Japanese Scale Rule with Caliper
Japanese Scale Rule with Caliper
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- Description
- An iron caliper with only one bar is nailed to one end of this bamboo rule. The caliper extends back about 3". The ruler is divided into 17 units of 1-3/16" (3 cm), and the units are subdivided into tenths. Each unit is roughly equivalent to one sun, a traditional Japanese unit of length that is 1/10 of a shaku, a "foot" measure. Bulls-eyes mark every five units. A red and white sticker on the caliper is marked: 10th (/) No 222.
- The Japanese Empire Department of Education displayed this rule at the 1876 Centennial Exhibition in Philadelphia. It then was held by the Museum of the U.S. Bureau of Education until it was transferred to the Smithsonian in 1910. For more information, see MA.261298 and MA.261313.
- Object Name
- scale rule and caliper
- rule
- date made
- before 1876
- place made
- Japan
- Physical Description
- bamboo (overall material)
- iron (overall material)
- Measurements
- overall: 1.8 cm x 61 cm x 7.5 cm; 23/32 in x 24 1/32 in x 2 15/16 in
- ID Number
- MA.261299
- catalog number
- 261299
- accession number
- 51116
- Credit Line
- Transfer from Bureau of Education, Department of the Interior
- subject
- Mathematics
- Rule, Measuring
- Expositions and Fairs
- Carpentry
- See more items in
- Medicine and Science: Mathematics
- Science & Mathematics
- Scale Rules
- Data Source
- National Museum of American History
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