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: 1910s

Burroughs Class 3 Adding Machine

This full keyboard printing manually operated adding machine has a metal frame painted black, a metal keyboard painted green, and seven columns of black and white color-coded plastic keys.
Description
This full keyboard printing manually operated adding machine has a metal frame painted black, a metal keyboard painted green, and seven columns of black and white color-coded plastic keys. A row of eight number wheels is visible at the front of the machine through a glass window. An operating handle that fits on the right side, and three function key stems are on the left. The printing mechanism, with space for ribbon and paper tape, is behind the keyboard. The carriage is 10 cm. (4”) wide, with a serrated edge for tearing the paper tape and a knob on the right to advance the paper. The machine is not entirely assembled and is incomplete. Several spare pieces are present, including a row of red plastic keys like the clearance keys on a Monroe.
The machine is marked on a tag at the front: 3-37428. It is marked behind the keyboard, with a “g” in an unusual font: Burroughs.
Location
Currently not on view
date made
1917
maker
Burroughs Adding Machine Company
ID Number
MA.335030
accession number
312145
maker number
3-37428
catalog number
335030

Geometric Model by H.M. Allison, a Student of A. Harry Wheeler, Line Perpendicular to Planes

To show relationships among planes and angles, A. H. Wheeler designed a series of what he called platform models.
Description
To show relationships among planes and angles, A. H. Wheeler designed a series of what he called platform models. All of these had a rectangular platform, with other segments (often other rectangles) secured to it.
In this cut and folded paper model, two intersecting planes can rotateabout their line of intersection. Their motion is limited by two parallel planes that are perpendicular to the line of intersection.
This model resembles one presented by George Wentworth in his discussion of a line perpendicular to two parallel planes.
Reference::
George A. Wentworth, Plane and Solid Geometry, Boston: Ginn, 1899, p. 288-289.
Location
Currently not on view
date made
1916 02 23
teacher
Wheeler, Albert Harry
maker
Allison, Harvey M.
ID Number
MA.304723.257
accession number
304723
catalog number
304723.257

Adding Machine Section, Comptometer Model E

This model of a section of a full-keyboard non-printing adding machine has two complete columns of keys and two partial columns. The partial columns are in the middle, and the total number of keys is 23.
Description
This model of a section of a full-keyboard non-printing adding machine has two complete columns of keys and two partial columns. The partial columns are in the middle, and the total number of keys is 23. The key tops in the two right columns are white, and those on the left are black. Complementary digits are indicated. The keys are alternately concave (odd digits) and flat (even digits). The model also includes a mechanism, numeral wheels, three result windows, and three decimal markers. It has a glass case with a wooden base. Subtraction levers are between the rows of keys and a zeroing lever is on the right. Just in back of the digit keys, on the right, is a white key with a shorter key stem.
The model has a metal tag in the back of the keyboard with a list of patent dates. The last date is OCT.7.13. Some images of the model whow it with the incorrect catalog number 273177 painted on the front.
This machine was given to the Smithsonian in 1914 by Felt & Tarrant Manufacturing company.
Location
Currently not on view
date made
ca 1913
maker
Felt & Tarrant Manufacturing Company
ID Number
MA.286083
catalog number
286083
accession number
57775

Gebr. Wichmann Mannheim Simplex Slide Rule

This five-inch, one-sided cardboard linear slide rule has a metal cursor in the double-chisel style. (Compare to MA.318477 and 1977.0370.01.) There are A and D scales on the base and B and C scales on the slide. The A and B scales are divided logarithmically from 1 to 10 twice.
Description
This five-inch, one-sided cardboard linear slide rule has a metal cursor in the double-chisel style. (Compare to MA.318477 and 1977.0370.01.) There are A and D scales on the base and B and C scales on the slide. The A and B scales are divided logarithmically from 1 to 10 twice. The C and D scales are divided logarithmically from 1 to 10 once. A figure holding a club is shown in the lower left corner. A dark brown case of coated paper is included.
The figure on the slide rule was used by Gebr. Wichmann (Wichmann Brothers) in Berlin, a company founded in 1873. In materials, size, and scales, this instrument closely resembles model 466, shown in the 1910 catalog. However, the illustration in the catalog indicates that the maker's name, place of manufacture, model number, and price are printed on the front of the rule. This instrument does not have these marks, so it may have been made before 1910. The No. 466 slide rule sold for 0.75 marks and was one of the least expensive slide rules listed in the catalog. (Only model 469, with a C scale that began at pi, sold for the same price.)
This instrument is signed on the back: W. F. Meggers. William F. Meggers (1888–1966) was a spectroscopist long associated with the U.S. National Bureau of Standards. He received his B.A. in physics from Ripon College in 1910, his M.A. in physics from the University of Wisconsin in 1916, and his Ph.D. in physics, mathematics, and astronomy from Johns Hopkins University in 1917. If he used this rule, it seems likely that he acquired it as a student. For a slide rule apparently acquired by Meggers in 1907 that was considerably more precise and more costly, see MA.335270.
References: Gebr. Wichmann, Anleitung zum Gebrauch des Rechenstabes (Berlin, 1910), 21; "Dr. Meggers Dies at 78," The NBS Standard 11, no. 9 (December 1966): 2–3.
Location
Currently not on view
date made
before 1910
maker
Gebr. Wichmann
ID Number
MA.293320.2820
accession number
293320
catalog number
293320.2820

