An audiometer is used to determine hearing ability. An inscription on this example reads "Pat. Aug 6-07, SOLE MFRS., G. P. PILLING & SON CO., Phila. PA." The referenced patent was issued to Joseph M. McCallie (1863-1942), a graduate of the University of Tennessee who became an educator in Newark. George P. Pilling was a jeweler in Philadelphia who began offering surgical instruments in 1860. The firm became George P. Pilling & Son in the 1890s.
Ref: Joseph J. McCallie, “Audiometer,” U.S. Patent 862,501 (Aug. 6, 1907).
Ad for Pilling-McCallie Audiometer in Journal of Education 72 (Dec. 15, 1910): 617.
“Joseph M. McCallie,” New York Times (Jan. 16, 1942), p. 21.
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