Scientific Instrument Society
Bulletin March No. 52 1997 Bulletin of the Scientific Instrument Society ISSN 0956-8271
For Table of Contents, see back cover
President Gerard Turner
Honorary Committee Howard Dawes, Chairman Stuart Talbot, Secreta~. Jt~hn Didc~k, Treasurer Willem Hackmann, Edator Jane Insley,AdvertL~mf Manacer James Stratton, MeetingsSecrefa~ Ron Bristow Gloria Clifton Mike Cowham Arthur Middleton Alan Morton Liba Taub Trevor Waterman
Membership and Administrative Matters The Executwe Officer (Wing Cmdr. Geoffrey Bennett) 31 High Street Stanford m the Vale Farmgdon Tel: 01367 710223 Oxen SN7 8LI-[ Fax: 01367 718963 See inside back co1~,rf~r re.formation on membership
Editorial Matters Dr. Willem D. Hackmann Museum of the History of Science Old Ashmolean Building Tel: 01865 277282 (office) Broad Street Fax: 01865 277288 Oxford OXI 3AZ Tel: 01608 811110 (home) e-mail:[email protected] Advertising Jane lnsley Science Museum South Kensington Tel: 0171-9~ 8110 London SW7 2DD Fax: 0171-9,'~ 8118 e-mail: j.insleyOnmsi.ac.uk
Organization of Meetings Mr James Stratton 101 New Bond Street Tel: 0171-629 6602 London WIY 0AS Fax: 0171-629 8876
Typesetting and Printing Lithoflow Lid 26-36 Wharfdale Road King's Cross Tel: 0171-833 2344 London N1 9RY Fax: 0171-833 8150
Price: £6 per issue, including back numbers where available. (Enquiries to the Executive Officer) The Scientific Instrument Society is Registered Chanty No. 326733
~ The Scientific Instrument Society 1997 Editorial
From O-Ring to Moon Shet graph of Cad Neuh6~r's dtrument to Tumer's previous catak~ue published m labour troubles shortly before he left the Ig73 c~ the earlier instruments a.,w~ciated On a number of occasions we have firm in 1925, when he must have been in with Martinus van Marum (17~-IH37). grappled with what as colle~ and his early seventies. That was the time of That catak~ue set the benchmark fol- historians we mean by the term 'scientific the riots between fa~ists, communists, lowed ever since by m~t writers of i~trument'. We would all agree that a and the vark)us socialistfactions. "re Pas's im~trument catak~guea. The second cata- chess staff, a theodolite or a micn~cope is next piece will be on F.W. Bresthaupt & k)gue reviewed by Michael PrichanJ is a scientific instrument, but what about a ~Cohn, based on inforn~atkm supplied by quite a different kettle of fish but unique ck~k, a camera, or a radio? Every one ol that firm. m its own way Ntwman Channing and the last three items is catered [or by Mike Dunn have attempted to pn~uce specialist Ioumais. A camera collector is Another Bulletin feature that should have the first comprehensive list of British on the whole not interested in micro- an international flavour is 'Market Race'. camera makers. Their catalogue is similar scopea, and a clock collector not b)' and SIS members have started to r~mcl to but much narn~ver in sc~t, than Gkwia large in raditm (although I know at lea~ my entreaties to report on the state of the Clift(m's DIr~'Io~ t~ B.hsh S('ienH.{ic one exception to this rule). ! consider the market in their country. You may Instrument Make~ 15.~)-1851. I have interests of the Scientific Instrument remember that in the last issue Aid. J. h~md both I~s immensely useful as Sa~ciety to be overarching~ that rq that Klut dealt with the s¢~ene in the Nether- in them we find information which the membership has very wide interests lands, while in this issue Bj6rn U. would take us a king time to ferret out indeed. I try to reflectthis bn)ad church gambeck reports on what has been even if we had all the multifarious in the Bulletin. There are members whn happening in Germany. it makes rather smrces at hand. These two directtwies collect a specific category of instrument, pessimistic reading, and 1 wonder do highlight the problem when specia- and others whose prime aim is to collect whether his compatrk~ts agree with his lists pn~duce a catak~ that is bn~Kler devices that highlight scientific break- views. A little while ago I asked one of than their ex[r~rti~ allows for. Thus, the thn)ughs tw iml:xntant innovations. The our Belgian members to report on the important maker (and later firm) of humble O-ring fits into this latter instrument market and collecting scene L~dltmd is covered bv Clifkm in eight categm'y. I have to admit that I have not in his country, but he felt that them was detailed entries, whi|e he is virtually yet come across a collector of O-rings little to wnte about, so I am now hoping dL~mai.~d by Chanmng and Dunn with (there may not be many shapes but there that the next 'Market Race' will deal with ' We can find a Ckmrge Dolkmcl, t~tickan, certainly are many sizes), but it is the USA. I am very much open to at 543 St Paul's Churchyard in the 184~k, inctmcei'vable that vacuum technok~y ~u~tkm~ h'om budding rel~wters kw and it is said that they were established and even space flight could have made write ups of 'Market Places' h~nn their m 17~'. Next several of their camera their dramatic advances without this countries: Canada, New Zealand, Swit- mtxtels are mentitwwd, and the ~wy is simple seal. Yet, as Allan Mills, points zerland, to name but a few. Your w~wld is ctmtinued by refemng to their merger in out in 'Who Invented the O-Ring?', the our oyster. 1927 to bectwne Dolkwid & Aitchinson. origins of this device are far fnwn clear. ]he latter detail is, of cx~rse, not in This brings me to the question: 'How Another feature that gives the Bulletin its Clifton's directtwy ~ she stops (mote or many of our historical instruments are intematk~nal flavour are the (by re)w) less) in IHSI. ro take am~ther example made up of similar ubiquihms but vital famous (if not m~tork)us) instrumental which gtw's the other way: Dalmeyer. The coml~)nents aix)ut the origins of which travek~,s by those three indomitable tml~rtant maker of cameras, JH Dell- we know very little?' researchers of the exotic, Jane insley, meyer, who became well kr~,wn for Anita McCtmnell and Alison Mtwrism- photographic lenses, takes up alnam This is a charivari of an L~gte which Low. This time they find themselve~ m two pages of details in Charming and shtnlld have s~wnething of interest for I~wence. Jenny Wett(~n has reached Part Dunn. What is J.H.'s relatkm.,,hip to H. every one. It has quite an internat~l II of her series on scientific mstmrnent DallmeyeT wh~e entry in Clilttm is a flavour as my policy of encouraging making in Manchester ~)m 1870 until very. brief three lines which sta~ that he trans-natitw~al ctmtributors is beginning 1940, and them is yet am~ther mystery was an optician in 18~!? to bear fruit. Thus, what I find Particu- ~'t against which to pit your wit. As larly gratifying is that an increasing far as the Weldon rangetinder is con- The hrus tm this trcasi~m in 'Letters number t~ mm-Bntish SIS membe~ are cerned, this enigma has at last been fnnn the Editor' is very much on the m~w willing to put pen to paper. In this firmly cracked. pn)blems t~ replacing ~;ld lacquer Fhis Bulletin we have Mathieu Willemsen correspendence was sparked off by a from Haarlem with a paper on shagreen By far the longest paper is Stephen request from (~rdon Bu.s.~v in the found ~m 18th century, scientific instru- Johnsttm's detailed historicalanalysis of previous Bulletin for inftwmatit'~n on the ments, and John B. te Pas h~)m Zeist tm the devek~ment of the anthrmwneter. best techniques. Apart thorn the kqter~ Neuhofer & Sam of Vienna. This is the What is especially pleasing is that this that have been reproduced. I also first of a number of short pieces he research was a~qisted by a grant fnnn the received st~'eral others. (k~e was m~n intends to contribute tm Austrian, Ger- Scientific Instrument Sa~ciety. I cannot R~m Bristow drawing my attenti,m h) man and Swiss makers of surveying think of a better way hw the SIS to use two intert.,sting items in M(drl ~:n~m,w. instruments, firms such as Starke & st)me of its funds" then by helping both in vol. 170 The first in no 4010 (2 Kammerer, Kraft & Sa~hn, Fennel and scholars with their research, especially February 19st) is an article by red Kern. The present one is especially when this results in such a tangible Pepper, 'Metal l~,tecti~m & Finishes', intriguing as it is based on a document product Ior the Bulle~in. pp. 144-145, and the ~md in no 401q wntten by Carl Neuhbfer, the son of the (21 June 19oh), pp. b~3-6q4, is a letter in founder. ! can imagine him, aged ninety, Of the three reviews in this issue, two am which a hwmer employee t~ R~x,~ of in the middle of the Sectmd Wtwld War, of catalogues. Robert Ande~m reviews London describe~ several aspects of writing down his reminL~enc'ea, perhaps Gerard Turner's catalogue Of the 19th tel~'ope manufacture in the 1930s, in an attempt to hark back to saner times. century instruments in the justly famou~ including the art of lacquering. Another NOt that life was uneventful in the years Teyler Mu~um m Haarlem. Mt~t O~ US of the corrw~mdents is Jack Thornton of following the First World War. There is a got our first glimpse of this magnificent Manawatu m New Zealand, who wn~e brief reference in the penultimate para- ~cientific instruments cxdlection thnmgh both to Gordon Btm, ey. and to me. I have
Bulk'tm~the~enU~lmtnum, nt~:~cwty No. 52 (l~t~') repn~luced the pertinent parts of his letters in the 'Letters' feature One of the rea~ms for (;ordon Bus.,~,v's mtere~t was his attempt to reproduce a particular type of lacquer u.,,ed on Marconi tn..,truments m Iq00 This he achwved on .qaturdav 21 I_hxember as it haplm,ned without re- cour~ to any of the information gener- ated by the request tn the Bulh'tm! ~me month~ earlier he had alreadv managed to reproduce a somewhat ditlerent lacquer finish as u~'d on the Marconi (.;ra~.~hopper' Morse key of 18q~. t~e of the ten replicas (Fig, l) ~as prt.'~mted to HRH l'rinct~s Alexandra on the t~:casion of the Marconi International Fello..~hip Award dinner held at the Victoria & Albert Mu~um on 4 lune 1%.
£1.2m Lottery Grant for the Museum of the History of Science at Oxford
It is a great pleasure to announce that the ,Mur,eum of the Histon.' of Science has betm awarded a grant o'f £l,I~5,000 from the Heritage l.x~tterv Fund. II was one of 23 prolects chosen from 74 applications to .,,hart" a £137 million pay out. The grant will provide for a new special exhibition galleD', an tMucation rt~m for lectures and ~,minars, and a new IibraD' reading Fig.I (.)~t,' ot t/zc tt'~z rc/,/t,,z~, ,,t the I,~O~ t;r,z~d~,V/,,,r A|or,q" k,'ll L,;o ~z,HHed b&,llt,;,' (!~ It, rt~m. New studio and workshop facil- slm;~') t0 commemorate the Marconi Centena~. in 1990. =ties will allow the staff to maintain the exhibition programme, improve displays, About £I.~I,(~.)0 of partnership funding and a programme of special exhibitions, and refurbish gallent~ throughout the is still neecled. It is planned to start work Public interest m the Mu~um has also Museum A new climate-controlk,d store on the pro~'t this autumn and complete been promoted by an extensive intemet will be important h,r the preservation of within a ,,'ear. site (address: http://www.mhs.ox.ac.uk) vulnerable material. The move of the which has many virtual visitors who may library to new accommodation will Last ,,'ear 31,601 people visited the then try. and visit the Mu~um in ti~ release the whole of the vaulted ba~t~- Mt=~,um. in fact, visitor numbers have flesh. The Mu~um also has a new ment (which housed the first chemical ri~n dramatically over the last few years graduate course in the 'History of laboratory in a public building in thanks to initiativt~ such as revi~,d Science: Instruments, Mu~ums, Science, England) for u.,,e as a public galler}'. opening hours (including Saturdays) Technology'.
Case Studies and Afternoon Conference at the Whipple Museum in Cambridge
•"~ nT~rtt'd tn the prt'%|otr~Bulh'tm the ~A'htppleMu~,um o| tiN.,Ht,,torv of Science in (amhrtdge ha,~ a .,,eriesof changing di.~plavs intended to bnng the ~ork of the lk,partment of the ||i~,ton," and I h,lt~ ph) ol ~k'lence into the Mu~um. Currently, there are five ca~ studies m the galh, r}, including an exhtbd on the maker EllasAIh,n (c. 1~8~l-16~3)by Dr Hester Higton, as well as In.~tr m;ents ~ Attra, tum a display on magneh~m b~ Dr Patricla Fara, and So:e,., fi~rthe lhwHh.r by I)r Brianl)olan ]-hi, Mu~.um is normally open Mtmdav to Fridays from 2 to 4 pm, hut v, ot:ca~onalb,, ck~,ed dunng Uni~.t,l~.it~, ~acahons
llae L urator. Dr l.,ba Taub, has reF~rted in this i,,,sue's 'Cum.nt and Futuw Events' that on Friday, 6 June, there will be an aflerru~m c~mfermace from 2 to 5 pm by ~,tuth.nts from the Department ol the Ht~ton' and l'hfl,~phv of .qcwnce. rhev will deliver .,,horl lalks tna the mstrumenls (m ~ h~ch thev art, currentlv ~orklng.
lO00-Day Countdown Day at Greenwich
The Nahonal Manttmt. Mu-,eum Pres~, t)ffice ha., put out a 'pres,, n, lea,~' with the a/zv title: 'flome of World Time C'ek~rates iIXK)-Day Countdown tot he %h]h.nntum wdh Day of ~,p,clal i-),tmt,, ant|Free Public Ent~" ~'durdav • - •. 5 April 1~7 is the "1000-Dav Countdown Day' (I has en't actually ~ounted u~ the days nw~,lf but will take their word for it) when the "Milk'nntum Starts Here', that is on the Meridian Li~, of the, Old Ob~erxatory On tlaat davthe pub c wdl hart, the 'tin and onh, chance to witness the Greenwich Milh~nnium Countdown Clock ~,,F~'c=all)-tomm~,~,ioned from Ac,:urist Watches) reading 'i000" days. ]he (.k~k will be I:~t~,itioned ~m the Meridian I me in thP ' o ~ourt) ard- the |'~,int from which the new M,Ik.nnium .'ill ~'gin for the world ]he ItKK)t~ visitor~ *'ill rL~.'eivea sp..-ial I~N)~av E'cL~unr~'~vr~n girt pack and all ~ =~,itors v~'ill t~. olfewd a complimentary 'the Millennium Starts tk, re' badge'. Events tm that day will include 'Time in Our Hand.,' or~anv,ed b', the Worshipful Company of Ch~kmaker~ in which vi.,,ttors can obtain a fret, chwk tm the accuracy of their watch,~ and d|',co~ er the ',kill,, a'nd technology td t|meket,p|ng; the n.lea~e of 11301|halh~m~ fn~m the Meridian I ine at 1 rio m when t T m and lots of other e~ent,, mcludm,, 'The Cham-a-n- ~ ..... o. ,, ; . ,, • p he imeball d 1~ . ~" r-, • ,,,u,,,m ~m~m ~aoe ant= .',trolling entertatner~. What would the repudedlv stuf~ &~ard of 1 onK=tude have made ot all this? Still, =t ~ould i~, a g~l day out [or the kids and, who knows, you could well he that lucky "l[100th visitor.
Bulletin of the ~':~'it~tific in,,,trumcmt 5c~Hy No. 52 (1997) Cover Story The Magus and the Armillary
)
Fig.l Hermes portrayed as an E,cypt~an ahhemist holdm¢ ah,ft an armillary sphere sixnifvin,¢ the es~ntml uni~. of the macn~'osnt and the micn~c~sm. En,¢ravin¢ from the atelier of Lucas ]ennis. From: Michael Maier, Symbola aureae mensae duodecim nationum (fran.kfi, rt, 1617L p. 5. Fig.2 BareheadedHermes with arrailla~, sphere and dwiders lat the Barnabite Brothers, second half lbth centu~. C,atah~ue of an exhibition held in the istituto e Mu,ceo di Storia della Scwnza in Florence. D~'ribed in Firenze e ia Tt~,,3canadei Medial nell Europa del Cinquecento (Florence: Electra Editrice. Centro di Edi:ami Alinari-Scala, 1980}.
In the National Gallery there is a fine al~we the sand-glad. However, it was supposal to have been di~overed in his ~)rtrait by the Flemish Mannerist painter the fine young lady with her delicate tomb (although other scholars have Jan C,~x~aert of a young girl holding an armillary sphere which first made me traced it to the writings of the Islamic armillary sphere. She may well be aware of this particular imagery. alchemist Jabir ibn Hayyan, better known Jacqueline de Bourgogne as Gt~saert in the West by his Latin name of Getx,r). ~rved the house of Burgundy through- The armillary sphere became the tradi- The tablet's text proclaims the quintes- out his lifetime, i have often wtmdered tional attribute of Hermes Trismegistus in sence of alchemical thought in that it ahout the significance of the armillary the Rtmaissance.' 'Thrice Great Hermes' is refers to the essential unity of the sphere in this scene. The little girl the mythical patron of alchemy and of macn~cosm and the micmct~m in 'that appears to be pointing to a specific spot, Hellenistic magical astral mysticism. which is above is like that which is perhaps her star sign? The armillary Hermes is the Greek name for Mercury, below'. The text is the source of many sphere, and celestial and terrestrial the messenger of the gods. 2 He was also alchemical emblems in which the fathert;f gk~'s, too, became i~pular painterly identified as Thoth Hermes. Thoth was the l'hik~)pher's Stone is portrayed as the sun, its mother as the mtam. The Stone emblematic conceits. Terrestrial glt~'s the ancient Egyptian scnhe M the gt~s, was carried in the womb (or belly) of the certainly became increasingly common associated with the n~on, with the realm wind and nursed by the earth A typical in engravings and paintings s~n after of the dead, and with time. A large corpus emblematic working of these elements is colonial expansion was in full swing. of early alchemical and magical writing is in (Fig.l) Michael Maier's Symh~la aurea Perhaps this device was meant to signify ascribed to Hermes l~th by Islamic mensae (Frankfurt, that the sitter was 'a man of the world'. alchemists, and somewhat later in the dm~leclm nationum 1617). Hermes in traditional Egyptian He might, if he were a ruler, point to his West (hence alchemy was oiten referred n~bes, is pointing to the sun and motto domain. A particular l~ignant example to as the 'Hermetick Philosophy'). Thus. fused in the alchemical fire. In his right is the painting of c.1640 by Antonio de although his was km~wn in A~'h'pius hand he holds aloft an armilla~' sphere Perada m~w in the Kunsthistorisches medieval Europe, it was only during the signifying the mysterious cosmic agent, Museum of Vienna. But in this case it is late fifteenthcentury that the large bulk of not the ruler but an angel who is doing the universal whoh,ness wh~z~e influence his magical writing became widely is necessary for the creation of the the pointing, for the theme is the circulated in Latin, translatedby Marsilin Phih~pher's St(~ from this transience of imperial power. She is Ficim~ at the request of his Patrtm, Cosimo fusion' indicating the imminent break up of the Medici. Renaismnce imagination was Hapsburg empire which became a fact captured by his A~'lepius in which he The earlier known iIlustratitm of Hermes with the signing of the Peace of West- describes the ancient Egyptian art of with an armilla~, sphere is ~m a manu- phalia in 1648. Nil omne ('Everything is bringing statues to life,and the Tabula script astmlahe dating from the second nothing') is Perada's message written Smaragdina ('Emerald Tablet') which was half of the sixteenth cefltuty attributed to
Bulletinof the ScientificImtrument Society No. 52 (1997) repn~tuced the I~'rtinent parts of hi,,, letters in the 'l#,tters' teatuw. One of the rea~ms for t ;ordon Bus,.~,v's interest w,i,,, his attempt to repnxluce a particular type ot lacquer used on Marconi instruments .n 1~) This he achie~,ed on Saturday 21 I)ecember as it happened without re- court, to an~ of the infi,rmation gener- att~.t b~,' the rtxluest in the Bulh'tm! %mu, month~, earlier he had alreadv managtxt to reproduce a .,,ome~hai different lacquer finish as u~'d on the Marconi (.;rasshopper' Morse kev of ISqq. (~e of thc ten replicas (Fig. I) was prt~,nted to HRH l'nncess Alexandra on the t~.'casion of the Marconi International Fellow~,hip A~ard dinner held at the Victoria & Albert Museum on 4 June i~.
£1.2m Lottery Grant for the Museum of the History of Science at Oxford
It is a great pleasun- to announce that the Mu~,um of the flmtorv of ~ience has been awarded a grant o'f £I ,I~5,000 from the Heritage Lotten" Fund. II was one of 23 prole~'ts ch~,en from 74 applications to .~ha~, a £I.17 million pay oul. The grant will provide for a new special exhibiti,m galle~-, an education rt~,m for lectures and .,,eminars. and a new library reading Fig.l ( )m" ot the t,', r,'l,hca, ,,1 tlw 180~ ¢,r,~sh,,l,l,l.r" Mor~,' k,'l/Is,, nam,'d I,¢taus,' ,,~~ts rt~m, New studio and worksfiop facil- shape) to comm,'m,,rate th," M,m,,ni C,'nhvlarv in 1990. ~tit,s will allow the staff to maintain the exhibition programme, improve displays, About £I~,000 of partnership funding and a pn~ramme of special exhibitkms. and refurbish galleries throughout the is still needed. It is planned to start work Public interest in the Mu~um has also Mu~,um A new climate- Case Studies and Afternoon Conference at the Whipple Museum in Cambridge A.,, rep,~rted in the prevlou,, Bidlehn the Whipple Mu~,um of the Histon. nf .':~ience in Camhrid e has a series ~ brlng the v.ork ot the [)t,,artment of tht ui,,'-~- --~ ',=-:, , , :. " g . t f changing displays intended to r ',, u =v ,=no i nm~,pm,' ot :-,¢tence into the Mu.,,eum Currently there are five case studies in the ~allury. mdt,dm~ an t.xhih!t on the maker Elias'Allen (c. l~l~l-l&~3) by Dr Hester Hi ton s . :' - ma~r)et!,,m b~ D r Patrlcia Fara, and Sc,eme ti,, the lr,~, "/h.r by I)I' Brlan't~a Tk,, x,.'..g!~.." a; _~ell as, Instrume,it., c~ Attr~ t!0.n, a display tin. Pm . DUI I'~ t~ta,,ionall" . v do*,ed during• Uniter,,itv %acations lan ...... ,.,u.~-u,. i.~ i~orma v- t~en Mtmaay to rnoa Y"s from 2 to 4 lhe Curator. l)r [.iba Taub. has rt,l~rttxl in Ibis i.~sue's 'Current and Futun, Events' lhal on Friday, 6 June there will be an altern~m confertm~ m~m 2 to 5 pm bv ~tudents from the Department of the l|islon, and l'hih~,phy of Science. |'hey will dehver .short talks em the instruments tm v,htch they art, curruntly working. 1000-Day Countdown Day at Greenwich ['he Xatlonal Maritime Mu.~.um I're~ Otfice has put out a 'prt,~,, relea~, with the azz " : ' , ( ountdown tot he Mtlh,nntum wlth Da-' -~ ~-----:-' "-., - ,r ,) ~ : ,- , . I . y title Hom( of W~,rld Time Celebrates 10(10-Day the (.) d ()b'-a,r~alorv On that da ' , n • li,- =.ill k ...... , • .• :_ u rl r 11j wnen the 'Millt mnlum" Starts" Heft,', lhal is on the Meridian Llne of ~, th¢ rub ...... ,,~t tht hr~,t and only chance to witr~ the (,nt'enwich Millennium Countdown Clock I~pellall~-xl~mmlsn,~ned tram A¢~-uri.~t Watcht.,s) reading 'hlllO' daw The Ck~.k will " " , • courtvar'd - the r~int from ~hich the n-,w ~Am ...... , ,_ . . -; .... be J:~,Ittoned tm the Meridian l.ine m the Ot~ervato ~,|t pack and al~ ~ i~flor~ will be o|fi.rt~ a ~:,',m¢~:'~'u'-", -w-m,~'~gm.!t,',r me world, lh.e IllOOlh vL,,itors will receive a special ItKlO-dav Countdo~/l'~n r...,,e,,,,-~' ine ,~uwnnlum .~tarts Here" badge'. Events on that d,ly will include'Time in Our ||and,,' organi,~'d by the Wor~hlph,I Company of Clockmaker~ in which x isitors can obta - .. • di~o~ er the ,,kill., and technoh~v of tim| ket L n-'- .L , ...... - . m a free (beck ¢m the a¢(uracy of thew watches and "e~ ' "W R, ute rt'led'~4, Ol lilU(I balloons irom the Men " " anti lot,; ot other event,, including "The Chamr~a~zne Mumm R,II .... u ...... dlan l.me at 1.00 pm when the Timebal drops; ...... ~,ace an,] stowing entertainers. What would the repudedlv stuff' Board of I~nKflude have made of all this. ~till, it could be a genii day out for the kids and who knows you could well be that lucky "i(l(10th visitor. Bulletin of the ~'ientific Instrument ~K:iety No. 52 (1997) Cover Story The Magus and the Armillary Fig.l Hermes portrawd as an E,sly.pttan alchemist h,,Idmg, alaft an armilla~ sphere si~cnifvin.¢ the essential uni~ of the macrocosm and the micn~'osm. En¢ravin¢ from the atelier of Lucas ]ennis. From: Michael Maier, Symbo]a aureae mensae duodecim nationum (Fran .kfurt, 1617), p. 5. Fig.2 Bareheaded Hermes u,ith armilla~ sphere and dividers b~ the Barnabite Brothers, second half lOth centu~.. CatahRue af an exhibithm held in the istituto e Mu.c,eo di Storia della Sclen~ in Florence. Described in Firenze e la T(vscana dei Medici nell Eun~pa del Cinquecento ¢Florence: Electra Editrice, Centro di Edizhmi Alinari-Scala, 1980). In the National Gallery there is a fine above the sand-glass. However, it was supl~l to have been di~overed in his l~rtrait by the Flemish Mannerist painter the fine young lady with her delicate tomb (although other scholars have Jan Gossaert of a young girl holding an armillary sphere which first made me traced it to the writings of the Islamic armillary sphere. She may well be aware of this particular imagery. alchemist Jabir ibn Hayyan, betterknown Jacqueline de Bourgogne as Gossaert in the West by his Latin name of Geher). served the house of Burgundy through- The armillary sphere became the tradi- The tablet's text proclaims the quintes- out his lifetime. I have often wondered tional attribute of Hermes Trismegistus in sence of alchemical thought in that it about the significance of the armillary the Renaissance.' 'Thrice Great Hermes' is refers to the essential unity of the sphere in this scene. The little girl the mythical patnm of alchemy and of macrocosm and the micn~cosm in 'that appears to he pointing to specific spot, a Hellenistic magical astral mysticism. which is above is like that which is perhaps her star sign? The armiilary Hermes is the Greek name for Mercury, below'. The text is the source of many sphere, and celestial and terrestrial the messenger of the gods.: He was also alchemical emblems in which the father of gk~es, fix), became popular painterly identified as 'Thoth Hermes. Thoth was the Phik~pher's St~me is i~rtraved as emblematic conceits. Terrestrial gh~,s the ancient Egyptian scrihe of the gods, the sun, its mother as the mexm. The Stone certainly became increasingly common associated with the m(xm, with the realm was canned in the womb (or l~,lly)of the in engravings and paintings soon after of the dead, and with time. A large corpus wind and nursed by the earth. A typical colonial expansion was in full swing. of early alchemical and magical writing is emblematic working of these elements is Perhaps this device was meant to signify ascribed to Hermes both by Islamic in (Fig.l) Michael Mater's Symbola aurPa that the sitter was 'a man of the world'. alchemists, and somewhat later in the men~e du~decim natianum (Frankfurt, He might, if he were a ruler, point to his West (hence alchemy was often referred 1617). Hermes in traditional Egyptian domain. A particular poignant example to as the 'Hermetick Philosophy'). Thus, n)bes, is pointing to the sun and m,xm is the painting of c.IMO by Antonio de although his A~l~pius was known in fu.,~,d in the alchemical fire. In his right Perada now in the Kunsthistorisches medieval Europe, it was only during the hand he holds aloft an armilla~, sphere Museum of Vienna. But in this case it is ]ate fifteenthcentury that the large bulk of signi.tying the mysterious c,~mic agent, not the ruler but an angel who is doing his magical writing became widely the universal wholent.,sswh~se influence the pointing, for the theme is the circulated in Latin, translatedby Marsilio is necessary for the creation of the transience of imperial power. She is Ficino at the request of his patnm, C~imo Phil~)pher's Stone from this h=sion.' indicating the imminent break up of the Medici. Renaissance imagination was Hapsburg empire which became a fact captured by his A~lepius in which he The earliestknown illustrationof Hermt.,s with the signing of the Peace of West- describes the ancient Egyptian art of with an armillary sphere is on a manu- phalia in 1648. Nil omne ('Everything is bringing statues to life, and the Tabula scnpt astrolahe dating from the second nothing') is Perada's message written Smara~,dina ('Emerald Tablet') which was half of the sixteenth century attributed to Bulletin of the Scientific Instrument Society No. 52 0997) mercuric oxide in his flask to produce oxygen). In his right hand Hermes is holding the by now familiar armillary sphere and in his left alchemical distilla- tion apparatus, symbolizing the influence of the macrocosm on the microcosm - in this case his alchemical manipulations. The rays of the sun are equated with the fire in his stove, thus the natural heat of the sun is mirrored by the fire in his laboratory. The seven organ pipes (sig- nifying the ,seven planets and the seven metals) carry the inscription in Latin: 'Sing unto God with strings and organ'), and the viola de gamba (with seven strings), has another Latin inscription: 'Sacred Harmony puts to flight evil spirits and is the Medicine of the intemperate Saturn'.' Like several other emblematic works on alchemy (such as the famous 'Ora at iabora' laboratory scene with the praying alchemist in Heinrich Kunrath's Amphiteatrum ~pien- tiae aeternae, published in 1595), Brouaut's illustration stresses the essen- tial harmony of the macrocosm and microcosm as signified by the armillary sphere and by music: the harmony of the spheres and the heavenly music which herald the end of the alchemist's quest, the di~overy of the Philosphers Stone. In anv case, music itself is a kind of alchemy, for how el~ can its strains alter our m(x~s? Fig.3 Hermes with Ills arnldlartt sphere, mihtaru tn~phles and Notes and References taduceus. Fronl lean-lacques Bois~rd, De dMnatione et magicis praestigiis tOpp~qtht'ml, n.d. [C. lOlOll. 1. In other Renaissance works Hermes's armillarv sphere is substituted by a celestial gk~he reminescent of the cosmic sphere which the Barnabite Brothers (Fig.2). A bare- not be that surprising that the Bois~rd is held by Apfn~lo in a fresco at Pompei Thus headed Hermes (as identified bv the and Maier Hermes are so similar as de certain aspects (and attributes) of Hermes Irismegistus may well have its origins in the m,,~-nption above his head) sits at a table Brv al~ execut~ engravings for Maier ancient story of 'Appolon Kosmokrator', beneath which is an armillaD' sphere and and Robert Flud which in turn may well have originated in a pair of dividers. (Incidentally, much Babylonia See the fn~ntispiece in R.P Rest- later dividers would become an attribute At last the scene is set for our cover ugiere, La n;vf'lation d'Hermt~ Tri~megiste, II Le of Isaac Newton in two marvellous illustration taken from the title page of du'u cosmtque (Paris: Libraire Lecoffre, 1949). allegorical illustrations by William Jean Brouaut's Trait de I'eau z,h" (Paris, Blake). The image is drawn in a circle 1646)? In fact it is the right half of this 2. Mark Haeffner, The Dictw,a~ ~ Alchemy. From Maria Pn~phetis~ to Isaac Newton (Lon- with the Latin inscription translated as illustration. The other half depicts the don: The Aquarian Press, 19¢11). '(hM is an intelligible sphere whose mythical Benedictine 'Brother Basilius centre is everywhere and where circum- Valentinus the Phihr~pher of the West ference i.,, nowhere'. 