Geometric Model by A. Harry Wheeler, Symmetrical Spherical Triangles, Each Separated into Three Isoceles Spherical Triangles

This cut and folded tan paper model shows two spherical triangles symmetrically located on opposite side of a sphere (only a great circle of the sphere is shown).
Description
This cut and folded tan paper model shows two spherical triangles symmetrically located on opposite side of a sphere (only a great circle of the sphere is shown). Both of the spherical triangles are divided into three isoceles spherical triangles.
The model is among those Wheeler dubbed collapsible.
Compare MA.304723.174.
Location
Currently not on view
date made
1916 08 19
maker
Wheeler, Albert Harry
ID Number
MA.304723.168
accession number
304723
catalog number
304723.168

Wales Model 10 Series Adding Machine

This full keyboard printing manually operated adding machine has a metal frame painted black with glass right and left sides and front and a glass panel in front of the number dials behind the keyboard.
Description
This full keyboard printing manually operated adding machine has a metal frame painted black with glass right and left sides and front and a glass panel in front of the number dials behind the keyboard. Below the nine columns of black and white color-coded plastic keys, the keyboard below is covered with green felt. A total key is to the left of the keyboard, a red plastic error key and a key stem areabove the number keys, and non-print and non-add keys are behind the numeral dials. Divisions for U.S. currency are indicated between the dials. The metal operating crank is on the right. At the back of the machine is the printing mechanism and a 13-inch (33 cm.) movable carriage. The machine is extremely heavy.
A mark on the front reads: WALES. A mark above the keyboard reads: WALES [/] Visible [/] Adding [/] and Listing [/] Machine [/] THE ADDER MACHINE COMPANY [/] WILKES-BARRE, PA.,U.S.A. A list of patents includes the first date DEC. 1. 1903, and the last date, NOV. 23. 1909.
Compare MA.323593.
Reference:
J. H. McCarthy, American Digest of Business Machines, Chicago, 1924, pp. 544-545.
Location
Currently not on view
date made
1913
maker
Adder Machine Company
ID Number
MA.333753
catalog number
333753
accession number
301887

Beach Calculating Machine

This small black machine sits on an iron base with four short legs. Seven toothed semicircular discs, mounted on a single shaft, are used to enter numbers. Between the toothed discs are full discs with the digits from 0 to 9 marked around the edge of each disc 3 times.
Description
This small black machine sits on an iron base with four short legs. Seven toothed semicircular discs, mounted on a single shaft, are used to enter numbers. Between the toothed discs are full discs with the digits from 0 to 9 marked around the edge of each disc 3 times. The face of the machine is a steeply sloped curve with a rounded top. The toothed discs protrude from slots in the face, and one digit on each disc is visible through a window. The handle is on the right side. Several parts of the machine are missing.
The machine is marked on the front: THE (/) BEACH (/) CALCULATING (/) MACHINE. It is stamped on the bottom: 2151. A mark scratched on the bottom reads: Geo. J.
The Beach calculating machine was manufactured, at least initially, by the Book-Keeper Publishing Company of Detroit, Michigan. The firm had previously manufactured a two-wheeled stylus-operated adding machine on the design of Lester C. Smith (a modification of the Webb adder), but discontinued this product after a patent dispute.
References:
Seal et al v. Bookkeeper Pub. Co., May 3, 1904, Case No. 1258, "Circuit Court of Appeals Reports", 64, Rochester: Lawyers’ Cooperative Publishing, 1905, pp. 651-657.
Elmer Henry Beach, Tools of Business, an Encyclopedia of Office Equipment and Labor Saving Devices, Detroit: Book-Keeper Publishing Co., Ltd., 1905, pp. 10-11.
The Thomas’ Register for 1907-1908 through 1912 list under Machinery - Adding, Calculating, etc. the Beach-Kauffman Mfg. Co. of Detroit, Michigan as the manufacturer of an adding machine.
Advertisement in Business, a Magazine for Office Store and Factory, vol 19 #1, (August 1906), p. 4, 63. The magazine was edited by Elmer Henry Beach. The advertisement indicates that the Beach-Kauffman Manufacturing Company was selling the machine.
Location
Currently not on view
date made
ca 1910
maker
Beach-Kauffman Manufacturing Company
ID Number
MA.311945
accession number
155183
maker number
2151
catalog number
311945

