Science & Mathematics

Chemical Balance

The Museum's collections hold thousands of objects related to chemistry, biology, physics, astronomy, and other sciences. Instruments range from early American telescopes to lasers. Rare glassware and other artifacts from the laboratory of Joseph Priestley, the discoverer of oxygen, are among the scientific treasures here. A Gilbert chemistry set of about 1937 and other objects testify to the pleasures of amateur science. Artifacts also help illuminate the social and political history of biology and the roles of women and minorities in science.

The mathematics collection holds artifacts from slide rules and flash cards to code-breaking equipment. More than 1,000 models demonstrate some of the problems and principles of mathematics, and 80 abstract paintings by illustrator and cartoonist Crockett Johnson show his visual interpretations of mathematical theorems.

Date: 1870s

Engraved woodblock of a "Bird's-eye view of the Grand Canyon"

This engraved woodblock of “Bird’s-eye view of the Grand Canyon" was prepared by Henry Hobart Nichols (1838-1887) and the Government Printing Office in Washington, D.C.; the print was published in 1875 as as Figure 72 (p.187) in Report of the Exploration of the Colorado River of
Description
This engraved woodblock of “Bird’s-eye view of the Grand Canyon" was prepared by Henry Hobart Nichols (1838-1887) and the Government Printing Office in Washington, D.C.; the print was published in 1875 as as Figure 72 (p.187) in Report of the Exploration of the Colorado River of the West and Its Tributaries. Explored in 1869, 1870, 1871, and 1872, under the direction of the Secretary of the Smithsonian Institution by John Wesley Powell (1834-1902).
Location
Currently not on view
date made
1875
publisher
Bureau of American Ethnology
printer
Government Printing Office
author
Powell, John Wesley
graphic artist
Nichols, H. H.
ID Number
1980.0219.0467
accession number
1980.0219
catalog number
1980.0219.0467

Dividers from Japan

The Japanese Empire Department of Education displayed these oversized wooden dividers at the 1876 Centennial Exhibition in Philadelphia. One leg partially fits into a slot in the other leg.
Description
The Japanese Empire Department of Education displayed these oversized wooden dividers at the 1876 Centennial Exhibition in Philadelphia. One leg partially fits into a slot in the other leg. A string holds the legs together at the joint, but originally there was probably a metal screw there. A metal point, 3 1/8" long, extends from one leg. A wooden peg, supposedly for holding a crayon, is attached to the other leg. The dividers unfold into a 30" straight line, and their large size may indicate that they were used for classroom demonstrations. On the fair and the fate of the exhibit, see 261313.
Location
Currently not on view
date made
before 1876
ID Number
MA.261301
catalog number
261301
accession number
51116

