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: 1880s

Keuffel & Esser 1740 Thacher Cylindrical Slide Rule

In 1881, Edwin Thacher, a "computing engineer" for the Keystone Bridge Company in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, received a patent for an improvement in slide rules. Thacher was a graduate of Rennselaer Polytechnic Institute who spent much of his career designing railway bridges.
Description
In 1881, Edwin Thacher, a "computing engineer" for the Keystone Bridge Company in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, received a patent for an improvement in slide rules. Thacher was a graduate of Rennselaer Polytechnic Institute who spent much of his career designing railway bridges. To assist in his calculations, he designed a cylindrical slide rule. Thacher's rule, though it fit on a desk, was equivalent to a conventional slide rule over 59 feet long. It had scales for multiplication and division and another scale, with divisions twice as large, for use in finding squares and square roots. But it had no trigonometric scales.
To produce his "calculating instrument," Thacher turned to the London firm of W. F. Stanley. The company even designed a special dividing engine for preparing the scales for the instrument. These were printed on paper sheets, which were pasted to the drum and the slats. In this example, the paper is also printed in italics on the right side: Patented by Edwin Thatcher [sic], C.E. Nov. 1st 1881. Divided by W. F. Stanley, London, 1882.
The drum is rotated with wooden handles. The cylinder of slats is held in place with a brass frame, which is affixed to a wooden base. A paper of DIRECTIONS AND RULES FOR OPERATING is lacquered to the front of the base. The rear of the base bears a small silver metal label engraved: Keuffel & Esser (/) New York. F. F. NICKEL is painted underneath the base.
Keuffel & Esser Company of New York sold versions of the Thacher cylindrical slide rule from at least 1883 until about 1950. There were two models, one with a magnifying glass (K&E model 1741, later K&E model 4013), and one without (K&E model 1740, later K&E 4012). This is a model 1740. The front right corner of the instrument's metal frame is engraved with the number 107. A paper K&E label on the inside lid of the instrument's mahogany case is marked in ink: 1740/661 (/) Thachers (/) Calculating (/)Instr. The top front of the bottom of the case is also carved with 661. In 1887, the model 1740 sold for $30.00.
Frank Ferdinand Nickel purchased this example around 1883 and donated it to the Smithsonian in 1945, through his son, Henry W. Nickel. The elder Nickel was born in Hanau, Germany, in 1857. He came to the United States around 1883 and worked as a mechanical engineer in New York, Ohio, Pennsylvania, and New Jersey. He also taught at Columbia University in the 1910s. He wrote Direct-Acting Steam Pumps (New York: McGraw-Hill, 1915).
See also 1987.0107.08 and 1987.0808.01.
References: Edwin Thacher, "Slide-Rule" (U.S. Patent 249,117 issued November 1, 1881); "Thacher's Calculating Instrument or Cylindrical Slide Rule," Engineering News 16 (18 December 1886): 410; Wayne E. Feely, "Thacher Cylindrical Slide Rules," The Chronicle of the Early American Industries Association 50 (1997): 125–127; Wilfred Scott Downs, ed., "Nickel, Frank F.," Who's Who in Engineering, vol. 3 (New York, 1931), 957; Catalogue of Keuffel & Esser (New York, 1887), 128. This was the first K&E catalog to list the model 1740.
Location
Currently not on view
date made
ca 1883
maker
Stanley, William Ford
Keuffel & Esser Co.
ID Number
MA.312866
accession number
169701
catalog number
312866

Coradi Polar Planimeter

This instrument has two arms. The German silver tracer arm has a support for the tracer point and is evenly divided by tenths numbered from 10 to 37. Ten units are equivalent to 5mm.
Description
This instrument has two arms. The German silver tracer arm has a support for the tracer point and is evenly divided by tenths numbered from 10 to 37. Ten units are equivalent to 5mm. The tracer arm fits within a carriage of brass, painted black, that also holds a white plastic measuring wheel and vernier and a metal registering dial. The pole arm is made of brass painted black and is attached to the carriage. The end of the pole arm fits into a rectangular metal weight faced with brass painted black. The weight is marked: G. Coradi Zürich (/) No 759. The bottom of the weight is covered with paper. A cylindrical brass weight fits into a hole on top of the pole arm. The testing rule is missing.
A wooden case covered with black leather is lined with purple velvet. A paper printed chart glued inside the lid has columns in German for Scales, Position of the vernier on the tracer bar, Value of the unit of the vernier on the measuring roller, and Constant. The values are handwritten. The date on the chart indicates the Coradi firm made serial number 759 on December 28, 1888.
Gottlieb Coradi (1847–1929) established a workshop in Zurich in 1880 and began making wheel and disc polar planimeters in the Amsler style soon thereafter. In 1894, he modified the design into the "compensating" polar planimeter; see MA.321777. Union College donated this instrument in 1964.
Reference: "People: Gottlieb Coradi," Waywiser, Harvard University Department of the History of Science, http://dssmhi1.fas.harvard.edu/emuseumdev/code/eMuseum.asp?lang=EN.
Location
Currently not on view
date made
1888
maker
Coradi, Gottlieb
ID Number
MA.323707
catalog number
323707
accession number
252804

