Scientific Instrument Society

Bulletin of the Scientific Instrument Society No. 28 March 1991 Bulletin of the Scientific Instrument Society ISSN 0956-8271

For Table of Contents, see inside back cover

Executive Committee Jon Darius, Chairman Gerard Turner, Vice Chairman Howard Dawes, Executive Secretary Stanley Warren, Meetings Secretary Allan Mills, Editor Desmond Squire, Advertising Manager Brian Brass, Treasurer Ronald Bristow Anthony Michaelis Arthur Middleton Stuart Talbot David Weston Membership and Administrative Matters Mr. Howard Dawes P.O. Box 15 Pershore Worcestershire WR10 2RD Tel: 0386-861075 United Kingdom Fax: 0386-861074 See inside back corer for information on membership Editorial Matters Dr. Allan Mills Astronomy Group University of Leicester University Road Leicester LE1 7RH Tel: 0533-523924 United Kingdom Fax: 0533-523918 Advertising Manager Mr Desmond Squire 137 Coombe Lane London SW20 0QY United Kingdom Tel: 081-946 1470 Organization of Meetings Mr Stanley Warren Dept of Archaeological Sciences University of Bradford Richmond Road Tel: 0274-733466 ext 477 Bradford BD7 1DP Fax: 0274-305340 United Kingdom Tel (home): 0274-601434 Typesetting and Printing Halpen Graphic Communication Limited Victoria House Gertrude Street Chelsea London SW10 0]N Tel 071-351 5577 United Kingdom Fax 071-352 7418

Price: £6 per issue, including back numbers where available

The Scientific Instrument Society is Registered Charity No. 326733 The Delicate Issue of Short Research Book Reviews Authenticity Projects Sought The Editor would be pleased to hear from Quite recently, for the first time in its Nowadays, students reading for a first members willing to review new and history, the British Museum deliberately deg~ in a scienti~ sub~ct are commmdy forthcoming books in our general fieldof held an exhibition of fakes) Oriented required to carry out a small research interest.If author, titleand publisher(and, towards fine art and statuary, Baird's project in their final year. Four afternoons if possible,ISBN number) are cited,then 'original' television apparatus was the a week for one term may be allocated to it may be possible for the Editor to obtain only scientificinstrument on display. It this work, the report on which forms part a review copy gratis from the publisher. was explained that,rather than being the of the as~smnent towards the final degree. The convention isthat the reviewer keeps true original,it was a recons~ made the book -- but you've got to read it and at some later date m and was not even This development, besides being excellent write a fairreview for the Bulletin! capable of working! A 'phakomt~e', training for the student,also provides an constructed from bitsand pieces welded opportunity for the investigationof topics Binders for the Bulletin together, was an obvious spoof, surely in the history of science/scientific intended to amuse rather than deceive. instruments that are insufficient to Members can now buy binders for the warrant a 3-year term of research towards Bulletin. Each can hold up to I0 issues. However, fakes range from this level to a Ph.D. Thus, in the physics department They are covered in dark blue PVC and those that are intended to deceive -- and with which the Editor is associated, have the Society's name in gilt lettering succeed. (See "The Henze Collection' and student projects have investigated (with on the spine,and our logo, in gilt,on the 'Market Place' in this issue.) The degree of subsequent publication) such matters as front.They cost £6 each plus postage,and knowledge and craftsmanship displayed Newton's telescope, the accuracy of the the rates for the latterare as follows: is commonly mediocre, but can reach high secondary fiats in early reflectors, and the UK (one binder) £1.05,(two binders) levels when potentially valuable Leidenfrost effect. Current projects £I .6O. instruments are copied or created. As in include the history and construction of Europe (one) £1.40, (two) £2.35. every field, it therefore behoves col lectors the 'long'barometer (iL those using a fluid USA by air (one) £6.80, (two) £11. to examine goods on display, or offered to other than mercury); the recovery of USA surface(one) £2.90, (two) £4.25. them, very carefully. This is where a sev~y fadedphotographs by low-energy reputable dealer or knowledgeable expert radiography; and Lichtenberg figures as Send your order with payment to Stuart earns his fee. it must be made very clear examples of fractalstructures. The first of Talbot, I0 Danebury, 9 St. Quintin that the Scientific Instrument Society can these was stimulated by articles in the Gardens, London WI0 6AS, U.K. Make in no way, ether directly or by association, Bulletin. cheques payable to the Scientific authenticate or validate any item, Instrument Society. although it may occasionally be possible The Editor would be pleased to receive to put bona fide enquirers in touch with a suggestions for topics that might lend Society Tie recognized expert in a given field. themselves to thisapplication. Subjects of a practical or experimental nature are The Editor preferred, for laboratory and workshop Members may wish to purchase the facilities in physics, chemistry and many Society'stie. The ~ are golden yelk~w 1. Mark Jones (editor), Fake: The Art of other disciplines are available. (Address on dark blue;the material ispolyester and Deception, British Museum Publications, given on inside of front cover.) the cost £I0. Send your order with 1990. payment to StuartTalbot, I0 Danebury, 9 St. Quintin Gardens, London WI0 6AS, Future Society Meetings UK. Please make cheques payable to the Scientific Instrument Society. Regretfully,it will not now be possible to hold a meeting of the Society at Christie's in late March. The Committee realises that this leaves an unfortunate gap in the programme, but the abrupt cancellation NOTICE OF ANNUAL GENERAL MEETING is due to circumstances beyond their control The 7th Annual General Meeting of the ScientificInstrument Society The proposed Leicester conference has will be held on Saturday, 29th June, 1991 in London, also had to be postponed to another year. at a venue to be announced. However, the good news is that the SIS visitto Holland is confirmed (substantially as shown in Bulletin 27) and that the formal AGM will be held in London and In accordance with the constitution, all Officers and Ordinary members of the accompanied by a lxogramme of lectuns/ Committee resign at the Annual General Meeting. demonstrations. All members of the Scientific Instrument Society are invited to submit nominations for any post as Officer or Ordinary member of the Committee. Each candidate requires a nominator and two seconders, and the nominator should seek permission of the candidate prior to nomination.

Nominations should reach the Secretary at P.O. Box 15, Pershore WR10 2RD, Worcestershire, England by 19th May 1991.

Bull~n~theScientificinatnm~mtSociety No. 2fl (1991) ! Instrumentmakers and the Royal Arms

John R. Millburn

The year 1990 saw the 150th anniversary Instrument Maker to the sovereign are advertisements kept a stock of wood-block of the Royal Warrant Holders Ass~atitm, now well known, for example Thomas ornaments, including the royal arms in a founded in 1840 by a group of tradesmen Wright (Mathematical Instrument Maker variety of sizes and decorative styles, holding appt~ntments to the young Queen to George 11) and the Adams family which they seem to have chosen at random Victoria. n Nowadays the use of the royal (Mathematical Instrument Makers to when assembling (for example) the arms by tradesmen is strictly controlled George liD. The dates and titles of their advertisements found at the end of 19th- by the Trade Mark Acts, and is ck~ely appointments can be found in the Lord century directories. Engravers producing monitored by the Association, who will Chamberlain's b~Is at the Public Record a trade card or billhead to a particular take action against anyone abusing or Office, Chancery Lane,: and are now customer's requirements ought to have infringing their privileges. When it was entered in the Project SIMON files. By no been more accurate in their depiction of founded in 1840, however, the situation means all warrant holders used the royal the arms, though as will be seen later was rather different. Conrail, if any exk~d, arms on their statkn~n/: the Adams family, lapses did occur from time to time. was much loiter, and the initial purl~e for example, apparently did not, though of the Association was simply to organize George Adams senior did once state in a Changes in the Royal Arms an annual dumer for membe~ to celebrate newspaper advertisement in 1757, when the Queen's birthday. It was not until the he was Mathematical Instrument Maker Since the accession of Queen Victoria on end of the nineteenth century that the to George, Prince of Wales, that he had 20th June 1837 the design of the royal Association began to exercise its present the Prince's arms over the door of his arms has remained constant to the present 'watchdog' function. shop. It is when the royal arms are found day, in the form shown in C.W. Dixey's on trade cards or billheads of tradesmen billhead dated 1840 (Figure 1). The shield Prior to 1837 no distinction was made in holding appointments to lesser members is divided into four quarters, the arms of the Lord Chamberlain's b~a~ks between of the royal family, or to quasi-royal England (3 lions passant-gardant) salaried appointments, such as 'Physician departments such as the Admiralty or the occupying the first (top left-hand) and to his Majesty', and the appointments of Office of Excise, or were used to indicate fourth quarters, with Scotland (a lion craftsmen ~ such as mathematical the [~)s.,~ssion of a patent of invention, rampant in a double border) and Ireland instrument makers ~ who held a royal that questions of date are likely to arise. (a harp) in the second and third warrant. At the beginning of Victoria's Knowledge of the changes that have taken respectively? This 153-year old period of reign, however, non-salaried tradesmen place in the design of the royal arms over stability is historically unusual. Between (i.e. those who were not part of the royal the centuries, and of the relationships 1603 (when James Vl of Scotland became household) were placed in a separate between the various branches of the royal ~ I o~ E~:I) and VicWm's~ category. Possibly for this reach, family in successive generations, can in 1837, the design of the royal arms was membership o¢ the Royal Warrant Holders sometimes help to re, five ambiguities changed on nine occasions, at irregular Association has always been strictly limited here. One has to bear in mind, though, intervals. to holders of trade appointments, members that not all users of the royal arms were of the professions being rigorously doing so with authtmty, and not all printers From medieval times right through to 31 excluded. and engravers were aware of (or cared December 1800 the royal arms always aboutl the finer points of heraldry, so incorporated those of France (3 fleurs-de- Most of the men who held appointments mistakes did sometimes happen. lys), as it was not until 1801, when the such as Optician or Mathematical Letterpress printers of handbills and Kingdom of Ireland was joined to Great

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Fig. I C.W. Di.n~'s billhead. Dlxt~ uils aplniinh,d Optician to Queen Victoria (not a unique appointment) on 20 August 1838. The royal arm; ,h'picted on this billhead are tha~ in u.q"from June 18.37 to the pre.q,nt day, with the three lures of England in the first and fourth quarters, the han rampant of Scotland in the ~c ond quarter, and the harp of ireland in the third quarter. The shield is surmounted by the sovereign' s crown. Science Mu.q'um, hlv. 1948-397, 111.102.

Bulletin of the Scientific Instrument Society No. 28 (1991) r ...... [ ...... Britain, that the English claim to the thame I of France initiatedby Edward III in 1340 was formally abandoned. Anything bearing a version of the royal arms which incorp~rates fleurs-de-lysmust therefore have originated prior to the 19th century, though the articleitself may be later,for the following reasons. When the .royal arms were displayed in an advertisement or trade card to indicatethe possession of a patent, the versk)n used would normally be that current at the date of the grant, rather that the date of the document. (The Times newspaper has the pre-1801 royal arms in its masthead today because when it was founded in 1785 it was 'Printed Logographically by the King's Patent'; Fig. 2 The ro~al arms used from 1714 to the originalmasthead was revived on the the end of 1800, seen here in a us~Jd-block Fig. 3 Part of the trade card (enlarged) of bicentenary in 1985.)Similarly, when the ornament from the title page of an Act of Dixey, Norwich, with the royal arms as used arms of a member of the royal family Parliament dated 1778. In thefirst quarter the from 1816 to 1837 but with tu~o symbols of other than the sovereign appear on a three lions of England ~cupy the left-hand, cadency, at the top of the shield. The basic document, they normally reflectthe arms and the lion rampant of Scotland the right- shield is similar to the post-1837 arms ( Fig.l ) , used by the nnember's father or grand father, hand half. in the :,econd quarter are the arms with England in the 1st and 4th quarters, which may be different from those of the of France (three fleurs-de-lys), and in the Scotland in the 2nd and Ireland m the 3rd; but current monarch if the latter was not a third the harp o~lreland. The fourth quarter is in the middle is a small shield (escutcheon) direct ancestor. These qualifications need divided into three parts far the three provinces with the arms of Hanover, surmounted by. a to be borne in mind when using the royal of Hanotw, and in the centre of this quarter is crown indicating that Hano~wr by. this time arms for dating purposes, otherwise one a small shield bearing the crown of was a Kingdom rather than an Electorate. can easily be misled into drawing false Charlemagne. Author's Collection. Author's Collection. conclusions. Victoria, being a woman, could not inherit the arms of Scotland re-appeared in the the Kingdom of Hanover, and at that From 1714 (death of Queen Anne) to 1837 second quarter. Ireland occupied the third point (1837) the royal arms assu med their (death of William IV) the royal arms (as today), while the first and fourth present form (Figure 1), incorporating always incorporated those of Hanover. quarters were themselves divided into the arms of England, Scotland, and Ireland Hence, fleurs-de-lys plus Hanover quarters, with France in the first and only. indicates a base date in the range 1714- fourth and England in the second and 1800 (see Figure 2), and Hanover but no third. In the middle was an escutcheon Descendants and Collaterals fleurs-de-lys1801-1837. For the second of (small shield) with a lion rampant these periods the arms of Hanover were representing Nassau, for William. This A writer in the Lond~m Chrmzicle in October removed from the fourth quarter (the rather complicated design, which was 1766 commented that there were then position shown in Figore 2)and placed in used for 13 years until William's death in living no fewer than nine Princes and an 'escutcheon', or small shield in the 1702, is difficult to show clearly on a small Pnncesses of the blood royal,plus another middle of the main one. This period of 36 scale. It occurs in one of the trade cards of nine of the second degree -- a larger years can be subdivided at 1816, when a Thomas Tuttell, Mathematical Instrument number than at any time in the 700 years subtlechange took place:the Electorateof Maker to William III, which was since the Conquest in 1066) Those who Hanover became a Kingdom, with the reproduced as a full-page illustration in readved maturity were all polential patrons resultthat theescutcheon was henceforth Michael Crawforth's paper on trade cards of scientific instrument makers. Figure 4 surmounted by a crown instead of a a few years ago.' illustrates the life-span of the Hanoverian 'bonnet' (see Figure 3, ignoring for the Kings and royal Dukes up to the mid- moment the devices at the top of the main With the accession of Queen Anne on 19th century,with the da~s of theircreation shield).Unfortunately, when drawn on a Wiiliam's death in 1702 the Nassau or succession. [t can be seen that several small scale it is often difficultto decide escutcheon was removed. Five years later titlesbecame extinctand were re-created whether the artistwas trying to depict a the union of the English and Scottish during this period, which could lead to crown, which has an arch, or a bonnet, Parliaments in 1707 caused another change, ambiguity in dating trade cards which doesn't. and slight simplification. The firstand incorporating theirarms unless attention fourth quarters now had the arms of is paid to fine detail. For part of the late Stuart period also, England impaling th(w~eof Scotland (i.e. following the 'Glorious Revolution' of divided equally down the middle), and To dL~inguish between successive h(dders 1688, the royal arms had an escutcheon in France replaced Scotland in the second of the same title (there were three Dukes the middle, but with different designs on quarter, leaving Ireland in the third.This of Cumberland, for example, in George the two shields so they can easily be design was used untilAnne's death seven lll's reign) it is necessary k, consider marks distinguished from the arms of the late years laterin 1714, when the accession of of cadency, or symbols indicating the Hanoverian period. F(mr changes took George Iintr(xluced the arms of Hanover relationship of the bearer of the arms to place between 1088and 1714.On William in the fourth quarter, leaving the rest of the head of the family. Formal English & Mary's accession in 1688 the arms of the shield unchanged (Figure 2). heraldry recognises nine such symbols, Scotland, which had occupied the second the m~t common of which are sketched quarter (as today) since 1603, were As explained earlier, Hanover remained in Figure 5 (a) - (c), viz. the 'label' for the removed, as the Scottish Parliament did in the design (from ! 801 as an escutcheon eldest son, the 'crescent' for the second not at first recognize the new monarch. in the middie of the shield) until the death son, and the five-pointed star or 'mullet' Recognition having been granted in 1689, of William IV in 1837. His successor, for the third son.

Bulletin of the~ientific Instrument Society No. 28 (1991)

4 L,~~Lrn Lr~.att~l or su, Leeded d~,d R( )YAI HANOVERIAN KINGS AND ROYAL DUKES F I I ARM~ ( IIAN(,E S' S'

GEO. WM KING GEO. ! GEO. il GEO. iil IV IV VIC. b I ! le~l I r r t Pr. of I WALES (;EOR(;F J ERFI)I-RI( K p------.jl (.E()R(,E i I "EGE~" I r r ( ,F( )R( ,F _r ( I I I E RN E~.'T I (al b YORK -L AU( ;U~I-US" EI)WARI) AU( ;I.~.%TU~ FREI)I-RI( K AU(;L;4IUS 1~,74 ~ ~ -"" o 01 I, bro of Geo. I I r I I (2) (;I.()S ' WILLIAM ilENRY WM FREI)ERI(. K , ] J ---~ J (c) .~111 2nd Duke (i) I r I WILI.IAM IIENRY CLARENCE I I 0m 1 (3) ._ I o I EDWARD I I rdo KENT dau I 141 i-- I KING OF WILLIAM AUGUSTUS ttENRY FREDERICK ERNL~;T AUGUSTUS HANO~ER CUMBER. ° I b- ij- J , | ~- w ~14n I me. J =1 I (d) AUGUSTUS FREDERICK SUSSEX I F ! i , , I I (6) =r. I b. cAMBR. I ADOLPHUS FREDERICK E ll~3 GEORGE I7) 3 " ! s. o~ GEO. I GEOIE.E WILLIAM i i i 1 1 i 1 i i 1 i 1700 10 20 30 40 1750 60 70 80 90 1800 10 20 30 40 1850

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A Fig. 4 Chart showing the life-span of the Hanoverian Kings and Royal Dukes, with lheir dales of creation or succession. (i), (iii)are sons of George 11. (a)-(d) are sons of Frederick, Prince of Wales. (1)-(7) are sons of George Iii. Prior to being created a Duke, the royal children wouM v have been knou,n as "Prince (Christian name)'. cannot be earlier than 1766. Probably not discernable in a half-tone reproduction, but clearly visible in a photograph of the & L.r"-x..r'-'~ card, is a fleurs-de-lys on the central point of the label and crosses on the other four points, which is correct for the Duke of Gloucester. His younger brother, the Duke of Cumberland, had similar arms but with a cross on the centre point and fleurs-de-lys on the others.

