MARK (/) GT BRITAIN.
Capt. William Andrew Field (about 1796–1871) of Britain added a protractor and compass scales to hinged parallel rules in 1854. This made it easier for ship navigators to move the rule without losing track of the ship's course. Henry Hughes & Son made marine and aeronautical navigational instruments in London from 1828 to 1947 and incorporated in 1903. According to the accession file, the U.S. Coast & Geodetic Survey acquired this rule on November 6, 1923, and last issued it on February 16, 1924. Compare to MA.309661 and MA.309663.
References: "Field's Parallel Rule," The Nautical Magazine and Naval Chronicle 23, no. 5 (May 1854): 280; Peggy A. Kidwell, "American Parallel Rules: Invention on the Fringes of Industry," Rittenhouse 10, no. 39 (1996): 90–96; National Maritime Museum, "Captain Field's Improved Parallel Rule," Object ID NAV0602, http://collections.rmg.co.uk/collections/objects/42814.html; Science Museum Group, "Henry Hughes and Son Limited," Collections Online – People, http://collectionsonline.nmsi.ac.uk/detail.php?type=related&kv=58792&t=people.
Location
Currently not on view
date made
1923
maker
H. Hughes & Son, Ltd.
ID Number
MA.309662
catalog number
309662
accession number
106954

Gunter Quadrant

This seventeenth century boxwood Gunter-type quadrant has two brass sights along the side of one radius. There is a hole drilled in the side of the quadrant between the sights. The plumb-bob and string which belong at the vertex are missing.
Description
This seventeenth century boxwood Gunter-type quadrant has two brass sights along the side of one radius. There is a hole drilled in the side of the quadrant between the sights. The plumb-bob and string which belong at the vertex are missing. The quadrant contains a geometric square marked from 10 to 50 to 10 in units of 2 degrees, an hour arc from 1 to 6 to 12 and an azimuth arc from 20 to 90 to 120, an ecliptic arc calibrated by zodiac symbol, a declination scale to 24 degrees, a horizon arc marked from 10 to 30, a second hour arc marked from 4 to 12 and arc marked from 10 to 50 by 10 degrees, a calendar arch named by month, and a circumference marked from 0 to 90 in units of one-half degree. There are two small "beetles" on either side of the calendar arc which may possibly be a maker's mark. This dial was made for a latitude of approximately 52 degrees.
Reference:
Abraham Rees, "Quadrant," Cyclopaedia (London, 1819), vol. 29.
The Whipple Museum of the History of Science, Catalogue 6: "Sundials and Related Instruments," Part 4, Section 3, "Horary Quadrants."
Location
Currently not on view
date made
1600-1700
ID Number
MA.319017
catalog number
319017
accession number
236091

Replica of Arundel Metrological Marble

This plaster cast is a full-sized replica of the Arundel metrological marble at the Ashmolean Museum in Oxford. The original relief was probably made around 460–430 BCE in western Asia Minor or Greece.
Description
This plaster cast is a full-sized replica of the Arundel metrological marble at the Ashmolean Museum in Oxford. The original relief was probably made around 460–430 BCE in western Asia Minor or Greece. It illustrates traditional units of measurement based on the human body, including a fathom (the width of the outstretched arms) and an ell (the distance from the elbow to the fingertip). In this example, the fathom is 6 feet, 9-57/64 inches long in modern English units, and the ell is 20-15/32 inches. It is very faint in this replica, but a human foot is shown above the figure's right arm. Seven of these feet are equal to one fathom on the relief. The Smithsonian received the replica in 1961. Earlier cataloguing suggests the British firm of Archer, Cowley & Co. made the replica.
Reference: "The Metrological Relief," ref. no. AN.Michaelis 83, Ashmolean Museum, Oxford, http://www.ashmolean.org/ash/faqs/q002/.
Location
Currently not on view
date made
1961
maker
Archer, Cowley & Company
ID Number
MA.319896
accession number
239611
catalog number
319896