3. Stanislas Kh~sowoski de Rola, The Ca~lden ('Occidentalis')', who with his right hand Game. Alchemical En,~ravmgs of the Seventeenth is holding the elixir of life, and with his Centu~ (h,ndon: Thamt~ and Hudson, 1988), lean-Jacque~ Boi~sard's De dwm,ltione et left the 'Twelth Key' Behind him the fig. 81, p.ll4. ma~,'uts praesll,~,us (()ppenheim, c.1616) masculine and feminine principles of depicts an Egyptian Hermes (Fig.3) al- alchemy fuse in the ~lomonic Seal, and 4. The same plate is published in Basel m~,t identical to Michael Maier's. As seven b~k~ and seven bottles symbolize Valentine, Revdlation des m!tsti'res des teintures before, he holds aloft an armillar.v sphere, the two aspects of alchemy: theory and es~'ntwlles des .¢¢pt metaux (Paris, 1668). but the other attribute~ given to him by practice. The companion piece (illu- the artist Johann Tht, Mor de Brv are strated on the cover) is of 'Hermes 5. For further details, see Antoine Faivre, The military trophies and (more rarely) a Yrismegistus, the PhihYsopher of the East Eternal Hermes. Fnmz Greek Card to Alchemical caduceus, to emphasize his kinship with (Orientalis')'. He watches a large burning May,us, trans. By Jtrscelyn Gi~win (Grand Mercury. Around this god's magical staff Rapids, USA: I~hanes Pros, 1995), pp.127- lens (.,~me have suggested that it is a 180; and Johannes Fabricius, Ahhemy (Well- are ent~'ined two snakes which became mirror) concentrating the sun's rays as a ingbon~ugh: The Aquarian Press, 1976), fig.15, the alchemical symbol for the 'coniunc- source of heat (this was precisely the pp.13 and 216. rio', the marriage of the two opposing method us~ by Joseph Priestley just principles mercu~' and sulphur. It may over a century later when he heated red Wilh,m Hackmann Bulletin of the Scientific Instrument ~.~ciety No. 52 (1997) Scientific Instrument Making in Manchester 1870-1940 II: Thomas Armstrong & Brother, and G. Cussons & Company Jenny Wetton l Hcml~ eo Du~IoIIo, II0vO 0-310 SJvulo~l • ~'O 2~ TglO,. lice ~Jp ..---r~ ,~ .--7~ ,~,. • OPTICIANS TO TNI ROYAL(~/[YI[ HOSPITAL. ~ t,--~~ Fig.1 LeaCh.t,pn,bably fram 188"-~,,m,,,,,- cin~ the rebuiidin[~ and enlargin~ of Arm- strong's premises at 88 and 90 Deans~ate. Copyright Manchester Public Libra,. W Im ~d mmid~t m t~ ~ amy ~ Im ~t ~J~lMd ~- s b~ h. Tim ~ "~"'a Hi ~r tlw III~L T.a. a Is. I~1 tl~ Immm Introduction A mini D ImlN d sjl C4.mm -..,*,t* im md~. -.-* s ~ iml¢ cam ~.* ~q~ml *,, ~/tim if h Sl~L~m~t* ,**-- sin4 *~* ram* d a.,. i~m:lla~ amlp~ ,m iih~; W tlm P.ql ~o. ~ tlm ~ bm mr. m ~nl~r ~ a~ mmmclmmry. Part One of this article looked at the general development of the scientific Fig.2 A receipt for glasses which Armstrong supplied to Annie instrument trade in Manchester. The Marshall of Gorton, Manchester, in 1913 after rcferral~om the Royal main feature of the local industry during Eye Hospital. Copyright Museum of Science and indust~, in this period was the establishment of Manchester. The glasses are on display, in the Measuring Up! specialist makers to supply particular gallery, at the Museum. parts of the market. This part, and the remaining two parts, cover company histories of six firms which are known apprenticed to an optician, expanded of the business (Fig.l). By this time, to have been important and about which the business to include the manufacture Armstrongs had a reputation as an more information has survived. There of spectacles and optical instruments. In innovative, go-ahead company. They were other makers involved in Man- 1848, he made a donation of ten guineas were responsible for the first exhibition chester's scientific instrument industry to the Manchester Eye Hospital, thereby of 'animated pictures' in Manchester and but less is known about them. Thomas becoming a life trustee and establishing a introduced compressed oxygen and hy- Armstrong & Brother was an important relationship with the Hospital which was drogen gases for scientific and demon- Manchester firm of scientific instrument to bear fruit later. In 1868, Thomas took strative purposes. The firm also helped in makers specialisingin optical equipment. his brother, George Booth, into partner- the fitting out of meteorological stations George Cussons & Company was a ship and changed the company's name to in Saiford and at Alexandra Park in specialist manufacturer of educational Thomas Armstrong and Brother. The Oldham. apparatus. new company paid an increased sub- scription to the Eye Hospital and do- Armstrongs also exhibited at the Indus- Thomas Armstrong and Brother nated a clock to its Building Fund. In trial Exhibition of 1887, by which time 1871 Thomas was elected a Fellow of the the company employed fifteen people. The first member of the Armstrong Royal Microscopical Society. Thomas and George Booth's younger family to start working in Manchester, brother, Alfred, came into the firm, Thomas, was a clockmaker who moved Thomas Armstrong and Brother were probably to manage a separate shop on from London in about 1804. He occupied officially appointed as Opticians to the St Mary Street which the company various premises but, by 1825, was at 2 Royal Eye Hospital in 1877. The com- retained until the late 1890s. In 1891, the Half Street.In the same year, Joseph, who pany had been supplying spectacles to firm's reputation was such that it won a may have been his brother, set up a the Hospital since 1867 and, a year later, contract to supply scientific instruments business at 261 Deansgate, Manchester, were its sole suppliers. Records do not to the War Office, the Admiralty, the as a jeweller and silversmith. Joseph give details of the arrangement at this Board of Trade, the India Office and the married Sarah Booth in 1828 and they time. However, the supply of spectacles GPO. Thomas died at Llandudno, North lived over the Deansgate premises, their to the Hospital must have brought in a Wales in October 1893. He had been a sons, Thomas and George Booth, being lot of business. In 1876, the Hospital Fellow of the Royal Microscopical Society born there. The shop, known locally as received a counter-offer from another and was elected a member of the the old Deanery, was later renumbered to optician, William Aronsberg. As a result, Manchester Literary & Philosophical 88. In about 1840, the elder Thomas both opticians were used alternately in Society, in 1885. His son, Frank, came returned to London and Joseph took over return for providing spectacles free of into the business in the [ate 18~s. An his business. charge to those patients who could not optical branch was opened in Liverpool afford them. Aronsberg, however, did not in 1904 at ll2 Bold Street. Around the Joseph brought his eldest son, Thomas, provide a satisfactory service and was same time, the firm moved to larger and later his middle son, George Booth, dropped at the end of 1877. premises at 78 Deansgate. George B(x~th into the business. By the time of Joseph's died and Frank moved to live over the death in 1851, Thomas had already been In 1885, the Deansgate premises were shop. managing the firm for some years. extended at the rear to meet the needs of Thomas, who had presumably been the expanding scientificand optical sides By the turn of the twentieth century; the Bulletin of the Scientific Instrument~ciety No. 52 (1997) to meet this demand, the company employed one hundred and twenty-five people. Two yea~ later, the company began paying an annual rent for the use of the premises to the Hospital authorities. The M~ ~ ~" ~ r~l ~.-~-fF~i ,. ~. ~'-~'-~i ~ ....~ cost of spectacles supplied to patients who were unable to pay for them was reimbursed out of the rent. In the Hospital authorities' view, Armstrongs made large profits from their business and it was only fair that the Hospital should benefit. The appointment came up for renewal again in 1937 but, by this time, the Hospital Medical Board were unhappy with their opticians. Armstmngs were by now testing sight as well as making spectacles. The Hospital followed the British Medical Association's view that opticians did not 'have sufficient knowl- edge of di~ase and disabilities to enable them to prescribe glasses with safety'. Fig.3 t. '~.~ ~. :.... .,:- .,~:;: it:. 't,,:;/t/ t,l~t.~,l~ tttc holLq" opt Gre, t (1~,~','. ~,trcct m ,l~,,itpt,t The Hospital therefore asked Arm- l.°.OI) 7"/1¢comp~Itttl..3 H~ltnt' t~; ~lt~or't'the door. Ortgmal hem by. George Cus.q,ns Ltd. strongs to abandon sight-testing com- pletely and pay an increased rental of arrangements of Armstrongs' apl~int- glasses and not testing patients them- £2,000 per annum. However, the com- ment to the Eye Hospital meant that the selves (Fig.2). Difficult cases could also be pany felt that it no longer had sufficient ,,urgLsms would examine patien~ and explained and special instructions given business to justify, this payment. The give them their prescriptions for specta- directly to the optical assistants. Minor Hospital had a counter-~ffer from the clt~ which they t(a~k to the optician to be alterations to spectacles could be made opticians, Theodore Hamblin Limited, made up. If a patient found that he/she on the spot. who were therefore appointed as official could not afford to pay for the spectacles, opticians as from 1 July. So Armstrongs' it would mean a return visit to the long-standing association ended, During the First World War, Armstrongs although the company did continue to H~_pttal to obtain a voucher. The cost supplied the War Department with gun of .,,pectacles supplied by the voucher make special arrangements for Eye sights and elevation equipment as well as Hospital patients. was covered by Armstrongs. However, surveying equipment. They also supplied by iq07, these arrangements were caus- the naval services with clocks and At this time, the company occupied 80 ing problems. The H(~spita[ found that watches and submarine detectors. ~me orders for spectacles were never Deansgate and the premises at 76/78 were let out. executed becau.,~, of patients" careless- In 1920, the business was sold to Le~mard ne~s. i~ple going to other less reliable Eh~uglas Kidson, an accountant, for the opticians, and fear of the expend. As a There is a gap in the records for the sum of £56,000, although Frank's services company's history and little is known result, the surgeons' time and expertise were retained under a ten year contract. until it was taken over by Harrisons was wasted A new system was therefore The firm al~ had branches at Bold Street Opticians in 1965. By this time, the firm agreed upon wherebv Armstrongs .sent in Liverp(~)l and New Cavendish Street had branches in Oxford Street and a~istants with fitting appliances and a in I.x~ndon, and a shed and land at the Nelson Street in Manchester, next to the full stock of ~pectacle frames to be Manchester docks. Eye Hospital in Manchester; the Di)wns prL~,nt at both the Hospital's Oxford in Altrincham, and on Bold Street in Road and St John's Street ~ites. A room The change in ownership dt~s not seem Liverpool. The Harrison group itself was was provided where the frames could be to have adversely affected the-company's taken over by Dollond & Aitchison in fitted while the patient was at the performance. By the time of its centenary 1968. |io~,pital. Patients could either call h~r in 1925, the firm traded in a large range their finL,,hed SF~.ctacles at Armstrongs or of optical and scientific go~s as well as G. Cussons & Company have them ~,nt by Faust. A fixed .scale of jeweller)' and timepieces. Spectacles were chargt-, was agreed for all spectacles so an important side of the business with that patients would know in advance George Cussons was born in Ramsbot- horn and tortoiseshell frames a speciality. tom, in Lancashire, in 1828. His father what their glasses would cost. Three Armstmngs celebrated its centenary by years later, when the Manchester Optical was a carpenter who had moved to giving the Eye Hospital a full-page Ramsl~ttom in the early 1820s. Nothing ~,-iety objecttM to the e×clusive nature of advert in the Manchester Guardian and a is known of the young George's educa- the~e arrangements, the Hospital's Med- donation of fifty guineas. Scientific in- tkm but he had become a teacher of ical Board declared itself pleased with the struments sold by Armstrongs included science by the 1870s. new sv.~tem It meant that the Hospital microscopes, telescopes, laboratory had complete control of the service that equipment, nautical and meteondogical In 1876, George Cussons opened a Armstrong's wew providing: surgeons instruments. Timepieces for all uses were business for the "manufacture of Educa- knew that the opticians were only sold, and the company offered a yearly tional and Scientific Apparatus' for use in delivering the mechanical making-up of contract clock-winding service. In order teaching mechanical engineering, b Bulletin of the .Scientific Instrument Society No, 52 (1997) physics, mathematics, art and machine drawing. He drew on his own teaching experience to make good quality, prac- tical apparatus. Five years later,his son, George Wilfred, was born. In its early years, the company probably speciali.',~ed in making art and geometric models, it won a prize medal at the Health Exhibition in London for wooden , °- art vases for drawing. By 1886, Cussons was working from 104 Great Ciowes Street, Manchester, where he lived, with workshops on the premises (Fig.3). ,'m"--'wa~ At around the turn of the twentieth century, the company went through a considerable expansion, it took over adjoining premises on Great Clowes Street and a building was later put up at the back, on John Street (Fig.4). Here there were showrooms and a model | laboratory which could be visited by prospective customers. The company I also acquired offices and showrooms in London at Thanet House on the Strand. Fig.4 1_l~4~plS'staff autstde the new bl~lhhtt~,, ~tt h~hn ~qtrcct 1tl arlmtld 19¢I¢1 ()rlc, lnal held The company also expanded the range of equipment manufactured to include by George Cus~ns Ltd. many types of mechanical and technical laboratory apparatus. In 1906, Cussons introduced the Capstan Block and Tripod system of apparatus for practical experi- mental work in mechanics, physics and maths. This apparatus was still being u.~,d in .schools and colleges in the early 1960s. It was followed later by the Ribbon Atwood machine for experiments on gravity, acceleration and retardation. Apparatus could he purchased from a variety of catalogues or could be made to the specific requirements of individual teachers (Fig.5). Occasionally, these in- dividual orders were developed by the company and later appeared in the catalogues. During this period, the company exhib- ited at several international exhibitions where it won many prizes. These in- cluded the New Zealand International Exhibition in Christchurch (Gold Medal), and the Brussels Exhibition (Grand Prix, Diploma of Honour and three gold medals). The company supplied technical appara- Fig.5 Educational dniwmg nl,~t,'ls ready fl~r shit,m,'nt, c. 19¢~ Or(¢inal held by. Gel,rc,e tus to engineering and mechanical Cus~ns Ltd. laboratories at many British universities and technical colleges including Manche- ster and Salford, Royal Naval and in Lower Broughton, and sent to the G.W. Cussons increased the range of Military academies and colonial technical Royal Technical Institutein Salford at the apparatus manufactured by the company colleges in Africa, Australia and India, as age of sixteen. He spent two years there and intn~uced equipment for precLsion well as many education authorities and studied Electricity,Electric Lighting measuring and weighing. Many of these around Britain. and Higher Mathematics. After this, he new instruments were developed from probably worked in his father's firm to designs produced by teachers them- In 1923, George Cussons' son, George learn the trade. He was elected a member selves. Designs were often dem~mstrated Wilfred, took over the management of of the Manchester Literary and Philoso- at meetings of the Science Masters the firm. He had had some primary phical Society in 1923, and laterbecame a Association and published in educational education at the Wesleyan Day School council member. and scientific journals. Bulletinof the ScientificInstrument Society No. 52 (1997) George himself would often visit sch~a,ls 3. ll',nna.~ Armstnmg & Brother Limited, 7. G. Cu~,~m~ IJmtted, C'alah~ue D - Art and colleges to quote for specialL',~d The Armstnm¢, Hearm¢,A#,t ~'r~,icr (Mancht.,sler, I)rau,m¢ Models. Apparatus For Art Teachin¢ laboratory equipment. These visits may ]c.1~2l) And C,n,metricalDrau,in¢, (Manchester, 1912). have led to the development of new 4. Man,h~ter Cay Neus. 2(1 March tw May equipment to solve particular leaching g. G. Cu.,~ms Limited, Catal,~ue E - Appara- pn~bknns. G.W. Cus.,~ms was al.,~ as, a~- P026 (untitled cutting m Finns last at h~cal tus for Practu'al Phme And Sohd Geonwt~. ... ,~udies Unit, Manchester Central Library). ciated with the development of the (Mancl'a.,ster, 1912). Ricardo Variable Compression engine 5. "Armstn~ng's Leave Eye ilospital After 57 h~r use in technical college lal'nwatories. ~ears', Manchester C~ty Neus, 2 July 1937 9. (;. Cu.,~ms Limited, Catal~Rue F - Buddm~ In the 1944h, Cug~ms began to supply (cutting m Firms last at Li~cal Stud,.,s Unit, G,nstru,tu,n M~tels .., 4th ed. (Manchester, nd). measuring and indicating equipment to Manchester Central I.ibrary). industry as well as to educational 10. G. Cuss~ms Limited, Catah~ur K - Steam organi~tions. O. Man,h~ter Fac,~. And Places, II, (Man- and Heat Engine MMds (Manchester, [c. 1910]). chester, 18~I). George Cus~ms died in 1~61. The I!. G. CUS,,~mL~l.imited, Catah~,u¢ M - Patent 7. Manchester Eta" H~lntal Annual R,Tan,ts, company was run by a member of staff Rd~,n Atu~,~l~ Machine, 3rd ed. (Manchester, for three years before becoming a sub- 18~0 and I~ (held at John Rvlands Uni- nd). sidiary ~# Ricardo Consulting Engineers. ser~d~, of Manchester labrary Medical Li- Ricardo were specialists in the field of braryi. 12. G. Cuss, ms Limited, Pn~'ss~r ~'ku~rtz internal combustion engine design, de- 8. IobltuaryI Thomas Armstnmg, Phi'red- Rubber Testm£ ttv,steresis Machine (Manchester, velopment and testing. A new factory mrs, Manchester Literary & Phih~phical [c.191011. was built ~m the old Great Ciowes Street S~riet); no 38, 18IN, pp.218-21'~. site in 1'~1,~0. in 1987, the controlling 14-12 Held at G. Cu.~,ons Limiled I interest was acquired by local manage- 9. Manchester Royal Eye Hospital: lh~ard of ment. The company still'makes engineer- Management Minutes, 1877-1937 and Medical ing teaching equipment but al~ makes l~ard Minuk,s 1910-I~37 (held at Royal Eye 13. Technical sheets describing a large range specialist testing equipment for the Hospital). of apparatus designed by Cus.~ms and other people, made by Cuss~ms (held at G. Cu.sslw~ automotive, internal combustion engine Limited). and fuel industries. It uses ~me of this to 10. ES. ~anclitfe, Man,'h,ster R,atal Eve Hospi- undertake maser pn~ct work, such as tal 1814-1964 (Manchester, 1964)" testing tank engines after overhauling for 14. G. Cus~ms Limited, Cus,~ms TnpM And Capstan Bh~'k (Manchester, P,~3). the Ministry of Defence and upgrading G. Cusmns Limited combustion" test ~acilities at Rolls Royce in Derby. A drop in the amount" of 1. G. Cus.~ms Limited, Tnp~i And Capstan 15. G. Cus,~ms l.imited, Cuss~n.~ Ran¢r of bus|ness'led to Cussms needing to make Bh~-k System Of M,~'hanhal Apparatus (Man- Mechamsm M~lrls (Mancht.,ster,196~). chester, nd). redundancies in the early l'~)s but, by 19~4, the company had increa~,d the 16. Cusson~ Educ~tiona! Terkn,,lo£v (Man- 2. G. Cu.s~ms l.td, Al~aratus And Madels Kn" chester,[,'. 1987]). number of its engineers and shop fl,a~r The fawnce And Art Department (Manchester, workers while restricting administrative rid). staff. 17. Cuss, ms Aut,,motn,e Technol,,~y (Man- 3. G. Cu.~,~ms Limited, Abrids,,~¢lCatahRue (~. chester. [,-.1~7l). Nert t,, come: Flatters & Girn,'tt Ltd. and Al~aratus And Models For Art, Scu'n,-e, Technical F,,u,h'r 6, Coral,any Ltd. And Elementary Schwa,Is (Manchester, nd). 18. 'Eastern Pn,mi~ is Waiting For Cu.~,~s', Man,'kest~r E~wml~ N~ls 5.10.!~3. Bibliography 4. G. Cus.,ums Limited, Calah~,u,. A - Models (~" Machine And Steam Enxine Details (Man- chester. Ic. ittl0]). 19. i~h~dographsof Cu.s~ms workshops, held Thomas Armstrong & Brother by G. Cu.~,~ms Limited. 5. G. Cus~ms l.imited, Catah.~ue B - Mechan- I. lhoma,, Arm~,tnmg & Bn,ther Limited. ual Lah~rato~ AIvuratus K,r En£meerm¢ And Author~ address: Re-Budding,, Sah" (k,aflet) (Mancl~.ster, nd). Apphed Mechanics (Manchester, It. 1910]) Curator t~ Science The Mu~um of S,'/ence and Indust~. 2 [homas Armstn~ng & Brother l.tmtted, 6. G. Cus~ms lam,ted, Catah~ue C - Appa- Smcc The I)au~ Ot Mt~,. 1825: a hundred u,urs ,,f Liwrpool Road ratus For Expermwntal Me~hani,'s And Practu'al Casth~eld l'rox'rc~, trl,m 182.5 h, 19~5 (Manchester, i1~2~]) M,'chanus I~10). (Manchester, Manchester M.] 4JP Annual Meeting of the North American Sundial Sodely: Call for Papers The North American Sundial Society will hold its annual meeting ~m 11-14 September 1997 in Chicago. Highlights will include visits to the Adler I'lanetarium and Astronomy Museum (Chicago) and the Time Museum (R~kford) in order to inspect their early time-finding instruments. A tour of m~lern sundials in the Chicago and the sum~unding area is also planned. The programme committee invites papers on all aspects of dialling, including the history, culture, dL~ign, fabrication, and science of sundials. Exhibits and short show-and-tell demonstrations are L al.~ welcome. Abstracts (up to 5~R) words) must be submitted by June ist. For further .Sundml on thr,~' plane, /tom information abamt NASS or the meeting, plea~ contact: Sara Schechner Genuth, Nafi(mal Chamber'~ Encych,pa.dia of Museum of American History, R~N,m 1040, MRC 605, Smith.~mian insfitutkm, Washinghm, 178~ DC20560; fax iX) 1 2()2 786 2851; e-mail: [email protected]. Bulletin of the Scientific Instrument S~ciety No. 52 (1997) Shagreen On Eighteenth Century Scientific Instruments Mathieu Willemsen llllil:ig.2 Afnro'.-I~' tol,,' ,,'lth i,,~mh'd ray Fig. I r='h's(oln,by l)olh,mt of la,n,hm toz,crcd w~th rc,I rat/ slun, [rom the third quarter of the 18th centurtt, lid~" h'ngth: io.5cm slain, pn,&~bltl l,y Matthew l~,tt, ,. 1750 /'uh" G~lh'ctwn lamu,man m the N~'tlu'rhmd~. Plaoto by the ou,n~'r. h'n£th: 7.5tm. In Mum'urn/~'rtulm,e. l.e~&'n N~'thcrhm,ls, mt~'nto~ hr. 4424. Introduction 2. Fishskin which can be divided into swords and other sharp-edged w'eal-~ns shark skin and rav skin. ,";hark skin is was known from at least the sixh'enth Every. b,x|y who is familiar with historic characteri,~,d by small square dots and century onwards. [he rough ,,,urface of .~ientific instruments knows the material makes a very strong leather. All kind of shagrt;en providt'd the weal~n with a generally refern'd to as "shagreen'. I intend sharks that apl~,ared in the Wt,'stem gL,~l grip during combat From the to give ~me background information on Euro[x,an seas wen, u~ed for this pur- ~,~enteenth centun.' tish~,km wa~ al~ this material which has been widely u.'~'d pose. The ray is like the shark a u.~'d as a decorati~'e material to cover on ,~ientific instruments, in particular cartilagenous fish anti the skin there|on, the sheaths of cutlen' and other small during the perk~l 1715 to I~X). ~ is eminently suitahle to be u.,~'d for ohlects, such as w'atcl:t ca~.s. [hiring the covenngs ofall kind of oblects. The skins ~'venteenth centun' shagreen was nearly What is Shagreen? of cartilagenous fish such as sharks anti always k'ft in Its natural colour, b,,mg rays am made of small angular shaped or whitish/b~,ige for ray skin (de|',endmg What is commonly referred to as 'sha- nearly round enamel caps that art" Ul~m the preparationand clean,ng of the green' can bt, divided into three ~.parate gnmlx'd together in a mt~)ic pattern: skin) and gn,y/hlack or reddish brown materials: shagreen k,ather, and the skin The stn=ctun, of the.'~, caps is comparable for .',hark skin (depending upon the of shark and ray. with human teeth (enamel covered s~x'cie~ u.~.t m the preparation). ~hagn~'n dentine iml'~.dded in gingiva). that was pn~luced durra K the e,lchteenth I. bhagreen leather, this is a (often centtlrv k~r the cot erlll~, o| oh/et, ,h" t,crtm" black coloured) kind of leather made of In this artick, I will only di,,~'uss the u~, of was m",Irlv ,|1ways dyed green horn, or donkey skin, showing small dots fishskin. Thus when I u,~, the term that are cau,~,d by the imprt.'ssions of 'shagreen' I refer to fishskin made fn)m Shagreen on ~:ientifi¢ ln,~trumen~ mustard ,~.eds u~,d in its preparation both rays and sharks, l~'sides as a ]his k'ather was u~'d from at least the covering on ~'ientific instruments, this ! )tiring the .~,~enteenth centurv, .,,clentttlc ,,~.venteenth century for such items as material was also u,,~'d to cover the hills instruments with a tul, ular ~,tructure ~,uch b~)khindings, micn~'ope anti tek,',,~'ol~, of .,.harp-~xlgt~iwea|xms, and to de~'orate as tek,*,co|'~,s alld 1111cn~,to|~t'~ often had tuix,'s. Shagreen leather was invented in British and Fn,nch eighteenth centun.' a red or gn~.,n h,ather covertn~ with the Near East and was exported to obletS de z~'rtue'. From antiquity the n)ugh eni~.~,d IllOtib, in gold It'at ' From the Western Europe. We know that this surface of tishskin was al~ u,~,d to ~,t'ond decade of the tollo~mg centtlrv k,ather was copied from at least the polish materials such as lxn~,, iron,' and however, we frequently ~.e this leather eighteenth century in W~.'~tern Eurol~, wt~]. Thus, tishskin was the forerunner being replaced by Iish,,km Ihe un=que with the help of a printing pr~.,ss giving of ~ndpal~,r. = appearance of ray skin coxermgs on the imitated shagreen leather a structun, ~'ientific instruments is cau,~,d by the that n~'mhk'd the impr~.'~sions of mus- (;enerallv in W~,'~tem Eun) W, the u,~' of fact that the ~hagreen is often d~,ed in a tard .,~:1 s. shagreen as a cover h~r the hilts of great variety of colour~ (Fig I). Mo,,t Bulletin of the ,"k'a.nhfic Instrument ,~,'iety No. 52 (1~7) q Fig.4 Eh'tail~. tu~ Enflish teh'sc~v~es u,ith b~g tubercuh,s of n,ory ¢tt, imitah" the placoid .~'ales) placed u,lthin the ra~ ~in. Second half of the JSth centu~. Tube h'n~,,th: lo.Scm. Colh'ct~on Sal),,o Trust j~¢r Education, New York, USA. Photo by. the author. skin are al.~ known to me. I: Countries like Germany and Italy only seem to have u,',~ shagreen occasionally. Dutch scientific instrumen~ covered with fish- skin are not yet known to me although it is known that this material was fre- quently used fr~m the seventeenth to the nineteenth century in the Low Fig.3 Fn'nch micn~cope, tube coven'd with ,¢n'en shark skin, Paris Countries. a&,ut 1750. H,'i~,ht: 49cm. Cot,yn~ht S,,theby's Monaco. The skin ot the species of ray that was used frtxluently ray skin is dvt~3 green or red, worked together with the greatest French (the Das~atisStT~lu,n ) has in the middle of but it al~ appears in .,~me cases on shagreen worker of this era: Jean Claude its back a row of three big tubercules or irr,,truments in blue and purple. Some- Galluchat (born c.17(X) - died 1774)." He placoid scales (calcifiedpapilae), with the tim,.~ it is ~ white that it it~ks as if the lm~pularized ~hagreen in France dunng other tubercules gradually diminishing in sknn is bleached. the Age of Enlightenment and it is, size towards the sides. These central therefi~re, not surprising that in French tubercules are sometimes shown on the Why d~,s rav ~kin appear in such a this material is still referred to as instruments and are normally considered great variety" of coiours on scientific "Gailuchat' or 'Galuchat'." The above as the most beautiful (and therefore the in.,,truments~ A plausible reason could mentioned tek~-ope is an exception. most precious) parts of the skin. This be that shagretm imitattxt the coloured Normally we just see green shark skin meth,~l to appreciate fishskins was prob- leather that had been used to cover the on the tubt.,s of French instruments, such ably ]earned from the Japanese, who used tubes of tele,.~-opes and micr~scopes. C)n as on the micn~cope by Alexis Magny this material for many hundreds of years.1' rare ~.ca.,,ions shagrcs.,n tubes on micro- (the bronze-work was probably cast by In theory one could say that ob~.-'ctson ~,'opt.,s ~ere painted with small scenes Caffieri) on the order of Louis XV fi~r the which the central tubercules can be seen (Fi£.2).."k~metimes we encounter this Marqui~ the Pompadour around 17~ were considered more valuable than the to:hnique on luxury eighteenth century (Fig.3), and on a similar micro.,~'npe ob~,cts on which they are absent. Some- travel kits." made by the same maker in 1751, and times, because for rea~ms of aesthetics, which is now in the Paul GetW mu- these central tubercules are replaced by Generally speaking, one could say that ~,um."' As I have already menti¢¢ned, it small piect.'sof bone, iw~ry or mother-of- was in Franc(, not as common as in England and France were themain pearl (Fig.4). If the big tubercules are not England to cover .scientific instruments shown on the instrument, this may mean producers of shagrtx, n covered objects with shagreen. In general, such French during the eighteenth century. Among that a younger specimen of ray was used instruments ~'em to have been intended the English instrument makers who on which the tubercules were not yet fully more as ~me kind of luxury object to decorattxi their instruments with this developed. Another l~ssibility is that the show to others rather than to u.,~,d material were people inke Edmund off be central part of the back was not included as practical ~'ientific instruments. Culpepper, Thomas Wright, George on the covering. If we focus on English Adam.