Unauthorized use of the Fig. 6 Part of the trade card of Kenneth Royal Arms McCulloch, showing the (incorrect) use of a mullet on the royal arms of 1714-1800 to Sometimes the royal arms are found on indicate the third son of the sovereign. British an instrument maker's stationery for no Museum, Banks Collection, 105.29. apparent reason. In H.R Caivert's book on the Science Museum's Collection, 7 Plate sovereign's arms (and all those derived 61 shows the trade card of John Webb, d from them) dropped the fleurs-de-lys. optician, with the sovereign's arms as used between 1801 and 1816 at the top, Another example of a partially-correct but no claim is made in the inscription to depiction of the arms of a royal Duke is any royal appointments, and Webb is not Fig. 5 Heraldic symbols of cadency. (a) shown in Figure 7, which is part of the recorded in the Lord Chamberlain's books label, [or eldest son. (b) crescent, [or second trade card of J. Watkins of Charing Cross, of this period. As the card announces a son. (c) mullet, Jar third son. (d) label of five who claimed to he instrument maker to change of address, a possible explanation points, used in royal heraldry, to denote a the Dukes of York and Clarence. The in this case is that 'The King's Arms' was grandsonof a sovereign. chart sbows that both were sore of George a sbop sign which bdons~,d to ~ p,~eay III (2"a and 3 ~ respectively), the previous rather than the person. Another example Figure 6 is part of a trade card Duke of York having died before the is the trade card of J.C. Dennis, optician, incorporating the 171@1800 royal arms Dukedom of Clarence was created, so a which incorporates the post-1837 arms with the addition of a 'mullet' at the topof label with three points is correct for both. and cites an address which directories the shield, repeated on the two supporters No attempt has been made in this instance indicate he occupied from 1839 to 18497 (the lion and the unicorn), which the to draw the distinguishing charges on the Again ~ is no reknmce m the insaiption engraver has added to show that the points, and the engraver has forgotten to or the Lord Chamberlain's books to any owner of the card held an appointment to repeat the label on the supporters. Like royal appointment being held by Dennis. the third son of the sovereign. McCulloch's card (Figure 6), this one can Perhaps both men held patents, but if so, Unfortunately the engraver was be dated from the heraldry in the range they did not mention them on their cards. apparently unaware that the marks of 1789-1801. cadency used by royalty differ from those A curious and apparently spurious claim used by other armigerous families, In both Figure 6 and Figure 7 the shield is to a specific royal appointment occurs possibly because the sovereign's arms surmounted by a coronet rather than a around 1830 in connection with Francis are not strictly personal like those of a crown. There are different coronets for West. After serving an apprenticeship in normal head of family, but reflect his or the Heir Apparent (the Prince of Wales, if the Spectaclemakers Company her position as head of state. Since Tudor there is one), younger sons and brothers commencing in 1806, he worked as an times all sons of the monarch have been of the sovereign, and nephews of the optician for the trade until 1828, when he allocated a 'label' of three points (Figure sovereign, laid down by a decree of decided to move into the retail sector. 5(a)), and all grandsons a label of five Charles 1I.*The version shown in Figures Having obtained his freedom he took a points (Figure 5(d)). To distinguish 6 & 7 is correct for the younger sons of the shop in Fleet Street (No.83) and started to between brothers of the same generation, sovereign. sell scientific insm~rnents and educational various devices ('charges') are drawn on booklets. On the title pages of these he the points, such as crosses or anchors; Part of a correctly-drawn trade card called himself "(Stax'essor to Mr. Adams), this may be a good system from the incorporating the arms of another royal Optician to his Mag.sty", an ambiguous herald's point of view, but the Duke is shown in Figure 8. An inscription statement probably designed to mislead distinguishing marks are difficult to show at the foot of the card refers to both the readers into thinking that West, rather in a small-scale reproduction and Duke of Gloucester and the Duke of than Adams, held the royal appointment. consequently they are often omitted. Cumberland. The design incorporates the No such appointment granted to West is McCulloch's card (Figure 6) ought to have 1714 - 1800 royal arms with a five-pointed recorded in the Lord Chamberlain's incorporated a label of three points with a label on the shield and on the supporters, books, and in any case, the Adamses cross on the centre point and anchors on indicating that the bearer was a grandson (assuming that George junior or Dudley the other two, instead of a mullet. of a sovereign. The chart reveals that the is meant) were not Opticians to his relevant Duke of Gloucester must have Majesty: they were Mathematical Fortunately in this case the card also spells been the one who was the third son of Instrument Makers to his Majesty, and out the title of the bearer of the arms, the Frederick, Prince of Wales, eldest son of Opticians to the Prince of Wales. In at Duke of Clarence. Reference to the chart George I1, who died before his father and least one instance -- an advertisement in in Figure 4 shows that this must have consequently did not come to the throne. Robson's London Directory for 1831 -- been George lll's third son, later King The period when this Duke of Gloucester West used a wood-block representation William IV, whose Dukedom was created overlapped a Duke of Cumberland was of the royal arms in conjunction with his in 1789. The card must therefore be dated trom 1766 to 1790, and again briefly from text, though it is conceivable that the between 1789 and 18~1, when the 1799 to 1800, which means that this card printer added this himself when he saw

Builetino~theScientificlnstrumentSoc~ No. 28 (1991) the words "his Ma~sty". As the Adams An Application business had come to an end with Dudh~"s bankruptcy in 1817, twelve years After the above was written, an before West opened his retail shop, his opportunity occurred to apply the claim to be "Succes,,~r to Mr. Adams" (he principles outlined to identifying an didn't say which Mr. Adams) is difficult to instrument in the Science Museum, understand. Fortunately h~r West, there London. A well-known item in the King was no Trade Descripti¢;ms Act in force at George II1 Collection is an aitazimuth that time. theodolite signed 'Cole maker at ye Orrery in Fleet Street London', with a coat of An Heraldic Anomaly arms engraved on one side. Dr. Chaldecott's Handb~x~k of the Collection Figure 3, as mentioned earlier, (1951), in which Plate !!I illustrates this incorporates the royal arms used in the instrument, describes these simply as 'the period 1816-1837, with the arms of Royal Arms'. This instrument was item Hanm'er in an escutcheon surmounted 93 in an exhibition held in 1974-5 in the by a crown. Just di~ernible at the top of Fig. 7 Partofthetradecardof[. Watkins, Queen's Gallery, Buckingham Palace, tl:te main shield is a double device Charm~ ChesS, with a (correct) royal label of entitled 'George Iil, Collector and Patron,' consisting of a label of three points with a three t~ints ~r the a~n or sans of the.~n~'rei,qn. the catalogue of which calls them more crescent lying on top of it. In non-royal Science Mu,~'um, hw. 1934-122, C.C.161. specifically 'the arms of King George I!I heraldry, the use of two marks of cadency For the u,hoh"card see Cahvrt, Plate 56. when Prince of Wales.' However, the half- together is permissible, to indicate the tone reproduction in the ! 951 ttandb~k is pt~ition in the family of a grandam of the sufficiently clear to show that the coronet head, in this case the .second son (crescent) surmounting the shield is not that of the of the eldest ~m (label). But, as explained Heir Apparent, so this attribution cannot above, royalty did not normally use these 1 be correct. The arms consist of: ~ymbols, and in anv case none of the I sovereigns to whom these arms could a) A shield divided into quarters like apply (George I!I, George IV, and William that shown in Fig. 2, but lacking the IV) had legitimate offspring fitting the small inescutcheon in the Hanoverian literal interpretation 'second son of the quarter. Hence these arms belonged eldest ~m'. Furthermore, if the label was to a member of the royal family intended to represent the eldest son of the between 1714 and 1800, but not a .'~)vereign, the shield should have been sovereign or his immediate heir. surmounted bv the coronet of the Heir Apparent, not'(as here) the sovereign's b) At the top of the shield is a label of crown?The engraver has also omitted to three points, hence the bearer was a repeat the label and crescent on the son of a sovereign. This rules out supporters. George Ill at any stage of his life, as his father was never King. So, what are we to make of this? The in~ription on the card reads: 'DIXEY, c) The shield is surmounted by a Optician and Mathematical Instrument coronet decorated with alternate Maker, Market Place, Norwich'. The crosses and fleurs-de-lys, with no words 'patent spectacles" also appear on arch. This is the form decreed for either side of the royal arms, but these are younger sons of sovereigns. not relevant to the devices on the shield. Fig. 8 Partof ttu"trade card of lohn Bemctt Advertisements in the Norwich Mercu~, showing the IcorrecH u~ of the royal label of ~¢ pnnts to denote a graputson of a smweign. d) The central point of the label bears a and entries in Norfolk directories, show cross like a '+' sign, which is clearly that John Dixey was trading in the Market Science Museum, Inv. 1934-122, C.C.172. For the u,hale card see Cah¢rt, Plate 10. visible under a magnifying glass in a Place, Norwich, from 1834 to the early photograph of the instrument th(mgh l~!-lOs, when he moved to Exchange Stret4; not in a half-tone reproduction. he is not listed after 1845. In his first l.~mdon firm, he could have used the newspaper advertisement in 1834 he same arms when he started trading in The maker's inscription suggests a date claimed tobe "from G. &C. Dixey's, Bond 1834, which would indicate a date for his range of 1748-1751, after Cole moved to Street, London, Opticians to the King", so card (which bears the 1816-1837 arms) of Fleet Street but before he took his son into pre_~umably it was on the strength of this 1834-1837. But the reason for adding the pamership. The relevant monarch then as,~ciation that he used the royal arms label and crescent remains a mystery. was George 11, who had three sons. him~qf/" In 1835 he claimed that the One suggestion is that John Dixey was Frederick, Prince of Wales, who died in London Dixevs were "opticians to the trying to say that the London firm had 1751 before his father, bore arms King and the Royal Family". G. & C. previously held appointments to both the incorporating the Heir Apparent's coronet Dixev of 3 New Bond Stroet'were in fact Prince of Wales and the Du ke of York (the with an arch. The second son died an app~int~s] Opticians to George IV in 1824, second son of George lid before 1820; but infant in 1717. The third, William and to William IV in 1830, and their if so, one can only assume that the Augustus, Duke of Cumberland O721- ~ucces,~r CW. Dixey was appointed draughtsman or engraver was unfamiliar ! 765), is the only person who fits the facts. Optician to Queen Victoria in 1838, so with the conventions of royal heraldry, Reference to J.H. & RV. Pinches' The Ran/al they could use the sovereign's arms with and consequently produced a Herald~ of England 0974), pages 212-3, proper authority from those dates in each combination of arms, symbols of cadency, confirms that they were indeed his arms. reign. Assuming that John Dixey of and sovereign's crown which is an heraldic The tiny '+' on the label clinches the matter, Norwich was effectively a branch of the nonsense. as similar arms but with different

Bulletin of the Scientific Instrument Sooety No. 28 (1991) distinguishing marks on the label were to instrument makers (apart from an 7. H.R. Calvert, Scientific Trade Cards in borne by younger sons of George Illin the inaccurate reference to the gkdx~-makers the Science Museum Collection, (London, late 18th century. T. & W. Clarke, which should be Harris) 1971). is a few paragraphs on the Dollond Thus, the heraldry positively identifies business (p.116). 8. J.A. Chaldecott, 'Printed Ephemera this instrument as having belonged to the of some 19th-century Instrument Makers', Duke of Cumberland, the Victor (or 2. Appointments to the sovereign (and paper presented at the 7th Scientific Butcher, for Scottish readers)of Culloden. the Prince Regent, 1811-1820)are recorded Instrument Symposium, Paris, 1987; in the LC/3 series up to 1837, with a gap printed in Studiesin theHistory of Scientific Acknowledgements from 1761 to 1772 when no records were Instruments (London, 1989), pp.159-168. kept. Non-salaried appointments to I am indebted to Dr. J.H. Appleby of Queen Victoria under the Lord 9. The sovereign's crown has an orb in Norwich for locating John Dixey's Chamberlain are in LC/5/243-246. the centre supported by arches running advertisements and directoryentries, and N-S and E-W (i.e.in linewith and at right to Brian North Lee, F.S.A.,for advice on 3. This articlehas been written as far as angles to the observer).The Heir Apparent's royal heraldry; but any errors of possible in layman's language. Rigorous coronet has an orb supported by a single interpretation are mine alone. Figures I, heraldic descriptionsof the arms used by arch. The coronets of lesserranks have no 7, and 8 are reproduced by permission of current members of the royal family are orb or arches. the Trustees of the Science Museum, given in works such as Debrett'sComplete London, and Figure 6 by permission of Peerage. I0. John's place in the Dixey family has the Trustees of the British Museum, not been established with certainty,but London. 4. M.A. Crawforth, 'Evidence from he was possibly a younger son of the Trade Cards for the ScientificInstrument George Dixey who died in 1838. In the Notes and References Industry', Annals of Science,Voi.42 (1985) 1841 census for the Market Place,Norwich, Figure 53. (Heal Collection, I05,103) his age was given as 30 and he was not I. To mark the 150th anniversary, By born in Norfolk. Appointment: 150 Yearsof the Royal Warrant 5. This comment was prompted by the Holders Association,by Tim Heald, was creation of George ill's youngest brother Author's address: published in 1989 by the Queen Anne as Duke of Cumberland on 3 October 40 StirlingAvenue, Press (£40).Lavishly produced in quarto 1766. Aylesbury, with numerous full-page colour plates, Bucks, this book is mainly about the current 870 6. There are also special coronets for the HP20 1BE. royal warrant holders, with only a short children of the Heir Apparent, and for all historicalintroduction. Its only relevance the non-royal ranks of the nobility.

Women in the Nineteenth Century Scientific Instrument Trade in Britain A.D. Morrison-Low

This material is condensed from the author's in the nineteenth century instrument therefore carry on in his absence or after chapter 'Women in the Nineteenth Century trade, we know still less about the women. his death, although she herself might lack Scientific Instrument Trade' in Science and technical skill.'Indeed, in technicaltrades, Sensibility: Gender and Scientific Enquiry The involvement of women in the 'a widow usually engaged able workmen 1780-1945, edited by. Marina Benjamin, and manufacturing trades has a history which to assist her, whilst retaining the to be published by. Basil Blacku~ell, Oxford predates the nineteenth century, and their management in her own hands.' For and Cambridge, Massachusetts, in February role has been examined to some extent by nineteenth century London, Sally 1991. Full re~erences and further details are various authors. It would appear that Alexander pn~uces a model t~ the 'sexual given in the original. even in the seventeenth century women divisionof labour ...sustained by idts~k~gy were not excluded completely from crafts not biology, an ideology whose material Skilled trade in the nineteenth century or trades, and that while unmarried manifestation is embodied and presents special problems for the women had little or no economic status, reproduced within the family and then historian. In the particular case of the the position of married women was that transferred from the family into social scientific instrument trade, it is not just they assisted their husbands, and could production.' However, she does not that its women practitioners are 'hidden (subject to certain restrictions) assume his discuss the artisan classes, possibly from history', but that not enough is yet position in business upon widowhood. because skilled [abour does not fit her known about this narrow economic area Ivy Pinchbeck claims that by the late model. Yet her discussion of unskilled for broad generalisations to be made about eighteenth century 'the craftsman's wife women's work remains a valid portraitof the people, conditions, outwork, pay, was usually so well acquainted with her those uncounted women who must have work practice, apprenticeship, and so on. husband's business as to be "mistress of spent hours in the h(nne doing piecework. And if we know little of the men involved the managing part of it," and she could Geoffrey Crossick provides a picture in

