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Mercury douche for urethral therapy, Paris, France, 1840-1895

Therapeutics

1840-1895

Cased, mercury douche with fittings for urethral therapy, made by A. Aubry, 5 Boulevard St. Michel, Paris, France, 1840-1895.

General Electric CA101 Pilotron triode (McVitie Weston valve collection), 1918

Electronic Components

1918

General Electric CA101 Pilotron triode, C base, made by the General Electric Company Limited, United States, 1918. McVitie Weston number = RMW/B31

Binocular stereoscopic camera

Photographic Technology

c.1856

Binocular stereoscopic camera no. 12, made by John Benjamin Dancer, Manchester, c.1856 and probably owned by Joseph Sidebotham in the 1860s. Rear plate holder removeable. Focussed by turning milled nut on top. Fitted with a focal plate shutter as well as a front of lens shutter. Missing spirit level, brass plunger for changing plates and changing box.

Panhard Levassor 4hp motor car

Road Transport

1894-1895

Panhard Levassor 4hp motor car, 1894-5. The engine is a twin-cylinder Daimler. The first owner of this car, the Hon Evelyn Ellis, was one of a small number of pioneer British motorists who had the vision to see the importance of the developing motor car. The first car imported into Britain, it made its first road journey of 90 km (56 miles) on 5 July 1895. The car also took part in the first Emancipation Run from London to Brighton on 14 November 1896, which was held to celebrate the coming into force of legislation which freed motor cars of the need to be preceded by a pedestrian, and raised the speed limit to 19 km/h (12 mph). From this moment motoring in Britain was able to develop.

Replica of a hobby-horse cycle

Road Transport

c. 1900

Copy of a hobby-horse cycle in the possession of the Duke of Northumberland.

Passion bottle

Ethnography and Folk Medicine

1870-1920

Passion bottle, blown glass, containing coloured glass pendants and religious symbols suspended from hollow, bulbous glass tubes in "holy" water, De Mortillet collection, Liesse, French, 1870-1920

Creda No 762 electric toaster with open element. N

Domestic Appliances

1914-1920

Creda No 762 electric toaster with open element. No. 4515A, 220-230V, 2.6 Amps, enamelled cast iron base and top; wood handle, c.1914-1920.

Original vacuum cleaner, from to Royal Naval College

Domestic Appliances

1905

Original vacuum cleaner, supplied to Royal Naval College, Osborne, c.1905

Model of Great Central Railway "Atlantic" Express Locomotive

Railway Models

1903 (original); 1982 (model)

Model, scale 1:8.7, of 4-4-2 locomotive, Great Central Railway, designed by J. G. Robinson, 1905. With 6-wheeled tender.

Betel nut cutter (Indian or Ceylonese)

Asian Medicine

1801-1900

Iron and ivory betel nut cutters, probably Indian or Sri Lankan (formerly Ceylon), 1801-1900

Poster advertising lectures on phrenology, Trowbridge, Wiltshire, England, 1851

J Diplock

1851

Lectures on phrenology, physiology, etc. April 3-10 1851. On yellow paper, 58x23cm. In frame, 64x28.5x2cm.

English-built 'boneshaker' bicycle

Road Transport

1865-1870

English-built boneshaker bicycle, c. 1865-1870. The 'velocipede', or 'boneshaker' as it became popularly known, was the first bicycle with pedals (and an uncomfortable ride). It was first developed in France by Pierre Michaux, Pierre Lallement and the Olivier brothers in the 1860's, first commercially produced by the Michaux Company, and eventually mass-produced in the UK from 1869. However it is highly likely that some of the earlier French bicycles found their way into England and served as models for local craftsmen to replicate. This bicycle in probably an example of this. The design closely follows the Michaux blueprint, but its crude construction (of the iron frame and wooden wheels) would suggest the work of a local blacksmith and wheelwright. This bicycle was donated to the Science Museum by the granddaughter of John Boyd Dunlop, inventor of the pneumatic tyre.

