Académique Documents
Professionnel Documents
Culture Documents
Bulletin March
No. 60 1999
Bulletin of the Scientific Instrument Society ISSN0956-8271
For Table of Contents, see back cover
President
Gerard Turner
Vice-President
Howard Dawes
Honorary Committee
Stuart Talbot, Chairman
Gloria Clttton, Secretary.
John Didcock, Treasurer
Willem Hackmann, Editor
Jane lnsley, Adzcrtising Manager
James Stratton, Meetings Secreta~
Silke Ackermann
Ron Bristow
Simon Cheifetz
Alexander Crum-Ewing
Liba Taub
Trevor Waterman
Editorial Matters
Dr Willem D. Hackmann
Mu~um of the History of Science
Old Ashmolean Building Tel: 01865 277282 (office)
Broad Street Fax: 01865 277288
Oxford OXl 3AZ Tel: 01608 811110 (home)
e-mail: willem.hackmann@mhs.ox.ac.uk
Society's Website
http: / / www.sis.org.uk
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Science Mu~um Tel: 0171-938 8110
~uth Kensington Fax: 0171-938 8118
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The Scientific Instrument S~iety is Registered Chanty No. 326733
Angling may be .~1 to be .,~, llke the .~, who were the John and Daniel Ck~-~' reading of their advertl~,ment
mathemat~-s, that it can never ~. fully tliggint~tham who feature ,m the unu- ¢q~,lr~ up the old chestnut as to whether
k.amt sual tratk, card or advt~rtisen~,nt illu- we an, ~k,aling with a retalk'r ,vr a maker
I/aak Walhm. l'tw Cotnpleet A,.~ler (1#~¢1.t)
strated ~, David Brvden m the I ~ ,R instrun~,nts. Would the maker of all
'Annual I'nvitatkm I,ecture'? Gk~ria Clif- ~rts of fishing r,x|s and artificial flie~
This i~,~ue'sc~wer illu~ratkm is I m ~ f yet km lists a jo~,~ph Higginbotham, a al,.~ make the extensive range of glot~.,~,
again that as instrument hi~,mans we mathematk'al ir~trument maker, active optical and draw,ng instruments li,,ted?
can k'ave m~ sh~L', or in this ca.,<" no k,af, m Cold Bath Field in [.4md,m in the ()ur two happy angk.r~ km~" no bounds
unturned Who would have imagined 1744k, w h ~ . ~m David was a]~'enticed h~r be~ick.~:
finding a gk~e and in~rument maker to John (I) Ekmnett, mathematical, optical
am~mg the fi~tng tackk, ephen~,ra? I~,re and p h i k ~ - ~ i c a l in.~rument maker who
All .'~,rts ,,f Mathemallcal. I'hdo~hi~al,
is am~ther rich veto that awaits expkwa- had pn~mi.~.,s in Crown Court, ~ h o , and OI'TI('AI. IN'.;TRL;MFNT~. a.
ti, w1. hind, re. I cannol iudge whether Cold (;I+t)BE,'.;, ~L'AI)RANI%, ll-II-~',~t)l'!!%.
Bath Field is angling country, but bt~ick~ BAR()METEK?,;. [IlFRMi)MFIFR~, HY+
I am k~,king flw a John and m~t a J,~'ph. DRt)MFIER~, RFAI)IN(; and OI'FRA
lli~,,'ian.~ have king appreoat¢~l that I decided to turn from the l)iri'ctorv to the (;LA~fFS, .~I'F(q'ACI.ES. DRAWING IN-
ephen~'ra an, a rich m,ur~, of inh,~na- auth~w, Glorm Clifftm, for help, with this .~IRUMENT.~. RUi.FS..~QL'ARF%. ,rod
tK,n. In~,trument hi~orians, ~m the other result: A 'J. tliggintxdham fishing tackle B|:VFI~, &c n~de and rtTa,rt~|
hand, have been .~m~ewhat .,,lower t ~ the maker" appear~ in the thm,l.r~d I~rltisll
mark, u n ~ u b t ~ | l y hecau~, their atten- I)in'ctor v, vol. l, 17¢)3 edition, at 91
thin tended to he hedazzled by the shiny they ai.,~ dealt in:
Strand, h,nd,m. This apl~,ars to be the
artefact~ tl~,m,~k't.,s. My own inter~.'~t in John tligginbotham of the John and
this s u b ~ was awoken by two .~urce~. l)ank'! iligginbotham adverti~.ment as 'I'1~"~'~t h~rh.~,lwll, h ore, Bo~. and th,m
First there was lt.R. Calvtq'l's ~i,'ntlfiC in 17~ a John ttigginbotham, fishing Comb,,. amt ~dk I'ur~'~, with a ~-ant~' of
Trad,' Cmr,ts m tit' .~'icm'e Museum G~lli','- Cutk,rv and Hard-~S'are . ~%tipt.rtim.Black
tackk, maker of the Strand, had appren- h,ad l'enctl~, h'orv l'ock*'t I~,~k'.. and
ho,, a m, xk~t text p u b l i ~ in W71. ]-hi. tk't~l his ~m William to Jarm~ Sim, ms, a
material dt.,~criM in this catah~ue came walking (-ant~ Mounted
mathematical instrument maker, inventor
in the main fnm~ two collt*cthms m,~k, and optician in Mary. k,l~ne Street. John's
originally by l~nnas Court and George nam~.,~ke, Dank,I, apl~'ars in the tilth C,m~e off it Mt.~,rs John and Dan~,l, who
Gabb rt.~Ix,ctively. For a~,ut thirty years volume of the tiniwr~ll British |hr¢ct,,ru, are ,,,Ri t~'|ng to ctmvff~.'e with thi* fishy
until the ~ : , m d World War th~,~e two published tn 17~, al~, as a fishing tackle tak,? I am plea,~,d, however, that you
intrepid collectors of early ~-ientific maker, at 7 High Holt~rn. John is not appreciate the value of artificml flie~
in.~truments gathered tr,~k," cards and listed in this later volume, l~e John 'made by the bt.,~t and ablest hands', for
bill-heads as well as adverti.,~,n~,nts cut tligginbotham trade card in the Heal as your cimtempora~" .~muel Johnson
fnmn nt~'.~papt, r~ and tx~ks..%,c, md, on C'ollecti~m has no re|err'rice to gk~e~ or pointed out:
a much gmnder m'ak', there was Francis .,~-ientific ir~truments, ,,nit' to fi,,hing
Klingender's pioneering Art and the tackk, am| fl~wling. Fly tl,,hm~ re,iv be a ~erv pk,a-.ult amu-,=~
Indu~trml R,'v,,luti, m, first publ"~i~| in m~'nt: but anghn~ or filial tt..hm~ I ~an only
ie47. It has remained ,me of my fay,mr|re t:oIn~' t o a .~tltk al'kt a -trine.. w i t h a ,,~o1111
~ k s . KhnKemk'r's main visual ,~mrce .it one era| and a h,ol .it the otl~'r
was the Arthur Elton Collection of A k~-al man .%~muel Chandler of tlolborn
picturt.'~, L ~ k s and other material relat- Bars pnnted the advertL,~,ment. |ie was
ing to indt~,trialization. Since his days it training apprent~:e~ in the ~tatiot~,rs' ~ h a t Is illu,,trated by tht'. advertl,~,ment
has migrated to the Ironhrklge (;~,rge Company betwz~,n 1 7 ~ ) a ~ | I,,'Tq. Ih' is the level of ~,phi~tzcation adue~ ed bv
Mu~,um, and in more recent ~ears has did not appear m the Universal British the instrument trade b~. the late eLc.ht-
been heavily drawn ur~m by ;~a Briggs Directortt.'~ and there is no other 5. et,nth century', I't'rhaps L,aak t,~,'aihm ha-
in, an)~mg i~thers, In,n Bri, l k,e to Cr.ll~.t,II Chandler listed. All thi~ .,,uggz.~ts that a pomt and happy an.~h,r- are mathema-
I~ila('e, Publish'd in 1~7~. I1 was through the partnership of our 'lovers of angling' ticalh' inclined.
Klinger~ier that I hegan to appreciate the John and Daniel at 'Four [ ~ r ~ ab~we
l~dential of pictorial material. (;ray's-inn I.ane, near Ilolborn-Bars,
Sour¢~
I~mdtm', predated their .~,parate busi-
ne~.,,e~, and that the adverti.,~,n~,nt prob-
Evidence fnmn ephemera was aim, u,~l ably datt.'s fn~m the 17Nk or 177,tk. D.F. McKen,,le. ~t,~tlem'r. C,,mp, utu AI,.
in the compilathm ,~f (;k~'M Clifhm's pr¢,tlcCS 1701- I,'~Mt ~l)~fon.|. lq7.~)
magisterial l)ir,'ct,,~ ,,f British S,'r'nt#k"
htstrlmr'ut Makers 15~',b ! 851. Of particu-
lar m~te are the ~,everal colk, cti, ms of In what manm'r all ti~,~ i t i g g i n ~ h a m s I. B a r f ~ and J. ~,Vilkt.~. ed~, 171¢thui'cr.,tl
trade cards in the British Mu.~um, in were related i have n ~ been abk" to BrIH~h l)irectom., 2nd edition. ~olume I,
particular the Heal Colk'ctkm (which establish ]-he truly common strand I,'~3 and volume 5, I ; ~
includes ab~mt 12l) card~ of .~ic,ntific between tl~,m according to surviving
inter,.~ts), and the Banks Collection. d,~un~,nts was the ~ationers' Ct~rnpany. AcknowledKemenLq
Oxford Univer~ily's I~dleian Library Their apprentk't'~ip~ were ~.rved with
h,m~,~ the John k~hn~m Colk,ctkm, but masters ,H: the Statkmer~' C,~npan.% or
this is probably ~ rm~re interest to the t h ~ t~-ame ma~te~ thent'~dv~ in the itw Editor L,~grateful |or the inhwmat,,n
coik~,~r of d , ~ i ~ applianc~ (includ- same guild. Even the printer of John's supphed by Gloria Clifton of the Na-
ing radio) then of antique ~ientific and Daniel's advertL~ment, Samuel tional Maritime Museum and Sdke
in~trument~. Chandler, ~ k m l ~ d k~ the Statkmer~'. Ackermarm of the British Museum
FiX. 2 . t~.t, ,: -i:,,,,:~l,C h:- ,,,/t,',tl,,: t,: I'.'t, , I,.t~,cm.m ,t,,.mtm\'~ i'h,.to\',al,h t,tk~'~t m
lhl,~rh'm tn .41,rtl I'~'~1.
lum~elf. Chew iollowed a brief period numbered .~.veral well-known iazz mu-
wflh Renault, including si~ months in sicians anmng his friends, and helptxl to
6"ten,t Bob Pratt Pans. organize a Jazz Day in Haarlem
Aldert Klut of Am.~terdam died on 1 1hen m 1'-~1 Alderi moved to IBM, in With hi~ background of flying, it is not
January l ~ alter a brave fight against wh~.,e [)utch divimon he was to remain .~urprL,,ing that Aldert was an admirer of
cancer, l i e leave~ hl~ ~v~ft,, Cherie; they till retwement He was clo~.h,' involvt~d in the RAF, and an active member of the
had no children. parts pn~uctlon, and when the Dutch Amsterdam Branch of the RAF As.~-ia-
bm,lness was at its m ~ t ~ucct~sful, he tion, taking a liveb,' part in the social
Aldert, known to many of hi.,, Enghsh headed a department of 4110. He was also programme.