Bulletin of the Scientific Instrument Society No. 28 (1991) 7 which 'industrialization in Britain approval of the guild officials in 1828 to 1841,before selling up to William produced no withering away of small- binding an apprentice to a widow Dixey. Mary Ann Holmes, widow of John scaleproduction', providing l~ossibilities indicates their confidence that she Holmes, was described as a spectacle- for small producers, particularlyin the could reasonably be expected to maker and optician between 1831 and clmsumer trades,of which the instrument continue in businessforat least seven 1838; while Miss Neriah Snart, who trade was merely one. Against this years. appears to be -- unusually-- the daughter complex background, the scientific ratherthan the widow of John Snart,was instrument making trade changed over Widowho(~ could bring with it privileges listed as an optician,and mathematical the nineteenth century from largely not otherwise accessible to single or and philosophicalinstrument maker for London-based crafts into a number of married women: property rights, the nine years between 1838 and 1847. She diverse busines~s, which had the trusteeship of children and apprentices, was followed by Miss Martha Snart,who potential to find international markets and responsibilities which would ran the business between 1848 and 1854. from such apparently unlikely places as otherwise have been exclusively male. Even the four-yearbusiness of Mrs Sarah Dublin and Cambridge. Hillum, widow of Richard Hillum, Perhaps the most readily available source optician and mathematical instrument Numerically, the size of the trade was not for revealing the identity of the women maker between 1849 and 1853 (beforethe large; and certainly compared with other involved in the scientific instrument trade businessbecame Hillum & Co.)compares skilled areas it was very small indeed. is the street directories, which covered well with the success of other similar Willem Hackmann has used figures taken the major centres of population and began businesses at the time, whether run by from the census returns between 1841 appearing annually towards the end of men or women, if time in business alone and 1881 as analyzed for occupation by the eighteenth century. Outside London, is considered an index of success.Clarke Charles Breath, which were checked and smaller centres of the trade had been in et al. have demonstrated that the extended by W.A. Armstrong to include existence within Britain and Ireland for instrument trade was subject to great i 801, to enable him to assess the probable some time: for instance, in Dublin and in insecurity,pomibiy because of the anmunt size of the workforce. He has, however, Cork since the late seventeenth century, of capital tied up in stock or in special pointed out that the figures do not include in the Scottish towns of Edinburgh, commissions, and that even famous and retailers, or th~e who may ai.~ have Glasgow, Aberdeen, Dundee and apparently successful firms went worked in other categories, for example Greenock from a similar date, and also in bankrupt. cabinetmakers. So small t~ the enumerated the English provincial centres of workforce that it can be measured in Manchester, Liverpool and, later, It is seldom known for what reasons thousands at most, and the female Birmingham and Sheffield. However, at individual women went into business, component in hundreds. Although it is the beginning of the nineteenth century, but it would appear from most of the often illuminating to look at census returns the greatest concentration of the trade examples found in the streetdirectories to see what the individual enumerator was in the small workshops in that widows might carry on their late recorded, details vary with each census Clerkenwell, London, fringed by those in husband's firm, probably because they and much depended on the diligence and the City. were already involved and could offer inclination of the writers. some form of continuity, sometimes to The London street directories reveal over allow a young son time to grow up and Much also depended on what the the years the small numbers of women enter the trade. One such example is individual head of hou~hold was who ran firms which sold scientific Elizabeth Rabune, ne~ Smith, described prepared to reveal to the enumerator and, instruments. A few women appeared in as a rule-maker of SnowhiU, Birmingham, as is the case today with small family business for only very short periods, widow of Michael Rabone who died about businesses, the part played by the wife i's possibly in order to wind down a firm, or 1803;their son John took over the business often hidden until she is forced through because they got into difficulties and had in 1817 at the age of 22_ Dunng his mother's her husband's death or bankruptcy to to sell up: for instance, Mrs Ellen Lowe, trusteeship, the firm was called Elizabeth assume a more visible role. Perhaps an widow of Joshua Lowe, appeared for a Rabone until 1808, and Elizabeth Rabone important part of the work of an single year, as an optician in Borough for & Son from then until 1817. Even so, Mrs instrument maker's wife was to 'keep the ! 849; likewise Elizabeth Taylor, widow of Rabone continued to be listed as a rule- books', actually running or maintaining John Taylor, was recorded as an optician maker until 1835, so she must have the finances of the business for which her only in 1830 and 1831. In her survey of retained an interest in the firm's affairs husband made or assembled the stock. instrument-makers, E.G.R. Taylor after her son assumed his father's position Trading could continue with the widow recorded three women, Hannah Doublott, as head of the business. Similarly, Mary employing journeymen after her Clara Davis, and Mary Hubee, each De Grave, a London scalemaker, widow husband's death, and certainly in an described as optician, mathematical and of Charles, continued his business in her earlier period when the guild structure in philosophical instrument maker, for the own name after his death from 1800 to London was more effective, a widow was year 1834 only, and there are many other 1816, and between 1817 to 1844 it was held resp(msiblefor the trainingof exLsting similar examples. The nomination of a described as Mary De Grave & Son (Fig. and new apprentices. M.A. Crawforth wife as executrix both confirmed her I), before becoming De Grave, Short & has commented that there ability and made her responsible for Fanner. Elizabeth Marriott Bardin, listed winding up or continuing business; as a globemaker from 1821 to 1859, was ...are several implications cunsequent dealing with stock, orders, work in hand, respectively grand-daughter and to the succession of a ,.idow. it and assets such as patents. daughter of the earlier London suggests that her husband had been globemakers W. & T.M. Bardin of the running a business in which she had However, there were also long-lasting same address. Further examples from been involved to such an extent that female business successes, such as Mary London, and outside,can be found. she could continue the business. The Jones, widow of Owen Jones, who training of apprentices infers the continued her late husband's business at It was the family which was the key to employment of at least one 241 Oxford Street as optician, these women's involvement in business. journeyman with formal guild philosophical and mathematical As Leonore Davidoff and Catherine Hall training in the industry, and the instrument maker for thirteen years from have convincingly demonstrated, middle-

8 Bulletin of the Scientific Instrument Society No. 28 (1991) Bretteil Bate,her nephew and son-in-law, should be granted the sole right to manufacture the instruments. Although the Act did not come into force until 1818, R.B. Bate nevertheless won the contract, ' ,'i., /.7 ":./ (./ ., and subsequently managed to win other Government contracts, such as being appointed the sole manufacturer of the ',..~' 4..~ - . ¢ ; ~ ' "X , "" " • ,. ~. _,.~t.~./. ~,,,,, /. Sir,,/ ...... ,:/.-'/,,,,. /...... '/i,l.,:.;,,,/. Imperial weights and measures introduced by the Act of 1824. After Bate's death in late 1847, his widow petitioned the Excise to continue 'to supply your Honorable Board with Gauging Instruments and the Hydrometers and Saccharometers invented by her deceased Father and Husband'. (Bate had invented a new form of saccharometer, sanctioned for exclusive use by the Excise after i 829.) The ~]uest was granied,but aftera couple of years she decided to retire from business, and none of her children were prepared to continue the firm. A petition trorn another finn of specialisthydromeier makers, Dring & Fage, applying for the position leftvacant, records unequivocally that -- I. "J I ... the circumstance of an Fig. ! Account for a chemical balance from Mary de Graz~ O Son, dated 8 July 1843. improvement having been Reproduced by. permission of the Trustees of the National Museums of Scotland. introduced in the Hydrometer by a Mr Sikes .... was Ordered by classand lower-middle-classwomen were use throughout the British Isles, with a Parliament to be the instrument used involved in economic enterprisewith their view to choosing the most effective for in taking the Revenue. For his husbands during this period to an extent revenue use by the Excise. Because her invention Mr Sikes was Compensated that can only be uncovered by looking at father was deceased by this time, Mary by a Government Grant of a many particularexamples in some detail. Dicas submitted his instrument and considerable sum of money -- Elsewhere, the class has been defined as travelled to London to explain its Subsequently to which time the the 'petitebourgeoisie' by Crossick and principles before the Board. She must, Family obtained as a further Haupt, who stress that therefore, have had some degree of remuneration the exclusive technical understanding. She appears in manufacture of the instrument for the commonplace necessities of the street directories as a hydrometer the use of the Revenue, and Mr Bate family ties (not just marriage, but the maker from 1797 to 1806, and the being a relation by Marriage was occupations of brothers and sisters, following year with George Arstali, a scale selected to carry the business on for of sons and daughters), personal beam maker, whom she married. Ann the benefit of the Family -- That the mobility, and the flow of individuals Dicas, her sister, appears as a patent Family have now enjoyed this between wage employment and hydrometer maker between 1818 and privilege upwards of 30 years and independent enterprise, meant that 1821, and after her marriage to Benjamin the only remaining family the relationship between working Gammage in May 1821, he became the representative is the Widow of Mr class and petite bourgeoisie was a 'only proprietor of the patent'. Bate, who determines to resign the real and lived aspect of both daily Business, and retires on a com~rtable and lifetime experience for much of The work of this same Board of Enquiry competence and the original intention the urban population of nineteenth- illustrates another way in which family of the Government Grant has now century Europe. connections, through women, exerted been fully accomplished. influence and ultimately won lucrative There are, for instance, two particular contracts. Another hydrometer presented It is perhaps worth noting that Dring & examples of this effective clannishness before the ikiard was that devised by Fage, too,werea family concern; and that connected with the manufacture and Bartholomew Sikes, who worked in the theirbusiness succession on at leastthree marketing of just one instrument -- the Excise Department for almost fifty years. occasions went to wives or daughters, hydrometer. Mary and Ann Dicas were He also produced a set of spscialis~ excise and through them to their husband's both daughters of John Dicas, a Liver]x~l tables that greatly impressed the family. liquor merchant. His hydrtm~er, a device committee. However, he did not live to for measuring the specific gravity of reap his reward for this work, as he died, Apprentices who married their master's liquids and therefore of interest to the aged 73, in October 1803. His widow daughters could find themselves Excise, was patented in England in 1780, petitioned for the approval of her late inheriting a profitable business; but while and adopted that year by the United States husband's hydrometer in May 1805, and it is fair to say that marriage was government for estimating the strength in December 1806 suggested £3000 for the considered more of an economic contract of imported liquors. In London, a Board rights to the instrument. The Revenue than it is today, it is not possible to say of Enquiry of the Royal Society was set up thought this too much, and in January whether it was entirely loveless. Hugh in 1802 to investigatethe rival merits of a 1807, Mary Sikes (now remarried) reduced Powell (1799-1883), who became one of number of different hydrometers then in the sum to £2000, but proposed that Robert London's most renowned specialist

Bulletin of the Scienfific instrument Society No. 28 (1991) These women, the daughters and wives of instrument makers and sellers, would not necessarily figure by occupation in any census return, as their role in the day- t(~day running of the business is unclear. Other than keeping the b(~)ks, it is quite ~vssible that what they did was relatively menial and unskilled. At an earlier penod, a small number of girl apprentices were bound, through the London guilds, to instrument makers. M.A. Craw forth feels that it was unlikely that these examples represent women who were trained in the art of instrument making, particularly as the period of binding was very short: 'it is necessary to remember, however, that some w~'kshop activities are equally well, or better, done by women than by men, such as fine filing, polishing, lacquering, and stringing of balances...'. (Fig. 2) Such a situation Ls illustrated in a late nineteenth centu~ account of James White's Glasgow workshops, which mentions the 'small shop full of girls, working chiefly in glass tube', and notes that 'a very delicate Fig. 2 1 ;:, ,,~l,m, t -i~,T ,'t Baird & Tath,ck's Gl,ls~,,,,a. b~,.m,'., ,~t ,Ib,,Ht th,' tier, ,,t the operation of the glass tube workers is ~t'~ltzt r~/ Rt'l,rodl.t'd ['U IVrttlt~.~iott Of lilt" Trll~;h't's O[ tilt" Nalic)thll Mll~'lHtlS t# Scotland. drawing capillary tube for the syphon recorder', a sophisticated telegraphic instrument. Women were also employed in the Coil Winding Department, where 'an expert staff of girls daily convert miles of silk-covered, or otherwise insulated, wire into coils of every size and every ; ..... shape...'. The descriptions of these repetitive, yet dextrous, chores contrast • - °." strongly with the prospects for members of the opposite sex outlined in this ac~)unt. PT[CIA If it is probably true to say that most of the 46. i , women uncovered by the nineteenth ' k t century censuses who worked in the DPPeO;tTf' TH| ~OOTT IdONUMl~qr~ '~ instrument trade were the anonymous hundreds who drew capillary tube or • £DI RBU RGH. " wound wire coils; those who were not enumerated would be th(~,e who worked a alongside their husbands in small -- - • n 1. ,,t workshops, possibly even at home, polishing, filing or finishing piecework.

Fig. 3 rradc card for Mrg t.li.~l I£nnu'. who was I;l business ,It -Iv Prm,,', .~tr,','t between The women who ran instrument 1857,1rid 1902. R,'pr,~tuc ed b~ permission ,,f the Trustees of the National Museu ms 0~ Scotland. businesses are therefore the exceptions in that they are visible at all; and although it micro,~'ope makers, imtiallv worked with Whyte, an instrument maker who is possible to uncover the outlines of their Peter Lealand .,,enior, a .,,killed instrument eventually rescued his master's (and her working lives, there is much that can only maker. I'owell married his daughter, and father's)" ailing business after be guessed. The perfunctory character ¢~f in IlMI ha~k his brother-in-law Peter sequestration, and turned it into a thriving trade directories may even lead us to th,nrv Lealand into partnership. The concern. Two immigrant Italian underestimate a woman's scientific bt,,me~,, remained a small, highly- barometer-making families, that of acumen. For instance, according to the respected, tamilv concern until well into Casartelli based in Liverpool, and Londtm trade directories, Mrs Janet Taylor the twentieth century. Another Ronchetti based in Manchester, appear to (1804-1870) ran a nautical academy and contemporary optical instrument maker, have intermarried in at least two chart warehouse, and sold nautical Andrew Ross, who~e microscopes were generations with implications fi,r the instruments at 104 Minories between 1846 ab,o highly regarded, diL~l in 185'.), and inheritance of their busines.,~es. Thus, and 1874, in succession to her husband the business was split between his son through the act of marriage, it is possible George Taylor who was active from 1837 Thomas, who inherited the microscope that women played a central but invisible to 1845, the firm then becoming Mrs Janet side, and his son-in-law, John Henry role in cementing and extending a ckvse- Taylor & Co. However, further research I)allmeyer, who succt~-'ded to the camera knit scientific and busin~:s community, has revealed that Mrs Taylor was really bu,,ine~s. A Scottish example, from earlier and ensured the cultural reproduction ~,f the moving entrepreneurial spirit behind in the century, is that of David Heron's trade knowledge. this venture from the start, despite it being daughter Jessie, who married James run in her husband's name; that she had

l0 Bulletin of the ~ientific Instrument Society No. 28 (1~!) been taught navigation by her father, a -! County Durham clergyman; that she was an authoress of a number of navigation texts;that she took out a patent in 1834 for her 'Mariner's Calculator'; and that she employed William Reynolds from about 1845 to make a range of nautical instruments. Examples of these were exhibited in Mrs Taylor's name at both the Great Exhibition of 1851 and the International Exhibition of 1862. Compasses, sextants and other nautical instruments bearing her name survive in public collections.It is interestingto note, in passing, that there must have been similar practices in Continental instrument workshops, as widows displayed instruments at various international exhibitions.

At least one Frenchwoman in particular seems to have had a long and successful career as an instrument maker, and was credited in her husband's obituary in 1863 as resfa)nsible for the prolonged use of the dividing engine which he had constructed: Fig. 4 Mrs Lovi's Patent Aerometrical Beads. A large set of the "Patented Aerometrica ...C'est vet's cette epoque, qu'en Beads', uqth• .~1 idmg " rule, and tuv editions of the instructions for their u~. The apparatus u~as dehors des travaux qui lui etaient patented by. Mrs I~bella lxwi and J.R. Irving in 1805. Reproduced by. permission of the Trustees command6s, il commenqa A of the National Museums of Scotland. construire la machine qui, pendant de iongues anndes entre les mains de with a 'Lennie' signature were bought in successfully when widowed. The Madame Brunner, devait diviser un from Continental wholesalers, and that succession of running a business, if there si grand hombre de cercles sortis des the firm's practical expertise lay in was no apparent male heir, might pass ateliers de ses confreres. ophthalmic work. through a female heir to her husband's family. A number of instruments The pre-eminent Parisian firm of Brunner At an earlier date, the widow of Angelo engraved with an apparent woman flourished between about 1835 and 1895; Lovi, glassblower, who continued her late 'maker's' name survive, but whether the Johann Brunner was ixwn in Switzerland husband's business in Edinburgh from woman in question ever turned at the in 1804, but the facts about his wife have 1805 to 1827, took out a patent in 1805 lathe, or fitted or adlusted the optical still to be uncovered. with an advocate named J.R. Irving for parts, is a matter for speculation. Other 'Apparatus for determining the specific women, less readily identified by name, Two Scottish examples show that other gravity of fluid b(~ies', involving drew glass, worked in the cabinet shops, women were more involved in the developments to the hydrostatic bubbles and generally underix~k less skilled work. economic side than the creative part of invented by Alexander Wilson in the mid Only with further investigation into the the business. Mrs Margaret Gardner, 1750s (Fig. 4). However, most women nature of the trade and its changing widow of John Gardner junior, can be involved in the glass-blowing side of characteristics will we di~over more. identified as the 'M. Gardner' of M. instrument making -- that is, making Gardner & Sons which traded in Glasgow thermometers and barometers-- appear Acknowledgements between 1823 and 18.36. Bankruptcy in to have been the widows of craftsmen, 1832 forced them to sell their Bell Street and businesswomen rather than My thanK~ to Marina Benjamin h~r forcing business, although they managed to entrepreneurs like Mrs Lovi. me to look at what ! initially regarded as acquire premises elsewhere and continue an impossible subject; and to D.J. Bryden, trading. The papers covering this Summary the late Michael Crawforth, Dr Anita distressing event show that, although McConnell, Dr AD.C. Simpson, Jenny there was no formal deed of copartnery, Women were evidently much involved in Wetton and Dr Marl Williams for their Margaret was as much involved as her the nineteenth century instrument trade. helpful comments, encouragement and two sons, then aged 23 and 27. Mrs Eliza Their rides, however, varied immensely. suggestions. Lennie ran her late husband's optical The most readily identifiable women were business in Princes Street, Edinburgh, those running a business, since they were Author's address: from his death in 18.54. In 1872 she married listed in trade directories. But often they Royal Museum of Scotland James Taylor, an ophthalmic optician from took over only when widowed, whilst a Chambers Street Haywoocl, England, who worked at the youthful son and heir completed his Edinburgh EHI 1JF same premises under his own name apprenticeship. The unseen role that they between 185q and 1887. It is unclear when may have played before their husbands' Mrs Lennie retired from the business, deaths is difficult to assess, but if they had allowing her first husband's optician a long-term involvement in the financial children to take over (Fig. 3). However, it side of the business this would certainly appears that most of the instruments sold have enabled them to run the firm

Bulletin of the Scientific instrument Society No. 2.8 (1991) ] 1 Antoine Redier and His Tower Barometers

Richard Chavigny i was very interested to read the article bv however, little attached to the material Middleton and Collins' concerning things of life, and towards the end he i. Redier's tower barometer in St. Mark's confided k) a friend "... I am not leaving, in Church, London The Editor asked if death, any riches other than my 11 children someone could enquire if other examples and my lh grandchildren". He pas.,~t were still to be ~ in France, particularly peacefully away on 30th December, 1892, in Paris. I undert~,~k this task very being nearly 75 years of age. T(~iay willingly, for the works of Antoine Redier members of his family estimate that there are of particular interest to me. are nearly ~ descendants.