Conch shell trumpet used by people of New Guinea a

Ethnography and Folk Medicine

1850-1920

Conch shell trumpet used by people of New Guinea as call to arms and for warding off spirits of sickness from village, Papua New Guinea, 1850-1920

carriage ashtray from Quintinshill disaster

Miscellanea & Curiosities

1915

Railway carriage ashtray, brass, mounted on wooden plinth with brass plate engraved ‘Quintinshill 1915’, made by Thomas Henry Barnfather Smith.

Intermediate frame

Textile Industry

1907

Intermediate frame, made by Platt Brothers & Co. Ltd, Oldham, 1907, and used at Roy Mill, Royton.

Huskisson Memorial

Miscellanea & Curiosities

1831

Memorial tablet, marble, restored original from the Huskisson Memorial, commemorating the accidental death of William Huskisson MP at Parkside on the opening day of the Liverpool & Manchester Railway , 15 September 1830.

Bullion box containing lead shot

Miscellanea & Curiosities

1855

Bullion Box, South Eastern Railway, box containing lead shot from Great Gold Robbery from London - Paris via Folkestone train on 15 May 1855.

Clay tobacco pipe, Paris, France, 1840-1910

Smoking

1840-1910

Clay tobacco pipe, tip of mouthpiece missing, bowl in form of skull, glass eye, one missing, nose bone, teeth touched up in white, short carved wood stem, by Gambier of Paris, French 1840-1910

Life size female anatomical figure

Anatomy & Pathology

1895-1905

Life size standing female anatomical figure, made of plaster, with detachable parts to reveal additional anatomical details, probably c.1900.

Packet of 36 vaccination points for smallpox vaccination used at Pimlico Station, London, England, 1873

Public Health & Hygiene

1873

Packet of 36 vaccination points for smallpox vaccination No.387, supplied by the Government Lymph Establishment, London, and used at Pimlico Station, London, Dec 4th 1873.

Glass flask containing urine

Microbiology

1865-1877

Glass flask, containing urine, prepared by Lister, used in his experiments on putrefaction, from 1871-1877

Writing machine for blind people, United Kingdom, 1862

Printing & Writing

1862

Martin's writing machine for use by blind people, 1862

Pioneers of Electric Telegraphy at the British Association

Telecommunications

1865

Framed photograph of 'Pioneers of Electric Telegraphy at the British Association Birmingham 1865', unknown maker, British, 1865

Royal footwarmer, Great Western Railway

Passenger Comforts

1856

Footwarmer, brass, Great Western Railway, footwarmer from Royal Saloon 1856-1901 as inscribed.

Fechner's double sound pendulum

Psychology, Psychiatry & Anthropometry

1898-1908

Fechner's double sound pendulum for testing aural discrimination, by E. Zimmerman, Leipzig and Berlin

Penny Farthing Bicycle

Road Transport

1880-1890

High Ordinary (Penny Farthing) bicycle made by William Harrison, Manchester, c.1885.

Geometrical Groin Vault, string surface model

Mathematics

1872

Groin; oblique intersection of two splayed vaults of the same spring

James Mackenzie’s first polygraph, United Kingdom, 1906-1910

Clinical Diagnosis

1906-1910

Mackenzie's first polygraph, complete

Foetal monaural stethoscope

Clinical Diagnosis

1875-1885

Foetal stethoscope, monaural, wood, c.1880

Silicon crystal for wireless telegraphy, mounted in a locket, 1906-1916

Radio Communication

1906-1916

Silicon crystal for wireless telegraphy, mounted in a locket, unknown maker, England, 1906-1916

'Italian Navy' detector, 1899-1901

Radio Communication

1899-1901

Carbon-mercury-iron semiconductor diode detector, of the type invented by J C Bose in 1899, modified version, unknown maker, 1899-1901. Known as the ‘Italian Navy coherer’, used by G Marconi in Newfoundland to receive the first wireless communication across the Atlantic, December 1901.

Stanhope square demonstrator, c.1805.