trwnd~ a.~ 'B~g AI" IFig.l), was an early most valuable to the compan.v, however,
member of the ,"k'ienhfic in~trument when the typewriter factory was in But .,,cientific instruments remained his
~wietv, and h ~ k part in most of its decline. He actecl as mterm~,diarv be- chief passion, and he was always read)'
annual vi~its to mu,,eum~ and collt~.'tions tween management and the workforce to to support any proiect connecttxi with
m d=tferent countrit~,. When the N~.'ietv great effect. He rehred in lqSq. them. tie helped to initiate a Dutch
x~,ited the Netherland,, in May I'~1, National inventory of historic scientific
member~, had the opportumtv to visit There was no question of a lack of in.,,truments, and urged that k~s well-
Aldert's hour" m Haarlem. m e r h ~ k i n g activflv for Aldert ,n rehrement. He had known mum'urns should not be ignored
the river ~paame, where he kept the hi,, interest in lhe restoration of old tte was invoh'ed with the 'lnstituut
n'talor part of hi.', collection of ~ientific in~trument~, but also many other hob- Collectie Nederland', which carries out
mr,trument,, (F~g. 2). In the ba~'ment is bit's. He was a .,,upporter ~f the Tevler research projects for museums, and
h~s sw,ll-eqtnplx'd work.,,hop, for Aldert% .Mt,~,um in llaarlem, a member of the arrangt~ training cour,,~es.
great ,~ati~,factlon ~va.~ to repair and Fnend.~ of the Mt,~,um, often acting as a
re,,tore damaged and mcomplete in.Mru- guide to the Cabinet of i'hv~ic~, th, Aldert was a very special kind of
ment,, lit' ~va~ able to attend the la.,,t 515 per,,uaded the Museum, i n l g S l , to colh'ctor, in that his main interest was
~ ~=t. to l'an~ m March lq~g tit' was a l ~ employ an m~trument maker and re- the way the instrument was made, and
a contributor to the Bulh'hn storer, I~.'rt l~'ver~viik, in its work~,hop, to its titness for purpose. ]-he meth(~ of
en~ure that the ~'lentific colloctions were pn~iuction, not the final product, came
Ira,ned a- an engmet, r, Aldert% first lob in gl,~.| condition tm, t with him. He loved the proces.,~.'s of
~va~ a,, a t~,~l maker at an Anlr,terdam cleaning, repairing, replacing missing or
From |q73, Aldert was a mem['~.r of a broken parts, and finalh' preserving an
dt~.k,.ard tit, u~ed hl~, earh" ~.ear~, to
Dutch ~ , , , t v of collector,, of technical artefact. With these priorities, he was a
perfect hi, skill in language-,, and wa,,
obit~.'b, that became tran,,hwmed mto a .,,eller as well as a buyer, unlike most
fluent m (;erman, French and English He
foundation, of ~hich he wa~ the first colkx'tors. He al.,a~ deeply relishtxl the
then moved to the let en~llle company,
pre,,ident, tie win, ab,o a committee prowess of buying and ~qling, particu-
Curte,,, ~,nght, and in 1'~2 ~va~, put m
member of a divi,,ion of the Royal l)utch lark' in markets, b e c a u ~ of the interac-
char.e,e of the tt,,tlng of the Hrm'~, engme',
In,4itute of Englntwrs. tion with other enthusiasts, like his friend
m England, bm,ed at Roll~ Rovce In
( m e n t ~ Ih' ".pent four year.,, In Eng- I:h~b Pratt. For )'ears, Aldert had a stand
Not ~,t,rpri~ingl.v, cars and racing were
land and made g ~ d u~' of hi~ time, at the annual Scientific Instrument Fair in
another intere~,t. In the tittit~, Aldert
pla~,ng the cornet in a hwal ia// band, l,tmdon.
raced hi~ Iriumph TR2 internationally,
and making what proved to be a lifelong and .',eta one-mile ~peed record He was
lr=t.nd-hip w=th bh~b Pratt Aldert and What all his friends will remember about
a notable figure on the roads around 'Big AI' is his i,,h" de eiz,rc, his boundless
l~b ~hared an mtert-,t in cars, engineer- Coventry, overfilling the open sports car
mg and laz,', and also a ~.n~, ot humour. enthusiasm hw any venture, the way he
in his motoring coat, scarf, goggk.,s and threw him~qf into .,a~cial events of every
w,,fllen cap. kind.
Aldt.rt% next lob was in Bremen, (;er-
many, w h e w he worked fi~r A G . "We,~'r [ w o other preoccupations were his Aldert's wish w a s that a trust be
on the product=on of 5lkor~,kv helicop- pa~,,ion for the films of Laurel and Hardy established to manage his colh'ction and
ter,,, tte played a malor part in the (a p ~ t e r of them had pride of place in the continue the activitit.'s as.~ciated with it.
current change-over from p~ston to let Haarh,m hot,~,) and his love of old-st,de
engine',, and test flew the helicopters jazz from the twentit~ and thirties. Ald'ert M a r t i n z~n H=,~rn & Peter l a , u w n z a n
Richard L. Hills
The barometer was an instrument which cistern of at least 3 inches diameter and and more serious for a scientific instru-
James Watt identified as being one which that of 0.25 nnch bore needed one of 3.5 ment but something which did not .seem
he could sell in Greenock after he inches to minimize the effect of the to concern the ordinary householder, the
returned there from the peril~ he spent changing cistern level and preserve any level of the mercury could not be
training as a maker o f mathematical degree of accuracy.' The article in Rees's determined accurately and, because these
instruments in London in 1756. Later, he Cych~paediastated that the diameter of the cisterns were invariably smaller than
used both barometers and mercurial cistern should be ten times larger than Smith's proportkms, the level must have
manometers or pressure gauges, as the bore of the tube so that 'the addition fluctuated a great deal and hence the
crucial scientific instruments in trials or subtraction of the mercury, contained readings would have been less accurate.
with experimental apparatus to deter- between the greatest and least altitudes,
mine the relationship between the tem- may not sensibly affect its depth'.' it is not clear who invented the most
perature and pressures of steam and in common device for preventing the mer-
connection with various model atmo- Two bar~nneters made by Watt's c~m- cury surging u p the tube when the
spheric steam e n g i ~ that led to his temporaries are preserved in the Science barometer was being carned. It could
invention of the separate conden~r. It Museum in London. Both have large have been Daniel Quare who, before
was his invention of the separate con- bowls for their cisterns. One by Jeremiah 1700, had some method of sqoeezing
denser which turned Watt into a natural Siss(ms, which is probably the earlier, has the leather bag so that the mercury filled
philosopher or scientist and we will see a cistern 4.75 inches diameter and a tube the tube." S(a'm after this, there appeared
this reflected in the improvements he with bore about 0.33 inches? The other the screw device which could be turned
made to ban~meters which were sold by Jes~ Ramsden has a cistern diameter to push up the leather b a r of the cistern
of 3.3 inches and the bore about 0.35 and so fib the tube but it is not known
commercially by John Gardner who took
mches. Therefore both these barometers w h o intngiuced it."By the second decade
over Watt's instrument business in Gla~
gow most likely after Christmas 1770.~ "should have been rea,~mably accurate of the century, this meth(~ had achieved
but both have devices to show the correct widespread acceptance.*" Although this
During the eighteenth century, the mer- level. Ramsden's was the simpler being gave rea.,amable portability, it was im-
curial barometer was gradually im- just a pointer whereas Sisson's has an possible to see the level of the mercury
proved to give greater precision in ivory slider with a vernier for really and therefore such instruments would
readings taken from it and also to make accurate measurement of the mercury not give very accurate readings, certainly
it I:mrtable. Through increasing wealth, level in the cistern as well as a micro- not accurate enough if such barometers
more people could afford to purchase scope for ascertaining the level in the were to be carried up hillsor mountains
one for &~mestic use as a means of tube.~ However, in neither case can the to ascertain heights. A true portable
predicting changes in the weather, so level of the mercury be altered so on the barometer where the mercury level could
that, by the middle of that century, there Ramsden instrument, the pointer will be properly adjusted to its proper level
was something of an explosion in the show only that the level is incorrect while stillneeded to be invented.
demand fi~r all ,sorts of mathematical and on the Si.,~,am,the reading of the lower Watts Manufacture of Barometers
scientific instruments including barom- vernier must be added or subtracted to
that of the upper m~e. In neither case is In June 1756, Watt had finished his
eters. "~ The simplest type of barometer
was the so-called 'Torricelhan with a the method satisfactory. Then the mer- training as an instrument maker in
straight vertical gla~ tube, cl(~.ed at the cury is in open cisterns so that itcould be London and sent to his father an estimate
top with the lower end immersed in a spilt easily ifeither instrument had to be of the tools and materials which he
moved. ]n addition, such a large volume wanted to purchase there for equipping
cistern of mercury. For support, this
would be mounted on a wooden back- of mercury would add to the cost of these himself at Greenock." Out of the total £
board and termed a 'stick' barometer. instruments. Sisson died in 1770 so Watt 23.12.6, he allowed £I for barometer
may have seen his instruments while he tubes and £3 for 'box and other hard
While considered the most accurate for
usual purp(~,es, should one of these have knew Ramsden well enough to have his w(axls'? 2 Some tubes must have been
letters directed to Ram.~len when staying purchased for, while barometers are not
to be moved, the mercury might spill out
in Lond(m in 1767 and must have been given a ~parate heading in his '[x-,tiger,
of the cistern or surge up the tube and
aware of his improvements." January to April 1757'Y, his 'Waste B~k'
break the glass so it was not portable. Yet
on the third of January, that year has the
barometers of this type continued to be
constructed until into the third quarter of Most common barometers at the time entry:
the eighteenth century because they when Watt was an instrument maker 8 glasstubes ~r bannnet~ 9.0
could be read accurately. The atmo- between 1757 and 1770 would have been
a form of stick ban~meter with a straight Several bits ~ Plate Bra~ tot
spheric pressure was determined by various uses I0.0
measuring the height of the column of tube mounted on a backboard but the
mercury in the glass tube above the top lower end of the tube wcmld be glued */21b. Quicksilver 29 *'
of the level of the mercury in the cistern. into a small wo(~en cistern like an What must be the same eight gla~ tubes
However, as the mercury rose and fell in inverted cup. The mercury would be appear in an undated inventory which
the tube according to variations in atmo- contained either in a leather bag within most likely was made when Watt moved
spheric pressure, so more or less mercury this cup or leather would be stretched his workshop to the College in Glasgow
would be taken out of the cistern with the over the bottom opening which allowed at the end of July 1757.
result that its level continually fluctuated. enough flexibility to cope with changing
The smaller the cistern containing the atmospheric pressures. Wo(xi, such as So far barometers do not appear to have
mercury, the more pronounced would be box, was sufficiently porous to allow air been a very profitable line. Watt's
through to vary the internal i~ressure but surviving financial records are incom-
this fluctuation. plete and they have not been thoroughly
dense enough to prevent the mercury
One way of reducing this inaccuracy was escaping. This made such barometers searched h)r references to har~m~ters but
to have a large reservoir of mercury in more portable but they still suffered from they show two tubes being sold for 3/- to
the cistern. John Smith, writing in 1688, two disadvantages. First, the mercury his Grace the Duke of Montrose in June
said that he had discovered by trial and could surge up and break the tube if the 1759. The dukes of Montrose were
error that a tube of 0.2 inch bore needed a im~t had to be carried. Second, Chancellors of GlasgowUniversity flxml
J
.