Geometrical Protractor Invented by John Pool

Even though American practitioners highly prized European craftsmanship, some Americans competed relatively early on in U.S. history with imported products by manufacturing, modifying, and marketing mathematical instruments.
Description
Even though American practitioners highly prized European craftsmanship, some Americans competed relatively early on in U.S. history with imported products by manufacturing, modifying, and marketing mathematical instruments. Between 1825 and 1828, brothers John (1796–1865) and Horace Minot (1803–1878) Pool established a firm in Easton, Mass. Using the name J. & H. M. Pool, they sold levels, compasses, and chains to surveyors, architects, and civil engineers. Within a few years, they had partnered with distributors in Massachusetts, Rhode Island, New York, New Jersey, Pennsylvania, Maryland, and Washington, D.C.
On June 16, 1830, John patented a "geometrical protractor" in the form of the instrument depicted here. Like all U.S. patents issued before 1836, the patent was not numbered and the record was lost to fire. However, Ed Hands and Bob Vogel reported that the Pool family retained a copy of the patent which survives. Although the firm apparently was financially successful and their products were of high quality, John and H. M. parted ways in 1841 and established separate instrument businesses. The brothers and their sons maintained personal and financial connections—at least one of John's sons worked for H.M.—but both businesses closed by the 1880s.
This quarter-circle brass protractor is graduated to quarter-degrees. The brothers devised their own form of a dividing engine to engrave the angle markings. The protractor is labeled by tens from 40° to 0° to 40° and from 50° to 90° to 50°, both in the clockwise direction. The left leg of the protractor is marked: J & H. M. POOL (/) EASTON, MASS. (/) PATENT; $8.00; 40. The protractor is mounted on a mahogany base that extends on either side as a rectangle with width 1-3/8". Unlike other Pool geometrical protractors, which have only the rectangle as backing, the wood on this instrument is cut in a wedge so that the back of the protractor is completely covered. A piece of brass is affixed to the lower edge of the wooden base.
A brass arm is affixed to the protractor's vertex with a wing nut. The portion that slides over the protractor's numbers, as a vernier would, resembles a belt buckle. A curlique and arrow are engraved, perhaps by hand, on the inside of this part of the arm. The number 40 near the wing nut almost aligns with the number 40 on the left leg of the protractor. The extending part of the arm, which is over 14" long, is marked with a diagonal scale. The portion of the scale for measuring to 1/100 of an inch is labeled by ones from 1 to 7, 9 to 1, and 1 to 9. The remainder of the scale is marked by tens from 10 to 90. Ten units correspond to one inch.
References: Donald and Anne Wing, "The Pool Family of Easton, Massachusetts," Rittenhouse 4 (1990): 118–126; United States Patent Office, A List of Patents Granted by the United States from April 10, 1790, to December 31, 1836 (Washington, D.C., 1872), 452; William Lincoln, "[Report from] Worcester Agricultural Society," The New England Farmer, ed. Thomas G. Fessenden, 9, no. 21 (10 December 1830): 164–165; Robert Vogel and Edmund Hands, The Pools of Easton, Massachusetts, Chronicle of the Early American Industries Association, 50 #1, 1997, pp. 1-11.
Location
Currently not on view
date made
1830-1880
maker
Pool, John
Pool, Horace Minot
ID Number
MA.317869
accession number
231764
catalog number
317869

C.W. Hergenroeder Adding Machine

This U.S. Patent Office model for an adder has a wooden frame with a round brass top and mechanism. A toothed disc under the top has the digits from 0 to 99 indicated on it in ink. The 99 complement also is indicated, for use in subtraction.
Description
This U.S. Patent Office model for an adder has a wooden frame with a round brass top and mechanism. A toothed disc under the top has the digits from 0 to 99 indicated on it in ink. The 99 complement also is indicated, for use in subtraction. To the right of the disc is a series of pins labeled from 1 to 10. An arm extending from the right side of the disc fits between the pins. Pulling the arm forward advances the disc by the amount indicated on the scale. When the disc has advanced a full rotation, it advances a smaller, vertically mounted disc on the left side by one unit. Complementary units are also indicated on the edge of this disc. The device also has a set of nine wooden digit wheels, with paper around the edge, at the front. These are intended for keeping track of numbers used in calculations.
According to the 1900 U.S. Census, Christian W. Hergenroeder was then 36 years old and living in Baltimore. He was born in Germany of German parents, immigrated to the United States in 1882, and was a naturalized citizen. His wife, Sofia, was born August of 1866, also in Germany of German parents, and came to the United States in 1891. She apparently was not naturalized. Their son, Christian Jr., was born November of 1895. Both parents could read, write, and speak English. Christian's occupation was given as laborer. The family lived in a rented house. Hergenroeder was not found in 1880, 1910, 1920 or 1930 U.S. Census records.
Another patent was granted to Christian W. Hergenroeder of Baltimore, for an improvement in music leaf turners. He applied for this patent on January 5, 1882, and was granted it on October 10, 1882 (#265602).
Reference: U.S. Patent No. 263904, September 5, 1882.
Location
Currently not on view
date made
1882
patentee
Hergenroeder, Christian W.
maker
Hergenroeder, Christian W.
ID Number
MA.311960
accession number
155183
catalog number
311960

Ferrel Tide Predictor

In 1872, the British physicist William Thomson (later Lord Kelvin) devised a machine to simulate mechanically the combination of periodic motions that produce tides. Inspired by this example, William Ferrel of the U.S.
Description
In 1872, the British physicist William Thomson (later Lord Kelvin) devised a machine to simulate mechanically the combination of periodic motions that produce tides. Inspired by this example, William Ferrel of the U.S. Coast and Geodetic Survey designed a tide predictor and had it built by the Washington, D.C., firm of Fauth and Company. This elegant machine was more compact than that of Thomson, and gave maxima and minima rather than a continuous curve as output. It was designed in 1880, went into service in 1883 and remained in use until 1910. The success of Ferrel's tide predictor suggested the feasibility of replacing calculations performed by people with computation by machines.
Location
Currently not on view
Date made
1883
1880
used during
1883-1910
maker
Fauth & Co.
designer
Ferrel, William
ID Number
MA.315917
catalog number
315917
accession number
223203