Grant Calculating Machine, Centennial Model

In 1876 the Massachusetts inventor and entrepreneur George B.
Description
In 1876 the Massachusetts inventor and entrepreneur George B. Grant displayed a calculating machine similar to this one, as well as a difference engine of his design, at the Centennial Exhibition, a world’s fair held in Philadelphia.
The barrel-type, non-printing machine has a rectangular wooden base, cut out to allow for the motion of a set of wheels that rotates on a shaft near the bottom. This shaft is linked to a larger upper cylinder by gears so that the wheels and the cylinder turn simultaneously when a handle at the right end of the upper cylinder is rotated. The frame for the instrument consists of hollow discs at opposite ends of the base, which are connected to the two shafts already mentioned, and a third shaft which carries a set of eighteen spring claws that link to the gears of the wheels.
Part of the upper cylinder has a metal collar that can be set at any of eight positions on the cylinder with a locking pin. This collar supports eight movable rings. Each ring has an adding pin and a stud on it which may be set at any of ten positions, labeled by the digits from 0 to 9. The lower cylinder has one group of ten recording wheels on it, each provided with thirty teeth. The digits from 0 to 9 are stamped three times around each recording wheel. The spring claws fit the gears of the first set of recording wheels. If a claw is pushed down, it engages the gear of a recording wheel, causing it to rotate. Studs on the wheel lead to carrying by engaging the next claw over. A second group of eight recording wheels, each wheel having thirty teeth, counts turns of the handle, recording the multiplier. These wheels are not shown on cuts of the machine shown at the Centennial.
A flat disk at the end of a lever on the left side serves as a brake on the operating wheels, indicating when the operating crank has been turned through one revolution.
A mark inscribed on the disc on the left side reads: PATENTED (/) JULY 16 1872 APRIL 29 1873 (/) GEO.B.GRANT. A mark inscribed on the top of that ring reads: 12 (/) 77
Compare MA.310645. It has longer cylinders and no mechanism for recording the multiplier. For a related, later U S. patent model, see MA.311940.
References:
George B. Grant, “Improvement in Calculating Machines,” U.S. Patent 138245 (April 29, 1873).
George B. Grant, "Improvement in Calculating-Machine," U.S. Patent 129,335 (July 18, 1872).
George B. Grant, “On a New Difference Engine,” American Journal of Science, ser. 3, vol. 1 (August 1871), pp. 113–118.
George B. Grant, “A New Calculating Machine,” American Journal of Science, ser. 3, vol. 8 (1874), pp. 277–284.
L. Leland Locke, “George Barnard Grant,” Dictionary of American Biography, vol. 7, New York: Scribners, 1931, pp. 487–488.
Robert K. Otnes, “Calculators by George B. Grant,” Historische Buerowelt, no. 19, October 1987, pp. 15–17.
Accession files 118852 and 155183.
George B. Grant, “The Calculating Machine,” Boston: Albert J. Wright, Printer, 1878.
Location
Currently not on view
date made
ca 1877
maker
Grant, George B.
ID Number
2016.0165.01
accession number
2016.0165
catalog number
2016.0165.01

Engraved woodblock of "Climbing the Grand Canyon"

This engraved woodblock of “Climbing the Grand Canyon” was prepared by F. S.
Description
This engraved woodblock of “Climbing the Grand Canyon” was prepared by F. S. King and the Government Printing Office in Washington, D.C.; the print was published in 1875 on page 98 of John Wesley Powell's Report of the Exploration of the Colorado River of the West and Its Tributaries. Explored in 1869, 1870, 1871, and 1872, under the direction of the Secretary of the Smithsonian Institution. Thomas Moran (1837-1926) was the original artist.
Location
Currently not on view
date made
ca 1875
1875
publisher
Bureau of American Ethnology
printer
Government Printing Office
author
Powell, John Wesley
original artist
Moran, Thomas
graphic artist
King, Francis Scott
maker
V. W. & Co.
ID Number
1980.0219.0474
accession number
1980.0219
catalog number
1980.0219.0474

U.S. Patent Office Model for an Improvement in Pantographs by Lucien F. Bruce and Newlan J. Wolcott

Lucien F. Bruce and Newlan J. Wolcott received U.S. Patent 118,902 for this “Improvement in Pantographs.” This is their patent model. It consists of eight metal bars, two 21.6 cm. long and six 11 cm. long.
Description
Lucien F. Bruce and Newlan J. Wolcott received U.S. Patent 118,902 for this “Improvement in Pantographs.” This is their patent model. It consists of eight metal bars, two 21.6 cm. long and six 11 cm. long. Holes in the bars and suitable pivot points allow one to alter the enlargement or reduction of the image. A pivot-post on the right side at the center (now missing) held the instrument to a drawing-board or table at the desired height. To enlarge drawings, once the bars were suitably set, a tracer-point was placed at the joint nearest the pivot-post. The drawing point was on the same line, at the joint furthest from the pivot-post. To reduce drawings, the tracer point and drawing point were reversed. No points survive.
Lucien F. Bruce (1835-1910) and Newlan J. Wolcott were employees of the Springfield Armory in Springfield, Massachusetts. Bruce spent over fifty years at the Armory and took out a variety of patents. City directories indicate that Wolcott spent the years from 1859 to 1872 in Springfield and suggest that he eventually moved to Lowell, Massachusetts.
References:
US Patent 118902, September 12, 1871.
“Obituaries,” Machinery, vol. 16, May, 1910, p. 784.
City Directories for Springfield and for Lowell in Massachusetts.
Location
Currently not on view
date made
1871
date patented
1871 09 12
maker
Bruce, Lucien F.
Wolcott, Newlan J.
ID Number
MA.309334
catalog number
309334
accession number
89797
patent number
118902

