Analytical Balance

Description:

This analytical balance stands on a mahogany box that, in turn, is enclosed in a mahogany case with glass front and back. The balance is brass; the bearings are steel and agate; the pans are copper. The weights are in the drawer.

The “Pollock Boston Patent” inscription on the ivory scale refers to Allan Pollock, a Bostonian who received a U.S. patent for a balance, scale and beams, in 1815. According to a brief notice in the American Journal of Science 6 (1823): 371, Pollock was one of several Americans "advantageously known to the public" as a "manufacturer of thermometers and of philosophical apparatus."

This came from the laboratory of Ira Remsen, the first professor of chemistry at The Johns Hopkins University. Its earlier history is unknown.

Date Made: early nineteenth century

Used By: Remsen, IraMaker: Pollock, Allan

Location: Currently not on view

Place Made: United States: Massachusetts, Boston

Subject: Weights & Measures

Subject:

See more items in: Medicine and Science: Chemistry, Science & Mathematics

Exhibition:

Exhibition Location:

Credit Line: Gift of Johns Hopkins University Department of Chemistry

Data Source: National Museum of American History

Id Number: CH.315866.1Catalog Number: 315866.1Accession Number: 221777

Object Name: balanceObject Type: Balances

Physical Description: ivory (overall material)brass (overall material)glass (overall material)Measurements: base: 17.9 cm x 40.7 cm x 24.5 cm; 7 1/16 in x 16 in x 9 5/8 ineach pan: 31 mm x 212 mm; 1 1/4 in x 8 3/8 incabinet: 65 cm x 10 cm x 33.4 cm; 25 9/16 in x 3 15/16 in x 13 1/8 inbalance: 49.8 cm x 89 cm x 24.5 cm; 19 5/8 in x 35 1/16 in x 9 5/8 inbeam: 66.5 cm; 26 3/16 in

Guid: http://n2t.net/ark:/65665/ng49ca746a0-e14e-704b-e053-15f76fa0b4fa

Record Id: nmah_1883

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