Wooden Box Model Comptometer

This key-driven non-printing adding machine has eight columns of metal keys with nine keys in each column. It is an early production model of an adding machine designed by Dorr E.
Description
This key-driven non-printing adding machine has eight columns of metal keys with nine keys in each column. It is an early production model of an adding machine designed by Dorr E. Felt of Chicago.
The keys in each column are stamped with the digits from 1 to 9 and the digits are painted white. No complementary digits are indicated, and the key tops are flat and entirely of metal. There is a spring around each key stem and the key stem passes through the key top. The stems become progressively longer as the digits become larger. The case is of cherry. The lower part of the metal plate on the front side is missing. Nine windows in the upper part of this plate reveal digits on nine number wheels that indicate totals. A zeroing lever and knob are on the right side of the machine. There are no decimal markers or subtraction levers.
A metal tag screwed to the top of the machine behind the keyboard reads: FELT & FOSTER (/) CHICAGO (/) PAT’D JULY 19.87.OCT 11.87. A label received with the machine indicates that it was used by Mr. G. W. Martin in offices of the Chicago Gas Company from 1887 to 1903.
A metal model tag stored with the object reads: 3. Photographs in the Accession Journal of Felt & Tarrant Manufacturing Company indicate that machine #3 in that collection was rather different, resembling more closely a wooden box Comptometer in the Smithsonian collections with catalog number MA.273035.
References: U.S. Patents 366945 and 371496.
Felt & Tarrant, Accession Journal, 1991.3107.06.
J. A. V. Turck, Origin of Modern Calculating Machines, Chicago: Western Society of Engineers, 1921.
Location
Currently not on view
date made
1887
maker
Felt & Foster
ID Number
MA.323648
catalog number
323648
accession number
250163

Framed Letter Of Introduction for Herman Hollerith, 1880

This handwritten letter of Francis A. Walker, superintendent of the Census, introduces Herman Hollerith, E.M., as a special agent of the Census Office for collecting statistics on power and machinery used in manufacture. The letter is dated March 18, 1880.
Description
This handwritten letter of Francis A. Walker, superintendent of the Census, introduces Herman Hollerith, E.M., as a special agent of the Census Office for collecting statistics on power and machinery used in manufacture. The letter is dated March 18, 1880. The chief special agent was William P. Trowbridge, head of the Engineering Department at Columbia University, where Hollerith had studied.
This letter marks the beginning of Hollerith’s association with the Bureau of the Census.
Location
Currently not on view
date made
1880
ID Number
MA.317982.07
accession number
317982
catalog number
317982.07

Bouchet Adding Machine

This is the second form of key-driven adding machine patented by Michael Bouchet (1827-1903), a French-born Catholic priest who came to the United States in 1853 and worked in Louisville, Kentucky, from 1860.Bouchet was of an inventive turn of mind, devising automatic snakes to f
Description
This is the second form of key-driven adding machine patented by Michael Bouchet (1827-1903), a French-born Catholic priest who came to the United States in 1853 and worked in Louisville, Kentucky, from 1860.
Bouchet was of an inventive turn of mind, devising automatic snakes to frighten his acolytes, and a folding bed and fire escape for his own use. He had considerable responsibility for the financial affairs of his diocese and, according to his biographer, as early as the 1860s invented an adding machine to assist in keeping these accounts. Of these devices, Bouchet patented only later versions of the adding machine, taking out patents in 1882 and in 1885.
His machine was used to add single columns of digits. Depressing a key depressed a lever and raised a curved bar with teeth on the inside of it. The teeth on the bar engaged a toothed pinion at the back of the machine, rotating it forward in proportion to the digit entered. A wheel at the left end of the roller turned forward, recording the entry. A pawl and spring then disengaged the curved bar, preventing the roller and recording bar from turning back again once the key was released. Two additional wheels to the left of the first one were used in carrying to the tens and hundreds places, so that the machine could record totals up to 99. Left of the wheels was a lever-driven tack and pinion zeroing mechanism.
This silver-colored example of Bouchet’s machine has a brass base and nine keys with plastic key covers (two of the key covers are missing), arranged in two rows. It is from the collection of computing devices assembled by Dorr E. Felt in the early 20th century It has serial number 229. Compare to 310230.
References:
Michael Bouchet, “Adding Machine,” U.S. Patent 251823, January 3, 1882.
Michael Bouchet, “ “Adding Machine,” U.S. Patent 314561, March 31, 1885.
Dan Walsh, Jr., The Stranger in the City, Louisville, Ky.: Hammer Printing Co., 1913, esp. pp. 49-70.
Location
Currently not on view
date made
1885
maker
Bouchet, Michael
ID Number
MA.323630
maker number
229
accession number
250163
catalog number
323630

Wooden Box Model Comptometer

This key-driven non-printing adding machine has eight columns of metal keys, with nine keys in each column. It indicates totals with as many as nine digits. It is the sixth of eight production models made by American inventor and entrepreneur Dorr E.
Description
This key-driven non-printing adding machine has eight columns of metal keys, with nine keys in each column. It indicates totals with as many as nine digits. It is the sixth of eight production models made by American inventor and entrepreneur Dorr E. Felt of Chicago as he began his work with key-driven adding machines in 1886 and 1887.
The keys in each column are stamped with the numbers from 1 to 9, with the digits colored black. The key stems pass through the key tops and there is a spring around each key stem. The stems become progressively longer as the digits get larger. No complementary digits are indicated, and the key tops are flat and entirely of metal. The case is of cherry, with a metal plate at the front. Nine windows in this metal plate reveal digits on nine number wheels that indicate the total. A zeroing lever and knob are on the right side of the machine. The base is covered with green felt. Metal and paper tags are stored with object.
The machine is marked on a metal tag screwed to the top in back of the keyboard: D.E.FELT MFR (/) PAT’S PENDING. A metal tag stored with the machine reads: 2. There is no serial number
According to the accession journal of Felt & Tarrant Manufacturing Company, received from the successor firm of Victor Comptometer Corporation, this was the sixth of the first eight marketable Comptometers built by Felt with the help of R. F. Foster in the fall of 1886. It was secured by Felt & Tarrant from Mr. Foster in 1938.
References:
Felt & Tarrant, Accession Journal 1991.3107.06.
J. A. V. Turck, Origin of Modern Calculating Machines, Chicago: Western Society of Engineers, 1921.
Location
Currently not on view
date made
1886
maker
Felt, Dorr E.
ID Number
MA.323649
catalog number
323649
accession number
250163