Joseph Antoine Jean Redier The Meudon Barometer

Antoine Redier was born at Perpignan on At the request of the astronomer Jan~n, 22nd of December 1817. The son of a Redier constructed a 'grand baromNre'. watchmaker, he showed remarkable Intended initially for Meudon intelligence from child h~,~. The scientist Observatory near Pans, the instrument Arago was a fnend of the family and, was finally installed 'somewhere in rec~.~nizmg the boy's I~tentaal, sent him Algeria'. At present I have no reliable to Pans to try for entrance to the new dates or further information, and it is not Horological Sch~x~l which was being practical for me to go in search of this created by Perrele~ for the Ca, vernment. barometer. Hopefully, documents giving Antoine presented hlm_..~elf for the further details will be found. nece~rv examination and came top: he wax lust15 vea~ old A~er ieavmg the The Barometer of St. Eustache ~h~l he Worked under Henn R(~ert Fig. 1 t;cm'ral ~,h'w vt the church ,,/ St. (senior) -- a very ~,¢1 master Asa result One of Redier's descendants informed Eustache, Paris. Tile bar,,meter dial is on the of repamng ~,,eral clockx for the me that his grandfather had constructed a nearest z~ull, just behm' the I~dcomt. "Convent ~ the Birds" m the rae de Sevre, public barometer' that could still be seen he came under the traluence ~ the M,~e¢ at the church of St. Eustache in Paris. I Superior of the convent, and com, erted to visited it. and there, indeed, on the south Roman Catholicism Sub,,equently. facade was a sort of dial (Fig. 1). it was in backed by the convent and the Jesult a ~ad state: of the original eight enamel Father.,,, "he was able to buy the plaques only lour remained, while the establishment of the well-known pointer and a central disc that once carried clockmaker Duchemin at 2 place du Redier's signature had fallen off (Fig. 2). Ch,~telet, Paris. It was in this work_,,hop Thinking that perhaps on the inside there (transferred in 1854 to i~,cour~ des Petites remained some parts of the mechanism, l~curies,: where there were once the old or even its rm~unting points, which w(mid royal .,,tables) that he conceived his allow comparison with that of St. Mark's inventions. in London I tried approaching the church authorities. After several telephone calls Apart from numerous horological they advi~,d me that nothing was left, so innovations, Redier constructed, a visit would be pointless. Fig. 2 Ch~e-up of the barometer dial. ~metimes by him.,,elf and sometimes under the aegis of a renowned :,cientixt, a Instruments in the Mairie of the south facade a barometer graduated from b~dd diversity of other instruments: 1st arrondissement, Paris 73 to 79 cm. of mercury (Fig. 6). A date of barometers, thermometers, anemometers, 1862 is very clear, but it will be noted that micrometerx, etc. He invented recording Somewhat frustrated by this first attempt, the hands are missing from the apparatus applicable to all these I then went to the Department of Technical thermometer and barometer dials. parameterx. With the axtronomer Jan~n Services for the Citv of Paris, where the he introduced the "Photographic welcome was cordial and sympathetic. ! had no difficulty obtaining permission Revolver", which wax the start of chrono- "Eye,thing concerning the history of to enter the belfry. Having climbed a photography. Less well-known are an Paris interests us", they explained, "there hundred steps, I arrived in a sizeable apparatus for fizzy drinks, a swtem of are two monumental ban)meters in the chamber and noticed at once that the ~,hutter blinds or curtains, a kevless city, one at St. Eustache (but there we thermometer mechanism was totally combination lock, and numerous ~)ther cannot help you) and the other at the missing. However, from the fixing points items. Mairie of the Ist arrondis~ment. You i deduced that it had probably been of the may examine the latter whenever you type where a vessel (the ~ulb') containing Apart from writing technical works, wish -- it will be sufficient to ask fi~r a volatile fluid such as alcohol or ether is Antoine wrote poetry, plays and authori~tion from the Secretary-General connected to a i~urdon gauge via a ~metimes pamphlets. He was awarded there". capillary. The sealed system reacts to the the cro.~s of the Legion of Honour on 23rd changing vapour pressure of the liquid, May 1~'~3, and promoted Officer of the The belfry of the Mairie (town-hall) is but is calibrated directly in units of (h'cler on 20th October 1878. He had 14 shown in Figure 3. it has on its north face temperature. The bulb had been fixed in a children, of whom 11 .,,urvived to occupy a thermometer dial graduated from -44 to part of the nn~m sheltered from the wind, honourable [x~itions in the Army, at the +4(YC (Fig. 4); on the west side a clock in s~) an 'under cover' or 'screened' Bar, or in the Administration. He was, the classical style (Fig. 5); and on the temperature had been indicated.

12 Bulh,tm o! the ~ientlfic In.~trument ~ciety No 28 (I'F)I) employ his inventions -- especially as in 1858 he himself had had to pay 25,000 francs damages to Vidie for having constructed aneroid barometers without the latter's authority.

The Recording Barometer at the Conservatoire National des Arts et M6tiers

To complete this inquiry, and knowing that the C.NAM. had in its reserves Registering Barometer No. 9047 made by Fig. 6 The ~rometer dial on the south side. Redier in 1876, I asked the mu~um authorities for permission to examine the instrument. This was quickly granted. The barometer, along with the other instruments that Redier gave to the C.N.A.M. in 1878, is in a perfect state of preservation. It is based on the same t , t principle as the St. Mark's instrument ~, although the components are arranged I differently. The clock mechanism that controls the displacement of the barometric tube is similar to that in figure Fig. 3 I~clfr9 of the M,uru' "l the l>t Fig. 7 Cross section of the Bourdon tube 4 of reference 1. The same movement arnmdissement, Paris. On the right is the which once actiz~ted the pointer o~ the activates a stylus which traverses a drum, e,tnmce to the church of St. Germain barometer dial. on which is fixed graph paper. The drum I'Auxerrois. is turned by a second clockwork mechanism situated on its right-hand side. The clock did not contain any unusual The whole assembly is mounted on a features. heavy cast iron frame.

Fortunately, the barometer mechanism Conclusions was still in place, although awkward to examine as it is at the end of a narrow It would appear that St. Mark's Church, niche. The instrument employed a Dalston (London) contains the only in situ Bourdon tube 36 cm overall diameter in a example of Redier's tower barometer, spiral of two and a half turns. The bronze although similar mechanisms exist in the tube has been partly destroyed by form of recording barographs in various corrosion, enabling me to see a steel core collections. inside it. A cross-se~on is shown in figure 7. The rest of the mechanism is equally References corroded, but is was possible to ascertain that movement of the free end of the 1. A. Middleton and J. Collins, 'Redier's Bourdon tube had been transmitted by a Turret Barometer', Bulh'tin of the Scwntific rack to a central pinion originally carrying Instrumolt S~'iety No. 25 (1990) 9-I I. the hand. The same pinion engaged a second rack loaded by a system of 2. l~curies = stables, more graciously counterweights to ensure equilibrium. rendered as ocureuils (= squirrels) in Fig. 4 lhc tttcrmomctcr dtal on the m~rth One of the wheels was broken, making it reference I. facade. easier to examine. This showed that the profile of the teeth did not correspond 3. A. Redier, Nou~'cau baromdtre with the usual horological practice of the enregistreur ~ mercure, Paris, 1886. A period. descriptive pamphlet referenced by W. Ellis, 'Brief Historical Account of the It is difficult to attribute the construction Barometer',Quarterly Journal t~ the"Ro~I of these instruments to Redier. As no MeteorolagicalSociety, 12 (1886) p.171. sign ature could be brand, it is reasonable to suggest they were probably made by Author's address: Bourdon (1808-1884, 75 rue du Temple, 5 rue des Martyrs Paris). The latter had registered on 18th 931~ Le Blanc Mesnil June 1849 Brevet No. 8486 concerning his France. "Manombtre Metailique" and on 3 September of the same year he added Edit(n'slucre: Readeqrs wlshing to k,arn more "Applications des manomdtres about barometers of all kinds should m~tailiques aux barom6tres et consult W.E.K. Middleton, The Histo~ of thermom6tres". These patents were still the Barometer,Johns Hopkins l~s, 19~. in force in 1862, so it is unlikely that he Fig. 5 lltc ~Io,~ opa tit,' ;,'~',t ,ntc. would have allowed anyone else to

Bulletin of the Scientific instrument Society No. 28 (1991) 13 A Mensing Link? The Henze Collection of European Scientific Instruments William L. Cumiford

Provenance the Henze Collection was the subject of this "Strozzi" embellishment through In 1954 and 1955, the Natural History repetition of the italian-Renaissance Museum of Los Angeles County receive~l connection, a highly suspect provenance two separate donations of scientific lacking sufficient historical and instruments from Mr. Robert Henze of documentary foundation. 4 Pasadena, California. Accessioned initially as loans, these materials were Dislocations created by World War I may st,m signed over to the Museum as have precipitated a partial sale or re- property of the County. The Henze distribution of what became the Henze donation constitutes the largest and most instruments from the main body of varied collection of historic European materials auctioned later in Amsterdam. instruments held by a public institution Sinking similarities in the type and variety in the western United States. of devices, plus some identical makers, point to a common provenance, but as yet Numbenng seventv-nine devices, the little evidence exists establishing a direct Henze Collection "reflects a curious tie between the two collections. The provenance which undoubtedly links it present author has yet to uncover a to the much larger but similar holdings of documented sale or contract specifically European materials at the Adler identifying the Henze items as a portion Planetarium in Chicago, Illinois. Quite of the Mensing Collection. fortuitously, the author some years ago received a call ~,m Roderick and Marjorie An interesting though elusive Webster, curators at the Adler, requesting commentary of the Mensing-Henze an inspection of the Henze items. Their Fig. 1 Gilt brass astronomical timepiece connection surfaced over two decades visit, folk,wed bv the author's reciprocal bearing tlw inscription: "Hans Schlotheim after the 1924 sale. In the spring of 1948, ~,journ in Chicago and considerable Augsbur¢,." The rete an this clock ~rant is Mr. Adler was notified by an anonymous background research, has led to some almost identical to ane of the fah~. cited by. source that "seventy-nine items" owned preliminary conclusions over the nature Price in his 1956 artich', fHenze item No. by Mrs. E. J. van Heusden of Altadena, of the Henze Collection and its asst~.iation A.6697.54-1). California, were available for purchase. with the larger Mensing Collection at the The correspondent, noting some striking Adler. In fact, several long intervals of time similarities in the two collections, urged separating documented ownership cast a Mr. Adler to acquire these instruments to Much like the artifacts under the curatorial dubious light on this scenario of add to the Mensing Collection in Chicago. ~ care of the Websters, the Henze provenance. Over hundreds of years, the instruments represent a wide array of Strozzi "collection" reflected many Though there exists no record to date of items covering a vast chronological Period changes and fluctuations, and no concrete Adler's response, it is almost certain that and a number of European makers and evidence exists suggesting that any van Heusden's pieces passed to Robert countries. The earliest materials date from identifiable Renaissance collection passed Henze (unless they were held in common the late sixteenth century. Although most intact into Mr. Heilbronner's hands. For by both parties) to form the present of the instruments are as represented, the purptrses of various collectors and collection held by the Natural History there are s)me fakes ~ quite obviouslv dealers, the pnrspect of hawking the Museum. Interestingly, identification of made dunng the first years of this centu~. vaunted "Strozzi artifacts" counted heavily important fakes among both the Mensing The variety of pieces, and the in increasing the value of any instrument and Henze artifacts by Price in the mid- corresl~nding number of fakes, in both collection, and likewise promoted the fifties forms the most solid evidence to the Mensing and Henze Collections creation of fakes to fill the gaps then date on the common provenance of the ~upport a hypothesis of common evident from earlier lists and inventories. two collections." derivation. Light was shed on the alleged Strozzi In his 1956 essay on fakes, Price identified A widely accepted provenance of the provenance by Derek J. Price, who traced "Strozzi-Mensing" copies of an Mending'Collection, which carried over some of the faked instruments among the astronomical clock, azimuth dial, and a to the Henze Collection at a later date, Mensing artifacts to the peried around nocturnal from what he believed to be the attributed original ownership to the World War 1. Through rigorous metal "Heilbronner-Mensing provenance.": Stn~zzi ram|Iv of Renais~nce Italy. ~Before and inscription analysis, Price concluded (Figs. 1-3) Among the Henze items, Price the turn of the twentieth ceniury, the that st)me of the astrolabes, nocturnals, cited the azimuth dial as a more or less "Stro/zi Collection" ostensibly passed to azimuth dials and calculators, among direct copy from the Strozzi Catalog, and Raul Heilbronner of Paris, thence to A. W. other pikes, were of m(~ern derivation. noted that portions of the nocturnal bore M. Mensing of Amsterdam (where it was A number of these fi)rgeries, including at strong resemblance to "restored" cataloged for auction in 1924), and finally least one Henze item attributed to Erasmus instruments in the Mensing Collection. into the hands of Mr. Max Adler. Mr. Haberme], were discovered by Price in His observation on the clock, however, Adler purcha,,ed the sizeable collection the mid-19~)s and confirmed by him in for the Chicago planetarium in 1930, appear somewhat confusing in that the Los Angeles a few years later. ~ HenT~ Collection includes two timepieces where it now forms the core of that institution's impressive holdings on reflecting features Price associated with In connection with the Heilbronner- instrument forgeries. navigational, astronomical, mathematical, Mensing holdings, the Strozzi myth and other instrumental devices.: persisted through the sale to Adler. Later,

14 Bulletin of the Scientific instrument Society No. 28 (1991) -.k Fig. 5 Considered by Price to bc of "questionable" authenticity, this brass L-______horizontal sundial is engrazcd on one side Fig. 2 Azimuth dial, brass dord au feu,* only. (Henze Item No. A.6697.54-10). signed "E. Habermel fecit." This piece u~s most likely copied from the " S t rozzi Sale" No. 355. ( Henze Item No. A.6697.54-I1).

Fig. 4 This artifact, probably copied from a work by. J. Matzker in mid-sixteenth centu~. Augsburg, presents another interesting variathm of the J. lk~s fete examined by. Derek Price. Brass dord au feu . (Henze item No. A.6697.55-65).

the Henze materials, but in fact the Fig. 3 One of the ve~ few alleged Italian instruments in the Collection, this brass collection includes another astronomical nocturnal bears the in~ription: "Gig.L. timepiece reflectingdesign features cited Marh~tta Romae 1589," and is listed by. Price by Price in his discussion of the Mensing fakes (Fig. 4). Neither Price's article nor as a definite fake. it may have been copied from Mensing No. 331. (Henze Item No. the notes recorded during his visitto the A.6697.54-16). Natural History Museum identify by number or detailed description the specific clock Price had summarized in 1956 as a When visiting the Natural History fake of Mensing item 33aY Museum in 1962, Price described Henze Fig. 6 An armilla~ sphere, brass dord au item number 1 (an astronomical timepiece Dunng his 1962 visit, however, Price did Ru, is an example of tu~ distinct pieces/oined engraved "Hans Schiotheim Augsburg") confirm his earlier assessments of the in uneasy combinathm, inscrlpthm on h~ttom as a genuine "clock work and case" erected azimuth dial and nocturnal as fakes. He of the ban reads "G.F.M.C. 1743.'" ¢Henze on a base of later provenance (Fig. 1). A noted that an unsigned horizontal sundial Item No. A6697.55-58). year later, Silvio A. Bedini of the National (Fig. 5) appeared "questionable," and also any considerable reward would result Museum of American History reviewed observed that the top of an astronomical from such an endeavour. Curiously, several of the Henze items and simply calendar pocket neces~ire bearing however, the faked objects indicate an commented: "Hans Schiottheim Isicl Habermers inscripti(m did "not appear to interest in reproducing some very old Augsburg ~ a very important maker. "~ be original." Price further remarked that pieces; the items copied from the "Strozzi The Natural History Museum records the base of a brass armillary sphere (Fig. Catalog"" were attributed to Erasmus contain no further responses or more 6) seemed incorrect for the piece. This l-labennel, a noted and revered craftsman, complete identification of this artifact. artifact bears the inscription "G.MF.C. while the ck~ck carried the "Bos" signature, 1743"." and the faked Henze nocturnal bears one In fact, the first illustration offered by of the oldest dates in the collection (1.~89). Price in his 1956 paper as a probable In the course of plotting the probable Clearly, the forger posses~,~l at least forgery of Mensing 33a (the rete signed J. chronokgy of the hkes (which he believed rudimentary knowledge about the value Bos) bears an overwhelming resemblance to have been made between 1911 and the of older instruments associated with a to the piece examined by both Price and early 1920sl, Price reflected on the few important names. Bedini in 1962-63. In his earlier essay Price craftsman's motivation for faking these had merely referred toa fakeclock among materials when it appeared unlikely that

"Editor's note: La Grande Encyclopedie, Vol.14 (Paris, 1886-1902) explains 'dorure au feu' to be identical with 'dorure au mercure', an ancient process by which articles were 'fire-gilded' by coating them with gold amalgam and then driving off the mercury with heat. The mercury vapour so released rendered the method extremely toxic to the operator. 'Water gilding' involved dipping brass or bronze objects into an alkaline solution of gold cyanide, whereupon the noble metal was displaced from solution and deposited as a very thin film. (The above reference, and also R. Pearsall, G~llec'ting and Restoring Scwntific Instruments, David & Charles, London, 1974. p.186.)