Rotary Measure, U.S. Patent Office Model

This small U.S. Patent Office model for a counter has the shape of an old-fashioned door key, with a dial protruding from the middle. A screw attached to a nozzle links to a shaft and rotates the dial. The edge of this dial is divided into 100 parts, which are labeled by 10s.
Description
This small U.S. Patent Office model for a counter has the shape of an old-fashioned door key, with a dial protruding from the middle. A screw attached to a nozzle links to a shaft and rotates the dial. The edge of this dial is divided into 100 parts, which are labeled by 10s. A fixed pointer screwed to the middle of the dial indicates its reading. A second nozzle is tied to the object. The object illustrates the patent for “An Improvement in Rotary Devices” (#182,177) taken out by Daniel Davis Jr. and Edward Wright on September 12, 1876. There is no patent model tag.
Daniel Davis Jr. (1844-1919) was the son of Massachusetts instrument maker Daniel Davis (1813-1887). The elder Davis retired from Boston to his home town of Princeton, Mass., in 1852 to farm. Some time after 1870, the younger Daniel Davis moved to Worcester, where he worked as a brass founder and took out a patent for water filters with one Benaiah Fitts.
Edward Wright was born in New York around 1834. He patented an improvement in pickers for looms in September 1867. He received another patent for improvement in self-acting mules for spinning in February 1870. In September 1876 Wright and Davis received the U.S. patent for improvement in rotary measures for which this object is the model.. Both men were then living in Worcester.
References:
Daniel Davis Jr. and Benaiah Fitts, "Improvement in Water-Filters," U.S. Patent 146442, January 13, 1874.
Edward Wright, “Improvement in Pickers for Looms.” U.S. Patent 69880, 16 September 1867.
Edward Wright, “Improvement in Self-Acting Mules for Spinning.” U.S. Patent 99511, 1 February 1870.
Edward Wright and Daniel Davis Jr., “Improvement in Rotary Measures.” U.S. Patent 182177, 12 September 1879.
U.S. Census, 1860, 1870, 1880.
Web site of the Princeton, Mass., Historical Society, http://www.princetonmahistory.org/people-groups/residents/daniel-davis
Location
Currently not on view
date made
1876
date patented
1876-09-12
patentee
Davis, Jr., Daniel
Wright, Edward
ID Number
MA.308942
catalog number
308942
accession number
89797

Diffraction Grating

This is one of the earliest gratings made by Lewis M. Rutherfurd, and one of three that the pioneer astrophysicist, Henry Draper, acquired in the fall of 1872. The glass plate measures 1⅜ inches square and is marked "Nov. 19, 1872, 6480 per inch L. M. Rutherfurd."Ref. D. J.
Description
This is one of the earliest gratings made by Lewis M. Rutherfurd, and one of three that the pioneer astrophysicist, Henry Draper, acquired in the fall of 1872. The glass plate measures 1⅜ inches square and is marked "Nov. 19, 1872, 6480 per inch L. M. Rutherfurd."
Ref. D. J. Warner, "Lewis M. Rutherfurd: Pioneer Astronomical Photographer and Spectroscopist," Technology and Culture 12 (1971): 190-216.
Location
Currently not on view
date made
1872
maker
Rutherfurd, Lewis Morris
ID Number
PH.334273
accession number
304826
catalog number
334273

Japanese Instrument

This flat rectangular brass instrument has four sets of lines on it, two sets on each side. Each set consists of four nested L-shaped lines and six shorter lines that run across them. Some of the shorter lines are straight, others are curved.
Description
This flat rectangular brass instrument has four sets of lines on it, two sets on each side. Each set consists of four nested L-shaped lines and six shorter lines that run across them. Some of the shorter lines are straight, others are curved. A thin, short metal bar is inset in one side of the instrument. According to old cataloging, the instrument is marked in Japanese "kakuchaku hanki hyo." The object also was cataloged at one time as a sundial.
The instrument was received with group of Japanese devices exhibited at the Centennial Expositon, a world's fair held in Philadelphia in1876.
Location
Currently not on view
date made
ca 1876
ID Number
MA.261317
accession number
51116
catalog number
261317