Fig.! The ban,meter inscril~'d 'James Watt Fig.2 Ch~e-up ~¢ us~wh,n mercu~ cistern Fig.3 Ch~'-u t' ,'t ,,,deFlate ,,t f,n';'wus
Glasgow" which has the plato cistern.~wmed with no ad/ustm¢, ~'nm, t!f previous &re,m- barometer. C,,urtes~ the Tru~h','s ot the
in a u ~ h ' n cup u,ith h'ather acnrss the eter. Courtesy the Trust+~ ~¢ the National National Mum'urns t~¢S,'othm,t.
l~,ttom. Courtesy the Frust,'es ,!f the Nahimal Mu.~'ums of Scotland
Museums of S,,,thmd.
by 0.65 incht,'s by 0.7 incht~ deep. This While this barometer cannot be dated, it Watts Portable Barometer
upper tray connects with the lower part is likely that it was a first attempt bv Watt
We do not know the extent to which Watt
by a sma'll hole behind the tube sa~ the to mal~e one which could he adiusted to
was aware of all the~, other develop-
level of the mercuB' could be easib,' give accurate readings when he was
ments bet he kept him.,~,lf informed
ob.,~,rved in this tray. The lower part of carrying out further experiments on through, hw exampk,, knowing Ram.,~k,n
this rt~'eptacle has been turned into a steam pn..'~sures and teml~.,raturt.~ during and n, ading pubh~hed accounts l-he~,
cylinder whtme outer diameter matches the ~.'ond half of 1773 and early 1774. may have .~tlmvlated Watt to improve the
that of a wt~Men cup underneath, 1.35 He needed to know if the atmt~pheric barometer and try to make it tully
inches outer diameter. ] h e two are pres.,,ure varied during the course of his l~wtable as well as more accurate to read.
con||eeted by bellows made from gut trials because this would affect the The |il',~t de~'ription we ha~e is in ~'atl's
.~'un.'d by string. The inside diameter of accuracy of his results. It was a pentM Journal fl~r February 1774:
the tube is 0.3 incht.'s .~ that adiustment when other ].~ple were al.,~+ .,,e~,king It+,
of the mercury level would be nect.,s.~rv improve the barometer. (.;eorge Adams ('onlrzvt~.t a ,iew [;,ortabh' b,|romt lht,
had develol.~M an ivory flt~It as a level ¢ l M e m in 2 plt,l.t% }Olnl.,d b~. 3 pl~ o| ~ut -
for accurate measurements. The adiusi- the lo~,~'er~,urtaceol lht' mercury, to ,l|~|~.,ar
indicator around 1766-", and then in
ment of the level of the mercury can m a bd of open tuN" hxt~t m the top of cl~tn
about 1770, Ramsden had made a
effected by raising or lowering the cup by al~.t to b~, [~rotl~hl in conlact with a black
barometer which had both an ivory
means of a hand .,~'rew. The ~ w w prt.'s,,~es hmr ,,tn,tched m a horv tork ':
l~mder over the mercu~' cistern and a].,~
against the w l ~ | e n bottom of the cup a k,ather bottom to the i:istem and x'rew It woukt be intert.~tlng to know it the
instead of the leather in other barometers .,~ thai the level of the mercury could be hellows arrangement |or the cL,,tern couM
.,a+ that this part was strengthened for adiusted to the pointer. ]his" was ctm- be confirmed as an invention of Watt',,
frequent u~,. The .~rew, its bracket, two tain~l in a ca~ing in which there was a becau.~, it was taken up by many
hingtm for the cover and the ~ale platt~ hole for viewing the mercury with the manufacturers of barometer~ m ~-otland
an., the only brass parts in the whole hole heing .,~,aled bv an ivt+rv plug. ~' He wrote to James Lind in a letter whlch
barometer The bellows and .,~-rew adjust- Such barometers would not apl~,ar to has not sun'Bed on 7 Februa~' ahRit the
ment must have been devi.,~ to allow have heen easily [~wtable. Jean A. de Luc, "metht~t of calculating Iklrm. bv Far~
the level of mercury in the rectangular who later became a ch~e friend of Watt's, nheit'. '~ and ~tarted to make "a new
container to he adjusted but there is no published his Rech|'rches sur h~ Mt~htica- barometer the .%ame day. tie fixed the
indicator to give the preca~ level needed tions de I'Atmosphere in 1772 which barometer tube In the cistern on the |oth.
for accurate measurement. Perhaps any contained a study of the barometer. Watt and tried t|lhng d but .~me air got in and
pointer has been lost over the years. With was making a "barometer to de Luc's he sl~ilt the cistern when he t r ~ l to boil
an open tray of mercury, the barometer instructions in August 1773 which he it out. u It was only on the 25th. that he
was no longer easily portable. broke during the boiling of the mercury." divided the barometer .,~'ale:
--4=
_%___ .
,.~... :~,,~_..=___~
Fig.4 Wart's dnm,m~ ~ the bellows cistern with additional glass tub" filh'd with a plu~
across the hm~'r end ~ wlnch is stretched a hair line to show ttu' correct level when the mercu~
~s pushed up. Courtesy Birmingham Central Libra..
~'ith new dividing _~rtn~. - 332 teeth of tl~" make quite sure, a small hole could be
h'admg screw correspond to 1t20 inch drilled down it which normally would be
exactly & 241 to one revolution ot the .,,,crew
this .,~'rew .,,eem,, to be ve~, exact it L', 9 blocked by a wire that could t~e drawn in
~.'hes long and is made of ~teel.'~ or out. The plug was to be flattened into a Fig.5 Banmu'ter b~ I. Gardm'r which has a
wedge ending in two ~ i n t s like a fork. belh,u,s cistern simiiar to one on a barometer
He htted the gut to the clstern and Across the ends of the fork would be in Watt~ Garret W,,rkshop m the Science
presumably filled it ~ti.,,factorilv for he stretched a black hair to show the correct Mum'urn, /amd0n. See Scientific Instru-
commenced some experiments on water level of the mercu~: '1 have made the ment Society Bulletin, N,,. 57, ]une 1998,
boiling in a vacuum on the following day. Barometer and it seems to answer' was p. 29, F~¢,. 6. Courtestt the Truste~ of the
Watt's final comment.': Natr,nal Mu~ums of Scotland.
it is trom a letter to Lind written on 22 While this was the end of the develop-
February that we can follow what Watt ment of baromete~ as far as Watt was
was doing. In this letter he first wrote In one of my han~meters, the male floats
concerned, it was not the end of the within the tl.lbe, and ks of such specific
about expenments de Luc must have development of his portable barometer.
carried out on a 27 inch column of gravity, and of :~o accurately expansile
First, if indeed he were the inventor of matter, that it constantly shows the weight
mercury to see how much it expanded the bellows cistern, then this type .~on of the atmt~phere corr~tlv. This ks difficult
when heated from freezing to boiling became popular especialh' in Scotland. to be made. The other is ve~' easy. The
point of water. Although this was 0.5 One by 'J. Gardner, Glasgow' (Fig.5), ba.,~n is |arge; a float of metal, with a hole
inch, Watt eventually decided that in a which suggt~ts a date befiwe 1799 when for the tube in ds middle, lies uFn~n the
thermometer, this '~.'ould not sensibly John Gardner was joined by his .,~n, is surface; a .~ale stands Ul~n the float, and
atf(x-t the rt.~ult of the exl~,riment'Y The, expands and contracts just as much as
displayed in the National "Mu~um of mercun'. You can easily imagine how both
teml~,'rature of any barometer recording Scotland in Edinburgh. ~ It has a bellows
barometric pressure would remain near may be rendered portable. 4'
cistern (Fig.6) similar to Watt's drawing
enough constant during the experiments but without any level indicator. Stott of No further details are known about this,
•~ he cot, ld d i ~ o u n t any expansion of Dumfries had a similar t y p e Y The and Watt r a i ~ d some objections to it
mercu~ in thi~ instrument as well but he diameter of Watt's cistern was quite which he must have related to Small
did not mention his manometers. He narrow with a longer depth. Miller, an when he moved to Birmingham at the
went on to sketch the cistern of his Edinburgh manufacturer around 1800, end of May | 7 7 4 Y~ Here is another
portable barometer (Fig.4) in which the was producing barometers with bellows example of a float which would have
bellows rt~,mbled tho.,,e of the one m the cisterns shallower but broader which been known to Watt and so possibly
Garret Work.,,hop. For his portable bar- would have been more accurateY through him to Gardner.
ometer, the whole of the upper part for
the cistern was circular. Into the hole The ~ c o n d development lay in the A littletater,back in Glasgow, another of
through which the mercury would be m e t h ~ s of determining the level of Watt's type of barometer was m a d e by
raised, IAatt prop,,sed to insert a short mercury in the cistern more accurately. Gilbert Hamilton, Watt's second wife's
glass tube ~ that the mercury could be We have seen that this was being relative and a ck~e friend. H e thought
.,~x.n in it. The top of this tube ~'as sealed attempted by manufacturers in London such instruments might be a commercial
with a w(n~len plug glued in. If this plug but the problem ai.~ interested Watt's proposition and suggested:
were made of fir, he thought it would be scientific friends. William Small wrote
FnWOusenough for the air to pass through Ihave one made upon your constructionbut
from Birmingham at the end of March greatly wider in the tube than yours but
according to changes in pressure. To 1774: answers exceedingly well - I can always set
it up to the same height. A Professor Nin Barometers on the mos! improved pnncl- that Watt's method of accurately deter-
Hill has been deiring lsic]m e to write to you pies, so as to admit of bein~ camed to any mining the mercury, level was unproved
that he can get you orders for near a dozen distance with the great~t safely. Likewi~ and turned into an instrument which was
of Barometers if you will execute them to Barometers, for measunng the" heiKhts of sold commercially. Were Watt and Ha-
some of our Donslhole] Cuningham etc. hills, which have a pecuhar adiustment to
w h o wont grudge a price [hole] have them regulate the lower .~urfaceof the Mercury m milton the gentle~nen who helped Gard-
exact & handsome & wishes you could get one place, and have the mercury, boiled in ner develop this instrument? If ~,, this
s~me neat contrivance in order to make the tube. In this branch of business he has was thirty years before Fortin developed
them in the form of a Connthian pillar,the been favoured with particular meth(~s and his more'famous methc~t?