Bulletin of the Scientific Instrument S~'iety No. 28 (lqql) 15 2. -]

k...... Fig. 9 A pair of hinged parallel rules bearing the u.idely-recogni'J,'d in~ription of "G. Adams h~uton." Engra~ brass. (Hen~ item No. A.6697.54-37).

the research conducted by a Yale professor, Lorande Loss Wot~ruff. Mr. Wt~xtruff's description of the College's Culpeper-type device includes a label identical to the drawer-label tm the Henze piece. Citing the date of purchase as ! 734, Wtx~druff asserts that this "double Fig. 7 Acet t=l l,'h 0n rT,, ,) br,,.6 microscope" was "the first such stand is signed "Mattheus Seutter.'" Seutter instrument known to have been acquired uus commissioned as HaF~sburg Imperial by a New England College". I~ Gevgrapher in Augsbur¢~ during the early eighteenth centu~. (Henze item No. A.6697.55-64 ) Locations and makers Content and range Fig. 8 An interesting engraz~'d brass Geographically, these devices reflect a sh(~'maker's measuring instrument, probably wide provenance throughout Central and Though the seventy-nine items in the datin¢ to the eighteenth centu~, it is signed We, tern Eun~e. Only a few English-made Henze Collection repot merely a small "].P. Sas,q" (relnaedly [n~m the Netherlands). items appear in the Collection; French percentage of the larger and more (Henze Item No. A.6697.54-39) and what is kxz~elycalled "German" items impressive Adler Planetarium holdings, form the core of the Henze materials. the artifacts -- aside from what are clinometer, a theodolite, a shoemaker's Additionally, several pieces probably belie~'ed to be fakes -- cover a surpnsmgly measuring device signed "J. P. Sasse", originated in Italy and the Netherlands. wide varieW of artisans and instrument parallel rules signed "G. Adams The "German" artifacts include those types. Apart from the several objects London," a pedometer, and a produced somewhere within the vast identified by Price as obvious fakes or graphometer (Figs. 8-11)Only a single d(nnains of the Eastern Hapsburg Empire. "dubious," probably a full third of the octant exists in the collection, but other collection lacks any potential for effective "navigational" items include a number of Considering the rather limited number of documentation. However, considering compasses. The Collection also includes items comprising the Collection, the the rather meagre size of the Henze tour gun tangent sights, and three pieces Henze instruments include the names of Collection, it represents a broad variety of possessing little relevance as many prominent and celebrated instrument categories. "instruments" - two sets of opera glasses, craftsmen, particularly those of the and an inkwell. seventeenth and eighteenth centuries. Time-finding and time-keeping devices While the dubious authenticity of the comprise roughly a third of the collection. There are two microscopes in the Habermel pieces have been noted above, These include horizontal and equatorial Collection, including a Delabarre type-- the sundials in particular represent a sundials, timepieces, pocket necessaires, a brass upright model most likely dating significant number of southern German calendars, a nocturnal, a polyhedral to the late eighteenth century. The other artisans. The Nuremberg-Augsburg sundial, and a universal ring dial. Several microscope, of the mid-eighteenth century provenance includes Seutter, as well as impressive globes appear among the Culpeper variety (Fig. 12), is undoubtedly Nicholas Rugendas, Lorenz Grassel, Henze items, including a celestial gkdc~e the mtvst valuable piece in the collection. AndreasVogler, Caspar Buschmann, and attributed to Mattheus Seutter, the It contains a drawer-label of Matthew Johann Schrettegger. Also, several other Imperial Geographer residing in Loft (Fig. 13), is accompanied by the unmarked dials bear a stnmg resemblance Augsburg during the early eighteenth original case, and includes several lenses to the Augsburg tradition of century (Fig. 7)) 2 Other astronomical and eyepieces. This item was craftsmanship. Additional German names pieces include another celestial globe of characterized by Price in his 1962 include those of Ulrich Schniep, F. R. W. unknown origin, a star globe (signed "C. comments as "identical to, and made by Liegnietz, and Jacob Mayer. ~; I'lath Hamburg,"), two armillary spheres, the same person who sent the first five telescopes, and an astnmomical ck~ck. micrer, cope to Yale University -- an The English pieces carry the names of important piece". |~ John Dolhmd, Jesse Ramsden, Matthew Mathematical devices are fairly well Loft, and, of course, the Fleet Street represented in the Henze Collection; Price's assessment on the authenticity of practitioners of King George I11, George approximately one-third of the pieces the Loft microscope and the uniqueness Adams, Sr. and Jr. The expatriate Michael possess measuring functions. These of the Yale instrument is supfx~rted by the Butterfield ~ stands out as the most include several diopter instruments, a catakg listing of the college in 1947, and renowned among the French artisans, but

16 Bulletin of the Scientific Instrument ~ciety No. 28 (1991) Fig. 13 The label ,Ndr t,a,e ,trail,er 4,t I i~,. 12. it reads: "1730 Matthew i~ft Maker at the c___._ . + Golden Spectacles the Backsade of the Royal Fig. 10 An engratwd brass pedometer, Exchany, e ~mdon." (Henze item Na. signed "Jacob Mayer Wienn". In excellent A.6697.55-56). cotidithm, zt denumstrates the pariety of objects in the Hcnze Collection, (Henze item No. International d'Histoire des Sciences, Vol. 1 A.6697.54-35). (1956), 380-94.

4 Two 1950s articles on the Henze Collection further perpetuated the Strozzi- Henze connection. See: Bill Murphy, Fig. 12 A Culpeper-type, mid-eighteenth "Ancient Gadgets Given to Museum,"/z~s centu~ "double microscope," thought to be Angeles Times (June 1 l, 1956); and Urban identical with thefirst micro~ope used at Yale Thielmann, "Henze Collection of Early • College.(Henze Item No. A.6697.55-56L Scientific Instruments at the Los Angeles Museum, 1559-1800," Bulletin of the numbers, with each piece separately Nathmal Associatkm of Watch and Clock photographed. Anyone interested in Collectors, Inc., VOl. 7, No. 9 (June 1957), further information may contact the 537-40. author at the address provided below. 5 Letter to Mr. Max Adler, dated April Acknowledgements 14, 1948.

The author wishes to express his thanks 6 Price, pp. 382-3; 3914. to the staffs of the Library of Congress, Washington, D.C.; the Engineering 7 Ibid., p. 392. Library, University of California at Los Angeles; The Huntington Library, San 8 Undated notes on telephone Marino, California; and the Library at conversations between curators at the California State University, Fullerton. Natural History Museum, Los Angeles Thanks are also extended to Mr. Paolo County and Derek Price and Silvk+ Bedim Brenni of the Museo di Sloria della Scienza, Accession Files of the History Division, Florence; Dr. Aldo Brachner of the Natural History Museum, Los Angeles Deutsches Museum, Munich; and Ms. County. Claire Henze, daughter of Mr. and Mrs. Z" Robert Henze. Above all, special gratitude 9 Price, p. 392,: and undated notes... is expressed to Marjorie and Roderick Price/Bedini. Webster, curators of the Mensing Fig. 11 A graphometer equipped with Collection at the Adler Planetarium, 10 Undated notes... Price/Bedini. compass and horizontal sundial, brass dor~ au Chicago, Illinois. feu, is inscribed "Brachii Flor Roma." (Henze 11 Mme. Van der Does de Wiilebois' item No. A.6697.54-30). Notes and References Auction, by Fredenk Muller, November 29, 1911. The instrument section of this the Collectkm a'lso includes pieces bearing 1 Philip Fox, Adler Planetarium and catalogue includes a number of devices the names of C. Chavyn, August Bligny, Astronomical Museum of Chicago: An labelled '~+,zzi." Chalx~tot, Antoine du Ferrier, and Pierre Account of the Optical Planetarium and a Sevin. Identifiable Dutch names include Brief Guide to the Museum (Chicago: The 12 Seutter'simportance as an instrument those of B. E van der Bildt, J. P. Sasse, and Lakeside Press, R R Donnelley and Sons, designer and his status as Imperial C. Metz. Given the probability that the Co., 1933), p. 28. Geographer is re~xwded in: Edward Luther nocturnal inscribed "Gig. Mariotta" is a Stevenson, Terrestrialand CelestmlGlobes: forgery, the only identifiable Italian piece 2 Ibid., pp. 28-62. Max Engelmann, ed., Their Histo~ and Construction. Inclu,tm~ a is a diopter instrument by Vincento Miotti. Sammlung Mensing: Altu,issen~haflliche Consideration of Their Value as Aids in the lnstrumente Katalog (Amsterdam: Frederik Study of Geography and Astnmomy (New Access Muller and Co., 1924). Haven, Conn.: Yale Univ. Press, 1921), pp. 154-6; and Deborah J. Warner, The The Henze Collection is now completely 3 Derek J. Price, "Fake Antique Scientific Sky Explored:Celestial Geography, 1500- inventoried, by accession and item Instruments," Acres du VIII Congres 1800(N. Y.: Alan R. Liss, Inc., 197qLp.245.

Bulletin of the Scientific Instrument Society No. 28 0991) 17 R)r specific biographical data on Seutter (Munich: C. H. Beck'sche 1717. See: A. Thoisnier Desplaces, ed., see AIIgemeine Deutsche Biographie Verlagsbuchhandhmg, 1956), pp. 324-5; Bi~R, raphie Universelh. Ancienne et M~wlerne (Leipzig: Verlag yon Dunder und 494-5; 530; 571-2; and Maximilian (Paris: Michaud, 1843), p. 260. One editor Humblot, 1892), Vol. 34, pp. 70-2. Bobinger, AIt-Augsburger Kompassnmcher even suggested that Butterfield may have (Augsburg: Hans Rosier Verlag, 1966), been German! See: J. C. Poggendm'ff, 13 Undated notes... Price/Bedini. pp. 186-94: 2(X)-03;2064)9; 229-~; 232-41; Bio~raphisch-Literari~hes Handu~)rterbuch 292-9; 351-6(1; 41)6-07. zur C,eschichte der Exacten Wis~n~haflen 14 A Catah~gueot Su n,ivmc Early Scientific enhaltend Nachweisungen uber Leistunxen Instruments of Yale G)lh.ge: New Haven, 16 The little-known but much-celebrated Mathematikern, Astronomen, Physikern, Conn.: Yale Univ., 1947; and Lorande Loss English expatriate Michael Butterfield has Clu'mtkern, Minerah~gen, C,a~iogen usu, Aller W(axtruff, "The Advent of the Microscope constituted a source of exaggerated Volker und Zeiten (Amsterdam: B.N.V.D at Yale College," American Sch'ntist, Vol. speculation. The only fiat-hand accmmt Israel, 1970), Vol. l, p. 354. 31, No. 3 (July 1943), 241-5. of Butterfield in English appears in Martin Lister's 1699 treatise, A Iourn~ to Paris in Author's address: 15 Biographical information and specific the Year 1098, Raymond Phineas Stearns, History Division contributions of these southern German ed. (Urhana, illinois: Univ. of Illinois ih'ess, Natural History Museum artisans may be found in: Ernst Zinner, 1967), pp. 82-94. In the nineteenth century, Los Angeles County £h~,t~'heun'f NiederlandLq'he Astron,,mi.~he it was re~wted that Butterfield's shop 900 Exposition Blvd. instrumente des 11-18 ]ahrhunderts had been visited by Peter the Great in Los Angeles, California 90(gr7 U.S.A.

Facsimile File The Optical Diagonal Machine or Zograscope Allan Mills

This instrument consisted basically of a Zambra published in 1885 or '86. To stereopsis, although it remains a little- convex lens of large diameter helcl in a survive for such a long period the known phenomenon. In brief, it appears vertical position before a downwards- instrument must have had something to that besides binocular vision we are facing inclined plane mirror (Fig.l). The offer - something over and above the constantly but unconsciously utilising entire optical assembly could be adjusted magnified and inverted image suggested many additional cues learned from our upon a sliding pillar so that the lens was by its optics. No explanation having been past experience of the real world to help both at a convenient height and at a fi~und in the above or any other sources, interpret any scene, if by special methods distance not exceeding its focal length the optically-identical reconstruction of viewing these non-binocular 'depth' above the table top, on which were placed illustrated in Figure 4 was produced, it cues are enhanced, while 'flatness' cues specially-engraved views exhibiting was found that when this apparatus was are suppressed, then we can experience strong linear perspective (Fig.2). The used to view well-illuminated prints of three-dimensionality from a suitable two- laterally-reversed nature of these prints the type shown in Figure 2, a vivid sen~ of dimensional representation. The (particularly obvious if lettering was depth u~s gizrn t0 the picture. Apart from zograscope provided just such special included) could be puzzling if they the lack of colour, the impression was viewing conditions - and it even works became separated from the viewer. that of viewing the real scene through a (although perhaps not quite so wen) when small, round window. This is the one eye is ck~=d ! Readers desiring further The hi.,,torv of the optical diagonal remarkable property that ensured the information on single-picture stereopsis machine fias been investigated by survival of such a simple combination of are directed to the references given Chaldecott, Twho concluded that the name lens and mirror. The same phenomenon below. ~ 'zograscope' was probably coined by the was observed when the engravings were elder George Adams some time between replaced by scenic photographic prints References 1735 and 1753. The term never became (monochrome or colour) provided they popular, and was not used by other too embodied strong geometric I J.A. Chaldecott, "The Zograscope or makers of this deceptively simple perspective." A similar 3D effect is Optical Diagonal Machine', Annals of instrument. There is no evidence that produced by some 35mm colour Science 9 (1953) 315-322. Adams invented the device, Court and transparencies when they are examined yon Rohr: thinking it likely that it had its in the well-known type of illuminated 2 T.H. Court and M. yon Rohr, 'On Old origin in Paris about the beginning of the hand-viewer incorporating a large convex Instruments Both fi)r the Accurate lSth century, subsequently becoming lens of rectangular outline. Drawing and the Correct Viewing of known in France as an "Optique' (Fig.3). Perspectives', The Phot,,graphic Journal 75 French-made versions may lack an Yet in all these examples there is only one (1935) 54-66. adiustment for height, relying u~,n image -- the lateral perspective accomm(xtation by the eyes of the user. displacement between 'left eye' and 'right 3 A. Ames, 'The Illusion of Depth from eye' views that is normally considered Single Pictures', Journal of the Optical Chaldecott i:n)ints out that 'Diagonal Print essential for stere,s~copy does not exist! S,,ciety oflAmerica 10 (1925) 137-148. Machines, for Viewing Prints etc.' were We are experiencing what visual still listed in a catalogue of Negretti & psychologists now call sin~h.-picture 4 H. Schlosberg, 'Stercs~scopic Depth

18 Bulletin of the Scientific Instrument ~x:iHy No. 214 (1991) L Fig.2 Early 18th centu~ t~'rst~ti~" print for u~' u,ith the :ograscope. Reprt~luced by. courtesy of the Trustees of the Science Museum. (Ne,£atiz~" 131/53)

Fig. 3 An 'Optiqu,'" in use. Ph,,t,,graph af engraving by. c,,urtesy t,f the Museum of the Histo~ of Science. Oxh,rd. -]

Fig. i An optical diagonal machine, or wgn~.,~'ape. Unsigned, and maker unknown, but m the style °f Nairne. Photograph by. courtesy °f the Museum of the Hista~ of Science, 0.1:ford. from Single Pictures', American Iournal af *Postscript Psychology54 (I 941 ) 601-605. In this connection it may be worth correcting a common mi~onception: the 5. A.H. Schwartz, 'Stereoscopic perspective displayed by a photograph Perception with Single Pictures', Optical depends only on the site ('station point') S/~'ctra September 1971,25-27. ~m which it was taken, being completely independent of the f(x:al length of the Fig.4 A n optically-identical 6. A.A. Mills, 'lntensity-M~ulated camera lens employed at the time, or in rt'constn~ctkm t~ the :a~ra~'ope. Tlk' Mum'urn Illumination of Paintings and an any subsequent enlargement. o~ the' Histo~. of Science. C)xti,nt, t~)s~.ses a Unexpected Three-Dimensional Effect', u~/t'n instrument in this hmr-h'gged styh'. la~mardo 11 (1978) 213. Author's address: Astronomy Group The University Leicester LEI 7RH

Bulletin of the ~'ientifi¢ Instrument ~)cietv No. 2H (I~!) l q The yon Gersdorf Collection: A Little-Known German Philosophical Cabinet Howard Dawes

Last autumn, whilst travelling in The cabinet also houses a fine collection Germany, I had the opportunity to visit "of some 3,000 Lichtenberg figures made Gorlitz and the yon Gersdorf Collection. by yon Gersdorf and Christopher Nathe. These coiourful patterns (first di~overed The town of Gorlitz, in the province uf in 1777 by G.C.Lichtenberg, Profes~w of Stir .'sia, lies .,~me 02 miles east of Dresden Physics at Ca)ttingen) are fi)rmed by and clt~, to the Polish hwder. Its making an electrical dl~harge over the importance derived originally from its •.d~ r.~¢. surface of an insulator, and then rendenng fx~ition on the main h~ghway h.tween the tracks visible by dushng with coloured Drt.~,clen and the Ikdish cities of Breslau, powders bearing opl~site charges. The Ix~/and Warsaw; and later as the railway complex patterns could then be iunction for line,, from |talle and [h.,rlin to transferred to waxed paper (Fig.6). the north and the east/wtml lines. It was de~.a:ribed in the f['tl~.yt low, alia Britamlica Like Van Marum and many other 18th of i'~11 as one of the wealthiest towns in century men of science, von Gersdorf Germany, with the municipality owning undert(a~k journeys with serious intent, extensive forests in the area. The town and kept journals of his travels. He was was originally walled, and although the deeply interested in mineralogy, and his walls have been destroved many fine collection of specimens includt.,s a piece Renaissance buildings remain. These of rock he collected from the top of Mont include two 15th century churcht~ and Blanc. He travelled toSwitzerland in 1786 the old Town Hall. The central ,,,quart, Fig.l ..hl, qP ;v, ~;cr,,t,,r' !,44 l,~;+J5" (the year before de Sausurre made his cuntains dignified hou.,~ from the lbth well-known expedition to that mountain) to the 18th centuries. page biography of yon Ger~orP is a most the main purp(~,e of which was the study thorough, detailed and scholarly work. of meteorology. It is interesting that von in its ge~vgraphical k~-ation near the Polish GerMorf had in his collection a three- border in East (;ermany, the town has Adolf Traugott yon Ger~orf (1744-1807) dimensional relief of Mont Blanc (Fig.7) ~,tagnatt~| under communist control since had special scientific interests in similar to that bought by Van Marum, World War II. More recently, it has meteorology and electricity. He was a plus a smaller one of the St Gott hard pass, sutfered from this D~,ition on the main philanthropic landowner, "and though made by Charles Franqois Exchaquet. crt~s-hwder road between Germany and self-taught was greatly concerned with Poland: first, as East Germans migrated the application of the new science to the Dr Lemper portrays von Gersdorf as a east to I'oland when the latter achieved practical benefit of mankind. He typical man of the Enlightenment; ~me measure of frt~lom, and then with corresponded widely with other interested in the arts and the sciences, and traffic the other way following the European natural philosophers, and concerned to improve the lot of mankind unification of German,~" in October I'~)0. hmght ~)me of his instruments abroad. through the better understanding of the He had, however, the problem of living in natural world. The comparative In the centre ot the town is the building a ren~te place, which made the safe arrival remoteness of Gorlitz, heightened by the which now hou~,es the wm Ger.,..iorf of delicate instruments dubious. Thus his isolation resulting from its thirty years cabinet and part of his libra.', as well as electrical machine, of the Dutch or behind the iron Curtain, lends a special a mu~,um of turniture and ob~,ts d'art. It Ramsden pattern (Fig.3), had to be fitted appeal to the career and legacy of this wa.,, originally bought by yon Ger~,...iorf as with new glass di~s in nearby Dresden interesting and energetic natural premix,, for the local .,~'ientitic .~ciety, of becau~• the originals were broken in phik~x,pher. which hi, was a leading member. On his transit bv cart from Amsterdam. His death in 1807 his cabinet of instruments collection of electrical demonstration Reference and his b~k.,, pa.,,~l to the ~ciety, apparatus and equipment is generally augmenting their library to make a very much what one would expect in a late l. E-H Lemper, Ad(,If Traugott mm con~,iderable collectionWhat we saw in 18th century cabinet; and the activities of Ger.~l,,rf (1744-1807) Natufforshung und the cabinet rt~m,; was only a very small the local scientific society seem to have ~q,ziale Refi,rmen im Dh'nste der Humanitat. part of this. closely re~'mbled those of the society VEB Deutscher Verlag der organi.,~'d by Martinus Van Mature in Wis~n~haften, Berlin 1974 Alter World War II the mu.~,um and Haarlem, thl~ugh on a much smaller scale. libraries of the ~ientific .,~)cietv came He had a fine electrical machine of the i gratefully acknowledge the help of Mrs under the control of the state mu~um cylinder type, signed by Ed. Nairne and Helen Turner in the preparation of this ~,~'ice. However, in 1950, Dr Ernst-Heinz dated 1782 (Fig.4) with which he carried article. Lem per I Fig.2), was able to bring together out his investigations into medico- the ~,urviving instruments from yon electrical effects. He also researched Author's address: (;er~h)rfs cabinet, and to arrange them, atm(~pheric electrical phenomena, fitting P.O. Box 15 wah a ~,lection of his .~ientific b,~,ks, in a lightning conductor to his summer- Pershore a suite of rt~ms in the mu.,,eum building. hou~ in 17qq. There is a substantial Worcs. WRI0 2RD Though now retired, Dr l.emper still cares airpump signed "J.G.Studer in Freilberg" for the wm Ger~lorf cabinet and shows it of 1795 (Fig.5); a celestial globe by VaIL to visitors. With the help of his wife, who Amsterdam; a number of gt~ ban,meters is fluent in English, he describes the (one by G.F.Brander of 1772) as well as a collection with the enthusiasm of a man "Thermometre Univer~l" of the same who deeply admirt~, his .',ubl~'t. ! lis 400- date by this maker.