~ and lk, niamin Martin There am, instruments, we can clearly ~ a differ- a tew French eighteenth century shark ence in the u.,~,of shark skin and ray skin. It Incidentally, German instruments were can be .said that in general shark skin was .``kin cox ertxt micn~.,copes known; nota- covered with shagreen as well. It is for bly tht~, made by Passement. In the normally u~ for the covering of boxes, example known that such ob~-'cts were etui~ ancl other cases in which instrumen~ ,%fi~,;,;e du Louz,n' in Paris there is a made in the workshop of Reichs,x,raf Li~,er teh'~ope by him covertxt with a peculiar could be kept and transl~)rted. Ray skin at Castle Reinharz dunng the years 1750- on the other hand was exclusively des- kind of light pink ray skin.: Ihis 1765." Unfortunately, I have not ~'en teh-.~ope is the onh,' object known to tined for the coverings of instrument tubes these obiects , so cannot provide you with as it was more expensive than shark skin. me to be covered with this colour of more infi~rmation. A few Italian tele- shagreen. We know that i'assement it was therefore less suitable for boxes or scopes covered with blackened shark ca,,~s that could easily be damaged. 10 Bulletin of the .%'ientiflcInstrument ~ciety No. 52 (1997) In London shagreen was worked on by Notes and References 9. The French chagrin, German Schaxrm. special workmen, called 'shagreen case- Italian zagrin or zigrino, and the English makers'." This profession probably origi- shagreen are thought to be derived from the nated during the end of the seventeenth I. This paper is a ~,sum~ of the final the~is Turkish and Persian sa~hr/, meaning the back or the beginning of the eighteenth which I wn~¢e for my study at the Department 04 the horse from which this leather was mad(,. century of Art History at the University of Leiden, The The h)r and separated from the (leather) Netherlands. [ w~mld like to offer special figurative use in French of cha.¢rin casemakers when shagreen came into annoyance or anxiety was adopted in England thanks to A.J. glut and P.J.K h,uwman [or in the seventeenth century and derives hx,m vogue. The profession of shagreen case- their great help during the course of this paper, the rasping/rough surface of mis leather. maker had its peak during the second and Museum ~haave who provided me half of the eighteenth century. Shagreen with Figure 2 pho~graphed by Tom Haartsen. 10. m~ casemakers must have been in close J. PerfettinlIVgq (op.cit., 2), p.63. contact with the scientific instrument 2. For the techmcal aspects concermng the II. An~l 1930, some 04 these ob~'ts were makers to make the coverings for their skins of cartilagenous fish (ray skin in at the Mathematisch-Phvrakali~be Sahm m objects, but it is not yet known whether particular), see W.H. van SHers, "Shagreen" the Zwmger, Dresden. I~. Brgthl, 'Fischhaut', some of these shagreen casemakers On Old Microscopes', in ]~mrnal of the R(~I p.231, in W. Amdt & F. Pax (eds.)Die Rahst,.~., specialised in making coverings for Microscopical Soc~y, 71, series 3 (1951). The des Tierreic~ (Berlin 1929-1933), Vol.l,p.260. scientific instruments. Some important difference between shark skin and ray skin can instrument makers in London might be seen clearly on the photographs in L. De 12. Collection Louwman Netherlands. have had specialised shagreen case- Caunes and J. Perfettini, Galuchat (Paris 1994) p.147. makers working for them. Detailed 13. Henri L. Yoly and lnada Hogitaro, The archival research m London might pro- Su~rd ~ and the &~c of Same (Tokyo, 1913), pp.3-33 gives a good idea 04 the kinds vide further information about this 3. For the application of shagreen on different products other than scientific instruments, 04 fish skins and how these were identified in matter. Although decorative objects cov- Japan. ered in shagreen continued to be made see am~mg oChe~ A. Gaigneam, 'll vient de until about 1820 (with a revival during la met, le Galluchat', Connms,~nce des arts, 2ql (1976), J. an 14. With special thanks to Dr. G.C. Clitton, the Art Eklco period), the fashion to cover pp.65-67, Perfettmi, Le Galuchat. mattrmu mysterwux, une techmque oublL,~e (Paris National Maritime Museum Gn~nwich who scientific instruments seems to end 1988), and M Willemsen, 'Segrijn, bekleding- provided me with valuable information on around 1800. However, we occasionally stof uit zee, leer van haaien en n)ggen', Antiek, eighteenth century London shagreen case- see some later instruments decorated [email protected] (1996), p.268-275. For an English article by makers. with fish skin, to copy the eighteenth the author on the general use 04 shagreen, see century fashion [or shagreen. 'Shagreen in Western Europe. U~ and 15. B.G.E. de I,! Ville de la C~le, HIstmw Manufacture in the Seventeenth and Eight- natueelle des la~ns (Paris 1798-1803), No.4, eenth Apollo, Part I, p.139, writes alxmt the ray: 'J'ai pen~ Fishskin has always been a mysterious Centuries', 145, No.419, new series (January 199"/), pp.35-38. ClUe I'on appnmdoit avec plaisir dans quelle material for whoever encountered it. The met se tmuve le poisson dont la peau French for example imported ray skins rechercht~e depuis Iong-lemps par plusieurs from England during the eighteenth 4. About the use 04 fish skin as polishing artistes, nous ont lais~ ignowr la partie de century but, apart from B.G.E. de la Ville material see:. L. Bruhi, 'Fischhaut ais Schk,if- I'ammal qui hi toumit ... et nous devons und Glilttungsmittel', in W. Amdt & F. Pax esp6rer que nos navigateurs, en nous prorur- de la CC~kie, had no clues as to the Tiereeichs (Berlin origins of these skins, nor which animal (eds.) D/e Rohsh~fe des 1929- ant directement sa peau tubercuk~, rams 1933), Vol. If, pp.316-323. delivnmt bien~ d'un des tnbuts que rams they came from." This mystery continues payons ~ l'industrie c~ran~.'[I have thought to the present day as most people stilldo that one w~mid very much like to be informed 5. See G. L.'E. Turner, 'Decorative Tooling on not rect~nise this exotic material, l hope m which sea this fish uccms whose skin is this article has lifted a comer of the veil 17th and 18th Century Microscopes and Telescopes', Rivista internazionale being wanted since such a king tune by .several that has covered shagreen since the Ph~is. di artists, and of which we don't km~w the Stor~ delia Scienza, $ (1966), pp.9¢-128; and eighteenth century. country of origin ... and we have to taupe that 'Three Late-Seventeenth Century ItalianTele- uur seafarers, will d|rectiv supply us w,th his scopes, Two Signed by Paolo Belletti of grained skin so that we will be treed h~m one Pmtmila Bologna', Annali &'ll'lstituto e Musm di Storia della Scienza di Firenze, 9 (1984), pp.41-64. of the hwies that we pay to the foreign indush'y]. De la Ville de la Cep6de was At the present, shagreen is still produced probably the first Frenchman who di~wered for the covering of luxury ob~-ts in 6. Examples of these can be seen m the the Das.mtis Sephen as the supplier (~ shagreen several European countries, and it even collections 04 the Mus~e Cognacq-Jay, Paris with big grains. The French were already seems to become popular again although and the Salgo Trust for Education, New York. aware that small-grained fiskskin came fn~n it is just as expensive as it was in the several species d sharks. They even exported shark skins to Amsterdam during the 18th eighteenth century, it is possible to buy 7. J. Perfettini 1988 (op.cit.,note 2), p.22. century. diaries, lighters, shoes, bags and many other objects that are covered with fish- 8. See for a (partly fictive) biography 04 Jean- Author's address: skin in the most fantastic colours. Claude Galluchat: M. Hechter, Galluchat ou les Ri/ksstraatu~,g 304 Crocodiles must be very happy with this mirages du requin de Chine (Mesnil-s.ur-Eqt~e 2025 DP Haarlem development! 19~), p.97. The Netherlands No West Dean Conlervation Course This year there will be no Conservation Course for SIS members at West Dean College, but Mike Cowham h~ that it will be possible to arrange another course for next year. For details about possible future courses at West Dean, contact M.J. Cowham, The Mount, "loft, Cambridge CB3 7RL. Tel: 01223 262684. Fax: 0122,'4 26,3948. E-mail: [email protected] Bulletin of the Scientific lnstnmwnt SocieW No. 52 (1997) !! E Making the Arithmometer Count Stephen Johnston , , .~" . ~,~ _ -~"* .... ', . '7:-1"-.' '~,i ~ m lilt-~'M' .-I :,,,i,t=~ '1 - ,-,;¢;~ ...... tj/j Fig.1 The arithnuvneter as sh,m,n in an 18o5 instructhm manual fnote 47). I ~ ...... II[J Fig.2 A view of the arithmometer in 1862. From Reuleaux (note 51). Introduction when arithm(mleter 'clones' were first manu- handle (Fig.I: N). This transfer opera,m, basic factured in Germany by Burkhardt and, to all the arithmometer's workings , is accom- The anthm,m~--ter of Charles Xavier Thomas slightly later, in Bntain.4 plis!x~ using the celebrated stepped cylinders de Colmar ( 178% 1870) has a firmly established first intn~uced by Leibniz. place in the history of computing. While the In this paper l focus on the perk~ 04 more lure's share of recent scholarly attention has than ~ years between the invention of the Each cylinder carries 9 teeth whose length been lavished ~m Charles Babb'age's difference machine and its establishment as an accepted increases stepwise (Fig.2: A). The cylinder's and anah'tical engines, historians examining instrument 04 calculation. I examine three teeth engage a pinion (Fig.2: B) whose position calculat,~n in the 19th century, have never- aspects of the arithm(m~eter's early history: is controlled by the setting slider (Fig.2: C). theless repeatedly affirmed the unportance of its development as a mechanism, the means The higher the number set by the slider, the Thomas's device. Typical charactensations are used to publicly pron~e it and the concrete larger the number 04 teeth on the cylinder remarkabh, uniform: 'the first multiplication ways in which it was adopted by an engaging the pinion. When the handle is machine tO be made commercially for general expanding circle of users. This multiple turned the cylinder rtRates and as a result the sale', 'the first commeroalh" successful calcu- approach seeks to reveal the technical, promo- pinion's square arbor (Fig.2: F) is turned lator' and 'the first commercia[ calculating tional and pers~mal investment required before through an arc proportional to the value set machine'. the anthmon~eter could be 'counted on', n~ on the slider. It is this rotation which is just in the straightforward arithmetical sense communicated to the result dial (Fig.2: K) via The anthm(~neter was not howe'ver the first but also counted on as a reliableresource for a a bevel wheel (Fig.2: G). One turn 04 the machine to accomplish the four basic anthme- whole range of potential users. handle adds the value set on the sliders to the tical operati(ms of addition, subtracti~m, multi- result dials and, since multiplication is simply plication and division; earlier machines such Design and Development repeated additi(m, turning the handle, say, 5 as th~e of Hahn and MUller had achieved this times multiplies the given number by 5. To level of ~nctioualitv m the 18th century. 2 But Examples of the arithmometer survive in multiply by 25 it is not nece~sary to turn the the implied virtues of the anthmometer are many public and private collections. Yet handle 25 times. Rather, after turning it 5 times clear. [.ackmg the mathematical ambition despite its easily recognisable outward appear- the carriage is moved tree step to the right and driving the work of 8abbage and his followers, ance, we should be wary. of di~u~ing the the handle then turned two times. the machine was solid, dependable and arithmometer, as if the machine existed in a successful, an industrial product manufac- single unchanging form. A few of the Using the reversing switch on the setting plate tured m quanti~'. machine's basic principles did remain con- (Fig.h B), the machine can be set to perform stant, but almost every feature of their subtraction and division. Figure 2 shows the Yet despite this apparent con.sensus there are implementation was altered by Thomas. More- result of pushing the switch: M slides forward, stnking problems with standard accounts of over, the long list of internal and external disengaging the bevel wheel G ~)m I (on the the arithmometer. Rather than a smooth changes does nc,t represent simply a uniform axis of the result dial K) and bnnging H into pas.,,age to success, ! will suggest that the sequence of improvement. In some of the most contact with 1. Now when a turn of the handle machine's earl,,' decades witnessed a different iml:X~rtant instances of redesign Thomas did causes arbor F to turn, I and thus the result and more troubled trag-,ctory, in which the r~t just rectify, or add to an existing model; dial rotates in the opposite direction, reducing mechanical and public character of the rather, he attempted to redefine the character rather than increasing the displayed value. A anthmometer was repeatedly transformed. and the ambitions of the machine, and thus its turn 04 the handle thus subtracts the number This pn~'ess of development took place over I~sible market. set on the sliders from a number entered on an extraordinarily protracted period. the result dials. Although first made public m 1820, a lengthy The familiar features of the mature version 04 reJxwt of 1878 remarked that the anthm(maeter the anthmometer provide a convenient stand- As multiplication Lq repeated addition, so had still not taken its 'rightful' place in point from which to survev its changing form division is repeated subtraction, with the industo,. ~ Perhaps this perception of failure and operaticm. The machine presents two quotient appearing in the smaller set 04 dials should be attributed to the overoptimistic principal parts, a fixed setting plate with a expectations of a sympathetic advocate. But on the carriage (Fig.l: D). These quotient dials series of sliders for inputting numbers (Fig.l: are simply counters: each turn 04 the handle the widespread acceptance of the arithm- A), and a movable carriage where results ometer cannot be dated much before the late increments the dial currently in contact with appear (Fig.l: M). A number set with the the counting mechanism by one unit. The 187lh. Only then was the machine deemed sliders is mechanically transferred to the result sutficientlv successful to be worth copying, quotient dials are aLso useful in multiplication, dials on the carriage (Fig.l: C) by turning the since they provide a visual check on the value 12 Bulletin 04 the Scientific Instrument Society No. 52 (1997) Fig.3 General z,iew from the 1820 patent tnote 5). "" ~I. [lli El I Fig.4 The oldest .~urz'/z,ms~ ar#hmometer (note 7); Smlthsonian Fig.5 Mechanism of the earliest arithmometer (note 7); Smithsonian Institution photo no. P651074B. Institution photo no. P651O74A. of the multiplier.Finally, when a calculation is cylinders to rotate the desired number of two decades warrants at leastsome scepticism complete, the carriage dials can be reset to times. Thus, in multiplying by eight, for over such claims. Nor would it be surpnsing if zero: each set of dials has an independent example, a single operation was required the anthmometer had been set aside. Thomas zeroing mechanism operated by twisting one rather than the repetition of eight actions. ~ was not a mechanician whose prole.~mnal of the two knurled knobs at either end of the success rested on his ability to create and sell a carriage (Fig.l: O and P). The carriage contains no quotient dials but working commercial machine. Rather, he was only a series of Paired result dials. Without a the director of an insurance company, and was The engraving in Figure I is from an switch on the setting plate to alter these dials' presumably pre~ccupied with this work for instruction b~)klet of 1865. Some measure of direction of rotation, subtraction and division most of his prok~sional lifeY the operational transformation of the atithm- are accomplished by an alternative and less ometer can be gained by turning back to the direct route. Each result dial carries two However, the anthmometer did re-emerge. A debut of the machine. c(mcentric sequences of numbers, one increas- machine of unknown design was displayed at ing for addition the other decreasing for the 1844 French national exhibition and, by at Thomas's arithmometer was first made public subtractkm. In revealing one sequence the least 1848, a thorough redesign had been in 1820 when he was gran;ed a five year patent other is hidden, so the user had to choose the carned out. The ribbon dnve was dLspen.,~J for his calculating machine (Fig.3)." It is clear appropriate number sequence for the desired with and replaced by a crank handle inserted however that the patent represents only a operation. (Pascal had resorted to similar into the front of the ix~x. The capacity was transient prototype, on which Thomas was means in his 17th-century adding machine.) mcreased to five setting sliders and I0 result still actively working. By 1821, when he was Each of these dials has to be individually reset dials. The multiplicateur slide was retaim,cl ready to submit an example to the scrutiny of by twisting the knob mounted on its axis: there from the 18205 machine but must have had a the Soci~# d'encouragement pour I'industrie is no general zeroing mechanism. Finally, it is new mechanism, while there was now a wing nationale, the design had already moved on perhaps easy to overlook the lack of a handle. nut on the sethng plate for switching between significantly. The Socibt~'s Bulletin first fea- In.stead there is a silk ribbon which is pulled addition and subtraction,dispensing with the tured a short report on the arithmometer and outwards to set the machine in motion. doubly numbesx~l result dials.L" then a longer illustrated memoir.~ A machine almost identical to the engraved design of 1821 Even dwelling only on external features makes ['h~.se changes heralded a decade of further survives m the Smithsonian's National Mu- clear the substantial gap between the early development, the most intensive in the seum of American History (Figs 4 and 5)/The versions of the atithmometer and those of the anthmometer's history. A patent for a new inscription on the setting plate records not 1860s. However, the devek)pment path from and more compact machine was obtained m only the machine's inventor but also - to the one other was neither straightforward 1850. ~ As well as the reduction m size, the apparently uniquely on a surviving Thomas nor steady. After the initial|anfare of favour- position of the handle was altered and a machine - who actually made it, the Parisian able reports in the Bulletin of the Societ~ zeroing mechanism added (Fig. 6). But this m&anicien and clockmaker, Devrine.M d'encnuragement, nothing further seems to model was, in turn, quickly superseded by have been heard of the arithmometer for more another new machine m 1852 (Fig. 7). z~ As well By comparison with Figure 1, several features than 20 years. At this stage in its development as incorporating some relatively ctvsmetic stand out in these early designs. To focus the machine appears no different from the changes, such as a new form for the add/ primarily on the Smithsonian machine, it many earlier arithmetical machines that had subtract switch and for the zeroing buttlm, the clearly has a smaller capacity: them are only been announced, had demonstrated their 1852 machine also marked a more funda- three setting sliders. Alongside these sliders feasibili.ty through working prototypes and mental departure in Thomas's approach and there is a fourth slot identified as the 'multi- then sunk without further trace. strategy. While the succession of previous plicateur', which is conspicuously absent from models had incorporated mechanical changes, the machine of the 1860s. The multiplicateur Later publicity material claimed that 1"h(~nnas they had nevertheless retained the same was intended to abbreviate multiplicationand had worked incessantly to develop the functional elements. ]'he new m~lel of 1852 division. Setting a figure on the multiplicateur machine from 1820 onwards, ~° but the appar- iettL~med the multiplicateur, making the and actuating the machine caused the stepped ent absence of any promotional effort for over machine smmpler (and therefore presumably Bulletin of the Scientificlnstrome~t Society No. 52 (1997) 13 Fig.7 The arithmometer as shown in an 1852 mstructhm manual O~ote 10). Fig.6 Ar~t/tmo,tctc, ,,~ c. IS3, wrwatc tolh'ttto~. cheaper to ctmstruct), but in effect less lra~wer- quently di~arded, which was engaged as part pn~motional material em behalf of the machine ful. The u~r rather than the machine now had of the tens cam' mechanism. Moreover, rather all offered the arithmometer to a wider to keep count of the turns of the handle, than ~ stepped teeth the Smith~nian exam- audience. especially' Ishen pertorming division pie's cylinders have 18, arranged in pairs. ihomas evidently expenmented with means Although further refinements would ctmtinue When presented through these media the to supply this lack, ~ but it was not until 18~ to be introduced bv Thomas's business anthmometer was placed m open competition that the absence was defimttveh' remedied by successors and their competitors, by the with other devices. Although now often the mtr~xtuction of quotient dials on the 18~b; arithmometers were being produced in presented as a lone pioneer,:" the arithm- carnage. '~ By this stage the arithmometer a form which remained relatively stable until ometer iostled with other machines for had, outwardly at least, achieved its classic the First World War. This familiar form of the attention and acclaim Far from being a self- torm, though it was not until the mid-ifl~Os anthmometer may clothe it in a guise of evident success it was frequently ranked as that the quot,ent dials received their own solidih" and permanence. But by surveying merely second best in its class. The public zeroing mechanism. the machine's technical development we can career of the arithmometer in the 1840s and how shifting and fragile was its identity "~)s suggests how much work was required to over a period of ~0 years. establish the name and reputation of Thomas's This sketch of the changing form of the machine. anthmometer has only coxered .~me of its more ~vious and external alterations, th~w.,e Promotion and Competition which reveal the changing options and Thomas first ventured into the world of operations available to a u.,cer. But these do Focusing on the machine itself provides one exhibitions when the arithmometer was re- ra~t nec~rily represent the machine's m~st strand of development. But how did the vived in 1844. A machine was entered in the mgmficant tran.~formations. The development anthmometer fare in the public realm? The French national exhibititm of industrial pro- and ultimate abandonment of the multi- anthmometer had first become public when it ducts where it was classed amongst precisk)n plicateur required maior internal redesign, for was patented in 1820. This claim expired after instruments in a category of 'diverse measures, example However, contemporanes agreed 5 years and it was not until 18~1 that fresh counters and calculating machines'. If Thomas that the m~t challenging task for the devi.~r legal rights were obtained. From this I~int a had hoped for substantial recognition and of calculating machines lay m the creati,~ of more systematic i~1i(3, was pursued, and the reward, he was to be disappointed. The the tens carry mechamsm] r Without delving 15 year rights were extended and renewed in arithmometer was granted an honourable into the me~:hanical mtricaoes, we can note 1865 and 1880. mention in the jury report but was clearly that Fhomas redesigned this element more considered inferior to the submission of thee than an,, other: the anthmometer exhibits at While the patent documents included mechan- Hungarian emigr~ doctor Didier Roth, who least 5 dt~,hnct mechamsms up to the 1860s. ical description and illustration, such informa- obtained a bronze medal for his adding and Fhese alterahons re,,ponded to publicly' voiced tion was also made accessible by other forms calculating machines and counters. Roth had concerns al~ut the delicacy of the tens carD', of publication Machines were offered to been actively pn~moting his adding machines and sought to guarantee robustness by learned and improving societies with the since 1842 and had received a favourable redu(mg the reliance on springs as transmii- expectation that they would be reviewed. report from the Societ~ d'encouragement in ter,, of torce." The rel~rts ,ha the construction and use of 1843. The judgement of the 1844 jury was the arithmometer for the ~cit'tP d'encourage- mirrored in the coverage given to Roth in a Fhe hidden revisions to the 4nthmometer's ment in 1821, 1822, 1851 - when it was separate guide to the exhibitkm's highlights, in renard,, extended beyond the ,,~.nsltive element awarded a gold medal - and, after Thomas's which Roth's adding machine was described ot tens cam' to suchbasic features as the drive death, m 1878 have already been cited. A and illustrated, while the arithmometer was tran~,m|sm~n, which was altered from a gear machine was al~ presented to the Academic ignored. 21 tram to a ,,haft Such internal alterations des ~iences in 18~4 and a report duly pro~,=de probably the best e~,tdence that the followed later the .same year. TM performance of the machine was open to The next French national exhibition took place in 1849 and Thomas again tried his luck. On =mpn~ement. Even that mt~t fundamental Patent specifications and ioumal reports thus mexhamcal organ of the machine, the stepped this occasion he was awarded a silver medal repeatedh" served as a medium for accounts of and the jury report devoted three pages to his Qhnder, did not remain unalter~l. Although the anthmometer, typicalh' focusing narrowly its wording and dlu~,tration is ob~ure, and machine. 2z However, despite this higher on the form and operation of the machine h~mour, he was again eclipsed, for a gold there is no .,,unlvlng machine available for itself. However, the contexts in which the clanhtation, It e, clear from the 1820 patent medal went to the mechanicians Maurel and machine was communicated and assessed Jayet for their "arithmaurel', a calculating that [homa~'s radial design for the cylinder multiplied from the 184(h. Exhibitions, news- incorporated an addmonal ha~th, subse- machine with automatic capabilities judged papers, popular scientific periodicals and to exceed those of the arithm~maeter. 14 Bulletin of the Scientific Instrument Society No. 52 (1997) a J J J ...... ~ A A A 4 k ~~L I \ [ E ; L LLTL LJ ..... _ .... Fig.9 The 1855 exhibition arithmometer lnote 31). By permission of Andrew Neuhart/Neuhart Donl~es Neuhart. Fig.8 The arithmaurel of Maurel and [aye(. From Lalanne (note 27). A further competitive opportunity was s~m In planning for the 1855 exhibition Thomas damned by its transcendence, a romantic offered by the 1851 Great Exhibition. But envisioned his chief rival to be the arithmaurel instrument symbolising only a beautiful ideal. again, Thomas was frustrated. The arithm- which had captured so much interest at its first ometer was one of two calculating machines to public appearance in 1849 (Fig. 8). Subse- Thomas presumably prmnpted or supported receive a prize medal, but the jury decided that quently awarded the prix de m6canique of the these publications in some way but, whatever it was inferiorto a Russian entry devised by Fondation Montyon this machine had been the manoeuvres, they are now lost. ~ His Israel Abraham Staffel, onginally a watch- undergoing continued development and was intervention is much clearer in another text maker from Warsaw. The arithmometer was evidently seen as a threat to the arithmome- from the period tmmediately preceding the illustrated in the officialcatalogue, but it was ter's prospects. Thomas set about garnering Paris exhibition. The innocuously titled His- Staffel's calculator, already successful at a positive publicity for his most recently devel- Polish exhibition and rewarded in St Peters- toire des hombres et de la numiration micamque oped model. appeared in 1855 over the name of Jacomy- burg, which was featured in the lllustrated London News. z~ Rd~gnier, otherwise apparently best-known for a lengthy treatise on coniugal morality. The arithmaurel and the arithmometer were Whatever expectations its title suggests, this iuxtap~r,ed in the pages of the Annales des After his succession of defeats Thomas work turns out to be a lO0 page promotional Ponts ef Chauss~s in 1854 when each was made embarked on a far more active promotion of puff for the subject of a separate memoir. Both reports Th~nas. Mustenng not iust the history the arithmometer. His next challenge was to be of mechanical calculation but the hiskny of were favourable but, apart from noting that the 1855 exhibition in Paris and he evidently arithmetic itself, Thomas is celebrated in the arithmaurel made use of the stepped determined to secure international victory on extravagant terms. Where the surpassing cylinder which had earlier been incorporated French soil. Thomas campaigned both through acuity of a Pascal or a Leibniz had failed, by Thomas, there was littlein the way of direct the press and in commissioned publications. Thomas had finally succeeded in creating a comparison, v The stakes were raised by an He also engaged in the rituals of patronage, genuine calculating machine. Extraordinarily 1854 article in the scientific review Cosmos, in rituals that we might more readily associate purple passages elevate the anthmometer to with the decoratively elaborate calculating which the abb~ Moigno not only looked forward to the forthcoming exhibition struggle the status of a finely horled pniduct of genius, machines of the 18th century. between the two machines but also gave his its clarity of pu~ matching a deeply opinion of the likely outcome. Moigno moved considered simplicity of ctmstruction. But In the early 1850s Thomas distributed exam- the contest away from the staid and careful whereas "['hornas'sachievement ought to have ples of the arithmometer to numerous prose of official reports and presented it as been the glory of the age and of the French crowned and titled heads of Europe. Surviving journalistic high drama.