Accession No
2872
Brief Description
spectrometer, by J. J. Griffin and Sons Ltd., English, 1900 (c)
Origin
England; London
Maker
J. J. Griffin and Sons Ltd.
Class
optical
Earliest Date
1900
Latest Date
1900
Inscription Date
Material
metal (brass, steel, oxidised brass); glass; wood (pine)
Dimensions
box height 480mm; breadth 385mm; depth 317mm
Special Collection
Provenance
Purchased from Phillips, London, England; lot 95, 28/07/1982.
Inscription
‘GRIFFIN. LONDON’
Description Notes
Brass spectrometer. Slit with steel jaws adjustable by brass screw with drumhead divided 0-10. Screw-fit mount to brass collimator with adjustable mount to circular brass stage. Prism table mounted above stage by oxidised brass bracket. Upper circle rotates above lower and is divided on brass 0-360 by 2˚. Stage itself divided on brass 0-360 by 1˚ subdivided to 30’. Index with type B vernier on brass and pivoted reading microscope linked to adjustable telescope mount with clamp and tangent screws. Brass telescope, focussed by rack and pinion moving eyepiece. Screw-in eyepiece mounted on push fit draw tube. Black painted cast column and tripod stand. Pine box. Prism.
References
Events
Description
In 1814, Joseph von Fraunhofer noticed that the sun’s spectrum, when dispersed by a glass prism, is crossed by hundreds of fine dark lines. These lines could be used to determine the chemical composition of the sun, stars, and many other substances by spectral analysis. The first photograph of the spectrum of a star (Vega) was made by Henry Draper using a spectroscope in 1872.
There are various different forms of spectroscope, but all use a slit and collimator to make a parallel beam of light, a prism for dispersing different wavelengths, and a telescope to observe the dispersed spectrum.
18/10/2002
Created by: Saffron Clackson on 18/10/2002
FM:44752
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