Hinged Parallel Rule

This 6" ebony instrument has three blades, apparently cut from a single rectangle of wood, and is held together by intricate brass hinges.
Description
This 6" ebony instrument has three blades, apparently cut from a single rectangle of wood, and is held together by intricate brass hinges. Surveyors, cartographers, navigators, and draftsmen began using parallel rules in the 18th century to easily draw parallel lines separated by various widths. These instruments were also used for reducing or enlarging scaled drawings.
According to the donor, the rule was brought to this continent by Alexander Matheson (1788–1866), an English officer who brought troops from the West Indies to fight against the Americans in the War of 1812. After the war, he helped build the Rideau Canal and settled near Perth, Ontario. His grandson, Alexander Matheson Richey (1826–1913), a lumberman who moved to Chicago, also used the instrument.
References: Maya Hambly, Drawing Instruments: 1580–1980 (London: Sotheby's Publications, 1988), 111; Ken W. Watson, "Smiths Falls Locks 28–31," Rideau Canal World Heritage Site, http://www.rideau-info.com/canal/history/locks/h28-31-smithsfalls.html; "The Town of Perth: The Settlement of Retired Military Heroes on 'the Scotch Line,'" Toronto Daily Mail (May 14, 1887), 6–7, 10; accession file.
Location
Currently not on view
date made
early 19th century
ID Number
MA.321753
catalog number
321753
accession number
243754

Ramsden Dividing Engine

Making precisely divided scales was of great importance to eighteenth and nineteenth century navigation and science. In 1775 the English instrument-maker Jesse Ramsden completed this machine, designed to divide arcs of circles automatically.
Description
Making precisely divided scales was of great importance to eighteenth and nineteenth century navigation and science. In 1775 the English instrument-maker Jesse Ramsden completed this machine, designed to divide arcs of circles automatically. The instrument has a mahogany frame with three legs and three frictionless wheels. These wheels support a heavy bronze wheel which is covered on its outer rim with a brass ring, cut with 2160 gear teeth. These teeth engage a screw on one side of the machine. Turning this screw 6 times rotates the carriage for the stylus exactly one degree. An object to be divided was clamped to the arms of the bronze wheel, with the cutting mechanism was above it.
Ramsden's invention won him an award from the British Board of Longitude. By the mid-nineteenth century, even small American instrument-makers had begun to buy dividing engines. The Philadelphia firm of Knox and Shain, which made navigational instruments, purchased Ramsden's dividing engine from his successors for their use.
Location
Currently not on view
date made
1775
maker
Jesse Ramsden
ID Number
MA.215518
catalog number
215518
accession number
40282