B a ~ to open for adiusting them & on the directions by some Gentlemen of this place
top of the Pillar which should he at 27 of undoubted knowk,dge and skill in regard Acknowledgements
inches to have a neat brass or bronze figure to this instrument. ~
holding the ~ale. As the workmen wnth you This study of James Wart's development
are more in the way of fancy things they Another later barometer signed 'Gardner of the ba~meter arose out of mv earlier
could hit it off better ther [sicl than could be Glasgow' in p r i v a t e possession has r on his separate conden_~:r. It has
done here or perhaps give you a better Wart's ~'pe o f h e l l o w s cistern and in ~e~ made possible through the generous
contrivance.4* addition an ivory float to indicate the a~istance and advice of many people
level of the mercury (Fig,~ 7-9). The float and shows the importance of being able
Hamilton obviously had a high respect moves in an ivory guide and is protected to benefit fix~m other peoples knowledge
for Boulton's craftsmen but none are by a small glass dome which can be as well as consulting archives and
known to have been built to such a fancy unscrewed, l"herefore the level can he inspecting artefacts. ~ m e h o w the ac-
design. Watt was just starting out on his accurately determined. This is in the knowledgements m my first paper were
career as designer of steam engines and same position that Waft drew for his omitted so here ! wLsh'to thank all t h ~ e
barometers disappear from his corre- glass tube and hair-line indicator and who have facilitated my efforts. The basis
spondence. must have been developed from Wart's of this research has b~,n the objects in
design. The lower end of the float is tulip Wart's Garret Workshop preserved at the
De Lucpublished rules for the construc- shaped so it will seal the opening as the Science Museum, London. I am indebted
tion a n d use of the mercury baR, meter. level of the mercury is raised by to Michael Wright for explaining to me
With his formula for relating pressure to operating the ~ r e w at the bottom. There- the purpose of many of the tl~,ls there
altitude, the barometer enabled sur- fore this instrument is truly portable. such as the rotary, burr tool for chamber-
veyors to obtain heigh~ more rapidly There are two ivory scales with verniers ing flutes and discu~ing many aspects of
and simply than by trigonometrical which give readings on one side for Wart's craftsmanship and business meth-
methods. Gardner in Glasgow was quick 'Night' and the other for 'Day' with no ods. Also [ wish to thank Michael
to exploit this for he placed an advertise- wording. The scales read down to 25 Harding for his time and help as well.
ment in the Glasgow Mercu~. in 1779, part inches. This must have been a specially The existence of these relics has thrown
of which stated that he sold: ordered instrument but it does confirm light on documents in the various Watt
22 INd, p 440
23 IbM, p 411
.%, ,+ .
%, 1'1
= . . . . . . . . . ~. •
1 ~, .11
Fi~.I Millet 0+'cn trom A I,V /flinch. I)et I'hvsiske C a b , l e t eller
lk~krlvel.,~, over de tfl t!xp..rlmental-I'hx,lken tlenhort.nde Vig-
~,t:~ste Instrumenter l~lligemtx| Brugen l~.,rafr 2 z~,ls. I Kt,,t,cnhm'n.
I,~3OL Lbl. I. I'latc I.
I Inu,,t he~in h~, thankin~ Danish Iriends |,lVOlsler'~. t t . x t - ~ k and nlanlh~,h ~ ot the
and colh'a)~ue-, for their ~enerotl'~ help and chemical r v x o h l t l o n . Ilauch ~ent on a
ho,,pitahtv In iIltn~.ltlt'IIl~ Ille to the rt, ln.lrk- ~':t'ntltic tour. ~ L,,itm~ klaprolh in Fk.rhn.
abk' tlauch Cab,let. which has provld~xt Van Mature m Ilaarh'm. I'rm..th'v and
the enlo~.ablt' ~'ca~,ion for both mv x Islts to C,Bend~,~h in B:rmm~.ham and l o n d o n .
lh.nmark. My ~reatrst debt Is to Ior~en and I,Bol~.ler In I'arls ~A'hen I~" I~,tumrd.
From Ander~'n and his wife lh'lh', ssho he b,'i~an to build h~', ¢ollechon ol appara-
tu',, anti from 17~1 he ~a~t' demon.,tratlon ¢~,;al
welcomed me into their homr Ior a wevk.
Iorl~en. w h o is contmuln~ his c ~ , n h a l v, ork It'~'ttln", u~,lng in.,,trtmlent~ lrom the collec-
on the catalogue of tilt' cabinet, hel|xx| me tion I h' a l ~ t'arrwx| otlt re~.arche,., indud-
to e,q:,lore the colk'ct.m here I l e m m l n ~ zn~ work on the Com~',ltlon of ~,~.ater that |:i~,2 l~lah'-Inm ¢ln'mlcdl O~'n H."': ~ ~'~'
;~,nder~,en, vvho~,,e in%t'ntorv Oi D a n i s h he pre~,nto,| to the Royal I)anz',h ,\cadenzx Iiauch I)et I ' h ~ l s k t ' C a b i n e t V01 t. I'latc
~lentltit" in~,trtlments ~,aS one of the first ot .%lence in I Tql, and l in nl,~lihtxt form. to 3
llalional inverltorlt"!',, ~,ive m r phoh~,Oplt~ the Royal ,~'~x-letv Of I.ondon m 17q'k lh~
ot Ilanch's e~s,lv on the prmc:ph-, and re,,earche', wt'n' puhh.,ht'd Itot o n l y Ill
decoml~,,ition of water, and ol lh~.~' pa~e~ I)enmark. hut als~ in t;erman pmrnai~ In ot the L'l~hternth ~enturv. ds Ldrntltv a,. a
of the Royal .%w:etv of [.ondon's l,u~rnal 17'+4 he puhh,,hed a textl~+k ha,,~xt on his part of a ~ l d e r natural |~hlk-,ophv I', a l ~
~ , ~ that dealt ~.dh I lat,ch's readm~ ol lhat letttlrt".,; tht,ml,,trv m that t e x t l ~ k ~as t~orth ~,arm)~ m llZlntL ,lntl nhlkt", It ea,,ler
pal'~,r to the .%~letv. Anla ~kaar lac~a'n pre~,nted m term', of I.avol',ler"~ ant:phlo- to IU,e'p the role ot p~ romet~, caiorlmetP,
had the g~+I )ud~,emt'nt to ~,|x'nd a h, rm in ~l,',ttt" sx,,tem | le rt,nlalnt't| at'tlve In ,,t-lence |qzeLimatic~. and ele~trRztv a,, part,, ol a
Ioronto, and there tok| mt'mh'r~ o[ my until Ii~ll. when he retunwxI tully to court cht.ntl~,trv ~.~.'ho.'~" dl~l|'~hn,trt; [~tindarlt',,
ln,,,htute about I lauch'+ role in the intn~hzv- duhe~ l h ' pubh,,hed the heautltulh fllu- wert" in rapid ant] hotly ~onh',,ted flux
hon of the ,mtlphlo~I,,tlc theory into l)vn- ..trated tir~t part ol his d e ~ ' n p t , m ot his
For tho~e ~ h o . hke Ilauch, a d o p t e d
nhlrk. She alm~ m,nt me a phoh~opv ol physical cahn~'t in retzpement, when he ilad
[,Boz~,zer'.,, theoP," anti promoted the ch,,-
l lauch's p a w r dt'~:rlhlng his etp.llonleter tun~'d eight,,', lu',t two year,, be|ore his
mRal re~ olutl~m, an~, t,ltcx'tlx r tahlnet h,td
(lie I'k~trt.p's |~,+k on the chemical revolu- death in II,ilPl
to have the in,~trtlntent,; rsst, rlt|al Ior
tion In [)t.nmark pn~vzdo.| a gcx~.| deal oi ['he i lauch cah.~'t, hke the Van Marum rt'peatln~ and dt.morv.trat|n~ the key
m,ces~m' backlz,m v n d My mdebtedne~m to t'xpx'rlmt'nt~ In |.t~oi.,,lt,r',, l'rattc oh'rot'tit,lie('
collection m ['evler's l~llINt'uln in t laarlem
the~" .,~'holar~ will h ' apparent in what Jr thrum" of 17~q ihe kev.,,tone of tl~' arch
in the Netherlands. am| hke the h"~'~ well
tnllow~, and anvth,nl~ that I have to say that pre~,rved hut ,,,till important collection that constituted I,B'ol.,,:vr's theory wa,, tl~,
could have come from them, aJmost a.~,~,mhl~J by (;eorK~ Parrot in I)orpat demorL,.tratlon ot the t ' o n l | ~ . l t l o n ot ~ ater.
invariably did .,~. (lartu), was a~,,~,mblt,d as a comprvhenswe hy synthesis and dex'omp~ttlon l)l~er~
cabinet m natural ph:h~+phy embracml~ experiments on water were also ino,,t
tlaueh obtamt~I his mtn~tuction In chem-
cah,l,~ont.,,~be~t expre~,~'d by the French a,~ imix~rtant lor |lauvh 5uwv the ¢lmstlttzent,,
i>trv from his Iritmd P. C. Ahildgaard,
ph~ts,lUe .O'nerale and ptmsique lurhculu'n" of w a t e r were }~ast,Oll~, apparatu~ for
I'rotes,'~w at the Veterinary .%.'h*x+l, and
from I'n+tt.'~,~w C. G. Kratltmstein of the Chemistry. as part of the latter cateKorv. demon.,,tratml~ the com|'~ttl~m ol water
University of L'op.q~hagen in 171'~ he went belonged'm the cab.~et; and althouRh It has had to be capahh' of Morln K, nlea',unnl¢,,
tm leave from the' Court in L'openhaKen In been well arl~ued that chemi.~trv as a traru, h,mnl,I, and conlh|n|nl4 i~a~'~. [ , B o l -
discipline antedates physics, anti was SM'II"S ~asttntt~t,r~ Well~ the mt~,t e~ptmswt,,
concentrate tm natural phih~phy. In 17~4-
17H9, the year leading to the publication of clearly established bHore the third quaffer the n ~ t elatxwate, and the m ~ t mlprt.~,~we
I1
Bullehn ,d the .~k'wntific Instrument ~L'iety No. ~) (1~)
•.... ¢.~-
•../.~'.
P.pJ
J o.
'Ii
• [ +
$4
I1
+.- " I!.
"= - !i
Fig.4 tt, mclt's i,ersw, of the ~X.'(l,/lfi"s tl,~sk or I,,,tlh" from A W .
tfimch l)t't I'hvslske Cabinet Vol. 1. I'lote 3.
t~ .l" , chenl,ca[ rexohltion defined a corpu., of chenucal apparatus in the cabinet was fiw
apparatt,',, ii x~a+, not the whole ol the demonstration t)[ I.avols|er's keV ex-
che,mstrv the ~,tudx of heal and elet'tr,c,lv, periment',, hi.It there Is much |~'.,ides.
for example, belonged to chemlstrv arld tel
"2-
the +~idt,r nattm+l phih..ophx, and .-ome ol ~ much for prehnl,naries; and now for a
<, the ,i~strument,. [+t,It+il~lil~ to lhe..e sub + clo+er h~+k at chemical apparatus in the
llauch cabinet
dl,,<iphne', should al'~+ l',t. considert'xt in an
FIg.+~ t t m . h . ~','r.+lou of Gut#on ,It" .~.lor account ol Ilauch',, chein,cal ,n-+trunlent,; Ileal is the prmclpal agent of chen~wal
;'t'at~, <tutti l,mty t?,,m ,41X' tt,mch. Det and chemical re..t,arches +\g,un, it should change, and ~+ apparatus flw the controlled
I ' h x . l . k e £abmt't l',,I 1, f/Me 2. bt, noted thal much ol Lax o,s,er's appara- apphcahon of heal ,s of crucial mlportance.
