Pocket air barometer, or sympiesometer, 1845-1851.

Pocket barometer with mercury and alcohol, and tube, by Joseph Rankin Stebbing, Canute Road, Southampton, England, 1845-1855

Mercury barometers needed to have two tubes that were at least 33 inches long, and were generally cumbersome to carry around. To allow for readings of air pressure by a pocket instrument, a much shorter glass tube was doubled back on itself to fit a small case, and the moving agent was a combination of air, spirit and mercury. This example was made by Stebbing of Southampton.

Details

Category:
Meteorology
Collection:
Sir Henry Wellcome's Museum Collection
Object Number:
1980-98
type:
sympiesometer
credit:
On loan from the Wellcome Trust

Parts

Tube, for pocket barometer by Stebbing

Tube, for pocket barometer by Stebbing

Tube, for pocket barometer by Stebbing, Southampton, England, unsigned, 1845-1851

Object Number:
1980-98 Pt1
type:
tube
Image ©
The Board of Trustees of the Science Museum
Pocket barometer, sympiesometer, 1845-1851

Pocket barometer, sympiesometer, 1845-1851

Pocket barometer, sympiesometer, with mercury and alcohol, by Joseph Rankin Stebbing, Canute Road, Southampton, England, 1845-1855

More

Mercury barometers needed to have two tubes that were at least 33 inches long, and were generally cumbersome to carry around. To allow for readings of air pressure by a pocket instrument, a much shorter glass tube was doubled back on itself to fit a small case, and the moving agent was a combination of air, spirit and mercury. This example was made by Stebbing of Southampton.

Measurements:
overall: 265 mm x 60 mm x 24 mm, .145kg
Materials:
mercury , glass , alcohol , ivory , steel (metal) , nickel plated , brass (copper, zinc alloy) , leather , iron , wood (unidentified) , silk and hair
Object Number:
1980-98 Pt2
type:
sympiesometer
Image ©
The Board of Trustees of the Science Museum