20 Bulletin of the Scientific Instrument Society No. 28 (1991) Fig.4 t uh.,h't t=q~c ,'h',.l~z, al m,l~hm, si~ned Ed. Nairn,' and dat,',t 1782.

Fig.2 l)r t tt Icmpcr Fig.3 I'lah" cl,'~ trl~ al ,ta~/mz,'

• r-- -

~.t- - .... 1! t, f"1

t

J

...... t. Fig.(~ Examph's ot Luhtenber¢, patterns,

Fig.5 ,.~Jr tmml,, .,z,\'tzcd t,.|1 I.~. >tz.h'r itl Freiibery,. 1795.

Fig,.7 M,,,h'l t,t ,~,hmt I~lm,= I,[i ~ h,ttl,'~ t t,l~t~,~,t~ t x, ha,tl.'t

Bulh,tin of the Scientific Instrument ~.~'iety No. 28 (1~i) 21 Charles Babbage and Mechanical Contrivances

Doron Swade, Curator of Computing, Science Museum, London

An espy review of The Works of Charles works (Vols. 6-11) with the index hw the 'hydrofi~il'; a coronagraph for producing Babbage. Edited by. Martin Campbell-Kelly. whole edition provided at the end of Vol. artificial eclipses; a zenith micrometer; an I1 Volumes.. London: Pickerin¢. & Chatto 1I. The index is a boon for scholars and emergency release coupling for railway Ltd, 1989. £6~), but sfax'ial discount price ~ researchers, especially th,w,e daunted by carriages; and two forms of cow-catcher. £.595 throughout 1991. the dispersion throughout Babbage's work of references to his multifarkms Two proposals for systems of Volume I: Mathematical Papers with preoccupations. Babbage is known communication illustratethe scope and General Introduction and primarily for his pioneering work on character of his schemes. The Econ,,myof Bibliography, 51 + 456 pp. mechanical calculating engines. Though Machinery and Manufactures,a malor work he left a large manuscript archive of of political economy (1832, 4/1835) Volume 2: The Dzfference En~me and noteb~a,ks and design drawings, he describes a system of aerial cables for Tabh" Making, 233 pp. published little in the way of technical delivering mail. Letters placed in a detail, in the two volumes devoted to cylindrical tin would be conveyed by Volume 3: The Analytical Engine and calculating engines and table making cables strung between pillarsat intervals Mechanical Notation, 253 pp. (Vols. 2 and 3), Babbage's own writings of a few hundred feet,while citieswould are supplemented with influential papers be linked by a relay network of manned Volume 4: Scu'ntific and Mi.q'dlanem,s by Lardner, Menabrea and lawelace, station-houses three to five miles apart. Papers i. (1822-18-17), 217 pp. among others. The vast bulk of technical Babbage suggests in all seriousness that detail on the engines remains unpublished padick~usly selected church steeples might Volume 5: Scientific and Mi.~'ellan,ams and is held in the Science Museum Library. be used to support cables for an intra-city Papers !1, (1847-1~), 192 pp. funicular mail service. Pas~ges from the The construction of Babbage's calculating Life of a Philosopher (1864), an Volume 6: A C,,mparati{~, Vhae Of the engines challenged the limits of autobiographical work rich in anecdotal Various in~titutions h,r the Assurances contem~wary machine t~l technology humour and gentlemanly mischief, of Liars, 1826. xx + 129 pp. and Babbage, an assiduous amateur includes a description of a m(glel of the machinist himself, introduced system which conveyed letters from Volume 7: geth'ctions ,,n the Declme ,,f improvements to finds and workshop Babbage's drawing-room, through the Science in England attd ,,n Some ,,f its techniques. He devised and constructed house, to his workshop above the stables. Cau~, 18~, xvi + 133 pp. multi-bladed cutters, several ,types of tool- holders, and an eye-shield attachment to A further example of mechanised Volume 8: On the Econom~ of allow ck~e inspection of the cut in communication is given in Babbage's Machine~. and Manufactures," 4th progress. These devices are described in proposals fur the use of occulting lights edition, 1835, xxviii + 280 pp. Vol. 5 in an extract from Holtzapffel's for lighthouses and for communication practical reference work, Turning and with ships at sea. An inveterate Volume 9: The Ninth Bridgcu~ter Meclnorical Manipulation (1847). experimenter, Babbage recalls (again in Treati~. A Fragm,'nt, 2r~ editi(m, 18,38, Pas~ges) tests he conducted on the xx + 118 pp. Babbage delighted in instruments and visibility of lights occulted by a clockwork mechanical contrivances, and his writings mechanism placed in the window of his Volume I0: The Expositwn of 1851: or are richly seasoned with proposals of his house. These schemes are developed in Vh'u~: of the hzdustrtl, the Scwnce, and own and descriptions of contemporary The Ext~,sition of 1851 and in two of the tlw Gn,~tment of En~,l,md, 2rid edition, devices and novelties. Apart from the miscellaneous papers in volume 5. He 1851, xi + 173 pp. partially completed Difference Engine, describes a system in which a sequence of which was the largest of his practical mechanically controlled occultations Volume I I: Pas:,agesfrom the Life of a undertakings, devices he designed and uniquely identifies a lighthouse, and Phdo.q,t,her, 1864, xi + 425 pp., Index. constructt-cl include a chart recorder for proposes that the occulting sequence be logging the condition of railway tracks auknnatically altered to signal tidal depths Charles Babhage (1791-1871) was a prolific (he advocates its use as a 'black-ix)x' to ships entering harbour. He further Fndymath, and his written output covers recorder for "the unerring record of facts, describes self-lighting occulting buoys in impressively extensive territory. The the incorruptible witnesses of the which the mechanism is driven by springs diversity as well as the physical dispersion immediate antecedents of any wound by pendulums agitated by the of archival and published sources have catastrophe"); theatre lighting using bobbing movement of the buoy. In a fa~-'d difficulties for Babbage scholars. coloured filters; a pen with a rotatable description that startlingly pre-echoes This eleven-volume edition disc for drawing broken lines on maps; a modern practice, Babbage proposes immeasurably improves access to 'camper' (a four-wheeled carriage with storing the stock questions and answers t~sential source material and will provide sleeping accommodation, elementary typical of bidirectional communication a significant impetus to Babbage studies. cooking facilities and a comm(~e); and with ships on removable discs, to be The set contains Babbage's complete fi~otwear for walking on water (shoes inserted at will into the occulting known published writings, as well as two with hinged flaps which spread on mechanism for transmission. hitherto unpublished items and fourteen downward thrust1. Devices propcr~i or items not written by Babbage; it designed in outline but not realised in The description of Babbage's schemes and documents his deli'berations on practical form included a tug boat for mathematical, phik~sophical, scientific, devices rarely goes beyond the statement winching yes,Is upstream; diving bells; of mechanical principle and an industrial, economic, social and I~ditical submarines propelled by compressed air; issues. exploration of feasibility.Were it not for a games automaton for playing tit-tat-toe the depth of meticulous design detail (noughts and crosses); an altimeter evident in Babbage's unpublished work The material is organised in five volumes employing a n~ating vane; a seismograph of papers (Vols. 1-5) and six full-length on calculatingengines and miscellaneous based on liquid levels; a flat-ix~ttomed devices, and the practical progress made

22 Bulletin of the Scientific Instrument Society No. 28 (1991) towards building the ill-fated Dilference Brld~eu,ater Treatise is a fragmentary contrast to the lack of contemporary Engine, we might be excused the phik~}phical work on ~-iem'e and natural recognition which ~} aggrieved Babbage, temptation to dismiss Babbage the theology. In a ~ientitic culture on the a rich programme of events celebrating inventor as little more than a dreamy brink of Darwinism, Babbage argues to his work is ~heduled for the bicentennial though versatile tinkerer. heal the growing rift between scientific year. Events include the unveiling of the and religious modes of thought. His first full~ize Difference Engine being built I have so far concentrated on Babbage's coiletled writings, which span over a half- to original designs by the Science intert~t in instruments and devices to the century of his life, reveal immense energy, Museum, a special exhibition on Babbage neglect of his many other concerns. spirited and uncompromising defence of and his work, an international conference Ba bbage's home territory and intellectual principle, outrage, dt~pair, humour, false- on computing, an historical symp(~ium first love was mathematics, and the m(Mesty and a fine touch in self-mocking on Babbage and Faraday, and spec~l issue volume of mathematical papers (Vol. l) pomptrsity, expres~,~l throughout in ~)stage stamps. The bicentenary will is, not inappropriately, the largest. In The language of elegance and lucidity. doubtless stimulate an already growing Ext~sithm o~ 1851 and in R~lections on the interest in Babbage and his work. Decline o~ Scien~'m En~land we are treated Thecentral trauma in Babbage's ~ientific Campbell-Kelly's well-produced, albeit to Babbage at his scathing best. ~th works life was his failure to reali~ a complete expensive, edition of Babbage's published are volcanically critical of the scientific calculating engine in physical form. The writings is a timely venture that will do establishment and its officers, whom he consequent indifference of the scientific Babbage studies hand.,~)me service for derogates mercilessly. His work on the establishment to his achievements, and time to come. Assurances of Liz~'s was intended as a the embittering disputes with handb~n}k for the unwary or ill-inh~rmed Government and with his engineer, J~.,'ph Author's address: about misrepresentation in the life Clement, are topics Babbage revisits Science Museum insurance business, and the sometimes repeatedly in his writings. The bicentenary London SW7 2DD specious benefits offered. The Ninth of Babbage's birth falls in 1991. In stark

Puzzle Pictures

As a change from mysterious objects, ~lers are invited to exphin what Faraday is demonstrating in these pictures.

Bulletin of the ~'ientific Instrument S~'iety No. 28 (1~i) 23 Letters to the Editor

Another 17th eenlury crll~ ~taff Two stolen micr~ope~q recovered I Iowvver, as tar as we are aware, Alimm .li|orrisln-l.ltw wa~ t~l,rhvik" cllrrll'l in ~lr, .'.,it whal .,,hi, ~i,lit~i. which was only that Baird & [athick had "branchl,~, in I.irldtm, I rl'ad wilh inh'rl',,I in Hullrtm It,,2." Alh.n I ,Ira wrltin.14 to let You knllw thl' good I:.dlnblir~h, (,la~,gliw and I.ivvrpool'. lrhi,, ~'qlllp,,,41n's alitlunl tit the trlblllation~, ii~'W', that we Ihl~e rt,cos i'rt'd two tit Ihc makt'~ nit assunlptilln,~ alxilit where thev i'ndtirl'd by a i rli~,, ,,l,ltl in ~gctltland./l)nl, stllh,n Illh rtl~'llt'll'~,i dt,,~crli~,d in Bulh'tUl ~,aw the l'enlre ot owraiion~, bill does ill lhl, trtl~ ,,tall,, IMal i,~) I h,lvl, had thl, ,i,, 7,". lhev are thi' Frank,, drum make it clear that the blisint-sses were tlrl%lh,l~,t, ttl h,indh, W,l~ al,~l dl,,~ o% crl,d mlIrl v.t ¢,t'll,. ,i~l line i ~i tl~' ilnsigllitt dnim part ot a single clmcern. in ."~-otland. and I lluiql, ,in i,%lrall Irtlm ill ilrl i,~lllt~'*, t in h l~ln h i I hi' m u ',ill m [rl)m thl'/{ilrrli't t'fu~ltl'~ 10,4I` t ',lhl/~l,'entr ! a,, the Manchester liti,rarv ,i~t I'hilll~ll~hical [hi' relvrence she cited tot her comment hllhtw,.: kt letV. w,l~ the ch,lpk~r dt-vok~t io Baird & Tatk~:k in the I~14~i publication Bnl,~.~ & Glass: "(rt~,,, ,,tart. ,lt4nt'd t I l X )'% k I. R' ,ind Ihe thil,t tea, caught by tile t~,lice, hl~trum,'~lt Makm.¢, W,,rk ,lr,l~ in .~c0thlnd, 11~4~1' with ,ramie,. ,iild numi~,red -1' on adnllttl~lt lhe their, arid tt~[ the I~dki , hl which .',he wrole iointlv with mw,,elf and Iht' l.llt,-t,nd ,~lllart. ~lnllhlll. l.bonv ,,IJft. the twit deah.rs hi whom hi, had ~lld the lrl~lram (. larke. Thi~ contains a fuller Icngth l'ililil, ~,CCtlon 14cnI. with nlil r~, to the e~i,lbh-hmvnt ofa '1 .ondtln branch' the l.ondon businl.,s,~ |ollowing the I~ ~'r(, lollik| in k ~,tlaik| drl' ist, tO t~ri-,llme ot the lristrtlinenl-nldkln~ firm lit tlaird & incorpllration o! the (;la~gow businl~s as th,it tt~'ir ultlill,lll' .-tlR I~ ,l] ~,~,,I-, dl'lx'nd,int T,itl~t[. th, a,,,,Llri,,, Ll-, it i.~ 'not strictly a iimikM company in IqlS. These tll~,~n lh¢ i~.lllOi~,l] rcl, utallon Ior thrill" ti'lll, to ~a% that tile ( ;],lsgow-baned Baird& prt~'eedmg,, al,.,o noted that at the l'atlo, k I~ad a I.llndon branch', dainllng di,isoluiion 'Mr Baird acquired a.,,hisown t I,l' rl('t l't'U~;h'~ that the I.ondon firm w,l~ alwav~, a con~ern the I.o~ton branch', with Tathlck •.cpar,lt¢ ~on(t,rn and wa,, hltlndl~t bv alqulring the original (;la,~gow hi,use, Baird in I ,~lll only aitl,r the dis,~llution tit and this is quoted in our account. hi- partncrshipwith ]aihlc[. Ih, ha,, pro*, idl,d ,,tlnle dl.latil lit iht, t;tlmph, t and Not italy w,l~, the ll,lq~ dissolution of the htl,141oli~. silb',i'lltll'nl rl,lathm,,hip t'~,t~vel,n partnership Mah'd to be amicable, but tht, (,I,i~,gow parl'nl tllnlp,lllV Baird & also the two lirm,~ continued to trade latht[, and Baird & lath~k Illlndllni under thl, same name until l~lird's Itd. hi|sine,,,, h,lcame Baird & Tatlock t l .ondon) Itd in IqO't. rhe reason given in I.ord ('ulk,n's ILilh It,dgement was that the iomt nanle was um~| 'mainly' bt~-au.~., Iathlck and Baird wi,,hed hi ilhlise their MtNk tit t r,ldl, l-ala hill,illS "illr Ihl, common Ii.niil id tkl, llltw nldt,t~l,ndent klMnt .~.~i'. Ihl, llrsl indilalilln wt, hllind of di~guiet itlt,l lilt, il,<" tit lilt' Ioint natal" cilmt .~ in arbitrallltn ht,,irinl,, a,, late a', I~lOI. i Ill,, london bllslllt,ss nhl%' nilt have i~'mamed as a brandl of the (;la,,~ow l,u.,m~-,,,b.t It d~'., apl~.ar to have l~.en I'~t,tbh,,hed ,is olzt'. ,llzd ollt,ratl~.l a,~ snch hit .I r,',ls, qhlbh, IN.lhld

24 lhilh'lin ,d ih,'~.4 wuhh~ llv.ltt.m'ul "~'~n'l~ ~,o 2H t|~l) We mu.,a again rectwd our thanks to tmr todraw attentkm to Bra~ and Glass which Mexico, July 1991 ctflleague John Burnt.It and k~ Anita I had i~mitted and which, I admit, I have MtConnell fiw their help in the original yet to .,~ee. Ch, arly this express, ion, which Sir, enquirk .'~ fiw thi~ chapter tff Bra~ & Gla~. ! had chl~,en to hint td an underlying complex i.,~ue, ha~ rai~'d the is.,,ue it.ll. An amateur astronomer and I art' AIh'n S~mF~,n Thus I am mt~t grateful to Allen Siml~m organizing an educati~mal vi,,it to Mexican, I lish~ry ,~ Sck'nce ~'ctian for lx)inting out that, for a short whih, at with the intenti~m ~ viewing the ~dar Nathmal Mum'urns ,~ So~tlamt lea~, a "branch"t~ the ,~'ottish firm existed eclilr~e of !! July 1991 and visiting pI,R'e~ in lamdtm. of im~)rtance in ancient astnmomv. We BRIAN GEE REI'I.IES: hope to as~mble a group t~ ! 5 congenial My own undtm,tanding t¢ the L~ue, based colleagues and eclip~-chaser~. ~r, tm .~)me n~des made after my visit to the prt~.nt firm where I met Mr Lawrence I there/ore wonder if there are any SIS 1'he threefidd purl~e td my letter in who has explored the pre~ent company memh, rs (perhaps ,m the .qaffs t~ Mexk'an issue 27 td our Bulh'tin was: (a) to archives, was that it was the yew way the mu~ums) who would be willing to act as cmn~iment Ali.,4m Morri.,~m-l.ow on a hmdon business had been c~mducted (i.e. guides, and dem~mstrate artifacts [rtma very intert.,sting pa]~.,r; (b) to raise the independently) that It'd to the split the Maya and Aztec cultures in point that bu~ne~.~ bk~raphy is invariably between the Partners. Whether, as stated precolumbian America. not ~raightforward; and (c) to draw in the ab~we letter, this was an amicable atlenlion to the responsible altitude of split (Riven that it led toa law suit) ! do not Dr. E.R. M,'u~'~ one of the prt.~.nt-day instrument km~w. Nevertheless, AIItm Simlc~)n's Rehu,mkel 5 compani,.~ who have ~ aside space for a letter ~rves to reinfl~rce my ~,t-tmd W-2380 .'~hh.,wig ctdlectkm of historic instruments and objtxtive: z,iz, that business biography is Ca'rmantl apparatus, it was certainly m~t my complex indt~ed! S~ there is nn~m "fl~r intention to take the auth~w "to ta~,k';, further darification. I trust, however, that although clearly the author's Paper this additional corropondem'e does not motivated me to make available detract fn~m the original intention of my information which I thought wlmld heof letter and the otherwise correct interest to (mr readers. infiwmation it contains.