~ He acknowledged nation, his rewards had been few and middling, with ~cL~nition bestowed examples of these presentation machines are his own previous championing of Maurel and more individually ornamented with engraved ded- Jayet but now sought to press the claims of readily bevond the Ixmndanes of France than within them. ications on scrollwork inside the case lid. u Thomas. Not only had Thomas's prioritybeen Thomas's direct reward for these arithm- overlooked but the superior ix)tentialof the ometer gifts was a series of at least a dozen arithmometer had lain unrecognised. The The supply of personal anecdote and quota- honours granted between 1851 and 1855. He arithmaurel was still to be clas,q~cl as a (ion reveals Th(wnas's participation in this was named to a stream of chivalric orders, machine of the highest ingenuity. Yet Moigno promotional venture, and its message suggests received gold and diamond gifts in recom- reminded his readers that the best could he the his direct support. Dark comments on the pense for his invention and, in 1857, was enemy of the good. Maurel and Jayet had inadequacy, of jury. pn~ures witne~ his elevated from Chevalier to Officer of the produced a powerful machine but had not yet disappointment at previous exhibition verdicts L~gion d'Honneur3~ Aside from this personal been able to either expand its operational on the anthmometer. Sigmficantly, the t~nh.' accumulation, Thomas was able to make capacity or render it suitable for the commer- other machines to be given appreciatwe abundant use of these decorations in promo- cial market. Thomas on the contrary had mentkm are the three which had already tional material for the arithmometer, listing already supervised the construction of many defeated the anthmt~meter, But each L~ quickly them to indicate the endorsements he had arithmorneters and there was no mechanical dispatched. Roth's machine, although a prao received from the European elite. Such t~forts hindrance to the expansion of the machine's tical device, is merely for addition. ]'he to raise the profile of the anthmometer placed capacity. The arithmometer may have ap arithmaurel rests on Thomas's prior mnova- it within a world of honour and prestige, far peared slower and more in need of human (ion of the stepped cylinder mechanism and is removed from the commercial marketplace to action and intelligence, but Moigno turned in any case both mechanically dehcate and which the machine is usually assigned in such evaluations on theirhead. The simplicity prt~dbitively expensive, qualities which apply historical accounts. Clearly the ari~eter and solidity of the arithmometer identified it likewise to the Staffel machine. Of these three, cannot be identified as an exclusively indus- as the 'classical' instrument, representing the only the anthmaurel would stand as rival to trial product. ~" absolute good, while the anthmaurel was the arithmometer at the forthcoming exhibi- Bulletin of the Scientific Insmmwnt Society No. 52 (1997) 15 t~n, and Thomas had hit on a strategy to astonishing achievement of the Swedish en- restrkled only to the four rules of ant~aetic? outflank this competitor. gine. With its almost intelligent qualities and How can it replace the slide rule, which has its ability to replace the work of learned the advantage of portability? Moigno had reported on the difficulties facing savants by the handle-turning operations of Maurel and Jayet in building an anthmaurel an ordinary man, the difference engine seemed Him effered practical reassurance and perm- with a results capacity of 8 figures. Thomas to open up a rhapsodic world of possibilities in nal experience to allay anxieties about me- laced no such problems, in the previous four which intellect was overtaken by mechanism?* chanical reliability and he presented the Mide years he had seen the completion of mo~ than rule and the afithmonwter as complementary 200 lO-figure and 50 16-figure machines. ~ To Humbled once more, the ari~ would devices, their particular strengths suited to drive home this advantage of capacity Thomas nevertheles6 remain a regular entrant to distinct envinmments and calculating tasks. '~ created a giant machine especially for the subsequent exhibitions where it was duly The balance of his paper was devoted to an exhibition. Some 6 feet long, equipped with 15 RVorted and often rewarded. But never again exposition of advanced techniques which setting sliders and 30 R,sult dials, and encased would it be so carefully groomed for success, extended the ann's reach beyond in fine cabinetwork the result was evidently and yet so notably thwarted. While the the apparent restrictions of the four bask: meant to capture more than technical interest exhibitions provided a dramatic public arena, arithmetical rules. (Fig. 9)?I their reports did however point to another dimension of the arithmometer's public career. However, Him suggested that moot of the Advance reports of this calculating leviathan Beyond the realm of spectacle and rivalry the doubts about the arithmometer hinged on one were already circulating befone the exhibition arithmaxnet~'s performance as a commercial question which every onlooker always ended itself. The record of a meeting of the Acad~mie product was h'eqoently noted. Hem too the by asking: hew much does the arithmometer des Sciences in the pages of Cosmos again eady news was not good. cost? Him acknowledged that the answer allowed the abb~ Moigno the opportunity, to typically frightened off nmst enqumers. How- trumpet the anthm(nneter's merits. As well as The 1849 exhibition jury report remarked ever, Thomas was not creaming off exces~ve citing the conclusions of recent reports he simply that the arithmometer had never profits. Rather, the elevated price arose from announced that Thomas's giant machine entered into the commercial world, even the machine's manufacture process. Currently would "strike a final grand blow' against though it could be delivered at a reasonable constructed one by one using hand methods, obj. resistance or inertia which might price. The situation was little changed by 1855 Him considered that the price could be halved still Impede the arithmcnneter's progre-~? 2 when the jury again t~2ognised the machine's if the machine was manufactured in quantity potential to be modestly priced, even though it using the mechanical techniques of a large After this extensively orchestrated prepara- was as yet little knownY By this time Thomas workshop. 42 tion, the initial signs from the exhibition itself had distributed many examples of the arithm- were encouraging. A guidelx~k reported in its ometer as presentation machines but he Price had been identified from the outset as a section on preosion instruments that the giant evidently expected that an increasing number crucial issue for the anthmometer. The very anthmometer was the centre of lively interest. of purchases would be made. Certainly, the first report of 1821 had worried that the Thomas would have been satisfied to note that 250 machines apparently assembled by 1854 arithmometer would always be an expensive the anthmaurel appears onlv as an after- would not all have been intended for Europe's device. In 1854 it was identified as the only thought, an additional item also worth view- learned societiesand royalty. But whether such obstacle to the wider use of the machine. ° No rag. Yet m this moment of triumph there was a completed machines had already been sold is systematic index of the anthn~)meter's price small ck~ud on the horiztm. The same volume uncertain. Apart from Moigno's 18~ refer- has yet been constructed, and it would in any reported a late arrival, too recent to be ence, the only other 19th-century source to case be complicated by the variety of different properly integrated into the topically arranged quantify, the anthmometer's pniduction is models and capacities which were available text, but still justi~mg a mention in the Sebert's report of 1878 which records sales of from the 1850s onwards. However, fragmen- national account of Sweden and Norway. No 500 machines up until 1865, 300 for 1865-70, tary evidence does suggest that deliberate detads were given other than to report that it 400 for 1870-75 and finally 300 for 1875-78Y efforts were made to cut the price of the was a quite remarkable calculating machine. ~ Even by the late 1870s it would seem that no machine?4 more than I{10arithmometers were being sold each year. The machine was far from being a The machine was the Scheutz difference Users and Uses: the Example 04 England engine. Inspired by Babbage and carried successful object of mass production. through to completion with more limited means, the second version of the Scheutz Advocates of the arithmorneter sought to The evidence of reports, exhibitions and engine had been brought to London in the account ft~r what they took to be its low rate contemporary comment suggests thal sus- tained pncluction of the anthmometer - either autumn of 1894. A working machine which of adoption and offered suggesticms to expand small could automaticalh, calculate and pnnt math- its use. The most extended corcsideration of individually or in batches - first began seriously in about 1850. The machine was not ematical tables by ihe method of differences, it public responses to the machine was penned received Babbage's blessing and was taken to by the civil engineer G.-A. Him in 1863. Him an overnight success. Frequently outshone in Pans in August 1855. Ek--spite its late arrival, offered the arithmometer as one of two public by its rivals, it was sold at a rate of no the machine and its impact were widely inventions which had failed to achieve the more than 100 a year before the 1880s. The fragility of the machine's identity and market reported. A newspaper commented, 'we do public and commercial acclaim which he both puzzled and disturbed advocates such as not believe that the Universal Exfa~sition believed they. merited (the other device was Him. Him's memoir offered an analysis of the ~upplies a single machine where inventive the hydrostat of Kaeppelin). His memoir was perceived obstacles to the diffusion of the genius is more completely revealed, than the seif-consciously presented as a case study in ari.thnum~ter, much calculating machine' of Georg and Edvard technological diffusion: having used the in the manner (dr more recent economic historians and market re- Scheutz." machine since 1855 and frequently demon- searchers. Can the historian do more? Even if strated it to friends and colleagues he sought impn~sskmistic, Him had the advantage of Jury and journalist were largely at one: the to document common reactions to the arithm- witnessing and reporting directly on the Scl~eutzes received the accolade of a gold ometer and to identify and defuse the reactions of contemporaries. Nevertheless medal, leaving the anthmometer once again objections which he perceived as hindering with no more than an honourable mentitm." its progress. ~ the~ are sources which can complement his The carefully staged struggle between the picture and which enable us to move from a arithmomet~ and anthmauwl had bec(~ne a model of passive diffusion to consider the Him records that after initialexclamatioRs of ways in which the arithmometer was actively diverting side show rather than the main wonder at the machine's capacities, most event. The arithmometer's claims as an appropriated and adopted by users. We need observers first begin to doubt and then to to take thLs mute if we are to understand how elevated prt~uct of genius were dismissed criticise.Surely, as a machine, it must get out when faced with the ~)wers of the difference a device appanmtly so beset by problems not of order? Doesn't it require more of an effort to the foundation for engine. A substantial review of the exhibiti~n only survived but became learn than calculation with the pen? Won't a an industry. Focusing on users and their quickly dealt with the two French calculating user either lose the habit of calculation, or rivals heft)re moving on to the much more diverse uses of the machine helps to recast simply become mathematically lazy.'~ Isn't it the problem, transforming it from the negative 16 Bulletin of the Scientific Instrument Society No. 52 (1997) terms of 'resistance to innovation' and towards by 40 individuals and firms representing demonstrates the extent to which users were a n~re productive investigation of how the engineers, bankers, actuaries, doctors and more than mere passive vectors for the spread anthmometer came to figure reliably in the chemists ~' The 1872 List was evidently in- of an unchanging object. Writing to the agent calculating routines of human 'computers'. tended to demonstrate that the arithmometer in 1868 to enclose his delayed payment, Brunel had already arrived, and that it was well- listed four faults in the machine which could The first report for the Soc~ d'encourage- established in a wide range of professional be remedied without great trouble. The last (ff ment in 1821 noted that Thomas envisaged his pursuits. But by naming a ~ of exemplary them, concerning the operatkm of the setting machine primarily as a kml for large commer- owners in order to persuade prospective sliders, was simple to correct at the manufac- cial organisatinns or banks. He apparently customers this leaflet provides a point of entry turing stage but troublesome afterwards and imagined that it 'ought to render important to a rich network of users. had afflicted the four most recent of the five services in counting houses, banks, exchan~, machines bought by Brunel and his friends. M and every place where __,f~uent and rapid The 1872 list names 'Mr. Brunel, C.E., calculations are necessary.' D~ubtless this Westminster', who can be readily identified Brunel's suggestions were not warmly re- vision of the p~ential market was conditioned as the engineer Henry Brunel, son of Isambard from in by Thomas's own experiencesboth as an army ceived. Wnting Froude's March 1869 Kingdom Brunel. in March 1866 Brunel wrote he remarked that 'I now get my Anthm- administrator with the French forces in Spain to a co~t: ometers through Adie my Instrument Maker and Portugal and as director of the Ph(,nix as the regular agent did not take pains to serve insurance company from 1819Y' I have just Sot what my mother irreverently me well'. Bypassing the agent, Brunel got Adie calb 'a new toy' - to wit a cakulating machine to buy directly from Paris and then to make However, the exhibition reports from the 1840~ price £12 which does all the common opera- alterations according to his preferred pattern, and '50s repeatedly state that the machine was tions of arithmetic viz addition, multiplication, as well as adding a leather carrying case. By not estahlL~d in the commercial realm. An subtraction & division in the twinkling of an this stage Brunel was acting as an intermedi- indication of some of the early French eye. It is really a very useful articleworth its ary himself, obta~ng his 'improved' arithm- institutional users is given in an instruction weight in brass.-~ ometers through Adie and then sending new manual of 1865 which cites the Western and machines to friends while also receiving Northern railways as well as the Caisse des Later the same month, the machine . still damaged or worn examples for repair. It consignations and the Creusot works? 7 A described as 'very u'~ul' and now identified should perhaps be no surprise that Hawkshaw post-1865 promotional leaflet suggests the as French - was recommended to another and Noble, two of the engineers with whom expansion of the targeted market beyond corres~mdent. ~ From a subsequent letter it Bmnel carried on his traffic in arithmometers, commerce and finance through its references appears that Brunel's machine had been also appear in the 1872 list of purchasers.~ to astronomy, geometry, architecture and ordered for him by his engineer colleague industry.'* William Froude,~ and it was to Froude that In addressing problems with his friends' Brunel reported in May of 'the grand use of machines, Bnmel was led into highly detailed In the 1850s the arithmometer was principally my cak. machine this afternoon getting out examinations of their mechanisms. Mechanical available from the offices of the Soleil some quantities'. The context of the letter defects which januned the machine could be insurance company in Paris, of which Thomas suggests that Brunel sought arithmetical aid diagnosed aM repaired but more worrying was general director. However, by at least the as he worked on a tunnelling machine scheme were instances when the machine was found 1860s, agents we~ being appointed outside for the proposed Channel Tunnel.'* to be giving the wrong results. Errors of this France. Exports were claimed to account for kind undermir~ the tm~ on which resular 50% of production in 1862 and 60% in 1878.~ Confirmation that Brunel's calculating ma- operation was founded. Brunel therefore went chine was indeed the anthmometer and that to ~t lengths to identify the sources of such In Germany, the arithmometer had been it was treated as more than just a passing subtly unsettling faults. In one instance, with to as early as 1823,~ and its revised novelty comes in the following year. Brunel the help of diagrams and much explanation, form was publicised in an 1862 booklet by had evidently persuaded Froude to take a he tracked down a problem to wear and tearin Franz Reuleaux. st Early satisfied purchasers closet look at what was presumably a new the carrying mechamsm, but only when the included the Preu~ische statistische B0ro, model and had asked Thomas's I.o~on agent carriage was in one particular position." Such which bought its first machine in 1864 and to make the 'Arithmetic Machine' available. faults could have cast a long shadow over the another larger one the following year. Further That the service may have been performed reliability of the arithrnometer among isolated Pairs of machines were added in both 1878 before, though not entirely to Brunel's satisfac- users but, by capturing the fault, devising a and 1879.s= The first evidence of intenest from tion, is suggested by I~s alterthought: "Please ~y and passing it on to correspondents, the United States likewise comes from the make sure that the key of the box is sent with Brunel helped to keep the machine above the 1860s and '70s?~ it.'*' If Froude had not actually bought the level of unrecoverable suspicion. In d~ng so machine previously, Brunel's enthusiasm was he helped to build up a repertoire of cautiorLs, The national example 1 want to focus on is, infectious: Froude's name also appears on the tricks and fixes well beyond the more anodyne however, that of England, principally for the 1872 list of the arithmometer's purchasers. recommendations of the official insmx-fion pragmatic reason of access to archives and manuals. sources. The arithmometer was known in By 1868 Brunel had learnt to call the machine England at least as early as its 1851 appearance an arithmometer and was ordering another Henry Brunel enables us to recover the at the Great Exhibition.As well as his support example. He immediately reported his acquisi- network of active interest through which the in the Pages of Cosmos and despite his faltering tion in terms which suggest both his intm~ate arithmometer's engineering trajectory was command of English, the abb@ Moigno familiarity with the machine and also the way accomplished. While the purchase of other demonstrated an example at the 1854 meeting in which its capadty and power had become a machines can be documented, in the present of the British Association. s4 Although it is clear matter of friendly rivalry: 'I have a £20 Calc: state of research it often remains difficult to that a few arithmetical adventurers purchased Machine as big as Clarke's with a fizzerfor the identify particular motivations. For example, machines in the 1850s,s~ it is primarily for the "tile beggars'.~ As the mote prosaic language the 1872 list includes the South Kensington 1860s and later that we have detailed evidence o4 the order makes clear,Bruners "fizzer'was Museum; the corresponding machine, pur- of the me of the arithnmmeter. the eraser knob and mechanism for the small chased in 1868 and marked for the Science quotient dials, introduced in 1865.~ and Art Department, survives in the Science A London-produced promotional leaflet pro- Museum, London?~ vides one of the most vivid windows onto the The evidence of Brunel's correspondence anthmometer's use in ,England. After describ- indicates how, beneath the outward face of Other personal connections are occasionally ing the machine and noting its exhibition anonymous market phenomena and purchase hinted at. Both the Cambridge Observatory awards most recently at Moscow in 1872 - decisiom, personal friendships and recom- and Pm4ess~ Bashforth appear in the 1872list. the leaflet prints a list of the machine's users. A ~tiom were vital in hastering the com- John Couch Adams, director of the Cambridge total of 33 corporate bodies, from government mercial success of the an~. Moreover, Observatory from 1861, is reported to have departments to colleges, ol~ervator~ and his enthusiastic efforts help us to rethink the remarked that an arithmometer was 'in insurance companies, are included, foUowed character of the machine's 'diffusion'. Brunel constant use the~ in the observatory, and that Su~.tinofthesc~t~U~entSodety No. S2 (19,r~ 17 it is most valuable in shortening the tedious paid in January 1882, £200 went to the comment indicates that the machine was prc~esses of asmmomical calculations'."~ Ba~- instrument makers Elliott Brothers.74 offered as being 'go~d enough'; cl~te the forth was second wrangler at Cambridge in importunities of unruly English use~ the 1843 when Adams was senior wrangler and The Pnidential's initiative was evidently I~wn arithm(aneter's manufacturecs did not think they. became ckx~e associates, collaborating on of frustra~m at the perceived inadequacies of that it merik,,d further investment and devel- a treatise c,n capillary, action as late as 1883. a dry'ice that they could m~ kruger do without, opment. However, after his appointment as professor of a device they, had built into their admini~ applied mathemati~ at Woolwich in 1864, trative procedures. Henry Brunel's respimse to The inmiductkm of an Engl/~-made arithm- Bashforth's primary interest [as"in ballistics. In his ,similarexperience had been to commisskm ometer the was evidently reducing the results of ex~,nments with his in 188(h meant to his regular mslrument maker to carry (rot capitali~ on the dissatisfied sentiments of chrism,graph and in calculating ballistic tables, alteratitwL~. But government departments also English use~ of the Thomas machine. Later Ba~forth relied on the arithm~nneter as 'a faced the same problems with which ctnnmer- most valuable assistant'. '~ GRO documents show how the compar~ cial b~aties and individual engineers were between the Thomas arithmometer and its struggling. English c~nnpetitor was analysed, playing off (.hae of the m~t pnnnment areas in which the cost against long-term reliability. ~' But rather arithm(nneter came into use m England was in In the history of computing the General than continuing with this sto'ry and high- insurance. Actuaries were pnahably the first Register Office tGRO), Britain's centre hvr lighting the frailties of the arithn'anneter ! pmk-'ssKmal group to adopt it and adapt their official statistics, is known for c~nnmisskming want to conclude my account of English users work to its capabilities. From the l~)s there the third Scheutz difference engine, manufac- by returning to the early 187[h. was a steady stream of artici~ showing i~w tured by Bryan Dimkin & Co. and delivered in the speciali'.~l and repetitive calculati(ms 18~. ~ "Alt]~ough this machine assisted in the The 1872 list of purchasers brings together required to c~mstTuct actuarial tables could calculation and printing of William Farr's ct~npanies and individuals fnwn many fields,l be reworked to take advantage o4 features of Engli~ Life Tabh" (1864), it was afterwards have shown how engineers, astronomers, the anthmometer. More than iust exposition. dec~nnmissioned and placed in storage. The actuaries and statisticians engaged with the there was also active debate about the merits GRO turned away harm the ambiti(ms of the machine, celebrating its utility and actively of machine cakulation TM The 1872 lLst illus- difference engine to the more limited means of probing its weaknesses. Was the juxtaposition trates the extent to which u'Lsurance companies the arithmometer. of these different intellectual and professional were not just considering the possibility of roles merely an arte4act of a promotional adopting arithmometers but were already Treasury letters record the GRO's purchase leafl~? Did the arithrnometer move along making their purchases. A total o[ 17 offic~ arithmometers in 1870, 1872, 1873 and 1877 Parallel but distinct tracks in the pro~essiona- had already bought machines from the and, although the utility of the machine was l/sing world of later lgth century England? London agent. Nor do such references repeatedly reported and endorsed, qualifica- necessarily represent only a single machine. tions were entered [Tom the beginning. The An~mg those l/~ed was the Prudential, which A meeting of the Society of Telegraph first letter seeking authorisation for purchase underwent dramatic expanskm hr, n the mid- Engineers in April 1872 suggests that the links asked not for the price of the (£20) 18~)s as it pioneered mass 'industrial insur- machine but an~mg advocates and users of the anthm- for £25: 'some improvements have been ance' beyond the s~allv elevated market to ometer were not constrained by disciplinary or after trial and experience which companies had largely restricted them- suggested in this professional boundaries. The Society gathered Department, cost ped~aps some selves. The company's investment in, and which may to hear a paper on 'the application of the two or three additi(mal'. TM Like reliance on, the arithmometer spiralled as its pounds Brunel, calculating machine of M. Thomas de Colmar and perhaps because of his example, business grew. Aside hx~n daily calculation, custom to electrical computations' by Thomas T.P. alterations were seen to be necessary before the arithm(~neters were put to work when the Bruce Warren. The paper reveals the extent to delivery. Such improvements were not how- company fulfilled its legal obligation to which Warren had taken his cue from recent ever enough to render the machines fault-free, conduct quinquennial valuatitms of every accounts of the actuarial use of the arithm- and running repairs were still required. pi)licy. The 1877 valuation took 300 clerks 6 ometer; actuaries had pointed the way in Although it was ultimately left to the mlmths to c(nnplete and it was reckmwd that, showing how calculating procedures should Prudential's private initiative, the GRO con- with about 2.5 million policies in force, he reworked in order to benefit from the sidered the same chauvinistic solution later 4,635,8gl calculati(ms were carried out. The capabilitiesof the machine. Perhaps even more sponsored by the insurance clnnpany. Re- Prudential's Henry, Harben recorded that 'We significant Ls the printed discussion which sponding to enquiries, the GRO took had 24 arithmometevs at work on the business, "['reasury follows the published version of the paper. *t the view that 'the liability of "Ar/thmometers" and without them it would have been The contributing audience did not consist of a impossible. '~ to get out of order and their noise would be narrowly bounded group of telegraph engi- greatly diminished if they were made by more neers, or indeed electricians defined mote accurate and better workmen - perhaps broadly. General Hannyngton of the India Essential as the anthmometer was becoming to Englistunen'. ~ Office, one of the prime actuarial proponents the l'rudential's bu~ness, the machine could o( the arithmometer, was present and his not be treated as a fully reliable resource. The The Treasury did not however resort to views were supplemented by those of Henry company's archives presen'e a few fragmen- offering English incentives but hoped to Harhen, the secretary of the Prudential. tary but revealing records of repair work prevail upon the current manufacturer. Hav- Another actuary to speak up was Peter Gray camed out on their anthm(m~L~tersdunng the ing received another report in 1873 fixnn Sir and comments also came from Dr Royston 1870s. Springs would snap and other more Francis (later Lord) Sandford on a machine Piggott ER.S. All of these figures and their serious mechanical defects were not uncom- supplied to the Education Department, the institutions are recorded in the 1872 list. The mon. The effort of the quinquennial valuation Treasury suggested that Sandford and the discussion ranged from electrical work severely tested the machines' robustness: in GRO should together 'commun/cate with the through actuarial experience to trigonometri- one month alone in 1877 12 machines required Inventor of the "ArithrrKwneter" in order to cal and surveying issues, as well as the attention for tree or more repairs,r2 To guard ascertain if improvements could not be handling and maintenance of the machine. against the dangers of both operator and intrt~uced in the construction of these mechanical error, the Prudential typically machines'.TM Thomas had died in 1870 and The judgement of Siemens, the Society's carried out its calculatkms in parallel, usin~ British government efforts to encourage new tree machine to check the results of another/' President, captures the effect of this informed developments met with no more success than cross-disciplinary audience in persuading new But the company was so concerned with Brunel's. Four years later the GRO addressed guaranteeing reliability that it sponsored the users of the arithmometer's potential. Siemens the need for improvements in the machine: confessed that he had initially had doubts development of an English versi(m of the 'this has been fix,~quentlyrepresented to the anthmometer in the h~e of obtaining im- about the suitability of the arithmometer as a manufacturers in France and to their Agents in topic for his society's meeting. 