Accession No
2766
Brief Description
self-recording auxanometer for monitoring plant growth, by Horace Darwin, English, 1876
Origin
England; Greater London; Erith [likely place of manufacture]; Cambridge [place of use]; U.S.A. [place of manufacture of clockwork mechanism for driving drum]
Maker
Darwin, Horace Eastons & Anderson works’ pattern maker [likely helped manufacturing]
Class
laboratory apparatus; biology
Earliest Date
1876
Latest Date
1876
Inscription Date
Material
wood; metal (brass)
Dimensions
length 575mm; breadth 285mm; height 338mm
Special Collection
Provenance
Transferred from Department of Botany, University of Cambridge, Cambridge, England, 09/1981. Described in the Botany Department as ‘Darwin’s Original’
Inscription
‘MADE IN
U.S. AMERICA’ (on clockwork movement)
Description Notes
Self-recording auxanometer for monitoring plant growth, by Horace Darwin, English, 1876.
Wooden base, brass clockwork movement, wooden drum. Brass weight connected to drum by thread moving over pulley on wooden standard. Wooden linkage to drum moved by brass arm on movement. Wooden growth lever with knife edge, 2 sliding supports for weights and pointer.
This is the earliest known instrument made by Horace Darwin, son of Charles Darwin; it is believed to have been made in about 1875 for Horace’s older brother, Francis, who was a Professor of Botany at the University of Cambridge.
References
Events
Description
This instrument was designed to record the growth of a plant over time. A pointer, lightly attached to the growing plant, traced a record onto a sheet of smoked paper wrapped around a rotating drum, regulated by clockwork.
This is the earliest known instrument designed by Horace Darwin, son of Charles Darwin. It was made in 1876 for Horace’s older brother, Francis, who was a Professor of Botany at the University of Cambridge. Horace designed the instrument whilst an apprentice with the Engineering firm Messrs Eastons and Anderson of Erith, with the works’ pattern maker assisting in its construction. Horace, a Cambridge mathematics graduate, would subsequently co-found the Cambridge Scientific Instrument Company in 1881, as a result of his work providing precision scientific instruments to not only his brother, but also other scientific departments within the University.
20/03/2014
Created by: Joshua Nall on 20/03/2014
FM:44604
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