Casella Scale of British and Pyramid Inches

This white ceramic rule is stored in a wooden case lined with red felt, surrounded by wooden shapes to hold it in place and underneath a piece of plywood. The interior of the rule has two scales.
Description
This white ceramic rule is stored in a wooden case lined with red felt, surrounded by wooden shapes to hold it in place and underneath a piece of plywood. The interior of the rule has two scales. The first is in red ink, divided to twentieths of a British inch, and numbered by ones from 0 to 25. A small scale dividing one inch into hundredths is to the left of this scale, and an extra 1/10" is at the right of the scale. The second scale is in black ink, divided to twentieths of a "pyramid inch," and numbered by ones from 0 to 25.
The scale is marked: SCALE OF BRITISH INCHES, (/) For residual error, at Temperature 68° F., see note on case. (/) SCALE OF 25 PYRAMID INCHES, OR 1 PYRAMID CUBIT. (/) at Temp. 68° F., = one ten-millionth of the earth's semi-axis of Rotation; with a Residual error, see note on case. The upper right corner of the scale is marked in red: B. & P. SCALE, No. 2. (/) May, 1867. The lower right corner of the scale is marked in black: MADE & DIVIDED BY (/) L. CASELLA. (/) 23. HATTON GARDEN, LONDON.
Two thermometers are screwed into the case on either side of the scale. The first is divided by single degrees Fahrenheit and numbered by tens from 20 to 140. The second is divided by two degrees Fahrenheit and numbered by tens from 10 to 150. Three-fourths of its tube has been missing since it arrived at the Museum in 1987. Both thermometers are marked: J. M. BRYSON (/) OPTICIAN (/) EDINBURGH. James Mackay Bryson (1824–1894), whose firm was known for making thermometers, came from a family of Edinburgh instrument makers and scientists.
A handwritten note on Royal Observatory of Edinburgh stationery is pasted inside the lid of the case. It reads, "1872 (/) The 'British Inches' of this scale, in Red divisional (/) lines, have been found by a preliminary Microscopic comp- (/) -arison to be true, for their whole 25 inch sum of (/) length, to within half the thickness of one of the division lines, (/) at the temperature of 68* Fah. The expansion for an in- (/) -crease of 1*F. on the whole 25 inches in length, = (/) = 0.00004 of an inch, nearly. (/)The above red British Inches are those in (/) terms of which the Earth has been measured in modern (/) times. The black Inches on the lower part of (/) the scale, are the Ancient Inches of the Great (/) Pyramid; in terms of which Inches, both the chief (/) measures of that Monument, and the modern (/) measures of the Earth, come out in round and (/) even numbers of fives and tens. They are, each (/) of them 0.001 of an inch longer than the British Inch. (/) P.S. (/) Ast. R. for Scotd."
Charles Piazzi Smyth (1819–1900) was Astronomer Royal of Scotland from 1846 to 1888. He did significant scientific work, including pioneering high-altitude observing and solar astronomy, but he was also obsessed with pyramidal numerology. From January to April, 1865, he and his wife, Jessica, made careful measurements of every surface of the Great Pyramid at Giza. He concluded that the pyramid was constructed using a measurement system he called "pyramid inches," which were each one ten-millionth of the earth's semi-axis of rotation. Since the pyramid inch was so close in length to the British inch, Smyth recommended that Great Britain retain the imperial system of weights and measures rather than adopt the metric system.
To visually demonstrate the agreement between the systems of measurement, Piazzi Smyth commissioned London instrument maker Louis Pascal Casella (1812–1897) to make rules like this one when Smyth published an account of his research in 1867. Since there is a discrepancy between the date on this rule and the note in the lid, the example owned by National Museums Scotland (online ID 000-190-004-745-C, catalog number T.1962.108) may be older than this instrument. By 1876 the Science Museum in London was also exhibiting a Casella scale of British and pyramid inches, donated by Piazzi Smyth. Library staff at Augustana College in Rock Island, Ill., were unable to determine how this object ended up at the college. Casella did not advertise the rule in his 1871 catalog.
References: Charles Piazzi Smyth, Life and Work at the Great Pyramid, 3 vol. (Edinburgh, 1867); L. Casella, An Illustrated Catalogue of Surveying, Philosophical, Optical, Photographic, and Standard Meteorological Instruments (London, 1871); Science and Art Department of the Committee of Council on Education, Catalogue of the Special Loan Collection of Scientific Apparatus at the South Kensington Museum, 2nd ed. (London, 1876), 42; H. A. Brück and M. T. Brück, The Peripatetic Astronomer: The Life of Charles Piazzi Smyth (Bristol, Eng.: Adam Hilger, 1988), 95–134; T. N. Clarke, A. D. Morrison-Low, and A. D. C. Simpson, Brass & Glass: Scientific Instrument Making Workshops in Scotland (Edinburgh, 1989), 112–117; National Museums Scotland, Online Collections Database, http://nms.scran.ac.uk/; "People: L. Casella," Waywiser, Harvard University Department of the History of Science, http://dssmhi1.fas.harvard.edu/emuseumdev/code/eMuseum.asp?lang=EN; accession file.
Location
Currently not on view
date made
1867–1872
maker
Casella, Louis Paschal
ID Number
1987.0196.01
accession number
1987.0196
catalog number
1987.0196.01