Geometric Model by A. Harry Wheeler, Trihedral Angle

This cut and folded tan paper model has on the outside a tetrahedron open on one face (not a regular tetrahedron). It contains a moveable folded triangle.A paper tag on the outside reads: 274. A mark on the base reads: Trihedral Angle (/) A.
Description
This cut and folded tan paper model has on the outside a tetrahedron open on one face (not a regular tetrahedron). It contains a moveable folded triangle.
A paper tag on the outside reads: 274. A mark on the base reads: Trihedral Angle (/) A. Harry Wheeler (/) 1916.
Location
Currently not on view
date made
1916
maker
Wheeler, Albert Harry
ID Number
MA.304723.591
accession number
304723
catalog number
304723,591

Keuffel & Esser Military Protractor

This yellow xylonite (celluloid-like plastic) rectangular protractor is contained in a paper wrapper marked: MILITARY PROTRACTOR (/) MADE BY (/) KEUFFEL & ESSER CO. (/) NEW YORK.
Description
This yellow xylonite (celluloid-like plastic) rectangular protractor is contained in a paper wrapper marked: MILITARY PROTRACTOR (/) MADE BY (/) KEUFFEL & ESSER CO. (/) NEW YORK. It is divided by degree and marked by tens from 10° to 170° and from 190° to 350°, both in the clockwise direction. An arrow points to the origin point. A small hole near the 160° mark permits a weight to be suspended so that the protractor functions as a rough clinometer, to measure angles of elevation or slope.
Four slope scales appear on the bottom edge of the instrument. These allow draftsmen to read or draw topographical contours indicating slopes in landforms of 7° and 3-1/2°; 8°, 4°, 2°, and 1°; 10°, 5°, and 2-1/2°; and 12°, 6°, 3°, and 1-1/2°, respectively. The scales for each set of slope measurements are not indicated, but they presumably are standard scales for American military engineering, such as 1:63,360 and 1:25,000.
A scale of inches divided to tenths and marked by ones from 0" to 5" appears on the interior of the protractor. Below that scale are three scales for 1", 3", and 6" to the mile, respectively. Each scale is divided in 100-yard increments. The first is marked by thousands of yards from 1,000 to 8,000; the second is marked by 500 yards from 500 to 2,500; and the third is marked by 500 yards from 500 to 1,000.
Maker's and owner's marks are near the lower edge: KEUFFEL & ESSER CO.; NEW YORK; ENG. DEPT. U.S.A. 1918. The United States Engineering Department was part of the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers in the 19th and 20th centuries. K&E began to sell this form of military protractor between 1916 and 1921, so this object may have been in use during World War I (as the markings suggest). In 1936, the protractor cost $3.50. The design of the instrument changed again between 1936 and 1943. K&E noted in the 1943 catalog that the changed form was manufactured according to the specifications of the Corps of Engineers.
See also 1977.1141.08 and 1977.1141.09.
References: Norman J. W. Thrower and Ronald U. Cooke, "Scales for Determining Slope from Topographic Maps," The Professional Geographer 20, no. 3 (1968): 181–186; Catalogue of Keuffel & Esser, 34th ed. (New York, 1913), 172; Catalogue of Keuffel & Esser, 35th ed. (New York, 1916), 172; Catalogue of Keuffel & Esser, 36th ed. (New York, 1921), 119; Catalogue of Keuffel & Esser, 38th ed. (New York, 1936), 203; Catalogue of Keuffel & Esser, 39th ed. (New York, 1943), 110. Although the illustration is correct in the 1921 catalog, the description is of the form advertised in the 1913 and 1916 catalogs. The 1936 description matches the illustration printed in 1921 and 1936, as well as this example of the military protractor.
Location
Currently not on view
date made
ca 1918
maker
Keuffel & Esser Co.
ID Number
MA.325515
accession number
257193
catalog number
325515