'But the more he proved performance. An 1879 letter to The this Country, but the reply is that the demand T~rnes announced 'a premium of £300 in had seen and heard about it, the more he was for them is so limited that no alterationcan be satisfied the subject was one of great interest to addition to the full price of 20 perfect made in them; consequently they hx-~quently English-made machines'. When the prize was Telegraph Engineers; they had so much to do require repairs.'~ This remarkably telling with calculatio~ of an intricate kind.' 18 Bulletin of the Scientific bmrumem Society No. 52 (1997) Con¢Ismims seneromty in subsequently passing on *he anthmometer, in the 1920 exhibition cehebrat- results of his own research. ing the centenary of the arithrm~eter: see I began by citing a widely-held view o4 the Bulletin (1920), pp.620-1. anthmometer as the first commercially manu- Nolt~ and I[~ factured calculating machine. While my account casts doubt on less cautious claims 8. On Devrine, G.H. Baillie,Watchmakers and 1. See, respectively, D. Baxandall and Jane (such it was the first mass-produced Clockmala'rs of the World, 3rd ed. (l,ondon, that Pugh, Calculating Machines and Instruments: calculator), "2 that initial general statement 1951/1966), p.84 lists him as Paris, 1824, remains a concise caption for the Catalogue of the Collections in the Science though Tardy, Dictionnmre des horh~ers frant-ais, intact as Museum (London, 1975), pal, Uta C. Merz- arithmonw~ - thnugh only for the deveksped part I (Paris, 1971), p.184 gives only a later form available towards the end of Thomas's bach, C,eorg Schrutz and the First Printing reference to a Devrine at the Caherie Viv~,nne Calculator (Washington, 1977), p.37 and long life. Thomas's business success in insur- in 1870. Devrine also made instruments: the Michael Lindgren, Glory and Failure: the ance meant that the low rate of machine Mus~ des Arts et M~,tiers has a balance Difference Engines of ]ohann Mailer, Charles production and its apparent lack of profit bought from him in 1809 (inv. 168). The Babbace and C,¢vrg and Edmrd Scheutz (Cam- were not pmbhems have troubled existence of this machine, and Devrme's r6he which need bridge, p.290. For further refer- him.s~ On the contrary, Thomas advertised his Mass., 1990), in its manufacture, creates a problem for any ences, extraordinary investment. In his promotional among many others, note Michael R. attempt to identify the early arithmometer as a Ixmk of 1855, Jacomy-R6gnier announced that Williams, 'Early calculation', in William As- radical break with the past. Cf. Annegret Thomas had spent 300,000 francs on develop- pray (ed.),Computing b~ Computers (Ames, Kehrbaum and Bernhard Korte, Calculi:Bilder 1990), p.50 and Gerard L'E. Turner, ing the arithmometer, setting that figure Ninefeenth- des Rechnens ernst und heute/Ima~ of Comput- Century ScientificInstruraents (Londcm, 1983), ing in Olden and Modern Times (Opladen, 1995): against Leibniz's reputed costs of 100,000 p.283 francs and Babl~ge's notorious government 'Thnmas's machine also inaugurated a new subvention of £17,000 (reckoned as equivalent epoch in the technical production of calculat- 2. Jean Margum, to 425,000 francs).N If we are to label Thomas's Histoiw des instruments et ing machines. In the past practically all machines d caiculer (Paris, 1994), pp.83-89. work on the arithmometer, it is more likely to calculating machines had been made by fall within the category of vanity publishing watchmakers ...' (p.70). To further reinforce than mass production. 3. Published in the Bulletin de ia Societt the point, note that d'Ocagne (note 5, p.785) d'encouragement pour i'industrie nationale (hem- states that Thomas was initially helped by after Bulletin). For this and other arithmometer Piolaine, 'un jeune ouvrier horloger de The burden of this paper has been to examine articles from the Bulletin 1 cite page numbers the lengthy and complex process by which the Neuilly-sur-Seine'. I have been unable to from the reprinted versions published in confirm this independently, but note that arithmon~.=ter's eventual soccess was achieved celebration of the machine's centenary in - if indeed the process was ever completed. At Tardy (part 2 (Paris, 1972), p.523) lists a 1920, while also giving the year of first member of the Piolaine family at Nenilly-sur- the end of my period, in the late 1870s, it is publication. The report by Sebert was dated clear that the arithmometer occupied an Seine in 1838 and Baillie has Pioiame ills at 13 December 1878, Bulletin (1879/1920), Paris in 1825 (p.253). increasingly established and tangible calculat- pp.694-720, see p.707. The centenary issue o( ing niche but, while its usefulness was praised, the Bulletin was the major source for Ernst a search was already underway for a superior Martin's account of the arithmometer in The 9. The circular design of the patent's mulfi- replacement. The perceived need for an Calculating Machines (Die Rechenmaschinen): plicateur recalls Leibniz's machine. Although alternative was taken as a symptom of the tlu'ir History. and Det~iopment, trans, and ed. often considered to have been lost to view for arithmometer's inadequacies, but the assump- hy Peggy Aldrich Kidwell and Michael R. almost 200 years, images of Leibniz's calculat- tion that the desL,~cl replacement should be Williams, Charles Babhage Institute Reprint ing machine were available in the 18th functionally (and even visually) identical can Series for the History of Computing, 16 century; see the 1744 engraving in Kehrbaum equally be interpreted as a mark of the (Cambridge, Mass., 1992), pp.53-57. and Korte (note 8), p.61. machine's success. 4. Hartmut Petzold, Rechnende Maschinen: Clearly it is not enough to date the arithm- I0. Instructionpour se servir de l'anthra,,ni,tre eine histori~he Untersuchung ihrer Herstellung (Paris, 1852; facsimile edition by Alain Brieux, ometer to 1820 and then interpret its sub- und Andu~adung yore Kaiserreichhis zur Bun- sequent history as simply a question of Paris, 1982), preface, p.2. The claim was desrepublik.Technikgeschichte in Einzeldarstel- accepted and promoted. The abb~ Moigno, diffusion. The mechanical and public identity lungen, 41 (D0sseldorf, 1985), p.102. For the of the machine was worked and n.~vorked, Cosmos,4 (1854), p.76 writes extravagantly and English machines of Tate and Edmondson see implausibly of Thomas 'qui, depuis trente ans, and its users adapted not just their own Baxandall and Pugh (n~e I), p.12. computing work but altered the machine itself. n'avait pas ors~ un seul instant d'ameliorer son oeuvre'. Equally, the c~mtemporary report These three elements - the machine's develop- 5. Patent no. 1420, 18 November 1820. in the Comptes Rendus Hebdoraadaires des ment as a mechanism, its public evaluation Thmnas's letter of request to the Minister of Siances de i'Acadimie des Sciences, 39 (18~), and reputation, and the activitiesof its users - the Interior, dated 6 October 1820, is repro- pp.1117-1124, on p.1123, writes that 'Quant A do not exhaust the history of the arith- duced in J. Joly, 'Un grand invenieur alsacien: I'anthm~, qui ne se u~uve pas encore mometer, the details of its manufacture, for Charles-Xavier Thomas', IJI Vie en Alsace, example, are still largely obscure. Neverthe- darts le commerce, c'est avec le plus h~morabhe p.132. This article is the most authoritative d~in~t que, depuis trente am, M. less, only by jointly attending to the diverse biographical source on Thomas and a copy elements of the arithmometer's persona can Thomas n'a orsc~ de la perfectionner pour he was kindly supplied by Friedrich Kistermann. rendre utile, de sunplifler pour qu'il pot 6tre we to grasp the career, can begin machine's 1 have not yet verified the date of the article livr~ A un prix mode'. from fragile pro~Tpe to de facto standard. but it must have al~ea~l in the Strasl~urg periodical in 1935 or shortly afterwards, when Acknowled~ a monument to Thomas was erected in Colmar II. See Joly (note 5) and note that Thomas's (see Maurice d'Ocagne, "Thomas de Coimar, name features repeatedly in EJ. Richard, I would like to thank the Scienti~ ~t inventeur de I'arithmornc~re, Revue sc/ent~que, Histoire des institutionsd'assurance en France Society for supporting this work with a 73 (1935), pp.783-785). (Paris, 1956). research grant. Many individuals - too many to list here - have helped by supplying 6. The an~ was g'st examined by 12. For 1844, [Exposition des produits de information on individual machines or allow- Br~uet and Francoenr, and Francoeur's report i'industrie franc,aise en 18441, Rapport du lury ing access to theircollections. Particular thanks of 26 December 1821 is Bulletin (1822/1920), central (Paris, 1844), II, p.504. A machine dated are due to Michel Bardel, Paolo Brenni, pp.660-662. The subsequent memoir by Hoyau 1848, again the property of Darras, was Dominique Brieux, Judit Brody, Friedrich is ib/d., pp.662-670. displayed at the arithmometer centenary ex- Kistermann, Doron Swade, Peter Traynor and hibition (note 7), pp.620, 622. What was Geoffrey Tudor. I would especially like to 7. NMAH, Washington, inv. 326,649. This presumably the same machine was ofDred at thank Robert Otnes for prompting me to begin machine, or one very like it, was exhibited by Drou~-Ri~, Paris, 17 November 1995, lot this work many years ago and for his Darras, the then manufacturer of the Thonum 124; its present whereabouts are unknown. ihdletin~eScienti~lnsmm~tseci~ No. 52 (1997) 19 13. Patent no. 6261, 8 December 1850; addi- rather than those d~tmed for the crowned 34. On the Scheutz engme, see L~gren (no~ tit'm, 19 August 1851. An English patent to the heads of Eun~e; see the example dated 22 1). The engine's year=long stay in Paris is same effect was taken out in 1851, no. 13,504. July 1852 and dedicated to Mine Zenoide de discmsed on pp.19"3-203 and the newspaper Jacquemain, 'souvenir affectueux de l'[nven- citation is on p.196. 14. Cf. Bulletin,51 (1852), p.615. teur' (Musc~m, The Hague, inv. 9006; http:// museon.museon.nl / objecten/ 567.him). Pre- 35. [Expmition Universelle de 1855l, Rapports 15. An 1851 report [or the Socktttt d'encour- sentation examples were still being offered du jury mitre international (Paris, 1856), p.405. agement by Benoit remarks in a fix~te that, after Th(anas's death by his ~m: see Bulletin without expanding the size of the arith- (1920), p.625 for the machine offered to the 36. L&)n Brisse, Album de I'Expasition Uni~cr- ~, it should be possible for the machine emperor of Brazil in 1872 by Thomas de sd/e, 3 vols (Paris, 1856-9), H, p.194. to record quotients on special dials: Bulletin Ik~ano. (1851/1920), p.691. The addition to the 1850 37. Rapm~ (note 18) 0, p.551 and ~pports patent (note 13), filed a few months alter 25. Thnnas had been created Chevalier of the (note 35), p.4~3. 8enoit's report, suggests a complex mechan- L~ d'Honneur in 1821, for his military tsrn for recording quotients which never seems service rather than the arithnwaneter Ooly, 38. Sehert (note 3), p.704. Sebert's figures to have been implemented. Note that a note 5, p.131). have provided the primary kamdation for the machine o4 c. 1851 in the Mus/,e des Arts et few existing analyses of factors affecting the MiStier, Paris (inv. 40571) has a series of For an account stressing the industrial production and ad(~tion of the anthmometer. independent dials on the place, without 26. setting character of the anthmometer and contrasting See Ludoif yon Mackensen, 'lk,,dingungen for any mechanical connectkm, on which partial it with impractical earlier machines destined den Rechnischen Fomchritt: dargestellt an. quotients could have been manually inserted. only for the collections of princes and nobles, hand der Entwicklung und ersten Venvertung see Kehrbaum and Korte (note 8), pp.70, 64. der techenmaschinenerfindung im 19. Jahr- 16..Sebert (note 3), p.703. Note however that hundert', Technikgeschichte,36 (1969), pp.89- the 1855 exhibition machine discussed below 27. On the arithmaurel, see Lalanne in An- 102 and F.W. Kistermann, q'he slow accep- already had quotient dials. tame of mechanical calculating machines - hales des Ponts ef Chabs,~,s, 3rd set., S (1854), some reflections and remarks', Pnc.e~:ngs of 17. Francoeur (note 6), p.661, Comptes Rendus 2nd trimestre, pp.287-310. Lemoyne's report on the anthmometer directly follows at pp.311- the Cultural Histo~. of Mathematics, 6 (1996), (note I0), p.l120, Sebert (note 3), p.098. pp.32-43. The only independent way of 332; its reference to Maurel and Jayet comes at the end of a historical review on p.328. assessing the reliabilityof the data of Sehert 18. For example, Rapport du juW central sur les and Moigno is by studying surviving ma- pwduits de I'agriculture et de I'industrie exposis chines and their serial numbenng system. en 1849 (Paris, 1851), !1, pp.549-1, see p.550. 28. E Moigno, 'Arithmomt~e ou machine A Preliminary indications suggest that S~,,Tt's cak'ul', Cosmos, 4 (1854), pp.72-79. A descrip- figures tally reasonably well with machine 19 Comptes gendu¢ (note I0) and lb/d., 38 tive account of the arithn~mleter also ap- serial numbers. What is not yet clear is (18~I, p.315. Thomas also attempted to enter peared in a subsequent number of Cosmos: 4 whether the serial numbers provide a reliable the anthm~wneter for the Acad~mie's prix de (1854), 186-96. Moigno was one of the leading guide to the number 04 machines actually n~canique in this year but the entry was vulgarisateurs of science, emphaslsmg spectacle c~. An unknown number of exam- deferred until 1855: i[,/d.,39 (1854), p.1221. The and controversy rather than 'normal science'; pies from the early 1850s do not carry serial machine, with an engraved dedication to the see Susan Sheets-Pyenson, 'Popular science numbers. Nor is it clear that serial numbers Academte, survives in the Musde des Am et periodicaL~ in Paris and London: the emer- wece assigned in a continuous sequence. Such Metiers. ins'. 74/"9. gence of a low scientificculture, 1820-1875', msues will only be clarified when a more Annals of Science, 42 (1985), 549-72, pp.556-7. comprehensive survey of surviving machines 20. Marguin (note 2), p.lll: 'Pendant un has been carried out. demi-siecle, la machine y regna seule.' 29. Robert Fox, 'Edison et la presse fl'angaise A l'exposition intemationale d't~lectricitttde 39. G.-A. Him, 'Notice stir i'utiliM de Far- 21. For Thomas and Roth at the 1844 exhibi- 1881', in his Science, lndust~, and the S~ial ithmom#tre et de l'hydrostat', Annales du G~ie ti(m, see the jury. report (m~te 12), 11, pp.503- Order m Post-Rez~olutmna~. france (Aldershot, Civil, 2nd part, 2 (1863), pp.113-7, 152-64. .504 The catalogue of the Bibliotheque Nation- 19951 has shown how big business interests ale listsRoth's published leafletson his adding were able to buy influence and favourable 40. This fear had been expressed by the Royal machine. The re~wt (m Roth's adding ma- press coverage on a massive scale at the Academy of Sciences in Madrid, whose report chines and counters appeared, along with a electricity, exhibition of 1881. Thomas may on the arithnmmeter had worried about the historical classification of calculating devices, have pursued similar tactics,but on a much social consequencesof the machine's adoption. m Bulh'tm (1843/1920), pp.673-684. The ex- smaller scale. Thomas once mo~ relied on the journal hibition guide mentieming Roth is Jules Butut, Cosmos, presumably in the person of the abl~ Exposztn,n de I'industrie francai~ ann& 1844. 30. Cosmos, 4 (1854), p.77. Moigno, to vigorously rebut this view: Cosmos, Lh'~r~ptum method~que, 2 vols (Pans, n.d), 1, $ (18~), pp.660-1. pp.00-2 Roth (whose first name is also given as David) appears in Marguin (note 2), which 31. The machine remained with the firm and is listed in a 1915 inventory of materials and 41. Earlier neports had already concluded that illustrates both his adding and his (unfinished) the arithmometer had an important place calculating machines (pp. 114-117). machines drawn up for Darras: 'Grande machine A calculer d'Exposition 1855 dans alongside rather than as a ~placement for existing technologies such as slide rules and 22 See note 18. son grand meuble en bois noir incrust~ et gami de cuivre hbriqu~e par M Th(wnas de Colmar. logarithmic tables. See, for example, Lemoyne (note 27), esp. pp.320-3. 23. [Exhibition of the Works of Industry of All Prix reduit convenu 1.000 [francsr (inventory Nations, 18gl ], Rqx~rfs by. the Juries (i.xmdon, copy m Mathematics Files, National Museum of American History, Washington). Darras 42. Lemoyne (note 271, p.329 had al~ady 1852), p.310. Illustrated London News, Exhibition considered that, if 10,000 examples were to be Supplement, 20 September 1851, pp.354-5. exhibited the machine at the 1920 exhibition, Bulletin (1920), pp.621,623. It is now in the commissioned, the machine could be built for less than 100 francs, instead of its then curmat 24. An 1850-style example dedicated to collection of IBM: A Calculator Chronicle: 300 Years af Counting and Reckoning Tools (Armonk, price of 300. Him's half-price comment was Marie-Th6rese Louise de ~urbon, regent of later repeated in Sebert (note 3), p.707. the duchies ot Parma and Plaisance, was n.d.), pp.14-15. otfewd at Drouot-Richelieu, Paris, 10 May 32. p.663. 43. Francoeur (note 6), p.661 and Lemoyne 19t~0, lot 114. Another presentation machine, Cosmos, $ (18~), (note 27), p.329. probably from after 1852 judging by the form of the add/subtract switch, is in "the Heinz 33. H. Tresca (ed.). Visited I'Exposaion Uni- 44. In 1856 the arithmometer was included Nixdorf MuseumsForum, Paderbom, inv. no. verselle de Paris, en 1855 (Paris, 1855), p.353 among the recommended specialities adver- E-19q4-bS1. A more modest level of decora- (arithmometer and arithmaurel) and p.25 tised on the inner leaves of Cosmos. lO-figune hon was reserved for personal presentations (Swedish machine). machines (5xOxlO) were priced at 250fr, and 20 Bulletin of the Scientific lnsmunem Society No. 52 (1997) 16-tiKures (Sx0x16) at 500ft. Franz Reuk~ux Engineers (discussed below). ! shall refer to it of Pnqcision (Princeton, 1995), pp.311-351, see (note 51, p.40) complained of the high price of as the '1872 list'. pp.329-31. the machine in 1862 but the prices he quotes are significantly less than 1856: the same 10 57. Brund to Adams, 18 March 1866, Bristol 71. Cited by Martin Camphell-Kelly, 'Large- and 16-figuae machines were now only 15oft Umvemty Library, Brunel Collection, Letter scale data processing in the Prudential, 1850- and 500fr respectively. Additional models Book Vll, f.106 (hereinafter Brund Collection). 1930', Accounting, Business and Financial His- wene also available to Reuleaux, though the tory, 2 (1992), pp.117-139, see p.123. most expensive was still only 400ft. 58. Brunel to J. Dobson, esq., 27 March 1866, Brunel Collection, VII, f.15. 72. Prudential Asmarance Company, Calculat- Francorur (note p.661. 45. 6), inK Machine Papers. Prudential-owned arith- 59. Brunel to de Fontaine Moreau, 13 July mometers from the 1870s still survive:, see ,~. jofy (note 5), pp.130-1. 1868, Bnmel Collection, IX, 1.115. figure 1.28 m Williams (note 1), p.50. 47. Instruction pour ~ servir de I'aritkmom~tre 60. Brunel to Froude, 31 May 1866, Brunel 73. Henry Hadx,n in the discusmon to "rho- (Paris, 1865). Copy with arithmometer in Collection, VII, f.157. rims T.R Bruce Warren, 'On the application of NArodnl technick~ muzeum, Prague, inv. no. the calculating m~hine of M. Thomas de 6337. The 1852 boofdet (note 10) mentions only 61. Brunel to L. de Fontaine Moreau, 26 Colmar to electrical computations',/ournal of Benoit, who produced the 1851 report on the November 1867, Brunel Collection, VIII, tke Society of Telegr~,h En~neers, I (1872), p.165. arithomometer for the Soci~t~ d'encourage- f.326. Brunel wrote to Froude about the ment. Scbert's report of 1878 provides some arrangement on the same day; ~., L322. additional names (note 3), p.707. 74. For the Times letter, see CamphelI-Kelly (note 71), pp.127-8. Payment is recorded in the 62. Brunel to Gamble, 14 June 1868, Bnax,q Prudential Assurance Company Board Min- 48. Reproduction mchided with entry for inv. Collection, IX, L99. utes, 19 January 1882. Several ari~ M559 in the loose-leaf catalogue of the signed by EOiott Brothers sunqve, for example, Brunsviga collection (copy in Mathematics 63. Bnmel to L. [de] Fontaine Moreau, 10 June Science Museum, London, Mathematics Col- Collection files at Science Museum, London). 1868, Brund Collection, IX, f.97. lection inv. 1989-636. 49. [Exposition Universelle de 1862 J 64. Brune4 to de Fontaine Moreau, 13 July 75. On this engine, see Lindgren (note 1), Londres}, Section Franchise: C#,,iogue Officiel 1868, Brunel Collection, IX, ff.114-5. pp.211-35. that Donkin's name appears (note Note (Paris, 1862), p.109 and Sebert 3), p.704. on the 1872 arit~ list. 65. Brunel to Captain Noble, I0 March 1869, 50. Din[tiers polytechnisches]oun~l, 11 (1823), Brunel Collection, IX, 1.237. The 1872 list is p.121f., dted by von Mackensen (note 38), 76. Public Record Office (PRO), RG129/2/ apparently mistaken in assigning Captain III, 29 January 1870. I am indebted to Doron p.100. Noble to the Postal Telegraph Offices. Bnmd Swade for providing me with tTan~ of addressed Noble at Armstrong's Elswick this and other Treasury-GRO documents. 51. Franz Reuleaux, Die Thonsas~he Rechen- Works at Newcastle; on Noble see David J. nmschine (Freiberg, 1862). The pamphlet was Jeremy, Dictionary of Business Btography, 5 vols 77. PRO RG2912/162, 28 July 1873. extracted from Reuleaux's article in Der (London, 1984-5), IV, pp.444-6. For Adie, see Civilingcnieur, S (1862). The piece was also Brune] to Adie, 28 December 1868, Brune[ 78. PRO RG29/6/109, 5 August 1873. On republished in Dinglo's polytechnisches Journal, Collection, IX, f.169 and 11 March 1868, Brunel 165 (1862), pp.334-62 and a second edition Sandford and his career m the Education Collection, IX, L236. Adie is Patrick Adie, who Department, see National appeared in 1892. began a London offshoot of his father's the Dictions. of Edinburgh business in 1844. T.N. Clarke, B~,~. 52. Petzold (note 4), p.106. For the use of the A.D. Momson-Low, A.D.C. Simpson, Brass & arithmometer in trig~l tabulations, G/ass (Edinburgh, 1989), pp.75-84. 79. PRO RG2912/250, 16 March 1877. see August lunge, Tafel der u,irklichen Ldn[te der Sinus und Cosinus (Leipzig, 1864), preface. 66. Brunel to Captain Noble, 29 April 1869, 80. PRO RG2913/129 and RG2917/80 from Brunel Collection, IX, f.284. 1893 and cf. Boys's paper (note 55) which 53. Peggy Aldrich Kidweil, 'American scien- compares English arithmometers with the tists and calculating machines - horn novelty 67. Science Museum, Mathematics Collection, inkmor workmanship of the Thomas machine. to commonplace', Annals of the History of inv. 1868-I. The machine is engraved "S. & A. D. Computin[t, 12 (1990), pp.31-40, see pp.32-34. S. K. MUS'. Kevin Johnson kindly confirmed 81. Warren (note 73). The paper m pp.141-164 from the museum archives that the machine and the discu~ion appears at pp.164-8. War- 54. Report of the Twenty-Fourth Meeting of the was bought in Paris on II January 1868 for £16. ran was electrician to Hca~:~,,r's Telegraph British Association for the Advancement of Works, who appear in the 1872 list. Science; held at Lit~pool in September 1854 68. Transactions of the Devonshire Associ~tion for (London, 1855), 'Notices and abstracts of the Admncement of Scwnce, Literature end the 82. Stan Augarten, Bit by. Bit: an Illustrated miscellaneous communications to the sec- Arts, 7 (1875), p.174, l owe this reference to History. of Computers (London, 19841, pp.37-8. tions', pp.l-2 and Cosmos, 5 (1854), pp.463-4. Jackle Britton. The Cambridge Observatory was listed as a purchaser in the 1865 edition of 83. CI. Him (now 39), p.l13 on the machine's 55. In the discussion following C.V. Boys, the ins~ manual (note 47). relative lack of profitability. 'Calculating machines', Iournal of the Societyof Arts, 34 (1886), p.387, Thomas Ackland men- 69. For Bashh~rth, see Dict~anary of National 84. Jacomy-Regnier, Histoirt des m)mbres et de tioned that he had bought a Thomas machine B~graphy, 1912-1921, pp.35-6. The reference to 1¢ nund,ratmn ra~'anique (Paris. 1855). pp.28, 58, in 1851. the arith~ appears in his Supplement to 68. a Mathematical Treatise on the Motion of Proh'c- 56. Copy in Mathematics Collection Technical tiles (~on, 1881), p.126. Author's address: File inv. 1980-1779, Science Museum, London. Museum of the Histtn~. a~ fa'wnce The leaflet can be dated to either 1872 or 1873 70. Andrew Warwick, 'The laboratory of Bn~d Street from its reference to an as-yet-unpublished theory, or what's exact about the exact O~,,d oxl 3AZ paper given at the Society of Telegraph sciences.~, in M. Norton WLSe (ed.), The Values [email protected] Bulletm of the Scientific instnanent Society No. 52 (1997) 21 A Week in Provence: Instruments and Institutions in Nice, Digne and Monaco Jane Insley, Anita McConnell and A.D. Morris,,n-Low Fig. I .\;, t ~!'-,',:',~t0r~. tit," t~,'.~h4'f÷lr,'~m l),,.I," t,l.lt t,t¢ th,~rh'. Garmer and Gust,we Esttiq m 1881, its 24 m,'tres d:ameter mah's It Eur0pe's larctst dome. It was oomph'ted and inaugurated m 1887 and Fig.3 .x.t,c ()l,.,'ri'atoru tit,' c,iu,~t,,rl,d ,,mdc. I,mlt m 18~2. FII,' ren,,~lted m the ,;Lx'tus. optical part was made by Hen~ brothers and the mechanical part by. Eichens and Gautier. the observatory at I~,th the ,Scientific Instrument Symp(~ium in Paris in 1987 and at Leiden in 19~5.' She reminded us that the obser~-atorv had been ~ up in 1881 by Raphael'Bi~hoffsheim to a design by Charle~ Gamier, and became fully operational in 18877 The opening ceremony was attended by the Emperor of Brazil and other notables, and was greeted with international acclaim. There are now 44 buildings on three sites, and we started our tour with the larges.t instrument of the observatory, the huge tele~ope made by the l-|en~/ brothers and mounted by Paul Gautier. Set at the southern end of a ridge above the city, this is the fourth largt~t refractor in the world, and is hou.,~d under a CUF~da built by Gustav Eiffel (the same engineer of Parisian Tower fame) (Fig.l). Fig.4 Mu,~e de Digne: Newtonian-type With a diameter of 24 metres, the dome is teh'sc,,pe signed "Secretan ~ Paris m,.59'. two metres wider than the dome of the Fig.2 S,l,~ ( )t,.cr;'atoru tit,' tol~rtit l,~,~.'c.t Pantheon, and the telescope it shelters refractor, and s,'c,,nd /0n),,t.'st tube m thc has a 30 inch (76 cm) lens (Fig.2). This is centre. The final building houses the a~rld: made by th; ttcnrv brothers, the really too big to be practical, so nowa- coud~ reflector (also with optics by the ,'quafi,rnd m,u, ntm~ by Paui Gautier days the smaller instruments are pre- Henry Brothers but with mechanical parts ferred for routine ob~rvations unless the by Eichens and Gautier), perched at the weather conditions are particularly good. far end of the ridge, with a protective This year's ~dstice trip got off to a cover reminiscent of an outsize railway carriage (Fig.3). When this is pulled back, cracking start when we were met at Nice Other instruments have been installed the silhouette is clearly visible from Airport bv Fran,;oi,~, l.e Guet Tully. She along the ridge, which runs along the downtown - formerly it was ~id that .