The Central Scientific Company, a major purveyor of apparatus for educational, industrial and scientific use, introduced a new mercury barometer in the early 1920s. Recognizing the flaws inherent in instruments in which the tube and scales were mounted on a wooden back, Central Scientific boasted that their Cenco-Improved barometer featured a tube “completely enclosed in hexagonal brass tubing, to which are attached the metric and British scales.” And, instead of the leather bag cistern found in most Fortin style barometers, Cenco’s new cistern was made of a plastic material that would not leak, and was designed so as to allow fine adjustment of the mercury level.
This example represents a further refinement of the form introduced in the late 1920s. The inscriptions read “Central Scientific Co.” and “1,353,482” and “1,632,084.” New, it cost $35.
Ref: Central Scientific Company, Catalog F. Physical Apparatus and Instruments (Chicago, 1923), p. 43.
Central Scientific Company, Scientific Instruments, Laboratory Apparatus, and Supplies (Chicago, 1941), pp. 1152-1153.
Arndt M. Krause, "Mercurial Barometer," U.S. Patent 1,353,482 (1920).
Paul Klopsteg and Herman Paul Sachse, "Mercurial Barometer," U.S. Patent 1,632,084 (1927).
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