Object Details
Description
This instrument consists of a mahogany case, nailed shut, with two glass windows. Four openings in a brass plate are visible below one of the windows. These windows are marked on the brass 10, 100, 1000, and 10000. There are number dials below them. According to earlier cataloging, the instrument contains an electromagnet and clockwork which operates the counter. Powered by a battery, the device could count numbers of revolutions and similar phenomena. Measuring time with a stop watch, one could calculate velocities.
A mark at the front of the top of the instrument and on the bottom reads: 39. The U.S. Geological Survey transferred the instrument to the Smithsonian in 1908. It had been used in the Water Resources Branch of the Survey.
Reference:
Accession file 48341.
Location
Currently not on view
Credit Line
Transfer from U. S. Geological Survey
date made
ca 1900
ID Number
MA.248693
catalog number
248693
accession number
48341
Object Name
counter
Physical Description
glass (overall material)
mahogany (overall material)
brass (overall material)
Measurements
overall: 7 cm x 14.9 cm x 10.8 cm; 2 3/4 in x 5 7/8 in x 4 1/4 in
See more items in
Medicine and Science: Mathematics
Counters
Science & Mathematics
Data Source
National Museum of American History
Subject
Mathematics
Link to Original Record
Record ID
nmah_690541