Diffraction Grating

This is one of the earliest gratings made by Lewis M. Rutherfurd, and one of three that the pioneer astrophysicist, Henry Draper, acquired in the fall of 1872.
Description
This is one of the earliest gratings made by Lewis M. Rutherfurd, and one of three that the pioneer astrophysicist, Henry Draper, acquired in the fall of 1872. The glass plate measures 1.5 inches square overall, with the grating measuring 1⅛ inches square, and is marked "12960 to the inch Oct. 16, 1872 L. M. Rutherfurd."
Ref. D. J. Warner, "Lewis M. Rutherfurd: Pioneer Astronomical Photographer and Spectroscopist," Technology and Culture 12 (1971): 190-216.
Location
Currently not on view
date made
1872
maker
Rutherfurd, Lewis Morris
ID Number
PH.334272
accession number
304826
catalog number
334272

Engraved woodblock of "The Warrior and his Bride"

This engraved woodblock of “The Warrior and his Bride” was prepared by Henry Hobart Nichols (1838-1887) and the Government Printing Office in Washington, D.C.; the print was published in 1875 as Figure 15 (p.44) in Report of the Exploration of the Colorado River of the West and I
Description
This engraved woodblock of “The Warrior and his Bride” was prepared by Henry Hobart Nichols (1838-1887) and the Government Printing Office in Washington, D.C.; the print was published in 1875 as Figure 15 (p.44) in Report of the Exploration of the Colorado River of the West and Its Tributaries. Explored in 1869, 1870, 1871, and 1872, under the direction of the Secretary of the Smithsonian Institution by John Wesley Powell (1834-1902).
Location
Currently not on view
date made
ca 1875
1875
publisher
Bureau of American Ethnology
printer
Government Printing Office
author
Powell, John Wesley
graphic artist
Nichols, H. H.
ID Number
1980.0219.0465
accession number
1980.0219
catalog number
1980.0219.0465

Engraved woodblock of "Captain John, a Ni'-shi-nam chief"

This engraved woodblock of “Captain John, a Ni’-shi-nam chief” was prepared by engraver Henry Hobart Nichols (1838-1887) and the Government Printing Office in Washington, D.C.; the print was published in 1877 as Figure 27 (p.314) in an article by Stephen Powers (1840-1904) entitl
Description
This engraved woodblock of “Captain John, a Ni’-shi-nam chief” was prepared by engraver Henry Hobart Nichols (1838-1887) and the Government Printing Office in Washington, D.C.; the print was published in 1877 as Figure 27 (p.314) in an article by Stephen Powers (1840-1904) entitled “Tribes of California” in Contributions to North American Ethnology v.3. Contributions was published by the U.S. Geographical and Geological Survey, a precursor to the Bureau of American Ethnology under the direction of John Wesley Powell (1834-1902). D. H. Bartle created the original image.
Location
Currently not on view
date made
1877
publisher
Bureau of American Ethnology
printer
Government Printing Office
graphic artist
Nichols, H. H.
author
Powers, Stephen
original artist
Bartle, D. H.
ID Number
1980.0219.0350
accession number
1980.0219
catalog number
1980.0219.0350

Mudd's Tax Calculator

Doing the calculations associated with tax collection has inspired inventors from at least the 1600s, when the French mathematician and philosopher Blaise Pascal invented an adding machine for that purpose.
Description
Doing the calculations associated with tax collection has inspired inventors from at least the 1600s, when the French mathematician and philosopher Blaise Pascal invented an adding machine for that purpose. In 1879 Robert Levin Mudd (1837–1910), the county clerk in Bond County, Illinois, patented this tax calculator. It has sliding tables for calculating the tax due on property worth up to $10,000, at rates of 3 cents, 5 cents, and 25 cents per $100 value. Other columns give the total tax due if assessments are made at several rates for different projects. The instrument folds and fits neatly into a wooden case. This example is incomplete. Compare to U. S. patent 213234, dated March 11, 1879.
Location
Currently not on view
date made
1879
maker
Mudd, Robert Levin
ID Number
2009.3027.01
nonaccession number
2009.3027
catalog number
2009.3027.01