Dip Circle

This Kew pattern dip circle dates from the early decades of the twentieth century. The inscription reads "Dover, Charlton Kent, Circle 158." A paper note in the wooden carrying case states that the U.S.
Description
This Kew pattern dip circle dates from the early decades of the twentieth century. The inscription reads "Dover, Charlton Kent, Circle 158." A paper note in the wooden carrying case states that the U.S. Navy lent it for observations during the second International Polar Year which ran from September 1932 to September 1933. The loan may have been to the Carnegie Institution of Washington which, fifty years later, donated it to the Smithsonian.
Location
Currently not on view
maker
Dover
ID Number
1983.0039.03
accession number
1983.0039
catalog number
1983.0039.03

Orrery

Orrery with a mahogany base and and three short legs. The top is painted light blue. The inscription on a brass disc in the center reads “GEORGE PHILIP & SON LTD 32 FLEET ST LONDON E.C. MADE IN ENGLAND.” The Sun and the planets are represented by painted wooden spheres.
Description
Orrery with a mahogany base and and three short legs. The top is painted light blue. The inscription on a brass disc in the center reads “GEORGE PHILIP & SON LTD 32 FLEET ST LONDON E.C. MADE IN ENGLAND.” The Sun and the planets are represented by painted wooden spheres. Earth is covered by paper map gores. Mercury, Venus and Earth, are driven by an open-geared mechanism mounted on top of the center spindle column. The five distant planets have support arms from this center spindle. The drive mechanism is below the table. All moons have wire supports and are moved by hand.
George Philip (1800-1882) was a cartographer and mapmaker who began in business in Liverpool in 1834. His son George (1823-1902) joined the firm in 1848. George Philip & Son, Ltd., later moved to London.
Location
Currently not on view
date made
1850-1900
maker
George Philip & Son
ID Number
1985.0386.01
accession number
1985.0386
catalog number
1985.0386.01

Sextant

This sextant has a frame of blackened brass. The inscriptions read "H. HUGHES & SON LTD. LONDON" and "44164" and "MADE IN ENGLAND." The silvered scale is graduated every degree from -5° to +130° and read by ivory micrometer with electric light to 10 seconds of arc.
Description
This sextant has a frame of blackened brass. The inscriptions read "H. HUGHES & SON LTD. LONDON" and "44164" and "MADE IN ENGLAND." The silvered scale is graduated every degree from -5° to +130° and read by ivory micrometer with electric light to 10 seconds of arc. The batteries for the light are in the handle of the instrument. Hughes was making micrometer sextants by the early 1930s.
Steven Memoli bought this sextant in Cardiff, Wales, in 1944. He spent the war years transporting troops from the U.S. to Europe and North Africa, and also participated in the Normandy invasion. Several years after the war, having been prodded by the U.S. Circuit Court, the Department of Defense granted veteran’s status to Memoli and other merchant seamen of his ilk.
Ref: Henry Hughes & Son, Ltd., Sextants and General Navigational Instruments (London, 1938).
Location
Currently not on view
date made
1940-1945
maker
H. Hughes & Son, Ltd.
ID Number
1989.0548.01
catalog number
1989.0548.01
accession number
1989.0548

Magnetometer

This instrument, a lighter and more robust version of the standard unifilar magnetometer used at the Kew Observatory, was designed by H. A. Denholm Fraser for the Magnetic Survey of India.
Description
This instrument, a lighter and more robust version of the standard unifilar magnetometer used at the Kew Observatory, was designed by H. A. Denholm Fraser for the Magnetic Survey of India. Features include scales graduated on optical glass, and a phosphor-bronze ribbon to suspend the magnet. This example is marked "T. COOKE & SONS LTD. LONDON & YORK. No. 26" and "U.S.C.& G.S. No. 40." It was used at the U.S. Coast and Geodetic Survey's magnetic observatory in Honolulu from 1927 to the 1950s. The U.S. Geological Survey acquired it in 1973, when it took over the geomagnetic program of the federal government, and transferred it to the Smithsonian in 1982.
Thomas Cooke began in business in York, England, in 1837. The firm became T. Cooke & Sons in 1868, and T. Cooke & Sons Ltd. in 1897. A merger with Troughton & Simms Ltd. in 1922, led to the formation of Cooke, Troughton & Simms Ltd.
Photograph 82-15291 shows this magnetometer fitted with the induction apparatus developed by J. H. Nelson in 1938.
Ref: H. A. Denholm Fraser, "The Unifilar Magnetometer of the Magnetic Survey of India," Terrestrial Magnetism 6 (1901): 65-69.
T. Cooke & Sons, Illustrated Catalogue of Surveying Instruments, etc. (London, 1907), pp. 62-63.

