Accession No

3368

Brief Description

Savart’s wheel apparatus, by Townsen and Mercer, circa 1870

Origin

London; England

Maker

Townson & Mercer

Class

sound

Earliest Date

1870

Latest Date

1870

Inscription Date

Material

wood (mahogany); metal (brass, white metal); plastic (ebonite); rope (string)

Dimensions

length 465mm; breadth 300mm; height 220mm

Special Collection

Provenance

Purchased from Peter Delehar, London, England, 02/1986.

Inscription

‘TOWNSON & MERCER
LONDON’ (on dial plate)

Description Notes

Mahogany frame set on 4 turned legs. Set within this frame at one end is a red painted spoked brass wheel turned by a brass and mahogany handle. At the other end of the frame 2 toothed brass discs are set close together on an axle. A waxed string connects the 2 wheels. Set on the toothed discs’ axle is a brass box with a silvered cover carrying 2 dials, one divided [0] - 100 numbered by 25 subdivided to 1, the other divided [0] - 1000 numbered by 500 subdivided to 100. Axle ends in knurled screw for locking discs. ‘When a card is held against the teeth which are made to revolve by means of a handle, a note is produced whose pitch can be determined by noting the number of revolutions (indicated on the silverd dials) made per second. The two disks produce different notes. Devised in the early 19th Century by Felix Savart (1791 - 1841) to measure, for instance, the limits of the human auditory response.’ (from letter from Peter Delehar in history file).

References

Events