Set of 5 Japanese Scale Rules Signed Fujishima

A rectangular paulownia wood case has a red and white sticker on the right end marked: No. 45 (/) M. Inside the case are four bamboo rulers, three that are just over 12" (about 31 cm) long and one that is 2-1/4" (15.5 cm).
Description
A rectangular paulownia wood case has a red and white sticker on the right end marked: No. 45 (/) M. Inside the case are four bamboo rulers, three that are just over 12" (about 31 cm) long and one that is 2-1/4" (15.5 cm). A fifth rule is made of a darker wood, perhaps cherry.
The first rule is marked in Japanese: Made by Fujishima. It is also marked: 3000. The scales along both edges are identical, 30 cm long, divided to twentieths of a unit, and numbered by hundreds from 0 to 2,400. The back of the rule is stamped in red: METRE. It is also marked: 1 (/) 3000.
The second rule is made from a dark wood and is marked in Japanese: Made by Fujishima. The scales are identical and labeled: 1/16. They are divided to half-units and numbered by fives from 5 to 190. Each increment of five units is 5/16" (8 mm) long.
The third rule is marked in Japanese: Made by Fujishima. It is also marked: 1800. The scales along both edges are identical, 30 cm long, divided to single units, and numbered by tens from 0 to 540. The back of the rule is stamped in red: METRE. It is also marked: 1 (/) 1800. It is also marked: 5.
The fourth rule is marked in Japanese: Made by Fujishima. It is also marked: 1600. The scales along both edges are identical, 30 cm long, divided to single units, and numbered by tens from 0 to 480. The back of the rule is stamped in red: METRE. It is also marked: 1 (/) 1600. It is also marked: 6.
The scales on the fifth and shortest rule are 2" (5 cm) long, divided to single units, and numbered by tens from 0 to 40. The rule is marked on the back: 1/800. It is also stamped in red: 3.
These rules were likely used in engineering and architectural drawing. Compare to MA.261283, MA.261284, MA.261286, and MA.261287. The rules were exhibited by the Japanese Empire Department of Education at the 1876 Centennial Exposition in Philadelphia. They then were displayed by the Museum of the U.S. Bureau of Education until 1906 and transferred to the Smithsonian National Museum in 1910. For more information, see MA.261298 and MA.261313.
Location
Currently not on view
date made
before 1876
maker
Fujishima
ID Number
MA.261285
catalog number
261285
accession number
51116

Microscope

In the mid-1870s, The Industrial Publication Co.
Description
In the mid-1870s, The Industrial Publication Co. of New York offered a “Handy Compound Pocket Microscope” that cost $7.50 and was “capable of giving a clear and well defined view of the general form of such objects as urinary deposits, diatoms, desmids, etc.” This example seems to be of that sort. It is a tiny monocular with push-pull focus, rectangular stage, sub-stage mirror, inclination joint, and circular base.
Ref: “Handy Compound Pocket Microscope,” The Technologist, or Industrial Monthly 5 (1874): 108.
The Industrial Publication Co., Priced and Descriptive Catalogue of Microscopes and Accessory Apparatus and Instruments (New York, n.d.): back cover.
Location
Currently not on view
date made
ca 1874
ID Number
MG.256202.01
accession number
256202
catalog number
256202.01

