This flat wooden blackboard curve has a handle held vertically by screws. A mark on the top edge reads: ELLIPSE. Three marks along that edge indicate endpoints of axes of the ellipse. A mark on the bottom edge reads: HYPERBOLA. A mark at the center of the bottom edge indicates the turning point of the hyperbola. A hole on the right side allows one to suspend the instrument.
Compare 1982.0795.36, which has a similar handle and general construction.
The instrument came to the Smithsonian from the Mathematics Department of the University of Michigan in 1964.
Reference:
Accession File.
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