~wept us'through the midday traific to meridian; they are carefully spaced to the Nice so.'tion of the Obsen~atoire ,t" la the laundrywomen of Nice knew that avoid abnormal refraction. The next when the astronomers were working, it C6te d'A=ur, and after a generous ob- building to the north once housed a would be goocl drying weather. .,,em'atorv lunch, showed us round the meridian circle, now removed. The com- instruments, both installed and in store. puter section has recently moved out, and as the shell is still in good condition, this The complex also included workshops, a Fran~oi~ had describecl the situation at building may be converted into a visitor library, and when first built, provided 22 Bulletin of the Scientific Instrument Society No. 52 (1997) Fig.5 Musde de Diane: M,'lh,ni's apparatus sigmd Saller,,n 24 'l. Fig.t, AIu,ee ( )~ e, mox'r,q,htque ,h' Alona~ v: tit,' t,t~ad,' t,~, tny, th,' ,,'a. rue Pm~e'. tile buildm¢, is 1(~1 mr'iris lone,, nsin¢, up almi~t .front sea l,'~'l.tor more than 85 metn's. sufficient accomm(Klation for everyone Musde Municq,ale, again on Anthony catalogue and a ~.lection of I~tcards who worked there (away from the Turner's recommendation, and were gave a g,~xt impression of how to tackle distractions of the city below). The delighted to see that the most prestigious the difficult subject of early 17th centuw library still serves both full-time and room in the museum was currently .scientific enquiry without necessarilY,, visiting astronomers, who are able to devoted to science. The cabinet of the owning the actual objects - the exhibition browse amongst a collection of I~ks Colh'ge de ia Sacre Coeur, consisting of a relied heavily on loans of material of that was the finest available for 1887, comprehensive, late~lgth century, ~ of appropriate date, I~n~ks, photographs and which has continued to grow. We instruments of instruction for a g~xt and models of original pieces, to illus- were shown a number of rare and quality boys' school, had been preserved trate the ideas being discussed in the beautiful 17th century volumes, of in its entirety, including the display catalogue." We greatly regretted missing particular interest after the recent spate cupboards. It was interesting to compare the exhibitkm. of exhibitions devoted to astronomical this with earlier suites of teaching libraries. apparatus which we had seen or knew Returning to the coast with our bottles of about, for instance, that at S~ro Academy lavender water, we headed bv train fiw Contrary to the infiwmation on the in Denmark, ~or indeed the King George another country - the little principalih/of tourist map of Nice, all the mu~ums ii1 collection in London, ~ in that many Monaco. The border with France can be in the city now charge for admission. pieces were clearly bought together as di~erned as the line within which sky- We did manage brief visits to the Mu~e se~ from the same few makers, and at .scrapers are built, and compari.,~ms with Ma~,,ff'na and the Mu:~e Marine. The first, the same time.' Hong Kong and Singal~re were sur- a First Empire-style villa built between prisecl out of us. We made our way to the 1898 and 1901 for Napoleon's grandson Among the more impressive items was a breathtaking Musde Oceano~raphi,iu,'. and recommended by our francophile Newtonian-type telescope signed T~.cre- friend Anthony Turner, contained a truly tan ,t Paris no.59' (Fig.4); a large, This glorious building was constructed astonishing clock, and a roomful of unsigned Winter-type electrostatic for the purp~, by Prince Albert I of weights, measures, and some other tools machine; an Atw(~Kl's machine marked Monaco and opened in lqiO. it hou~ which we finally decided were baking 'O. Hempel/~ Paris'; a Melloni's appara- both the Oceanographic Institute, de- irons for communion wafers. The Mu~e tus signed 'J. Salleron 24 rue Pav6e' voted tO marine sciences and fi~undlx| Marine was located in a small show (Fig.5); instruments to demonstrate in 1'~)6, and the Oceanographic Museum rin~m in a former castle, displaying acoustics, hydrostatics, optics, meteoml- (Fig.6). The Institute also has a ba.,~' in paintings of a nautical nature from other og); magnetism, pneumatics; a Gramme Paris, with a libraB' and teaching facil- museums in Nice. A sextant, two dynamo, signed 'Breton fr~res', pumps ities. In Monaco, ch~, to the royal palace, compasses and a ship's log slaked our from the same firm and Pixii. On the way three lofty stories ~t at the edge of the immediate thirst for historic instru- out of the exhibition, the physical cabinet sea contain an aquarium in the basement, ments. was enhanced with natural history a working library specialising m all specimens: entomology, ichthyology, aspects of oceanography, a stupendous Tuming our backs on the dazzling blue of ornithology, conchology, mineralogy, lecture theatre and z(,dogy gallery on the the Cbte d'Azur, we headed into the paleontology - all in marked cabinets. A ground flLnw, and above, two galleries hinterland of Provence to Digne-les- stuffed crocodile lurked on the top of the devoted to the prtducts of the sea and Bains, and the lavender country, taking herbarium. physical ~:eanography. ]-his last men- advantage of the delightful Chemin de tioned was recast in the late 1970~. and Fer de Provence, a small narrow-gauge The rtx~m had been the venue in 1~92 for having broken away from the old style railway which snaked up into the a celebration of the 400th anniversary of (large windows admitting lots of Mecli- mountains, giving us the most breath- the birth of the astronomer Pierre terranean sunshine to wall cabinets and taking views of the surrounding country- Gas,sendi (1592-1655), whose birthplace serried ranks of desk ca.'~-~,) now k~ks side. Digne is a spa, as its name suggests, was Digne. That exhibition had been rather datc~. and the second largest town in the jointly organised by Anthony Turner region. In addition to enjoying the fresher and the curator of the Musee Municq~ale, Prince Albert enndled in the Spanish mountain air, we slipped in a visit to the Nadine Ca~mez. I~th the well-illustrated Navy in 1866 at the age of seventeen Bulletin of the Scientific Instrument Society No. 52 (l~q7) 23 There were two collections of particular intertst to us. Firsth,', the kibrat3, has over 25,000 b~,ks to supl~rt the work of the Institute, with particular strengths in biological oceanography, aquariology and aquaculture, protection of the marine environment, ~ientific names hw plants and animals, and the history of oceano- graphy. It pre~,rves the bulk of the ,~'eanographic archives of Prince Albert's corrt~p~mdence, and the Librarian Mine lacqueline Carplne-Lancre has published and spoken at numerous conferenct~ on the relatkmship between Prince Albert and the other luminaries of the ~'ientific world" The second collection, of course, was that of the instruments. M{yst of these now have been, to our great regret, removed from show, but the,,' are nevertheless kept in excellent order/and whenever i~ssi- ble, within the Musde (Fig.8). The Fig.7 .~.It,,cttltc, z~ttN,at,ha!m' ,h' ,%h~n,lt0 collection totals more than b00 items, tilr ttall '!t Al'l'h,'d Ote,ln,Nnll,ht/, s/lowing many of which have required detective Fig.8 Allt-r,' (),,'an,~),,ral,htqt,. ,t,. Atvml,,,: the mth,'nce of the sea m ezvrt/dav I!h'. It worl~ to identih' and reassemble. Since Dr Anita M,'CAmnell studi,.s a small porti,m tncludrs Prtnt'e Albert I's collection t~f 1'988 they have been extensively catalo- ,,f the or,'an,~,,raphic instruments, currently mollu~'s, fishes and ~'abtrds. gued by Dr Christian Carpine, the in st,,n'. con.~'rz~t,,ur. Dr Carpine has published five principal sections of the colltxtion as Notes and References He never lost his love of the sea, and in volume parts of the Bulh'tin de I'lnstitut 1873 purchased a 200 ton yacht, which he Ocean,Nn~phtque, with three more to be I. Fran~oi~ Le Guel Tully, 'lnflwmation to renamed Hirondelh'. Fhis was the first of a published shortly. Despite the restrictions be gained from astnmomical instruments', number of .~a-going vessels which he of space behind" the .scenes, Dr Carpine has managed to photograph each one (in paper delivered 12 September 1'~4 at the XIII used for scientific expeditions, travelling Scientific Instrument SYml~sium , Leiden. as far afield as the Azores and the Arctic. ~t~lf a considerable achievement) and These .~ientific expeditions were re- the formula u~d for the entries is 2. Anon., Obserpatoire &, la G,h" d'Azur (Nice, corded, photographed, illustrated by beautifully clear.~ 1'¢40), ISBN 2-9~)51t~)-0--8; Fran~oi~ Le Guet official artists, and di~us~d with other Tully, 'Le petnmonie astn,nomique des t~'~- leading .~ientists of the day. The idea for ~ervatoires', La Lettre de I'OCIM, m,.45 (19the), a marine biok,gy laborah~rv was in his ]'he aquarium is magnificent. Sea water p.7. See also M.C. L~mellv, A Short HtstorV of mind from as earh; as 188~, and became ()b~'n~ton,'s (1973), pp. I 1~ 115, and Ammh;s de is pumped up from the ocean below and I'Obserznh,ire de Nice, vol.1 (1899), pp.53-64. more defined as a result of the huge circulated through over 90 fish tanks. A interest in his ~ientific collections when huge variety of fish are shown, including 3. Hemming Andersen, En Vutenskabsntand they were displayed in the Monaco piranhas, and up to the size of a af Rang: Adam Wilhelm Hauch, 1755-1838 l'a(fllon at the Paris World Fair in 1889 sturgeon. There is a breeding pro- (Arhus, 1989}; and Andersen, 'Historic Scien- Fortunately, the Hou~ of Grimaldi was gramme. Competition with other new, tific Instruments in Denmark', R,n/al Danish able to take advantage of the pn~cetMs of larger aquaria which can include sharks Academy ~¢ Sciences and Letters, Matemeti:~- the casino at a time when French law and marine mammals is now inten~, .~ltslsk,'M,'ddeMser, 44:2 (1995). prohibited gambling." and the Mu.,~e and Institute are funded from entrance fees to the MusCle alone. 4. A.Q. Mort(m and lane We~s, Public and Even while we were there, the staff were Pnz~te Soence: the King Cn'orge Ill Collechon ]he collections gathered by the Prince ((~h,rd, Itt93). co~ ered a wide range of aspt~cts of the .~a. on tenterh,x~ks to hear the results of the latest deliberations of the Institute in Fishing is reprt~,nted by model and full- 5. Sara J. Schechner, 'John Prince and Early Paris, concerning their future. size boats and nets, in addition to vast American Scientific Instrument Making', in number~ of .,,pecimens in formalin, now FrtMerick S. Allis, Jr. and Philip C.F. Smith bleached white. Larger ~,pt~-imens include leds.), Stbha/'s Heir: a Volume in Memory ~. ,,eabirds and mollu~-s as well as fish, with Acknowledgments Clif~wd Ken~m Shtpton, Publications of" the Colonial S~:iety of Mas~chu~tts, no.59 ,,eseral ~ptwtacular ~,t piect~ - a life-size (l~lon. 1t~82), pp.431-~B; Sara Schechner mt~|el of a giant .,,quid dominates one end Genuth, 'Tq,ds fl*r Teaching and Research: of one gallery, and a mounting of a I~,lar As always, our thanks go to the local John Prince, the Deerfield Academy, and bear with its catch straddles the dt~,rvvav heroes who have welcomed us and Educatilnaal Reform in the Early Republic', at the other end (Fig.T). Showcases dis- sm(n,thed our way: Fran,~oise Le Guet RIth'nhou~, 10 (19t,~), pp.97-120; D.J. Warner, play the u~, of materials fn~m the ~a as Tully in Nice, and Dr Carpine and Mine 'French Instruments in the United States', Rittenhou~ g (1',~3-4), pp. ! -32. raw materials fl,r B,welle~, and orna- Carpine-Lancre in Monaco. Honourable ment,,, and the collections include repre- mention this time also to Anthony Turn- 6. Anthony Turner and Nadine Gomez, ~,ntation.,, of .,,ealife in decorative arts as er, on wh~;e recommendation we tra- w'ell a~ the .,,ciences. P~erre Gas~ndi: exph,rateur des sciences (Digne- velled. les,-Bains, 1992); 175 French francs, no ISBN. 24 Bulletin of the Scientific Instrument S~iety No. 52 (1997) 7. For a history, see Eric L. Mills and Mesureurs de courant', 73, n~.1437 (1987) well Jacqueline Carpine-Lancre, 'The Oceano- scientific ~mmals, as as the Mu.,~se Bulletin de I'lnstltut (keanograpMque. ISSN Oc~anographique in Monaco, who.,~, graphic Mu~um 04 Monaco', m E Mann- 0~14-5722; 'Catalogue .... 3. Appareils de ]h~rgese (txl.),Ocean Fronth~s: Exph~ratums by. pr~l#vement biolog,que', abid., 74, no.14.'~l entrance fees cover most of the financing (~'eamngraphers in Fi~¢ Continents (New York, (lq~l); 'Catalogue .... 4. I~,mteilles de pri, l(,ve- of the Institut as a whole. It is of court, 1992), pp.122-135. Also, the GuMe to the ment d'eau', ibid., 75, no.1440 (1~,~3); 'Catalo- the Mu.,~ rather than the Institut which OceamRraphic Museum, Monaco, 1994 (Monaco, gue .... 5. Instruments de sondage', ibid., 75, we visited.] iqoS), 50 French francs, ISBN 2-72604)171-8 no.1441 (1996). Prices 04 Paris 3 and 4, i~) IF; (English), ISBN 2-726(b0165-3 (French), ISBN Part 5, 200 IF + p ancl p. 2-7260-0172-6 (Italian), ISBN 2-7260-0173-4 (.'Spanish), ISBN 2-72604H74-2 (German). Author' addn~ses: Uane lnsley writes: If I may, I'd like to lane Inslev correct a statement I made in my review Science Museum 8. Jacquel|ne Carpine-Lancre, 'Le prince of Christian Carpine's latest catalogue, Albert de Monaco el I'Exposition Universelle South Kensmctan de 1889', Annales Monf,gasques no.13 (1989), Bulletin of the Scientific Instrument Society, London SW7 2DD pp.7-42; 'La fondation du Mus~e et de No.49 (1996), p.30. The lnstitut OctSano- I'lnshtut t~eanographique', Albatros no.3 graphique is an independent instituti~m, Dr Anita McConndl (1990), pp.4-5; 'Le prince Albert ler de recognised by the French government as 46 ~.~ House M~maco, mann et ~'earagrapbe: chnmologie having statutory authority. The adminis- Barbican sommaire', Ocf'anis. i~ (1993), pp.121-135. trative management belongs to a Board Londim EC2Y 8DN of Directors and the Scientific manage- 9. Christian Carpine, 'Catalogue des appa- ment to a Scientific Advisory Board. The A.D. Morrison-L~ra, reds d'oceanographie en collectkm au Must~e lnstitut has a site in Paris, for teaching, National Mumums ~ Scotland octSanographique de Monaco l. Photom#tres 2. research and the publication of three Edinbur¢h EHI 1JF Obituary Peter Brophy ti~m of Bion; a masterly espy from a It was in 1947 that he was demobili.,~-~l man who had gcaxt knowledge and a and finding no satisfactory employ- love of his subject. ment in the United Kingdom or France, went to Singapore to be a rubber buyer. Peter had a French mother and a father He did well, but at the end of tfiree who was Irish. He was educated at the years his health began to give concern. Jesuit Scht~l in Wimbk'don, where his :tuberculosis was diagramed and he father was the resident doctor. spent six months in hospital in Switzer- Although he ~ys that he did not en~y land. It was at this time that he married his schtad days, he did achieve very Suzi whom he met in Paris during the g~d r~ults. war. in 193% at the age of 17, he 1"here being no iobs with l)unlop m volunteered h)r the Army and after Eurol~', he started to buy and .~,II Sandhurst was later commissioned English furniture in the fie,l-market in into the Lancashire Fusiliers. initially, Paris. lle had always had a natural he served with several regiments, flair for .,~'ience and .~m started to including the Royal Armoured Corps. spet'lalise in instruments. He h~ughI He was dropped into France, with his his first Cuff-type in the flea-market in motor cycle, on D Day plus 3, as he 1954 He became part of the elite .~,l of had hen cho~n to be an official Paris dealers and COmhUsseurs of the interpreter, despite the fact that he i~s and t~ls Every month he would admitted that his French was not come to London in his Citn~en 2CX' to Peter Brophy died in Paris im 3 January. perfect. Even after fifty years in France buy, and was much influenced by 1997, having suffered for many years he was quite proud o'f his difficulty in Eveline Butler. Not onh' did Peter with a debilitating chest ailment. deciding whether 'tables' or "chairs' speciali~a, in instruments, hut loved Peter's passing leaves an irreplaceable were ma~uline or feminine. his ship models, b~ks, steam engine,, gap in the collecting fraternity of and k~'omotives. scientific instruments and ephemera. He had a distinguished war caret, r, His name was a legend in the trade. His serving throughout Europe until the We shall .,,adh; miss Peter fit, ~'as a shop in the March~ Biron was the German capitulation. He then volun- gl~d friend to many members of thi,, Mecca for all collectors, dealers and let,red fi)r duties in the Far East and was ~.-ietv and totall,~ discreet in his curators alike. It was the focal point of trained for jungle warfare. He ioined the dealings. No more glasses of 'Kir' with every visit to Paris. Peter was different; Special Forces and was due to be him on Saturday morrling, hut Suzt is he was a different Peter to everyone parachuted behind Japanese lines the continuing the business and will [~, who knew him. He was the last of the day the War ended. He was later in Indo- plea.,~-,d to see you all. connois.seur dealers. He had an excellent China on special a.~,,ignment and was 'eye' and flair. He wrote the foreword then seconded to be a Judge at the War to the 1972 reprint of Stones' transla- Crimes Commission in Singapore. John Dntcxk Bulletin of the Scientific Instrument .~-iely No. 52 (1~7) 25 Who Invented the O-Ring? Allan A. Mills scientific community in general, and vacuum users in particular, discovered the ()-ring. Pre-WWII vacuum practice employed ~fldenM or brazed perma- nent ~ints, waxed or cemented ~emi- permanent ioints, and demountable sheet-rubber compression gaskets. A vacuum-tight sliding or rotating shaft only became p~ssible with the !~41 invention by Wil,~m'" (Radiation La- boratory, University of California) of the seat shown in l:igure 3. It is ba.,~-,d on an undersized hole pierced in flat rubber sheet. Although referred to as a 'hat packing' by Linderoth in his 1944 review," this design was always called a 'Wil~m seal' in the scientific literature. It was the mainstay of vacuum-tight shafts for the next seven years, '~ '~ the only alternative known to researchers being compressed neoprene tubing." Then in Iq48 Kurie (Department of Ph~'sics, Washington University, St. la~uis) published a seminal review of vacuum systems, seals and valves/' He claims ()-rings were first introduced Fig.1 A m~s,t'llanv ,~f O-rings. into vacuum practk-e 'years ago at the University. of California', describes how they can be self-made from butt joint~.| round rubber cord, but recommends the The O-ring is employed ~, unlversalh,, in duced here as Figure 2: at the present moulded commercial product. He vacuum equipment that it is difficult to time it would not be considered an ideal quotes names of suppliers and gives maagine the technology without it. As a application h~r the ()-nng. (.)rninouslv, diagrams of the applications that are commercial pn~duct it is ideal: simple, Thompson and Campbell warn that 'this now so familiar. Significantly, Kurie effective, and easily mass-pn~Juced; vet particular design is protected by certain warns pn~spective users that manufac- hard to make ont~-~elf on a one-off basis. patents, and the patent situation should turers have in mind internal pressure With so many millions in past and be investigated ~,fore planning its use.' rather than vacuum applications when pre~mt use the., inventor of the O-nng Nevertheless, by 1942 Adams' b~k on publishing recommended designs and de~erxes to [~..' both rich and [amous, but aircraft hvdrauJics' could state that 'a tables. in fact the origin of the dex ice is far from simple round ring of syntbetic rubber is clear .~ far as the literature is concerned. now coming into u~', adding that 'one ring will seal in both directions'. The .same year saw publication of a What d¢~,~ seem definite is that it was first conceBed in America as a dynamic vacuum gauge incorporating O-ring By 1944 the O-nng had been accepted, seals '~ and, once the inevitable backlog pressure seal for aircraft hvdrauiic pis- ahmgside the older moving and static of apparatus developed before 1948 had tons around 1~40. Pre-WWII hydraulic seals and gaskets, fiw military aircraft been dt.-~cnbed, a fl(~l of t~luipment employed cup or vee ('chev- publications hydraulics. ~ Referred to al.~l as 'round', shows the ()-ring rapidly becoming the ron') packing, but tht~e shapes are suitt~! 'doughnut', 'annular' or "toroidal' pack- most-used static and dynamic seal in to re,,tst prt~,sure in one direction only. It ing, its simplicity was especially appre- vacuum practice at all ~ales) '~ British appears that the (')-ring was initially ciated. Tables of recommended silts and considert~l as offering bidirectional ad- Standard dimensions for 'toroidal sealing gnx,ve dimensions were published as rings' were published" in 1951, and by x antages within a compact outline. Thus Army-Navy Aeronautical Specifications 1horn, reviewlng the sublect of gaskets the mid-I~ls the O-nng had become AN-6227 (Packing, ()-ring, tfydraulic, enshrined in textbooks of vacuum tech- in Iq'~, makes no specific mention of the Dynamic seals) and AN-6230 (Gasket, nology.~.~' ()-ring, although with the benefit of (3-ring, Hydraulic, Static seals) at this hindsight it is possible to discern a time/ After the war the idea was s,~m number of po,,sible pnx-ur~ws. A I.ock- taken up in other areas of engineering, Nevertheless, the question p~,ed by this herod hydraulic system dt~-ribed: in Iq17 such as the ~'aling of rotating shafts." By paper has not been answered. It is still use,, cup washer~ as ~,als. However, 1~47 I'earl, writing [or the fran~actions ,'~ obvious that the 1940s manufacturers of by 1~42, thompson and Campbell's could S¢~ietv of Auh,m,,tiz,,, Engineers, hydraulic packings failed to appreciate ,~.|,mual h,r ,4m-n#t ttvdnn,h,~.' although recommend O-rings, site the above that the O-ring was even better as a for the m~t part concerned with cup and specifications, and state that they were vacuum seal, or to realise its enormous xee packings, is mentioning 'a comple- being manufactured by several i~acking tely d,tterent p~ston packing that u.ses companit~. l~tential market in that field. But even in ,,vnthetic rubt'~,r rings for the packing'. hydraulics the time, place and original This 'ring seal piston design' is repro- inventor remain unknown. Can any ttowever, it was .'~*me years befi~re the reader help? 2b Bulletin of the ~'ientific Instrument ~iety No. 52 (l~q'7) 0 I I I I A W Fig.3 The Wil.~m seal, 1941, (op. dr., note 10). I I I I Fig.2 The earliest known published desicn incorporatiny~ an O-ring. (Fr~nn: Thompson and Campbell ¢1942), op. ¢it., note 3). Acknowledgement 6. L.S. Linderoth, 'Selecting Hydraulic 14. D.B. Cowie, 'A High-vacuum Seal', Rr- Seals', Machine Design, 16 (1944), pp.llO-128 vicu, ,~r Scwnhfa" lnstrument~. IS (igM). pp46- This article first appeared in Sealing 47. Tech~ad,,~, No. 31 (1996), pp.10-11, and 7. Anon., 'O-nng Packings ~mplify Light- Lq reprinted by permi~ion. weight Hydraulic Equipment', Pn~tuct En¢i- 15. END Kune, 'Vacuum ,c~/stemq,Sealsand neerm¢ (USA), 15 (1944L pp.~l-.~. Valves', Revwu, of ~-a.ntifr Instmraents, lq (19414), pp.485-4~1 No4e~ and References {4. Aram.,' Typical MHh~ds of Staling R(~at- ing Shafts' Pn~duct Engineerin,¢ (USA), 17 16. R.I. Gamxt and K.A. Gms~, 'A Cmnbined I. F.C. 1"hwn, 'Caskets', Industrialand En- (1946), pp.10~-109 Thermocouple and Cold-cathode Vacuum ~in,~'rm,¢Chem~st~, 28 (1936),pp. 164-170. Gauge', Jourtual of Scwntffic Instruments, 25 9. D.R Pearl, 'O-ring Seah m Design of (1948), pp.378-,~3. 2. Atom., 'la~ckbeed Hydraulic Remote Ctm- Hydraulic Mechanisms', Tran~ctams of the Irols',Machinery (L~md~m), $1 (1937) No. 1310, S~waety of Automotir,e En¢meers, 1 (1947), pp.Olr2-~l l . 17. D.M Barhm, 'Vacuum O-ring Seah', pp.202-204 Vacuum. 3 (1'~53), pp.51-53. 3. J.E. Thnnps~m and R.B. Campbell, Man- 10. R.R. Wil~m, "A Vacuum-tight Sliding 18. BntLqhStandard 1806/I~!, DIm,'nsa~ns t~f ual for Aircraft Hydraulics,: The,rv. Mmntenance, Seal', Revww of Scienhfic Instruments. 12 /9~xn, (Aviaticm Prma, San Francisco, 1942). Tonndal Seahn~ Rm¢s [British ~andards ln- (1941), pp.91-93. stituthm, I~mdoa, I~I). 4. But no relevant patent has been lraced in the US patent indexes from 193943. It may, of It. L.N. Ridenour and G.P. Harnwell, 'Vacuum Packing kw Vah,es" Retnew c~"Scwn- 19 A. Roth, Vacuum Sealm¢ Ihkmques (Pet- course, be buried in stone other applicatkm, t~fi~"Instruments. 12 (1941),p.I.V7. 8armm, !'~) giving rise to the ctmtenht~s Ix~i~m hinted at in thi.~ statement. No patent or license L~ ever 12. R.I. Gamed, 'A Multiple High-vacuum 20. J. ~arwm~, thy.h Vacuum lhhmque, 4th number qta~ecl in literaturedescribing editiim (Chapman k ltall, hmd~m, 1~7) the O-nng, and they ~ to have been Valve', Iournal of Scwnt!fic Instruments. 25 pn~luced without restrk~m by a mulhtude (1946), p.191. ~ manu[acturem Author's addrt~s: 13. L.A Del~.,~ and E.C. Creut~, "~mple Department ,~ Physics & Astn,u,mv 5. H.W. Adams, Aircraft Hydraulics, Qua:k-acting Vacuum Lock', Revru, of Scwnt~/c UniPerslty t~ Leu'~ler (McGraw-Hill, 1~43). Instruments, 12 (ICJ41), p450. h'ice~ter LEI 7Rtl The Historical Medical Equipment Society The Historical Medical Equipment Sociely has been hwmed to promote interest in, and the study of, medical instruments and equipment from ancient limes to the present day. Membership is open to all, and includes medical historians, museum curators, collectors ar~t dealers, and members include pharmacists and dental surgesax,~. For details of mamlbership contact The Secretary, Dr David Warren, PO i~)x g5, l'ortsmouth Ig)6 2BB, UK. Dud~m's new la~cket sphy,~m~rapk. From Arnold & ~,ns, Instrument Catalogue (l~mdon, 1885), p.250. Bulletin o~ the Scientific Instrument Society No. 52 (1997) 27 Book Reviews t~t,ttll,,tts ext, n$sed by. revieu,ers are their own, and do not nect~arily reflect the vi,'u~ of the Editor or the SiwU'~. IlM T.w Inillllll J411OllllA! ,if lllAllAf" Ali¥1qlI'PlllNltlllrl,I lgSTA BLISH I=' D 1888. LOUIS fiANDOLFI, PATENTEE AND MANUFACTURER OP 1)i b-clnee 0rtable Ig0uriote' ( amcra0, Eamcra tanb0, Rc. 7f! ILl KENT ROAD, LONDON, I.E. eoeoeeeeooo4)eoooeo ~e4~ee~l. I1 1/ol/waJrlP ~ ull iqI IleI.a, dUI 0UTIPgLT U,l,II'rl~'JtII AT • i,tW I'IUCI, O&grA&dDOH lit li II I~ G. 9IIIIIIl' O~III ~IIIlll~ Ell l-IllI~ IO IIT'nII. Fig.l A 10 x 8 inch art-plate camera from the mid 7850s with red I~U, IL h'ather belh,zi~ and Ross Symmetrical lens u,ith wheel stops attd the maker's label r,7,mduced (see p. 54). TEE PREMIER OUTFITB. COMPRISING hemt lloe~unm ~*b,,pny Imelm, with ok,Ill .Iml[ British Camera Makers. An A-Z Guide to Companies and Products i.d I, bmJla-itw,,~ dide. ImJ fukhq o,dl .¢,amd i Iqlk~ fa6illa, d Ind b~ I~k~k wm,k- Norman Channing and Mike Dunn ~"~II ~:11."11frmll kll£1,i~u~'l~, l"ke.p~n~r.ldme ka,~ Owiikdd lll~d, Illun, ~ II,~l, Parkhmd Design, 1996, illustrated, loOpp. il,..~,old, wit ~ I~. ISBN 0-9524o304)-8 £29.95, thirdcol,ers, 160 Available .fit)m: Parkland Dt's~ns, Charn- a~d, 44 Sh'z,ens La.e, Clavgate , Esher, S,,rrey KTIO OTH or bookselh,rs Fig.2 Gandolfi's BJPA advertisement from 1897. The Editor British Camera Makers has no rival. It is remembers with tlostalgia the Gandolphi "uniz~'r~l" camera he used the most detailed and practical source when a student at the Institute of ArchaeohJgy in London. The last of b~x~k currently available on the subject. the original C,and,,!fi brothers died in January 1993 at the age of 86, ]'he ~ope and depth it encompasses is but thank[idly the cameras are still made today by. Gandolfi Ltd of likely to answer most needs for the An&nw Hants (see p. 46). general reader and specialist alike. If a reader di~es require further information then sptxific marque books may help but, British Journal Photographic Almanac (the more likely, one will need to conduct dak Lid, and Thornton-Pickard the BIPA, a major source for photographic entries are further divided into specific original re~,arch. Photographic history is historians). An interesting table shows .,,till largely unresearched. camera types and products, in the case the changes in advertisin G pages by of T-P, for example, shutters forms a Ihe b~x~k is not a histom, of the camera. some of the main camera makers durin G particular section. Brian Coe's Cameras (1978), RC. Smith's the period 1892-1914 - the heyday of Antique Cameras (1975) or Robert White's British camera making. The changes A supplementary listing gives brief L)zs 28 Bulletin of the Scientific Instrument S~ciety No. 52 (|9~7) Fig.3 Part of an identified instrument made Fig.4 ]OSel,lt Wrl,~/tt'~ A I'hilo~,pher [..cturing Upon An Orrt, v ¢~e,' Plot,' IV/';, i,. 37; by. h,hn Whitehurst, probably for accurate dividm¢, (see Plate VII/IO, p. 112). John Whitehurst of Derby Clockmaker order - be they for domestic or scientific and Scientist 1713-88 use. The author has dealt well with the MaxuWI Craven multifarious facets of his subject's lift.: his example, British monetary systems and Ma~t~eld B,~,ks, Ma~field Hour, Church as.,~lciation with the Lunar Society (of price comparisons. A short glossary, Lane, Mayfield, Ashbourne, Derbyshire DE6 which his friend and painter of his bibliography and references conclude 2/R portrait, Jo.,,eph Wright, was also a the book. ISBN 0-9523270-3-1 member), his scientific circle in ~mdon 251 illustrathms, 272pp. (he moved to the capital sometime The book is an important contribution to £24.99, hardan,ers shortly before 1780), his association with British photographic history bringing Matthew Boulton to whose Soho Works together in one volume the authors' The subject of this comprehensive bio- he supplied many components, as well as research and material published in graphy is John Whitehurst FRS (1713- complex clock movements that were Pll,,t,,graphk World (the journal of the 1788) of Derby, one of those talented fitted into Boulton's ormolu cases, to Photographic Collectors Club of Great eighteenth-century men of science with name but a few strands of the rich Britain) and elsewhere, and material such diverse inter~ts that they could not tapest~' of Whitehurst's life. Among which has never been published before. be easily 'pigeon-holed' in our m,~ern many other things we di.~over that he Although the coverage is not total it much more speciali.',~:l age, and wht~e desig, ned a hydraulic ram for Ouiton di~s cover the majority of cameras achievements have therefore been largely Park in 1772 ~'hich he described at the likely to be seen by readers. The book forgotten. Today he is mainly remem- Royal Society (elected FRS in 177~), a is extensively illustrated with black and bered for his fine clock~ and barometers. domestic range in the kitchen of Markea- white phott~raphs of original cameras In fact, clockmaking was the core of his ton Hall near Derby (1772), fine precision and advertisements (Figs. l and 2) and life and the basis of his wealth which gave balances (he held a p~t at the Royal Mint is written in an informal but accurate him from the late 1750s the ieasure to during the final decade of his llfe), and readable style. The authors have pub- spend investigating all manner of things, other precision instruments (Fig.3) lished the book themselves as no in particular geology of which he became John Whitehurst was obviously highly commercial publisher was prepared to one of the modern founders. Almost half regarded by his circle .