tus. and oi l lauch's, wa~ tradflmnal, lilt' lhere art, t w o maior cah~ories: mutl;le or
hl~,torv ol chemical apparatus shows strik- cham~'r furnaces, whert, the heal is appht'd
m hi.. ar~t.nal lht'x al,,o made ht,axs In~ cont,ntl,t,t'% lot example m the d e s i ~ r l md,rectlv, the .~,ubstant-e under invt~tiga-
demand- on the instrument maker'.., ~,kili. of retorts, ah'mbRs, distillation apparatus ,n tyro being placn+l in a chamt~,r which is
and ~ ere prohibfl,~ e h exl~'n.,,x e I hi', wa,, ~eneral. lumace~,, and more. ]here art, al~, heated by the pn~lucts of combustion; and
a mator proi,h.m in l~.,nmark, ~hich wa... ~vhoh' catt.gorle., o1 m,,trument,, mcludtxt ,n hlmace-( or lamps where heal is applied
not a rich ~ountrx in the 17~I~, and had the liar,oh cabinet thai t,we nottung to the d,rt~'th' The u~' of rt, torts and crucibles in
~ I t h l-.n~,land'~ h+.'Ip become bankrupl by chenucal revoluhon, but are the pn~tuct of combination w.ilh mslruments of the latter
the end of the Napoleon,c ~,%ar~ inx e,,t,~atlon,, wflh a qum' ~.parate history, catt,gor~" provide,, another way to keep the
that ¢,nlv coincidt.ntalh.' conx ergtxt ~v,th the combustion pr~.tucts .~,parale frnm the
Part of tlauch', challenge, then. hke Van ~ ork ot I.avo,swr and his colh,ague~, I have mah,rial being heated, tlauch had a g t ~
Marum'~, ~as to hnd ch~.apt.r sohdmn~ to ,n mind especiallx' the blowpl|~.,, that wa~ range of chamber ovens, and of ~+tlrt'~+'~fl+r
prol, lem~ po,,ed by l.avo~wr ~m~ehmt-, he u,med In antlqu,tv in the manufactt, re of the d,rtx't applicalmn of heal, including this
,nxented mlnor ,mproxemerlt,. to l . B o f lewelry, continued in u.~" through the work muffle oven lFig.l), a sprat lamp devi.~d
s,er'~ apparatt,s, as w a , the ca,,e wflh hi~ of atchemP.t.~ and metallurglst~, and In the by ~,rzehus, a mor~, elaborate chemical
llllet lunne]i ..,ornetlnle ~, he made malor late e~ghteenlh cenlurv underwent a rena,s- o~.'en (Fig.2), and a spint lamp attributed hv
mtt~1111callt+n', or de',,~"d nt.v+ in~,lrt.lmenl~,. ~mce m tile hand., of mn~.ralogi~.ts, whence tlauch to (;uvton de Mom'eau, which u.,~s
for examph' hi', eudionleter; ~ m e h m e s he it re-entered lhe mam~.tream oi chemisl~' an Argand lamp (Fig.3).
bought m)proxtxt apparatu~ de,.Igned by Fmalh. we need tn remember that although
cheml,.t,, el'~'whert', including Van Mar- HauclYs activity in chemical re~.earch was Apparatus for distillation could I~" simple
urn'- ga.,~+mt.ter., manuhtclurtxt hv ()nder- concentrated in" the years of the promulga- or complex, and junctions between ditfertmt
dessqngaart Can/ius: and in th(~" ¢a~'~ hon o[ the chemical revolution, he made parts of the apparatus were .~metimes
sshere l.avo,..ier's apparatu~ wax both additions to the cabinet over ensuing efftx'ted by lutes. The trouble with lutes is
altordable and elhc,ent, for example his decad~.'s, .~ that Liehig's K,dmpp~lrat of that they were likely to contaminate the
,ce calormleter, he eflher bought copies or 1831, which rt,volutionized the practice of reactants, olten leaked, and often could not
had them m a d e h~a]Iv It is al~ ntx'essarv organic analysis, appears m Hauch's 1t,13~ be rt,moved without destroying the appa-
to r e m e m b e r thai although [.avoisier;s dt~cription of his cabinet• Much of the ratus, lavoisier and his co-wnrkers and
13 ~ f .... i~~
T
t,ons these h=m¢~ art' very hurtful to the
lungs By the Iollowing meth,~ of distilla-
tion th~.'~' tumt.'s are totally conden.,~'d.
which makes a great .,,av,ng in some
dL,,tillahons, ant] the ot~'rator is in no
danger of being hurt by any [~.mlctous
vapours./ This new mt,th,~|-con>tits in
making the f u m ~ pass by a .,,mall glass
tutx. through water, which iherebv becomt.,s
chargtxt with the vapours, that would
otherwi.~, t~'ape.
•
Jlb.~
f I
,)0
ct
^[==
to FI~ as I'n)tes..~)r of Phvsk~ ('particu- simplicdy of the mach.ne itself, l i e as exampk.'s of elements of mechanisms
larly for theoretical and techmcal phy- sttggt,'sts that Leihniz and Pa,~'al would in his later b ~ k s . ' : " In 18q2 he re-is.,,ued
sics') after a stint at the Royal Artille~' not have ,~,arched for a calculation his pamphlet, with a sh~ht but .,,i~nihcant
and En~ineerm~ .~'hl~d in ~,rlin (start- machine for many years, w i t h 'htth' chan~e in htle, which now has the
ing in ] ~ ) ) and as Privatdozent at the success', if they had had the ~,nefits of adlt~'tive '~genannte' (,~-callt~.|) added
i:k,rlin university (al.,~ from 1~1)." th, such a .~'ience. In his opinion, even to 'Thomas'.,~'he Rcwhenma.,~'hine'." [he
had already published four v e ~ signifi- thomas would have pro~r~.~'d much ' ~ ' a l l e d ' was added tx,cau.,~, he was no
cant pal~,rs on the new t h e ~ ' of heat I~aster with a pnq~,r do~, of the ~'zence of longer wilhn~ to Kive all the crL~|it for the
when he was called to Zuri'ch, m ~ t nto,'hanisms. This mtiM be considered a basic mechamsms to i h o m a s |h' ,,howe,|
notably 'Uber die bewegende Kraft der bit of ,,~,lf-promotion. Nothmh; m his instead that machines of this type,
Warm~.' in 185,(I." lie was probably the de.~'ription of the machine's mechan- characterized by the ~,tepl~xt rotor, were
hr.'stknown of all the initial faculty ,st isms" de|'~'nds on an under...tandin~ ot a (,,erman mvenhon, accomph.~hed long
Fl,~, and did most of his remaining ~,'ork formal or informal kinematk:~. In fact, his |~'tore lhomas. |hs m'w favorite ~r ,~ ,:
in (macroscopic) thermt~.|ynamics while pr~,'~,ntatlon of the 'the~n,tical basis' of machine pn~|uced by Arthur Burkhardt
in Zurich the Anlhmometer in the pamphk,t is m (;la~.hutte from 1~78 on. ~' In hJ~
drawn from a talk he ~ave in I ~ ) to opinion this machine had [yen brought
Two Arithmometer~ in Zurich the Naturfor~'hende (.;~,'~,IL,~'hatt m Zur- to a perkvhon ,,=gn,hcantlv exc¢,ed|n~
ich [his was a m ~ t n~l~'ctahle and lhal of [homas" m.~lrument Ne~erthe-
Reuleaux wrik,~ in his pamphlet on the important .~'ientdic .,~.'it, tv, to bt, sun,, k.~s. m ~ t of his hxhn=cal del.nl~ and
Anthmometer" that FI~ had purcha.~'d hut it is certain that his audience did not dt.~,<rlptions ii1 thl~ 2nd edd,~n ot the
two Arithmometers 'two year~ ago', i.e., consist ot~ 'ex|~'rienct~|k,nematichms'. paniphlet were .,,till the one~ In~m the
about I ~ ) . and .~zys 'we are working His sumerian' iudgement of the machine tir~t edition (.~m~e triune, Ior exampk,)
w i t h these continuously'. We do not is this:: lh¢.'~' referred ,pecztically to the Artthm-
know for what type of work Reuk,aux ometer of lhoma~,; hut he al.~ ~=~e~
him~,lf u.~,d the Arithmometers at Zur- It I were to ~lve a lud~ement on the design .,~me details where Bt,rkhardt's machine
ich. M(~t of his published original work ol the mach~w,, and tt~, appn~pnaten~.,,s.,,|n was an improvement (demon~,tratm~
did not entail a hit of numerical calcula- the cl~ice of the part.,,, thL~lud~ment could that his pn~phecy m the 1~2 pamphlet
t|r~t Of all onh' be hlVotlraNe. ~.~.a¢l~, the at~ut }x~,,zhle .,,lmpl,ticatton.,, wa~, cor-
tions. He might have become inter~.'sted
pn',blem at h,md was ~dved compk,teh'. rect).
in the machine mt~stlv through his study u.~ing com|~,ndloo,~ and eas,h' manufac-
of mechanisms. In his pamphlet,: he tun,d part~ Even then. =t ts mY earn,~t
attempts to dt.~cnbe the instrument in a opiv'ilon that .,,imphttcahons art, ~tlil p~,,ihh' A Per~m who clearly made use of the
single .,~,ntence "that permits an ex[~,ri- ..... rhe mare point =sthat we have tx, h~rt, u~ Zurich Arithmometers for his ~ h o l a r h
enced kinematk'ian to gain an overview a gelid, practwal and not t¢~ exl~.'nsive an work was Reuk, aux' colleague. /~,uner
of the mechanisms employed'. He claims u~trument, whnch we should, then,ton,. l~e~ In 18~, Zeuner published the much
that this simple, one-sentence description to know and u.~' w=tl~ut delay. revL,~,d ~.'¢md ¢~Jition of his (;rund:ux,c."
was possible only ~ , c a u ~ of recent in addition to the basic laws ot thermo-
developments in the ~ience of mechan- Reuleaux mentions only one or two dynamics', which had I~,en pretty well
isms, or kinematics, rather than the details of the Arithmometer's features ~tabhshed by this time, the hx'hnical
Literature
26
BullHin of the Scwntific Instrument S(~ety No. 60 (1999)
The Restoration of Scientific Instruments
Report of a Two-day Workshop in Italy
Howard Dawes
Few would try to restore a painting, but restore a painting, but anyone who can Ob~'ts speak to us over the years and
anytme who can mend a coffeegrinder feels mend a coffeegrinder feelshe iscapable of
he is capable of restoring a scientific must be allowed to act as documents
mstrun~nt. restoring a scientific instrument. the past. It is vital that their mtegnty must
P a t i o Brermi Itis appn~riate to draw a cleardistinction be preserved. An interesting view was
between conservation and restoration expressed that when an ob~ct enters a
A very important and interesting work- mu~um, it changes its character. It
shop was held in Florence on 14-15 Con~rvation Ls concerned with maintain-
ing an ~ in itspresent state.Certainly becomes subject to different controL~ and
December 1998 to di~uss the restoration objectives and indeed this Ls very much
of scientific instruments. It was organized the removal of com~sion or the prevention
of further biological decay and non the purpose of accessing objects in a
by the lstituto e Museo di Storia della museum. As example, clocks should not
Scienza and the Opificio della Pietre Dure. destructive cleaning fallwithin thisdefini-
tion, but replacement or any endeavour to be running, they should be stopped to
There were ten speakers during the two conserve them. They are not in the
days, followed by a dimussion chaired by return the object to itsoriginal condition is
outside the scope of conservation. Restora- museum to tell the time.
Jim Bennett. Rather than report the meet-
m g in chronological order where necessa- tion on the other hand necessarilyincludes Some Broad Conclusions
rily some repetition took place, I have conservation within its definition, but it
may go further and include some recon- Routine examination of the collection is
endeavoured in this report to rearrange essential, decay and corrosion are on-
the various important points raised by the structkm or replacement of missing parts,
insertion of new metal to worn or broken going.
speakers into a more logical and coherent
statement of their views. gears and relacquering of all or part of the Each ~ should be considered on its
object. Opinions are strongly divided as to own merits.
A mere ten years ago, the only interestin what may be permissible and what should
scientific instruments was through the be left strictly alone but clearly each object Conservation is preferable to restoration.
history of science and this was a very must be considered as an individual should remain documents of the
particular case. However, there was clear past.
small (relativelyspeaking) part of history.
