This solar compass belonged to the U. S. Geological Survey, a federal agency that was established in 1879. It was made around 1880, and transferred to the Smithsonian in 1920. The horizontal circle is silvered, graduated to 30 minutes, and read by opposite verniers to single minutes. The inscription reads "W. & L. E. Gurley, Troy, N.Y." The auxiliary telescope, which attaches to either sight vane, is marked "PAT. JULY 9, 1878," and is described by the patent (#205,712) that was granted to William and Lewis E. Gurley in 1878.
Ref: W. & L. E. Gurley, Manual of the Principal Instruments used in American Engineering and Surveying (Troy, N. Y., 1878), p. 70.
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