~ it may not be tt~ take it on and have done this to a high of Craven's book deals with his clock- fanciful to speculate with theauthor that standard. making business and the prc~lucts that the lecturer in the famous painting by his have survived. Whitehurst concentrated friend J(vseph Wright of A Phih~opher For SIS Bulletin readers the b(~k will on turret and Iongcase clocks, and Lecturin~ Ul.m An Orrt'~ (176~), commis- watches. Apart from the author's detailed prove immensely u~ful in dating and sioned by Earl Ferrets, is of John White- descriptions of the surviving instruments, giving information on cameras and if hurst, w[~ile the figure on the far right is what readers will find particularly useful only one book on camera history is thought to be Jtv~,ph Wright hlm,,~qf. The are the appendices listing known turret purchased the choice is between this standing figure making notes is Peter clocks by the Whitehurst family (1737- new British-orientated title and Coe's Perez Burdett (Fig.4). This painting sym- 1862), both confirmed (Vlla) and uncon- general history of the camera. bolizes the ck~e-knit community of wl~ich firmed (Vllb), numbered clocks (VIII), John Whitehurst was part. Wl~at makes and angle barometers (VI). this book such a delight is that the author Michael Prichard FRPS has not only made himself master of his As,~riate Director it must not be imagined, however, that subiect, but has a thorough knowledge of and this is a nam)w book which only deals the history, of [X, rby and its envinms. photographic specialist exhaustively with John Whitehurst's Christie ~ South Kensincgon mechanical devices which were of a high Will~z H,ickmann Bulletin of the Scientific Instrument Society No. 52 (1997) 29 publication has been used as a model and as the basis for developing other catalo- gue styles. Martinus van Marum (1750-1837), a doctor, was appointed Director of Teyler's Museum in Haarlem, in The Netherlands, in 1784. Here he developed a centre for scientific instruction and research. He developed a comprehensive cabinet of natural philosophical instruments to underpin the enterprise, purchasing the finest instruments available (Fig.5). This activity declined rapidly in an)und 1810, after which he applied himself to his Fig.6 l'lmnauto~,raph, unsigned but sup- geological and botanical studies. Van plied by, Rudolph Koeni~ of Paris in 1865 (,,k,'e Marum's involvement in Teyler's Mu- ent~. 530, p.135). Fig.5 VI,.;~ t ~' tit<' t, tlpl~,li. ~i.t~t:t'iIl tt~ml seum is the subject of the aforementioned at the Teyh'r Mt~cum. Fhe phonauto~,raph Turner and Levere volume. by. Koen~£ can be ~en on the table at the far 14% compared with nothing at all in the Collecting scientific instruments and u~ll. Photograph tata'n in 1996 by. M. Zegel van Marum period (Fig.6). These com- of the Mu,~,um. teaching with them did not stop there, parisons can provide interesting insights however. Shortly after van Marum's into changes in physics teaching between death the geologist Jacob G. S. van Breda the two centuries. There are also funda- The Practice of Science in the Nine- was appointed Director, and he had an mental differences in the mode of supply. teenth Century: Teaching and Research additional interest in physics and astron- Van Marum sent agonised pleas to in the Teyler Museum omy, teaching the former subject for 20 manufacturers after lengthy delays fol- Gerard L'E Tur.er years and adding to the collection. He lowed ordering. In the Nineteenth Cen- Teuh'r Mu,~,um, Haarh,m 1996. illustrated, was succeeded by Volkert Simon Maar- tury, Parisian firms were major suppliers 3t~l, p. ten van der Willigen, a physicist closely and significant quantities of instruments ISBN 90-718,]5-07-3 involved in the development of length were tx~ught from Germany. Dfl. 1.~) standards. He also constructed a small observatory in the grounds of the What comes over as being quite remark- For readers of the SIS Bulletin, it is Museum. On his death in 1878 he was able about the objects catalogued in this scarcely necessary to explain the impor- succeeded by Elisa van der Ven, who also volume is the completeness of the tance of the pn~uction of scientific taught, adcled to the collection and collection and the state of their preserva- instrument catalogues: they serve as an pursued research on electrical conduc- tion If ever there was a Marie Celeste of indispensable source for balanced history tion. He was responsible for the con- the vessels which contain scientific in- of science studies. In general, the state of struction of a large, new extension of the strument collections it must be Teyler's mu~um catalogue pnxiuction at any Museum and for adding a physical and Museum. Turner talks about a 'time time might be taken as an indicator of chemical laboratory. He died in 1909. machine' and claims that 'The Physical the scholarly interest taken in that Cabinet of the Teyler Museum is the catego~' of object. For historical scientific Turner's new catalogue continues where finest reference collection in its class in instruments in institutional collections, his previous one broke off, and runs up the world'. ] dare say that he is right - he publication did not reach a significant to 1900 or just beyond. Although the has probably seen more collections than level until relatively recently and the first volumes are not uniform, the first entry, anyone else. was published not so very long ago. It 'Chronometer 1865' is numbered 351, could be claimed (I look forward to following on from item 350 in the van The catalogue under discussion is a counterclaims!) that the genre was estab- Marum catalogue, which is 'Portable splendidly produced and systematic lished by Leland A. Brown's Earhl Fire-Engine 1799'. The Nineteenth Cen- piece of work. While it is an end in itself, Phd,,s,~ph~cal Apparatus at Transvh,an[a tury volume runs up to item 804, it is not an ultimate end. It will provide Colle~,e (Lexington, Kentucky 1959). This 'Crookes' Tubes'. The style is as splen- the jumping off point for the study of is a ver~. useful, though unsophisticated didly clear as in the previous volume, science teaching in The Netherlands and, work. Who would have known, before it though the layout is very slightly indeed, will be used for comparative appeared, that Transylvania College, different. What comes over clearly is purposes. It would be excellent to now a liberal arts college, was one of continuity of the approach to instrument compare the situation with Italy, where the earliest places of scientific and making. Right up to 1900, the instru- Paoli Brenni has pn~luced similar cata- medical teaching in the United States? ments remain products of a craft tradi- logues to a high standard. However we tion. Materials of manufacture remain may have to tackle later studies from a Much better things have followed. In remarkably constant with plenty of different angle. Turner says, 'The growth 1973, Gerard Turner and Trevor Levere mahogany and brass being used. The of science after 1900, and the complexity between them published the fourth balance between mechanics, heat, light, of radio and electron physics, were such volume of Martinus z~n Mature Life and sound and electricity of course changes. as to preclude advances by so modest an Work Nearly three-quarters of the work is Unsurprisingly, the proportion of elec- institution as the Teyler Foundation'. In Turner's catalogue of the collection trical apparatus to the total collection fact, the possibility of developing an a.~sociated with van Marum at Teyler's increases from 17% (van Marum) to 34% ordered physical cabinet reflecting 20th Mu~um This sets new standards for (Nineteenth Century). Heat, on the other century advances in scientific knowledge cataloguing, particular features including hand, remains steady at 10% and 12%. became less and less feasible after the end consistency of layout of entry clarity of Mechanics predominates in van Marum's of the 19th century. style, succinct but fully adequate descrip- day: 29% as opposed to 2% - and in the tions, references to tl~e literature and to Nineteenth Century, these wonderful R.G.IV. And~n manuscript sources and very clear photo- models have disappeared. The newcomer Director graphic illustrations. It is clear that this m the Nineteenth Century is sound - at The British Mu~um London WCIB 3DG 30 Bulletin of the Scientific in~trument Society No. 52 (1997) Neuh fer & Sohn of Vienna Carl Neuh6fer, translated by J.B. te Pas ud mt~ [m~ml. ,,,,.--, Kalal0 [ceditlscberlislrmale NEUHOFEI I SOHH Hol'.Mechamiker u~d I"1o40It~l~er ~IIiIII I I I. I IIII il It l II~I'II I IIIIII lilX'll +N,,+.u,+.~l,l,. Wick. I. loltlmerkt Nr. 8. +:.Ibr+k U,ld Comph.r ~lrn. V Hartmannga+se ~, ...... @ ...... +@ L 1 ...... ==---'-" ~'2 ~+-'-:.:"-~:~ ,-- 2 ...... ~.,..... i'- p.,+-, t.. ll+..,~ , p.~.. ~ i~,..~. Fig.l Titlepage of Neuhofer & Sohn, Fig.2 Theodolite with screu,-microscope Fig.3 Tu~ unit~rsal le~'llin~ instruments Katalog geodfitischer lnstrumente of (ibid., 1905~. (ibid., l ~95). 1905. What follows is a condensed review of Ministry of Agriculture, supervised by Mr numbers. They were not cmly used by the the development of the mechanical work- Friedrich, the Forestry Inspector, who majority of the Forestry Departments, but shop for geodetic instruments of 'Neu- later became an Imperial Councillor This also for other ge(~etic purp~!~es as they borer & Sohn, Wien', as written by Carl was followed by the manufacture of metal were useful for all types of work. They Neuhofer, the s(m of the founder, on 6 circular slide rules, calculated and con- could also be used for drawing purp~-/s August 1942. At that time he was more structed by the Imperial engineer I~mbi- as the compass was detachable. In the than 90 years old. cek, as well as the manufacture of the meantime the firm became the supplier of large coordinatograph developed by Frie- the Military. Geographic Institute and of The tradition of this instrument maker's drich. At the same time the various most of the military, academies, pn~u- shop goes back to the founding of the Forestry Departments received forestry cing for these customers many altimeters optical business by Joseph Neuhoefer at compasses with dioptric apertures. based ,m a modification by Captain (later Kohlmark 7 in Vienna. He took over this Lieutenant-Colonel) Reitzner from Hei- shop from his predecessor Carl Gross in Engineer Boubicek also developed sev- delberg, and also plane tables, detailing 1858. In 1873 Neuhofer was awarded the eral other new designs, such as a instruments with peep,sights or perspec- honorary title of: 'Imperial and Royal clinometer which became a great com- tive rules, and other mapping instru- Supplier of the Court'. His son, Carl mercial success, and a compass-instru- ments. Neuhofer, studied at the secondary school ment with the compass mounted in Schotenfeld and then at the Imperial sideways. Dunng the following years Another important customer was the and Royal Polytechnical Institute (today's Messrs Neuhofer developed a great Bosnia-Hercegovina government. For Vienna's University of Technology), after number of universal compass instru- instance, they purchased for triangula- which he worked for two years in a ments and forestry compasses with ti¢m purp(~es a large theodolite with renowned Berlin instrument maker's eccentrically mounted telescopes and screw-micr~scopes, reading to l second shop. In 1881 he joined his father's firm Reichenbach-type distance-measuring on the honzontal and vertical circles as a partner. He expanded their area of devices for Forestry, Departments, The (Fig.2). The Landtax Registry Office activity by establishing a well-equipped Commissioners of W(~s, Forest and involved in cadastral surveying commis- workshop for developing and construct- Land Revenues, and also for specialised sioned Neuhofer to rebuild their large ing geodetic instruments, and the name of geometry. On the initiative of Court theodolites of older design, by fitting the firm was changed to Neuh6fer & Sohn Councillor Professor Tinter and Mining them with four verniers and two screw- (Fig.l). One of the new firm's more Inspector Wehrle, these instruments were micr(~copes This was accomplished to important projects was upgrading the later m(~tified in such a way that the their complete satisfaction. A great instruments of the Prince Lichtenstein telescope was mounted centrally: After number of orders followed For the first Forestry Department which was various trials, a constructi(m was found time theodolites with estimation-micro- equipped with the Reichenbach distance which made it possible to read the scales scopes were constructoJ on the initiative measuring system. These instruments of the circle and the compass easily and of the Director of the triangulation and were fitted with eyepiece filar micro- reliably in any position. calculation1 office, Engineer Broth, who meters for distance measuring which gave later became a Councillor of Court. very good results. They were used by the These instruments were bought in great These instruments were m~t only used Bulletin of the ScientificInset St~-iety No. 52 0997) 31 bv the cadastral geometers, but were different types of w(n~ which was with the supply of optical signalling aiso supplied to many other important directly delivered from the saw mill. apparatus, constructed with the firm's government offices." Parallel to this c(~peration, and also with the supply of developent, the construction of levelling Over the years the name of the firm surveying instruments for the Railway and universal ieveUing instruments re- gradually began to stand for g(n~d Regiment, the Technical Military Com- ceived much attention (Fig.3). In the quali~, and workmanship, so that many mittee and the technical tr(n~ps of the beginning these instruments were still orders arrived from abroad, and ex~rt Army. This made it p(vssible to retain the manufactured with reversible telescopes became an important part of the firm's experienced older operators and, though as was usual at that time. In later years activities. Among the im~wtant coun- somewhat restricted, to keep them busy. they were only made with rotatable tries importing instruments were Serbia, telescopes and" reversible bubble. For Bulgaria, Romania, Greece, Russia, and After the war there was a brief perk~ of distance measuring the constant 100 also Turkey, Italy, Japan, Mexico, and the stagnation, ~on overcome as the new was ch¢~en and, instead of the cobweb Netherlands-Indies (Java, Sumatra, etc.). countries (l'oland, Czech S~cialist Repub- threads, glass diaphragms with micro- The firm t~n~k part in many trade lic, etc.) demonstrated an iml~wtant need photographic cn~s- and distance-lines exhibitions and was always awarded for measuring instruments, so that export were applied. These distance-lin~ were first prizes, for example, the'Cadd Medal speciall.v marked by dots. again began to flourish, and the firm at the Paris World Exhibition of 1900. could continue normally. Therefore, it More of these distinguished medals can was a pity that the g~ unde~tanding Steady increase in prt~tuction made the be found on the titlepage of their hetw~,n workers and management was workshop t(~ small so the firm bought a catalogue (Fig.l). often disturbed and constructive activ- new building in the Hartmangasse no. 5, ities hindered. situated in the 5th District (of Vienna). An important speciality of the firm was The large piece of land belonging to this the production of precision suspension In the year 1925 the undersigned (Mr hou~ made it p~sible to erect a factory pantographs, which were first made for Carl Neuh6fer), left the firm which was equipped with motor-driven machinerY; the Landtax Registry. Office, and after- turned into a Limited Company with fi~r the prCMuction and adjusting of wards for numerous public offices in the which he has no connections. get~letic instrumements. A new cabinet- homeland and in foreign countries. The maker's department was included as firm's steep upward line of development Signed by,: Carl Neuh6fer, 6 August 1942. Neuhofer since the beginning of their was interrupted by the 1914 war, but activities had ai~ manufactured the only for a short time, as the firm soon wo(~ien accessories, such as levelling Translator's address: had to supply numerous instruments for Jan L~c,thartplein 36 staves, ranging poles, etc. There was the Army, and was also placed under the rt~m enough to store more than ten 3706 VD Zeist law of war duties. The firm was charged The Netherlands Market Place Bj6rn U. Kambeck When asked to review the 1996 market for scientific instruments in Germany a • \ remark ] overheard in Lond(m came to A _aL mind: "The market in Germany is dead'. At first glance this may well al~pear to be true, but is it really so? There are several aspects that have" changed in Germany during the last few years relating to the supply side. The m(vst important one is of course German Unification which led m~vst German antique dealers to hope for additional go~R:ls to appear at reason- able prices. By the same token, access to the former "Eastern bloc communist countries such as Poland, Chetnia, SIo- , " .1 ~,-4 ' ~ :~ ~1~ vakia, Hungary and Russia was no •/•, longer imp(~sible. This, t~, fed the expectation that more merchandi~ of %r5,,'-:. r:.,,~; g*~ quality at low prices would appear on the market. Apart from the important political changes, some more general trends Fig.I A Plah" tram Gh'ichen-Russu~wm s towards market improvement for scien- | m| I Das Neuste aus dem Reich der Pflanzen tific inslruments can be observed. The Fig.2 ,4 Plate from Hertel's Vollst~ndige offer mikr,,sknpische Untersuchuny, en auctions of Breker in Cologne specializ- Anweisung zum Glas-Schleiffen (17161. ~1703-1706L ing in technical and scientific apparatus 32 Bulletin of the Scwntific Instrument Society No. 52 (19¢~ ~~-,r..._.- ~ __.._.,r~____~ --~. ~ ~=m;~,,-~=~=~.-r~=~==~=l ~ e'~- ,.. Fig.4 lr~7,a,mux. ,,./t,z/M,mn ,,t B,'rlm. c.18 ;IJ Fig.3 Ophthalmic kit by Emil Sydow ,~ Berlin, 18o5. appear to have become successfully instruments, telescopes or microscopes - Adams's Essays ,m the Micn~,,l~. (1787) established. There are also a few fairs to name but a few. The demand is low fetched £.~)0; Gleichen-Russworm's Das focusing on clocks and watches, and and has lately grown weaker. Only Neu~te aus dem Reich der Pflanm'n oder .scientific instruments. To summarize, surveying instruments are an exception mikroskopische Untersuchungen (1763- there have been a few changes on the where there is a steady demand for 1766) £4,250 (Fig.l); Hertel's V,,llstandIKe supply side. theodolites. Anweisun¢, zum Glas-Schle!ffen (1716) £2,700 (Fig.2); Hin, ke's Micr,,,graphia But what are the trends on the demand Any review of auctions catering for 0667) £5,300; and Newton's ()pricks side of the market? In a nutshell, it must scientific instruments in Germany can (1704) £.3,000. be .said that in Germany the number of be very brief. Uwe Breker in Cologne serious collectors with [~uying power is has not only arranged the auctions In Germany there are only a few very low. Here not much has changed. Photoy, raphica und Ftlm (Photographic specialized fairs for technical and scien- Owing to unification and structural Material and Film) and B~iro-Antik tific apparatus. A. Kuhsen of Esslingen influences, the economy in Germany ('Office Antiques') in June and Novem- has managed fi~r several years now two has worsened. Of course, this affects the ber 1996, but also the twice yearly Uhren fairs in Munich named T~:chmca Antaqua. private demand h,r scientific instruments und AIte Technik ('Clocks and Technical Mainly on display are clocks, toys, and in the low to medium price range. The Antiques'). it must be stressed that any old technical items with a ~attering of globe segment of the market clearly highlights that are to be expected is in scientific instruments. This fair is held in demonstrates the low potential for gl~cl the field of clocks which command gt~d the library premi~ of the Deut.,~'h~ customers as compared with France and prices. Scientific instruments are of Mu~.um - regarded by the dealers as an Britain. One could probably only find a marginal consequence. Only auctions optimal space. It is a pity that the handful of true globe collectors in with typewriters and photographic ma- customers art, unaware of these ,,vents. Germany. This al.,~ holds for other types terial are commercially successful Consequently fiw the April fair only a of goods such as medical or nautical achieving record prices. Another auction few visitors showed up, which can be hou~ in Cologne is Cornwall with partly explained by the fine sunshine auctions of photographic material draw- outside. I gained the impression that ing worldwide attention. Sometimes dealers outnumbered potential buyers. there are al~ a few optical instruments At the November event the dealers Were such as micrl~,copes or telescopes avail- their best customers. Even though many able. exhibitors did not turn over enough get,is to meet their costs, they want to To my mind the mtvst important auction return - as the fair is a genii pl,~ce to chat was held on 12 November i~ by and trade information. Zisska & Kistner in Munich. A privat~e collection of one hundred and forty rare The ~me per~n tried to .,,el up such a books on micrl~copes from the 17th to fair in November at the Lande~mu.eum hit the 19th century, were sold. For twenty Technik und Arlwit in Mannheim. The years a comparable offer of books on tn~ths were installed among turbines optics has not been seen in Germany. and locomotives which made a .,,uperb This well-received auction included rare backdrop. Yet again there were only a b(n~Ks by Adams, Baker, Brander, Cher- few visitors so that several dealers left ubin d;Orleans, Gleichen-Russworm, early. Although ~les at th~, fairs were Griendel yon Ach, Hertel, Hooke, minimal, the dealers t,~k advantage of Joblot, Kircher, Ledermiiller, Leeuwen- the fact that they could acquire merchan- Fig.5 Brass reflectm¢, telescope by. Nairne hoek, Newton, Smith and Zahn. To dise from coJleagues and had the of l~mdon, c. 1780. name but a few of the prices realized: opportunity to gain infi~rmation about Bulletin of the ,Scientific Instrument Society No. 52 (1997) 33 Fig.8 French fan of horn with centra sl,yglass. Apart from the offerings by the dealers, German cities large and small have flea- markets where one might gel lucky and find a scientific instrument. However, the Fig.7 Brass ttu~wlolth' made by. Kern & Cie chances are ,so slim that it does not pay to ~. maraR systematically scour these markets. S~metimes Polish dealers carry optical or other instruments mtvstlv from the Fig.6 Stu&'~t-type micn~cola, made by. G. and rare 'Augenspiegel' by Emil Svdow of Berlin dating from 1865 (Fig.3). Other 20th century, but their prices art, high and Alert-" 6, &~hne Of Mumch, c. 1850. items in his current st¢~:k are a rare quality low. ! had hoped for better trepanning set by Mann of Berlin of c. opportunities once the iron curtain was the trade. One may well wonder which 1830 (Fig.4) and an interesting Zeiss demolished, but after travelling to Pra- fairs gi~e the (.k, rm'an instrument dealers micn~-ope dating from 1861 which has gue and Budapest i am now convinced a living, but it must be realized that there two numbers: lt~10 and ,'t68. Another that there is practically no supply of grand are no professionals in this market with a item he has from 1861 is a copy of Ernst instruments there. When a nice item does few exceptions. Therefore, m~st exhibi- Abbe's I'hD. tht~is entitled The Mechan. surface the price equals the amount to~ at the fairs quoted ahwe have teal E,tul~,ah,nt t!f Heat. asked in Western Europe. regular incomes from other professions and only sell and trade .~ientific instru- in summary it can be said that the markH ments as a .~ideline. Among the .~pecialist vendors offering in Germany for scientific instruments is micrtv~-o~.~, medical and optical instru- traditionally, at a lower level than in K.H. I'ohl has a little shop in the ments can h" counted the author of this Britain, and in the past few years it has p=cture,,que old city of Cologne and for Market I'lace who is situated in the old diminished further. Potential buyers for decadt~ has becn selling all ~rts of bishops town of Hilde,,heim near Han- medium quality items outnumber the m.qruments at the top end of the market. over. At the moment he has a fine serious collector, but for economic rea- ER (.;awletta m Rt~rath near Cologne refhx'ting telescope signt~ by Nairne ~ms then buyers are not spending •,peclahzes in .,,urveving instruments. U. from c. 1780 (Fig.5), and a very unusual money at this time. As a result the Burchardt in Haincilfink/Freising near micn~cope from c.18"~0 signed 'G. Merz medium priced objects sell less readily Munich is a spt~ciali,,t in mineralogical/ & ~hne in Munchen'. They were the than, say, ten years ago. To conclude, the cr?,.~talh~graphical instruments and ~ucct.~rs of the U,,,~'hneider and Fraun- German market for scientific irtstrumtnats m,ning memorabilia, and caters to the hofer workshop (Fig.h). He cannot re- is a small sprout - but at least is still alive. Gt'rman tt~chnical museums. Bodenhei- meml~=r having come across a similar It now remains to he seen whether the mer in Frankfurt sells tt~'hnical, photo- instrument from the Merz workshop. plant will be cultivated properly and graphic and optical items. AI.~ well known art, the Swiss dealers thrive in the future. This growth will not Marlv~, and Marc-Andrd Perret from happen in this millennium! (;eneva. lhev offer a fine brass theodolite John Wilc~wk.~n in the old umversitv signed 'Kern & Cie., Aarau, No. 16.t;37' town of Marburg has for a long tim~, Author's address: (Fig.7), and a very rare French fan made been dealing in a variety of instruments. Wichernstras~ 19 of horn and with a (;alilean spyglass at At the moment he has "for .sale an early the axis (Fig.8). 31141 Hildesheira Germany Bulletin of the .~'ientifi¢ instrument Sock~ty No. 52 (I (W/) Mystery Object Chapter and Verse on the Weldon It ctwt~i~s ¢+ thrt+ prk,,ms of crystal ground Rangefinder to qO", NO' 51' 15% and 74" 53' 15" In Fig bq. let the dtstarae AR be required. With the q~r' In my exciteme~nt h~r a final .~)lution to the pn.,~n. ~andzng at A, ~ off the p~nt c bv Weldon rangehnder question I urged in the inakmg it t'oil~'ide with the reflected image [~:ember Bulletin Dicken.~m Hennes~v to of B. At kr~ thten perpendicuhr tO AB Now take it further, tie is familiar to me as one of walk backwards tnnn A, keeping m the lira, our corresp~mdents, but he is not the right AC until the point l) is reached, when, the one as far as this saga is ctmcemed. As it reflects| image t~ B as ~ in the gH" 51' happens, the nght corresptmdent has taken 15" prism ¢oincidt.'s with the [~.flt A the up the gauntlet. Here follows Robert angle AI~ is then gN" 5l' ]~". anti the Evans's letter verbatim: dislance AB Is equal to ~1 till~ the dlstara'e AD, which has to be measured. %~mt,what "In response to your remarks in the greater accuracy is attained by using the 8~q" Editorial of SIS h~urnal No 51 1 have 51' 15"'prism only with a base Iwlce the deh'ed a little further into the mystery of h'ngth t~AD m Fig.tO4 (see Fig 70). Here CD the Weldon rangefinder. = 2AD, and AR = 2~ tm~'~ CI) When the k'ngth of the b&...e AI) or {+t) is ctmsiderahle, Assuming that the rangetinder would have In order to .,,ave ttrlr~' In nlt'dsgrt'Rlt'lRt retrvat been used by memhers of the armed .'~'it'es along the lint, [)B until the poln! F L'~ and with tile knowledge that a number of reached, wbere the refit-ted image of t) a,~ survew)rs' hand instruments had been .,,t~n m the 74" 53" 15" prism cotra|des with invented by Army Officers. I checked A or C The k,ngth ~ff the ba~,e AD ~w t'[) is thn~ugh my old sup,'eying text~a~ks. then 4 times [)F, and A8 L'~ equal to 2ti0 tlmt'~ I)1[: in Fig b~, and in Fig.7(1, AI~ -- 1(X1 hmes Esentualh.' I found what I was looking for DF In the otfic~al tnals at Aldersba~t the in ]. Whttelaw Junior's b~a~k published in mean emw of the Wekhm range hnder was 1902. ~ De mstrument was de~'rl~.d as ."N yds. for each distance, arat m India the being the invention of Colonel Weld~m, average error was found to be 3g vds tor Fig.I lhr mu,teru ol,lett 31t1~ mm I,,n£ and R.A. for use by mfantw for gun ranking in each d~stance. 78 mm dtanwh'r ai the N:~. The a~'ar t,, the the field. The descriptitm of the mstn|n~,nt &t.~"s >uffac¢ r,hr'h giz'~.'s the cdxl" a h"z,elh'd explained the rea.,ams |or three prisms and The instrument depicted in Ln~,lm'crm~ has t~¢ct can h' cln~lrly stun m FIt.2. for their unusual angk.,s. three pnsms arranged in a ix,~ which al~ has a compass and a lesel, 1he rel~rter l then checked the Barr and Stroud Fig.2 L~'tads of I~.~', a~,,erts that this rangetinder can al~ be u,,~'d centenan.' publication: and di.,*'overed that as a depleidt~,cope for transit ¢~,ervattons, m the 187(b~ and 1880s the British infantry had wasted vast amounts of ammuniti,m ['his mysten' oblect by one of our readers becau~ they were unable to estimate U=e of Ute Weldon RangeFinder reminds me that Paolo Brenni is oflenng a ranges accurately. .,~,nes of short artick,,s ~m unusual instru- 6 ments. Perhaps he should start with this twle. The War Office n.'sponded in 1888 by i have to admit that ! have no idea what it is, placing an advertisement in the l:n£meerln~ and am not even sure in what category td ioumal for an infantry range|inaPt whic~ instruments to place it. 1-here are terminals .,a~ could stand rough u~ge in the field and it must have .~)me as.~ciati~m with electri- could provide a range at 1000 yards to city, although whether you put current in or within an em)r of 4",,. Weldon's instrument take it out I do not know. The best I can do is could meet tht.'~, requirements. to describe this device in the words of my C ":-, ,o. The bibliography of this h~)k referwd to correspondent: 'For dt,=scripti~m purpt~es I articles in [~l,~,lmvrln,¢ on rangehnders. On have divided it into thwe sections (Fig.I). In checking tht.,~, at Birmingham Referer~'e I the first, h,tween the wt~dtm knob and the IJbrarv I found another de~'ription of Fig.~ wide rihbed ring, the calibratitm down the Weldffn's rangehnder. ' upper h, velled, cut-away strip and also around the part immediately above the Colonel Weld,m may have produced his ribbed nng art, upsidt~-down in the photo- rangehnder in resptm.,~, to the War Office graphs ~ that the wt,~den knob has to be adverti~ment. It appears to have been nearest the holder for them to be read By made in several versions, all of which rotating the narrower, thinner ring the rod invoh'ed the u.~ of the three prisms. stun inside the bevelled section can be M. M.I$.~M'~ 'l|" moved in one direction or the other, up or The versicm illustrated in the Army and down, inwards or outwards deFa'nding tm Navy Catalogue seems to have been used whether the whole is held vertically or as tree w,ntld u~' a telescope - the pivoted horizontally. All this seems to do is to apply prisms being swung into .place in the line of or relea.~, prt.'