Anita McConnell, Instrument Makers to the World. A History of Cooke, Troughton & Simms (York, 1992), pp. 69-70.

Location
Currently not on view
maker
T. Cooke & Sons Ltd.
ID Number
1982.0671.02
accession number
1982.0671
catalog number
1982.0671.02

Lloyd-Creak Dip Circle

The Department of Terrestrial Magnetism of the Carnegie Institution of Washington purchased this Lloyd-Creak circle in 1904. The inscription reads "Dover, Charlton Kent. Circle 169." With gimbal stand it cost $527.
Description
The Department of Terrestrial Magnetism of the Carnegie Institution of Washington purchased this Lloyd-Creak circle in 1904. The inscription reads "Dover, Charlton Kent. Circle 169." With gimbal stand it cost $527. The vertical circle is silvered, graduated to 30 minutes, and read by opposite verniers to single minutes. The horizontal circle is silvered, graduated to 30 minutes, and read by vernier to single minutes. An auxiliary needle on top is used to determine magnetic declination.
Ref: Carnegie Institution of Washington. Department of Terrestrial Magnetism, Land Magnetic Observations, 1905-1910 (Washington, D.C., 1912), p. 47.
Location
Currently not on view
Date made
ca 1904
maker
Dover
ID Number
1983.0039.01
accession number
1983.0039
catalog number
1983.0039.01

Solar Radiation Thermometer

In the late 18th century, scientists set out to determine the intensity of solar radiation overall, as well as the intensity of radiation in different parts of the spectrum.
Description
In the late 18th century, scientists set out to determine the intensity of solar radiation overall, as well as the intensity of radiation in different parts of the spectrum. In time they learned that the temperature of a black object was related to the intensity of the incident radiation and the movement of the ambient air. Negretti & Zambra’s solar radiation thermometer, the first commercial instrument suitable for this purpose, was unveiled in 1864. It had a blackened bulb, and was encased in a second glass tube from which the air had been evaporated. James J. Hicks obtained a British patent for a method of testing the vacuum of a solar thermometer in 1873, and described his solar radiation thermometer at a meeting of the British Meteorological Society in early 1874.
This example consists of a mercury-in-glass thermometer with a constriction in the stem just above the spherical bulb. The white enamel back of the stem is marked "202" and "J. Hicks. 8 Hatton Garn. London" and "Hicks's Patent No. 3647" and "14951" with the K/O monogram of the Kew Observatory. The clear front is graduated every degree F. from -5 to +192. This thermometer is encased in a glass jacket from which the air has been evacuated. The jacked is provided with two platinum electrodes that can be connected to a spark coil so that the vacuum can be checked, a feature described in Hicks' 1873 patent. It was made after the issuance of Hicks' patent in 1873 and before the expansion of his business to 8, 9, & 10 Hatton Garden in the 1880s.
Ref.: W. E. K. Middleton, A History of the Thermometer (Baltimore, 1966), pp. 162-164.
James J. Hicks, Illustrated and Descriptive Catalogue of Standard, Self-Recording, and Other Meteorological Instruments (London, n.d.), pp. 60-61.
Location
Currently not on view
date made
ca 1873-1885
maker
J. J. Hicks
ID Number
PH.314560
accession number
204612
catalog number
314560