Patent Model for Cylindrical Slide Rule Invented by George Fuller

This is the U.S. patent model for a cylindrical slide rule invented by George Fuller (1829–1907), a British civil engineer and professor of engineering at Queen's College, Belfast. Fuller received patents in Great Britain (no. 1044) in 1878 and in the United States in 1879. W.
Description
This is the U.S. patent model for a cylindrical slide rule invented by George Fuller (1829–1907), a British civil engineer and professor of engineering at Queen's College, Belfast. Fuller received patents in Great Britain (no. 1044) in 1878 and in the United States in 1879. W. F. Stanley of London manufactured the rule from 1879 until 1975, and it was marketed in the United States by Keuffel & Esser, Dietzgen, and other dealers.
The model has a wooden handle and shaft, with a wooden cylinder that slides up and down the shaft. A paper covered with scales fits around the cylinder. The lower edge of the cylinder has a scale of equal parts. The remainder bears a spiral scale divided logarithmically. A rectangular clear plastic pointer has broken from its attachment on the handle and is tucked into a red ribbon tied around the cylinder. A paper patent tag is marked: No. 291.246; 1879 (/) G. Fuller. (/) Calculators. (/) Patented Sept 2. (/) 1879. A printed description from the patent application of April 16, 1878, is glued to the back of the tag. The tag is attached to the handle with a red ribbon.
L. Leland Locke, a New York mathematics teacher and historian of mathematics, collected this patent model and intended it for the Museums of the Peaceful Arts in New York City. When that institution encountered financial difficulties in 1940, Locke gave a collection of objects, including this model, to the Smithsonian Institution.
For production models of this instrument, see 313751, 316575, and 1998.0046.01.
References: George Fuller, "Improvement in Calculators" (U.S. Patent 219,246 issued September 2, 1879); The Report of the President of Queen's College, Belfast, for the Year Ending October, 1876 (Dublin, 1877), 9, 29–30, 107–110; James J. Fenton, "Fuller's Calculating Slide-Rule," Transactions and Proceedings of the Royal Society of Victoria 22 (1886): 57–61; Dieter von Jezierski, Slide Rules: A Journey Through Three Centuries, trans. Rodger Shepherd (Mendham, N.J.: Astragal Press, 2000), 42–43.
Location
Currently not on view
date made
1878
patentee
Fuller, George
maker
Fuller, George
ID Number
MA.311958
accession number
155183
catalog number
311958

Microscope

This is a compound monocular with rack-and-pinion for coarse adjustment, micrometer screw for fine adjustment, trunion, mechanical stage, and Lister limb holding a polarizing prism and a sub-stage mirror. The base is a reverse V. The “PIKE / MAKER / 518 Broadway / NEW YORK / No.
Description
This is a compound monocular with rack-and-pinion for coarse adjustment, micrometer screw for fine adjustment, trunion, mechanical stage, and Lister limb holding a polarizing prism and a sub-stage mirror. The base is a reverse V. The “PIKE / MAKER / 518 Broadway / NEW YORK / No. 121” inscription refers to a family of English immigrants, some of whom were at this address from the mid-1850s to the mid-1870s.
With this instrument there is a set of tubes and eyepieces for a compound binocular.
Location
Currently not on view
date made
ca 1850-1875
maker
Pike, Jr., Benjamin
ID Number
PH.336595
catalog number
336595
accession number
1978.0511

Japanese Scale Rule

This heavy brass ruler is divided to millimeters along one edge. The other edge is divided into ten units of 1-3/16" (3 cm). Each unit is thus roughly equivalent to the sun, a traditional Japanese unit of length that is 1/10 of a shaku.
Description
This heavy brass ruler is divided to millimeters along one edge. The other edge is divided into ten units of 1-3/16" (3 cm). Each unit is thus roughly equivalent to the sun, a traditional Japanese unit of length that is 1/10 of a shaku. Two of the units are subdivided into 50 parts; the other eight are subdivided into 20 parts. Neither of the scales are sequentially numbered. Instead, the units of each scale are marked with a small "0," with an additional three zeroes above the "0" at the center of the scale of equal parts.
The Japanese Empire Department of Education displayed this rule at the 1876 Centennial Exhibition in Philadelphia. It then was held by the Museum of the U.S. Bureau of Education before transfer to the Smithsonian in 1910. For more information, see MA.261298 and MA.261313.
Location
Currently not on view
date made
before 1876
ID Number
MA.261293
accession number
51116
catalog number
261293

Spectroscope

Brass spectroscope with six glass prisms, and an “A. Hilger London” inscription. Adam Hilger (1839-1897) was a precision instrument maker from Darmstadt who moved to London around 1870, and who established his own shop around 1875. The “J.B.
Description
Brass spectroscope with six glass prisms, and an “A. Hilger London” inscription. Adam Hilger (1839-1897) was a precision instrument maker from Darmstadt who moved to London around 1870, and who established his own shop around 1875. The “J.B. Stearns 1875” inscription probably refers to Joseph Barker Stearns (1831-1895), inventor of the duplex system of telegraphy, and probably the man who gave this instrument to Smith College. Located in Northampton, Mass. and opened in 1875, Smith College promised women students lectures and laboratories equal to those offered elsewhere to men.
Location
Currently not on view
date made
1875
maker
Hilger, Adam
ID Number
1980.0098.01
catalog number
1980.0098.01
accession number
1980.0098

