Object Details
Description
An iron caliper with only one bar is nailed to one end of this bamboo rule. The caliper extends back about 3". The ruler is divided into 17 units of 1-3/16" (3 cm), and the units are subdivided into tenths. Each unit is roughly equivalent to one sun, a traditional Japanese unit of length that is 1/10 of a shaku, a "foot" measure. Bulls-eyes mark every five units. A red and white sticker on the caliper is marked: 10th (/) No 222.
The Japanese Empire Department of Education displayed this rule at the 1876 Centennial Exhibition in Philadelphia. It then was held by the Museum of the U.S. Bureau of Education until it was transferred to the Smithsonian in 1910. For more information, 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.261299
catalog number
261299
accession number
51116
Object Name
scale rule and caliper
rule
Physical Description
bamboo (overall material)
iron (overall material)
Measurements
overall: 1.8 cm x 61 cm x 7.5 cm; 23/32 in x 24 1/32 in x 2 15/16 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
Rule, Measuring
Expositions and Fairs
Carpentry
Link to Original Record
Record ID
nmah_1215116