Patent Model for Simplex Slide Rule Clasp Invented by Rudolph C. Smith

This ten-inch, linear one-sided slide rule has scales on the base labeled 3 and 2. On one side of the slide, scales are labeled 4 and 1. On the other side are scales labeled S and T and a scale of equal parts, which divides each inch into 50 increments.
Description
This ten-inch, linear one-sided slide rule has scales on the base labeled 3 and 2. On one side of the slide, scales are labeled 4 and 1. On the other side are scales labeled S and T and a scale of equal parts, which divides each inch into 50 increments. The 4, 1, and 2 scales are identical, divided logarithmically from 1 to 10 twice (like the A and B scales on a Mannheim slide rule). The 3 scale is graduated logarithmically once from 1 to 10 (like the C and D scales on a Mannheim rule, although the numbers on this scale are marked with superscript 2s; i.e. 22).
Under the slide is a scale of centimeters numbered from 27 to 51 and divided to millimeters. The upper edge of the instrument is beveled and has a scale of inches divided to 32nds of an inch. The front edge has a scale of centimeters numbered from 1 to 25 and divided to millimeters.
There is also a brass clasp (detached at present) that holds three paper strips underneath the instrument, so that they may be pulled or fanned out for reference. Smith submitted this model when he patented this clasp in 1887. The strips contain 39 sets of formulas and conversion factors useful to civil engineers, including the weight and strength of materials and the power of engines and pumps. Smith copyrighted these strips in 1884 and 1886. See also his pamphlet, Smith's Slide Rule Formulæ ([New York, 1884]).
Rudolph Charles Smith of Yonkers, N.Y., received more than twenty patents for elevator components and slide rules from the 1880s to 1912. He apparently worked for Otis Brothers & Co., since many of the patents were assigned to that firm or to National Company of Illinois, which merged with Otis Brothers and other firms in 1898 to form the Otis Elevator Company. Elisha Otis started the company in 1853 as Union Elevator Works to sell his safety elevator. His sons, Norton and Charles, adopted the Otis Brothers name in 1864.
According to an order form dated January 1889 held by the Smithsonian Institution Libraries, Smith's Patent Calculator sold in four forms. One had attached slips with formulae of interest to civil engineers, a second had formulae for marine engineers, a third had formulae for mechanical engineers, and a fourth was intended for "assayers, chemists, scientists, students." The instrument cost 50 cents with one set of attachments or 75 cents with all four sets. This example appears to be the instrument for civil engineers. An unsigned review of Florian Cajori's 1909 history of the slide rule criticized Cajori for ignoring Smith's contributions to popularizing the slide rule and educating Americans in its use.
References: Rudolph C. Smith, "Attachment for Calculating Scales" (U.S. Patent 357,346 issued February 8, 1887), "Slide-Rule for Logarithmic Calcuations" (U.S. Patent 450,640 issued April 21, 1891), "Calculating-Scale" (U.S. Patent 592,067 issued October 19, 1897), "Calculating-Scale" (U.S. Patent 746,888 issued December 15, 1903), "Calculating-Scale" (U.S. Patent 1,014,344 issued January 9, 1912); Annual Report of the Commissioner of Patents for the Year 1891 (Washington, D.C.: Government Printing Office, 1892), 339; Practical Applications of Smith's Electro-Calculator (New York, 1894); R. C. Smith, The International Book of Shorthand Computation ([New York, 1900]); "Elevator Trust Sued," New York Times, March 8, 1906; review of A History of the Logarithmic Slide Rule and Allied Instruments by Florian Cajori, Mines and Minerals 30, no. 12 (July 1910): 740.
Location
Currently not on view
date made
1887
maker
Smith, Rudolph C.
ID Number
MA.308973
catalog number
308973
accession number
89797

Comptometer, Macaroni Box Model

This is the prototype for the Comptometer, a key-driven adding machine invented by Dorr E. Felt of Chicago.
Description
This is the prototype for the Comptometer, a key-driven adding machine invented by Dorr E. Felt of Chicago. It is a scarred wooden box (originally used to transport macaroni) that contains the levers and wheels for a 5-column adding machine with one partial column of keys (wooden skewers), four of which are missing. The number dials are at the front. Two screws are on the top of the back panel. A series of rubber bands, used to set the levers to accept the next keystroke, are missing.
Compare to replica, which has catalog number MA.323646.
Reference:
J. A. V. Turck, Origin of Modern Calculating Machines, Chicago: Western Society of Engineers, 1921, pp. 52-56.
date made
1884-1885
maker
Felt, Dorr E.
ID Number
MA.311192
catalog number
311192
accession number
143207