La Filotecnica Rolling Parallel Rule

This ten-inch German silver instrument has two rollers connected by a shaft. Both ends have knobs to hold while rolling the parallel rule. Both long edges have centimeter scales, divided to millimeters and numbered by ones from 0 to 24.
Description
This ten-inch German silver instrument has two rollers connected by a shaft. Both ends have knobs to hold while rolling the parallel rule. Both long edges have centimeter scales, divided to millimeters and numbered by ones from 0 to 24. The instrument is marked: "LA FILOTECNICA" MILANO. A wooden case is lined with dark blue velvet and has ornate brass clasps. The bottom of the case is marked in red pencil: S_301 £ £ £.
Ignasio Porro (1801–1875) established La Filotecnica in Milan in 1865 to train students to make optical and mathematical instruments. Between 1870 and 1877, one of his apprentices, Angelo Salmoiraghi (1848–1939), purchased the firm and put more emphasis on manufacturing. By 1906 the company was renamed Filotecnica Salmoiraghi.
References: Paolo Brenni, "Italian Scientific Instrument Makers of the Nineteenth Century and Their Instruments," in Nineteenth-Century Instruments and Their Makers, ed. P. R. de Clercq (Amsterdam: Rodopi B.V., 1985), 196–198; Bill Morris, "A Fine Sextant by Filotecnica Salmoiraghi of Milan," October 5, 2010, The Nautical Sextant, http://sextantbook.com/2010/10/05/a-fine-sextant-by-filotecnica-salmoirhagi-of-milan/.
Location
Currently not on view
date made
ca 1870
maker
Officina Filotecnica
ID Number
1986.0316.04
catalog number
1986.0316.04
accession number
1986.0316

Microscope

Dissecting microscope with square stage, sub-stage diaphragm, sub-stage mirror, circular base, and wooden box with extra lenses. The inscription reads “NO. 3309 WETZLAR E. LEITZ.” The serial number indicates a date of 1879.Currently not on view
Description
Dissecting microscope with square stage, sub-stage diaphragm, sub-stage mirror, circular base, and wooden box with extra lenses. The inscription reads “NO. 3309 WETZLAR E. LEITZ.” The serial number indicates a date of 1879.
Location
Currently not on view
date made
1879
maker
Ernst Leitz
ID Number
MG.328761
catalog number
328761
accession number
308252

Microscope

Richard Halsted Ward (1837-1917), a medical microscopist and professor at the Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute, showed an example of “Blankley’s neat and convenient tank microscope, made by Swift of London” at the meeting of the American Association for the Advancement of Science
Description
Richard Halsted Ward (1837-1917), a medical microscopist and professor at the Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute, showed an example of “Blankley’s neat and convenient tank microscope, made by Swift of London” at the meeting of the American Association for the Advancement of Science, held at Troy, N.Y., in August 1870. Frederick Blankley, an active member of the Royal Microscopical Society in London, had introduced the form earlier that year. The Swift in question was the well-known optician, James Swift.
This example, a compound monocular mounted on a brass pole, resembles the instrument designed by Blankley, but carries no indication that it was made by Swift.
Ref: “A Revolving Stage and a Tank 3 (1870): 209-210.
“Report on the Microscopes and Microscopical Apparatus Exhibited at the Meeting of the American Association for the Advancement of Science, at Troy, N.Y., August 1870,” Proceedings of the American Association for the Advancement of Science 19 (1870): 381-384, on 384.
Location
Currently not on view
date made
ca 1870
maker
Swift, James
ID Number
MG.M-09727
accession number
174919
catalog number
M-09727
174919.12