The nub of Allen Simp~m's letter relates Brian Ca'e to my u.~ t~ the expres,,,km "it is m~t 18 Barton Ch~" strictly true.,." with regard to whether or I~mdrah', S,dta~h not the Scottish firm td I~ird & Tatlt~k Cornu~dl i'1 12 5HA had a lamdtm "branch" and, presumably,

Market Place

David Weston ia,,king back over the past year there event: I trace bought a take pair t~ dividt~ alter plodding the length ot have heen ~me fine instruments on the at an auction bet-au~, I had not examined recommended strut, t_,, and vi,,Iting 441 market, particularly in the large them carefully enough beforehand. antique shops. Xothmg ~,en ex~t'pt 3 unpublici~'d market betwetm dealers and Buttertwld diab,, a gunner'.,, quadrant and coik~la~. My find t~ the year was a superb The overall marktq ftw |n~ruments L~slow ~,veral calculating machine~, lto~eter compendium bv Elias Allen, made in for average specimens, but fine examplt~, the next mormng, bright and earh', I wa, England in tiw h~t half ot the 17th century. art' ~'lling very well. Anything uniqne in Unter den Linden, a splendid .,,trut,t I "[his beautiful in~rument, finely engraved .,,ells quickly at a high price. (Like the had heard that I'oli~,h pea,,ant,, ~ld all ,and gilded, reprt.-,ents the best of English ptaw, the rich are always with us). This .,~lrts of gt~lds there, but it there had been m'ientific instrument making (Fig. I ). report cover.,, tk,rlin, Amsterdam and any raw ~ientific in,,tn,ments the German Lyons; where I eXlm,rienced succt~s in the pe~l.,,ants had got there first, t';o the moral At the auctitms Christies has had ~)me search flw interfering instruments. L,, don't go to Ick,din to k~k for mstrun~,nts line instruments, but umortunatelv However, the beer and the ~m.,,agt~ art" Sothebvs and PhiUips .,,eem to have It~t Flying into llerlin with Lmthan.~l on a excellent. intert.~i. This is a pit)'. There have heen ctdd, sunny, November day brought .~.veral iakes at the aucti~ms, including a miwd emotions. The astonishing move Amsterdam m January was my next port brass mwturnal which .~dd fiw a high to freedom in Europe is marvellous, and of call: a very attractive and intere,,ting prk'e. ]'he forger did n~d reali~ that I was ht~'~ing that greater movement might city. Visiting the excellent "rime" divisions t~ hour lint.,~ art" oriented have brought ~mte line instruments out exl~ibition wax an added txmu~ to my towards the centre of a m~cturnal. of their old hiding platte. The optimism antiqut.'s buying trip. Thi~, city llas |iowever, it is easy It) be clevtq" aftt~ the of the antique deah, r never tadt~ - even hundredsof antique.,,hot'~ of all qt,;flitie,,. lkdhqin ~ the %-wntitu: In~trun~,nt ~-ietv No. 21,1 ( I~! ) 2"~ from flea markets to some of the world's top antiquedealers, particularly In b~,~ks, map,~ and ~rcelaln. There are .,,everal specialist scientific dealers, and inst ru ments can a lm~ be found in the other shop~ and antique markets.

The dealers in Amsterdam buy a lot of their ,,,took from England, and .seem especially keen on decorative brass instruments such as sextants, telt.'~-opes, micrt~,~'Ol.~v~ and the~.tolites. However, a lull range of instruments can be found, and on this trip I saw a very rare early ~xtant bv Heath and Wing, a gt~n:l reflecting tele~'ope by lames Short, and an attractive Matthew Loft type micrt~,,cope with a shagreen barrel.

My tirst I~rt of call was to ~'e Mark Douma in l.ange [.eid~'dwarsstrasse. I have been dealing with Mark hw over 20 years, and he .~,rves the best coffc,tP in Amsterdam as well as having .~me choice instruments, tte had a very line ivory screwbarrel micro.,,cope signed by Culpeper as well as a 17th centuo' English brass quadrant.

In nearby Splegelstraat ! visited Charles Kengen. This is a general antique shop, but always has a few scientific instruments. The m¢~,t interesting item was a small phrenology box: these are extremely rare. ]'hen on to 4.~ Spiegeistraat to visit i~,n Blileveld, who has a large .,,h,.-k of scientific instruments. Fie had a gt~.)d .~']t~,:tion ot marine chronometers, .,,'xtants, micrtv~t-opes and several globes as well as medical instruments. This is the mare street in Amsterdam for antiques; and over the road is Bert Dagenaar's shop. |te had a ."khrettinger dial, a small Klinger globe, and .,,everal telescopes.

I was plea,,ed to lind a relative newcomer in the next ,,trt~,t, Thorn en Lennv Nelis, Kt'l/er~gracht. [his shop sl~ciali.,~e~ in Fig. 1 A bt~ndihd comt~'ndium by. Elias Allen medical antiques, and has a large and a wide selection of 19th century Back in la)ndon the year is starting quietly, mtere,,ting ~,h~'k on two flt~)rs. instruments, including globes, levels, but st)me g(K)cl instruments are coming electrical and surveying instruments, at out of their hiding places st~ this is a very. M,v hnal visit to Am.,,terdam wasat Rokin quite reasonable prices. All I found in the go(~ time to buy. 122, which i,, where I found theGregorian other shops was a French graphometer tele,,cope by Short. There was a gt~ engraved with dolphins. However, in a Author's address: ~,lection of in,,truments, and even two ell little general shop I struck lucky and found 44 Duke Street ~,tick,, for mea,,urlng cloth. Amsterdam is a 17th century vellum telescope and, to St. James's detinitelv worth a visit for anyone my great surpri~, a dentist's ~t of m~lel London SW1Y 6DD intert-,ted in instruments, and is a teeth Invented and patented by Vecabe, charming city with cosv old cafes. and they were described as a 'miMele recta u ra nts. d'examen destine a I'art dentaire'.

My next trip was to Lwms, for I have On Sunday morning there is a flea market tmalh,' decidtxt to hn~k l~or antiques only on the outskirts of Lyons called Marche wl~, the ft~ is gt~d! Lyons Ls the seta~nd Feysinne. This is a large outdtnw market city of France, and has a very attractive and worth a visit for the fun of it - but not old town surrounded by boring suburbs. for instruments, as I saw only a 19th There is a wide range of antique shops century theodolite. The highlight of Lyons and one specialist in instruments: M. is the famous Paul lk)cu~ restaurant a Ducote in rue Auguste Comte, which is few miles away. Sunday lunch there is the main antique Mreet in Lyons. He has splendid: three hours of gourmet fiw,d and a large hole in your i:mcket.

2h Bulletin of the .r~rivntllic Instrument ~:iety No. 214 (It)ql) Reports of Meetings and Exhibitions

The SIS Christmas Meeting at the Royal Institution 5th December 1990

About thirty members, some attending their first Society function, came to the Christmas meeting at the Royal Institution, London. Here in the main lecture theatre - the oldest in current use anywhere - Mrs McCabe (Library and Information Officer) began the day's programme with a comprehensive and engrt~,sing lecture on the Institution's past and present, including the important "Faraday Connection". Founded in 179q on the initiative of Count Rumford, its aims were the increase and dissemination of scientific knowledge, with public lectures an important aspect of this. At that time, the laboratories were unique in being maintained on a funded basis. Through them, and the achievements of the fortunate succession of brilliant scientists working there, the Institution became a centre of scientific thought. Fig. 1 t arad,lU~. A,la,Cpwtt~ I~d,oratoru at t/tc The theatre is one of the alterations to the original building, a grand private house ttx)k us to the Library, to examples of Moving (m to chemical electricity, we were built in 17541, bought after a public appeal Faraday's writin~ and bt~)kbinding, and led through the history of Volta, by Count Rumford. The commercial to the collection of portrait sketches Leclanche, Daniell and lead-acid cells to environment of the surrounding area required by him of his correspondents, in electrolysis of water (convincingly very evident at Christmas -- makes the this old rtn)m, the contents of the demonstrated with a 'hydrogen flame Royal Institution's continuous presence btn)kshelves alongside m(~leru journals test') and finally to magnetism and electric- there even more remarkable. The vividly illustrated the continuity of work magnetism. Showing complete faith in Institution has always been residential, in the Institution. his self-constructed apparatus, Dr Brv~m and it retains a homely and comfortable Gore suspended himself with the help of atmosphere. The 'family' portraits are of The Ambulatory, which was next on our a small electromagnet. Another past scientists: Humphrey Davy, Rumford, tour, contains exhibits of scientific lecturer was properly acknowledged: Mond, Huxley, Young, Tyndall and apparatus made by leading scientists for Nicola Tesla, wh(z~e remarkable induction others; the statue is of Faraday. their own investigations. It is a study in coils far surpas,,~,cl all others. itself. No standard equipment existed for Great names abound. At its head in 1812, their work, although it~th century Again using his own apparatus (basecl on Sir Humphrey Davy was already famous catak~gues show that it was not king befcn:e a bowl of copper sulphate solution) Dr for his discoveries when Faraday, an the instrument trade was preducing Brvson Cadre brought us almt~st up-to- apprentice bookbinder of ordinary, family demonstration mtnJels of the new date with a demonstration of the Hall and education who had been fascinated experiments. This thought occurred again, effect. Only after he had built it did Royal by Davy's lectures, offered himself as an particularly regarding electro-magnetism, i nstitu tion staff prod uce a splend id gl,~s. assistant. Appointed in 18 ! 3, he was soon in the Faraday Museum and Laboratory, brass and mahogany version, made there assisting in experiments. Accompanying re-created in its original basement in 184-,4 to illustrate a mow common Davy on a prolonged tour of Europe was location. The simplicity of much of the phenomenon. an even greater influence, and a source of apparatus contrasts strongly with the important friendships. They returned in importance of the scientific results The final experiment took us to i 815, Faraday published his first paper in obtained with it. It al~ demonstrated superconductivity, demonstrated when 1816, and in 1821 was made that scientists then were dexterous a single-turn coil ct~.)k~l to -20OC wa~, Superintendent of the Laboratories. He instrument-makers. began lecturing, and in 1826 initiated the now-famous Chirstmas lectures for We enjoyed a convivial buffet lunch in children, which he per~mally conducted the Long Library, and returned to the until 1860. Electricity and magnetism Main Theatre for our own Christmas dominated his researches, but there were lecture. No soporific aftemtxm this: taking also important discoveries in chemistry, electricity as his theme, Dr Bry~m Gore steel, optical glass and gases. With no took us through rod and foil formal mathematical training, Faraday demonstrations of static electricity to nevertheless gained the prai~ of Maxwell Wimshurst machines and Van de Graaff for his understanding and analysis of his generators. Then, explaining that discoveries in electromagnetism explosions are obligatory in a Christmas lecture, he applied a static electrical It was rather more than a "connection". discharge to an explosive gaseous mixture, Faraday devoted hirrt~elf to the lnstituticm, showing why expkrsions can occur in fuel Fig. 2 Eh'ctn~m,~,'~tcttt ,al,t,,r,~t.. l,.~',l t'lt and they were virtually synonymous for tankers di~harging cargo. Faraday. 50 years. Our ttmr, guided by Mrs McCabe,

Bulletin of the ~'ientific InstrumentSociety No. 28 (iq91) 27 propelled towards the tx'iimg of the lecture hall by energising the electromagnet on which it had been placed. This was all in the tradition of a Royal Institution Christmas lecture, this time to a mature and appreciative audience, impressed nca least by Dr Brv.~m Gore's sum, ival of his explosive methods of prt,'sentation!

Tea with a "'tasteof Christmas" was ~r'ved in the [zing Library,and J~m Darius ckw,ed the n~.x-~ting (the ~-ietv's first at tbe Roval Institution) with than'ks to Mrs McCabe and Dr Brv.,~m Gore, to which members warmly c(mcurred.

It R Brish,u', Maldsto~lt"

Photo£raphs art" rt't~r¢~h~ccci ~ ¢+ourtt~ll of the Din'clot ot till' Romd hlstltutioPl.

I._ Fig. 3 Optical,~lass .~zmph's u.~'d by Famdau.

The Philipp Matthaus Hahn Exhibitions Bulletin No.27 (!~"~1) p.25

Dr. F.W. Kistermann writes that the .,~econd paragraph in column 2 has been incorrectly tran~ribed. It should read '...7 original and 4 replica calculating machines, and o original and I replica calculating devices were displayed.' in addition, Lelbniz' stepl~d wheels came to light in 18q4, not Iqg4.

tie al.,~+ requests that it be made clear that he is not the ~le author of the catalogue cited in reference 2. Many persons, museums, ~.ieties and companies contributed towards these exhibitions and catalogues.

Book Reviews Of'talons c.u,rc,~',t b~ rt~'r~,~'rs arc their own. and do not nt't¢s~rily reflect the t'icws o~ the Editor or the Sl~'iety.

A History. of the Photographic Lens bu complex oblectives developt~l for the optical glass, the first anastigmats, triplet Ru,tol+ kmc,>lakc. A~a,h'mlc l'r¢~;s, I~lc~. telescoW and mk~-~'ope. The first camera lends, meni~us anastigmats, telephoto I~"tOu l~8a .t~4 /,p ISB.X" O-I2-41~8o4q-3. lens to be designed mathematically was lenses, reversed telephoto lenses, varifocal ~llu. . L21.5~ that by the Austrian Jt,,eph Max Pl.'tzval and z~m lenses, catadioptric (mirror) in Mav 1840 He approached the systems, and lens attachments. The book The author ha,, ',pent hi,; entire life in the Archduke l.udwig, Director General of ends with sixty-five single-page de-,ign of len.,,-,., taking over from ar~ther Artille~' in the Austrian army, for help biographies of .~me of the more notable notable len~, designer, Charles Warm~:k with his calculations: two corporals and opticians and lens designers: the four Frederick. at the Eastman Kodak eight gunners .,,killed in computation wen., Voigtlanders, the two Wollensaks, Company in Rochester, New York This put at his dispo.,,al. Over the next ten .';tt,i n hei Is, (;ru bbs, and Dallmeyers (lens- bt~k Is a distillate ot his vast practical and vears 81100of l)elzval's portrait len~,s wen., making stayed within families), and Plosl, thtx+rettcal knowlt~lge of the sublex't. manufactured, and it remained in general ('hevalier, Petzval, Bausch, Goerz, Volumes have been written about the art u.,~, until a~mt Iq20. |its name also Maksutov and Angt;nieux, to name a few and x'ience of photography° m+mewhat ~x'ame a hour, hold term in lens dt.~ign at random in rough chronological order. le.,,s on the ttschnical development of the with the'l'et/val sum', which determines This is a u~,ful compilation as it is not at camera, and very little on the history of the basic lield curvature of the It,w+. the photographic lens. all easy to lind biographical details of .~me of th*."~, designers. Alter a synoptic intrt~luctory chapter, In the initial perit~ of the camera ( IFAO- the format decided u|xm by the author is I.ens and film development went hand in ISqO+ lens design was a ,,,low progress, to follow the progress of each len,, ty|'~, mt~,th' ,I,t h,~', ba~'d on Wollaston's hand. The author has divided his history separately in ,,hort, pithy chapters into several broad perk~,ts. Between 1840 menlo'us len,, tc. 1812) used with the coverin~ the InenP,ctl+. lav+d~al~, lens, camera ob.~'ura, and on the earh' more and I~'~ ti~, z~,d was h~r skew achromatic |~lrtr,lit lenses, early double obiet'tives ' k'n~-, to photograph inanimate objects