Geometric Model by Agda Carlson, a Student of A. Harry Wheeler, Regular Octahedron

This tan paper cut and folded model consists of twelve equilateral triangles. The pieces can be folded to form a regular octahedron. Circular arcs are indicated in pencil next to many edgesAn inscription in pencil on one side reads: Agda Carlson (/) Jan-26-1915.
Description
This tan paper cut and folded model consists of twelve equilateral triangles. The pieces can be folded to form a regular octahedron. Circular arcs are indicated in pencil next to many edges
An inscription in pencil on one side reads: Agda Carlson (/) Jan-26-1915. An inscription on the inside (as folded) reads: Original Model.
Agda Carlson (1896-1980) was the Massachusetts-born daughter of Swedish immigrants to the United States. Yearbook records from the Old English High School and New High School of Commerce in Worcester, Massachsetts, for 1915 indicate that she planned to work in a hospital after graduating that year. However, subsequent Census records indicate that she continued to live with her parents and worked in Worcester as a dressmaker (1920) and a lace maker in a factory (1930). She is listed in later Worcester city directories as a “designer.”
References:
Aftermath [Yearbook of Old English High School and New High School of Commerce], 1915 gives a picture of Carlson as a high school senior. This, as well as Census, city directory, and burial records have been consulted on ancestry.com.
Location
Currently not on view
date made
1915 01 26
maker's teacher
Wheeler, Albert Harry
maker
Carlson, Agda
ID Number
MA.304723.701
accession number
304723
catalog number
304723.701

Capt. Field's Improved Hinged Parallel Rule

This 21" German silver hinged parallel rule has two small knobs for positioning the instrument. Brass pins secure the hinges. The top blade is marked: U. S. C. & G. S. NO. 323. A fleur-de-lis or letter H appears above the mark.
Description
This 21" German silver hinged parallel rule has two small knobs for positioning the instrument. Brass pins secure the hinges. The top blade is marked: U. S. C. & G. S. NO. 323. A fleur-de-lis or letter H appears above the mark. 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.
Capt. William Andrew Field (about 1796–1871) of Britain added the 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. According to the accession file, the U.S. Coast & Geodetic Survey acquired this rule on July 23, 1919, and last issued it on March 18, 1920. Compare to MA.309661 and MA.309662.
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.
Location
Currently not on view
date made
1919
ID Number
MA.309663
catalog number
309663
accession number
106954

Geometric Model by A. Harry Wheeler, Compound of Regular Dodecahedron and Great Dodecahedron

This cut and folded tan paper model represents the union of a regular dodecahedron and a great dodecahedron. A paper tag glued to the object reads: 341 (/) 2D.
Description
This cut and folded tan paper model represents the union of a regular dodecahedron and a great dodecahedron. A paper tag glued to the object reads: 341 (/) 2D. Another mark reads: Concentric Regular Pentagonal Dodecahedron (/) of the first Species and a Regular Pentagonal Dodecahedron (/) of the third Species.
Compare MA.304723.171 and MA>304723.182.
Location
Currently not on view
date made
1919-03-29
maker
Wheeler, Albert Harry
ID Number
MA.304723.182
accession number
304723
catalog number
304723.182