Diffraction Grating

Charles A. Young, the professor of astronomy at the College of New Jersey (later Princeton University), acquired this diffraction grating in 1878. The speculum metal plate measures 3 inches square overall, with the grating measuring 1.75 inch square.
Description
Charles A. Young, the professor of astronomy at the College of New Jersey (later Princeton University), acquired this diffraction grating in 1878. The speculum metal plate measures 3 inches square overall, with the grating measuring 1.75 inch square. It is marked: "May 28, 1878" and "16,560 spaces" and "8648 per inch" and "Manf. by D. C. Chapman with Mr. Rutherfurd's Engine." Daniel C. Chapman was the mechanic who operated the ruling engine designed by Lewis M. Rutherfurd.
Ref. D. J. Warner, "Lewis M. Rutherfurd: Pioneer Astronomical Photographer and Spectroscopist," Technology and Culture 12 (1971): 190-216.
Location
Currently not on view
date made
1878
maker
Rutherfurd, Lewis Morris
ID Number
PH.330707
accession number
299612
catalog number
330707

Hart's Mercantile Computing Machine

The instrument consists of three concentric brass discs, a brass marker, a steel stop, and a wooden handle (instrument must be removed from box to find handle). Each brass disc has the numbers from 0 to 99 stamped around the edge.
Description
The instrument consists of three concentric brass discs, a brass marker, a steel stop, and a wooden handle (instrument must be removed from box to find handle). Each brass disc has the numbers from 0 to 99 stamped around the edge. The two inner discs both have a circle of 100 holes just outside the numbers. The inner holes are used to add the last two digits of a number by rotation. Any hundreds value in the sum carries to the second set of holes, which are used to add hundreds and thousands places.
The machine is in a cylindrical wooden case with cover.
According to the Kirksville [Missouri] Democrat for August 2, 1888, by then Hart had sold 3500 of these devices and “he lately ordered one thousand more.”
References: U.S. Patent #199289
P. Kidwell, "Adders Made and Used in the United States," Rittenhouse, 1994, 8:78-96.
Kirksville [Missouri] Democrat, August 2, 1888.
Location
Currently not on view
date made
1878
patentee
Hart, William
maker
Scovill Manufacturing Company
ID Number
1993.0510.01
accession number
1993.0510
catalog number
1993.0510.01

Moffett Register for Recording Alcohol Sales

In the spring of 1877, to pay the interest on the public debt, the state of Virginia passed a law suggested by State Senator Samuel H. Moffett of Harrisonburg.
Description
In the spring of 1877, to pay the interest on the public debt, the state of Virginia passed a law suggested by State Senator Samuel H. Moffett of Harrisonburg. Every liquor dealer and saloon in the state was to be equipped with a so-called Moffett register to record sales of liquor, allowing state tax collectors to know taxes due. This is an example of a Moffett register. Moffett and Otis Dean of Richmond received a patent for the device in 1877.
The counter has a black iron frame with a glass window in the front and a brass crank in the back. Two holes in the base allow the register to be fixed to a counter. Under the window are six dials, each of which can read any digit from 0 to 9. The dials are marked according to the decimal place of the digit. Turning the crank at the back an entire turn rings a bell and increases the setting on the tens dial (the rightmost). On the back is a covered keyhole. The case is locked and there is no key.
A mark inside the window above the dials reads: MOFFETT REGISTER. A mark on the outside of the front reads: ALCOHOLIC LIQUORS. Another mark there reads: No (/) 2872. The dials are labeled from left to right: 1 MILLION, 100 THOUSAND, 10 THOUSAND, 1 THOUSAND, 1 HUNDRED, TEN.
By 1878, use of the Moffett register reportedly was in decline.
References:
Samuel H. Moffett and Otis Dean, “Improvement in Alarm-registers for Use in Bar-rooms, &c.,” U.S. Patent 194,951, September 4, 1877.
“Virginia,” Appleton’s Annual Cyclopaedia and Register of Important Events of the Year 1877, ns, vol. 2, New York: Appleton, 1890., pp. 758-762.
“Virginia’s Novel Liquor Tax,” New York Tribune, September 15, 1877, p. 2.
“Decline of the Moffett Register,” Chicago Daily Tribune, December 3, 1878, p. 6.
Location
Currently not on view
date made
1877
ID Number
MA.319732
catalog number
319732
accession number
235052

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