Catalogues or inventories of instruments unanimity that no action should be taken It is dangerous to try to bring back the
were m a d e by some m u s e u m s and that was irreversibleand that all restora- function of the instrument.
collections and these have been a mawr tion activity should be recorded in writing
protection against loss. Restoration where for future reference. u~iYertaWOrk that is reversible should be
it did take place was largely confined to ken.
For large museums there is a major
the repair of damage. Some major mu- problem of restoration/conservation of Make a permanent record of all restoration
seums, Florence, Oxford, Paris, British many thousands of objects. This has to details.
M u s e u m and Deutsches Museum have be tackled on an organized basis, by
joined in a working group OSIRIS to try to it is bad practice to try to return an ob)ect
setting a plan of which ob~.~,cts and how to its supposedearlier state.
co-ordinate their approach to scientific many can be treated in a year so that the
instruments, theirrecording and preserva- whole collection may be examined and Replacement of some missing parts
tion. conserved over a given period say 10 (armoury) are not necessary to convey
Is the restoration and or conservation of years. Choices have to be made and it was the historical significance and breach the
scientific instruments different from other suggested that the collection might be integrity of an object.
obiects d'art? Certainly many of the divided into sections. Historical ~ l u e -
unique prototype or Scientist's own in- Use of heat in restoration changes mole-
restoration techniques for metal, wood, cular structure.
fabric and paper, etc., apply just as much strument. Prmcnance - an unknown collec-
tion or attractive appearance of object. Be aware that an ob)ect may have an
for instruments as for decorative arts. But
instruments are more than a piece of Consen~atum - needs of the object, serious unknown history of restoration before
corrosion, damage or stability. Less im- accession.
decorative art, they aim contain a scientific
portant objects can wait for attention and
idea which must not be allowed to lose its Artefacts of a known scientist are histor-
even De-accessioning of unwanted ob~ec~
relevance in restoration. Models and ical records and should receive only
replicas should be used to demonstrate by sale or exchange might be considered.
conservation in order to preserve the
principles, in the early years of this Experience in Italy, with its overwhelming historical integrity of the object.
century, the South Kensington Museum, wealth of ob~.0~tsand paintings has tended
was gettin~ into difficulties with available to introduce the idea of a Restoration Specific restoration of such matters as
space a n a it was decided that there Theory (Brandi 1972). This is the concept cracks in wood or the insertion of new
needed to be a split between the RenaL~- of acknowledging that a work of art has its pieces in a cogwheel may be desirable but
sance art collections and the more recent own physical reality and its own life. Only any materials introduced should be simi-
mechanical sciences. Art went to the minimalist interference with the object lar,ie ivory for ivory not plastic.
Victoria & Albert M u s e u m and the science a ~ b e permitted and then only to reduce Speakers
objects, essentially working exhibits and slow down decay. This theoretical Paoio Galuzzi: Introduction.
models to the Science Museum. This split concept is rather in conflict with the Robert Anderson: The British Museum.
gave rise to different attitudes on con- Anglo-Saxon view of a greater interven- London.
servation and restoration with the clock tionist attitude. One should leave missing Louis Andre: Music des Arts ef Mi,tiers/
and watch curators somewhere in the areas of painting black or at least use a CNAM, Paris.
middle. It was interestingto note that the detachable panel. However, there are Paolo Venturoli: Armeria Reale, Turin.
Museo di Storia della Scienza had its first problems with this non-interventionist Marian Foumier: Mu.,~um Boerha~¢, Leiden.
exhibition in 1929. The present attitude to policy when one has to consider architec- Giorgio Bonsanti: Op!ficio della Pierre Dure,
scientificinstruments is relativelynew. Art ture (safety) or archaeok~gy. Examination Florence.
~ alleries have been in existence for
undreds of years, so is a science museum
of ob)ects should take place only by non-
destructive techruques. There should be
Suzanne Keene: The Science Mu~um, Hm-
don.
fundamentally different in character from dPreventative conservation as all artefacts Peter Fness: Deutsches Mu~um , Bonn.
an art museum? Perhaps part of the ecay and should no longer be regarded Jean-Loius Boutame: Mu:~/e de France, Par/s.
answer ties in the perceptive comment of as capable of remaining in a static Mara Miniati & Paolo Brenni: Istituh, e
Paolo Brenni who said few would try to condition. Museo di Storia della Scienza, Florence
m TABLE DE TRONCET
De O k I0~)
p.~¢.¢m¢11~
P i e | i plrlLr ~* IM.
OPt I / |. d t . |. M ~... I. II IM mok~ $ ..S mo,~ I ..M.
tl-- I If. * ~ l i * I I , I I . - i l l , ~w, l ~ . Im, lm. lak .. ,.
I ~ 1 . ~ 1 . , ~ # ~ %
i I ...I, II. I$ II. I1, ...W. Ikl~l I *. !.1. II. II. I ] , ,,.I,
PI~ I t p ~ r 4~ I
l, ~, I , ~ II, I|, II, !1, | i . , ~ ,
k I I per~r 4e I. 4~ I. Ik $.
i~14~ S I I M ~ T Ik* l eli, I p l ~ l f ¢il
i ~ ' t . , ~ L 4e t, 4* k e~l. 4~ ~I. ¢m IT. ell 14.
PIe i i ~ l ~ , ~ 4 . I, i ' ill
M . 4e I~. i Is, 4 , M
Peru 1 t pl~l~ ~ 1, 4e |, Plrll r ~ht 11~ i l ~ ,
P~ll ~ 4 . I l l , II.
i Ik de 3, i , I, I, "/ II ~ , N . N , t4, l~t
I~o ~ m * l a ~ m @ i m N I ¢ o N ~ * i l N ba
blmtaa e l Ull~laOV~nmMll Ires, ~-rua. a~,~-~ d
Fig.2 Charles Hoarc The Slide Rule and How to U ~ It 6'* ed.,
hmdon 18_~).
Nominations for a patron .~aint for cularly on the continent, manufacturers The attention now given to such printed
ephemera ~hould surely include the and handwntten ephemera has gradually
published descriptive sheets of their
name of Samuel Pepys, the distinguished built up over the past 25 years due
educational and laboratory instruments
diarist and 17th centu~" Secreta~, to the mainly to one man. in the ]960s and
(Figs.l-2). These were often lifted di-
Admiralty. A keen collector, among his '70s Maurice Rickards was an established
recth" from the learned ~urnals in which
diam' entries is one for 8 September 1663 photographer and graphic designer with
the inventors first mentioned the appa-
in which he records buying a pair of a major interest in posters which resulted
ratus but, long parted from it,they float
globes for L3.10s. from Joseph Moxon in in a number of important I:nx~ks on the
unrecognized until spotted by the
Warwick Lane. Su~'iving in two large subject. Increasingly he became absorbed
knowledgeable collector (Figs. 3 & 4).
albums at Magdalene College, Cam- by the interaction of graphic design with
Handbills for long-forgotten lectures are
bridge, are items he kept to illustrate his social history. It was this latter inter~t
another likely source for both informa-
lift, in London at the time - ballads, trade which caused him to look for the sad
tion and entertainment with their de-
cards, funeral cards, invitations and 'human documents' concerning for ex-
lightful hyperbole and, as in Figure 5,
tickets. It was to be another three ample illiteracy, the workhouse, slavery
extravagant use of typefaces. A splendid and prison. It was typical of Rickards and
hundred years before the collecting of poster printed on yellow paper was seen
such trivia was acknowledged" as an his attention to the smallest detail that in
at an ephemera fair this January. Pub- the early 1970s he took a stall in the
academic tool for the ~ocial historian.
lished in 1831 it proclaimed 'The Power Portobello Road street m~rket from
and Wisdom of G(~, in the works of which he could gauge the interest in
Still available, and often at moderate Creation displayed in three astronomical ephemera and also add to his own
prices, are such pieces of ephemera lectures on the most extensive eidoura- growing collection. Many useful contacts
which can bring history alive when tion or GRAND TRANSPARENCY were made among historians, collectors,
placed in context. For example, in the ORRERY in the kingdom (forty feet in curators and dealers and it was from the
late 19'h and early 20" centuries, parti- circumference) by Mr Franklin in the people he met in the market that he chose
,l r ,
,
i¢ 1:"1 |
it l_lt,,<=.,,.,i....e..>--
'/
:-..*e backbone of social history and uses it a
great deal as illustrations in his books;
founder member, the late John Lewis,
author of the first scholarly work on the
subiect, Printed Ephemera, collected to
show how pnnt processes changed and
developed.
)J ,, f. li-~-,.,,.,i.,i ,, ~ i ~ l ~ , ~ i ' ~ t , ~ . ' ~ ) ~,. ~i.." _ ' ~ , % " ~ ~ , . , , . " ' , ~
In the eyes of such social historiansand
-'- ,~ ....... ~ = ~ - ~ ! # "1 / ~,.,~'0.",,,.',,~'~ "~."%,.'.,, ~'.,P~"',, "~,,-", typographers, the trade card featured
on the cover of this issue is perhaps
among the most desirable categorie~ of
ephemera. It is also one of the rarest
and most expensive. In the space of a
few inches you have contempora~'
evidence showing where the items were
sold, what type of shop might stock
i~,,~ ;~ ,~,,~l,', \ ~ ~I~,~ ~1,, them and preci~ly what was available
at the time. Sometimes, as for example
Fig.3 /.~ - Directions fi)r using the Camera Luoda, Sold by Mr. Newman, No. 24 in the case of John Hyde, the Bristol
Soho-Square by P & G [~dlond, St. Paul's Church-Yard I~,donl. Watermark 180,5. instrument maker, his splendidly ornate
English 1806-20. Centre - A Description of the Improved Compound and Single Pocket and detailed trade card of the 1840s
Microscope. English c. 182,5. Marked PI. IV .~) couhf al~ have been u ~ d as a b ~ k shows and lists that he is the 'manu-
illustration. R~ght - Ronkett's Improved Glass Hydrometer. English c. 1840. facturer of Mathematical, Nautical, As-
tronomical, Philosophical, Optical &
Surveying Instruments' which he will
also 'accurately repair'. ]-his informa-
)(
I.~ ~'' , William Hogarth and Francesco Barto-
lozzi are among distinguLshed artists
who also designed trade cards, it is not
easy to find such valuable evidence
outside museums now.
! t.itr """
,,,i
P(~sible sources are the various specialist
fairs which have been established in the
past two decades. The Ephemera Society
has deveh)ped a splendid reputation for
its regular Printed Bygones Bazaars and
,~ Ephemera Specials held in London
(Fig.8). The Specials are staged at the
Hotel Rus,~ll in r~)ms familiar to b ~ k
M fair visitors;dealers now cross both the
Channel and the Atlantic to have stallsat
these fairs. The choice of items on sale is
Fig.4 L~. - Lunette Pyromerrique de Mesur~ et Nouel construit par E. Ducretet immense and of a high standard; prices
[Paris]. Octobr~ 1901. Centre - Electriques, E. Ducretet [Paris]. Avril 1903. Right - range from £1 to £1,00(} or more for
Goniom#tre- R~fractombtre auto-collimateur de M. C. Cheneveau. Ph. Pellin [Paris]. rarities and it is no secret that curators
1910. and archivists buy here to add to their
professional collections.
eight enthusiasts (among them your the time; their definition 'the minor Apart ~ ) m sul:~cts such as theatre, or
writer) to pursue the idea of forming a transient documents of everyday life' is films and newspapers, there are no
society.Their firsttask was to thrash out now an accepted dictionary entry. specialist subject dealers in the field.
a definition for the word "ephemera', a The tendency for the more organized
word unfamiliar to the general public at From the beginning the Ephemera So- dealers, is to concentrate on, say,
ON OCEAN TELEGRAPHS
TMAMIJJTLIMTI¢ IMERiOAJJ TilLEORAPH.