Peerless Calculating Machine

This manually operated, non-printing stepped drum calculating machine has a brass mechanism on an iron support, both painted black. The machine is mounted on a slab of wood and has a rough wooden cover.Eight levers are used to set stepped drums.
Description
This manually operated, non-printing stepped drum calculating machine has a brass mechanism on an iron support, both painted black. The machine is mounted on a slab of wood and has a rough wooden cover.
Eight levers are used to set stepped drums. A row of windows below the levers reveals the number entered. A lever on the left is set for addition and multiplication or subtraction and division. A crank on the right is turned repeatedly to calculate.
A movable carriage has a row of nine small windows at the front that reveal discs below that register the number of revolutions. A row of 16 discs behind this records the result. Zeroing levers for both of these registers are on the right side of the carriage, and a handle for lifting the carriage is on the left. A zeroing handle for the stepped drums is on the left side of the front of the machine. A bell rings when the result passes through zero.
A mark on the cover reads: Peerless. A mark on the front of the machine reads: KEUFFEL & ESSER Co (/) NEW YORK. Another mark there reads: GERMANY. The serial number, marked on the back rim of the carriage at the left, is 3563.
Compare MA.325564, MA.326642, and MA.323628.
This machine was donated by Robert E. Devine of Rockville, Maryland, in 1964.Web sources suggest the was Robert E. Devine (1927-2016), a native of Washington, DC,who had degrees in library science and worked at the Library of Congress and as Chief Information Officer at the Nuclear Regulatory Commission. Devine died at his retirement home in Port Orange, Florida.
In about 1904, the German firm of Mathias Bäuerle, a manufacturer of clocks, began making a stepped drum calculating machine on the design of Tobias Bäuerle, a son of the founder of the company. It was dubbed the Peerless. Keuffel & Esser Company, an American manufacturer of drawing instruments, soon offered the Peerless in its catalogs.
The 1913 Keuffel & Esser catalog (p. 292–293), 1915 catalog (pp. 292–293), and 1921 catalog (pp. 290–291) show a machine like this one, although it is marked “PEERLESS” on the side. The placement of the Keuffel & Esser mark is different, and one of the zeroing levers apparently is on the left, not the right, side of the carriage. In 1913, the machine was offered in 3 capacities, 6x7x12, 8x9x16, and 10x11x20. These versions sold for $250.00, $300.00, and $375.00. K & E no longer offered a reckoning machine in its 1927 catalog, and Peerless was not making a machine of this capacity by 1928.
References:
Keuffel & Esser, Catalog.
E. Martin, The Calculating Machines (die Rechenmaschinen), trans. P. A. Kidwell and M. R. Williams, Cambridge: MIT Press, 1992, pp. 149–151.
Location
Currently not on view
date made
ca 1915
distributor
Keuffel & Esser Co.
retailer
Keuffel & Esser Co.
ID Number
MA.325564
catalog number
325564
accession number
255933

Microscope

Small compound monocular model VIb microscope with coarse and fine focus, double nosepiece, circular stage, sub-stage diaphragm, sub-stage mirror, horseshoe base, and wooden box with extra lenses.
Description
Small compound monocular model VIb microscope with coarse and fine focus, double nosepiece, circular stage, sub-stage diaphragm, sub-stage mirror, horseshoe base, and wooden box with extra lenses. The inscriptions read “CARL ZEISS / JENA” and “GERMANY.” The “62195” serial number indicates a date of around 1913. Another inscription reads “Neuro Lab, H.P.F.G.” A brass plate in the box reads “IMPORTED BY / ARTHUR H. THOMAS CO. PHILADELPHIA.” There are two Zeiss objectives, and two cases for Leitz objectives.
This was used by Adolf Meyer (1866-1950), the Swiss-born physician who joined the Henry Phipps Psychiatric Clinic at the Johns Hopkins School of Medicine in 1913, served as psychiatrist-in-chief at the hospital until 1941, and played a major role in establishing psychiatry as a clinical science.
Ref: S. D. Lamb, Pathologist of the Mind. Adolf Meyer and the Origins of American Psychiatry (Baltimore, 2014).
Location
Currently not on view
date made
1913
maker
Zeiss, Carl
ID Number
MG.M-10348.02
catalog number
M-10348.02
accession number
242933

Microscope

This is an example of the Stand 4 that Zeiss introduced in the early twentieth century.
Description
This is an example of the Stand 4 that Zeiss introduced in the early twentieth century. It is a compound monocular with coarse and fine focus, triple nosepiece, circular stage, trunnion, sub-stage diaphragm and condenser, sub-stage mirror, horseshoe base, and wooden box with three extra lenses. The inscription on the eye tube reads “CARL ZEISS / JENA / NO 29291.” Those on the stage read “CARL ZEISS / JENA” and “GERMANY” and “1200.”
Ref: Carl Zeiss, Zeiss Microscopes and Microscopical Accessories (Jena, 1906), pp. 52-53.
Location
Currently not on view
date made
ca 1910
maker
Zeiss, Carl
ID Number
MG.M-11424
accession number
260035
catalog number
M-11424