Maximum Thermometer

This is a mercury-in-glass Phillips-type maximum thermometer with a spherical bulb.
Description
This is a mercury-in-glass Phillips-type maximum thermometer with a spherical bulb. The tube has a white enamel back; the scale on the front extends from zero to +125 degrees (presumably Fahrenheit) graduated every degree, and is marked "9714." The supporting white porcelain plate is marked "MAXIMUM" and "L. CASELLA. MAKER TO THE ADMIRALTY, London" and "No. 9714." The plate, in turn, is mounted on a wood back.
In this design, an air bubble separates a small bit of mercury from the main part of the column. When the temperature falls, the detached mercury remains in place indicating the maximum temperature attained until reset by the observer. John Phillips, an English geologist, introduced the form at the 1832 meeting of the British Association for the Advancement of Science. In 1856 he showed an improved form made by Louis P. Casella of London. Casella would later boast that, next to Phillips, he deserved "the exclusive merit of the introduction and arrangement of these most perfect maximum thermometers" thad had been widely adopted in Britain, on the Continent, and in the United States.
Ref: L. P. Casella, Illustrated and Descriptive Catalogue of Philosophical, Meteorological, Mathematical, Surveying, Optical and Photographic Instruments (London, 1860), p. 17.
Jack Morrell, John Phillips and the Business of Victorian Science (Aldershot, 2005).
Location
Currently not on view
date made
1865-1880
maker
L. P. Casella
ID Number
PH.326555
catalog number
326555
accession number
260956

Orrery

This crank-operated device shows the orbital motions of Mercury, Venus, and the Earth around the Sun, and the Moon around Earth. The circular wooded base rests on three short feet, and is covered with an ornately engraved paper plate.
Description
This crank-operated device shows the orbital motions of Mercury, Venus, and the Earth around the Sun, and the Moon around Earth. The circular wooded base rests on three short feet, and is covered with an ornately engraved paper plate. One cherub on this plate holds a sign that reads “Designed for the / NEW PORTABLE / ORRERIES / by W. Jones.” Another cherub holds a sign that reads “and made and sold by / W. & S. JONES / 135 Holborn / London.” There is also “A TABLE of the principal AFFECTIONS of the / PLANETS / Jan’y 1st 1794 / Published as the Act directs by / W. & S. Jones”
William S. Disbrow, a physician in Newark, N.J., who attained fame as a collector of art, books and scientific specimens, gave this instrument to the Smithsonian in 1902.
William Jones (1763-1831) and his brother Samuel (d. 1859) made and sold mathematical, optical and philosophical instruments. They began in business at 135 Holborn in 1792, and moved to 30 Holborn in 1800.
Ref: William Jones, The Description and Use of a New Portable Orrery on a Simple Construction (London, 1784).
Henry C. King and John R. Millburn, Geared to the Stars. The Evolution of Planetariums, Orreries, and Astronomical Clocks (Toronto, 1978), pp. 207-210.
Location
Currently not on view
date made
1790s
maker
W. & S. Jones
ID Number
PH.215538
catalog number
215538
accession number
40279

Dip Circle

Soon after becoming Superintendent of the U.S. Coast Survey in 1843, Alexander Dallas Bache ordered a dip circle from Henry Barrow (1790-1870), the leading producer of geomagnetic instruments in England at the time.
Description
Soon after becoming Superintendent of the U.S. Coast Survey in 1843, Alexander Dallas Bache ordered a dip circle from Henry Barrow (1790-1870), the leading producer of geomagnetic instruments in England at the time. The Survey went on to purchase several more Barrow circles of this sort and was still using them in the 1870s.
This example is marked "Henry Barrow & Co., 26 Oxendon Street, London" and "CS 9." It is based on the form that Henri P. Gambey of Paris introduced in the 1830s. The needle is long, stretching from one side of the vertical circle to the other. The vertical circle is housed within the wood and glass box, graduated to about 15 minutes, and read by opposite magnifiers. The horizontal circle is graduated and read by vernier.
Ref: Charles A. Schott, "Terrestrial Magnetism," Report of the Superintendent of the U.S. Coast Survey for 1872, Appendix No. 14, p. 248 and plate 21.
Charles A. Schott, "Terrestrial Magnetism," Report of the Superintendent of the U.S. Coast Survey for 1875, Appendix No. 16, pp. 263-264 and plate 29.
Location
Currently not on view
maker
Henry Barrow & Co.
ID Number
PH.307207
catalog number
307207
accession number
65983