Amsler Type 2 Polar Planimeter Sold by Crosby Steam Gage & Valve

This German silver instrument has a 4" arm with tracer point and 6" pole arm with short cylindrical weight. The arm lengths are fixed.
Description
This German silver instrument has a 4" arm with tracer point and 6" pole arm with short cylindrical weight. The arm lengths are fixed. The tracer arm and pole arm are connected by a hinge and form a circle around the measuring wheel, vernier, and registering dial when the instrument is closed. The top of the pole arm is marked in script: Crosby Steam Gage & Valve Co. Boston. The top of the weight is marked: 16378 (/) 10 [square] in. A serial number is marked underneath the tracer arm and the weight: 10259.
A wooden case is covered with black leather and lined with purple velvet. The top of the case is marked: CROSBY STEAM GAGE & VALVE Co (/) BOSTON.
To measure the areas of diagrams produced by its steam engine indicators, Crosby imported and sold Amsler polar planimeters of types 1, 2, and 3. The presence of a registering dial and the screw thread on the post extending from the measuring wheel indicates that this example is a type 2. Planimeter expert Joachim Fischer dated this object to about 1882. Charles W. Batchelor (1845–1910), the father of the donor, used it in his work as one of Thomas A. Edison's chief assistants. For instance, between 1884 and 1888, he managed the Edison Machine Works, where a planimeter may have been especially useful. From 1888 to at least 1907, Crosby sold the Amsler type 2 in a case for $25.00. For information on Amsler and his invention, see 1987.0107.10. Compare to 1989.0305.01.
This instrument was received by the Smithsonian in 1960.
References: Crosby Steam Gage & Valve Co. Catalogue (Boston, 1888), 104–109; Crosby Steam Gage & Valve Co. Catalogue (Boston, 1900), 170–176; Crosby Steam Gage & Valve Co. Catalogue (Boston, 1907), 203–210; Crosby Steam Gage & Valve Company, Practical Instructions Relating to the Construction and Use of the Steam Engine Indicator (Boston, 1911), 43–46, 83–86; Craig Bliss, The Crosby Steam Gage & Valve Co., http://www.crosby-steam.com/index.htm.
Location
Currently not on view
date made
1880s
distributor
Crosby Steam Gage & Valve Company
maker
Amsler, Jacob
ID Number
MA.318485
catalog number
318485
accession number
233749

Prototype for Planimeter Invented by John Coffin

This German silver L-shaped bar has a pivoting rectangular piece underneath the end of its short leg. A small cylindrical handle and a tracer point are at the end of the long leg. A measuring wheel at the vertex is numbered from 0 to 10 to 0.
Description
This German silver L-shaped bar has a pivoting rectangular piece underneath the end of its short leg. A small cylindrical handle and a tracer point are at the end of the long leg. A measuring wheel at the vertex is numbered from 0 to 10 to 0. The divisions are engine-divided and thus finely made.
The instrument fits into a crudely made wooden case. The lid of the case has two German silver tracks, two German silver clamps for holding paper, and a German silver pivoting arm that may be used to secure one of the clamps. The rectangular piece on the instrument slides into one of the tracks so that the tracer point can be moved along a curve drawn on paper in the holders. The measuring wheel thus found the area under the curve, which was produced by a steam engine indicator.
John Coffin of Syracuse, N.Y., applied for a patent on this variation of a planimeter in July 1881. Although several companies subsequently manufactured forms of Coffin's planimeter, this example resembles none of the production models identified by collector David R. Green or depicted by N. Hawkins or James Ambrose Moyer. However, this instrument is very similar to Coffin's patent drawings. This similarity, the crude construction of the case, and the absence of maker signatures and identifying marks suggest that this version of Coffin's planimeter was not made in large quantities. Perhaps it was even a patent model, since Coffin did submit one with his application. The Museum owns patent models from as late as 1910, and this object came to the Smithsonian some time before it was found in the collections in 1964. According to Janssen, no list was made of the 15,000 models received in 1926, although all of the 1,000 models collected in 1908 were recorded and accessioned. There is no Patent Office tag on this instrument.
Coffin announced in his patent specification that he would soon move to Chicago, and there is no record of his activities after 1882. Compare this object to 1987.0107.03, MA.323705, and MA.323706.
References: John Coffin, "Averageometer, or Instrument for Measuring the Average Breadth of Irregular Planes" (U.S. Patent 258,993 issued June 6, 1882); N. Hawkins, Hawkins' Indicator Catechism (New York: Theo. Audel & Co., 1903), 140–142; James Ambrose Moyer, Power Plant Testing (New York: McGraw-Hill, 1911), 73–78; David R. Green, "Coffin Planimeters," The Planimeter Vault, June 16, 2008, http://www.planimetervault.com/coffin.html; Barbara Suit Janssen, Patent Models Index: Guide to the Collections of the National Museum of American History (Washington, D.C.: Smithsonian Institution Scholarly Press, 2010), i:viii–ix, 150.
Location
Currently not on view
date made
1881
maker
Coffin, John
ID Number
MA.323708
catalog number
323708
accession number
252312

Ellipsograph

This ellipsograph is a beautifully engineered drawing device. An oval shape, the ellipse is one of the four conic sections, the others being the circle, the parabola and the hyperbola. Ellipses are important curves used in the mathematical sciences.
Description
This ellipsograph is a beautifully engineered drawing device. An oval shape, the ellipse is one of the four conic sections, the others being the circle, the parabola and the hyperbola. Ellipses are important curves used in the mathematical sciences. For example, the planets follow elliptical orbits around the sun. Ellipses are required in surveying, engineering, architectural, and machine drawings for two main reasons. First, any circle viewed at an angle will appear to be an ellipse. Second, ellipses were common architectural elements, often used in ceilings, staircases, and windows, and needed to be rendered accurately in drawings. Several types of drawing devices that produce ellipses, called ellipsographs or elliptographs, were developed and patented in the late 19th and early 20th centuries.
Manufactured by William Ford Stanley and Co. Ltd in the 1880s, this device was designed and patented by English inventor Edward Burslow (often seen as Burstow) in the early 1870s. Burslow lived in Horsham, England, and along with other drawing devices, invented a pentacycle for the Horsham Postal Service in 1882. Though it did not catch on for use elsewhere, the Horsham postal workers wrote Burslow a letter of appreciation for the five-wheeled contrivance.
William Ford Robinson Stanley (1829--1909) was an English inventor and philanthropist with multiple patents in England and the United States. He founded his company, which made precision mathematical and drawing instruments, among other items, in 1854 after a comment by his father about the poor quality of British technical instruments. The company continued to produce drawing and surveying instruments through the 20th century, closing its doors in 1999.
The Stanley/Burslow ellipsograph works on a very different principle than the more common elliptical trammel. Like the H. R. Corkhill ellipsograph in the collection, it uses a series of gears to move five linked arms. As the top arm is rotated, the two main arms with three gears apiece separate into a Y configuration, pulling the bracket below the device along the slot in the main horizontal beam. Into this bracket can be placed two ruled arms of different lengths to produce ellipses varying in size, from 1/4 in by 1/2 in (minor/major axis lengths) to 7 in by 14 in. Interestingly, the ellipses are drawn on a diagonal beneath the device and not in line with it. This allows larger ellipses to be drawn.
This device was transferred to the museum by the Smithsonian Astrophysical Observatory in 1956.
Resources: Great Britain Patent Office, Patents for Inventions: Abridgments of Specifications Period A.D. 1867-76, London: Darling and Son, 1904, p. 48.
William B. Owen, “Stanley, William Ford Robinson,” Dictionary of National Biography, 1912 supplement, pp. 393--394.
British Postal Museum and Archives.
Location
Currently not on view
date made
ca 1888
maker
Stanley, William Ford
ID Number
MA.314861
accession number
211531
catalog number
314861

