Object Details
Description
This brass rule with chain was displayed by the Japanese Empire Department of Education at the 1876 Centennial Exhibition in Philadelphia and then was held by the Museum of the U.S. Bureau of Education before transfer to the Smithsonian in 1910. The scale on the rule has six units of 19/32" (1.5 cm). Two of the units are subdivided into 25 parts; the other two are subdivided into ten parts. The chain is approximately 29-1/2" (75 cm) long and is attached to an eye at one end of the rule. Larger links are inserted in the chain at 12" and 24" from the rule. A small octagonal weight (about 1/2" or 1.5 cm long) is attached to the end of the chain.
The accession record identifies this instrument as a ryosan shaku (depth gauge for cannon barrels). For more information on the exhibition, see MA.261298 and MA.261313.
Location
Currently not on view
Credit Line
Transfer from Bureau of Education, Department of the Interior
date made
before 1876
ID Number
MA.261289
accession number
51119
catalog number
261289
Object Name
scale rule
rule
Physical Description
brass (overall material)
Measurements
overall: 1.1 cm x 88.2 cm x 1.1 cm; 7/16 in x 34 23/32 in x 7/16 in
place made
Japan
See more items in
Medicine and Science: Mathematics
Science & Mathematics
Scale Rules
Data Source
National Museum of American History
Subject
Mathematics
Expositions and Fairs
Gauging
Link to Original Record
Record ID
nmah_1215115