Octant

Octant with an ebony frame, reinforced brass index arm, and ivory name plate. The ivory scale is graduated every 20 minutes from -3° to +100° and read by vernier with tangent screw to single minutes of arc.
Description
Octant with an ebony frame, reinforced brass index arm, and ivory name plate. The ivory scale is graduated every 20 minutes from -3° to +100° and read by vernier with tangent screw to single minutes of arc. There is also a back sight and a back horizon glass that could be used to measure angles greater than 90°. The radius is about 12 inches. An inscription reads "NORIE LONDON". John William Norie established a Navigation Warehouse in London in 1799. The firm traded as Norie & Co. in the years 1816-1839.
Ref: Gloria Clifton, Directory of British Scientific Instrument Makers 1550-1851 (London, 1895), p. 201.
Location
Currently not on view
date made
ca 1800
maker
Norie
ID Number
PH.334285
catalog number
334285
accession number
306664

Orrery

This clockwork mechanism shows Mercury, Venus, Earth and Moon orbiting the Sun. There is a dial for the Moon’s Age and another for Solar Time. The “JAMES GILES, Master of GRAVESEND / FREE-SCHOOL, Invt et Fecit.” inscription probably refers to the James Giles Jr.
Description
This clockwork mechanism shows Mercury, Venus, Earth and Moon orbiting the Sun. There is a dial for the Moon’s Age and another for Solar Time. The “JAMES GILES, Master of GRAVESEND / FREE-SCHOOL, Invt et Fecit.” inscription probably refers to the James Giles Jr. who built a curious sundial at Milton Church, and wrote a text on English grammar.
Ref: Henry C. King and John R. Millburn, Geared to the Stars. The Evolution of Planetariums, Orreries, and Astronomical Clocks (Toronto, 1978), pp. 166-167.
Robert Pockock, The History of the Incorporated Town and Parishes of Gravesend and Milton (Gravesend, 1797), p. 117.
Location
Currently not on view
date made
ca 1800
maker
James Giles
ID Number
PH.322330
catalog number
322330
accession number
247833

Dip Circle

This is a Kew pattern dip circle--of the type used at the Kew magnetic observatory in England--inscribed "Dover, Charlton Kent. Circle No.
Description
This is a Kew pattern dip circle--of the type used at the Kew magnetic observatory in England--inscribed "Dover, Charlton Kent. Circle No. 85." It has a short needle placed inside a wooden box with glass faces; a vertical circle placed on the outside of the box that is read by verniers and magnifiers; and two other magnifiers for viewing the ends of the needle. The vertical circle is silvered, graduated to 30 minutes, and read by opposite verniers and magnifiers to single minutes. The horizontal circle is silvered, graduated to 30 minutes, and read by vernier to single minutes. The U.S. Naval Observatory acquired this instrument around 1887, for a new program in terrestrial magnetism.
John Dover (1824-1881) began in business in London in 1841; by 1869 he had moved to Charlton, in the County of Kent. His son continued the firm.
Ref: Charles A. Schott, "Terrestrial Magnetism," Report of the Superintendent of the U.S. Coast Survey for 1875, Appendix 16, plate 29b.
J. A. Hoogewerff, "Magnetic Observations Made at the United States Naval Observatory, 1888 and 1889," Observations Made During the Year 1886 at the United States Naval Observatory, Appendix 1, p. 2.
Location
Currently not on view
maker
Dover
ID Number
PH.327706
accession number
283654
catalog number
327706

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