Microscope

This Bausch & Lomb Petrographical Microscope Model LCH is a compound monocular with coarse and fine focus, handle arm, inclination joint, revolvable circular stage, polarizers and analyzers, adjustable mirror bar, and modified horseshoe base.
Description
This Bausch & Lomb Petrographical Microscope Model LCH is a compound monocular with coarse and fine focus, handle arm, inclination joint, revolvable circular stage, polarizers and analyzers, adjustable mirror bar, and modified horseshoe base. The form is based on the design of Frederick Eugene Wright, a geologist with the Carnegie Institution of Washington. The inscriptions on the objective read “Bausch & Lomb Optical Co. / Rochester, N.Y.” and “SERIES 1 / ⅔ 0.25 N.A. / TUBE LENGTH 160.0 M.M.”
Ref: Bausch & Lomb, Microscopes and Accessories (Rochester, N.Y., 1919), pp. 66-67.
F. E. Wright, “A New Petrographic Microscope,” American Journal of Science 29 (1910): 407-414.
Albert Johannsen, Manual of Petrographic Methods (New York, 1918), pp. 211-212.
Location
Currently not on view
date made
ca 1915
maker
Bausch & Lomb
ID Number
MG.M-12210
accession number
272522
catalog number
M-12210

Microscope

This compound monocular is a Spencer Model 44 with coarse and fine focus, curved arm, double nosepiece, square stage, inclination joint, sub-stage condenser and diaphragm, sub-stage mirror (this is missing), horseshoe base, and wooden box.
Description
This compound monocular is a Spencer Model 44 with coarse and fine focus, curved arm, double nosepiece, square stage, inclination joint, sub-stage condenser and diaphragm, sub-stage mirror (this is missing), horseshoe base, and wooden box. The inscription reads “SPENCER / BUFFALO / USA / 47339.” The serial number indicates a date of 1918.
The Spencer Lens Co. boasted in 1920 that the No. 44 was “the most popular of all Spencer Microscopes. Thousands are now in daily use in medical and general laboratories, also by physicians.” In 1930, it claimed that the No. 44 was “the most popular of all Spencer microscopes for routine work in the laboratory of the hospital, medical school, or general practitioner.” It was “simple in design and durable in construction,” and “fully meets all standard requirements.”
Ref: Spencer Lens Co., Catalog of Spencer Microscopes, Microtomes and Accessories (Buffalo, 1920), pp. 32-33.
Spencer Lens Co., Catalogue (Buffalo, N.Y., 1930), p. 17.
Location
Currently not on view
date made
ca 1918
maker
Spencer Lens Company
ID Number
MG.M-11515
accession number
260035
catalog number
M-11515

Microscope

Bausch & Lomb Model BH8 compound monocular with coarse and fine adjustment, triple nosepiece, square stage with mechanism for moving the specimen, inclination joint, sub-stage condenser, sub-stage mirror, U-shaped base, and wooden box.
Description
Bausch & Lomb Model BH8 compound monocular with coarse and fine adjustment, triple nosepiece, square stage with mechanism for moving the specimen, inclination joint, sub-stage condenser, sub-stage mirror, U-shaped base, and wooden box. The inscriptions on the base read “BAUSCH & LOMB OPTICAL CO. / ROCHESTER, N.Y. 30441” and “BLS.” The inscription on the stage reads “BAUSCH & LOMB OPTICAL CO. / Rochester, N.Y. / Patented Aug. 24, ’97.”
Ref: Ref: Edward Bausch, “Microscope Attachment,” U.S. Patent 588,689 (Aug. 24, 1897).
Bausch & Lomb, Microscopes and Accessories (Rochester, N.Y., 1914), pp. 32-33.
Location
Currently not on view
date made
ca 1912
maker
Bausch & Lomb
ID Number
MG.315329.01
catalog number
315329.01
accession number
315329

Microscope

Compound monocular with coarse and fine adjustment, rotating triple nosepiece, large circular stage, inclination joint, sub-stage condenser and iris diaphragm, horseshoe base, and wooden box with extra objectives. The “E. Leitz Wetzlar / No.
Description
Compound monocular with coarse and fine adjustment, rotating triple nosepiece, large circular stage, inclination joint, sub-stage condenser and iris diaphragm, horseshoe base, and wooden box with extra objectives. The “E. Leitz Wetzlar / No. 141938” inscription on the base indicates a date around 1911.
Ref: Ernst Leitz, Microscopes and Accessory Apparatus (Wetzlar, 1907).
Location
Currently not on view
date made
ca 1911
maker
Leitz, Ernst
ID Number
MG.M-14737
catalog number
M-14737
accession number
300971