2~ lhflh.lm oi ti~,. % lelHltl¢ In~trun~ent .%wtetv No. 2~ (l~l) such as landscapes and portraits. completed at Wadham College, Oxford contributions, e.g. Reichenbach, Photographing buildings with their University, under the supervision of Fraunhofer, Merz, etc.,who wrested the straight lines showed the need for Gerard Turner. This book fillsthe need distinction of 'best astronomical distortionless lenses, such as the for a carefullydocumented descriptionof instrument makers' from the British in synunetri~l objectives of Ross and Sutton. instrument makers' progress in dividing the first half of the 19~ century; this The lenses developed between 1866 and the scales of precision astronomical deficiency could have been dealt with 1890 were to cope with the firstof the instruments-- the most criticaland most since the completion of the original fasterfilms, such as the Dallmeyer Rapid difficult part of the instrument. research. However, there has been very Rectilinear and the identical Steinheil Chapman's original thesis, his sobs~que~ littleother relevant research published in Aplanat. This design was fabulously papers, and now his book (which certainly the interim which would have made successful and was stillbeing produced makes the majority of the original research necessary extensive reconsideration of the in the 1930s; the author liststwenty-nine results more accessible) are important 1976 thesis,which thiswork follows fairly trade names under which this lens was contributions to the history of the closely. sold. Between 1890 and 1914 one of the development of scientific instruments, main problems thatoccupied the attention and members of our society will always The period covered with most of designers was astigmatism. Initially, welcome more contributions like them. thoroughness and insightis c 1675 -c 1800 astigmatism was traded in for field As with any pioneering work, reading (Flamsteed to Ramsden) and this is the curvature; as Piazzi Smyth remarked in this book will stimulate the reader and, period in which the greatestprogress was 1874, they 'relieved us of a blunder by should he / she be so disposed, encou rage made in the conversion from craft-style substituting a sin'. Now the problem could the consideration of many avenues for instrument making to mechanized be ovenmme by the introduction O4 barium further research. production. Dividing the Circle provides a crown glasses by Abbe and Schott of Zeiss, fine assessment of the progress of the first of the new specialized Similarity of titles immediately brings to instrument ma king, and will also provide photographic glasses. Famous mind Jim Bennett's The Diz~ed Circle those unfamiliar with the problems of anastigmats were the Tessor and Dagor. (1987) which covers astronomical, 17~ and 18e* century astronomy-- which Telephoto lenses were introduced in 1890. navigational and surveying instruments were largely positional in nature-- with The interwar period (1918-1940) was from (mainly) British,French and German insights into the methods and techniques particularlyactive in the development of sources. With such similarityone might adopted by astronomers. The technical new lenses:reversed telephotos for close- expect overlap, but Bennett's book deals advances of this period will easily be up work, for early Technicolor, wide with the products rather than the followed by the general reader, while aperture lenses, and many lenses for techniques of their prod uction, and so the those specially interested in engineering movie cameras. The Japanese influence two books are complementary. The practice will recognize such names as began to be felt from the 1950s, when production of each is quite different, the John Smeaton and Jesse Ramsden. lenses with aspheric surfaces, plastic colour photographs in Bennett's glossy Horologists will see the familiar names of lenses, lens coatings to cut down internal tome contrasting with the black and white Henry Hindley and George Graham, and reflections, and lens design by computer figures in Chapman's book. Clearly scientists will find the contributions of were also being developed. Chapman's is a more 'academic" work Flamsteed, Hooke and Halley interesting. (evidenced by the 700+ references and Indeed, 1 think this is another important The book can be quite technical at times, notes) and the publishers have chosen a aspect of Chapman's work: it provides an but the reader is helped by schematic non-cloth hardcover (sans dust jacket) appreciation of the interaction between diagrams O4 the lens systems. What would and grouping of figures to keep thecost of instrument makers and scientists which also have been helpful for the collector the volume reasonable. The editing has is not paralleled, except perhaps in the would have been three-dimensional been carefully done, with the flaws and development of navigational instruments diagrams of the lenses in theirmountings grammatical idiosyncrasies of the original in the 18th century. Dividing the Circle (as employed in Brian Coe's Cameras thesiscorrected. However, the lastchapter merits a place in the collectionO4 everyone (Nordbok, 1978)), and photographs or (I I), discussing Chapman's assessment concerned with the historyof astronomy drawings of the actual appearance of the of severalearly astrolabesand quad rants, or instrument making technology. lenses with their markings. On the other would in my opinion have been better hand, as the author points out, it is true placed as an appendix. Randall C. Broo&s that lenses appeared in a variety of Halifax, Nova Scotia mountings, and that a manufacturer was Though the title indicates the period quite capable of changing the structure of covered to be 1500-1850, it might more More People and Places in Irish Science a lens without changing its trade name; accurately have been given as c 1575 - c and Technology. Edited by. Charles Mollan, notable examples being Biogon, Ektar and 1800, for Chapman has set the stage with William Davis & Brendan Finucmw. Royal Planar. a discussion of Tycho Brahe's (1546-1601) Irish Academy, 19 Dau~m St., Dublin, ! SP90. pioneering contribution to large ISBN 0-901714-83-6 (Soflback) IR £5.95. Willem Hackmann measuring instruments and, for all intents Oxford and purposes, ends with the dividing Modern science can present a rather technique of Edward Troughton (1753- inhuman face to its students and even to Dividing the Circle:. The development 1835) which was fully developed by 1810. its practitioners. References in the of critical angular measurement in The relatively short description of William literature tersely cite disemboclied results astronomy 1500-1850, by Allan Chapman. Simms' adaption of a Troughton-style by a cluster of surnames; students Ellis Horu~od Libra,. of Space Science and dividing engine to a self-acting remember relationships, theorems and Space Technology, New York, London, mechanism hardly qualifies to extend the equations by the names of their Toronto, Sydney, T~. and Singapore, 1990, time span to 1850, since the significant originators, but with no appreciation of 209pp., hard coz~r. ISBN 0-13-217555-X, contributions of Thomas Jones, Allen, the persons cited or the long and often £15.95. Kater, Gamby, Ross, Everest and Nobert fascinating work that has led to the result. (to name a few) are not considered in the It falls to historians of science to put Dividing the Circleis based on Chapman's main text. Especially notable by its absence humanity back into the subject. More 1976 Ph.D. thesis of the same title, is any discussion of German makers" strength to their efforts, for the gulf

Bulletin of the Scientific instrument Society No. 28 (1991) 29 between Arts and Science reraains as wide outnumber the life scientists by more than nineteenth-century scientist individual as it was in C.P. Snow's day. two to one. Whether this reflects the ability and achievement were no less editors' chtfice or a trait of Irish inclination important than they are today, but Revealing the People and places behind is not clear. Of particular interest to background and education, social culture, the names is the purp(~se of More People readers of the Bulletin are authoritative and the language in which he worked, and Places in Iri~a Science and Technoh~cy. accounts O4 Thomas Grubb, and Yeates were all more regionalised than at the With~mt doubt, Charles Mollan, his co- and Son. The Armagh and Dunsink present time. The importance of this must editors and their contributors have observatories are among the places that be the lustification for a compilation of pn~uced a diverse and entertaining merit a brief history, and a section on Irish qx-ri~"ally Irish scientists, over and above volume; equally a a ha~k to be read and a institutions is a bunus not mentioned in that of national pride. The Irish, though, book to act as reference. One reason why the title. These latter include the British do not have a monopoly in publicising their offering rates more highly than the Association in Ireland, the Dublin School their achievements. The work is usual dictionary of biography is its liberal of Medicine, the Royal Dublin Society reminiscent of another A4 book: Scot/and's and imaginative use of illustr:alions. These and the Royal Irish Academy. Cultural Heritage: One Hundred Medical show subjects either in wot~cut, oils or and Scientific Fellows of the Royal fa~'iety of photographic likeness; their places of Each entry attempts to outline the subject's Edinburgh, Elected Jrmn 178.] to 1832 (edited work (interkw or exterior); their apparatus career, with some explanation of the S. Devlin-Thorp, Edinburgh, 1981), tocite or their pnwluctions, with variations relevance and context of the work. A spot a parochial and more specialised example. throughout according to the subjects. check on Samuel Haughton, the co-author The sequel to More People and Places... of a series of elementary manuals that could well hdlow the example of this The subjects themselves are some $ortv were among the few introductory work by citing the location of manuscript men and two women, presented over textbooks James Clerk Maxwell archives relevant to each subject. Perhaps about 100 pages in order of the year of recommended to his students, proved readers would care to reference their birth but referenced on an auxiliary disappointing in one respect -- these comparable works covering scientists of contents page in alphabetical order. textb~a)ks receive only a single general other nationalities. Almost all wereeither born or died in the sentence in the account of Haughton's nineteenth century. Not all were native achievements. This omission highlights I am reminded that during last year's SIS Irishmen, for included are Erwin one criticism of the entries: whether a meeting in Dublin ! could not find a copy Schroedinger and Walter Heitler (both of subject's main publications are listed of the preceding work by Charles Mollan whom became Irish citizens); Sydney appears to be left to the discretion of the and his team: Some People and Places in Ytamg, the physical chemist; William S. compiler, who more often than not omits Irish Science, though i had a willing five Ca~sset, the statistician known to all as them. With a reference book that is pound note in my pocket. Only four years 'Student'; and a few others who spent a obviously as well-researched as this, the after its publication, I was told that it was significant part of their working life in reader should be able to go directly to the long out of print. Unless the print run of Ireland. Dionysius Lardner is the only subject's own writings (if any). in the More People and Places... has been much representative of the substantial band of interests of scholarship, ! should also like more substantial, the same fate surely Irish-born soentists who made their to see the sources of all illustrative material awaits it. reputation abroad; a sequel volume noted in the text. promises to include more. Iohn S. Reid In today's world of international science Natural Phih~ophy Museum Phvsical scientists, be they physicists, the nationality of a scientist may well be a The Unizcrsity, Aberdeen chemists, mathematicians or ge~iogists, specious tag. For the successful

Instrumental Events

!

14 and 15 March 1991, Paris Information: Brigitte Schroeder-Gudehus, Saturday I0:00 to 17:00. Sunday 14:00 to directeur 17:00. Admission free. The Centre for Research in History of C.R.H.S.T., Cit# des sciences Science and Technology of the Cit~ des el de l'industrie April 4-7 1991, Edinburgh sciences et de l'industrie, Paris, is 75930 Paris Cedex 19 organizing an international coik~uium telephone: ( 3.3-! ) 40-05-75-52 entitled: The British Sundial Society will be holding its Conference and Annual General From 22 March 1991, Edinburgh La societ6 industrielle et ses mus6es: Meeting at Edinburgh. Visits will be made to see k~caldials and to the Royal Museum demande sociale et choix politiques. The Royal Museum of Scotland will be flndustrial Society and its Museums: of Scotland. Speakers will include Allan reopening its permanent exhibition Mills on 'Isaac Newton's Dials', Gordon Social Aspirations and Cultural Politics) INSTRUMENTS OF SCIENCE to the (1890- 1990) Taylor 'The Dials of Bonar' and George public. Many O4 the objects will be newly Higgs 'Polyhedral Dials'. There will also labelled in the light of more recent It is to be held at the Congress Centre, La be a Memorial Lecture named for the research. This fine and very important British Sundial S(~ety's founder Andrew Villette, Paris (C.C.V.) on the 14th and collection can be found at Chambers 15th March 199|. Somerville, who died recently. Details Street, Edinburgh EH! IJF. Tel: 031-225 from Mike Cowham, The Mount, Tort, 7534. Opening times are Monday to Cambridge, CB3 7RL. Tel: 0223 262684. f 30 Bulletin of lhe Scientific InstrumentS(~ety No. 28 (1991)

¢P 21 April 1991, London It is anticipated that the registration fee, contemporary aspects: restoration, excluding accomm(~ation, will be about cataloguing, research uses, theoretical and The Tenth International Scientific & £160. Further details from: Stanley methodological aspects, educational Medical Instrument Fair will be held at Warren, SIS Meetings Secretary, purposes, historical diffusion and trade, the Portman Hotel, Portman Square, Department of Archeological Sciences, exhibition, etc" The registration fee of lxmdon W1 on Sunday 21 April 1991, University of Bradford, Richmond R(md, 120,000 Italian Lira (about £55, $110), 10:00 to 17:00. I~,tails from the Organizer: Bradford, West Yorkshire, BD71DP, U.K. which is payable in Bologna, will cover Peter Delehar, 146 Portobello Rc~u:l, Tel: 0274 601434 (evenings). coffee, lunch, the reception and London W11 2DZ. Tel: 081-866 8659. The symposium dinner, entrance to museums Society will be one of the exhibitors and 5-7 July 1991, Cambridge and a visit to Ferrara. For information and many of its Officers will be present. offers of pa pets or poster d ispla ys con tact The British Suciety for the History of Prof. G. Dragoni, Museo di Fisica, Via From the end of April 1991, Science is organizing a meeting lrnerio 46, !-40I 26 Bologna, Italy. Tel: 39- Cambridge PHYSICAL LABORATORIES at 51 351099. Fax: 39-51 247244. Cambridge. Details will appear when An unusual exhibition A DECADE OF available, or contact the organizer: Dr. 27 October 1991, London ACCESSIONS: AN EXHIBITION OF Andrew Warwick, St. Johns College, SELECTED ACQUISITIONS MADE BY Cambridge. The Eleventh International Scientific& THE WHIPPLE MUSEUM, 1980-1990 will Medical Instrument Fair will be held at be staged by The Whipple Museum of the 18 July 1991, London the Portman Hotel, Portman Square, History of Science, Free School Lane, London WI on Sunday 27 Octc~)er 1991., Cambridge, CB2 3RH, Tel: 0223 334545. The Antiquarian Horological S(x:iety is I0:00 to 17:00.Details from theOrganizer: This fascinating retrospective will be open holding a meeting in the Lecture Theatre Peter Delehar, 146 Portobello Road, Monday to Friday 14:00 to 16:00, of the Science Museum, London, at 18.30 London WI 2DZ. Tel: 081-866 8659. admission free. for 18.45, to which members of the SIS are cordially invited. Will Andrews, Curator Chippewa Falls, Wisconsin, U.S.A. 13-17 May 1991, The Netherlands of the Harvard Collection, will talk on: THE COLLECTION OF HISTORICAL The supercomputer manufacturers, Cray The Society is organising a trip to Leiden SCIENTIFIC INSTRUMENTS AT Research, have recently opened a on the occasion of the re-opening in its HARVARD UNIVERSITY, U.S.A; 1500 Computer Museum. Housed in one of the new premises of the very much enlarged TO THE PRESENT DAY. firm's buildings, it highlights the Museum Boerhaave. We will also visit development of their products as well as Delft to see the Gendesy and Weights and The meeting will be preceded by light the computers that the founders were Measures Museums; Mauritshuis, The refreshments (at a cost of approximately working on before they started the Hague; Teyler's Museum and Crucquis £1 per head) and end at 20.30. company, it is hoped that it will be the pumping station, Haarlem; Maritime basis for a museum of local industry and Museum, Amsterdam; University Further information from Mrs Rita technology. Because the museum is within Museum, Utrecht. Two private collections Shenton, Tel. 081-894 6888. the company premises accessto the public will be specially placed on display at the is currently very limited. Boerhaave for our visit, and the public 9-13 September 1991, Bologna museums will open store rooms for us. Compiled by. Peter Delehar Several of the collections are not generally Eleventh Symposium of the International London on show. Union of the History and Philosophy of Science will be based at the Dipartimento The Annual Dinner of the Society will be di Fisica deil'UniversitA di Bologna. The at Leiden on Wednesday 15 May. This theme will be "The meaning of historical will be a black tie occasion. scientific instruments and the

Classified Advertising Charges MICROSCOPY & related subjects. Book Whole page or flier £150 catalogue available on request from Half page £ 75 Savona Books (W. Dr•use), 9 Wilton Road, Quarter page £ 40 Hornsea, Nth. Humberside, HUI8 IQU. Eighth page £ 25 Classified £ 5 Ifor up to 24 words, then 20p per word up to max of 50 words) DUE TO a change of direction, we now offer our MAILING LIST, updated __.1600 These rates allow placement according to the run of the printing; for a designated page names. Instruments-Books- position add 20%. A block booking over one year (four issues) entitles the advertiser Ephemera. OFFERS INVITED. Harriet to a 10% discount. Wynter Ltd, 50 Redcliffe Road, London SW10 9NJ, 071-352 6494. The rates quoted above cover publication of the advertisement in camera-ready form only; any artwork required on the part of the printer must be charged for separately. TELESCOPES WANTED: Buying fine Advertisers will appreciate that some latitude must be allowed for in the space quality telescopes. Reflector and refractor, occupied according to the format supplied. tripod mounted, floor standing, table mount and early hand held. Of great Please send your advertisements, •long with • cheque or money order for the interest are cased and presentation appropriate •mount, to Desmond Squire, 137 Coombe Lane, London SW20 0QY. s examples. Anthony Catania, PO Box 903, Redmond, Wa. 98052 USA. i Bulletin of the Scientificinstrument Socie~ No. 28 (19qD 31 ,21.I~ .i"2.M4q I I ,, P.O. Ih~ ~1~ Special Auction " ~~~ ( alif,,rnia .)~"7 • i.,~" ~ ~k"- " S c it nce tY 'l'ech nOfo,d.q"~ Spring '91 .Science & Technology f l ~k Book Catalog $2.00

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32 Bulletin o! the ~it'l)tllic Instrument Society No. 28 (1991) ,d

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Bulletin of the ~-ientiiic Instrument Society No. 28 (1991) Table of Contents Appropriate material will be referenced in Physics Abstracts

Editorial and Announcements ...... 1

lm~tmakers and the Royal Arms ...... John R. Millburn 2

Women in the Nineteenth Century Scientific Instrument Trade in Britain ...... AD. Morrison-Low 7

Antoine Redier and His Tower Barometers ...... Richard Chavigny 12

Facsimilefile -- The Optical Diagonal Machine or Zograscope ...... Allan Mills 18

I' The yon C,ersdorf Collection: A Little-known German Philosophical Cabinet ...... Howard Dawes 20

Charles Babhags and Mechanical Contrivances ...... Doron Swade 22

Puzzle Pictures ...... 23

Letters to the Editor ...... Wynter, Wetton, Simpson, Gee, Mewes 24

Market Place ...... David Weston 25

Reports of Meetings and Exhibitions ...... Bristow, Kistern~nn 27

Book Reviews ...... Hackmann, Brooks, Reid 28 Instrumental Events ...... 30

Advertisements ...... 31

The Scientific Instrument Society Membership The Scientific Instrument Society (SIS) was formed in April 1983 to bring together people with a specialist interest in scientific instruments, ranging from precious antiques to electronicdevices only recently out of production. Collectors, the antiques trade, museum staff, professional historians and other enthusiasts will find the varied activities of SIS suited to their tastes. The Society has an international membership. Activities Regular evening meetings are held in London, as well as occasional one-day and week-end conferences in attractiveprovincial locations.Speakers are usually experts in theirfield, but all members are welcome to give talks.Special 'behind-the-scenes'visits to museums are a useful feature.Above all,the Society'sgatherings are enjoyable socialoccasions, providing opportunities to meet others with similar interests. The SIS Bulletin This is the Society's journal, published four times a year and sent free to members. It is attractively produced and illustrated, and contains informative articlesabout a wide range of instruments as well as book and exhibition reviews, news of SIS activities,and meetings of related societies.There is a lively letterspage, and 'mystery objects' are presented. Another feature is a classified advertisement column, and antique dealers and auction houses regularly take advertising space, so that collectorsmay find the Bulletin a means of adding to their collections. How to join The annual subscription is due on I January. New members are asked to pay a joining fee in addition to the annual subscription.

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