~sure on a spring inside the next sight of the tek~'ope tut~, as rt~ulred, to ~'ction. Finally, on opposite sides of the give a split image at the eyepiece h)ttom ~,ction are electrical terminals. The Fig 711 ba~=, which can be seen in Fig.2, shows sign I have ra)t vet found instructions to match of wear. There am no names or numbers, the instrument shown in Bulletin No 31, Notes and References apart from the calibrations, to be.~,'en.'A few but I believe the information di~'overed .,~ further details were given on the telephone. far indicates that the mystery t~lt~t is I, J. Whltelaw Jnr, .";urz~'ylu~ ,4s I'ra, ti..~'d I~1 The ob~.s.'tis mainly of bra.~ with small parts indeed the Weldtm rangefinder. ~ Cwll ! n,~mcer~ & Sun~r~ {I orah~n t ro,,b~ made of copper. It is 300 mm long and the diameter otthe ba~ is 714 mm The calihra- Mr Fvans has t~'tch~ed with his lem,r copies 2. M M~'~ ara[I Rus~'ll /¢,an.,¢¢t:, t'Non lion on the ribbed ring is 0-20-0 , in of the de~'rlptions as they appear in White- The t'lr~t ttundred )earx ~ I'larr & .~tn,ud increments of 5 (i.e.5-10-15-20). The owner law Junior's bt~k and in En,qm,~'rm,~. I am ([.ondnn: Maln~tream l'ubllsh|ng. I~tgl. asks four qu~titms: What is it called? What is rt1~roducing hew the former for tht~, of you pp Ig-lq it for and how dens it work? Roughly how who would like a detalh'd explanation o( the old? optical gt'omet~,. 3, t)lXmerrm,~ (It~ tk-t,~her I~11. p 4Y;7 ! Bulletin o| the Sx'wntifk In.trument ~:it~. No. 52 (1~7) 35 Letters to the Editor These lette~ were m respome to Gordon where m my library 04 ~y books' a without rum. I thia Bu~,y's request for information on repli- table 04 formulae /or vahom lacquers in assurance that thepa~ on without any cating, old lacquer finishes (see also the information given to me common use for instruments, up to pre- is accurate or complete. r-,aitorlal}. Those by Professor Harvey P. World War 2. ~~ and Jack Thornton were sent to There is also a Swedish recipe mvolvin~ a Gordon Busaey who passed them on to the Mention of this table amused much interest Edit~w. tree sap that is first boiled, etc., but t~at and I ~romised to find the aforesaid table method was quickly abandoned. and otter it's contents to Society members Replacing LKquer on Brain through the Bulletin. It is reproducecl below. After all this etfort, I decided to leave my ~s~y with the difficulty found by Gordon Unfortunately ! cannot attribute the original antique instruments aa is, but ! would (SIS Bulletin, No. 51) in finding and autho~hip, as it was photqgraphed from a certainly appreciate knowing a method that successfully applying lacquer to match that book some 45 years ago. I am certain it will does work - should you find one. which is fou/~d on brass of good quality be of interest, if not actually useful, to instruments. I have found that rea.~onable members. P ...... Harvey P, G~renspen ~uults can be obtained by mixing some m/rssor of/tpplied Mathen~tics ['ton polish with a 'Medium Gold'lacquer Charles I. Cook MIT and applying with a camel hair brush to Edington,Westt, u~ Ca~/md~, USA brass parts which have been warmed to Wiltshire about 4.~'C. Gedge & Co., who are french lacquering Technique; from Problems with Asing Freshly Applied New Zealand cp~]lish, varnish and lacquer manufacturers of Lacquer erkenwell, London ECIM 4EJ, stock ! have seen the request for information on itable materials to attempt this proce~. ! hope that you are more fortunate than i lacquermg...Many ~ the instrument ! find wever, although the result is pleasing,, it is have been, m finding out how to replace not an exact match for the deepening colour in NZ. are m a fairly 'grotty' conditkm and antique lacquer on antique instruments, when I retired six years ago, ! decided to let and patina of age, and perhaps we shouldn't Indeed, ! have some information and most expect it to be. busy renovating. Some 04 my instruments of the ingredients but no success in are 18th century but most are 19th and early But now to a note 04 criticism which some ~ ucing the process. The 19th century 20th centuries. I spent 3 years researching might find discordant. I am invariably "que is explained in a short book of 33 for lacquers - it took me 2 years to find a disappointed at scientific instrument fair~ ~ges entitled The Principles and Practice of source of 'Dragon's Blood'. You will have to such as at the Portn~n Hotel to see the Dipping, Burnishing, Lacquering and Bronzin~ c~ke u[~ you.r own lacquers apart from a extraordinary amount of vandalism, pre- Brass Ware by William Norman Brown, goJa cou~ lacquer that ~wellers and umably perpetrated by SIS members, on published in London, in 1900 by Scot, makers use. O.K. for ordinary brass rass instruments. For instance, not only is Greenwood & Co. The methods [on pp. looking instruments. Sours. H.S. Walsh k the black finish necessary on optical 23-25J are undoubtedly outmoded...One Sons Ltd., 1-2 Warstone Mews, Warstone instruments removed but the brass then problem that is difficult fir not impossible Lane, Birmingham 818 6JB Tel.: 0121 236 buffed. In so doing the sharp edges and to repn~luce is the aging of lacquer for a 9346; fax: 0121 236 9355; or 243 Beckenham detail are removed and many a fine century or so. Road, Beckenham, Kent BR3 4TS. Tel.: 0181 778 7061 and 9951; fax: 0181 676 8669. instrument wrecked. 1 have no patience 1 did ask a professional restorer who with the argument that most such pieces are insisted that the task is relatively easy fir This is ethanol based and can be applied in of no fustorical or any other interest and so the brass is thoroughly clean in which case the best solution is in shine up for coffee a warm, dry room at about 20'~. The tables. a spray gun will suppnsedlydo an excellent bOlder lacquers have to be applied to the job. His method revolved cleaning the brass rass at about 5(Y'C and ! aLso warm the At this point ! move the criticism up a k~'el m a weak sulphuric acid solution, say 5% or lacquer via hot water. You must not brush so, after which the is polished and to the SIS itself. What are its aims and surface out nor apply a second coat until the first is objectives? How are these translated to tl~e~?rocess .repeated. Spraying the piece is dry.,The, brass, after cleaning, is thoroughly advice and leadership for the membershio~ last step but this is by no means easy for washed and dried (hair drier is gooc]). "l As an early member of the Society'i amateur; professionals use an electric have not ~Pus.ra.yed lacquers - perhaps ! remember a questionnaire sent to members charge to obtain an even coat of lacquer should try asking them what they thought about the Bulletin, the balance "of interests in the articles, and so on. My response at the time addressed the lack of space given to TABLE OF I~M~UgRB. practical topics such as 'how things work' | "" ...... and how they could, and should, be • i I Sm.c,rlomt-. Karts ]f~tmn;. : restored with sensitivity and recognition of their purl~e. Which brings me back to Gordon Bussey's il, i :'':'-"':"iiililift ! iji ili-J,i' letter. Surely this is the very sort of practical issue that many members would appreciate NcL eL,dr, dr. lit. m. ~. m. pt, ~. dr. Ipr. dr, ~. dr. dr. dr. learnin~ about; yet the responses are I 4.-- -- ! directed to his home address, rather to the t I' Editor where any really useful replies could 4 be printed for general benefit. s -C I ------.~ .... ' I I t -- '-- • 7 t:-,- .... I a - #s - -- w e~d.'~eM. D.D. Read li ..... : ...... 11 41 8 3 ~ : I • * ..... London -,- ...... ,___ -.--i ...... 2 -.. j~ __ 2' .Yell,. Lacquers for Instrument Parts his - - I1,,Jl I -- ~ I!-- --.-- -- V4 6 ~- _ 14 At the Society's West Dean College week- l - --;-- --' ..... Je -- _ I. J t4 I - --!-- --~ 4 ..... l,S .... , _. ll~kil. end meeting'on 'Colourmg 04 Metals', a I --. Z.' .... ! 4 I,--'-- discusskm arose during dinner concerning 'i2 E -.. ~w ~ ,, ~_!_, ; - the preservation of the metal colours by I1 i .... ' ~._,._**. ,.,._ . lacquering. This m)t only presewes the llt,-. - ' ,-,- . ,-- surface but can substantially enhance the colouration. I remember thai [ had 'some. • ...... ~...... -~.. ,. - ~.,,.~--...~-.~.....~ 36 Bulletin 04 the Scientific Instrument Society No. 52 0997) The ~ century lacquers available like Churchill, c.18~), vol. 2, pp. 1709-1710. I do not dry obtem with warm boxwood 'Duralac are difficult to shift once applied Workshop Recerpts for Manuf¢cturers, Me- and do not look correct. The older, earlier etc., but use a hair drier and lacquer when it chanics and Scientific Amateurs (London: E. ia a dry, warm day. Also, objects are lacquers are shellac based •nd can be & F.N. Spon Ltd, l~r/), pp. 89-90. ix,moved by ethanol (meths). prewanned to about 40"C and I warm the lacquer in hot water also. There is a knack in lacquering via a brush and one has to avoid There are numerous formulae for the The letter writer gives some additional 'going over twice' when wet. Modelling lacquers and the method of making up is ir~nnation in the letter he sent to the friends sugge~ ! spray the lacquer but not simple. ! have • chemical background Editor. instrument parts are often odd shapes and so few problems ame. ! have some books masking would be time consuming. I put with 19th century recipes m and so far have Obtaining ~me of the ingredients can be a beeswax over the bcquer when a few days not investi[gatecl all of them. it may help if 1 problem. Paul C. Steenhorst of the Boer- have eialx~cl. Ai~ the unmtined shdlac give you their titles and you check on the ha•re Museum m Holland provided me seems to We deeper $okl cokmrs. I...ch~ ingredients and assess the latter s avail- with an add~ for Dragon's Blc~i and Red the simpler Iormulae manageable in the ability. The books are not in print: Sanders. He also gave me a tip to slow workshop, it takes some time for the down the drying of the shellac so it flows lacquers to mature to a cleep colour as I Hiscox and Stoane Norman, Fortunes m better, add a little (very little) turpentine oil have noticed some 3 year old o~ ire Formulas (Henley Publishing Co., 1st ed. (Spanish, Mexican, oil of turps) to the coating) have deepened. 1907; letter writer's edition 1945), pp. 441B. lacquer, Henry Scammell, Cyclopedia of Valuable B. /act Thornton Receipts (Planet Publishing Co., c. 1900), p. The firm of Vermolen de Kat, Kalvemng Ashhurst 946. Dijk 29, 1509 BT Zaandam (tel.: 31 75 New Zealand Richard Tuson, Cw/ey's CF/0p~ia of Pm'- 210477) have a small catalogue but interest- tical Receipts, 2 vols (London: J. & A. ing contents. Current and Future Events Until 26 March 19q7, Oxford 14, 17 to 21 March 1997, Greenwich Technique, will be given by Dr David on of Imperial College, London, in The Noble Dane: lmaxes of Tycho Brahe. An Spottin,f Sunspots. Make safe observations of p•gertofthe ~nar rooms of the Department of the exhibition at the Museum of the History of the sun with the Observatory's Victorian History and Phik~,ophy of Science, Free Science at Oxford occasioned by the photo heliograph (a special projecting School Lane, Cambridge, starting at 4.30 restoration of a painting of a scene in the telescope) m the Altazimuth Dome. limes: pm (tea 4.00 pm). Tel: 01223 334545 or life of the 16th century astronomer. For an 2.00 to 2.30 pm This is a free event Ior 01223 330906. Fax: 01223 3,14554. E-mail: extensive commentary see the Spnng 1997 which the Observatory's admission ticket is [email protected]~ or [email protected].~ flw issue of Spha,ra, the Museum's newsletter, not required. mformatmn. pp. 3-5. 20 and 21 March 1997, Greenwich 2"/April 1997, London Until 11 M•y 1997, Leiden Conservin~ the Collection. As the National The 22nd Scu,nti~c & Medical Instrument Fair Maritime prepares to open its Cook and will be held at the Radisson SAS Portman Maxische Optics exhibition at Museum Endeapour exhibition (24 March - 21 Hotel, l.xmdon W! from l0 am to 4.30 pm I~erhaave on magic lanterns, including September), the conservation ~tudios are Admission £3. For information on renting the one from's Gravesande's cabinet made opened to the public to see conservationists or for details contact the organizer, by the Musschenbroek workshop dated c. at work. The dates are as follows: 14 and 17 ~ Delehar on 0181-866 86~. 1720 and probably the oldest still in March for oil paintings; 18 and 19 March for existence. Also on show peep-shows, paper artefacts; and 20 and 21 March ~r 8 May 19¢7, Cambrid~ optical prints, stereophotography, zoetropes scientific instruments, starting at 2.30 pro. and other optical image devices including Advance bookings only on 0181-312 6608. The second annual Hans Rausmg LeL~ure in early film and Plateau's apparatus from the the History of Techm~h~gy Machines for Ghent University Museum. The exhibition 18 and 19, and 20 and 21 March 19q7, Lwing: Domestic Architecture and Engineemn~ is described m a 32 page booklet with Greenwich of the Social Order in Late Imperial China will colour illustrations. Cook's Voyages. The Observatory curators be given by Dr Francesca Bray of the will explain the history and uses of the University of Califlwnia at Santa Barbara. 14 - 23 March 1997, Greenwich scientific instruments which accmnpanied in the seminar rtxnns of the Department of the History and Philosophy of Science, Free Cook on his historic )oumeys around the There will be a lull programme d special Schtx)i Lane, Cambridge, starting at 4.,'40 world. Cook's chronometers will be de- pm (tea 4.00 pro). Tel: 01223 334q4S or events at the Old Royal Observatory for scribed on 18 and 19 March and his other SET97 ('Science, Engineering and Technol- 01223 330~]6. Fax: 01223 334554. E-mail: instruments on 20 and 21 March, from 1.05 [email protected] or [email protected] for ogy Week' under the auspices of the British to 1.45 pro. Association ~ the Advancement of Science information. 16 Ma~h - 22 June 1997, Oxford - see also the other events listed below). 17 May lqqT, SiS Visit These include the first public opportunity for more than a decade to view the stars In Visible la'ght: Photography and ClassificaOon in Art, Science and the Etvzyday, exhibition of Saturday 17 May, a visit to I.zmgleat House through the UK's largest refracting tele- to view the Marquess o| Bath's collectitm of scope, and • practical demonstration under photographs at the Museum of M(~ern Art in Oxford, 30 Pembroke Strt~, Oxford OX1 scientific instruments. Arrival time 11 am, the rubric Time in our Hands showing the when the SIS party will be split into two skills needed to repair and restore clocks IBE Tel.: 01685 722733, and 728608 fie. corded information). Fax: 01685 722573. groups, one to start with a 8uided tour of and watches. The latter event is coordinated the house, and the other of the library. 1"he by The Worshipful Company of Clock- 24 April 199"/, Cambridse first group will then go to the library, and makers m conjunction with the British the secured group to the i~se. limes: ! I am Horological Institute. For details contact The third Delta Lecture From Innovation to - I pm, and 2 pm- 4 pm Thus, the entire the Press Office on 0181-312 6745/6790. Use: Ten (Eclectic) Theses on the Historiogra- tour will last from 11 am to 4 pro. Builetinofthescienti~imtnunmtSociety No. S2 (1997) 37 Rdreshments will be served. The Society Science, Free School Lane, Cambridge CB2 25 November 1~ - 2 February 1~8, has negotiated a concesskmary rate of £20 3RH Tel:0122,1 3M545 or 01223 330906. Fax: Madrid per head, but a minimum group of 16 01223 3M5~. E-mail: k'tl001@cam, ac.uk members is required. Participants have to Poder y Tecnoh~ca m d Si~lo XVI: Lot~ina make their own way to lx)ngleat. Fiver in 7 June lq97, Oxford ,'omo centro de difusin de los instrumentos this issue for furthe::detaih. Cameras: The Technoh,~y of Ph,,toy,raphic cientficos (P,noer and Technology in the XVIth 20 May - 13 September 1997, Oxford lmacin¢, 7 Century: Loumin as the centre of diffusion of exhibiti(m talk on Saturday June An exhibition at the starting at 2.,30 pm in the Museum of the scientist instruments). Real Diputacin San Andres de Los Flamen- Cameras: The Technol,,~v of Phott~raphic History of Science bv Dr Willem Hackmann cos, Fundacin Carlos de Amberes, c/ Imacm¢. Special exhibitii~n in the Museum for the Friends of tile Museum. There may of t~e'History of Science featunng the fine be places available for those who have not Claudio Cuello 99, 28(I)6 Madrid. Several scientific books, engravings and manu- collection of'cameras, early phot:graphic vet joined the Mu~um's Associatkm of scripts will form the environment for about lenses and access)ties cov~g the entire i:riends. Contact the Museum's Secretary, spectrum of photographic history from Miss Penny Jackson, c~n 01865 27728(I. 6o Fk,mish and Spanish scientific instru- Daguerre in 1839 to the Nimslo 'three- ments from the 16th and the beginning of dimensional' camera of the early 1980s. For 21 June - 28 September 1997, Derby the 17th centuries. A catalogue will be further details see the Spring l/~r7 issue of available in Spanish. An English translation Spharra, the Museum's newsletter. Bv judi- On the occasion of the Ioseph Wright of is envisaged but this will depend onpublic cious planning visitors could see the camera Derby Bi-Centenary, there will be an or private sponsorship. For further in(orma- technology at the Museum of the History of exhibition at the Derby Museum and Art tion teleph~me: 00 34 1 4352201, or fax: 00 34 Science and the unages produced by "this Gallery kx)king at his works, including his 1 5781092. This is the same exhibition listed techra,logy at the Museum of Modem Art most famous masterpiece A Phihsopher in the December Bulletin (p. 34), but which on the same day. Lecturing on the Orrery, and an important is now opening later. collection of recently acquired drawings. 22 May 1997, Annual Thomas Harriot Dunng the ,same l~riod there will be an 3 December lq9"/, SiS Sth Annual Invita- Lecture at Oxford exhibition at the Derby Industrial Museum tion Lecture entitled, A Great Reputation . Tu~, Derby. The 1997 Thomas Harriot Lecture will be factories: The Silk Mill and the China Works, Gresham College and 17th Century Scientific given in Oriel College, Oxford, at 5 pm on telling the history of these two great Thursday 22 May. The lecturer will be Instruments by Allan Chapman of Wadham factories established in Derby in the 18th College, Oxfi)rd, at the Royal Institution, Profes6or John North of the University of century. Guided tours by appointment. Gnmmgen, who will speak on 'Stars-and 20 Albemarle Street, London WI. Doors Atoms'. Tel.: 01332 255586. open 5.30 for 6 pro, followed by the Society s dinner for those who book (to 9 July 199'7, AGM This is the seventh annual Harriot Lecture. be arranged). Copies of four previous lectures, by David The Annual General Meeting will be held 19 - 26 July 1998, Brighton Quinn, Gordon Batho, Hi]ary Gatti, and on Wednesday 9 July at the Society of Stephen Clucas, are available from Profes- Antiquaries, Burlington House, Piccadilly, sor R~ert Fox, Modern History Faculty, FIG (the International Federation of Sur- London W1. ~res by Dr Hester Higton, veyors) ad hoc Commission on Surveying Broad Street, Oxford OXI 3BD. For furth~" K van Cleempoel, and A.D Morrison-Low details, plea~ contact Professor Fox at this are organizing an exhibition The Art of (see the Society's 'Programme of Meetings' Surveyin¢, and a one-day symposium to address or by e-mail at robert.tox@histor- for details), starting at 2 pm followed by tea y.ox.ac.uk coindde with the 21st FIG Congress in and the AGM, which should finish at 5"pro. Brighton. 31 May 199"/, Greenwich 11 - 14 September 1997, Chicago Summer 1998, Nollet Exhibition, CNAM The Camera Obscura, a one day course on Call for papers on all aspects of dialling for Paris Saturday 31 May from 10.15 am to 4.15 pm the annual meeting of the North American at the National Maritime Museum, for those Sundial Society to be held in Chicago. For A circular entitled Bulletin de l'Abb~ Nollet who want 'a chance to find out more about further information see the boxed an- originating from the David M. Stewart the development and use of the camera nouncement elsewhere in this issue. For Museum has recently arrived with new obscura, Including a practical visit to the further information contact Sara Schechner information concerning the Nollet Exh/bi- Museum's own example [and] also the race Genuth, National Museum of American tion first ]Lsted in this column in Bulletin to fix the images, thus leading to the History, Room 1040, MRC 605, Smithsonian No. 46. The exhibition entitled L'Art des development of the camera'. This is one of Institution, Washington, DC 20560; fax 00 1 Experiences ('The Noble Art of Experiment- the Museum's "The Open Museum' events. 202 786-2851; [email protected] ing') is intended to open in the Conserva- Fee: £25; concessions and Friends of the toire National des Arts et Mdtiers Museum: f,20. Contact Penny Downer on 16 October, London (CNAM), Paris, in the summer of 1998 0181 312 6747. and then move to other venues: Library of The Electron, new exhibition at the Science 6 June 1997, Cambridge the University of Pavia (autumn 1998); Museum. An evening reception and private Museum of the History of Science, Flor- The Whipple Museum of the History of view have been organized by Alan Morton ence (winter 1999); Museum of the History Science will hold an aftern(xm conference for SIS Members, to start at 6.30 pm (doors of Science and Technology, Geneva (spring from 2.00 to 5.00 pm on Friday 6 June. open at 6 pro). Please book well beforehand 1999); Museum Boerhaave, Leiden ~sum- the Students in the Department of the History with Meetings Secretary,James Strattcm, met 1999); Museum of the History of and Ph!h~)phy of Science currently work- m order that the Science Museum will have the listof participants. Science, Oxford (autumn 1999); David M. mg on instruments will deliver short talks: Stewart Museum, venues in North Amer- Adam Mosley on an early armillary sphere, 26 October 1997, London ~tea (winter and spring 2000), David M. Mike Rich on George" Adams's set of wart Museum, Montral (summer 2000); geometrical solids, Chris Halo/ on wave ]'he 23rd Scwntific 6" Medical Instrument Fair and National Museum of Science and machines and Kemal de Sovsa on a sixteenth will be held at the Radisson SAS Portman hnoiogy, Ottawa (spring 2001). Details century celestial planisl~here. The new Hotel, lxmd(m. Details: 0181-866 8659. ~r~m Guy Vadeboncoeur, David M. Stew- Teach:ng Gallery will be open to visitors. art Museum, Le Fort-l'le Samte-H~l~ne, Light refreshments will be served. All are 13 November 199"I, Birmingham C.P. 1200, Station A, Montr~al, Canada invited and members of the SIS will be The Lunar Society at Soho House with H3C 2Y9. It is still intended to publish an particularly welcome. For further details public ext,,el- illustrated catak~gue of the Noilet collec- contact the Curator Dr liba Taub, Whipple Electrical Demonstrations. The merits will be conducted by h/illem i~ack- tion. Museum of the History of Science, Depart- mann. Details to be announced in the next ment of the History ' and Philosophy of Bulletin. Details of future events, na,etinl~s , ¢r~ibitions etc. should be sent to tke Editor. 38 Bulletin of the Sck.ntitic Instrument Society No. 52 (1907) Classified Advertising Charges Quality Medical Instruments wanted V urgently. C~xx:l condition and complete Whole page £175 sets. Must be pie 1920. Competitive Half page £90 prices paid. Dr David Warren 77 Cam- Quarter Fage Eighth Page £35 arthen Avenue Portsmouth PO6 2AG Classified £0.20 per word, UK. Phone 01705 376518. E-mail: rain. £5 101767.2756@compumn,e.com. Classified Box Number £1.S0 per insertion Flier, Single A4 £100 Flier, Double A4 £125 Other Advertising Ask for Quotation Artwork, if required At coot The rates shown are for camera ready art- 7~ . #,, ,/ //7, //,,,/ -~ work. A 10% discount applies on booking for 4 or more consecutive issues. Detailed Rate Card available on request. Copy Date no later than 4 weeke pHor to publication, i.e. end January, April, July & October. ~. ,:,~_ ~: ",. ~, > ~, . ~:'L~ Box Number replies to the Advertising Manager as below. Payment for advertising is due in advance with order. Payment by cheque, Visa or MC accepted. Foreign advertisers requested to use credit card payments to avoid Ioues to the Society on currency convemion. All payments and copy details to.- Jane insley, Science Museum, London SW7 2DD. Tel: 0171-9388110 Fax:0171-938 9736 IMPORTANT ARTIFACTS FROM THE HISTORY OF MEDICINE, SURGERY & SCIENCE ALEX PECK ANTIQUE SCIENTIFICA Featuring Medical Antiques of the American Civil War Era. Send a self-addressed stamped envelope for further information. Please advise your interests and wants. P.O. Box 710-S Charleston, IL 61920 U.S.A. 217.348.1009 i Bulletin of the ,Scientific InstnMnent Society No. 52 (1997) 3q .,=,..l +RDIN Earl,,' .~uenlll'l¢ lnstnJments Catalogues TESSERACT issued quarterly l~,x i~1 i la~,tonl¢+ ,m HtkJm,n N~'w York h:~7l~ 103 We.q Ali~Street O Ojai. CaSf0mia9~23 t914) 47~-2594 Tdcplmee/Fac,~imil¢(SOS) (~>-O.'~4 Slx)p Open I0 a.m. to 5 p.m. every Fnday. Saturday, Sunday Mondayor by appointment LIBRAIRIE ALAIN BRIEUX NINETEENTH CENTURY SCIENTIFIC DEMONSTRATION MOTORS, ELECTRO-MAGNETIC AND PHILOSOPHICAL INSTRUMENTS SOUGHT BY COLLECTOR 48 rue Jacob, 75006 Paris. Tel. +33(1)42602198 Fax. +33(i)42605524 tlistory of Medicine & Science. Rare Books, Autographs, Rare Scientific, Medical & Surgical Instruments, Books of Documentation. Peter Thomashow 164 Congress Street Bought- Sold - Appraised Brooklyn, N.Y., USA l Phone & Fax 718-797-1024 4O Bulletin of tl~, .~wntific Instrument ~:wt'y No. 52 (Ig~7) .~~ Eighteenthand nineteenth century mathematical. ,L [le philosophical and optical instruments of all kinds - l ~e'][~i# including microscopes, telescopes, gh,bes, orreries, sundials, compasses, surveying. navigating, drawing, calculating, lrLs~t,5 medical and laboratory apparatus. Send $5.00 for current illustratedcatalog Old Historically important books for collectors: beautifully illustrated and practical reference bcu~ksfor everyone - *~;." ciPare including astronomy, mathematics, computing, chemistry, physics, engineering, microscopy, ~ BO0~ navigation,surveying, history of science and antique scientific instruments. Send $2.00 for currentcatalog "B" Catalogs ealine at: http'.//www.lemmary.com/rcb/ E-maih [email protected] P. O. Box 2560. Fallbrook~ CA 92088 • t619) 728-3321 • 728-3322 (~Ans & FAX) Paris - Saturday 19th April 1997 ROGERS TURNER BOOKS Scholarly & Antiquarian Books CLOSING DOWN SALE of 22 N¢lscm Road. Ch~-nwich. Scientific and Medical Antiques london SFIO 9JR I0 - 6 daily [¢1 & Fax 01111-gS.~ 5271 En.re stock of Galten & ttippocrate of Pariso~c¢ 24 Rue du Brass•el Richard. Paris to be sold at auction at the H6tel 75600 I.¢ Mcsml-lc-Roi. France Drouot Includes scientific instruments, re/ 1-3912 1191 Fax I-3%20722 medical and dental tools, pharmaceuti- cal apparatus, rare books, manufactu- Jean-Antoine Nollet 1700 - 1770 rer's catalogues ans miscellanea We have for sale an almost complete collection of Nollet's Ku. IN~tmms ~ t works, in contemporary french calf • PIASA, auctgme¢~ - 5, nJe D~, ?5009 Pa~ ¢DO3) 01 55 34 lO I0 - Fag O5) 01 55 34 10 ll gt., similar, though not matching • Mr. J. Dmlhon, expert, Lilnifle Alaln Bne~ Pare bindings. Each work is for sale 05) OI 42 60 21 ~q - Pax (5~) O! 42 60 55 M individually. Full details on Vnmu~ t • on me ~emiees c~GaSen & Hq~xzme. t5 me J~qRe, application. 750o~ Parts -¢D& Fax O5) 0l 45 2654 06. ih~m Mon #a ApOI m Tu~. l~ lad . ll a.m m 6 pm Nollet was probably the most . Al ~e HOlel Dmuol . 9, me Dmuoi, 75009 ~ Pri. 18~ from !1 s.m Io6 p.m. and .~t lgth from !1 Io norm successful 18thC demonstrator of Satas physical experiment, using up to 350 • Will be held at lhe ~ Dmm~, S~ 19th at 2 pm different instruments, virtually all of which are illustrated in his works. i J Table of Contents Appmlxmk. m~ml will I~~ in ~q~m~ ~ ~I ...... 1 C.am' S~,~ The Mq~u. ~d ~ Am~.ry ...... WlU~ I.bdr,m,~ $ Scwnt~ instrum~nt A4~ng m Mm,cknWr 1870-19410 II: Thom~ ~ &Brocher, m~l G. Cummin & ~ ...... Jmmy Weom S S~greenO~~Centu~SomU~iru~mnvmu ...... Ma~wuWUlmum A IMeek m Provence. Immrunvmts rand In~itutim~ in Nice, I~gne m~d Mom~ ...... Jane imle~, Amta McCmndl md A.D. ~Le~ Who inven~cl the (~Rmg? ...... ~ A. Mi~ ~ & Sohn o/V~nM ...... C~rl ~, tran~ted by J.B le 1~ 31 Cum~ and Future Events ...... Adverti~mm~ ...... 3q The Scientific Instrument Society Membership The SOent~ Imuument Society (SIS) wu formed in April 1983 to ~ tqgtcher Ix,~ie with • ~ ~ In men~c mstnunents, ranSmS from ~ Jm~lues to ~ ok,rich only r~-mtly out o~ pmdu~m~. Collectors, tl~ antu~es trade, mmwum staff, prok,sakx~l hUtm.~ms and other enthumm(s will find ~ va~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~o tier tastes. The Society. has an im~rnatioMI membership. Activities Regular everu~ meeUn~ am held m ~, as well ~ occamm~ one-d~y and week-axJ contesesu:m in attractive Wovincid locations. Speakers are usually experts in their fx,,kl, but all members am welcome to give talks. Specml 'behind-the..ecen~' ~ to mum.runs are • u~4ul kature. Above all, the So~,ty', pthet~ at~ er~oyable social w, provKlmg opportuniCk~ to meet others wlth similar ~. The SIS Bulletin Thin is the So~,ty's ~umal, published four tunes • year and sent ~,e *o ~. It is attrachvely pcuducx~ and flluseraled,and comau~ informative articles about • wide range oC imlruments as well as book and exhibition reviews, news c~ SIS ~tivitiee, and mee~gs of re, ted ~¢iehes. There is a lively k.tters Page, and 'mystery ob~cts' are pmmmted. Another bmture m • dam~,d advertisement coaumm, and antique dealers and auction houses regularly take aclvm,t~ Mp~-e, Io th~ ~ nwy find the Bulh,~ • means o6 ~ddmg to their collechom. How to join The annual subscnpt~n is due on ! Jammry. New members recewe back copra o/the Bu/ktm for the year in which they join, Cummt Sub.minion rm~ Subscription, Res,clent m UK t~O.O0 Resident elsewhere | f~.O0 • I SSS.00 Please no~ that higher cost of overse~ membership is due to additional po~l rates. i'lease contact: Executive Officer (Win R Cmdr. Geolfn.y lk.nnett) 31 High ,Street,Stanford m the Vale, Farmgdon, O~on SN7 8121. Tel: 01367 710223 Fax: 01367 718q63