Microscope

This compound monocular, a Spencer Model 30, was designed for research and clinical work of the most exacting character.
Description
This compound monocular, a Spencer Model 30, was designed for research and clinical work of the most exacting character. It has coarse and fine focus, triple nosepiece, large square stage, inclination joint, sub-stage illuminating apparatus, sub-stage mirror, horseshoe base, and wooden box. The inscription reads “Spencer Microscope / ALOE CO. Sales Agents / No 26578.” The back of the arm is marked “PAT. DEC. 11-1900” and “Aug. 38-1906.” The serial number indicates a date of 1916. The mechanical stage is marked ‘BAUSCH & LOMB.”
This was used by the donor’s father, Orra Edgar Patterson (1879-1937), a physician in the Pacific Northwest, and by his sister, Virginia Patterson Beeler (b. ca. 1913), a physician in Washington, D.C.
Ref: Spencer Lens Co., Spencer Microscopes and Accessories (Buffalo, 1914), pp. 16-27.
Hermann Zirngibl, “Microscope,” U.S. Patent 663,649 (Dec. 11, 1900).
Harry N. Ott, “Microscope,” U.S. Patent 829,422 (Aug. 28, 1906).
Location
Currently not on view
date made
1916
maker
Spencer Lens Company
ID Number
MG.M-13835
accession number
290305
catalog number
M-13835
290305.01

Microscope

This portable microscope model BPP is a compound monocular with rack-and-pinion, square stage, inclination joint, sub-stage condenser and diaphragm, bar for sub-stage mirror, and collapsible V-shaped base. The mirror and lenses are missing from this example.
Description
This portable microscope model BPP is a compound monocular with rack-and-pinion, square stage, inclination joint, sub-stage condenser and diaphragm, bar for sub-stage mirror, and collapsible V-shaped base. The mirror and lenses are missing from this example. The inscription reads “BAUSCH & LOMB OPTICAL CO. / Rochester, N.Y. / B L / Z S/ 89205.” Bausch & Lomb boasted that “For physicians, veterinarians, agriculturists and others who desire a microscope for use in the field, there is none superior. The U.S. Government has put it in use after severe competitive trials.”
The “B L Z S” inscription refers to the 1907-1915 association of the Bausch & Lomb Optical Co., the Carl Zeiss Optical Works, and George N. Saegmuller.
Ref: Bausch & Lomb, Microscopes and Accessories (Rochester, N.Y., 1907), pp. 30-31.
Bausch & Lomb, A Triple Alliance in Optics (Rochester, 1908
Location
Currently not on view
date made
ca 1907-1915
maker
Bausch & Lomb Optical Company
ID Number
MG.M-12209
accession number
272522
catalog number
M-12209

Microscope

This compound monocular is a Spencer Model 44 with coarse and fine focus, curved arm, triple nosepiece, square stage, inclination joint, sub-stage condenser and diaphragm, sub-stage mirror, Y-shaped base, and wooden box with extra lenses.
Description
This compound monocular is a Spencer Model 44 with coarse and fine focus, curved arm, triple nosepiece, square stage, inclination joint, sub-stage condenser and diaphragm, sub-stage mirror, Y-shaped base, and wooden box with extra lenses. The inscription reads “SPENCER / BUFFALO / USA / 49300.” The serial number indicates a date of 1918.
The Spencer Lens Co. boasted in 1920 that the No. 44 was “the most popular of all Spencer Microscopes. Thousands are now in daily use in medical and general laboratories, also by physicians.” In 1930, the No. 44 was “the most popular of all Spencer microscopes for routine work in the laboratory of the hospital, medical school, or general practitioner.” It was “simple in design and durable in construction,” and “fully meets all standard requirements.”
Ref: Spencer Lens Co., Catalog of Spencer Microscopes, Microtomes and Accessories (Buffalo, 1920), pp. 32-33.
Spencer Lens Co., Catalogue (Buffalo, N.Y., 1930), p. 17.
Location
Currently not on view
date made
ca 1918
maker
Spencer Lens Company
ID Number
MG.M-11423
accession number
260035
catalog number
M-11423
260035.06

Coradi Adjustable Polar Compensating Planimeter Sold by Eugene Dietzgen (Model 6612)