Bouchet Adding Machine

This is the second form of the key-driven adding machine patented by Michael Bouchet (1827-1903), a French-born Catholic priest who came to the United states in 1853 and worked in Louisville, Kentucky, from 1860.
Description
This is the second form of the key-driven adding machine patented by Michael Bouchet (1827-1903), a French-born Catholic priest who came to the United states in 1853 and worked in Louisville, Kentucky, from 1860. Bouchet was of an inventive turn of mind, devising automatic snakes to frighten his acolytes, and a folding bed and fire escape for his own use. He had considerable responsibility for the financial affairs of his diocese and, according to his biographer, as early as the 1860s invented an adding machine to assist in keeping these accounts. Of these devices, Bouchet patented only later versions of the adding machine, taking out patents in 1882 and in 1885.
The machine added single columns of digits. Depressing a key depressed a lever and raised a curved bar with teeth on the inside of it. The teeth on the bar engaged a toothed pinion at the back of the machine, rotating it forward in proportion to the digit entered. A wheel at the left end of the roller turned forward, recording the entry. A pawl and spring then disengaged the curved bar, preventing the roller and recording bar from turning back again once the key was released. Two additional wheels to the left of the first one were used in carrying to the tens and hundreds places, so that the machine could record totals up to 99. Left of the wheels was a lever-driven tack and pinion zeroing mechanism.
This example of the machine has a tin cover and a brass base and nine key stems arranged in two rows (the keys are missing). It was the gift of Mrs. Joseph S. McCoy, widow of Joseph S. McCoy, Actuary of the U.S. Treasury from 1889 until his death in 1931. McCoy and his predecessor, Ezekial Brown Elliott, were most open to inventions in adding machines. According to one of McCoy’s colleagues, the Bouchet machine was left in the office by the inventor in the year 1890 or thereabouts to be tried out. Bouchet did not return.
This machine has serial number 960. Compare to 323620.
References:
Michael Bouchet, “Adding Machine,” U.S. Patent 251823, January 3, 1882.
Michael Bouchet, “ “Adding Machine,” U.S. Patent 314561, March 31, 1885.
Dan Walsh, Jr., The Stranger in the City, Louisville, Ky.: Hammer Printing Co., 1913, esp. pp. 49-70.
Accession File.
“Joseph Sylvester McCoy,” National Cyclopaedia of American Biography, 24: p. 382.
Location
Currently not on view
date made
1885
maker
Bouchet, Michael
ID Number
MA.310230
maker number
960
accession number
113246
catalog number
316230

Comptograph

This full-keyboard printing manual adding machine has a cherrywood case and eight columns of metal keys, with white discs set in the metal key tops. Digits and complements of digits are shown on the discs. Each column has nine keys, with a spring around each key stem.
Description
This full-keyboard printing manual adding machine has a cherrywood case and eight columns of metal keys, with white discs set in the metal key tops. Digits and complements of digits are shown on the discs. Each column has nine keys, with a spring around each key stem. The cover under the keys consists of wooden slats with holes drilled in them. Each column of keys has one slat. These are alternately of cherry and a lighter-colored wood. A shaped tin plate at the front has nine windows cut in it to show nine metal wheels that record totals. Eight levers above the dials serve as decimal markers. On the right side toward the front are a knob and a small lever. Depressing the lever allows one to turn the knob and zero the total.
To the right of the keyboard is a large button that advances the paper tape and may print the total. This tape and the mechanisms for printing the numbers entered and the totals are behind the keyboard. Apparently printed totals can have up to eight digits. The paper tape is set inside a cherrywood lid that folds down when the machine is not in use. A knob on the right side at the back advances the carriage when loading paper. Different widths of paper tape can be used and the tape position adjusted.
This machine is shown in Turck, p. 118. According to that reference, it was purchased and used for ten years by the Merchants and Manufacturers Bank of Pittsburgh, Pa., and presented by Felt to the National Museum. In fact, this machine did not come to the Museum until long after Felt’s death. The same picture is in the Accession Journal of the Felt & Tarrant Collection, with object #19. There is no indication there where this object was used.
Compare to MA.322454.
References:
J. A. V. Turck, Origin of Modern Calculating Machines, Chicago: Western Society of Engineers, 1921, pp. 116-120.
Felt & Tarrant, Accession Journal, 1991.3107.06.
Location
Currently not on view
date made
1889
maker
Felt & Tarrant Manufacturing Company
ID Number
MA.323633
catalog number
323633
maker number
31
accession number
250163