•.~d~;'.z,, ~ M I %
"7" .....
Dr (,O11111'. DtYL
J . ]
I "-.-~ ~ ~': "~" " * ................ ',,'".' ........." "L ~ - ' ~ - ' ~ ]
!
1(
/ - J
Bo~lnglo~ ~ ~urhaml~o~ r4o~ Ok'~o~SOu~ WCt Fig.10 Three categori~ of h~tplate sh(ru ing scientihc instruments. The librar~ and the
SONOA Y 301t~MAY. Royll Nellon~ 1.4~1~ Wo~d~ P1e¢~
premium plates haz¢ the aclded bonus of a date. The p~,onal t~kplate is for the author and
SUNDAY 31 ~t OCTObeR B0mngl0~ Howl astronomer Edu~rd Joshua Cooper 1798-1863; he built an obsen~torv at Markree Castle, Co.
OPEN V.~emto 4pro
ADMISSION I~' Sligo. Author ~ collectrm.
i ~ h v ~ e e am ne~ Io Rue~dl S ~ w ~ lube
t
scientific instruments rivals those of
Contact Addresses ephemera collectors but to give an idea
Ephemera Societies of the sortof items seen at fairsin the first
quarter of this year are:
The Ephemera Society 8 Galveston Road, Putney,
London W15 2SA
Tel.: 0181-874 3363 A pictorialtrade card for Jean Trabaud of
Marseille who 'faitet vend toute sorte
The Ephemera Society of America lnc Post Office Box 95, Cazenovia, d'Ustensdes Pour les Pilotes et Navires'
New York 13035, USA shows telescopes and a quadrant arnt~ng
his stock,c. 1840 £480.
The Ephemera Society of Australia 345 Highett Street, Richmond,
Victoria, Australia 3121 A pich~nal trade card for Anderson & West
The Ephemera Society of Canada "Scale Makers to His Majesty', no 19
Macauley Drive, Thornhill, Wardour Street. Manufacturers of Scales,
Ontario L'ff 585, Canada Weights, Measures, SteelYards and Weigh-
The Bookplate S~iety 11 Nella Road, London W6 9PB mg Machines, Wholesale and Retail. NB
Scales and Weights kept in repair by the
The Cinderella Stamp Club Hun. Sec., 31 Springfield Road, Year' c.1830 £I.~I.
Bury St Edmunds, Suffolk 11"333AR
Ephemera symposiums Centre for Ephemera Studies, A n American trade card for Erasmus A
Department of Typography & Graphic Kutz, N e w York, priced at £260 was in
Communication, The University of poor condition but the decorative pictor-
Reading, 2 Farley Gate, Whiteknights, ial border showing some twenty five
Reading RG6 6AU. Tel.: 0118 9318081 instruments and gk~es would appeal to
Fairs - contact numbers the specialistin those subjects. A n d on a
I/ghter note, the plate camera greeting
Ephemera Society Fairs 01932 829079 card shown (Fig.12) was £20; the back of
Antaque Scientific & Medical the camera opens for the sender to insert
Instrument Fairs 0181-8668659 their photograph. There is no knowing
what will be seen at the next fair!
London Photographic Fairs 01932863924
Provincial Booksellers Fair Association 01763 248400
Additional Information on Henry Noad of such sciences who should come to of the lecture I shall call the names over'
as Lecturer Winchester and give our scholars succes- and I find a few straggle in'.
sive courses of lectures.'
I was interested to read your note on Whether Noad brought equipment with
Henry. Noad in SIS Bulletin number 59. l The Commissioners agreed to this and, him is not recorded. The earliest inven-
append a note on Noad as a lecturer. from 1858, 10 lectures in the Summer tory of scientific apparatus at the College
term were paid for by the Warden at 100 is from 1866 and includes a cylinder
When the Oxford University, Commis- guineas (£105) per course. Henry Noad electrical machine, batteries, electroscope,
sioners came to Winchester College in gave these lectures in 1860, 1861 and Leyden jars etc, some of which still
1856 they complained about the lack of 1862. ]'he lectures were compulsory and survive. The College had to wait until
instruction in the physical sciences. The were described by the Warden as 'very 1874 before a full time physics teacher
Headmaster, George Moberly, refused to energetic, full of life and animation.' was in post.
appoint a science Fellow but was willing However, Moberly reported 'I find, if it
'to engage from time to time the best is a fine day, sometimes the numbers look Martin Gregory
lecturers of the day in various branches rather thin behind and ! say 'At the end Winchester College Science School
AN I POINTER DJ
POINTER I F~AN I
A Ir F B .p'
J
A
0 81
F
A
Q Q P P
people of Roben, al's time as a mechan- coins. The least ma.~s detectable by the The article by Bolton, Holland and
ical wonder, as there was no theory of balance will be much less than the m a ~ Williams (Reference 1), also refers to a
mechanical couples until Poinsot. it is of the paper bag, or of one coin. The box pyrometer made by the Felton Grimwade
important that the rectangle ABCD, balance of Feiton Grimwade, shown in Scientific Instrument Company. The in-
which becomes a general quadrilateral Figure l, is of this simple counter formation comes from the Company's
when not in equilibrium, should be machine pattern. Minute Btn~k, '* but no trace of the
accurately made; a di~ussion of possible instrument has been found. If, as has
errors is given by Owen? It is appropriate to comment briefly on the
relevant balances and scales advertised been suggested, it consisted of a thermo-
Consider the right-hand side of the by Feiton Grimwade shortly beyond the couple circuit with a hot/cold junction of
framework : the force P exerts a down- period in which the Scientific instrument two metals, and a pointer instrument to
ward force P at K in the direction KD and company was active, which was May register thermo-electric electromotive
also a turning moment P.IK which tends 1920 to 6 November 1922. The catalogu~ h)rce, it would be unlikely to have
to cause a clockwise rotation of the ann have been read for January 1920 to survived complete.
K! about K There is no such clockwise October 1925," and only the balances that Acknowledgement
rotation possible about K, so the effect of could be considered rivals to that shown
the moment must somehow be elimi- in Figure I have been included: Our thanks are due to Dr Norman
nated. Any moment about an axis can be Heckenberg of the Physics Department,
January. 1920 to July 1922. 'Webb's dispen-
rewritten in terms of another couple, sing scales with a brass pillar'; this ~ounds University of Queensland who noticed
equivalent in size and rotational direction like a conventi(mal two-beam balance with the balance for sale and recognized its
(clockwise or anti-clockwise), and in this a central pillar possible imFn~rtance; to Mr Max Hale, 91
case, the new couple can be defined bv Nicholson Street, Carlton, Vic., for valu-
January. 1~20. 'Chemist's PrescnptUm Scales
the force P' at B in the direction AI3, Box Pattern fitted with drawer'. This could able di~ussions on the problems of
acting at a distance BK. Thus be the ~ales in Figure I. It was .~ld for £4/ provenance; to Dr Jugo llic of CSIRO
010. Forest Prt~ucts for identification of the
P.IK = P'. BK wood of the balance case; to Professor
July 1921)to Apnl 1924. The .same text as for
January. 1920 with the htle 'The Silencer' Ray Cas, Professor Pat Vickers-Rich, Dr
Becau.~, IK and BK are known fixt~ Marion Anderson and Ms Cainwen
distances, this equation defines the new added (Felton Gnmwade had ~me offices
in SF~,ncerStreet, lust round the corner ~ m Scutter of the Earth Sciences Department,
force P'. But P' cannot act because it is Flinders Lane, Melbourne.) The cost was Monash University, fl~r identificatitm of
I~inting to the right, away from the £6/0/0. the stone slab; and to Dr ROd Mackie of
fulcrum F, which is at rest and must the Physics Department, Monash Uni-
therefore be compen~ted by a force P' at July 1924 ]he title 'The Spencer' has been
dropl~d; the rest of the Wxt is the .same as versity, for identification of the scale pan
F pointing to the left. The effect of the material.
for January. 1~20. No price was mentioned,
couple P'.BK and hence of P.IK is later the price £6/0/0 was restored. The
nullified and the onh; effect of the final entry, noted was (k't(d~er 1925. Notes and References
downward fi~rce P is that it appears 1. H.C. I~dton, J. Holland and N.H. Wil-
along the arm BD. When the argument Janua~, 1921 to Octt~ler 1925 'Counter
~cales, French pattern in walnut or ebonized hams, 'The Gnmwade Milligram Chemical
is expressed in terms of a clockwi~ box and marble top'. There were scales hn. Balance: An Early Australian Attempt to
turning moment about K with the force weight rangt~ from 2 I~unds, 4 pounds and Establish a Scientific Instrument Industry',
P'° acting in the .same straight line as F', 10 pounds. This was pn%ably a scale fin"a Historwal Records of Austral~,m Scu'nce, 9(2)
the h~rce is cancelled by a h~rce at the shop counter (December 1992), pp. 107-117. The reference
fulcrum F'. Similarly the~nlv effect of the in this 1992 article to the i'rescnptitm ,Scalesis
April 1924 to October 1925. 'Avery's on page 115.
force Q on the It,ft-hand'side of the [Birmingham, England] Disper~sing Scales,
balance appears as the downward force Steel centre bearings and slide pillar, No. 2. Market R~7~rt and Prices Current; Felton
Q along the arm AC. Because BD and AC 121'. Grimwade and Co. Pty Ltd, Wholesale
are at rest in measurement, there are Druggists and Manufacturing Chemists,
February 1924 to Octt~er 1925. 'Avery's pp. 342-346 Flinders Lane, Melbourne
compen~tlng upward h~rces P at B and Dispensing Scales, Agate centre beanngs
Q at A. This argument is ba.,,<l on the 1920-1925 Held by the State Library of
and slide pillar'. This is probably a Victoria, Melbourne.
original pattern of the box balance of conventional two-beam balance with a
Ri~erval, and the counter instrument central pillar. 3. Philtpp Malthai~s Hahn, (1739-1790),Aus-
(machine), which appears in m a n y stellun~en des Wurttenberl~hen I.andes Mu.~,um,
April 1924 only. 'Chemist's Prescription Stuttl~art und der Stadte Ostfildern (1989). Two
34
Bulletin of the Scientific Instrument Sc~-iety No. 6O 0999)
Volumes. Held by the Baillieu Library, Uni- 7. L. Poinsot, £1eraents de stattque (Paris, the University of Melbourne Archives 3/13/
versity ¢~ Mell~ume. The Haigis balance, 18{)3);Oictiona~ of Scumhfic Bu~raphv, ap. cir. It,p 25.
descnption and photograph, is in Volume 1, (note 6), pp. 61-62.
page 183, number 099. Authors addres~,a,s:
8. George A. Owen, A Treahseon Weighing Pr~r H. C. Bolton
4. JR. Poynter, Rus~ll Grlrau,ade (Mel- Machines, (CharlesGriffin& Co Ltd., 1922), pp. Department of Histo~. and
bourne: Melbourne University Press at the 79-80.
Philosophy of Science
Miegunyah Press, 1967), p. 2~. 9. Ibid.,pp. 8~91. Unitcrsity of Melbourne
5. Blakiston'sNew Gould Medical Dtctlmm~., 10. Ibid., pp. 91-95. Victoria, Australia
ed. 2 Illustrated (McGraw Hill, 1956), p.1461. II. Ibid., pp. 95-100.