This instrument has two arms. Made of German silver, the first arm is 9" long, and has a brass and steel tracer point with a support. The arm is evenly divided into tenths and numbered from 5 to 38.
Description
This instrument has two arms. Made of German silver, the first arm is 9" long, and has a brass and steel tracer point with a support. The arm is evenly divided into tenths and numbered from 5 to 38. (One unit is equivalent to 5mm.) It fits into a brass carriage painted black that has a white plastic measuring wheel, vernier, and registering dial. Screws on the carriage adjust the length of the tracer arm. The carriage is marked: No 20495.
A 9" German silver pole arm fits into a hole in the carriage. Near that end, the arm is evenly divided into tenths and numbered from 30 to 34. The arm fits inside a sliding rectangular tube made of brass painted black (i.e., "bronzed brass"). A cylindrical brass weight is attached to the end of the tube. The tube is marked: G. Coradi, Zürich Switzerland D.P.G.M. Eugene Dietzgen Co. An oblong steel testing plate is marked for 0", 1", 2", and 3". It is also marked: G. Coradi Zürich.
A wooden case is covered with black leather and lined with green velvet. A printed paper chart is pasted inside the case. The chart has columns for Scales, Position of the vernier on the tracer bar, Value of the unit of the vernier on the measuring roller, and Length of the pole-arm for the constant 20,000. The values in the Position and Length columns are handwritten in the same hand that indicates the Coradi firm manufactured this planimeter with serial number 20,495 on January 18, 1913. The date and serial number indicate that this instrument was manufactured before MA.321777. 1977.0112.02 is an instruction manual.
Gottlieb Coradi (1847–1929) began to make wheel and disc polar planimeters in the early 1880s. In 1894, he made the pole arm higher than the tracer arm and connected the arms with a ball joint. This "compensating" planimeter could trace in both the clockwise and counterclockwise directions, preventing errors introduced by planimeters made in the Amsler style. The Eugene Dietzgen Company of Chicago sold Coradi's compensating planimeter from at least 1905 to at least 1931. The version with the adjustable pole arm cost $47.00, which was $11.00 more than the standard version. The model number was changed from 6612 to 1806 between 1910 and 1926. Keuffel & Esser also sold the instrument from 1901 to 1939.
The instrument reached the Smithsonian i 1987.
References: "The Lang-Coradi Planimeter," in Olaus Henrici, "On Planimeters," in Report of the Sixty-fourth Meeting of the British Association for the Advancement of Science (London, 1894), 496–523, on 515; Catalogue & Price List of Eugene Dietzgen Co., 7th ed. (Chicago, 1904), 362; Catalogue & Price List of Eugene Dietzgen Co., 9th ed. (Chicago, 1910), 503; Catalogue & Price List of Eugene Dietzgen Co., 12th ed. (Chicago, 1926), 183; Catalogue & Price List of Eugene Dietzgen Co., 14th ed. (Chicago, 1931), 205; Clark McCoy, "Collection of Pages from K&E Catalogs for the 4240 Family of Polar Planimeters," http://www.mccoys-kecatalogs.com/PlanimeterModels/ke4240family.htm.
Location
Currently not on view
date made
1913
distributor
Eugene Dietzgen Company
maker
Coradi, Gottlieb
ID Number
1987.0929.01
accession number
1987.0929
catalog number
1987.0929.01

Comptometer Model C

This key-driven non-printing adding machine has ten columns of black and white color-coded keys. Complementary digits are indicated and the keys are alternately concave (odd digits) and flat (even digits). The key stems become progressively longer as the digits are larger.
Description
This key-driven non-printing adding machine has ten columns of black and white color-coded keys. Complementary digits are indicated and the keys are alternately concave (odd digits) and flat (even digits). The key stems become progressively longer as the digits are larger. There are subtraction levers and decimal markers (unnumbered) in front of the keys. In front of these is a row of 11 windows in the brown steel case that reveals the result on numeral wheels below.
The machine has serial number 36372, which is indicated on the front to the left of the keys. It is marked on a metal tag screwed to the top of the machine: TRADE COMPTOMETER MARK (/) PAT’D [. . .] JUL.14.03 (/) Felt & Tarrant Mfg. Co. (/) Chicago. The date listed is the last of several patent dates on this tag.
The model C Comptometer went on the market in 1909. This example was first used at a commercial bank in Westfield, Massachusetts. In about 1950, it was given to Harry Rapp, on of the bank directors, as a relic. He in turn gave it to Judith Lowell in about 1965. She put it to use in the office of her husband, the physician Milton Lowell of Potsdam, New York, even though the Lowells already had a more recent printing machine. Not long after Dr. Lowell retired in 1984, the couple gave the Comptometer to the Smithsonian.
References:
U.S. Patent #960528
J. H. McCarthy, The American Digest of Business Machines, Chicago: American Exchange Service, 1924, p. 548.
Accession File.
Location
Currently not on view
date made
1910
maker
Felt & Tarrant Manufacturing Company
ID Number
1985.0120.01
catalog number
1985.0120.01
maker number
36372
accession number
1985.0120

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