Grant Improved Calculating Machine Model

This is the U.S. Patent Office model for a lever-set non-printing barrel-type calculating machine patented by George B. Grant of Maplewood, Massachusetts on August 16, 1887. It represents an improvement on machines Grant had patented July 16,1872 (U.S.
Description
This is the U.S. Patent Office model for a lever-set non-printing barrel-type calculating machine patented by George B. Grant of Maplewood, Massachusetts on August 16, 1887. It represents an improvement on machines Grant had patented July 16,1872 (U.S. Patent 129,335) and April 29, 1873 (U.S. Patent 138245), and on the machine he exhibited at the Centennial Exhibition in Philadelphia in 1876.
The model has a rectangular wooden base. The frame is made up of two plates at either end of the base connected by metal shafts. The mechanism has a large upper cylinder and a small lower cylinder linked by gears of equal size. Fifteen centimeters (6”) of the upper cylinder has a metal collar that can be set at any of eight positions on the cylinder. This collar supports eight movable rings, each of which represents a digit entered. Each ring has an adding pin and a stud on it that may be set at any of 10 positions, labeled by the digits from 0 to 9.
The lower cylinder has ten recording wheels on it, each provided with 30 teeth. Paper loops numbered from 0 to 9 three times run around each wheel. On a bar between the cylinders is a row of ten spring claws, one for each recording wheel. If a claw is pushed down, it engages the gear of the recording wheel, causing it to rotate. Studs on the wheel lead to carrying by engaging the next claw over.
The model has no mechanism for displaying the multiplier or multiplicand.
This object was collected by L. Leland Locke and displayed at the Museums of the Peaceful Arts in New York City before coming to the Smithsonian.
George B. Grant (1849–1917) was born in Maine, studied for three terms at the Chandler Scientific School of Dartmouth College, and entered the Lawrence Scientific School of Harvard University in 1869, graduating in 1873. As an undergraduate, he became interested in computing devices, publishing an article on a new form of difference engine in 1871. During this time, he also took out two patents for calculating machines. Grant’s study of computing devices also led him to take a great interest in improved gears. He formed a total of five gear works in various American cities, and wrote treatises on the subject.
For a related object, see MA.310645.
According to L. Leland Locke, the models for Grant’s first two calculating machine patents were not preserved.
References:
George B. Grant, “Improvement in Calculating Machines,” U.S. Patent 138245 (April 29, 1873).
George B. Grant, “On a New Difference Engine,” American Journal of Science, ser. 3, vol. 2 (August 1871), pp. 113–117.
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.
George B. Grant, “Calculating-Machine,” U. S. Patent 368528 (August 16, 1887).
Location
Currently not on view
date made
1887
inventor
Grant, George B.
maker
Grant, George B.
ID Number
MA.311940
catalog number
311940
accession number
155183

Microscope

Bausch & Lomb introduced their Physician’s microscope in 1877, boasting that it was “firm and well balanced” and well adapted “to the use of physicians and students.” The stand and case cost $40; with two objectives and camera lucida it cost $65.
Description
Bausch & Lomb introduced their Physician’s microscope in 1877, boasting that it was “firm and well balanced” and well adapted “to the use of physicians and students.” The stand and case cost $40; with two objectives and camera lucida it cost $65. Ernst Gundlach, the Prussian immigrant who had become superintendent of the firm’s new microscope department in 1876, was largely responsible for the form.
This example is a compound monocular with coarse and fine focus, double nosepiece, rectangular stage, inclination joint, sub-stage aperture ring with three different diaphragms, sub-stage mirror, curvaceous base, and wooden box with extra lenses. The body and tube are nickel-plated brass; the base is black iron; the stage is heavy glass. The inscription on the tube reads “BAUSCH & LOMB OPTICAL CO. ROCHESTER, N.Y.” That on the arm reads “PAT. OCT. 3. 1876.” That on the metal slide holder reads “PAT. DEC. 25, 77.”
This microscope was used by Robert Selden (1847-1921), a physician in Catskill, New York. The 1594 serial number on the card in the box indicates a date around 1881.
Ref: Bausch & Lomb, Price List of Microscopes (Rochester, 1877), p. 6.
Ernst Gundlach, “Microscopes,” U.S. Patent 182,919 (Oct. 3, 1876).
Ernst Gundlach, “Moveable Slide Holder,” U.S. Patent 198,607 (Dec. 25, 1877).
Location
Currently not on view
date made
ca 1881
maker
Bausch & Lomb
ID Number
MG.M-11497
accession number
262401
catalog number
M-11497
262401.01

Microscope

Compound binocular microscope with coarse and fine focus, inter-ocular adjustment, trunnion, square mechanical stage, sub-stage diaphragm, Lister limb with sub-stage mirror, and a “J. SWIFT / 43 University St. / London. W.C.” inscription.
Description
Compound binocular microscope with coarse and fine focus, inter-ocular adjustment, trunnion, square mechanical stage, sub-stage diaphragm, Lister limb with sub-stage mirror, and a “J. SWIFT / 43 University St. / London. W.C.” inscription. James Swift was a microscope maker who began in business on his own in 1857, and worked at that address from 1872-1881.
Ref: G. L’E. Turner, The Great Age of the Microscope (Bristol, 1989), pp. 184-190.
Location
Currently not on view
date made
1872-1881
maker
Swift, James
ID Number
MG.302606.255
catalog number
302606.255
accession number
302606

Microscope

Small magnifying glass in a metal frame that, according to the text on its cardboard box, was designed “For examining bank notes, minerals, flowers, seeds, linen, etc., etc.” It was designed and sold by Laban Heath (1837-1894), a New England engraver who specialized in detecting
Description
Small magnifying glass in a metal frame that, according to the text on its cardboard box, was designed “For examining bank notes, minerals, flowers, seeds, linen, etc., etc.” It was designed and sold by Laban Heath (1837-1894), a New England engraver who specialized in detecting counterfeit currency. This was collected by Richard Halsted Ward (1837-1917), a noted medical microscopist, or his son, Henry B. Ward, a pioneering parasitologist.
Ref: Laban Heath, “Stand for Magnifying Glass,” U.S. Patent 198542 (Dec. 25, 1877).
Laban Heath, Heath’s Infallible Government Counterfeit Detector (Boston, 1878).
Location
Currently not on view
date made
ca 1880
maker
Heath, Laban
ID Number
MG.M-09745
accession number
174919
catalog number
M-09745
174919.30