Brun~ Kith, Scales and Wels?hts; a Historical Mrs N. H. Wilhams
Outline (New Haven: Yale University Press, 12. Ibid., pp. 79 and 96. Lecturer in Chemist~.
196_q). 13. Note 2. Curatln" of the Faculty of
6. D~ctionarvof ScientificBu~raphy, vol. 11 14. The Minute B~a~k (1920-22)of the C~nn- Science Instrument Collection
(New York: CharlesScnbner'sS~axs),pp. 486- pany refersto Mr Payn, the titter who worked Mona~ Unnersitv
491). tm the pyrtnneter. The Minute I~,k is held in Victoria, Australia
i
Current and Future Events
Until 24 September 2000, Greenwich, 7 July 1999, London, England Hotel, Portman Square, London Wl.
London, England SIS' A G M at the Society of Antiquaries, Details as above.
The Story of Time exhibition in the 17th- Burlington Hour, Picadilly,L~mdon WI.
19 November 1999, Cambridge, England
century" Queen's House, part of the
National Maritime Mu~um. This is a 21 August 1999, Cambridge, England SIS tour of the Whipple Mu~um, Free
truly international exhibition, bringing Fifth InternationalMeeting of Slide Rule School Lane, Cambridge. Details to be
together an)und 3(10 objects to present Collectors in association with The announced.
an all-encompassing history of time Oughtred Society at The Gonville Hotel,
acnw,s the earth from the earliest civiliza-
C~mville Place, Cambridge. Programme 30 November 1999, London, England
tions. includes a paper on alcohol sliderules by 'The Astrolabe and the Imagination', the
Peter Hopp, slide rules from the Man- seventh Annual Invitation Lecture by
17 April lqgq, London, England chester area by Jenny Wetton of the Professor John North at the ~clety of
SIS hands-on visit to the Horological Manchester M u s e u m of Science and Antiquary, Burlington House, Picadilly,
Students' R ~ m of the British M u ~ u m Technology, and informal presentations London Wi.
on Saturday 17 April from II.00 to 13.(10 in the afteml~)n by representatives of The
Autumn 1999, Cumo, Italy
hours. Full"details in flyer circulated in Oughtred ~ciety and of the Dutch,
this issue. German, United Kingdom and other The Volta collection will be re-opened at
National groups. For details contact Ray 'Volta's Temple' in Como, Italy. At the
25 April 1999, London, England Hems, Elm Villa, Headley, Thatcham, same time a symposium on Volia will be
BerLshire, RGi9 8LT. Tel.: + 44 (0) 1635 held at Pavia and a reconstruction of
The 20th Scient!fic & Medical hlstrument 268688. Volta's cabinet will be opened.
Fair will be held at the Radiss~m SAS
Portman Hotel, Portman Square, London 20 - 25 September 1999, Moscow and St 16 April 2000, London, England
W1 on Sunday 25 April from 10.00 to Petersburg, Russia
16.00 hours. "Admission £3. Nearest The 28th Scientific & Medical Instrument
XVII! Scient!fic Instrument Syn|l,osium Fair will be at the Radis~m SAS Portman
underground station is Marble Arch. To
organized by the Scientific Instrument Hotel, Portman Square, London W1.
exhibit or for further information tele-
Commisskm of the International Union Details as above.
phone/fax the organizer, Peter Delehar,
of the History and Philosophy of Science
on +44 181 866 8659 at any time. E-mail: 41-8September 2000, Oxford, England
is to be held in St Petersburg. A National
www.peterdeleha r.co.uk Organizing Committee has been formed XIX Scientific Instrument .qynllk~smra orga-
under the Presidency of the Academician nized by the Scientific Instrument Com-
3-9 May 1999, SIS Visit to Lisbon,
Portugal Yuri Gulvaev. mi~,~ion of the International Union of the
History and Phih~phy of Science, is to
This event is well supported. Details 15 - 16 October 1999, Leiden, The be helcl at Oxfl~rd at the Museum of the
have been posted to the participants. Netbeflands History of Science, Broad Street,Oxford
The Museum i~,erhaave will organize a OXI 3AZ, UK. Consult the website at
19 June 1999, Liverpool, England symposium under the auspices of the www.sic.iuhps.org
SIS tour of Liverpiml M u ~ u m and Scientific Instrument Commission. In-
Liverlx~)l Manfime Museum on Satur- vited speakers will address the problems 29 October 2000, London, England
day 19 June, starting at 11.00 hours. Full of authentici~' under such key words as: The 29th ~'ient#k" & Medical Instrument
details in flyer circulated in this issue. original, imitation, reproduction, recon- Fair will be at the Radig,~m SAS Portman
struction, copy, facsimile, restoration and Hotel, Portman Square, London W1.
June 1999, Paris, France forgery. The symposium is part of the Details as above.
The Mus6e des Arts et M~tiers is Anton Mensing Scientific Instrument
scheduled to re-open during this month. Pn~ct, a ~int venture. Details from the Summer 2001, Mexico City, Mexico
To highlight the bicentenary of the Secretary of the SIC, ER de Clercq. E- XX Scu'nti~c Instrument Syml~ium tO be
di~overy of the voltaic pile, the Museum mail: declercq@xs4all.nl held within the XXth lntemational Con-
will open a special exhibition in the gress of the History of Science.
autumn of that year on the foundation 27 October 1999, London, England
of current electricity, including Coulomb, The 27th Scient!fic & Medical Instrument Details of Future et~'nts, meetings, exhibi-
Galvani and Volta. Fair will be at the Radisson SAS Portman lions etc. should be sent to the Editor.
36
Bulletin of the ~tenttfic Instrument Society No. 60 (1999)
Mystery Objects
Fig.i
I
~'11 I
L
Fig.3
Leonor (,onz,iles de la [astra of the with gn~ovt,'s to [ix the bridge. In the
National Mu.,~,m of ~'ience and Technol- ~mnd box there is an o w n i n g and a
ogy in Madrid, Spare, would like hammer hidden inside it, that beats the
assistance with identi~'inK an acoustic onh,' string the instrument had (now
instrument discovered amongst the in- mi,~sing). The string can al.,~ be stroked
struments of the Faculty,' of Physics by a violin bow. The in.~ription (as
collection in the Universi~, of Madrid, shown in Fig. 2) is as follows: 'Chron-
and now prz.~,rved in the M u ~ u m It iasnalae / Roll.o / .~ / Bla.,~,chets / Fig.2
(Fig. 1)is made of w ~ d , having the Pans'. On the back of the instrument (Fig.
dimensions 137 x i l 0 x 820 rnm, and 3) there is a sliding w~,~en panel with a
conslsts of a fret joirled to an egg shaptxi sliding brass plate attached to it, pn~-
.,~und box. ['he .,,cale on the fret (wntten vided with a flexible iron strip, probably
m L;erman and French notation) is [or .,,~.'uring the in.,,trument to a stand.
chromatic and is made of a brass plate What is d: a tytx' of mon~K'hord?
Fig.4
] h e .,,econd mystery (~iect has been sent lens has an inner zone which apl~,ars to hemi,,phere, under which i.,, a .,,lot
in by Anita McConJnell. She wrik,~ that it focus at a distance of over IlK) metres; it matching a small steel l~tval l~,g in the
has been sugg~.,sted to pre-date 18~1, but ha~ not been I~ssible to determine the ba.,,e of the boxwood cylinder. [he
she is not convinctxt of the accuracy of hx-al distance of the outer rin~. There is photo .,,hows, felt. the lid: centre, lhe
this date. The de,~'ription is as [olh~ws a brass diaphragm, and one c n ~ - h a i r optical device r¢."qlng In the ba~' of the
(Fig. 4). A h ~ x w l ~ container, 7 cm in [ h e optical tube has no treedom of box; right, the centre ,,~,ctton on whlch
diameter, u n ~ r e w s into three parts, with movement nor of adjustment of f~'us. the optical device rl.'~ts when the h~x is
a brass ring inset m the lid which locates clo,~,d up. ()n the underside of lhe
the optical device r,..sting on the dished b o x w ~ d cylinder is written m m k
surface of the central section 'Mercury. When un~'rewed let this end
The optical tube is .,~-,cured by. a band to be downwards.' There are no gradua-
The optical devices consists of a blued
a heavv Fndished steel or nickel-steel lions or maker's identifications.
steel tube with a lens at either end. One
P)~r f u r t h e r
itffbrmation,
plrase contact
(;cores (;lastris
a t (078) 77~-0241.
Ea rlv A m erica n
Back 5taJ); s(aned
Benjamin Kinfl
1708.
SKINNER
A t.tJ.t~rr* a. d Appratst~ ,,tA ntlqu~, a nd P)n¢ A rt
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" Ol/.3,q41.,~400
" 3.6~,~lain ,~¢rcet, Bolttm, MA O] 740 "IH: 078.770.0241
wwsuk#nntnnr.com
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T61.01 42 60 21 98 • Fax 01 42 60 55 24
OLD INSTRUMENTS
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Catalogues
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Bullet~ of the ScaentificInstrument .~,ety No. 60 ( I ~ ) 3~
Fine Instruments of Scien -e
& Technology __
A U C T I O N IN L O N D O N : 2 7 T H APRIL 1999
ENQUIRIES:
Cathenne Southon • .,.. j , : . . f ' - " ..... ~
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C.-~TAL(~UE S: "' ' ~ ~.,I
0171 293 6444 or fax
on 0171 293 5909
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London W l A 2AA A fine Timoth~ Coliet silver and brass Butterfield-type luni-soiar
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w w w sothebys tom
Estimate: [7,000-10,000
40
SOTHEBY'S
Bulletin o[ the Scientific Instrument Society No. 60 (1999)
Fallbrooh, CA 92~8 • (760) 728-3.321 • 728-3322 (Am & FAX)
F~dtte~ial ........................................................................................................................................................................................................... 1
Cover SU~ ..................................................................................................................................................................W~,m H a c k m m $
C~tuary .......................................................................................................................................................................................................... 4
James Watt's Bnromete~ ................................................................................................................................................. ~ L. Hal. 5
The Hauch ~
Chemical Apparatus and the Chemical Revolutma ............................................................................................Trevor H. ~ 11
Early U~es o~ the A n ~ c~ Thomas de Coimar (or Thermodynamic Cak'ulat~x~ ........................................
]~u] ZoUer 16
The Ca~ o~ the Skden Lem? .....................................................................................................................................Karl-Hem W~ms 24
The ResmmXm o~ Scx.n~c inmnunmm
R e p ~ o~ • Two.day Workshop m Italy ....................................................................................................................H o w ~ l I ~ w m 27
Market Price
Ephemm~ ........................................................................................................................................................................ AmonSt T m m r 28
Lener ~ tbe E d ~ r ....................................................................... ,o.,o .................. o ...... ,.. ....... * ............... . ....... 0..oo0 ........ .,ooooo o0ooo.o..,oooo.oooo.o 0.o0,0
32
A Phannacm's~ Box Scales
by Fe4tonG n m w K l e o~ IVlellx~wne,A u ~ m l ~ ........................................................................... H. C. Bolton m~l N. H. ~ l i m m 33
Current and Futme Events .......................................................................................................................................................................... .35
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Activities
Regular evening meetmp~ are held m London, am well as occasional one-day and week-end ~ m attnu~ve provinckd
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mu~ums an~ • rueful leature. Above all, the Society's ~au'x.nn~ are enviable social occuiem, ~ opportumties to meet
others w~th mnular mtemm.
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