Object Details
maker
A. Sainte
Description
This portable revolution counter has a handle at one end. The point at the other end is pressed against the end of the axis of the shaft whose revolutions are counted. In between are two wheels. When the lower wheel turns once, the upper wheel moves one tenth of its circumference. The edges of both wheels are divided into 100 equal parts. Each tenth division is numbered.
The lower wheel is labeled: TENS. Its divisions are numbered clockwise from 0 to 9 on the inside, and counterclockwise from 0 to 9 on the outside. The upper wheel is labeled: HUNDREDS. Its divisions are numbered counterclockwise from 0 to 9 on the inside and clockwise from 0 to 9 on the outside. A spring disengages the wheels to allow zeroing.
A mark on the back of one wheel reads: A. Sainte (/) A Paris.
The end of the shaft has three attachments. The instrument also has a metal weight and fits into a velvet and satin-lined case.
By counting the number of revolutions of the shaft of a steam engine and knowing the steam pressure and the properties of the engine, steam engineers could compute the horsepower of the engine. A. Sainte patented a device for this purpose in 1877, and exhibited it at the Exhibition Universelle held in Paris in 1878. A form of the device was still being manufactured as late as 1903.
References:
J. Buchetti, Engine Tests and Boiler Efficiencies, trans. Alexander Russell, Westminster: Archibald Constable, 1903, pp. 120-123.
Science Museum, Catalogue of the Mechanical Engineering Collection of the Science Museum South Kensington, London: HIs Majesty’s Stationery Office, 1919, pp. 234-235.
Location
Currently not on view
date made
ca 1880
ID Number
1990.0316.01
accession number
1990.0316
catalog number
1990.0316.01
Object Name
counter, analog
counter
Physical Description
wood (overall material)
cloth (overall material)
metal (overall material)
Measurements
overall: 2.7 cm x 14.3 cm x 7.8 cm; 1 1/16 in x 5 5/8 in x 3 1/16 in
place made
France: Île-de-France, Paris
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_1214875