Microscope

This medium-sized compound monocular is a Zeiss model IIa with coarse and fine focus, triple nosepiece (with three Leitz objectives), large circular stage made of vulcanite, trunnion, Abbe condenser with iris diaphragm that can swing into or out of the line of sight, sub-stage mi
Description
This medium-sized compound monocular is a Zeiss model IIa with coarse and fine focus, triple nosepiece (with three Leitz objectives), large circular stage made of vulcanite, trunnion, Abbe condenser with iris diaphragm that can swing into or out of the line of sight, sub-stage mirror, and horse-shoe base. The inscription on the tube reads, in cursive, “Carl Zeiss / Jena / No. 12778.”
Victor Vaughan (1851-1929) was a professor at the University of Michigan Medical School who lobbied for a local Hygienic Laboratory. In the summer of 1888, after having convinced the Michigan Legislature to provide funds to build and equip such a facility, Vaughan and his assistant, Frederick Novy (1864-1957), went abroad to study with Louis Pasteur in Paris and Robert Koch in Berlin—and apparently bought this microscope at that time. Returning home, Novy offered the first bacteriology course in the United States, and is now remembered as an important American pioneer of the science.
Ref: Carl Zeiss, Microscopes and Microscopical Accessories (Jena, 1889), pp. 34-35.
Powel H. Kazanjian, “The Beginnings of Bacteriology in American Medicine: Works of Frederick Novy 1888-1933,” PhD, University of Michigan, 2012.
Location
Currently not on view
date made
1888
maker
Zeiss, Carl
ID Number
MG.253100.35
catalog number
253100.35
accession number
253100

Microscope

George Wale, an English immigrant then living in New Jersey, showed his “New Working Microscope” at the American Institute Exhibition of 1879 and took home a Medal of Excellence, the judges reporting that “it is one of the most perfect, if not the most perfect moderate sized inst
Description
George Wale, an English immigrant then living in New Jersey, showed his “New Working Microscope” at the American Institute Exhibition of 1879 and took home a Medal of Excellence, the judges reporting that “it is one of the most perfect, if not the most perfect moderate sized instrument produced, for the low price at which it sells, by any optician to this day.” Its key feature was a method of hanging the body so that it could be made to incline at any angle without diminishing its stability.
The “New Student Microscope” that Bausch & Lomb introduced in 1886 was said to be “constructed on the Wale principle of concentric inclination of the arm, by which the instrument becomes more firm the further it is inclined.” This example is of that sort. It is a compound monocular with coarse and fine focus, trunnion, circular stage, support for sub-stage mirror, and U-shaped base. The stage is inscribed “Bausch & Lomb / Optical Co.” The objective is missing.
Ref: American Institute Judges quoted in American Journal of Microscopy 5 (1880): 24.
“New Student Microscope,” The Microscope 6 (1886): 199.
“Bausch & Lomb Optical Co.’s New Student Microscope,” Journal of the Royal Microscopical Society 6 (Dec. 1886): 1037-1038.
Location
Currently not on view
date made
late 1880s
maker
Bausch & Lomb Optical Company
ID Number
MG.M-12191
accession number
272522
catalog number
M-12191

Microscope

This is a compound monocular with coarse and fine focus, trunnion, square stage, and support for sub-stage diaphragm and for mirror. The tube and trunnions are nickel; the arm and the curvaceous Y-shaped foot are Japanned cast iron; the stage is glass. The eyepiece is missing.
Description
This is a compound monocular with coarse and fine focus, trunnion, square stage, and support for sub-stage diaphragm and for mirror. The tube and trunnions are nickel; the arm and the curvaceous Y-shaped foot are Japanned cast iron; the stage is glass. The eyepiece is missing. The inscription on the tube reads “BAUSCH & LOMB OPTICAL CO. / ROCHESTER. N.Y.” The donor identified this as a Model F made around 1882.
Location
Currently not on view
date made
1882
maker
Bausch & Lomb Optical Company
ID Number
MG.M-12192
accession number
272522
catalog number
M-12192

Microscope

This is a compound monocular with coarse and fine focus, inclination joint, circular stage, sub-stage iris diaphragm, sub-stage mirror, tri-leg base, and a Zeiss objective. The inscriptions read “John W. Sidle & Co. Lancaster, Pa. ACME” and “176” and “G. S.
Description
This is a compound monocular with coarse and fine focus, inclination joint, circular stage, sub-stage iris diaphragm, sub-stage mirror, tri-leg base, and a Zeiss objective. The inscriptions read “John W. Sidle & Co. Lancaster, Pa. ACME” and “176” and “G. S. Woolman / AGT / N.Y.” John W. Sidle began making microscopes in Philadelphia in 1879, and moved to Lancaster in 1880. George S. Woolman, a microscope merchant in New York, was his agent for a brief period around 1880.
Sidle developed the Acme stand in conjunction with James Edwards Smith, a professor of medicine and active microscopist. Sidle described this example, an Acme No. 3, as “a good, cheap stand, which would be adapted to all kinds of work.”
Ref: John W. Sidle & Co., Condensed Price List of the ‘Acme’ Optical Goods (Lancaster, Pa., 1881), pp. 5-8.
James Edwards Smith, How to See with the Microscope (Chicago, 1880), pp. 84-92.
Location
Currently not on view
date made
early 1880s
maker
John W. Sidle & Co.
ID Number
MG.308729.02
accession number
308729
catalog number
308729.02

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