Mathematics

c.1805

Stanhope Demonstrator, an instrument for performing logical operations designed by Charles Stanhope.

Carved figure of breastfeeding woman

Ethnography and Folk Medicine

1890-1920

Carved ebony figure of seated woman suckling an infant, woman's face ornamented with tribal scarification, wearing an amuletic necklace, possibly represents Odudua, Earth Goddess in the Yoruba pantheon, probably Yoruba people, West African, 1890-1920

Hull Corporation telephone, 1900-1910

Telecommunications

1900-1910

Hull Corporation telephone, made by the Elektrisk Bureau, Oslo, Norway, 1900-1910

Anti-mosquito spray gun

Public Health & Hygiene

1914-1918

Anti-mosquito spray gun, metal, by R. Sumner and Co. of Liverpool, 1914-1918

Sixteen lens cine camera by Louis Le Prince

Cinematography

1886-1887

Sixteen lens cinematographic camera, made by Louis Le Prince in Paris in 1887 (with electrical connections)

Rotative Compound Beam Engine, 1881

Pumping Machinery

1881 (original)

Annotated 1/2 inch scale model (1:24) of a compound beam pumping engine by Worthington-Simpson Ltd, 1881, originally built for the West Middlesex Waterworks, Hammersmith, London.

Model of Jenning's patent water closet

Public Health & Hygiene

1895-1905

Working model of Jennings patent water closet, in case, ca. 1900.

Wheatstone automatic tape transmitter, 1840-1860

Telecommunications

1840-1860

Wheatstone automatic tape transmitter, unknown maker, England, 1840-1860

Galton whistle

Psychology, Psychiatry & Anthropometry

1876-1920

Galton's whistle

Amulet, hand of King Edward

Ethnography and Folk Medicine

1914-1918

Amulet, King Edward's hand, metal, gilt, supposedly worn by man of a London regiment, from Lovett collection, English, 1914-1918

Telephone receivers with wooden handles, 1877-1902

Telecommunications

1877-1902

Two early 'butterstamp' telephone receivers with wooden handles and square diaphragms, believed to have been the property of Dr Alexander Graham Bell, unknown maker, 1877-1902

Wax plaque showing foetus in the womb

Obstetrics, Gynaecology & Contraception

1801-1830

Foetus in placenta in utero

Powdered graphite microphone, 1878-1890

Telecommunications

1878-1890

Microphone consisting of small tube filled with (apparently) powdered graphite with means for adjusting contact pressure of the particles, probably made by David Edward Hughes, England, 1878-1890

Iron borings coherer (Branly type), 1894

Radio Communication

1894

Iron borings coherer (Branly type), probably made by Oliver Lodge, England, 1894. Mounted on wooden baseboard with electric bell components mounted alongside as vibrator for restoring the coherer.

'Bell-crank' engine, c. 1799

Motive Power

1795-1805 (original)

Model Boulton & Watt bell crank engine, c. 1799. The bell-crank engine design was devised for Boulton & Watt by William Murdock, one of their employees. It was the first 'independent' (self-supporting) engine to be built.

Phrenological head of Francis Gall

Psychology, Psychiatry & Anthropometry

1823

Plaster phrenological head of Gall, founder of phrenology, by James De Ville (1777-1846), Strand, London, 1823

Packet of 39 vaccination points for smallpox vaccination used at Bristol Station, London, England, 1873

Public Health & Hygiene

1873

Packet of 39 vaccination points for smallpox vaccination No.280, supplied by Government Lymph Establishment, London, and used at Bristol Station, Dec 3rd 1873

Strowger two-motion selector with vertical mount, 1903-1920

Telecommunications

1903-1920

Strowger two-motion selector with vertically mounted relays, less switching banks, made by the Automatic Telephone Manufacturing Company, Liverpool, England, 1903-1920

Brass anatomical syringe

Anatomy & Pathology

1810-1872

Brass anatomical syringe from cased set, by Savigny & Co., London, England, 1801-1850